Cyrax

Cyrax is a video game character from the Mortal Kombat series. Making his debut in Mortal Kombat 3, Cyrax is a cyborg ninja who used to be human until he was automated, along with Sektor, Smoke and Sub-Zero.

In video games
In Mortal Kombat 3, Cyrax is first working for the Lin Kuei alongside his partners, Sektor and Smoke, in order to track down and kill a renegade member of the Lin Kuei clan, the younger Sub-Zero (Sub-Zero had disagreed with the decision to convert all its members into cyborgs, left the clan and was thus marked for death by the grandmasters). During the invasion of Earthrealm by Shao Kahn and his minions, Sub-Zero defeated Cyrax and reprogrammed him with orders to destroy Shao Kahn. However, Kahn was defeated by the other Earthrealm warriors before Cyrax had a chance to do so. As a result of his reprogramming, he awaited new orders; when these never came, he malfunctioned and wandered until becoming mired in the middle of a vast desert. Cyrax is seen trapped in the sand in the background of Jade's Desert in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy, despite also being a playable character (this foreshadows his ending in those particular games). In Mortal Kombat Gold, Cyrax was recovered and repaired by the Lin Kuei. However, he appeared somehow different than when first constructed. The short-handed clan again sent Cyrax into battle with his fellow cyborg Sektor assigned to monitor him.

However, Cyrax's storyline in Gold was contradicted by the Konquest Mode in the next sequel, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, according to which Cyrax was "recovered by Special Forces agents Sonya Blade and Jackson Briggs." (This seems to acknowledge an unused bio for him that had appeared in Prima's official strategy guide for Gold, according to which Cyrax was rescued by Special Forces and reprogrammed to fight on the side of good against Shinnok. ) After Shinnok's defeat, it became apparent that Cyrax had begun to experience flashbacks of his former life and Sonya and Jax brought him to the Outer World Investigation Agency (OIA) headquarters and used its technology to restore his humanity. Grateful for their help, Cyrax joined the OIA as a scout in Earthrealm. During the events of Deadly Alliance, Cyrax was ambushed by the Oni Moloch and Drahmin. After driving the two demons off, he became stranded in Outworld. His arm console, which allowed him to return to Earthrealm, was damaged in a surprise attack by Reptile orchestrated by the vampire Nitara. He managed to drive off Reptile as well with his Slice and Dice buzzsaw attack. A short time later, he encountered Nitara. She offered to help him return home in exchange for his aid in recovering a lost artifact. They traveled to the underground chamber that housed the egg of the Dragon King. There, Cyrax submerged himself in the lake of molten lava and discovered the orb that would separate her world from Outworld. With it now in her possession, she honored her promise to Cyrax and used her mystical necklace to open a portal and send him back to Earthrealm.

In Mortal Kombat, Cyrax, a Motswana member of the Lin Kuei, relies on his natural fighting ability, his chi, to carry out Lin Kuei missions. He is proud to serve, but shows reservations when the Grandmaster initiates a program to convert the clan into cyborgs. Reluctant to lose his humanity, he believes his instincts and judgement more effective than any mechanical augmentation. His doubts only grow after Raiden convinces him that enabling Shang Tsung to win the Mortal Kombat tournament would spell the end of Earthrealm, including the Lin Kuei. He confronts Sektor, who is willing to co-opt him even if by force, but Cyrax defeats him and announces he will leave the Lin Kuei. However, in unseen events, he ends up getting caught and automated anyway, joining Sektor in giving chase to Smoke and Tundra (the younger Sub-Zero) into the Outworld.

Character design
Along with the other cyborg characters; Cyrax's visual appearance is of a cyborg with yellow-colored plates and body parts. Since MK3, each character's visual appearance has evolved independently, as Cyrax had several additions to his costume including a utility belt and several LEDs and lighting placed on his mechanism.

Cyrax's face was first seen ingame during MK Gold. His alternate costume depicted him in the same outfit, but lacking the front of his mask. In MK: Deadly Alliance, his alternate costume had him wearing no helmet with a clearly visible face. While Cyrax's primary outfit in Deadly Alliance shows him more robotic than human, his alternate costume shows him to be almost completely human with cybernetic parts in his body.

Cyrax and his robotic counterparts, Sektor and Smoke, began as palette swapped characters to work around technical limitations to increase the number of playable characters. Since MK3 and its updates, they have only appeared in MK: Armageddon together. While Sektor and Cyrax were playable in Gold, only Cyrax was playable in Deadly Alliance, while Sektor appeared in Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition. Smoke was playable as part of a tag team with Noob Saibot in Mortal Kombat: Deception. However, they all have returned for Armageddon as individual characters.

In the development stage of MK3, Cyrax and Sektor were referred to as "Mustard" and "Ketchup" before their names were finalized. Cyrax has separate combos in the Sambo style in Deadly Alliance named Ketchup and Mustard, a reference to this.

Gameplay
Being a cyborg, Cyrax uses moves such as bombs, a net and buzzsaws. His fatalities also usually use these abilities. In MK 2011, many of his combos utilize his buzzsaw. Cyrax also tends to have a lot of throw moves at his disposal, as seen in games like Deadly Alliance and MK 2011.

GameSpot criticized Cyrax's bombs in MK Gold, mentioning that they are nearly useless in the game, since one can just sidestep them. IGN wrote both of Cyrax's detonator special moves make him interesting in Armageddon. Kotaku said that Cyrax "was familiar and fun to play" in MK 2011 and that "he's like a cybernetic Swiss army knife, stuffed with nasty surprises." On the other hand, GamesRadar criticized Cyrax for feeling unbalanced in MK 2011, citing his projectiles that one can barely get around.

In other media
Cyrax appears in the film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation as one of Shao Kahn's assassins, and was played by J.J. Perry, but was never mentioned by name. He and some black-clad human henchmen attempt to kill Sonya and Jax in a government laboratory. Cyrax is defeated and burned by Sonya, and promptly self-destructs.

Cyrax and Sektor were both shown unmasked in one episode of the 1996 animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm. Cyrax was shown as a white man and Sektor as an African-American with dreadlocks. (In the games' canon, Cyrax actually has the latter description, while Sektor is an Asian.)

Cyrax and Sektor are also seen in the 2011 live-action web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy. In the episode titled "Cyrax & Sektor", they are given more backstory, being pitted against two robots (while in their human form) and a bot named Hydro (once they undergo a robotic transformation).

Reception
GamesRadar named Cyrax, along with Sektor and Smoke as the first on the list of "gaming's most malicious machines", commenting that "no one does killer cyborgs quite like MK." In a list of Mortal Kombat's best and worst Fatalities" by Game Informer, Cyrax's "Self-Destruct" Fatality from MK3 is listed one of the most confusing ones, as "he regularly finished fights by blowing himself up." Cyrax was also listed in a list of characters that Game Informer wished to see in the 2011 game, along with a praise of his bombs and net. ScrewAttack ranked Cyrax as sixth on their top Mortal Kombat characters list, praising his bombs and net special moves, but also called him one of the "cheapest" characters in MK3. Cheat Code Central listed Cyrax as the ninth best Mortal Kombat character, as "nobody in the MK universe can match up to that list of awesome abilities." 1UP.com included Cyrax in a list of characters he would have liked to see as DLC in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, adding: "Cyrax probably clashes a little with Lex Luthor's battlesuit, or even elements of the cyber-armed Jax, but is another bright yellow hero who many remember fondly from the digitzed era." In UGO Networks' 2012 list of top Mortal Kombat characters, Cyrax placed at 25th. In a list of the coolest robots in video games by Complex in 2012, Cyrax placed at fourth place. On the other hand, Game Rant listed Cyrax's "Self-Destruct" fatality from MK3 as the 10th worst Fatality in the series, commenting that Cyrax blowing himself up as well as their opponent is unnecessary.