Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm

Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, known as Mortal Kombat: The Animated Series outside of the U.S., is a cartoon series based on the popular Mortal Kombat video game series (mainly Mortal Kombat 3 and its expansions, with some elements of Mortal Kombat II). Produced by Threshold Entertainment (whom worked on both live action movies) and Film Roman, it aired on the USA Network's Action Extreme Team animation block for one season of 13 episodes from September to December 1996, back-to-back with the Street Fighter animated series. The show serves as a combination of an alternative sequel to the first Mortal Kombat film and the events of Mortal Kombat 3.

Plot
The characters and their back stories are mostly continuous with the movies Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, although there are some minor differences. This includes what the characters looked like in Mortal Kombat 3 the Arcade game. The series takes place in Earthrealm, Outworld, and various other realms after the events of the first movie and the plot has very little to do with the plot of any of the games. Perhaps the most notable aspect of the show was that it provided the debut appearance of Quan Chi, a key character in the MK series who was the villain of Mortal Kombat 4 and part of the Deadly Alliance.

The show was focused on a group of warriors assembled by Raiden to defend Earthrealm from invaders of various other dimensions that entered through portals. The assembled warriors included Liu Kang, Kurtis Stryker, Sonya Blade, Jax Briggs, Kitana, and the younger Sub-Zero, with Nightwolf functioning mostly as tech support. The warriors operated out of a hidden base from where Nightwolf and Raiden monitored portal openings; the warriors would fly dragon-shaped jets to deal with disturbances. Shao Kahn was something of an arch-villain throughout the series, being responsible for allowing other realms to invade Earthrealm. The finale involved Kitana leading a rebellion from Outworld against her step-father, Shao Kahn.

Characters
Liu Kang (voiced by Brian Tochi)

Kitana (voiced by Cree Summer)

Sub-Zero (voiced by Luke Perry)

Jax (voiced by Dorian Harewood)

Sonya Blade (voiced by Olivia d'Abo)

Nightwolf (voiced by Tod Thawley)

Stryker (voiced by Ron Perlman)

Raiden (voiced by Clancy Brown)

Episodes
Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm has a total of 13 episodes spread over 1 season that were produced from September 1996 to December 1996.