Mortal Kombat: Conquest
Encyclopedia
Mortal Kombat: Konquest (also released as Mortal Kombat: Conquest) is an American martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....

 television series that aired for one season from 1998 to 1999, and was based on the popular Mortal Kombat fighting game
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...

 series. The program was filmed at Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s...

 in Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...

.

Storyline

"In each of us there burns a soul of a warrior. In every generation a few are chosen to prove it. Centuries ago, in a time of darkness and fury, that fate befell three strangers. A monk, Kung Lao; an exiled guard, Siro; and a thief, Taja, who have to defend our realm from the forces of Outworld. By fighting for their lives, by fighting for their honor and by fighting for their realm...in a tournament called Mortal Kombat."


Many centuries ago, Earth was an enchanting and desirable planet. Powerful and rich with natural resources, the vicious megalomaniac Shao Kahn
Shao Kahn
Shao Kahn is a boss, announcer and recurring playable character from the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. The main antagonist in the Mortal Kombat series, Shao Kahn is the Emperor of Outworld known for his godlike strength, extreme brutality and knowledge of black magic...

 wanted Earth as part of his growing collection of conquered realms known as Outworld. To protect Earth, Mortal Kombat, a tournament in which the fate of the planet is decided in battles between competitors from Earthrealm and Outworld, was created. Five hundred years in the past, the monk warrior Kung Lao defeated Shao Kahn's sorcerer, Shang Tsung
Shang Tsung
Shang Tsung is a boss and player character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. A powerful and deadly sorcerer and a primary antagonist in the Mortal Kombat series, Shang Tsung is a shapeshifter who absorbs the souls of those he slays in order to maintain his youth and power...

. When Kung Lao spared his life, Kahn imprisoned Tsung in the cobalt mines.

Kung Lao now had to train the next generation of warriors, who would give their lives to save Earth. Kung Lao creates a partnership and friendship with two warriors: Siro, a former bodyguard, and Taja, an ex-thief. In the mysterious city of Zhuzin, Kung Lao and his new friends are guided and watched over by the thunder god Raiden
Raiden (Mortal Kombat)
Raiden is a player character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. Raiden, also known as Lord Raiden, is a thunder god of the Mortal Kombat universe and protector of Earthrealm. He commands many supernatural abilities such as the ability to teleport, control over lightning, and flight...

. The three now battle various evils of both Outworld and Earthrealm, including an imprisoned Tsung, who swore eternal revenge on Kung Lao for his humiliating defeat, and the sultry and seductive Vorpax, who is also imprisoned in the mines and has an agenda of her own.

Episodes

Taken from TV.com
TV.com
TV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...

.
Title |#
"Warrior Eternal (Part 1)" October 3, 1998 1
After defeating Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat, Kung Lao must learn that victory is not the end but only the beginning.
"Warrior Eternal (Part 2)" October 10, 1998 2
After barely managing to escape execution, Kung Lao rushes with Siro and Taja to save his love from a new deadly enemy: Scorpion.
"Cold Reality" October 17, 1998 3
Kung Lao and his friends find themselves attacked by the Lin Kuei and their most powerful fighter, Sub-Zero.
"Immortal Kombat" October 24, 1998 4
Due to Shang Tsung's sorcery, Siro and Taja are rapidly aging and it's up to Kung Lao not only to find a cure for them but also fight the sorcerer. When he gets to the forest, he meets Omegis, an immortal sorceress who has what he is looking for, but at first she will not let him return. When he goes back to the aged Siro and Taja, he fights Shang Tsung, which incurs the wrath of Raiden when Kung Lao waives the sacred rules.
"The Essence" October 31, 1998 5
Kung Lao meets the mysterious Princess Kitana
Kitana (Mortal Kombat)
Kitana is a recurring player and a one-time boss character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. One of the lead characters of the Mortal Kombat saga, Kitana is the princess of the otherdimensional realm of Edenia and the daughter of Queen Sindel...

 of Edenia, who comes to Earthrealm in search of the Essence of her realm.
"Noob Saibot" November 7, 1998 6
Siro and Taja meet a seer named Kiri, who tells them of an underworld city with a shrine guarded by two powerful warriors. Kiri says they will grow stronger if they defeat these warriors, but she really hopes they will release Noob Saibot
Noob Saibot
Noob Saibot is a video game character from the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He debuted as a hidden character in Mortal Kombat II , although the later game Mortal Kombat: Deception established his true identity as that of the original Sub-Zero, who was killed by his nemesis Scorpion after...

 to kill Kung Lao.
"Debt of the Dragon" November 14, 1998 7
The Black Dragon, an infamous underworld organization, have appeared in Zhu Zin. They claim ownership of the trading post and demand Kung Lao, Siro and Taja leave. While they resist the Black Dragon, a member named Jola makes a deal with Shang Tsung for power and revenge. He gives her the powers of the black dragon, but she abuses her new-found flame-throwing powers out of arrogance and nearly dies. Shang sends her back to the mines, where she is to remain forever.
"Undying Dream" November 21, 1998 8
Taja is pulled into a portal and arrives in the Cobalt Mines, captured by Shang Tsung, after being caught under an illusion of seeing her dead father. Kung Lao and Siro have to save her, even if it means walking into a trap.
"Quan Chi" November 28, 1998 9
Quan Chi sends a trio of women to infect Kung Lao, Taja and Siro with a potion. The potion magnifies their flaws: Kung Lao is consumed by rage, Siro becomes a drunkard, and Taja returns to thievery. With the three getting out of control, Raiden has to find a way to break this spell before it's too late.
"Unholy Alliance" December 5, 1998 10
Shang Tsung forms an unlikely alliance with Quan Chi to defeat Kung Lao; they agree that if Shang can lure Kung Lao into a trap of their creation, Shang must teach Quan Chi how to steal souls. They lure Kung Lao into a realm created by them both, with everything he could possibly want. But it's all an elaborate trap for Shang Tsung to capture him and leave the Earth Realm defenceless. In a backstory, Taja makes a bet with Siro - a day of slave labor if she can take him down in one move.
"Thicker Than Blood" December 12, 1998 11
An old love from Siro's past, Hannah, turns up in Zhu Zin in search of his help. Hannah reveals she married Siro's estranged brother, Cassar, who has gone missing. Siro is reluctant to help until he learns Scorpion used magic to make Cassar one of his warriors.
"Shadow of a Doubt" February 6, 1999 12
Kung Lao is badly wounded in a fight with Rain. With him practically defenceless, Shao Kahn sends Mileena
Mileena
Mileena is a player and boss character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. Mileena was originally known as the personal assassin of the Outworld's evil emperor Shao Kahn and twin sister of his stepdaughter Princess Kitana, but in a truth she is a deformed clone of her created by the sorcerer...

 to masquerade as Princess Kitana and finish off the weakened Kung Lao. However, after taking too much time, Kahn punishes his "new daughter" with lengthening her front teeth and being given a mask to hide her true hideousness.
"Twisted Truths" February 13, 1999 13
A warrior named Tomas arrives, saying he wants to join Kung Lao in defending Earth Realm. All seems well until it looks like Tomas has murdered some barmaids. Has he? Or is there something bigger going on?
"Festival of Death" February 20, 1999 14
A traveling circus arrives in Zhu Zin with Qali among it. Kung Lao, Taja and Siro suspect something is wrong and they're right. The circus turns out to be a way for Quan Chi to raise an army.
"The Serpent and the Ice" February 27, 1999 15
Shao Kahn partners two bitter enemies, Sub-Zero and Scorpion, to destroy Kung Lao.
"Kreeya" March 6, 1999 16
Empress Kreeya arrives on Earth Realm to build up an army. Her target: Outworld. Vorpax, revealed to be working for Kreeya, invites Kung Lao, Taja and Siro to join them.
"The Master" April 17, 1999 17
Long ago, Master Cho was betrayed by Shang Tsung so he could fight for Shao Kahn. With Shang Tsung presently loose on Earth Realm, Master Cho intends to settle the score.
"In Kold Blood" April 24, 1999 18
Kreeya has returned and is now teamed up with Reptile
Reptile (Mortal Kombat)
Reptile is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat series of video games. Created for Midway Games by John Tobias and Ed Boon, Reptile debuted in Mortal Kombat as a hidden boss and appeared in subsequent titles as a playable character. The character has also appeared on various merchandise,...

.
"Flawed Victory" May 1, 1999 19
Shao Kahn enlists Quan Chi to find the missing Shang Tsung and return him to the Cobalt Mines. Shang disguises himself as Quan Chi and tries to kill the emperor with the intention to make him look like a traitor.
"Balance of Power" May 8, 1999 20
As Shao Kahn furiously seeks his traitor (Reptile), the balance of power is menacingly shifting putting everyone on Earth Realm and Outworld in danger. Vorpax convinces Kung Lao and his friends to help her kill Creeya. When her mother is dead she takes her powers to become the new queen and teams up with Shang Tsung.
"Stolen Lies" May 15, 1999 21
When Taja's old friend Dion suddenly makes her appearance at the trading post, search of a mysterious city called Shakaana, which holds a very deadly secret. The people of the city, called the Shaakans, worship a "god" they call Shaaka, who is really Shao Kahn in disguise, with every aspect of their culture reflecting this blind worship of the Emperor. At first, Kung Lao's friends don't believe him when he presents the evidence, but they later discover that the Shaakans are being lied to by Shao Kahn's so-called "disciples", particularly his Shadow Priests, into thinking they will be getting salvation in "Far-land" (really Outworld). However, the people are so naive and careless that they refuse to believe the truth. Dion is also revealed to be a traitor, aligning herself with Shao. After Raiden saves Kung Lao from being killed by one of the Shadow Priests, Raiden orders the Shaakans to leave the city.
"Vengeance" May 22, 1999 22
Shao Kahn unleashes his fury against all his enemies, real or imaginary, and Raiden is the only one who can stop him. Unfortunately Kung Lao is killed by Shao Kahn's minions and Earthrealm falls under Shao Kahn's Outworld. Raiden's powers are diminished along with Earthrealm falling under Shao Kahn's rule.

Main characters

  • Great Kung Lao: Paolo Montalbán
    Paolo Montalbán
    Paolo Montalban is a Filipino-American actor and singer best known for his performance in ABC/Disney's telepic of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella as Prince Christopher, opposite Brandy as Cinderella....

  • Siro: Daniel Bernhardt
  • Taja: Kristanna Loken
    Kristanna Loken
    Kristanna Sommer Loken is an American actress known for her work in both film and television, and as a fashion model.-Early life:Loken was born in Ghent, New York, the daughter of Rande , a model, and Merlin "Chris" Loken, a writer and apple farmer. All four of her grandparents were born in Norway...

  • Vorpax: Tracy Douglas
  • Shang Tsung: Bruce Locke
    Bruce Locke
    Bruce Asato Locke is an American actor born and raised in Oregon. Locke is not a martial artist and yet is known for some of the action characters he has portrayed.He played tennis in college and was nationally ranked...

  • Raiden and Shao Kahn: Jeffrey Meek
    Jeffrey Meek
    Jeffrey William Meek is an American actor. Meek and his family moved often; as a child, Meek lived in Zweibrücken, Germany, Michigan, and San Francisco....


Recurring characters

  • Baron Reyland: John Reilly
    John Reilly (soap opera actor)
    For the notable actor of the same name, see John C. ReillyJohn Reilly is an American television and film actor. Reilly has appeared on several soap operas including General Hospital, Sunset Beach, and Passions....

  • Geneviere "Jen" Reyland: Jennifer Renton
  • Omegis: Angelica Bridges
    Angelica Bridges
    Angelica Bridges is an American actress, model and singer. She was discovered by the president of Elite Model Management when she was singing at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida....

  • Kiri: Sung Hi Lee
  • Ankha: Tahitia Hicks
  • Siann: Dana Hee
  • Mika: Jaime Pressly
    Jaime Pressly
    Jaime Elizabeth Pressly is an American actress and model. She is best known for playing Joy Turner on the NBC sitcom My Name Is Earl, for which she was nominated for two Emmy Awards, winning one, as well as a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award...

  • Sora: Renee Tenison
    Renee Tenison
    Reneé Tenison is an American model and actress.Reneé has three older brothers and an identical twin sister, Rosie, who also works as a model...

  • Kreeya: Fabiana Udenio
    Fabiana Udenio
    Fabiana Udenio is an Argentine/Italian character actress and sex symbol who has appeared in film and on television. She is best known for her role as "Alotta Fagina", a Bond girl parody in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.Udenio was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and moved to Italy ...

  • Qali: Roshumba Williams
    Roshumba Williams
    Roshumba Williams is an American model who first became known for her appearance in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition in the early 1990s. She also works as an actress and reality TV show judge. As a teenager in 1987, she was discovered in Paris by fashion designer Yves St...


Game characters

  • Scorpion
    Scorpion (Mortal Kombat)
    Scorpion is a recurring player and boss character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He has been a playable character in all the games, with the exception of the original version of Mortal Kombat 3.-In video games:...

    : Chris Casamassa
    Chris Casamassa
    Chris Casamassa is an American martial artist of Italian origin , actor and stuntman who is best known for his role as Scorpion in the movie Mortal Kombat, which was based on the popular fighting-game series...

  • Sub-Zero
    Sub-Zero (Mortal Kombat)
    Sub-Zero is the name given to two video game characters from the Mortal Kombat series. The older Sub-Zero first appeared in the first Mortal Kombat game, being replaced by his younger brother in Mortal Kombat II and the subsequent games...

    : J.J. Perry
    J.J. Perry
    Jordan Andrew Perry , better known as J.J. Perry, is an American martial artist, actor, and stuntman.-Career:Perry began practicing martial arts training in 1975, at the age of eight. Because his mother was not able to afford her son's lessons, he cleaned a martial arts school, and received...

  • Kitana
    Kitana (Mortal Kombat)
    Kitana is a recurring player and a one-time boss character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. One of the lead characters of the Mortal Kombat saga, Kitana is the princess of the otherdimensional realm of Edenia and the daughter of Queen Sindel...

    : Audie England
    Audie England
    Audie England is an American actress and professional photographer.- Biography :She was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and graduated from UCLA with a concentration in cinematography....

  • Noob Saibot
    Noob Saibot
    Noob Saibot is a video game character from the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He debuted as a hidden character in Mortal Kombat II , although the later game Mortal Kombat: Deception established his true identity as that of the original Sub-Zero, who was killed by his nemesis Scorpion after...

    : Master Sultan Uddin
  • Quan Chi: Adoni Maropis
    Adoni Maropis
    Adoni Maropis is an American actor.Maropis was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the middle of three sons. He is best known for playing Quan Chi in Mortal Kombat: Conquest. He also played General Hassan in Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun as well as Sakr in Hidalgo...

  • Mileena: Megan Brown
  • Rain: Percy "Spitfire" Brown
  • Reiko: Jim Helsinger
  • Reptile
    Reptile (Mortal Kombat)
    Reptile is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat series of video games. Created for Midway Games by John Tobias and Ed Boon, Reptile debuted in Mortal Kombat as a hidden boss and appeared in subsequent titles as a playable character. The character has also appeared on various merchandise,...

    : Jon Valera
  • Smoke – Computer animated
  • Goro – Computer animated

Notable guest appearances

With Konquest immediately following TNT's top-rated program, WCW Monday Nitro
WCW Monday Nitro
WCW Monday Nitro was a weekly professional wrestling telecast produced by World Championship Wrestling, created by Ted Turner and Eric Bischoff. The show aired Monday nights on TNT, going head-to-head with the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001...

, WCW
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...

 wrestlers Meng
Uliuli Fifita
Tonga 'Uli'uli Fifita is a retired professional wrestler and actor, known for his appearances in both World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation...

 and Wrath
Bryan Clark
Bryan Emmeth Clark, Jr. is a American former professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling.-Early career:...

 filmed separate appearances. Former QVC
QVC
QVC is a multinational corporation specializing in televised home shopping. Founded in 1986 by Joseph Segel in West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania, United States, QVC broadcasts in five countries as QVC US, QVC UK, QVC Germany, QVC Japan and – QVC Italy to 200 million households...

 model Dorian played the barmaid Magda in the episodes "Twisted Truth" and "Quan Chi." Eva Mendes
Eva Mendes
Eva Mendes is an American actress.She began acting in the late 1990s, and after a series of minor roles and performances in several smaller films such as Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror and Urban Legends: Final Cut , she broke into the mainstream, appearing in leading roles in Hollywood...

, who would go on to become a highly successful actress and model, also appeared in one episode as Siro's ex-girlfriend.

Production and distribution

Mortal Kombat: Konquest was produced by Threshold Entertainment
Threshold Entertainment
Threshold Entertainment is a Hollywood intellectual property management and production company.The company develops, manages, produces, and publishes intellectual properties in all media including feature films, television shows, live stage tours, animation, video games and websites...

 (who produced the Mortal Kombat film series) in association with New Line Television
New Line Television
New Line Television was the television arm of the company of the same name, in turn a subsidiary of Time Warner.The company was founded in 1988 in order to produce Freddy's Nightmares, a television series based on the studio's popular Nightmare on Elm Street film series...

 (television arm of the films' distributor
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...

). Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Warner Bros. Television Distribution is an American television distribution arm of Warner Bros. Television, itself a part of Time Warner formed circa 1960. In 1989, the studio formed Warner Bros...

 (the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

 unit (eventual holder of the Mortal Kombat property) is New Line's corporate sibling turned parent) syndicated the series until it was later picked up by TNT
Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...

, who aired the remaining new episodes in addition to broadcasting repeats in syndication. With a lucrative timeslot following WCW Monday Nitro, Konquest was very popular, but according to the show's developer, Joshua Wexler, this resulted in higher budget costs for the show than anticipated. The cancellation was not announced at first, and rumors of a second season circulated. However, TNT pulled the plug on the show, leaving it with a cliffhanger ending
Cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction...

. The ending was planned to have been resolved in the second season, which would have summed up the series and corresponded with the MK timeline.

DVD

Mortal Kombat: Konquest has not been released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 in North America, but is currently available in the United Kingdom and Australia, where it enjoyed a more successful run on television. The complete and fully licensed DVD collection is currently available only in Australia. Unofficial collections produced in the UK consist of unrelated and edited episodes merged together so that each disc contains a theme, and some of the DVDs contain spelling errors on the covers. Several episodes of the series, consisting of one show per disc, were released in Germany; two of the discs feature episodes centered around Kreeya and Sub-Zero. DVDs were also recently released in Portugal, with many spelling errors on the covers.

Reception

In 2010, 4thletter! ranked Konquest as sixth on the list of "The Top Ten Most Ridiculous Things to Come Out of Mortal Kombat". In 2011, 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....

 featured the series in the article "The Top Ten Times Mortal Kombat Went Wrong", calling it a "wire-fu
Wire fu
Wire fu is an element of Hong Kong action cinema. It is a combination of two terms: "wire work" and "kung fu". Wire fu is used to describe a sub-genre of Kung-Fu movies where the stuntmen's skill is augmented with the use of wires and pulleys, as well as other techniques, in many cases to perform...

disaster".

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK