Mortal Kombat Could Learn Something From the Powerful Shaggy Meme

The fervor surrounding Mortal Kombat 11 has reached an almost unprecedented level of anticipation, excitement perhaps best exemplified by the rise of the “Ultra Instinct Shaggy” meme, depicting Scooby-Doo’s Shaggy as an all-powerful Dragon Ball-style character. Both fandoms united, and the end result was a Change.org petition to add Shaggy to Mortal Kombat 11, which amassed over 100,000 signatures in less than 24 hours and, as of this writing, stands at over 357K.

Alas, what could have been a celebration of fans coming together to play as a character who would never otherwise get a real chance in a fighting game has instead come to a sad end. Though NetherRealm heard the outcry from fans, it fell on deaf ears; during the first KombatKast event for Mortal Kombat 11, NetherRealm Studios Community Manager Tyler Lansdown definitively shut down the possibility of Shaggy appearing in the game.

“Shaggy will not be in the game, at all, ever,” Lansdown said emphatically. “ Sorry. Dead meme.”

It’s not a surprising comment given the super violent aspect of the franchise, but that doesn’t necessarily mesh with the history of Mortal Kombat. The series was once regarded for being insanely over the top with its then-vivd depiction of death and violence, a combination that led to Mortal Kombat blowing up in popularity as soon as it hit arcades in 1992. Since being rebooted in 2011, NetherRealm Studios has taken the games more seriously, dialing back on much of the humor in favor of a darker tone, with a focus on cinematic storytelling and some of the best bone-breaking fighting mechanics to come from an American developer.

But the hard shutdown of the Shaggy meme highlights a potential problem: A disconnect between NetherRealm and their fan base.

A character who gives the player a laugh is instantly memorable, no matter the context, and these characters have been missing from Mortal Kombat for a while. While it's fun to have your roster populated with the greatest fighters in the world, a collection of dead-serious bruisers who can take as much as they dish out, the joke character has long been a tradition as well. Look no further than Dan from Street Fighter, or Mortal Kombat’s MoKap, a fighter who was literally Johnny Cage’s motion capture artist.

Mortal Kombat was once a series regarded for its sense of self-aware humor as much as its over the top gore. The graphic violence and (for the time) unsettling Fatalities caught the attention of fans, as well as parents. Mortal Kombat was front and center for discussions on video games violence, which led to goofier elements in later games. Mortal Kombat II introduced Friendships as a direct response to the controversy, while Mortal Kombat 3 would steer in the other direction, with Brutalities that generated rib cages and pillars of gore spewing from an opponent’s body.

Mortal Kombat seemed to lean into these more comedic elements, with short videos like “Cooking with Scorpion” or the proposed gag character Zebron, an anthropomorphic zebra who was also a game show host, being included as Easter eggs. They played with new concepts and additional modes, including a Tetris clone, Puzzle Kombat, and a Mario Kart clone, Motor Kombat.

But that sense of humor appears to now be gone.

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The more lighthearted aspects of the Mortal Kombat franchise all seem like forgotten relics of a different era, and that's probably for what NetheRealm feels is a good reason. The company may be reluctant to revisit this tone because of the era it represents. Though the titles still sold well in the early-to-mid ‘00s, the transition to 3D proved a struggle for the game's fighting mechanics and concept. Soon, the team found themselves in need of a reboot, the result being 2011’s Mortal Kombat. It was a more serious, cinematic experience than ever before, dropping the 3D approach for a tried and true 2D fighting experience and featuring an engaging story mode with an alternate telling of the first three games. Mortal Kombat revitalized the franchise, paving the way for an even bigger sequel.

Aside from the grander, cinematic storytelling they had fine-tuned with Mortal Kombat and Injustice: Gods Among Us, Mortal Kombat X featured a large cast of DLC characters including old Mortal Kombat favorites, as well as horror movie icons like Jason Voorhees and the Predator. But, much like with Shaggy, a petition started making waves to include a different type of character.

Following a series of early rumors, Todd McFarlane’s Spawn was in every discussion imaginable about Mortal Kombat X, despite the fact that the traditionally animated and exaggerated undead vigilante didn’t quite fit with the horror theme Mortal Kombat X aimed for. NetherRealm acknowledged these rumors in sly remarks and Ed Boon’s trademark troll tweeting, but they only fueled the fire of a Spawn appearance, and never delivered on the potential.

Mortal Kombat X strayed from the series humorous tone, but embraced a darker atmosphere. — *Mortal Kombat X* strayed from the series' light-hearted tone but embraced a darker atmosphere.

Maybe it was a rights issue. Maybe they didn’t feel like Spawn was a good fit. Neither McFarlane or NetherRealm have ever actually said, though both continue to make allusions to a possible Spawn appearance. Regardless, NetherRealm could stand to take a step back and look hard at the Shaggy meme. Media is changing left and right, and the video game industry has become a many-headed beast. While Mortal Kombat 11 is poised to dominate sales charts when it releases in April, one can’t help but wonder how much bigger it could be if the developer decided to have a little fun with it.

There doesn’t appear to be anything preventing the team from including Shaggy if they really wanted to. After all, both properties are directly owned by Warner Bros. (NetherRealm Studios was founded in 2010 to replace WB Games Chicago), and releases like the comic book Scooby Apocalypse, featuring the Scooby gang exploring a terrifying wasteland, demonstrate a corporate willingness to put the characters in less-than-wholesome situations.

All that seems to be stopping the inclusion is a steadfast dedication to the tone and serious nature Mortal Kombat has taken since the franchise's 2011 reboot. Regardless of what Lansdown or any other NetherRealm employees may say, the Shaggy meme is not dead, not so long as the community continues to embrace it and petitions continue to gain signatures. It might be time for NetherRealm to once more show off its own brand of madness, and what better way than to introduce a cowardly teenager who may secretly be a superpowered god?

Mortal Kombat 11 is expected to release for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on April 23, 2019.