Bruce Lee is the most influential martial artist who ever lived. He was known for his lead role in films like Enter the Dragon, Fist of Fury and The Return of the Dragon. He also inspired several facets of the Mortal Kombat franchise, including the video games and the movie.

Here's a breakdown of Lee's influence on Mortal Kombat.

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Who Was Bruce Lee?

Bruce Lee forever altered the perception of Chinese culture in the United States. His work in Hollywood not only broke down racial barriers, but launched the martial arts film genre into the American mainstream. Lee became a superstar that fans would know all over the world for his incredible agility and power.

Lee claimed his fighting style was no style at all. He called his fighting philosophy "Jeet Kune Do" (the way of the intercepting fist), which gardens the process of learning martial art as a constant effort to research and experiment. This was so influential that it was adapted for Mortal Kombat's Liu Kang and had a clear influence on several other martial arts games.

Enter the Dragon and Mortal Kombat the Movie

The Mortal Kombat movie was nowhere near as good as the games, but it boasted several parallels to Lee's 1973 classic, Enter the Dragon. 

Plot by plot, these two movies are the same -- minus the magic in Mortal Kombat. The films are about a Shaolin monk who is coerced into fighting in an annual tournament to the death. In both movies, the tournament is set on an a secret island only reachable by boat. Apparently, the only way to get to these islands is by leaving from Hong Kong. The two main characters are drawn into this tournament when their younger siblings are killed by a co-conspirator.

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Liu Kang and Bruce Lee

Liu Kang is a legendary character, but he wouldn't be nearly as iconic without the foundations laid by Lee. Liu Kang also looks exactly like the late Lee, but that's a coincidence. Originally, Kang was supposed to be a bald monk. However, the actor who was supposed to be used as a model to digitize his features refused to shave his head, so the creators redesigned the character to resemble Bruce Lee.

Lee's philosophy, persona and fighting style have influenced several characters, but the high-pitched screaming he does as he fights manifests in Kang in the Mortal Kombat games, when he takes flight to perform his famous bicycle kicks. Kang's fighting style is an homage to Lee in every way -- even down to the fireballs coming out of his hands. Although Lee did not possess magic, he was very good at manipulating elements using basic physics.

Bruce Lee and Liu Kang are both associated with the dragon; in fact, Kang transforms into a dragon when he performs a fatality. Lee uses a dragon symbol to represent his fighting style and Kang uses it to represent his spiritual animal. The dragon symbol is very influential to martial arts, which is why it's the Mortal Kombat logo. Lee's influences on the game are clear throughout.

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