Cyrax

Cyrax
Mortal Kombat character
File:Cyrax mk11.png Cyrax in Mortal Kombat 11 (2019)
First appearance	Mortal Kombat 3 (1995)
Created by	Ed Boon John Tobias
Designed by	John Tobias (MK3)
Portrayed by	J. J. Perry (Annihilation) Shane Warren Jones (Legacy)
Voiced by	Ed Boon (MKG) Rhasaan Orange (MK9) Ike Amadi (MK11) Artt Butler (MKL:BOTR)
Motion capture	Sal Divita (MK3, UMK3, MKT, MKA) Stephan Scalabrino (MK9)
Information
Species	Human/Cyborg
Weapon	Bombs, energy net (MK3) Sabre of Light (MKG) Pulse Blade (MK:DA, MK:A)
Origin	Botswana (Earthrealm)

Search Cyrax on Amazon.

Cyrax is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise by Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios. He debuted in Mortal Kombat 3 (1995) as a cyborg warrior of the fictional Lin Kuei clan. Cyrax is depicted as the heroic counterpart to his fellow Lin Kuei cyborg Sektor, eventually regaining his humanity and joining the Special Forces in their defense of Earthrealm.

The character has also been featured in other Mortal Kombat media, including the 1996 animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, the 1997 film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, and the 2011 web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy. He has received mostly positive reception, particularly for his Fatality finishing moves and gameplay.

Appearances

Mortal Kombat games

In Mortal Kombat 3, Cyrax is a member of the fictional Lin Kuei clan of assassins along with Sub-Zero, Sektor, and Smoke. When the clan decide to utilize modern technology by converting its members into soulless cyborgs, Sub-Zero refuses and defects, which lead to the clan's grandmasters marking him for death. As a result, Cyrax, Sektor, and Smoke were all assigned to hunt down and kill him. During Outworld emperor Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm, Sub-Zero captured Cyrax and reprogrammed him with orders to destroy the emperor, but Shao Kahn was defeated beforehand by the other Earthrealm warriors. As a result of his reprogramming, Cyrax awaited the orders of a new objective. When these never came, he consequently malfunctioned and wandered until becoming mired in the middle of a vast desert. This storyline was continued in Mortal Kombat Gold (1999), when he was recovered and repaired by the Lin Kuei, who then sent Cyrax back into battle with Sektor assigned to monitor him. However, this storyline was ignored in the training mode of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (2002), in which Cyrax is "recovered by Special Forces agents Sonya Blade and Jackson Briggs," a reference to the character's unused biography in Prima Games' official strategy guide for MK Gold, in which Cyrax was reprogrammed by the Special Forces to fight on the side of good against the fallen Elder God Shinnok. After Shinnok's defeat, Cyrax began to experience flashbacks of his former life, so Sonya and Jax brought him to the Outer World Investigation Agency (OIA) headquarters, where they restored his humanity. As a token of gratitude, Cyrax joined the agency as a scout in Earthrealm.

During the events of Deadly Alliance, Cyrax was ambushed by the Oni Moloch and Drahmin. After driving the two demons off, he became stranded in Outworld. His arm console, which allowed him to return to Earthrealm, was damaged by Outworld native Reptile that was orchestrated by the vampire Nitara. When Cyrax encounters her, she offers to help him return home in exchange for his aid in recovering a lost artifact. They traveled to the underground chamber that housed the egg of the Dragon King. There, Cyrax submerged himself in a lake of molten lava and discovered the orb that would separate her home realm of Vaeternus from Outworld. With the egg in her possession, she honored her promise to Cyrax and used her mystical necklace to open a portal to send him back to Earthrealm.

For Mortal Kombat (2011), a reboot of the continuity of the first three series titles, Cyrax is first depicted as a human Tswana member of the Lin Kuei who relies on his chi rather than brute force to carry out clan missions. He and Sektor, both introduced during the first tournament, have conflicting views over the Lin Kuei's impending "Cyber Initiative", which calls for all of its members to be transformed into cyborgs. While Sektor wholly supports the proposition, Cyrax is reluctant to surrender his humanity, as he believes his instincts and judgement are far more effective than any mechanical augmentation. He naively believed that Shang Tsung had invited him and Sektor to the tournament until Raiden informs him that he had been paid handsomely to kill the Earthrealm fighters and that if Earthrealm loses, so will the Lin Kuei. As a result of this, Shang Tsung unsuccessfully attempts to have Cyrax killed by Sheeva and Baraka. Cyrax later confronts Sektor after refusing to kill Johnny Cage during their match and knocks out his fellow clansman following an argument, effectively severing his ties to the Lin Kuei. However, in events that occurred off-screen, Cyrax was caught, cyberized, and reprogrammed to be loyal to the Lin Kuei before assisting Sektor in pursuing Smoke and the younger Sub-Zero (then named Tundra) into Outworld. After capturing Sub-Zero in Shao Kahn's arena during the second tournament and taking him away to be cyberized, Cyrax and Sektor pledging their services to Kahn in exchange. When the Outworld emperor launches an invasion of Earthrealm, the cyborgs attack the Earthrealm defenders to stop them from interfering, only to be thwarted by Nightwolf. Despite this, Shao Kahn's wife Queen Sindel, arrived moments later and completed the cyborgs' mission.

Cyrax does not appear in Mortal Kombat X (2015), but was added as one of three gameplay variations for the downloadable cyborg character Triborg.

Cyrax returns in Mortal Kombat 11 (2019) as a non-playable character brought to the present timeline by the keeper of time Kronika as part of her plan to restart time by taking part in Sektor's plot to capture Sub-Zero's Lin Kuei warriors and convert them into cyborgs to bolster her ranks. After Sub-Zero and Hanzo Hasashi infiltrated the Cyber Lin Kuei factory to shut them down, Cyrax attempted to stop them, only to be defeated and have his slave protocol disabled. Upon regaining his humanity, he was horrified to discover that he had become a machine and, despite Sub-Zero pledging to restore him, chose to sacrifice himself in the process of shutting down the factory.

Design

Cyrax was the second of the three cybernetic ninja characters to be conceived, and he and Sektor were unofficially named "Mustard" and "Ketchup" while Mortal Kombat 3 was in production. He was a yellow palette swap of Sektor, as the original costume used for game filming was red. Actor Sal Divita, who portrayed all three characters, described the outfit, which consisted of plastic armor plating and a custom-made helmet, as "really heavy", while the helmet itself was "hot and uncomfortable" and affected his breathing and hearing when he wore it. Series co-creator John Tobias said that Cyrax and Sektor's design was in part inspired by Boba Fett and the Predator.

With the series' transition into three-dimensional games, the cybernetics gained their own distinct designs. Cyrax in particular had several enhancements to his costume that included a utility belt and LED lighting placed throughout his mechanism. His human face was officially seen for the first time in his MK Gold ending, which showed him in full armor minus his faceplate. His alternate costume for Deadly Alliance showed him in a more revealing costume with fewer openly visible cybernetic enhancements while more of his actual body and facial features were displayed.

Along with Sektor, Cyrax's MK3 costume was released as downloadable content for the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot game.

Gameplay

Cyrax utilizes modern weaponry such as bombs and buzzsaws, in addition to a trapping net composed of green energy that snares his opponents and sets them up for a free hit. He is notable for his "Self-Destruct" Fatality (a move that executes defeated opponents) in MK3, when he arms a bomb in his chest with a wrist-mounted control panel, taking out himself as well as his opponent. In MK 2011, many of his combos utilize his buzzsaw. Cyrax has separate combos in the sambo style in Deadly Alliance named Ketchup and Mustard, a reference to this. As a reference to his MK3 ending, Cyrax is seen trapped waist-deep in sand in the desert background in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

GameSpot criticized Cyrax's bombs in MK Gold, mentioning that they are nearly useless in the game as players can sidestep them. IGN wrote both of Cyrax's detonator special moves make him interesting in Armageddon. Kotaku said that Cyrax "was familiar and fun to play" in MK 2011 and that "he's like a cybernetic Swiss army knife, stuffed with nasty surprises." However, GamesRadar criticized Cyrax for feeling unbalanced in MK 2011, citing his projectiles that one can barely get around.

Other media and merchandise

Cyrax appears in two episodes of the 1996 animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm.

In the 1997 film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Cyrax (played by J. J. Perry) serves as one of Shao Kahn's assassins, and leads an extermination squad into battle during Kahn's invasion of Earth to kill Sonya and Jax, but self-detonates after being defeated in a fight against Jax. Perry said in a 2011 interview that he and actor Lynn "Red" Williams (Jax) "really beat the piss out of each other" while filming the scene.

Cyrax makes one appearance in the 2011 first season of director Kevin Tancharoen's 2011 web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy, and is played by Shane Warren Jones. He and Sektor are first shown in their human forms en route to the Lin Kuei's secret headquarters, where their cybernetic automations are overseen by Kano.

Cyrax will appear in the upcoming sequel Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms voce by Artt Butler.

The character has a minor role in DC Comics' 2015 Mortal Kombat X comic miniseries set prior to the events of the game.

Cyrax was included in a "Mortal Kombat Klassic" three-pack of action figures along with Sektor and Smoke released in 2011 by Jazwares. An 18" polystone character statue was released by Syco Collectibles in 2013.

Reception

Cyrax was included in a three-way tie with Sektor and Smoke atop GamesRadar's 2011 list of "gaming's most malicious machines". Game Informer included Cyrax in a list of characters wanted for the 2011 MK reboot, while also praising his special moves. 1UP.com included Cyrax among a selection of characters wanted as downloadable content in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe: "Cyrax probably clashes a little with Lex Luthor's battlesuit, or even elements of the cyber-armed Jax, but is another bright yellow hero who many remember fondly from the digitized era." Cyrax placed at 25th on UGO Networks' 2012 list of the top 50 Mortal Kombat characters. Complex ranked him the fourth-coolest robot in video games. Prima Games called the MK2011 version of Cyrax "easily the cheapest character in the game" due to his unblockable bombs and anti-air attacks, and "nothing the development team adjusts [in the game] seems to change that."

Critical reaction to his Fatalities has been mixed. Game Informer named his "Self Destruct" finisher from MK3 as one of the game's most confusing finishers. Kevin Wong of Complex named his "Trash Compactor" Fatality from Deadly Alliance eleventh out of twenty in his 2013 best-of list, as they felt it "demonstrated the [development] team's rejuvenated dedication to blood and guts, while keeping the dark sense of humor that made the violence palatable."

IGN gave the 2011 Mortal Kombat Legacy episode featuring Cyrax a nine-out-of-ten score, describing it as "pretty damn terrific" while praising the special effects, and "[their] big fight sequence at the end of the episode is probably the coolest battle of the entire [first] season." C.J. Miozzi of GameFront described Cyrax therein as "a whiny baby about" the automation, while professing himself a fan of Sektor. Fearnet praised the "complete accuracy" of the episode's depiction of the characters.

See also

• List of fictional cyborgs

References

This article "Cyrax" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Cyrax. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

📰 Article(s) of the same category(ies)

• Latias and Latios
• Byleth (Fire Emblem)
• Morrigan Aensland
• Grand Inquisitor (Star Wars)
• Super Macho Man
• Larry Butz
• Geno (Mario)

---