The T-800 Terminator had already appeared in Mortal Kombat 11 as a guest fighter, but the devs at NetherRealm somehow found another way to put peak Arnold Schwarzenegger in their game.
Check out the gameplay reveal for Conan the Barbarian in MK1:
Here’s the official description:
Crush your enemies and see them driven before you. Conan THE Barbarian joins Mortal Kombat for early access players on January 21. May Crom help us all.
Conan will be available with the Khaos Reigns expansion, Bundle, or Kollection. Players can also buy him individually via the store.
As far as the character goes, it does look like a lot of his moves mostly consist of using the Atlantean Sword. In real life, the sword was said to have weighed 9 pounds and was said to have been pretty impractical for a weapon, but considering how huge Schwarzenegger was at the time, it would make sense for his Conan to wield such a massive weapon.
With Conan joining the game, Mortal Kombat adds another 80s icon to its roster. While some people may think Conan as a playable character is rather random, it does make sense with the meta-context that MK was supposed to be an adaptation of the 80s film Bloodsport—which explains the franchise’s connection to 80s action cinema. That’s why characters like Robocop, John Rambo, the Predator, and a Xenomorph have made it to the game.
Who knows, maybe in the next 10 years there could be a playable John Wick down the line or maybe characters from other bloody franchises like Resident Evil or Elden Ring.
Mortal Kombat 1 is now playable for PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and Nintendo Switch. Conan drops on Jan. 21.
