10. Johnny Cage. Mortal Kombat Characters Ranked

Michael Grygorcewicz

10. Johnny Cage

First appearance: Mortal Kombat

Last appearance: Mortal Kombat 11

Even though the plots in fighting games can get pretty elaborate (and convoluted) from one installment to the next, the characters rarely undergo much development – and if they do, it's usually in a drastic way, in response to some betrayal or other harrowing experience that causes them to completely change their approach. The case of Johnny Cage is all the more interesting, as he, over the course of the games, has transformed from a complacent narcissist and womanizer into a brave leader in charge of Earthly warriors fighting the evil in the old timeline, and a responsible father in the reality of the new games.

However, Johnny evoked sympathy even before he sorted his life out. A sassy smile and self-confidence pushed to extreme created a charismatic mix that made it hard not to like this Jean-Claude-Van-Damme-like warrior. His iconic kick in the crotch, which, director Paul W.S. Anderson brilliantly showed in the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie, was also cause of many smiles.

9. Kenshi

First appearance: Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

Last appearance: Mortal Kombat X

The Mortal Kombat releases from the sixth generation – Deadly Alliance, Deception and Armageddon – are not very respected by fans today. Wrongly, I dear say, because while they had their flaws, they also brought a lot of interesting ideas to the series and were very successful games on their own terms. A consequence of disliking these games is also lack of love for the new characters introduced in them, most of which are not very popular with fans.

The glorious exception is Kenshi, who, despite making his debut in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, is considered one of the most interesting characters in the series. It's hardly surprising – after all, this is a character who, despite his blindness, turns out to be an excellent swordsman wielding powerful telekinetic abilities. As if that weren't enough, he looks great, and his story in the game is based on his search for the traitor who led him to losing his sight. How can you not like a character like that?

Mortal Kombat X

April 8, 2015

PC PlayStation Xbox Mobile
Rate It!

Mortal Kombat 11

April 23, 2019

PC PlayStation Xbox Nintendo
Rate It!
Michael Grygorcewicz

Author: Michael Grygorcewicz

He first worked as a co-worker at GRYOnline.pl. In 2023 he became the head of the Paid Products department. He has been creating articles about games for over twenty years. He started with amateur websites, which he coded himself in HTML, then he moved on to increasingly larger portals. A computer engineer, but he was always more drawn to writing than programming, and he decided to tie his future with the former. In games, he primarily looks for stories, emotions, and immersion that no other medium can provide - hence, among his favorite titles, are games focusing on narration. Believes that NieR: Automata is the best game ever made.