Highlights
- Mortal Kombat 1 brings a rebooted timeline and new character origins, which will have a major impact on the Mortal Kombat community.
- The introduction of Kameo Fighters, including Goro, shakes up the game for casual and professional players.
- Goro’s inclusion as a Kameo Fighter wastes his potential and removes him from the narrative of the new timeline, leaving fans curious about his fate. #MortalKombat1
Mortal Kombat 1 will bring the dawn of a new era for the beloved fighting franchise. Featuring a rebooted timeline, new character origins, and the introduction of the Kameo Fighter system, the title is bound to make an impact on nearly every facet of the Mortal Kombat community. Kameo Fighters in particular provide a massive shake-up as their introduction will impact casual and professional players alike. While many of those chosen to be Kameo Fighters have seen their status elevated, reviving them for a new age, Goro’s inclusion sees the character’s return utterly wasted.
Mortal Kombat 1 introduces fans to Fire God Liu Kang’s new timeline following the events of Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath. While the Earthrealm of this new timeline appears to have enjoyed a long period of peace and prosperity, early trailers reveal that a malevolent force threatens to see history repeated. In order to maintain peace, Liu Kang recruits various characters, each featuring a new backstory and forming new alliances, in order to combat this evil presence. While the “big bad” of Mortal Kombat 1 has yet to be revealed, trailers allude to Shang Tsung having a hand in seeing the villain’s plan fulfilled.
Goro is One of Mortal Kombat’s Most Intimidating Figures
Prince Goro of the Shokan, or Goro, is one of classic Mortal Kombat’s most infamous fighters. Those who grew up with the original title remember Goro as the ultimate test of strength, as defeating the four-armed Shokan was the final step to reaching Shao Khan. Goro marked a dramatic increase in difficulty, becoming an insurmountable obstacle for many young gamers. While his difficulty and abilities have varied over time, Goro’s inclusion in mainline Mortal Kombat titles is often accompanied by a major story beat or a challenging new moveset for players to overcome.
Within the canon of Mortal Kombat’s narrative, Goro boasts a similarly intimidating history. The character is introduced in the original title as the undefeated champion of the Mortal Kombat tournament, having dominated all opponents for the last 500 years. Following his defeat by the player, Prince Goro turned his attention towards leading his people to victory over the Centaurians and Princess Kitana, eventually allying the two races against the remains of Shao Khan’s army.
In the Alternate Timeline, Goro is restored to his role as Champion of the Mortal Kombat Tournament. However, this timeline saw the character eventually killed by Kotal Kahn in a spin-off comic book series for Mortal Kombat X. The character did not appear as a fighter in Mortal Kombat 11 or Aftermath, but his corpse can be seen on his throne.
Why Goro is Wasted as a Kameo Fighter
Despite being an incredibly iconic member of the Mortal Kombat cast, Goro is often overlooked for the series’ main roster. Not since 2006’s Mortal Kombat: Armageddon has the character been featured on the base roster at launch. In Mortal Kombat 9 Goro was restricted to the Challenge Tower, and in Mortal Kombat X players could only get Goro through a pre-order bonus or by purchasing the Kombat Pack DLCs. With his death at the hands of Kotal Khan, the character appeared to be gone for the foreseeable future, but Mortal Kombat 1‘s new timeline sees the character revived alongside other long-dead characters.
Goro being featured in Mortal Kombat 1, but exclusively on its Kameo Fighter roster, is an immense waste of the character’s potential. Each of the previous timelines saw Goro introduced as the strongest opponent that the Mortal Kombat Tournament had ever seen, but Mortal Kombat 1‘s Goro is a simple combo extender. The implications of this designation seemingly remove Goro from the narrative of Liu Kang’s new timeline, possibly meaning that he will cease to exist moving forward. That said, fans of the Shokan Prince and classic Mortal Kombat will have to wait until Mortal Kombat 1‘s release to discover Goro’s fate.
Mortal Kombat 1 will be released on September 19 for PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S.
