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| “ | Let's see what you're made of. | „ |
| ~ Kabal's battle cry in Mortal Kombat (2011). |
| “ | Starting to feel like the old days. Only faster. | „ |
| ~ Kabal after defeating Sheeva. |
Kabal is a supporting character in the Mortal Kombat franchise. While being a member of the Black Dragon at first, he later becomes a hero, during Shao Kahn's invasion. However, in both the original and rebooted timeline, whether willingly or not, Kabal falls into villainy once again.
He is portrayed by Richard Divisio in Mortal Kombat 3, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson in Defenders of the Realm, David Lodge in Mortal Kombat (2011) and by Jonathan Cahill in Mortal Kombat 11.
History[]
Mortal Kombat 3[]
Kabal first debuted in Mortal Kombat 3 as the leader of the Black Dragon until Shao Kahn invaded Earthrealm. His soul was spared and he discovered that he was one of the chosen fighters. Kabal had survived an attack from Kahn's extermination squads, and was left disfigured and kept alive by artificial respirators.
He leaves behind his life of crime with the Black Dragon and becomes a force for good, aiding in the battle against Outworld. Afterwards, Kabal decides to become a scourge on crime.
Between MK3 and MK: Deadly Alliance, Kabal is wounded severely in battle by Mavado, a leading member of the rival Red Dragon who stole his hookswords and kept them both for himself. Havik visits Kabal at the brink of death and restores him, and then instructs him to revive the Black Dragon as a force of anarchy and decay. Kabal agrees, returning to his criminal roots.
Mortal Kombat (2011)[]
In the 2011 reboot, Kabal was the former Black Dragon leader who reformed and now worked with Stryker as a cop. When Shao Kahn began an invasion of Earthream, Kabal and Stryker fought on a New York rooftop against the invaders. The two face Reptile, who knocks Kabal back, leading Stryker to defeat the reptilian ninja. Stryker and Kabal head to street level, despite Kabal warning his partner that it wasn't safe. While Kabal and Stryker goes street level, they encounter Mileena. After Stryker defeats Mileena, the two of them encounter Raiden, with Kabal being surprised to see him shoot lightning. However the monstrous Kintaro severely burns Kabal, and when Stryker was indisposed, Kabal is dragged into Outworld and rescued by Kano.
Kabal's body is healed to a workable state by Shang Tsung's magic, aside from his severely damaged lungs that could not be repaired, which leads to him being forced to wear artificial respirators as his lungs. When Kabal awakens, Kano tries to tempt him back to the Black Dragon, even giving him his old hookswords. After Kabal discovers the Black Dragon were aiding the invasion, he realised his disfigurement was Kano's fault, and after fighting him, forces him to take him to the leader of the invasion. In Shao Kahn's throne room, Kabal decided to make a surprise attack, despite Kano telling him Kahn was too powerful. However, he's stopped in his tracks by Mileena and Noob Saibot, both of whom he defeats. Shao Kahn quickly demands Quan Chi to close the Earthrealm portal, but Kabal unknowingly uses his super speed to jump into the portal in time.
In Earthrealm again, Kabal figures his super speed is a residual effect of Outworld's magic. Right after, he is attacked by Cyber Sub-Zero due to using the portal without permission, but defeats him. Afterwards Sheeva, mistaking him for a treacherous member of the Cyber Lin Kuei, fights him but Kabal defeats her. Kabal is than approached by Raiden and Smoke to join the Defenders of Earthrealm. Kabal recognised the former from earlier, and is assured that Stryker has joined them. After Smoke revealed Sub-Zero used to be his friend, Kabal agreed to help him. As part of the Earthrealm Defenders, Kabal is reunited with Stryker and after Earth's souls were saved by Nightwolf and Sub-Zero, they try to work out their next move. The Lin Kuei surrounded the group, and Kabal and the others fought them off. Right afterwards, they were set upon by the empowered Sindel, who killed them all. Kabal is later resurrected as a vengeful revenant by Quan Chi.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Superhuman Strength: Kabal has proved to be very strong enough to take on super-powered characters. He is strong enough to pull the top of someone's head off. He is also capable of kicking opponents to send them flying at greater distances than how a peak human can.
- Superhuman Speed: Kabal's most defining trait is his immeasurable speed. He's able to run at such blinding speeds that makes him appear as a blur, making him one of the fastest characters in the series. His speed has been compared to The Flash from the DC Universe. It was revealed in MK 2011 that his speed is due to his brief time in Outworld, his ravaged body exposed to the magic-heavy atmosphere of that realm granting him so much power.
- Superhuman Durability
- Superhuman Endurance: Kabal is able to resist large amounts of physical pain that could severely injure him. He was able to survive after being burnt my Kintaro's fire breath but has damaged his lungs which forced to have a respirator system.
- Superhuman Reflexes: With his speed, Kabal is able to evade projectiles with his reflexes.
- Magic: During his time in Outworld, Kabal has been gifted with magic capabilities like firing purple energy projectiles.
Abilities[]
- Master Martial Artist: Kabal is a formidable combatant even without using his speed. He can use his speed combined with his martial art skills in order to defeat his opponents. He has been able to best Kano, Noob Saibot, Mileena, Cyber Sub-Zero, and Sheeva.
- Sun Bin
- Goju Ryu
- Acrobatics: Kabal does have impressive acrobatic skills. Besides his agility, he can also perform flips.
- Weaponry: Kabal is very proficient in wielding hook swords and sending saw blades toward his opponents.
- High Intelligence: Kabal does have impressive intelligence when making strategies and analyzing his opponents' movements and skills
- Indomitable Will: After redeeming himself as a Black Dragon leader, he has joined the police department in order to serve and protect with his partner Stryker. Witnessing the invasion Outworld posed to Earthrealm, he refused to aid Kano's treachery against their home realm and sought to end this invasion. Raiden knew of Kabal willpower and determination and later welcomed him to join the Earthrealm champions in order to stop Shao Kahn.
Paraphernalia[]
- Hookswords
- Sawblades
Quotes[]
| “ | He was once a member of the Black Dragon along with Kano. Now Kabal devotes his life to fight injustice: He will give crime's inner circles a new reason to fear. | „ |
| ~ Kabal's ending in Mortal Kombat III. |
| “ | I'm thinking shoot first, ask questions later. | „ |
| ~ Kabal to Stryker, after seeing Reptile in Mortal Kombat (2011). |
Gallery[]
Images[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- One of the hints in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks is "Kabal says thank you very much". This may be a reference to a side mission players can perform, where he will reward them with his hookswords.
- Kabal's fatality in MK3, where he removed his mask to scare the opponent to death, was listed as ninth on Screwattack's Top 10 Worst Mortal Kombat Fatalities list.
- While all the other characters must perform "mercy" to use their Animalities, Kabal can do so automatically on the Sega Geneis ports. However this makes his head fall off.
- In Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Kano states that the Flash was so fast, he would give Kabal a run for his money.
- Kabal's burned animation model in Mortal Kombat (2011) seems to be blind in one eye.
- The pre disfigured MK 9 era Kabal makes a cameo in Robocop's ending as part of a "interagency effort" against OCP.
