Summary
Gamescom has featured some of the year’s biggest announcements, and one of its big moments was the newestMortal Kombat 1reveal trailer. Featuring Sindel and Shao Khan as playable fighters, two classic evil characters of the series' past have been updated into the same modern style as their peers. While most people may have been focused on the main fighters that have made it intoMortal Kombat 1, the unveiling of the villain Motaro as a Kameo fighter has caused an equal amount of excitement among fans.
While limited to a support character, Motaro returns in his full centaur form from the days of the originalMortal Kombattitles. A more obscure sub-boss character in the franchise’s early days ofShao Kahn’s reign, newer players may not even be familiar with the Centaurian due to his lack of appearances over the years. Motaro has often been considered one of the most extreme and outlandish designs inMortal Kombat, his status as playable fighter likely limited due to the extreme logistics of his infamous centaur body. He may not have had the best track record within the last few titles, butMortal Kombat 1seems to be doing his original design the justice it deserves.
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Motaro’s Early Mortal Kombat Roots
Originating inMortal Kombat 3as a sub-boss, Motaro has been one of the most insane concepts in fighting games since the arcade era. Not playable until later editions, he served a similar role tothe likes of Goroand Kintaro while taking their monstrous forms to the extreme. Boasting a projectile and teleport, Motaro has always had more to him than just his horse body despite his general underrepresentation in lore.
Befitting of a being so beastly, Motaro has always been placed within a villainous role in theMortal Kombatuniverse. A Centauriandenizen of Outworld, Motaro has historically been a general under the tyrannical Shao Kahn. Having proven his race’s dominance over the four-armed Shokan, he has always been associated with his sub-boss predecessors. Considering his place as a challenging sub-boss, it makes sense that Motaro began as an underdeveloped character, but what followed for him is typically seen as a weak point for the series at large.
Motaro’s Decline and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
Failing to make it into the next few titles that followed his initial appearance, Motaro would return alongside everyone over kombatant inMortal Kombat: Armageddon, albeit with one heavy compromise. In a bit of lore as maligned as this design change, Motaro’s race was supposedly cursed to become bipedal minotaurs by the Shokan. Abandoning his signature status as a centaur during his debut as a full roster character, many players of the PS2 era were disappointed by the unexpected transformation Motaro underwent. He would go on to not be featured much at all in the rebooted timeline that followed, but his upcoming appearance has generated new hope.
Finally receiving the chance to shine as a Kameo assist, it doesn’t seem like Motaro will actually be a canon part of the world when the lore significance of other classicKameosis taken into consideration. His original design is being honored to the delight of many longtime fans, but the Centaurian general has still avoided appearing in the main roster once again. A requested fighter since the arcade days, the future of the series now has serious potential to flesh out one ofMortal Kombat’s strangest characters.
Mortal Kombat 1launches September 19 for PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S.
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