The Ultimate

Kano

Fan Page

Introduction

Welcome to my page dedicated to the Mortal Kombat series' unsung hero, the master of disaster himself, Kano!

Why Kano? Simple. When I first stumbled across the original Mortal Kombat in arcades, just about every head-to-head fighting game in existence was a knockoff of Capcom's super-popular Street Fighter 2. Generic Japanese anime-style character design and combat was the rule. Fatal Fury. Samurai Shodown. World Heroes. They all looked and played like the shameless Street Fighter clones they were. Bleh! All the while, Midway had been developing a radically different fighter. It combined digitized actors, graphic violence, and, oddly enough, a Jean-Claude Van Damme license. Thankfully, the Van Damme license fell through at the last moment (prompting the addition of his in-game replacement, Johnny Cage), and video game history was made when Mortal Kombat finally hit the streets.

I was drawn to it at first sight. If the character design and story weren't enough to grab my interest, the bloody dismemberments sure were! After a few short games, I had decided on my favorite character: Kano. Almost every fighting game character up to that point was similar. Hyperkinetic, spiky-haired, and, if female, comically overdeveloped. Hero types in the anime tradition. Kano, on the other hand, was just a dirty, unsophisticated thug with a cool infrared eye implant and a penchant for tearing out his foe's still-beating hearts. Now that's my kind of guy!

And so, this page. Enjoy!

Kano's Story

Kano's Vital Statistics

Age: 35
Height: 6'
Weight: 205
Hair: Black.
Eyes: 1 Brown, 1 Infra-Red (built into metal implant).
Legal Status: Deported from Japan, wanted criminal in 35 countries.
Known Relatives: None- was orphaned as a small child by an American woman in Tokyo.
Birthplace: Unknown.
Occupation: Criminal Member of the Black Dragon Organization.

Mortal Kombat

Centuries ago, an order of the wisest man of the East received terrifying visions of a twisted alien dimension known as Outworld. They saw that Outworld was ruled by an evil emperor known as Shao Kahn. They were also made aware of Kahn's desire to rule their own world, and that it would indeed be possible for him to do so by stepping through the then-sealed dimensional gates between Earth and Outworld. In order to accomplish this, he unceasingly worked to bring about the conditions that would allow him entrance to the Earth Realm, those conditions being the unbalancing of the Furies, positive and negative supernatural forces, the interaction of which governed the very workings of the universe.

In an effort to protect their realm, the wise men petitioned the Elder Gods, who in turn created the tournament known as Mortal Kombat. The rules were simple. Each generation, Earth's greatest warriors would engage in combat to the death with Kahn's own chosen champions. Only by claiming ten victories in a row in this fashion, could Kahn open the way for his planned conquest of Earth.

By the end of the twentieth century, the world was on the brink of disaster. With the aid of his demon sorcerer Shang Tsung and Tsung's half-human, half-dragon servant Goro, Outworld had dominated the tournament for the previous nine generations. One final victory would doom mankind to an eternity under Kahn's harsh rule. On Shang Tsung's private island, the tournament was about to begin....

Kano

The son of an American woman, Kano was orphaned overseas at a young age. He spent his earliest years living in poverty on the streets of Tokyo. He was taken in by members of the Black Dragon Organization, an infamous and widely-feared international crime syndicate. It was then that he began his life of violence and larceny. His cunning and skill as a martial artist and expert knife fighter allowed him to rise quickly through the Organization's ranks. It was during this time that he first ran afoul of the woman who would eventually become his arch-nemesis, U.S. Army special forces member Lieutenant Sonya Blade. During one of his countless criminal exploits, Kano murdered Blade's long-time partner. The grieving Sonya then vowed to track Kano down and insure his capture, dead or alive. Over the next few years, she proved to be the proverbial thorn in Kano's side as she obsessively sought to apprehend him with the help of her new partner Major Jackson "Jax" Briggs. Kano's quick wits allowed him to continually slip from her grasp, despite some very close calls. In fact, it is rumored that Kano's distinctive eye replacement implant is a result of a run in with Blade. The truth of the matter, however, is unknown.

On the eve of the great tournament, Kano first heard the rumors surrounding Mortal Kombat, among them, the story that Tsung's palace housed wealth beyond measure. That some of its very walls were of solid gold. The lure of such wealth proved irresistable to the greedy Kano, and he boarded a boat to the island, intent on winning the tournament, overthrowing Tsung, and looting to his heart's content. Sonya Blade, still hot on his trail, gave chase.

The Tournament and its Aftermath

The Mortal Kombat tournament soon commenced, and Earth's protector, the thunder god Raiden, was successful in rallying the Earth warriors, led by the former Shaolin monk Liu Kang, to defeat Tsung and Goro. At the tournament's close, Kano had finally been cornered by Sonya. It seemed that he would finally be brought to justice after all. At the last moment, however, the defeated Shang Tsung fled back to Outworld through a dimensional portal. Rather than submit to capture and trial, Kano fled after him, into the unknown reaches of Outworld. Sonya grimly continued the chase, venturing through the portal as well. Before long, both had been taken prisoner by Shao Kahn's forces.

Although seemingly beaten, the ever-scheming Shang Tsung soon devised a new plan. He lured the Earth warriors into the Outworld itself with the ruse of a new tournament, while in fact intending for them to meet their deaths at the hands of Shao Kahn himself. After luring the Earth warriors into the Outworld, Kahn used dark sorcery to raise his deceased queen, Sindel, from the dead. This unholy act of sorcery gave him the power to finally unbalance the Furies and open the way to the Earth Realm. Sonya was rescued from Shao Kahn's clutches by her partner Jax, but Kano once again eluded capture. Before the actual invasion, the wily Kano convinced Kahn to spare him, promising to instruct Kahn's armies in the use of Earth weapons in exchange for his life. With everything finally in place, Kahn stepped through the portal, and commenced his conquest of Earth.

Again led by Raiden, Earth's champions thwarted Kahn's invasion. As a result of this epic struggle, Kahn was thought to have been destroyed. Kano also dropped out of sight during this time, and he was assumed to have been killed in the bloody chaos that surrounded Kahn's defeat. Those who know Kano well, however, aren't betting on it...

Kano Game Information

Move Key

F = Forward (Toward your opponent)
B = Back (Away from your opponent)
U = Up
D = Down
HP = High Punch
LP = Low Punch
HK = High Kick
LK = Low Kick
Block = Block
Run = Run

MK1 Kano

Special Moves:

Knife Throw: B, F, Block
Cannonball: Rotate controls 360 degrees clockwise. Holding Block allows Kano to hover in place.
Knife Spin: B, F, HP. Tap HP to spin longer and faster.*

Kombos:

LK, LK, HK, F+HK*
HP, HP, HP, HP *

Finishing Moves:

Heart Rip Fatality: B, D, F, LP
Stage Fatality: B, F, F, Block*
Brutality: HP, HP, Block, HK, HK, LK, HK, HP, HP, LP, HP*
Babality: B, B, D, D, HK*

* = Mortal Kombat Trilogy only.

Note: To play as the classic MK1 version of Kano in the Playstation and Saturn versions of Mortal Kombat Trilogy, move the character selection cursor over Kano and press the Select button.

Profile:

A mercenary, thug, extortionist, thief - Kano lives a life of crime and injustice. He is a devoted member of the Black Dragon, a dangerous group of cut-throat madmen feared and respected throughout all of crime's inner circles.

Ending:

With the defeat of Goro and Shang Tsung, Kano will bring his own brand of treachery to the Tournament. His Black Dragon Organization forms a monopoly over the contest that brings shame and torment to all those involved. Their reign will end in anarchy and death. It will result in the final dismantling of the tournament and the Battle of the Sans.

MK3 Kano

Special Moves:

Knife Throw: D, B, HP
Knife Slash: D, F, HP
Cannonball: Hold LK Three Seconds, Release LK
Vertical Cannonball: F, D, F, HK*
Psycho Cannonball: F, D, F, LK*
Grab and Shake: D, F, LP
Air Throw: Block (in air).

Kombos:

HP, HP, HK, LK, B+HK
HP, HP, D+LP, D+HP, Jump Kick, Cannonball

Finishing Moves:

Eye Laser Fatality: LP, Block, Block, HK
Skeleton Rip Fatality: Hold LP, F, D, D, F, Release LP
Stage Fatality: U, U, B, LK
Brutality: HP, LP, Block, LP, HP, Block, HK, LK, Block, HK, LK*
Animality: Hold HP, Block, Block, Block, Release HP
Babality: F, F, D, D, LK
Friendship: LK, Run, Run, HK

* = Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3/Mortal Kombat Trilogy only.
* = Mortal Kombat Trilogy only.

Profile:

Kano is thought to have been killed in the first tournament. Instead, he's found alive in the Outworld, where he once again escapes capture by Sonya. Before the actual Outworld invasion, Kano convinces Shao Kahn to spare his soul. Kahn needs someone to teach his warriors how to use Earth's weapons, and Kano is the man to do it.

Ending:

When Shao Kahn lets Kano live he fails to realize the resourcefulness of the scheming human. Kano lures Kahn's army away on a false mission, then nukes them using a stolen weapon. He fights the remaining warriors and finally defeats Kahn himself. Kano's true intention is to take over the souls which Kahn once possessed. But Kano is unable to control the spirits as they escape and attack him. Rumored to have suffered a violent death Kano was ignorant of the fact that he saved the world he tried to conquer.

Kano Facts and Trivia

Kano was a boss in the Mortal Kombat-inspired action game MK: Special Forces. Don't worry if you missed it, since the game was truly dreadful, even for diehard Kano fans.

According to legend, the Mortal Kombat team originally designed Kano's distinctive metal eyepiece as a larger, helmet-like accessory with two glowing red eyes. Later, they settled on the version we all know and love, perhaps taking a style cue from the film Terminator.

In the highly-successful Mortal Kombat movie, Kano was played by Australian actor Trevor Goddard. Unfortunately, he was killed by Sonya about halfway into the film. Too bad.

Kano has his own theme song! The Immortals produced a Kano-themed techno track called "Use Your Might" for Mortal Kombat: The Album. It's pretty catchy and the whole album is well worth checking out.

According to Richard Divizio, the martial artist and actor who plays Kano in the Mortal Kombat games, Kano's favorite food is White Castle hamburgers. Mmm. Oniony.

Back in the early 1990s, a ton of Mortal Kombat-related merchandise was released. Among the less successful offerings were Mortal Kombat action figures. Why unsuccessful? Well, Kano's "Kombat Cycle" was basically a goofy-looking motorcycle covered with Mortal Kombat logos that fired plastic missiles. Reptile had a speed boat. What this weird junk had to do with the game is anyone's guess.

When Kano was left out of the character roster in Mortal Kombat 2, rumors ran rampant that he was included as a secret character. Some swore that Shang Tsung could "morph" into Kano and use his moves. This rumor, although false, was actively encouraged by the crafty Mortal Kombat design team, who included an audit menu with the false heading "Kano Transformations" just to have some fun with conspiracy theorist fans. These rumors made the rounds for the better part of a year before folks just accepted that Kano was nowhere to be found. Fortunately, he made a triumphant return a few years later in Mortal Kombat 3.

Kano turned up missing again in Mortal Kombat 4. In his place, was another Black Dragon member named Jarek. Jarek looked, acted, and played pretty much exactly like Kano, right down to the fatalities, causing long-time Mortal Kombat fans to ask the obvious question: "Why the heck not just put Kano in?" Yeesh! This story has a happy ending, though. Midway has confirmed that Kano will return in the upcoming Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance!