How Older Johnny Cage Is Probably The Best Heroic Development In Mortal Kombat's Reboot

Johnny Cage may not be my top favorite character. However, he's still among my favorite characters nonetheless. Sure, I'm a Liu Kang fanboy but I felt giving Johnny Cage (and Cassie Cage) their time to shine prevented overexposure for Liu Kang. Johnny's development from the cocky movie star he was (and the OG timeline didn't develop him too much) to an older, more mature version of himself was indeed fun to watch. Mortal Kombat (2011) is the franchise's reincarnation after Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. I still hate the fact that Shao Kahn defeated Blaze rather than being the victor of the third unexpected outcome. Everything goes back to square one with the concept of multiple timelines. In short, Kronika's meddling with time has caused people to suffer through countless reincarnations!

Johnny Cage's green energy wasn't explained until Mortal Kombat (2011). It turns out he was a descendant of powerful warriors. He was unaware of his origins until it was revealed to him in Mortal Kombat X -- the time when he became more mature. He was introduced in Mortal Kombat (2011) the same way he was previously -- a narcissistic movie star. However, Johnny's encounter with Sonya, getting into a shotgun marriage after an unintended night together, showed he was probably more of a father to Cassie. Sonya got so caught up in her work while his paternal instincts were hard to ignore. 

Did the events of Mortal Kombat (2011) play a role in his maturity? The tournament began to give him a new perspective. True, he was still immature during the second tournament in Mortal Kombat (2011). However, the trauma of seeing his friends die in front of him taught him an important lesson. He learned not to take his friends for granted. It was also traumatic for him to see the damage Outworld did. Shinnok would later resurface causing trouble. He discovered his greater power when he saw Sonya in danger. He defeated Shinnok. Raiden later sealed Shinnok in the latter's amulet. Johnny would spend a good portion teaching the Kombat Kids what they needed to know about life.

Perhaps the best Johnny Cage plot was in Mortal Kombat 11. Kronika is revealed to have been creating the cycle of time from one cycle after the other. The merging of the past and present created two versions of several characters. There's Past Johnny and Present Johnny. It was interesting to see Present Johnny resent his younger self. It was fun to see Present Johnny lecture Past Johnny at every turn he got. Past Sonya finds it hard to believe she and Past Johnny would conceive Cassie at some point. Present Johnny shows himself to have developed beyond his younger self. Just hearing Present Johnny hating Past Johnny is pretty much, "I acknowledge that was me but I'm different now!" Present Johnny is one that may be closer to enlightenment. 

Sure, it was fun to see some characters age. Jax was already a goody-good from the get-go. It was fun to read how Hanzo Scorpion and Kuai Liang Sub-Zero reconciled -- which makes me puke at Liu Kang's New Timeline. Hanzo Scorpion developed from anti-villain (whose motives differed from the other villains) to anti-hero to full-time hero. It was fun to see Hanzo Scorpion train Kenshi Takahashi's son Takeda Takahashi as a Shirai Ryu student. However, Johnny started out as a cocky mofo. Johnny was immature and full of himself. However, everything from Mortal Kombat X to Mortal Kombat 11 showed he had outgrown his immature self. For me, he had the most character development than any character inthe series.