Mortal Kombat 1 Narrative Director Talks About Why Sonya and Jax Are Missing

Mortal Kombat 1’s new and rebooted universe is going to put a fresh spin on a number of familiar fan-favourites, from Scorpion and Sub-Zero now being brothers to Raiden now being the champion of Earthrealm and much more. The reboot’s most recent trailer also unveiled two more series mainstays in the form of General Shao and Sindel, both of whom will also be different twists on their former selves.

But of course, not all series staples have been confirmed to be returning as part of Mortal Kombat 1’s roster of main fighters. For instance, Sonya Blade and Jax Briggs are both included in the Kameo roster, though thus far, it hasn’t been confirmed if they will be in the main roster as well. So what’s going on with those two characters? Do they even exist in this new universe?

According to NetherRealm Studios’ narrative director Dominic Cianciolo, they very much are. Speaking in a recent interview with IGN, Cianciolo said that the Special Forces duo isn’t “gone forever”, and that as players play through the story that the studio has laid out for the franchise, they’ll see “where they are and where they’re coming from”.

“I know some people are worried in this new universe that, oh my gosh, these characters no longer exist. They’re gone forever. It’s totally not the case,” Cianciolo said. “Whether they appear in this game or in future games, obviously that’s TBD, depending on where the studio wants to go and everyone wants to do, but they’re around. And as you play through, you sort of see where they are and where they’re coming from.”

Mortal Kombat 1 launches on September 19 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Make sure to read up on its new single player board-game style RPG mode Invasions, and check out the opening minutes of its story mode.