Thanks for the Q. #MortalKombat ’s #Kano was always more than a meathead foil for Sonya.

Here’s a look past his surface-level goonery at how he came to be... (thread) https://twitter.com/leon11673860/status/1386834683598626816

Kano started as a pencil doodle. He was always envisioned as a one-eyed thief/mercenary. He was named “Kao” briefly b4 we changed it 2 “Kano.”

And, it is just Kano... maybe Mister Kano.

I pity the fool that gives him a first name... What’s it gonna be? Jerry? Lawrence? (1/11)

Like the rest of MK’s first class, Kano was foundational to a structure of character archetypes.

His archetype was as a “trickster.” His trick was to mask a conniving intelligence behind his brutish buffoonery all to service his penchant for self-preservation. (2/11)

Re: Kano’s backstory - he was abandoned as a child by an American woman in Tokyo. The implication being that he grew into a life of crime while in Japan and as a foreigner may have been limited in climbing the Yakuza ranks. (3/11)

...so, he clawed his way into the Black Dragon instead.

The Black Dragon were an international crime organization. They were more of a scrappy gang and not nearly as refined as Yakuza, but they were feared because of it.

So, why does Kano have an Australian-ish accent? (4/11)

RIP

Kano’s invitation to compete in the tournament wasn’t to suggest that he had any redeeming qualities. His whole reason to compete was to pillage Shang Tsung’s island... He saw it as an opportunity to line his pockets, even after he learned the true nature of the contest... (6/11)

And, even tho Kano didn’t appear in MK2, that’s where his story took a big turn. There, he sided w Earth not because he cared, but because it was in his best interests...

Maybe he’s not so bad after all? (7/11)

Nah, still bad. In MK3 he flips to the side that was winning at the time, which was Outworld. Again, because it was to his benefit.

This was Kano’s pattern... and yet he managed to always be a step ahead of Sonya, who took it all very personally. He had her in head games. (8/11)

Here’s some untold fiction that died w the aborted Special Forces game in the before times...

Prior to events in MK1, Sonya and Jax had long been working to shutdown the Black Dragon. While in pursuit, Sonya and her SF unit were ambushed and taken captive by the BD... (9/11)

Long story short... SF team members were tortured and killed, but Sonya escaped and shot Kano’s eye out.

Kano evaded capture and managed to make it to a back alley surgeon who saved him with a cybernetic metal eye plate. (10/11)

^That was the beginning of their feud.

Sonya took it all very personal and no doubt harbored guilt for her lost team members. Her pursuit of Kano fueled by emotion.

For Kano, it was all business. Take his eye? He’ll get another one. Survival fueled by self-preservation. (11/11)

Note: Here’s an earlier thread discussing Kano’s place as a chosen warrior... https://twitter.com/therealsaibot/status/1363208950141739009

MKFunFact: During MK1 dev, I brought Kano actor Rich Divizio shopping w me to find costume parts. With a pirate eye patch in my hand, ready for purchase, I looked up to see Rich randomly holding a shiny Mardi Gras mask over his face...

Metal face plate > pirate eye patch