Motaro
Template:Mortal Kombat character Motaro is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series.
About Motaro
Making his first appearance in Mortal Kombat 3, Motaro is easily one of the most intimidating characters in the history of Mortal Kombat. He is a Centaur, meaning that he has the body of a stallion and the torso of a man. He as well sports a pair of capricorn-like horns and has a long, metallic rat-like tail he can use as both an energy channeling point and a limb. Centaurs are known for their hunting prowess and their mystical powers, which include teleportation and materializing balls of energy with their tails.
Motaro, along with his entire race, harbors a deep-seated hatred for the Shokan, whom he sees as inferior. The two races constantly struggle against each other in order to prove their value to Shao Kahn and to finally define which is superior.
Storyline
In the realm of Outworld, Motaro's race of Centaurians had come into conflict with the Shokan. Shao Kahn, Emperor of Outworld, had begun to favor the Centaurians over the Shokan, and had been punishing the latter, aiding the Centaurians in their defeat and subjugation. When Kahn formed special extermination squads to eliminate the chosen warriors of Earthrealm during his invasion, Motaro was appointed to head this elite group of savage warriors.
Sonya Blade's defeat of Kano during the events of Mortal Kombat Trilogy had resulted in the Black Dragon member being thrown from a skyscraper to the streets below. Motaro recovered the severely injured Kano, and brought him back to Shao Kahn's fortress. After reviving him with magic, Motaro then imprisoned the criminal so that he could later be punished by Kahn for failing to defeat Sonya. It is at this point that Motaro was assaulted and killed by Sheeva.
Possible future
Motaro has made no game appearances since Trilogy, aside from the mention of his death in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, and a cameo appearance in Mortal Kombat: Deception's Konquest mode. When Mortal Kombat: Armageddon was announced, Motaro was one of the few major characters who was not confirmed to be included. However, in a recent interview with IGN, series creator Ed Boon confirmed that he would indeed appear.
Movie appearance
Motaro appears in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, portrayed by Deron McBee. His rivalry with Sheeva is briefly hinted at, and in his last battle sequence, he is defeated by Jax.
Trivia
- He was seen as one of the most difficult bosses in the Mortal Kombat series. This is because projectiles, which were effective on his predecessors, are useless against him, bouncing back at his opponent, resulting in an accidental free hit. He was also known to teleport frequently, often grabbing his opponents whether from behind or after blocking their jump kicks. It was also dangerous for a player to block his attacks, since he or she will be put off-balance. However, in MK3, it is possible to defeat Motaro easily by attacking him repeatedly with Sheeva's Teleport Stomp.
- Motaro also has one fatality, in which he grabs and rips the opponent's head off (this is only in the N64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy).
- Motaro makes a cameo appearance in Mortal Kombat: Deception. In it, Shujinko crosses upon a village in Earthrealm and stumbles upon the Centaur, who gives Shujinko a good amount of koins before disappearing within a second.
- Both Motaro and Shao Kahn are playable in the SNES and Sega Genesis versions of Mortal Kombat 3 and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 via secret code menu, though they remain unselectable in single player mode. He is also playable in Mortal Kombat Trilogy along with the other 3 boss characters.
- During the first four games, all sub-bosses had 6 appendages. Being a centaur, Motaro was no exception.
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