Why Invincible's Omni-Man is Perfect for a Mortal Kombat 11 Guest Fighter
The Mortal Kombat series is no stranger to guest-fighters, having featured characters such as Kratos, Jason Voorhees, and Leatherface. Mortal Kombat 11 boasts a plethora of other-worldly Kombatants who are more than willing to get their hands bloody. The likes of John Rambo, RoboCop, and the Joker have all brought more variety, and of course, fatalities, to the popular fighting game franchise. Mum's the word on if MK11 will receive more DLC in the future, but if it does, there's one character that developer NetherRealm ought to shift its attention towards.
Since premiering earlier this year, Invincible has garnered high praise for its subversion of several tropes associated with coming-of-age superhero stories like Spider-Man and Superboy. One way it does this is through its commitment to showing how violent an endeavor being a hero can be. The most ruthless character of Invincible's cast is perhaps Nolan Grayson AKA Omni-Man, the father of the titular character. The Viltrumite's capacity for acts of unspeakable violence makes him a perfect candidate for the ruthless fighting game franchise, should another Kombat pack ever arrive. Readers should be aware that MAJOR SPOILERS are ahead for season 1 of Invincible.
If NetherRealm is looking for a new franchise to cross over with, it should look no further than the destructively violent Invincible. Much of the series' catastrophic devastation is instigated by Omni-Man, who is essentially Invincible's version of Superman, except without certain powers like heat-vision and cooling breath. The two also differ in another huge way: Whereas Superman was sent to Earth by his Kryptonian parents to ensure his survival, Omni-Man came to Earth from his home planet of Viltrum to weaken Earth's defenses so that the planet would be ripe for conquering by the Viltrumites.
Omni-Man isn't simply an unhinged version of Superman; he's actually a corrupted, evil Superman. He's a being on par with Clark Kent's power who seemingly sees no value in non-Viltrumite life. It doesn't matter if one or one million humans die, it's all the same to him. He spills hundreds of thousands of gallons worth of blood throughout Invincible's first season, and with some of the creative ways he kills, it's not hard to imagine him fitting in with the rest of MK11's cast.
The first episode of Invincible is bookended by a bloody bout between the Guardians of the Globe (Invincible's version of the Justice League), and Omni-Man that plays out like a montage of fatalities. Red Rush attempts to use his super-speed to gain the upper hand against Omni-Man, but the Viltrumite stops the speedster in his tracks by violently clutching his head. The "superhero" then squeezes his hands together, eventually forcing Red Rush's head to pop like a blood-filled balloon, and that's only the start of this battle. The highlights of Omni-Man's massacre include him pulverizing Darkwing, slamming his fist through Green Ghost's head, and decapitating the Immortal with his bare hands.
While there are about four Fatality ideas listed above, should Omni-Man make it into MK11, it would be a disservice to the character if only the above scene was referenced in his Fatalities. The truth is, his takedown of Earth's greatest heroes barely scratches the surface of how sadistic of a killer this character is.
A later encounter sees the Viltrumite reprimanding an alien race known as the Flaxans for attempting to invade Earth because it "isn't [theirs] to conquer." On the Flaxans' home planet, Omni-Man grasps their leader and takes off flying; he uses the leader's body as a battering ram while charging through building after building. The leader's body is mangled in the process. After devastating Flaxan society with its own leader, Omni-Man holds the last remnants of the alien's head for a moment before crushing it with one hand. Beat for beat, it looks and sounds just like a Mortal Kombat fatality. The only thing that's missing is a voiceover declaring it so.
But if Omni-Man were to come crashing into MK11, it'd be a shame if at least one fatality didn't reference perhaps his most monstrous, albeit iconic act of violence. In Invincible's season finale, Omni-Man forces his son, Mark, into a subway station to teach him a depraved lesson about how meaningless human life is. As a train approaches, Omni-Man holds his relatively powerless son up to it. Mark's nigh-invincible body then tears through the subway car before obliterating the countless civilians inside. Mark was unharmed (at least physically), but MK11's cast would likely be borderline unrecognizable should they endure the same punishment.
There's plenty of cases to be made for who should join MK11 next, but considering his violent nature coupled with Invincible's mainstream success, Omni-Man seems like the perfect choice to enter the fray. Every time he's on-screen, viewers are treated to animated bloodbaths that demonstrate his large appetite for violence. Watching him in action feels akin to watching someone audition for Mortal Kombat, and it'd be a treat to see NetherRealm bring him in for callbacks.
Mortal Kombat 11 is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Reviewed by Unknown
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June 01, 2021
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