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General Reikoย returns inย Mortal Kombat 1, and he’s going to bring back memories from the oldย MKย titles. This character was absent in the last threeย Mortal Kombatย games. Some other Kombatants mentioned his name in their dialogues inย MK11ย andย MKX, making fans wonder when Reiko returns. But now that he’sย returning toย MK1, do you know his backstory? Here, we’ll have a quick review of Reiko’s origin and how he’s returning to theย MKย series.
Who Is General Reiko?

Reiko is one of the Outworlders, known as the blood god. Before the events of the originalย Mortal Kombat 1, he sees the downfall of the former Outworld king, Onaga. This leads to Shao Kahn becoming the new leader of this realm, and soon after, Reiko becomes a loyal servant of the new Kahn.
In fact, Reiko is obsessed with Shao’s fighting style and even makes his appearance look like Kahn’s to imitate him. This leads to the events of the firstย MKย games, where Reiko is absent, but he’s serving Shao Kahn as his general. However, after Earthrealm’s victory inย Mortal Kombatย and the invasion of Shao Kahn, Shinnok, a fallen elder god, makes his return.
During this time, Reiko gets obsessed with the elder god’s power and follows the command of Quan Chi to help Shinnok escape prison. The elder god rises, and Reiko chooses to side with him. However, Earthrealm’s champion, Liu Kang, defeats the sheer power of this elder god, marking the absence of Reiko for many years to come.
Reiko is not seen after the affairs ofย Mortal Kombat 4ย until the event of Armageddon starts.ย MK: Armageddonย had nearly all theย Mortal Kombatย characters in theย MKย universe, and Reiko was one of them. This is while the aftermath of this event was the death of all the Kombatants, which led to the reset of this timeline by Lord Raiden.
After the main timeline reset, Reiko is nowhere to be seen inย MK9,ย MKX, andย MK11. He is only referenced by otherย Mortal Kombatย characters in these games. And now, with the complete reshaping of theย Mortal Kombatย timeline, he’s returning with a very different story.
How Does Reiko Return in Mortal Kombat 1

Reiko is seen inย Mortal Kombat 1ย as an Outworlder. But this time, he’s not trying to imitate Shao Kahn anymore. In fact, Shao is not yet a Kahn in this universe; he’s only a general serving Outworld’s ruler. Reiko is second in command in this timeline, making him a ranked sergeant, obeying General Shao.
In this timeline, there’s no Brotherhood of Shadows to be made by the sorcerer Quan Chi. However, there’s a mention of such a group, and its fighters like Nitara and Havok are seen in the game. Now, while Reiko is back inย Mortal Kombat 1, his fighting style is definitely not the same as before. He no longer uses Shao Kahn’s helmet for the attack but still gets the shuriken he used to throw in bothย MK4ย andย MK: Armageddon.
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Who is Ashrah in Mortal Kombat 1
Mortal Kombat 1 is currently available to play on PlayStation 5,