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Baraka

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki


Baraka
Mortal Kombat character
File:BarakaMK11.png
Baraka in Mortal Kombat 11 (2019)
First appearanceMortal Kombat II (1993)
Created byEd Boon
John Tobias
Designed byJohn Tobias (early games)
Herman Sanchez (MK:D, MK:A)
Mark Lappin (MK:SM)[1]
Atomhawk Design (MK9)[2]
Portrayed byDennis Keiffer (film)
Lateef Crowder dos Santos (short film)
Fraser Aitcheson (web series)
Voiced byDan Forden (MKG)
Eric Wackerfuss (MK:D)
Dan Washington (MKvsDCU)
Bob Carter (MK9)
Greg Eagles (MKX)[3]
Steve Blum (2019-present)
Motion captureRichard Divizio (MKII, MKT)
Sean Okerberg (MKvsDCU)
Information
SpeciesTarkatan (formerly Nomad)
GenderMale
WeaponArm Blades (All appearances)
Razor Cane (MKG)
Thoraxe (MK:D, MK:U)
War Banner (MK11)
OriginOutworld

Warning: Display title "Baraka" overrides earlier display title "Baraka (<i>Mortal Kombat</i>)". Search Baraka (Mortal Kombat) on Amazon.

Baraka is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise by Midway Games/NetherRealm Studios. Introduced in Mortal Kombat II (1993), he is a Tarkatan, a fictional species residing in Outworld, and his distinctive feature is a set of long metal blades that retract into his forearms. Baraka is a recurring villain throughout the series, often depicted in the service of the franchise's primary villains as well as the occasional love interest to the half-Tarkatan Mileena. The character has received a positive reception for his appearance and Fatality finishing moves.

Appearances[edit]

Mortal Kombat games[edit]

Baraka is first introduced in Mortal Kombat II (1993) as a member of a lowly Outworld race called the Nomads who are known for violent and unpredictable behavior. He spearheads the attack on Liu Kang's Shaolin temple in Earthrealm following the conclusion of the first Mortal Kombat tournament, which in turn lures Liu Kang into Outworld to seek vengeance.[4]

In the storyline of Mortal Kombat Trilogy (1996), Baraka is a member of Kahn's forces after successfully fighting an "uprising renegade race in Outworld's lower regions" and takes part in Kahn's ensuing invasion of Earthrealm.[5]

Baraka is not playable in the next fighting installment, Mortal Kombat 4 (1997), but was added to the roster of the 2000 Sega Dreamcast-exclusive upgrade Mortal Kombat Gold. He encounters the sorcerer Quan Chi, who offers him a chance to rule the Outworld realm of Edenia by his side if he agrees to join the fallen Elder God Shinnok's army. While Baraka accepts, he secretly plans to betray his new masters. In his noncanonical ending, Baraka balks at ruling the now-empty realm alongside Quan Chi after Shinnok and his followers are eliminated, and is killed by Quan Chi after a failed assassination attempt.[6]

In Mortal Kombat: Deception (2004), Baraka and the remainder of his Tarkatan race[note 1] ally themselves with the arisen Dragon King Onaga. Baraka recruits the mutant clone Mileena into Onaga's ranks in order to pose as Edenian Princess Kitana.

Baraka is playable along with the entire series roster in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006), but was not among the seventeen characters therein who received an official biography by Midway Games, and he played no part in the game's storyline.

In the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot that retells the events of the first three games, Baraka appears as a recurring foe in the story mode who is defeated by Johnny Cage, Cyrax, Jax, and Jade. In the retold storyline of Mortal Kombat II, he leads his Tarkatan armies in an invasion of Earthrealm.

Baraka returns in Mortal Kombat X (2015) as a non-playable character. He and his fellow Tarkatans aid the insectoid D'Vorah in loading captive Shaolin monks before they are confronted and defeated by Raiden, Liu Kang, and Kung Lao. Five years prior to the game's story mode, Baraka serves under then-Outworld ruler Mileena alongside D'Vorah. During a meeting with the Osh-Tekk Kotal Kahn, Baraka is killed after D'Vorah betrays Mileena.

In Mortal Kombat 11, a past version of Baraka is brought to the present by the keeper of time Kronika. After learning of his death and Kotal Kahn rendering the Tarkatans on the brink of extinction, he initially allies himself with Kronika and a similarly time-displaced Shao Kahn.[7][8] However, Kitana convinces him to aid her in rescuing Kotal by assuring him that she will convince him to treat the Tarkatans with respect. He and the Tarkatans later take part in Kitana's battle against Shao Kahn and in the final battle against Kronika.[9][10]

Design[edit]

Baraka was first conceived by MK co-creator John Tobias as a "savage barbarian demon warrior" as part of the early development process of the first Mortal Kombat.[11] The character was visualized for MKII with a Nosferatu mask adorned with silver-painted false fingernails serving as his teeth, and his arm blades were constructed from silver cardboard. He was portrayed by actor and martial artist Richard Divizio in the game.[12]

Early Baraka concept art by Tobias portrayed him as a masked bald human ninja with hookswords[13] and then a muscular creature with metal talon-studded forearms until his arm blades — inspired by the Marvel Comics character Wolverine — were created.[13] In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, he is seen with a row of spikes projecting from the back of his head. His arm blades are the centerpiece of his special moves and Fatalities. Mortal Kombat 11 changes the Tarkatan arm blades designs from being sharp metallic blades into more organic bone blades.

Other media[edit]

File:BarakaMKRebirth.png
Lateef Crowder as Baraka in the 2010 short film Mortal Kombat: Rebirth

In the Mortal Kombat comic book series by Malibu Comics, Baraka plays supporting roles in the miniseries Goro: Prince of Pain (1994) and Battlewave (1995), and was the subject of his own one-shot issue published in June 1995. He was portrayed in all instances as a violent brawn-over-brains type who spoke in broken English.

Baraka appeared briefly in the 1997 feature film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation and was played by stuntman Dennis Keiffer. He is killed in a brief fight scene with Liu Kang and has no dialogue, and is not identified by name save for the closing credits.[14] Baraka has an expanded role in the film's novelization, in which he partakes in the opening invasion of Earth alongside Kahn's other generals.[15]

Baraka appeared in director Kevin Tancharoen's 2010 short film Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, played by martial artist Lateef Crowder. His origins are changed therein into his being a former plastic surgeon named Alan Zane, who, after accidentally killing a patient, goes psychotic and murders over two dozen more. He then mutilates his face with numerous piercings and filed-down teeth, then attaches a pair of long metal blades to his forearms. He later kills Johnny Cage — working undercover for Jax — in a fight.[16] These changes were not carried over into Tancharoen's Mortal Kombat: Legacy web series, in which Baraka appears in one episode in the 2011 first season with his backstory reverted to his original Outworld origins.[17]

Baraka briefly appeared in the 2021 animated film Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge, in which he has no dialogue and is killed in a fight against Cage.

Reception[edit]

In 2009, Baraka ranked third on GameDaily's list of the "top ten ugliest game characters".[18] Dan Ryckert of Game Informer, in 2010, noted him among the characters wanted for the 2011 reboot game, as he felt that "people love Baraka" yet noted his absence in subsequent releases since his series debut.[19] Baraka has otherwise received positive reception from gaming media outlets for his character[20][21][22][23] and Fatalities.[24][25][26][27]

Notes[edit]

  1. ↑ Now officially renamed as such in the series canon from "Nomads" in MKII to MK Gold.

References[edit]

  1. ↑ "Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks - Credits". Allgame.com. November 3, 2010. Archived from the original on November 16, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2014. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  2. ↑ "Mortal Kombat Characters & Concept Artwork". CreativeUncut.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  3. ↑ Brian Chard [@bcharred] (April 14, 2015). "Huge thanks to the stellar MKX voice actors: Troy @TroyBakerVA (Shinnok/EBlack/Fujin), Ronald M. Banks (Quan Chi); Ashly Burch (Cassie)..." (Tweet). Retrieved June 2, 2018 – via Twitter.
    Brian Chard [@bcharred] (April 14, 2015). "... Steve Blum (SubZero/Reptile/Bo'RaiCho); Johnny Yong Bosch (Kung Jin); Andrew @AndrewSBowen (Johnny/Smoke/Rain); Greg Eagles (Jax/Baraka)" (Tweet). Retrieved April 15, 2015 – via Twitter.
  4. ↑ "Mortal Kombat Warehouse: Mortal Kombat II: Baraka". Mortal Kombat Warehouse. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
  5. ↑ Jeff Greeson and Cliff O'Neill (October 21, 2007). "The History of Mortal Kombat: The Beginning of the End". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 20, 2007. Retrieved February 8, 2014. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  6. ↑ Mortal Kombat Gold | Baraka's Ending - Kamidogu via YouTube, June 20, 2008. Retrieved February 8, 2004.
  7. ↑ NetherRealm Studios (2019). Mortal Kombat 11. Warner Bros. Level/area: Chapter 2: Timequake (Kotal Kahn). Search this book on
  8. ↑ NetherRealm Studios (2019). Mortal Kombat 11. Warner Bros. Level/area: Chapter 5: Truths Revealed (Jade). Search this book on
  9. ↑ NetherRealm Studios (2019). Mortal Kombat 11. Warner Bros. Level/area: Chapter 7: Coming of Age (Kitana). Search this book on
  10. ↑ NetherRealm Studios (2019). Mortal Kombat 11. Warner Bros. Level/area: Chapter 12: End of an Era (Fire God Liu Kang). Search this book on
  11. ↑ John Tobias (@therealsaibot) on Twitter, September 14, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  12. ↑ Video interview on the bonus DVD included with the special edition of Mortal Kombat: Deception
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 GamePro 58 (May 1994), p.29, 31.
  14. ↑ Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (Motion picture). New Line Cinema. 1997.
  15. ↑ Preisler, Jerome (1997). Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Tor Books. ISBN 0-812-53933-8. Search this book on
  16. ↑ Kevin Tancharoen (director) (2010). Mortal Kombat: Rebirth (Short film).
  17. ↑ Schiesel, Seth (April 15, 2011). "Mortal Kombat Is Back In a Fight for the Future". NYTimes.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Top 10 Ugliest Game Characters - Page 8". GameDaily. Archived from the original on October 19, 2008. Retrieved 2009-08-07. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  19. ↑ Ryckert, Dan (2010-06-21). "Who We Want (And Don't Want) In The New Mortal Kombat - Features". www.GameInformer.com. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  20. ↑ "10 Most Awesome Mortal Kombat Characters". Game Rant. 18 April 2011. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  21. ↑ UGO Team (2012-02-28). "Top 50 Mortal Kombat Characters - Mortal Kombat". UGO.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-29. Retrieved 2012-03-04. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  22. ↑ Martin, Liam (January 2, 2017). "The 20 best Mortal Kombat characters ranked – but who scores a flawless victory?". Digital Spy. Hearst Communications. Archived from the original on September 23, 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
  23. ↑ Jasper, Gavin (January 30, 2015). "Mortal Kombat: Ranking All the Characters". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Archived from the original on February 4, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  24. ↑ Workman, Robert (April 2014). "The Top 50 Mortal Kombat Fatalities of All Time: 10-1". Prima Games. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  25. ↑ Francis, Laura (April 24, 2021). "The most gruesome fatalities in Mortal Kombat history". Tech Radar. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  26. ↑ Martinez, Philip (April 24, 2019). "Ranking the 'Mortal Kombat 11' Fatalities". Newsweek. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  27. ↑ Hesse, Brendan (April 13, 2022). "Grossest And Most Gruesome Mortal Kombat Fatalities". GameSpot. Retrieved October 20, 2022.


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