Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for the 2021 Mortal Kombat movie.
The timeline of Mortal Kombat is deceptively complex and the 2021 film adaptation introduces yet another take on the classic mythology from the games. This marks the third distinctive timeline for the franchise, not counting the non-canon video games or the cartoon and comic book adaptations.
The original Mortal Kombat game started simply, with a variety of warriors, by accident or design, finding their way to the secluded island where the sorcerer Shang Tsung was holding a once-in-a-generation combat tournament. Later games revealed that the Mortal Kombat tournament was held for far higher stakes than honor or glory. It was fought to settle cosmic disputes, with the fate of entire planes of reality left in the balance depending upon which champions won the tournament.
Little of this lore is touched upon in the 2021 Mortal Kombat film, though enough is revealed to mark the timeline of the movie as something distinctive from both of the main timelines of the Mortal Kombat videogames. It remains to be seen what effect, if any, the film might have on the Mortal Kombat 12, which is poised to restart the Mortal Kombat timeline yet again. It seems likely the film will remain its own continuity independent of the games, but the question still remains: What is the history of Mortal Kombat in the new film?
The Elder Gods And The Beginning of Mortal Kombat
Mention is made of the Elder Gods in the 2021 Mortal Kombat movie, but exactly who they are is not explained beyond Mileena referring to the "rules set in stone by the Elder Gods" regarding the Mortal Kombat tournament. The rules in the movie match up with the rules from the games, dictating that one realm must challenge another and win ten tournaments in a row in order for that realm to legally conquer the other in the eyes of the Elder Gods. Presumably, the rest of the mythology of the Elder Gods holds true in the reality of the film.
It is said that at the beginning of the universe there were two races, the Titans and the Elder Gods, and the One Being, who gained power by devouring the essence of the Elder Gods and Titans. Eventually, the two races ed forces against the One Being to save themselves. Though the consciousness of the One Being survived, his physical form was split into six pieces, which became the six primary Realms of reality. These primary realms were Earthrealm (our world), the paradise realm of Edenia, the barbaric realm of Outworld, Orderrealm, Chaosrealm, and the hellish Netherrealm.
Sometime after this, the Titans and the Elder Gods came into conflict over the question of how the new life born of the Six Realms should be allowed to progress. The Elder Gods favored allowing the new races to find their own destinies, while the Titans favored forcing them to follow paths that were forged for them by higher powers. The two sides went to war, with the Elder Gods ultimately triumphing over the Titans. Afterward, in order to prevent further conflict from risking the destruction of all reality, the Elder Gods created the Mortal Kombat tournament to settle disputes between realms and prevent any single realm from being able to easily conquer the other through widespread violence.
The Death Of Hanzo Hasashi
For thousands of years, the peace forged by the Elder Gods held. Though the armies of Outworld would eventually expand and wage war upon the lesser realms, they proved unable to conquer Earthrealm. It was in the Earthrealm year 1617 that the forces of Outworld began to plan to take by trickery what they could not win through honest combat. To that end, they recruited the warrior Bi-Han to destroy the Shirai Ryu, the clan of the legendary ninja Hanzo Hasashi, a.k.a. Scorpion, who was one of the Chosen protectors of Earthrealm for his generation. This was because of a prophecy that stated that a group of champions would be "united by the rise of Hanzo Hasashi's blood" and prevent the Earthrealm from falling prey to the Outworld invasion.
The Rise of Sub-Zero
At some point after the death of Hanzo Hasashi, the forces of Outworld called for a Mortal Kombat tournament to determine the fate of Earthrealm. For nine generations (presumably somewhere between 270 and 360 years), the champions of Outworld were able to win this tournament, killing those chosen warriors who had been given a dragon tattoo that marked them as a champion of Earth. Bi-Han, who had betrayed the world of his birth to the forces of Outworld, found his life extended by the rules of the tournament and successfully defended his title eight times over the span of several centuries. Bi-Han adopted the name Sub-Zero as a reflection of his newfound power and an acknowledgment that he had abandoned all that he was before pledging himself to the service of the sorcerer Shang Tsung.
The Final Push To Conquer Earthrealm
Despite the repeated success that Sub-Zero had in representing Outworld in the Mortal Kombat contest for nine consecutive tournaments and the death of Hanzo Hasashi, Shang Tsung still worried about Outworld's chances of successfully winning a tenth Mortal Kombat. This paranoia proved to be justified after it was revealed that the bloodline of Hanzo Hasashi had not been completely wiped off the face of the earth, despite Sub-Zero's best efforts to kill off the Shirai Ryu. Unbeknownst to the forces of Outworld, the thunder god Raiden had intervened to save the life of Hanzo Hasashi's infant daughter, who had been hidden in a secret crawlspace when Bi-Han and his clan attacked the Hanzo Hasashi compound. Raiden saw to it that the girl was raised in safety within his own temple, assuring that the bloodline of Hanzo Hasashi would continue to exist so that the prophecy might someday be fulfilled.
Since the rules of Mortal Kombat did not expressly prohibit conflict outside of the tournament, Sub-Zero began hunting and killing all of the champions of Earthrealm before the tournament could begin in earnest. Sub-Zero was able to kill all of the champions of Earth-Realm save for the monks Liu Kang and Kung Lao, the soldier Jax, the mercenary Kano, and Cole Young, an American cage fighter who was the last living descendant of Hanzo Hasashi. In the end, the prophecy was fulfilled and Sub-Zero defeated, though Shang Tsung swore that he would return to conquer Earth, this time bringing armies instead of warriors.
