A new world begins. After the previous game's events, the now Fire God Liu Kang tasked himself with recreating the world of Mortal Kombat, starting a whole new timeline. That means Mortal Kombat 1 will be a reboot, with the classic characters having their stories reset.
Who is coming back, though? The Kast - yes, we're writing it with a 'K' - is divided between a main roster and Kameo fighters, characters you choose to help you out during the fight. Some characters are on the main roster, some are Kameo fighters, and some are both. Thus, Let's see who's already confirmed.
Update on July 24, 2023, by Lucas Olah: New additions keep on coming. After having a trailer dedicated to the Lin Kuei, showing a few returning faces, we already got more reveals, with a trailer dedicated to the Umgadi, a new faction in the series, as well as DLC characters from Kombat Pack 1. With so many characters included here, from Klassic, 3D era to even cameos - from other franchises, we mean, not the Kameo thing - things just got a whole more interesting.
25 Li Mei
Li Mei is returning to the spotlight after so long. We get to see her along with the Umgadi, a group of women warrior priestesses from Outworld that she used to be a part of, and from the trailer, it appears she'll be quite relevant to the story, or at the very least to some chapters.
We see some of her attacks as she creates animals made of energy to help her strike her blows, also confirming that she'll be on the main roster.
24 Tanya
Another Umgadi, although one that is still part of the group, remains at Mileena's side and shows animosity toward Li Mei, who used to be part of the same group. Their interactions are fun to watch, even though it's a mere glimpse.
Tanya has a quite peculiar weapon, a staff divided into parts, similar to a sanjiegun (a three-part staff), though longer and with more pieces, acting similarly to a whip at times. We also get to see her creating magical hands to help her during the fight, even using them in her Fatal Blow and Fatality.
23 Baraka
Baraka returns with his lovely and deadly looks and even more blade attacks. The trailer shows many combos for him, making him a powerful fighter in capable hands.
He also has a big change in terms of story: Tarkatan is no longer a species here. Instead, Tarkat is an Outworld disease, and Baraka (and Mileena) is one of the many victims. That gives Baraka quite a different personal story, which will hopefully give him a lot more depth as a character.
22 Smoke
Where there is smoke... You know. Making a return after being gone - at least from being playable - for quite some time, we have Smoke, with a dashing new hairstyle and some old smoke bomb and teleportation tricks that will surely annoy your opponents.
So far, he's confirmed as part of the main roster only. That, and the trailer, also show us that Smoke will be relevant to the story, though it's hard to say how much. Regardless, his return is more than appreciated.
21 Rain
Purple Rain is also making a return. Though he's never been a Lin Kuei or anything similar, he always had a Ninja look due to his behind-the-scenes origins.
Well, no more. Rain changed classes, ditching the Monk and becoming a Sorcerer. He even fights with a staff to control water, creating rain itself and water portals.
He's also an addition to the main roster and shows some antagonistic feelings toward the main Lin Kuei group. His character description also confirmed a new version of Shao, but we have no idea if he'll be playable or even relevant to the story.
20 Scorpion
Did you not expect him? There isn't a proper Mortal Kombat game without Hanzo Hasashi - or should we say, Kuai Liang? He's brutal as ever, showing off his skills with a Kusarigama (a small scythe-like weapon with a chain).
It's hard to say if he's an undead being this time, though. We know he's part of the main roster and the Kameo, showing us that some characters will be on both rosters.
Ed Boon also mentioned he and Sub-Zero are now brothers, which is a curious development for both characters.
19 Sub-Zero
Wherever Scorpion's flames burn, Sub-Zero's cold will follow. The duo is a trademark of the series, so it's no surprise they're both returning.
Thanks to gameplay available online, we know this Sub-Zero is Bi-Han.
He's also on both rosters, with Boon even joking that you can have Sub-Zero helping Sub-Zero in the fight. He and Scorpion also seem aligned with Liu Kang from the beginning, fulfilling a role previously done by Liu Kang and Kung Lao when Raiden was a God.
18 Liu Kang
Promoted to Godhood status, Liu Kang is now filling the role Raiden used to, as protector of Earthrealm. He's also seeking fighters to recruit, most likely for the tournament that will take place during the story.
As part of the main roster, many of his attacks are shown, including fire dragons and quick fiery kicks, showing us the fury of the Fire God.
17 Raiden
Raiden is now a young mortal who is recruited for the cause. He still has lightning powers, but he appears as a monk and is a bit of an arrogant fighter, apparently. As far as we know, he's part of the main roster only.
His gameplay seems smooth as ever, with his beautiful charge back in its full glory and very brutal Fatalities, which, to be fair, is to be expected.
16 Kung Lao
Another Klassic fighter, Kung Lao, is an expected return as well. What is curious about his gameplay is that he appears a lot without his signature hat, though the hat does show up eventually. Perhaps we'll see how he obtains the hat in this reality.
He's part of both rosters, with gameplay showing us a player controlling him in a fight and him being called to help out as a Kameo fighter in other moments. He also shows us that there will be X-ray-like moves featuring both fighters.
15 Kitana
Princess of Edenia, Kitana is yet another crucial character, and her presence here is unsurprising. Still, we're all glad to see her again. And she already has a gruesome fatality available online, obliterating the opponent's body.
As of now, we can only say she's part of the main roster. But since Kameo fighters mainly consist of classic characters, there's a good chance she'll be on both. It remains to be seen, though.
14 Mileena
The other main rivalry wouldn't be complete without Mileena. She's back, and with the original mouth look she used to have, creepy as ever. In fact, we even see the transformation happen during the trailer.
She's also in the main roster, showing off her powerful teleportation kicks all over her enemy's face. She could be a Kameo too, but we don't have any confirmation for now.
13 Kenshi
The blind swordsman reappears, with vision this time. We also see him with his default look, though, meaning we'll likely see him losing his sight during the story.
We also see he needs to recover his blade, somehow in possession of a famous actor we'll get to after Kenshi.
He doesn't fight alone, either. Not only can you choose someone from the Kameo roster to help you, but he also has his ghostly samurai ally during many of his moves.
12 Johnny Cage
Cage is also here in a scene where he and Kenshi fight over his sword. And Johnny apparently wins, as we can see Kenshi knocked out on a chair later during a cutscene. Johnny seems to be living a very good life.
He also remains the skeptical guy, being weirded out by Liu Kang, Kenshi, and our ninja duo. It'll be interesting to see how he'll play into the story.
Oh, and similar to most of the characters so far, he's in the main roster only, as far as we know. Finally, did we mention he's being voiced by none other than Jean-Claude Van Damme?
11 Sonya Blade
We've been mainly talking about characters we know are on the main roster. Now, let's focus on characters that are only on the Kameo roster, at least so far. One of them is Sonya Blade, Special Forces.
What's interesting about her - and all other Kameo fighters, really - is that they are using their classic outfits from the original games and even show classic Fatalities.
And yes, you can perform the Fatality with the Kameo fighter instead of your main character, so it'll be interesting to see her old-school Fatality performed here.
10 Kano
Kano is another Kameo fighter, so you can take his unholy spin attacks and use them regardless of what character you're playing with. He's also sporting his classic look, with a white outfit and no hair.
There's also a quick glimpse of his original Fatality, grabbing the opponent's heart with his bare hands. That's too violent, though, so please enjoy this picture with him and Sub-Zero together.
9 Jax
Kameo fighter with a classic look? Check. Old Fatality returning, even though Jax turning into a giant makes no sense? Check.
Jax is a core part of this series as well, so it makes sense to see him return. Shame about the arms, though.
Plus, the old-school Fatality is just too funny. Having him grow and keeping just the boot on the screen looks terrific, as senseless as it is. You don't need an in-lore explanation for everything.
8 Goro
Now, this is one we have little information about; Goro. We know he's a Kameo fighter, but he's only briefly seen in one of the trailers.
Still, he looks strong as ever, though a bit shorter than his most recent appearances. Regardless, let's hope we can get more of him soon.
7 Stryker
Another Klassic return is Curtis Stryker. Wearing his classic white and blue outfit, he briefly appears in the gameplay trailer.
We do see him using his flashlight and taser on the Fire God himself, which is a funny thing to think about. Regardless, he hasn't shown up in a while, so it's nice to see him back.
6 Frost
Sub-Zero's apprentice is making a return here as well. However, she'll be returning as a Kameo fighter, so you can use her cold powers regardless of what character you're playing with.
Sadly, we don't see much going on with her, but we do get to see part of her Fatal Blow, which is amazing - if you like gore, of course. But then again, this is Mortal Kombat.