Mortal Kombat 11 Can Teach You A Lot About Australia

OPINION: When I first noticed Kano in Mortal Kombat 1, I hated him. I bloody hated him. He had a bullshit knife projectile, an much more bullshit cannonball roll. And I imply, simply have a look at the guy–he sported a brilliant white gi, a dumb bandolier (for what?), and a cheap-looking steel masks. I hated the sight of him, particularly as a result of he was the one Obviously Bad Guy within the unique roster. He was additionally simply straight up the least attention-grabbing character. In a sport with ninjas and magical projectiles, Kano was only a boring goon with a knife; a waste of area.He did not get any higher within the following 26 years, affected by some questionable redesigns, just like the one the place he began sporting a lock of Sonya Blade’s hair round his neck like a creep. In Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe, as a substitute of being a person of Japanese-American descent, Kano was retconned to be Australian, a supposed nod to the misinterpreted accent of Trevor Goddard’s (RIP) cockney model of Kano within the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie. This was an attention-grabbing resolution, however not one which essentially modified how unexciting Kano was.Can’t spell Kano with out “No.”UNTIL NOW. In Mortal Kombat 11, a sport stuffed to the brim with objectively top-notch character redesigns, Kano is all of a sudden ALL ABOUT his Australianness. It’s a terrific transfer, the right transfer, and what’s extra, this redesign is executed in an unprecedented, sensible method. In truth, MK11’s Kano is the perfect and most genuine Australian character in any online game, ever. Yes, much more Australian than Roger, the playable kangaroo in Tekken.There’s a depth to his character that goes past an imagined upbringing and accent that elevates him far above only a caricature. You can see it in the best way he carries himself. The humorous Australianisms, throwaway swears, and informal “mates” that drop naturally into his quips. His extra relaxed character and grounded appearance–he seems like a dad you may meet at a seashore BBQ, downing beers along with his stomach hanging out, embarrassing you in entrance of your mates along with his 70s pornstar moustache and misguided, chauvinistic jokes.Every little element about Kano in Mortal Kombat 11 is in service of fleshing out his new, superb personality–no longer only a Crime Dude with a knife, he personifies the mischievous, rowdy, and give-no-shits nature of the perfect and worst Australian society has to supply (typically related to being a “larrikin,” a dated however idealised embodiment of those tropes).It’s rounded out with a stellar voiceover job by JB Blanc, who I used to be satisfied was a local Aussie till I seemed him up (he performed Gustavo Fring’s private surgeon in Breaking Bad!), which sounds real with out being over-the-top and cartoonish like say, Junkrat in Overwatch (although I like him too). Kano in Mortal Kombat 11 is endlessly entertaining to me–he is the world citizen’s Johnny Cage.I bloody love Kano now. I like how nicely he represents my nation. I like how one can study a lot about Australian tradition by merely observing and finding out Kano. In truth, I like the main points about his character a lot that I spent far an excessive amount of time ignoring my common work and compiling this useful file of Kano-isms to show you about Australia. Hey look, you have learn this far, may as nicely carry on studying with…KANO: A CULTURAL GLOSSARYKNIVESKano’s main weapons of alternative are his signature knives. Now, the plain connection you could be drawing right here is the well-weathered Crocodile Dundee quote (“That’s not a knife…”) however there is a extra trendy line to be drawn–Australia’s strict gun legal guidelines. It is extremely tough to personal any sort of firearm on this nation until you might have an excellent and particular purpose, because it rattling nicely must be. Kano does not have the luxurious of bringing goddamn firearms right into a preventing match like actually all of the American fighters, so I think about he simply needed to get actually good with no matter he might receive from the outlets simply. Sure, he is purported to be an inter-dimensional arms seller or one thing, however in keeping with Baraka in Mortal Kombat 11, all of the weapons he offered to the Tarkatans had been busted anyway so who the hell is aware of?BEERSOn prime of a seemingly infinite provide of knives to throw, Kano additionally has a seemingly infinite provide of beer to drink. And he drinks. Rather a lot. There’s an intro animation the place he drinks a beer. There’s an outro animation the place he drinks a beer. There’s a between-rounds animation the place he drinks a beer whereas spacing himself out for the following spherical. One of Kano’s fatalities has him sculling (shortly consuming) a beer, glassing (hitting) his opponent with the bottle, after which waltzing with their corpse just like the fun-loving man he’s.Drinking is Kano’s most adorable new character trait to me, due to how true to character it is–Australians like to drink. We have one of many highest charges of alcohol consumption on the planet. It is a central a part of our cultural identification. It’s a part of our day-to-day. Pubs are locations you are taking your households for lunch. Our oldest residing former prime minister is known for inhaling beers like the perfect of us, and even has a brew named in his honor. Hell, I had a few beers at lunch earlier than scripting this. Drinking defines our greatest occasions and our worst times–having amusing, and having a brawl. Kano’s consuming behaviors exemplify each.PISSINGKano’s default intro animation sees him pissing on the ground earlier than a struggle (“Bloke’s gotta mark his territory”). It does not matter if it is exterior within the grime, in a robotics lab, or on a pleasant shiny stage. His brutality victory animation additionally sees him piss on the ground. I imply, I get it–a one who drinks as a lot as Kano goes to wish to piss loads, and actually, once you’re tenting or driving by way of the agricultural areas of Australia you would be forgiven for pissing on the facet of the street or by a tree–only about 0.2% of Australia’s land mass is urbanised (although 90% of the inhabitants occupies that 0.2%, it is wild). Hell, even after a giant night time of consuming I might perceive for those who wanted to piss in an alley or one thing, although it is legally a punishable offence right here.But Kano’s pissing habits are extra probably an indicator of his disregard for the self-seriousness of Mortal Kombat’s pageantry, which is certainly an Australian perspective to take. And I simply need to make it clear that we do not all piss on the road at each alternative, okay?SHIRT, NONEKano does not put on a shirt in his MK11 default costume. He positively is not essentially the most toned fighter on the roster, although he does alright (“Over 50 and still a rippa!”). But it is a dad-bod flaunt greater than something, and like most dads, he is most likely reached an age the place he does not give a shit anyway. Especially once you’re in Outer Realm and it is sizzling. It’s sizzling in Australia, too. Our summers often hit over 40 levels Celcius (104 Fahrenheit), even greater with local weather change, so it is not a giant deal to see individuals stroll round with out shirts. You do what you gotta do, and Kano is a sensible man.KANO, THE NAMEI don’t know the place collection creators Ed Boon and John Tobias truly acquired the title “Kano” from. My finest guess, by way of Google, is that “Kano” is a Japanese title that loosely interprets to “masculine power”, and provided that his unique nationality was Japanese-American, I suppose that checks out. It nonetheless checks out in Mortal Kombat 11–Kano is a reasonably manly middle-aged white man, in spite of everything. But man, Kano works so nicely as an Aussie-as-hell Australian title.We prefer to truncate lengthy phrases in Australia, however not solely that, we like so as to add an “O” to the tip of phrases, too. Avocado? Avo. Liquor retailer? Bottle-O. Gas (service) station? Servo. Afternoon? Arvo. I might go on perpetually. With Kano’s retconned nationality, I might 100% consider that “Kano” is simply an Australian nickname for one thing longer. What might that be? Kane? Kayden? Caleb? It might be something. But it works–“Yea mate, Kano’s (Kayden’s) gone to the servo (gas station) to pick up some durries (cigarettes)”.SHITS, NONE GIVEN (See additionally: SELF-DEPRECIATION)There was a factor in leisure information not too long ago, the place middle-aged American actress Anjelica Houston threw shade on the middle-aged forged of Poms for, what I can collect, doing what she thought was a dumb middle-aged film concept. Jacqui Weaver, a beloved middle-aged Australian actress who’s a part of the Poms forged, publically retorted in a separate interview, seemingly with none regard for social etiquette or self-preservation, saying merely, “She can go f*** herself.”Australians aren’t one to beat across the bush and put up with bullshit. The blasé, single-minded dismissal of pretentiousness, I feel, is an endearing cultural trait. Kano does this so many occasions in his interactions with the remainder of Mortal Kombat’s high-and-mighty forged of rulers, gods, and narcissists, casually dismissing no matter holier-than-thou shit they may have occurring. This sits comfortably along with a self-deprecating lack of expertise, too, for higher or worse. Some of my favourites:Noob Saibot: “I am Death’s hand!”Kano: “Bugger off, mate”and:Sonya: “I only deal in dead criminals.”Kano: “Talkin’ out of your clacker (anus), luv.”to not point out:Kano: “Why is it we ain’t we mates, Raiden?”Raiden: “Perhaps your life of sin and licentiousness”Kano: *pause* “Yea that could be it.”CRIMEOkay, so regardless of his newfound endearing dad power, Kano continues to be a dishonest dude by nature. He’s a bit little bit of a sleaze:Kano: “Want to taste Australia’s best blood sausage?”Skarlet: “I would rather taste your blood, Kano.”Kano: *pause* “Would you settle for me sausage?”…and he is positively nonetheless wickedly unscrupulous, typically speaking about making shady offers, reducing individuals open, and delivering heads in containers. No doubt you have already drawn the “Australia is a criminal colony” conclusion, and look, that is honest. Lots of white Australians are descended from the convicts who arrived from England within the 18th century, however loads has modified since then.Today, Australia is a massively multicultural nation that’s closely comprised of immigrants and refugees (my household included) from all around the world–Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa–and we’re additionally residence to among the world’s oldest indigenous cultures. What I am saying is that the English criminals we’re typically related to are part of our historical past fairly than our identification. Kano is an exception, fairly than a rule to our trendy upstanding values. But then once more, our present, largely Anglo authorities often locks up refugee households and youngsters in off-shore detention centres so hey possibly not.And now, a crash course in Australian slang:KANO’S FIGHT QUIPS: EXPLAINED”On Ya Bike!”F*** off, principally. You do not truly must be referring to somebody’s bodily bicycle for this to work.”Best chuck a u-ey!”A u-ey is normally in reference to a u-turn in a automobile, but in addition can be utilized to seek advice from a 180-degree flip. Again, Kano is principally telling somebody to f*** off. Related: doing doughnut in a automobile is known as a “dough-ey”.”Nice bit of tucker.””Tucker” means meals, however I do know only a few metropolis individuals who use that time period in informal dialog. Also, Kano eats a lizard whereas he says this, and I do not know any Australian who has ever eaten a lizard. Does a crocodile depend? They style like rooster.”Don’t be a bludger.””Bludger” is slang for a lazy particular person. “Bludging” may additionally imply skipping out on college or procrastinating. You hear loads about bludging on this nation.(To Cassie Cage) “You sound like a shithouse American tourist.”Basically what it feels like. American vacationers are shithouse.(To Baraka) “That’s a bonza attitude!””Bonza” means good!(To Kano) “Whaddaya say we split some stubbies?”A “stubby” is a time period for a small-sized bottle of beer, versus a “longneck”, though the measurements for beer fluctuate by area in Australia.(To Scarlet) “Now your blood’s worth bottling.””You’re very special”, principally, however to be trustworthy I’ve by no means heard anybody say this so somebody at NetherRealm clearly simply Googled “Australian slang” once they ran out of concepts.(To Kotal) “Let’s just give it a burl.””Give it a go”, principally. We had a former GameSpot worker who stated this fairly often, and for a very long time I assumed he was simply making phrases up.(To Jax) “We ain’t here to f*** spiders”A flip of phrase meaning you got here right here for a selected purpose. Not f***ing round, and never spider f***ing, naturally. That’s gross.(To Jax, when requested about his first crime) “I was an ankle biter, five or six.”Ankle biter is Australian slang for little one. Australian youngsters don’t truly chew your ankles. Except for possibly that feral child in Mad Max 2.(To Johnny Cage) “Good luck with that, ya drongo.””Drongo” is Australian slang for “idiot” or “stupid person”.(To Liu Kang) “Whatta bunch of dills.””Dill” can also be Australian slang for “idiot” or “stupid person”.(To Kabal) “Back off, you ungrateful yobbo.””Yobbo” can also be Australian slang for “idiot” or “stupid person” (now we have heaps), however normally a impolite or significantly unsophisticated one.KANO’S MOVELIST NAMES: EXPLAINEDSpewin'”Spewin'” is what you say if you cannot consider one thing occurred. I suppose it additionally means “vomiting”. The combo string that has this title includes Kano spitting (not vomiting) in his opponent’s face so I feel “Spewin'” most likely refers back to the act of shock right here.Fair Suck Of The SavThis is one other one I’ve by no means heard anybody use critically, but it surely principally means “to have a fair go”, and the “sav” refers to a sausage, which is a bit gross. We additionally name sausages sandwiches “sangas”. They are our nationwide food–a staple at hardware shops, college fetes, and at polling locations throughout authorities elections.Cut SnakeWhat occurs once you lower a snake? It will get offended. “Cut snake means “offended”. Don’t cut a snake.FIGJAMThis is incorrectly written out in lower case letters in Mortal Kombat 11, but it’s actually an acronym for “F*** I am Good, Just Ask Me”, as immortalised in the hip-hop track of the same name by Australian group, Butterfingers.Penal ColonyAustralia was originally founded as a penal colony. Makes sense.Face Like A Dropped PieAnother kind of obvious turn of phrase–what happens when you drop a pie? It gets pretty ugly. Personal-sized meat pies are another iconic Australian food thing. Most people in the world think the idea of meat in a pie is gross. Those people are wrong.KANO’S GEAR NAMES: A CRASH COURSE IN CLASSIC AUSTRALIAN ROCKA number of Kano’s equippable eye masks are actually classic Australia rock music references, and I was honestly giddy when I saw some of these mentioned. Not familiar with one of Australia’s golden eras of music? Mortal Kombat 11 is a great place to start. Follow those YouTube links for a good time.Hunter KollectorHunters & Collectors, more affectionately known as the “Hunnas”, had been an 80s pub rock band. Holy Grail is a karaoke basic I keep in mind GameSpot’s editor-in-chief belting out on the common again within the day.Mental and EveryfactorMental As Anything had been a laid-back 80s pop-rock band. They’re nice, I like them. The Nips Are Getting Bigger is considered one of their finest songs, but it surely’s positively not the most important. That accolade goes to…Live It UpLive It Up, which is Mental As Anything’s greatest hit. This is an absolute basic. Listen to it now. I feel it was in Crocodile Dundee? I have never truly seen that film, so I would not know.Midnight Oil MarauderAnother 80s group, Midnight Oil stay considered one of Australia’s most profitable political rock bands. Their frontman, Peter Garrett had an extended stint as a authorities minister. He’s additionally well-known for his uh, distinctive dance strikes.Bed BurnerBeds Are Burning is Midnight Oil’s most well-known monitor, and possibly one of the crucial iconic Australian rock songs of all time. It’s a protest track that offers with the ever-present problems with indigenous land rights.Cold ChiseledCold Chisel are one more beloved 70s/80s Australian pub rock band fronted by Jimmy Barnes, who Americans may know higher because the screaming cowboy within the sky in that one video. Their finest track, one other karaoke basic, is Khe Sanh, which tells the story of a returning Vietnam veteran.Mister Dirty DeedsEveryone is aware of AC/DC, proper? Right. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap is what it is a reference to. Good band, good track. Bon Scott was gone too quickly.Cruel SensationI need to say that this one is a reference to New Sensation, a track from Aussie 80s rock band INXS. But it may be a reference to a different 80’s rock band, The Cruel Sea.Kill.u.tonightSimilarly, I reckon this one is a reference to Need You Tonight by INXS. Another nice track. That guitar riff! These are ALL nice songs.Eye HooksThis gross reference is probably going associated to 70s glam-rock band Skyhooks. They had a bunch of hits, however Horror Movie might be the one which skyrocketed them to success. They’re principally Rocky Horror Picture Show, the band.TL;DRI’ve not noted a bunch of issues, and there are definitely a number of Kano references in Mortal Kombat 11 that do not fairly hit the mark. But man, going by way of all these Kano particulars makes me so proud to be an Australian, and so pleased to see and play as a real Australian character. I am so rattling impressed by the hassle, dedication, and execution of pop Kano. It positively looks like there have been some bonafide Australians (possibly Queenslanders? There are the next quantity of maroon [state colour] outfits and QLD location references) who labored arduous to show Kano into the lovable bogan (unrefined particular person) he’s in Mortal Kombat 11. That, or some actually devoted Americans did plenty of in-depth analysis and managed to tug it off with measured grace.Either method, good onya. Kano is the perfect Australian to ever seem in a online game, and everybody at NetherRealm who had a hand in his redesign and even a lot as checked out Kano throughout growth deserves a promotion. That can be bonza (good).