In Mortal Kombat‘s new reboot, Scorpion’s voice changes when he shouts “get over here!” while throwing his kunai at Sub-Zero and to find the reason why, you have to turn to the games. It’s not just a matter of him being lost in the moment. Warner Bros’ new take on the iconic fighting game pays homage to the video game franchise through story choices and some direct references from its many chapters. The inclusion of Scorpion’s immediately recognizable warcry was always going to be a popular choice.
While Simon McQuoid’s reboot adds to the Mortal Kombat lore with the introduction of Lewis Tan’s Cole Young as the hero and new champion of Earthrealm, the bones of his story remain tied heavily to the game mythology. Scorpion returns as a vengeful specter resurrected from Hell, Shang Tsung seeks to take over Earthrealm and there is, of course, talk of a legendary tournament that the movie actually chooses to leave for a sequel. The fight moves and fatalities are mostly true to the games, the character designs are largely true homages and there’s fundamentally a lot of bait for long-term fans.
Newer fans coming to the franchise may be somewhat confused by Scorpion’s shout of “get over here” that debuted in the trailer (with a slightly different dub to the final film it seems). Though Scorpion’s voice is made gruffer as a specter than his living voice, he has a completely different tone and delivery behind the shout, and it’s a choice affectionately calling back to the games. In the Mortal Kombat games, Scorpion shouted “get over here!” in an American accent, booming it to his victims in a way that would become one of the most iconic moments in combat gaming history. And there’s a strange reason behind that choice as well.
Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon revealed that he was the source of the classic voice in an interview (via The Gamer), confirming that it was inspired by his work with Midway on High Impact Football. The game dev’s employees stood in to provide the voices of game’s footballers, recording grunts, and shouts and it was a role Boon took into Mortal Kombat as well: “We were still kinda in that mode, and I was one of the guys yelling in High Impact Football, so I was the guy to yell as Scorpion.” In other words, Scorpion’s voice, at least in the games, is not the way it is because he’s a sort of demon, but because he owed it to a football player.
The use of the different voice for the rebooted Mortal Kombat movie is the kind of fidelity to the game’s best moments that really sells it to original fans. Narratively speaking, it’s also not completely illogical, since Scorpion is a specter and other supernatural characters – Shang Tsung and Mileena – both talk with affected voices reflecting the idea of them taking the souls of their victims. Scorpion’s torment in Netherrealm and the pain Sub-Zero put him through in life could easily explain why there is so much fury in his battle cry. It’s also not a bad reflection of how powerful Scorpion is in Mortal Kombat. But more importantly for franchise fans, it’s another of the reboots touches to show McQuoid and his team knew exactly who they were making their movie for.
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