A trailer for Mortal Kombat 11‘s new DLC Aftermath was revealed earlier today, and for a brief moment it showed players what happened to Motaro, the centaur mini-boss from Mortal Kombat 3. Motaro was the first mini-boss in Mortal Kombat to not be a member of the four-armed Shokan race, and Sheeva was the first Shokan players were allowed access to without the use of cheats.
Sheeva and Motaro have been pitted against each other as rivals ever since they were both introduced to the Mortal Kombat franchise, a relationship which was mirrored (in a slightly skewed fashion) in the oft-derided sequel movie Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. The original timeline of the Mortal Kombat plot, before it became increasingly convoluted during the events of Mortal Kombat’s 2011 reboot, X, and 11, saw Motaro disappearing after the events of Mortal Kombat 3, presumably killed by Sheeva, only to show up at the pyramid (along with every other fighter from the series’ past) in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. However, it seems like previous alterations to the timeline have changed things, and not to Motaro’s benefit.
The trailer for Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, a new DLC pack containing story, characters, and content for Mortal Kombat 11, showed off some gameplay footage of Sheeva in action, and in it players got a brief glimpse at what looks like one of the character’s fight intro scenes. Sheeva is holding the severed head of Motaro as she approaches the battlefield, and then she rips it apart in vicious fury before the fight presumably begins, showing her enemies just exactly what could happen to them if they think about crossing Shokan warriors. Check out the clip via Mortal Kombat‘s YouTube channel below, timestamped to the proper moment:
This is some pretty definite proof that Motaro is dead in this version of the Mortal Kombat timeline, but due to the circuitous and time-breaking nature of Mortal Kombat 11’s story and plot it is still possible for Motaro to show up at some point in the future. If he does, the centaur surely won’t be happy with Sheeva using his head as a entertainment piece and their old feud will likely start back up once again.
It’s nice to see characters from older Mortal Kombat games make their way into the present-day iteration of the franchise, but if NetherRealm does decide to ever include more of Motaro than just his head players would likely appreciate it if the character returned in his full centaur form, not the abysmal two-legged version from Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. For now, players can at least find enjoyment (and likely some closure) in Sheeva’s Mortal Kombat 11 fight intro, and hope new fighters won’t start spamming her ground pound all over again.
Source: Mortal Kombat/YouTube
