The MK1 Kuai Liang is Scorpion Theory; Evidence and Rambling
Originally Written 10/06/2023
With more info on Mortal Kombat 1 coming around the corner, there is a theory that is very rapidly spreading regarding Kuai Liang possibly being Scorpion in this timeline.
Here is my absolutely insane ramble about all the pieces I have been putting together, because this has snowballed from me going "haha prob not lol but it's funny to think about" to "I'm genuinely starting to think this might be where they are going".
DISCLAIMER
I am not saying this is fact, it is just what it says on the tin, a theory. If it turns out to be true, yay, if it turns out to not be true I give you all permission to send me clown emojis. This ramble will be immortalised on this site either way, and I will add an amendment at the bottom when we get an answer.
I would also like to note that I have been wrong about every single MK fan theory I have ever batted for, so tbh that track record does not exactly bode well for this. But hey! A broken clock is right at least twice a day, maybe this one will be the right one this time!
If you do not like this theory, do not come at me, I am not the origin of it, just someone who's got some free time on their hands today to put together their thoughts and context clues together. My aim isn't really to convince people, this is more to give a better understanding of why some people are coming to this conclusion
I may also update this if we get new info that supports the theory before a proper confirmation. It really depends how things go lmao. I will indicate info added after the original posting with a date before the info.
I will try to be objective as I can, including "evidence" I am not sure on personally, and state when I am not sure it holds up.
This essay is accompanied by a few screenshots, I will however include a small transcript of any text on them below the pic :)
Firstly, we have had definitive confirmation that Sub Zero is Bi-Han this time around. That is an indisputable fact at this point.
While we have not seen Kuai himself (unless the theory is true, of course), there is an intro we have between Kenshi and Liu Kang that makes direct mention of him; meaning he is definitely here somewhere and does exist in this new timeline.
"Kuai Liang says I shouldn't trust the Black Dragon"
They keep stating that "Sub Zero and Scorpion are brother's now". It is still up to debate what exactly this means, but there are some sources claiming "blood brothers" (not entirely sure the origin of this claim or how accurate it is). People have been pointing out that Bi-Han and Scorpion do have very similar faces when unmasked, however I've seen people complain everyone has a similar face so I am not entirely sure how much that holds up as evidence in this sitation. I will leave a pic below for you to come to your own conclusions.
When Asked which Sub Zero it is, and if there was just one, Dominic Cianciolo, the Story director for the game, just replied with a thinking emoji. I might be reading too much into that, but with the above mention of Kuai, it seems he does have a role to play in some way.
Dominic Cianciolo: #MortalKombat1 Gameplay Trailer! So many kool moments! So many hints about Liu Kang's New Era! (Link to the youtube video)
User (Lance): So is there just one Sub Zero character in this universe? Which one is this?
Dominic Cianciolo: 🤔
Outside of the traditional "Get Over Here", Scorpion did not have a single line of dialogue in the trailer. I thought that was weird the first time I watched it, but upon rewatch with this theory in mind, it seemed even weirder.
Scorpion doesn't appear to be in the roster for the current Demo. This stood out to me initally because with Scorpion (in)famously being Ed's fave, he is usually one of the first people we see. With the fact we've been getting intros from the demo & the above observation about the trailer, it almost feels like their hiding something when it comes to his voice.
On the chance that Steve Blum has resprised his role as Kuai, it might be that his voice would make this twist obvious. I could, obviously, be reading way more into that than I should. Almost like another very similar situation in another fandom, where the characters voice was kept secret as it would be obvious.
Edit 15/07/2023 - As Scorpion's MK1 VA has been revealed to be Daisuke Tsuji, so this point is no longer valid TT_TT
I can't find any official mention of "Hanzo". All that's referred to is Scorpion. While this isn't the biggest peice of evidence, it again feels a bit weird.
"Okay Summer, if it's Kuai, how has he got fire powers?" No idea. This is the bit that's really tripping me atm. Maybe Fire God Liu Kang gave him the powers, maybe it's something to do with the temple mentioned in Liu Kang and Bi-Han's intro (example, Kuai got the fire powers from the temple, and that's how Bi-Han knows of it's power. Maybe). Overall tho, I personally feel the irony of a man named "Quick Cooling" having fire powers is hilarious so I'm not too fussed on how he get's them at the moment.
11/06/2023 - A bit of addition to the above point that I was thinking about. Even if Scorpion is Hanzo, how did he get fire powers? In his original lore, the hellfire was something he gained after becoming a wraith, he only kept it in human form in MKX and MK11 because he'd died. All signs so far are pointing to Scorpion being alive in this timeline. So... Regardless of who it is, where did the fire come from?
They are clearly not afraid of switching things up in pretty drastic ways this time around. Liu Kang and Raiden have swapped places, Mileena being Kitana's actual sister, the elder one at that, and having a disease instead of being half tarkatan, and Kenshi aparently being with the Yakuza. It's not that much of a stretch at this point for them to pull something so wild.
Whichever way we go, there is something going on with Scorpion this time around. We know fuck all about what he's doing in this game other than the brotherhood with Bi-Han thing. He is the poster boy of the franchise and usually the first person they start talking about: why are they being so quiet this time? Is it just to try and get a handle on Ed's favouritism? I mean, maybe, but everyone knows knows Scorpion's his fave 4ever at this point, why would they start caring about that now, 12 games in?
I've seen people on twitter comparing MK1 Scorpion's face to that of MK11 Kuai and saying they are similar. Personally I'm not putting too much weight on that one, again, with one of the biggest complaints being same face it's really hard to tell. But I figured it was worth at least mentioning if you wanna do a comparison for yourself.
11/06/2023 - This is more speculation, but it's been pointed out that Scorpion has a tattoo on his arm of well... a Scorpion. What I'm about to say is pure speculation and I have nothing to back it up, but what if Hanzo was Scorpion at some point and died, and Kuai took on the title after to honour him, including getting the tattoo. I mean... Kuai Liang does have a habit of taking on other's titles to honour them.
30/06/2023 - Offical bio's have dropped and let's just say they are interesting. While I don't think this is the trump card of the theory some people are treating it as, I do think there is an arguement to be made that it does support it. Firstly, the bio seems to confirm that Scorpion and Bi-Han are definitely brothers in this timeline, given it mentions "their father". If that's blood or adopted, who knows at this point. The second arguement however is that this doesn't really strike me as a Hanzo backstory. It has shades of "overshadowed little brother" which definitely fits Kuai Liang more with everything we know about him. The fact they still aren't revealing much about Scorpion this game is... interesting. There's definitely something more going on, even if it's not that he's Kuai Liang. Below you can find a screenshot and transcription of the bio for you to read and come to your own conclusions. For me this is definitely the first tangable evidence we have.
Revered Lin Kuei Warrior SCORPION
Like his cherished father, Scorpion is dedicated to the Lin Kuei and its defense of Earthrealm. When his father died, Scorpion was bereft. Though he took pride in knowing that his brother, Sub-Zero, would succeed their father as the Lin Kuei's Grandmaster.
But Sub-Zero's Unprecedented moves to cast off the Lin Kuei's traditional duties have frozen Scorpion's enthusiasm. He fears that he may one day have to battle his brother for control of the Lin Kuei's legacy.
30/06/2023 - Below is the offical render of Scorpion without the text over him. It doesn't exactly prove or disprove much but uh... That pattern on the little talisman hanging off his belt sure has an interesting design. Honestly, I'm probably reading too much into the fact it kind of resembles a snowflake, if anyone knows if this pattern has some spesific meaning, please shoot me a message so I can say for sure.
Edit 22/07/2023 - I forgot to add this earlier, but it was pointed out to me on Tumblr this might be a Dharma wheel. While looking at it's meaning I could absolutely pull out a reason why it supports the idea that Kuai is Scorpion, it would be an even bigger reach than the rest of this article. I will let you guys decide if this is actually significant, or if it's just a small detail they added for the hell of it.
30/06/2023 - Kombat Kast is going to start on the 6th of July, and is stated to have a focus on Scorpion! Hopefully we'll get an answer then! I am not putting it past them to troll TF out of us tho and just refer to him as Scorpion for the whole thing lol.
Your wait will be well rewarded. The first Kombat Kast will kick off next Thursday, July 6th @ 10:00am PT / 12:00PM CT. Join us for a discussion on Kameos, full gameplay breakdowns of Scorpion & Johnny Cage, and more. #MK1
"Summer," I hear you cry, "you are just believing this leak because it confirms a theory you want to be true! That's terrible journalism!"
So far, the leak has gotten 3 (maybe 3.5 depending on how you look at it) things right about the game. Number one, that Sub Zero and Scorpion are brothers (the .5 confirmed thing being Bi-Han is Sub Zero), Number two, it talked fairly in depth about the kameo system. Number three, and this is a pretty big one, it mentions the Tarkat Plague.
People more in the leak scene have also noted that this leak lines up to some info from another credible leak, but idk, I'm not really in that scene, I just saw a screenshot of this on tumblr and decided to look into it lmfao.
Overall though, I'm holding out for Kombat Kast tomorrow to maybe finally shed light on this (although I still don't put it past them to completely ignore that lmfao.)
05/07/2023 - Okay, day before Kombat Kast, and I was debating if I want to include some information that has surfaced or not, due to the fact it is related to a leak. I am, generally, a pessimistic person when it comes to leaks, my opinion is generally "all leaks are fake" no matter how convincing they are. That said, given this is meant to list reasons people are suspecting this theory to be true, I felt like it'd be amiss to not mention this. I will not be giving full details on the leak or providing the screencaps. If you want to find it, it is pretty much top of r/mortalkombatleaks right now, and you can find it easily enough. I will also be putting it under a spoiler, in case anyone reading to completely avoid leaks.
The Leak
... So. A leak has come to light from almost two fucking years ago. At the time, this particular leak was considered fake, because admittedly, a lot of the details were quite abserd. One of these details was "Sub Zero and Scorpion are brothers. Bi-Han is Sub-Zero and Kuai Liang is Scorpion".
Well firstly, I ain't a fucking journalist, get that out of your head. Secondly, it isn't this theory that makes me raise an eyebrow at this spesific leak.
Now, like I said, I do not trust leaks at all but... if this is someone bullshitting, that Tarkat Plague bit is a hell of a guess.
There's also some other really interesting info on this leak, that has nothing to do with the Kuai is Scorpion theory, so if the leak is genuinely accurate I'm interested to see what happens.
06/07/2023 - NRS I SWEAR TO GOD! I am actually going to lose my mind. Kombat Kast STILL has not called Scorpion by a name other than Scorpion. And neither did the trailer. What did the trailer contain? Well, it revealed Smoke. And had Scorpion say a callback to a phrase heavily assosiated with Kuai & Bi-Han to Smoke. About not sharing blood, but being brothers. Okay, NRS, I see you.
We may not share blood but, we are brothers
Why is that important you ask? In the leak I meantioned above, it mentions General Shao. So, if that is true, yet another thing from that leak is true. I am still skeptical, but I am hopeful.
Same Day Edit: Aparently the bio in the offical Discord server has been edited to remove the General Shao bit. Nice bit of damage control there lads 👍🏻
Edit 22/07/2023 - Footage taken of a story cutscene from SDCC has pretty much confirmed General Shao offically. So the leak in question does appear to have gotten another point right.
06/07/2023 - This is another one related to leaks, please feel free to skip.
More Leak Info
I will double check and revise this note when Rain's bio is officially on the website, but the Bio that's aparently been released for him on the offical MK discord server makes mention of "General Shao".
Also from SDCC, Ed had mentioned a single player mode that has "never been done in MK before" that people are suspecting might be "map mode", something else mentioned on the leak. I do not think there is enough conclusive proof for this right now, why it's just a small ammendment to this point, rather than it's own. If we do get more info on this mode and it does seem to line up with the info on "map mode" we have, I will make it it's own point.
Other than these, SDCC didn't really give us much in terms of evidence.
07/07/2023 - Again, debated adding this one, cause it's a bit of a reach, but fuck it I created this graphic so I'm gonna use it. I decided to compare the idle stances Scorpion has had between the NRS timeline games to MK1. I also decided to compare them to Kuai Liang's for shits and giggles. I've come to the conclusion that Scorpion's stance in MK1 is a mix between Kuai and Hanzo. I mean, the leg stance is %100 a general Kuai trait he seems to have had throughout, but it's practically identical to the positioning of his legs in MK11. The torso is more Hanzo however, lent forward towards the oponent. The arms are a mix of MK11 Kuai (front arm being bent inward, although in a slightly different position). The fact that Hanzo's general stance throughout NRS era has him holding his Kunai quite high, while MK1 Scorpion has his low is an interesting comparason.
Overall, I don't think this really means too much, but man, that leg stance...
08/07/2023 - So, someone posted on reddit about a Brazilian Youtube Channel, Warner Plays, which is aparently a WB channel, posting a video "proving" that Scorpion is Hanzo. The tweet with this information is extremely frustraiting, because they have the comments section up, hiding the title of the channel & video. I did some digging into the channel itself and I believe I have found the video in question and... The Scorpion section of it isn't there anymore. In the recording from twitter, it is timestamped to happen at 2 minutes in, except that section is Shang Tsung. In fact Scorpion isn't in the video at all anymore (if this is indeed the right video). This means one of two things:
A: This section of the video included info they don't want people to know yet (Hanzo is Scorpion)
B: This section of the video included misinfo they wanted to get a handle on and edit out (Hanzo is Scorpion)
At this point IDK what the fuck to think, but if it's A my only question is WHY? If Hanzo really is Scorpion, why are they trying to hard to hide that fact? Why do they not want anyone to know the guy who's always been Scorpion is infact Scorpion for this game? How does that make any sort of sense? I am willing to believe B a little more, in that the video was a misspeak. The Scorpion VA for this dub also played Scorpion in MK11, who was Hanzo, however the VA for Sub Zero between MK11 and MK1 is also the same and we know for a fact they are two different people. A Brazilian Redditor confirms this information. I'd also like to point out while channel is officially related to WB (or at least appears to be from testimony of Brazilians), I am willing to bet the presenters of it aren't officially related to NRS or the dubbing team. Thus isn't really a reliable source of internal info.
Idk I have a headache at this point, I'm just gonna leave this here. Is this evidence for or against I don't know it could literally be both at the point. The fact that the particular part of the video has been edited out is really really weird, and I do not understand why they'd do that unless part of it was factually incorrect. Because again: Why would they be trying to hide the fact that Hanzo, who has traditionally always been Scorpion, is infact still Scorpion? Like, I know NRS are known for their weird trolling and marketing techniques but even for them, that's so fucking bizzare!
15/07/2023 - This is another "if it's just Hanzo, why are they being so cryptic" point, but someone on twitter outright asked Stephanie Brownback, Senior QA Analyst at NRS, who Scorpion was in the game. Her reply was a cryptic "you'll find out eventually". Again, this isn't really evidence, but at this point, I still just can not figure out why they would be so secretive if Scorpion is the guy he's always been. If anything, this reply does indicate the secrecy of Scorpion's idenity is deliberate and not just a co-incidence. And once again, why would they be doing that if it was Hanzo behind that mask? What would they get out of teasing that he isn't? Even if you take into account the mystery being a good marketing tactic, you need to have an actual mystery to be able to pull that off. :| Idk man, Idk, I just want an answer at this point.
Stephanie Brownback: you will eventually find out who Scorpion is in MK1
23/07/2023 - "SDCC didn't really give us much in terms of evidence" I said on my amendment to one of the points regarding the leaks. WELL HOLY FUCKIN' SHIT DID THEY PROVE ME WRONG. Last night before I went to bed, an absolute bomb dropped on the fandom, in the form of Dominic Cianciolo basically admitting Kuai Liang is Scorpion in an interview with IGN... Yeah... That is how it came out.
So... I'd say this is pretty much a smoking gun at this point. If it was meant to be revealed like this is a completely different question. They have as of yet, not scrambled to do damage control & I'm pretty sure the interveiw was pre-recorded so they probably could have had it edited out if they want. We shall see what time brings.
Relationship that he had with uh Qui Liang (Kuai Liang) uh Scorpion
In conclusion:
I fully understand why so many people dislike this theory and hope it's not true. I also fully admit a lot of this is more circumstantial than anything else, but again, this was more to try and put together the things that are making people think this is the case.
Honestly for me, it started as a bit of a meme. Now? Ah, it's really grown on me to the point that if NRS don't use this plot point I fucking will! Seriously, I will write 1000 fics with this premise if they don't use it, I fucking swear.
Either way, I am not actually that confident this is right, but it is definitely my favourite theory so far. I just wanted to get everything down in detail so that mine and others thought process doesn't seem as wild.
This article doesn't even go into the idea that Hanzo will show up as Noob Saibot, that's a discussion for another day.
In short: this theory is the Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond of the MK fandom, and I was on the wrong side for that one, I ain't taking that chance again!
The REAL Conclusion:
Which is why we remain vigilant, Kuai Liang.
And so this was finally 100% confirmed. Let's not talk about what they did to Hanzo however...
What have we learnt from this experience? Firstly, that I'm not completely delusional and I was actually right that they were being weird about the situation.
Second and most importantly:
Next time I start spouting some wild fantheory maybe listen to me :3
