MKIceAndFire/YouTubeMortal Kombat 11 recently arrived for Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
So far, it’s reported to be the most successful launch out of all the games in the franchise’s 30 year history.
While you may think this means gamers are enjoying it – which most of them probably are – some fans are taking the time to pick apart one of the endings in the game’s Tower Mode.
The ending in question involves Jax Briggs, a regular character since Mortal Kombat 2. He is the leader of the Outerworld Investigation Agency, and a ‘cybernetically enhanced’ fighter.
Mortal Kombat 11 – 3 Minute Review
Those fatalities though 😱 Mortal Kombat is a clear contender for the best fighting game the current gen has to offer 💪
Posted by UNILAD Gaming on Wednesday, 24 April 2019
In the new game, we see Briggs fighting his own daughter, the thunder god Raiden, and a younger version of himself thanks to some time travel wizardry. Eventually though, he comes back to fight for good, as Daily Dot reports.
In the game’s Tower Mode, each fighter competes in a set number of battles before seeing a non-canonical ending that shows what would happen if they were the winner of the Shaolin Tournament.
As Briggs is given the power to control time, he resolves to right some wrongs, both personal and historical. Namely, slavery.
He says:
I’ve been lucky. My family and I have lived the American dream. But most people who look like me haven’t had that chance. I owe it to them to put things right. I’m not waiting centuries for people to get woke when I’ve got the power to speed things up.
You can watch it here:
However, some people weren’t sure about the character’s decision to wipe slavery from history, suggesting that the game’s developer, NeatherRealm, were implying some reverse racism against white people.
This is the absolute dumbest, most buck wild take in response to how dope Jax’s MK11 ending is. Trying to hide one’s blatant racism under Peterson-like wordplay just doesn’t work. pic.twitter.com/OrlkAXg9og
— Cole Henry (@colehenry19) April 23, 2019
So Jax an “all American” character stopped slavery of Black Africans and he remained African? Even though he probably had some white American ancestry. This is a good ending because All Africans stayed in Africa? This is some fourth dimensional Racist 💩.
— Alain Palmer (@alainpalmer06) April 21, 2019
Some people couldn’t get their head around what someone might do if they had the power to change history:
…I've spent on this series and spin-offs over the years. Making Jax a black nationalist just b/c he's black is not only out of character, it is racist. Someone at @NetherRealm copy and pasted #WakandaForever into the game and unironically used the term "woke." Disgusting. pic.twitter.com/9RRKpWtJ1w
— Constantly Pondering (@ConstantPonder) April 24, 2019
While other didn’t quite see it the same way:
LOL Mortal Kombat Jax ending got people straight mad! Those SJWs are at it again with this #Woke pc political correctness bs…. at least that's what they saying, me personally I don't see the issue here, somebody gotta tell me what the problem is #MK11 https://t.co/jGi9GHB073
— 👁𝓐𝓻𝓽𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓛𝓲𝓺𝓾𝓲𝓭99💋 (@VillarosaArts) April 21, 2019
I don't understand how #JaxBriggs going back in time to kill slave masters, is racist. #mk11
— Your Average Gamer (@aplusgenious) April 24, 2019
Despite the overblown reaction to Jax’s ending, the reviews of Mortal Kombat 11 have been largely positive, with the game being the largest launch in Warner Bros Game’s history.
If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.