How Mortal Kombat 1’s Conan The Barbarian Perpetuates a Strange Cycle

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 30, 2024 12 Views 7 Min Read
How Mortal Kombat 1's Conan The Barbarian Perpetuates a Strange Cycle



Set to continue the series trend of retro film crossovers, Conan the Barbarian has been shown off as the next upcoming guest character arriving in Mortal Kombat 1. Based on the likeness of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s portrayal of the character in the 1982 movie, this incarnation has followed Mortal Kombat 11‘s Terminator in faithfully tapping into the nostalgia of the era that initially inspired MK. With how much Conan has already inspired other media, however, it appears that his gameplay design could now be a part of creators operating in a referential loop.

Upon the reveal of Conan’s gameplay in Mortal Kombat 1, it became clear that he shares some functional similarities with Tusk from Killer Instinct. While KI doesn’t feature a one-to-one copy, they do appear to share a two-handed sword stance and multiple moves. Given that these are just as tied to the choreography of the Conan film as they are to each other, this situation demonstrates the character’s impact across media.

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The Uncanny Parallels Between the Movesets of Mortal Kombat 1’s Conan the Barbarian and Killer Instinct 2013’s Tusk

NRS May Have Taken Inspiration From KI’s Viking Warrior

The trailer teaser for Conan the Barbarian in Mortal Kombat 1 indicates that he is built around close-range, lengthy combos while maintaining a defensive presence. This is mainly due to his projectile-deflecting move which complements his otherwise sword-focused, but versatile set of attacks.

It’s not been officially stated, but this set of tools can nearly read as an homage to Tusk in the Killer Instinct 2013 reboot. Apart from many similar key poses for normal attacks, his Spine Splitter special move’s ability to destroy projectiles makes for an even closer feel between the two. A charging thrust like Immortal Spirit and an uppercut like Conqueror might even make it rough to believe that NetherRealm Studios didn’t directly reference Tusk when implementing Conan. Even if that’s true, however, there’s inherently another layer to this foundation through the fact that Rare and Iron Galaxy were already drawing from the cultural impact of Conan to begin with.

Tusk’s Moveset Similarities Could Just Be Due to Being Originally Inspired by Conan the Barbarian

A Cyclical Pop Culture Influence on Western Fighting Games

It might not be as obvious to the newer generation of gamers that Mortal Kombat has grown to appeal to, but the poses and general set of Conan’s moves have been shown to mostly have some direct foundation in the movie of his namesake. It does appear that NRS may have looked at how KI‘s Tusk heavily referenced the character already in smoothly bringing those motifs into the gaming medium, and then recursively applied that effort back into making a faithful version of Conan the Barbarian in Mortal Kombat 1. Considering that these fighting games once shared their audiences in arcades to a similar level of success, it’s almost like the spirit of the relatively dormant Killer Instinct franchise is being kept alive by Conan now essentially serving as an updated analog to Tusk for fans to return to.

Balancing Building Upon Decades of Work and Being Derivative

It remains to be seen whether the teaser was displaying a final version of the character’s animations, so there’s still a chance that Conan’s kit may delve even deeper into his source material. If he’s able to make as substantial a contribution to the game as Mortal Kombat 1‘s Ghostface, it’s probably fair to assume that choosing to lean into an established take on Conan-like gameplay could allow for more focus on the hype of references appearing in the likes of Fatalities and Animalities.

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