The newestMortal Kombatfilm is now available to watch in theaters, as well as on HBO Max. Discussion surrounding the film has covered a broad range of subjects, including the new character Cole Young, whyMortal Kombatdoesn’t have a tournament, and most recently the four-armed villain Goro.Mortal Kombatfans are calling Goro a “jobber,” a term for a wrestler or fighter that does nothing but lose, but this is a stance thatMortal Kombatco-creator John Tobias takes issue with.
In theMortal Kombatfilm, Goro is summoned by Shao Kahn to hunt down and killCole Young, preventing his participation in the nextMortal Kombattournament before the fighter’s powers can be fully discovered. Goro is defeated as Cole finds his powers mid-fight, “jobbing” before he contributes much beyond his short and brutal defeat. It’s this loss that has triggered accusations of Goro being a jobber in the broaderMortal Kombatcanon, with fighting game player SonicFox being the source.
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As the discussion grew heated, a Twitter user mentioned Tobias to ask aboutGoro’s historical rolein theMortal Kombattournament. Tobias was happy to participate, providing a timeline ofMortal Kombatwinners going from the year 2000 all the way back to 1050. AsMortal Kombatlore fans already know, Goro won everyMortal Kombattournament between 1550 and 1950.
Outworld winning nineMortal Kombattournaments in a row is a key part of the story that picks up in the franchise’s story. Winning ten tournaments in a row allows the winning realm to invade its opponents' world. Outworld’s efforts toward a tenth victory over Earthrealm are stifled byLiu Kang’s victory over Goro.
In the first iteration of theMortal Kombatvideo game franchise’s story, Goro is by no means a jobber. The four-armed Shoken is the strongest fighter of two realms for nearly 500 years. The list goes even further back in history, with no other victor having as many consecutive victories as Goro. In other words, Goro is perhaps the most dominant fighter in the history of Mortal Kombat.
Where the discussion falls apart, however, is that the newMortal Kombatfilm may not have any cohesion with the originalMortal Kombatlore. It’s possible that he has won 500 years ofMortal Kombattournaments, but if he did it doesn’t look like it against the inexperienced Cole. In the video games, Goro is by no means a jobber. In theMortal Kombat2021 film, the evidence at hand may point to the contrary.
Mortal Kombatis now in theaters and streaming on HBO Max.
