Though an official reveal is still waiting in the wings,Mortal Kombat 12is all but confirmed at this point. First announced unceremoniously by Warner Bros. during a recent financial meeting, an officialMortal Kombat 12reveal seems destined to occur any day now, with NetherRealm’s recent “Thank You from NetherRealm” YouTube video seemingly teasing the next entry in the30-year-old franchise.
Coming in at just two minutes long, the “Thank You from NetherRealm” video sees a slew of different developers and creatives over at the studio thanking fans for sticking by theMortal Kombatfranchise for the last 30 years. While the messages were certainly heartfelt, they weren’t what got fans talking. Right at the end of the video,Mortal KombatCo-Creator Ed Boonthanks fans, and states that “We’re not quite done yet,” before a 6-second teaser, presumably forMortal Kombat 12plays. Only one thing is shown in this minuscule trailer, and that’s sand, which might hold more significance than some fans might think.
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The Importance of Sand in Mortal Kombat
The tiny teaser forMortal Kombat 12shows a stream of sand falling from the bottom of a metallic object, possibly an hourglass. As the sand falls, the camera zooms in on one individual grain, which cracks, and blows apart, scattering even more grains around it in the process. While it might seem like an insignificant tease, just these few frames might have already given fans a good idea ofMortal Kombat 12’s main plot.
Sand appeared throughoutMortal Kombat 11’s story, with its main villain, Kronika, being the Keeper of Time and the Architect of History. Kronika is able to manipulate space and time using the literal Sands of Time, which she keeps in a device known as the Hourglass. This Hourglass gives Kronika the ability to alter history, and pull people from across time and space, leading toMortal Kombat 11’s converging timelines. Using the Sands of Time, Kronika also created herself a servant named Geras, an immortal construct also capable of wielding the sand himself. InMortal Kombat 11’s gameplay, Geras' ability to wield the Sands of Time is often used to create weapons, trap opponents, and even blast them back through time.
At the end ofMortal Kombat 11’s main story mode, Geras is chained to an anchor by Raiden, and pushed into the Sea of Blood, where he’s left to drown for all time. However, inMortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, Geras returns to aid his master Kronika once more. Geras is last seen when he faces off againstShao Kahn and Sindel, with the former obliterating his Geras' head with his hammer. But while this death seems pretty final, Geras is still immortal, and it’s more than possible that thisMortal Kombat 12teaser is hinting at his return, potentially as the main antagonist.
But another big theory behind theMortal Kombat 12teaser’s use of sand revolves around the notion of a “New Era.” At the end ofMortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, there are two endings to choose from. The first sees Shang Tsung using Kronika’s power to conquer all the realms, while the second sees Fire God Liu Kang defeat Shang Tsung, and use Kronika’s power to usher in a “New Era,” which is essentially a brand-new timeline fortheMortal Kombatuniverse. So, if the Liu Kang ending is canon, thenMortal Kombat 12could center around this new timeline, and potentially act as another reboot for the series, which could be hinted at in the teaser trailer when the grain of sand explodes and produces an image that looks almost like the formation of a new galaxy - albeit one made out of sand.
Mortal Kombat 12is currently in development.
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