Baraka

Baraka is a member of a lowly Outworld race called the Tarkatans, who are known for their violent and unpredictable behavior and characterized by long gnashing teeth and a set of forearm-implanted retractable blades. He spearheads the attack on Liu Kang's Shaolin temple following the conclusion of the first Mortal Kombat tournament, which in turn lures Liu Kang into Outworld to seek vengeance. In Mortal Kombat Trilogy, he is a member of Kahn's forces that takes part in the invasion of Earthrealm. Baraka is not playable in the next fighting installment, Mortal Kombat 4 (1997), but was added to the roster of the 2000 Sega Dreamcast-exclusive upgrade Mortal Kombat Gold, in which Quan Chi offers him a chance to rule the Outworld realm of Edenia by his side if he agrees to join the fallen Elder God Shinnok's army. While Baraka accepts, he secretly plans to betray his new masters. In Mortal Kombat: Deception, Baraka and the remainder of his Tarkatan (formerly "Nomad") race ally themselves with the arisen Dragon King Onaga, and recruits the mutant clone Mileena into Onaga's ranks in order to pose as Kitana. While Baraka is playable along with the entire series roster in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006), he was not among the seventeen characters therein who received an official biography by Midway and he played no part in the game's storyline.
Baraka is a recurring foe in the story mode of 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot, in which the events of the first three games are retold, and he is defeated by Johnny Cage, Cyrax, Jax, and Jade. In the retold storyline of Mortal Kombat II, he leads his Tarkatan armies in an invasion of Earthrealm. He is not playable in Mortal Kombat X, but appears in the game's story mode when his fellow Tarkatans aid D'Vorah in loading captive Shaolin monks before they are confronted and defeated by Raiden, Liu Kang, and Kung Lao. In a flashback sequence, Baraka serves under then-Outworld ruler Mileena alongside D'Vorah, but during a meeting with the Osh-Tekk Kotal Kahn, Baraka is killed after D'Vorah betrays Mileena. In Mortal Kombat 11, a past version of Baraka is brought to the present by the keeper of time Kronika. After learning of his death and Kotal Kahn rendering the Tarkatans to near-extinction, he initially allies himself with Kronika and a similarly time-displaced Shao Kahn. However, Kitana convinces him to aid her in rescuing Kotal, and he and the Tarkatans take part in Kitana's battle against Shao Kahn and in the final battle against Kronika.
In the new third timeline depicted in 2023 Mortal Kombat 1, he was once a well-respected Outworld merchant prior to becoming a leader of the Tarkatans, a species of mutated individuals who are exposed to the mysterious Tarkat virus and outcast to a disarrayed Outworld colony.
The character was first conceived by Mortal Kombat co-creator John Tobias as a "savage barbarian demon warrior" who was initially planned to be in the first Mortal Kombat game. He was visualized for MKII with a Nosferatu mask adorned with silver-painted false fingernails serving as his teeth, while his arm blades were constructed from silver cardboard.
Baraka appears briefly in the 1997 feature film Mortal Kombat Annihilation, played by stuntman Dennis Keiffer. He has no dialogue and is killed in a fight scene with Liu Kang, and is only identified by name in the closing credits. In the 2010 short film Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, Baraka is played by martial artist Lateef Crowder and depicted in the film's alternate modern setting as a psychotic former plastic surgeon named "Dr. Alan Zane", who surgically attaches a pair of long metal blades to his forearms. He later kills Jax's undercover operative, Johnny Cage, in a fight. These changes were not carried over into the 2011 web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy, in which he was played by Fraser Aitcheson and was reverted to his original Outworld origins. Baraka makes a brief appearance in the 2021 animated film Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge, in which he has no dialogue and is killed in a fight against Cage. CJ Bloomfield will play the character in the feature film Mortal Kombat 2.
In 2009, Baraka ranked third on GameDaily's list of the "top ten ugliest game characters". Dan Ryckert of Game Informer, in 2010, noted him among the characters wanted for the 2011 reboot game, as he felt that "people love Baraka" yet noted his absence in subsequent releases since his series debut. Baraka has otherwise received positive reception from gaming media outlets for his character and Fatalities.
Category:BCL Roster