—Motaro taunting Jax Briggs about his cybernetic arms in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation |
Motaro is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He made his debut in Mortal Kombat 3, in which he also served as the sub-boss.
About Motaro
Motaro made his first appearance in Mortal Kombat 3. He is a Centaurian, meaning that he has the body of a stallion and the torso of a man. He also has a pair of capricorn-like horns and a long, metallic rat-like tail he can use as both an energy channeling point and a limb. He is nearly 9 feet tall. Centaurians are known for their hunting skills and their mystical powers.
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 one 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 the defeat and subjugation of the Shokan race. 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. He was the one who killed Johnny Cage in the events of MK3/UMK3/MKT.
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 supposedly killed by Sheeva. However, he survived but barely as he returns in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, but since then the Centaurs have been put under a curse by the Shokan, turning him and the rest of his race into bipedal Minotaurs. This gave him and his race another reason to hate the Shokan. Motaro swore to make the Shokan pay dearly for this act.
In Motaro's Armageddon ending, he defeats Blaze, causing the firespawn's essence to consume him. When the fire stops, Motaro finds himself walking on four legs again, having lifted the Shokan's curse on the Centaurs. He vowed that the Shokan would pay dearly for their treachery.[1]
Ultimately, as with nearly every character of the franchise, Motaro is killed at the end of Armageddon. How or by whom is not known. In the alternate timeline, he assumes much of the same role as he did before, leading the extermination squads of Shao Kahn into Earthrealm. However, this time, he is killed by Raiden, who foresaw that Motaro would kill Johnny Cage. Mileena later brings Motaro's body back to Shao Kahn. Motaro is then replaced in command by Sindel.
Biographies
- Bio Kard: "As leader of Shao Kahn's extermination squads, Motaro proved to the emperor the Centaurs' superiority over the Shokan. During the invasion of Earthrealm, he slew many kombatants before they could oppose Shao Kahn's rule. He will slay many more in the battle to come."
Combat characteristics
Powers and abilities
Being a member of the Centaurian race, Motaro possessed incredible strength, so strong that he could knock human opponents several feet away with a single punch. His four-legged lower torso gave him the speed of a horse, allowing him to travel vast distances with ease and possibly unleash powerful charge attacks. He possesses a razor-sharp tail that fires energy blasts from its tip. Perhaps Motaro's most notorious ability is his absolute immunity to projectile attacks. Motaro's skin appears to have some sort of reflective surface that automatically repels long range attacks to the point of sending them right back at opponents (Nightwolf uses this as a special move). He also possesses the power of teleportation so he can easily smash his foes from behind. In Armageddon, a mysterious Shokan curse had removed two of his legs, relieving him of his most powerful abilities, his skin no longer possessing reflective properties.
Signature moves
- Tail Projectile: Motaro fires an energy blast from his tail at the opponent. In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, this move can only be performed in Mount Stance. (MK3, UMK3, MKT, MK:A)
- Grab and Punch: Motaro lifts his opponent up by the throat with one hand and then smashes his fist into their face, sending them sailing across the arena. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
- Teleport: Motaro vaporizes in a wavy fashion and reappears behind his opponent in the same manner (or, in Armageddon, in a wavy puff of green smoke). In Armageddon, Motaro can be knocked out of the teleport, up to the point where he begins to reappear. (MK3, UMK3, MKT, MK:A)
- Mount Stance: Motaro lowers himself, standing on both arms and legs. This stance allows him three other moves.
- Bull Charge: Motaro charges at his opponent, knocking him/her down. (MK:A)
- Propel: Motaro charges at his opponent, flying toward his/her legs, knocking him/her down. This move can only be performed in Mount Stance. (MK:A)
- Donkey Kick: Motaro kicks his opponent with his two legs, like a horse, sending him/her upwards. (MK:A)
Fatalities
- Head Rip: Motaro rips off his opponent's head and raises it in victory. (MKT, N64 version only)
Endings
- Mortal Kombat Trilogy: (Non-Canonical) "Motaro wins."
- Armageddon: (Non-Canonical) "Flames lashed at Motaro's body as Blaze released his energy. The searing pain consumed Motaro as he staggered about the top of the pyramid. When at last the fire dissipated, Motaro felt the familiar sensation of walking on four legs! He had undone the curse that had transformed his Centaur race into Minotaurs. With renewed purpose, Motaro vowed that the Shokan would pay dearly for their treachery."
Appearances in other media
Film
Motaro appears in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, portrayed by former American Gladiators star Deron McBee. His rivalry with Sheeva is briefly hinted at, and in his last battle sequence, he is defeated by Jax.
Television
Motaro appeared twice in Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm. He and his Centaurian warriors were present at the castle in which Rain held Kitana hostage. He was later seen during the plot to overthrow Shao Kahn. After being warned by Raiden, Motaro appeared to fight the treacherous Shang Tsung and the Shokans led by Sheeva.
Game information
Motaro 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, most of them bouncing back at the player and often resulting in an accidental free hit, while other projectiles simply went through him, leaving the player extremely vulnerable. He is vulnerable to projectiles in Mortal Kombat Trilogy, but only if hit above the belt.
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. He could also shoot up to three fireballs at a time, and if all linked together in a combo, could reduce the opponent's energy to as much as 57%. In Mortal Kombat Trilogy, his ability to reflect projectiles was greatly lessened; at close range, they would now work properly. Scorpion could spear him and Sub-Zero could freeze him. However, it is only in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon when he loses his immunity altogether and can now be attacked with projectiles like most other characters.
Both Motaro and Shao Kahn are playable in the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis versions of Mortal Kombat 3 and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 via a secret code menu, though they remain unselectable in single player mode. He is also playable in Mortal Kombat Trilogy.
Motaro's single unique Fatality, only seen in the Nintendo 64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy, is often seen as cheap, since the animation is simply Motaro's grabbing pose with the opponent's head being ripped off in the process. His sprite also fades to darkness with the background when this Fatality is performed, unlike other normal fighters who remain fully lit.
As described in his Armageddon Bio Kard, the developers were faced with the decision (prompted by fan demand to include him, as revealed in a 2006 Fight Night interview from fan site Mortal Kombat Online[2]) of not including Motaro in the game or removing his back legs due to the difficulty of compensating for his unique half-horse body shape. They decided to remove his back legs with the explanation that a curse was placed on his race.[3] Reportedly, Motaro's Centaur body structure was the main problem, as the MK team would need much more extensive programming and testing to successfully integrate Motaro's Centaur frame into interacting properly with knock-downs, throws, and Fatalities and death traps that required limbs to be torn or cut off or Motaro to be impaled. They did admit, however, that such a feat would be possible in later games, hinting at the possibility of Motaro returning in his normal Centaur form. Despite this, Motaro was not playable, nor could he be fought in his next appearance in Mortal Kombat (2011), where he is seen in cutscenes only.
In Armageddon, unlike most other boss characters, Motaro takes much more damage when hit, can be thrown and attacked with normal and special moves as though he was a non-boss character, and cannot throw boss characters. He also shares the same set of Kreate-A-Fatality moves as the non-boss characters.
Character Relationships
Original Timeline
- Killed Johnny Cage.
- Leader of Shao Kahn's extermination squads in MK3.
- Found and revived Kano in MK3.
- Mortally wounded by Sheeva after MK3.
- He and his race of Centaurians were cursed by the Shokan.
- While he did not appear in the opening cutscene of Armageddon, it is likely that he joined the Forces of Darkness.
Alternate Timeline
- Fought Johnny Cage during the Earthrealm invasion.
- Killed by Raiden.
- Replaced by Sindel.
Movies
- Minion of Shao Kahn in the second movie.
- Arch nemesis of Sheeva in the second movie.
- Defeated by Jax in the second movie.
Trivia
In General
- Like Kintaro, Motaro's name seems to have a connection to Japanese myth. It is a slight resemblance to Momotaro, a hero in Japanese folktale. However, also like Kintaro, everything else about Motaro has nothing to do with the tale.
- John Tobias said during an interview (MK3 Official Kollectors book was published by EGM Masters series in 1995) that Motaro was actually influenced by a toy he had when he was a kid. The toy line was called "The Micronauts," and the figure in question was the line's antagonist, Baron Karza, who was paired with a horse named Andromeda. The upper body of Baron Karza could connect to the body of Andromeda once Andromeda's head and neck were removed. The end result looks like a black, metallic, robotic version of Motaro, and accounts for Motaro's segmented, seemingly metallic, tail.
- Motaro is the only sub-boss character from MK3 that is not fought in MK 2011. However, he still appears as a background character, as he can be seen in distant battles, as well as being in a few cutscenes in the Story Mode.
- In a Top 10 list hosted by Screwattack.com, Motaro's MKT fatality was placed at #3 of the worst fatalities in the Mortal Kombat series.
- In another Top 10 list hosted by Screwattack.com, Motaro (as a minotaur) was placed at #1 of the worst characters in the Mortal Kombat series.
Mortal Kombat 3
- Similar to Sheeva, he bleeds green blood instead of red blood. In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, this is changed to common red blood.
- The best way to defeat Motaro is to use a Dial-A-Combo, which was a gameplay feature introduced in MK3.
- Unlike the first two MK 2D games, Motaro was the first sub-boss to not share a battle stage with the final boss. Whereas Goro shared Goro's Lair with Shang Tsung in the first MK game and Kintaro shared Kahn's Arena with Shao Kahn in MKII, Motaro would always be fought in The Balcony before the victor could fight Shao Kahn at the Pit III in the arcade, Nintendo 64, PlayStation and Saturn versions of MK3, Ultimate MK3 and MKT. Motaro was also the first sub-boss that could be fought in other stages aside from his own (The Balcony), as in UMK3 for SNES he could only be fought at the Rooftop due to the fact that The Balcony is not in that version of the game, while on the Sega Genesis and GBA ports of UMK3 (MK Advance on GBA), he could be fought on any stage.
Mortal Kombat Trilogy
- Motaro's ending is the shortest ending in the game, however, it's non-canon.
Mortal Kombat: Deception
- In Konquest mode, he can be found in Earthrealm at the same place where the player can scare the boy's uncle. On the left of the first hut he will appear each day at 10:00 a.m. When the player speaks to him, he will give Shujinko 1000 ruby koins and will not appear there again.
- In Unchained, he is one of the unplayable characters seen trapped in a cage in the Dark Prison stage.
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
- Unlike other boss characters, whenever he is hit by an uppercut move he flips in the air instead of just simply falling down to the ground.
- In Konquest mode, he can be fought in an Obelisk mission along with Moloch.
Mortal Kombat (2011)
- Makes a brief cameo during Kurtis Stryker's chapter in the Story Mode, fighting Johnny Cage at The Street and as a corpse in Shao Kahn's tournament.
- Randomly, in the arena The Street, Motaro can also be seen fighting Johnny Cage.
- Raiden foresaw Motaro killing Johnny Cage, and prevented it by killing Motaro.
References
- ↑ Motaro's Armageddon info at Mortal Kombat Warehouse
- ↑ Fight Night 2006 Transcript at Mortal Kombat Online
- ↑ Motaro's Bio Card. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Premium Edition Bonus Disc, Midway Games, 2006.
