Smoke (Mortal Kombat)

Smoke is a video game character from the Mortal Kombat series. His real name is Tomas Vrbada. First appearing as a hidden unplayable opponent in Mortal Kombat II, Smoke makes his playable debut in Mortal Kombat 3 as an unlockable character. While Smoke is human in MKII, he becomes a cyborg in MK3, alongside Cyrax and Sektor.

In video games
Smoke started out as a Lin Kuei assassin. He was a friend and ally of the younger Sub-Zero, and had gone with him to Outworld on his mission to kill Shang Tsung. They did not accomplish their mission. When Sub-Zero and Smoke returned to the Lin Kuei, they discovered that their clan had chosen to transform their best warriors into cyborgs, already performing the procedure on Cyrax and Sektor. Smoke and Sub-Zero turned on their clan and fled. Sub-Zero managed to escape, but Smoke was captured and converted into a cybernetic warrior, designated LK-7T2. Under the programming of the Lin Kuei, Smoke was forced to hunt his old friend. During the events of Mortal Kombat 3 and Shao Kahn's invasion of Earth, Smoke's fortunes continued to fail him. Although he discovered, with Sub-Zero's help, that he still retained his soul and was in fact one of Raiden's chosen warriors and aided Sub-Zero in defeating Cyrax and Sektor, he was captured by Kahn's forces. The inert Smoke was transported to Outworld as a trophy and was locked away in the bowels of Kahn's fortress.

Nearly a decade later, however, he was discovered by Noob Saibot. He reactivated the cyborg, whose nanotechnology set about repairing and improving his systems. Reprogramming Smoke to obey only him, Saibot turned the cyber-ninja into both his ally and template for a future army of cyber-demons that was to rise from the Netherealm. Although Ashrah's ending depicted Smoke's innate goodness battling his cyborg programming, Smoke remained paired with Noob until the next game. In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon's Konquest mode, Smoke appears with Noob staging an attack on the Lin Kuei temple located in Arctika. It is shown that Smoke has the ability to transform humans into shadow warriors, dark versions of their former selves. He does battle with Taven but is eventually beaten. He teleports away to inform Noob of Taven's interference with their plan.

In Mortal Kombat (2011), Smoke is saved from being automated, but his friend Sub-Zero gets automated instead. In his ending, Shao Kahn's violent death shook the very core of Smoke's being and dislodged his earliest memories. Smoke realizes he is no mere assassin, being aware of his true identity.

Character design
Smoke was an unplayable gray clone of Scorpion in MKII, and in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 he shared his uppercut decapitation Fatality with Ermac. In Mortal Kombat Trilogy, he was given his own set of Fatalities. His human form in UMK3, unlockable by entering a code after selecting his cybernetic form, was initially an actual part of the storyline. His ending described that he was able to somehow escape his artificial body, and had entered training in preparation for Mortal Kombat 4. However, Mortal Kombat Trilogy retconned this, and his human form was then described as being a non-canon character, simply how he remembered himself. As his name suggests, he always has smoke flowing through his body.

Unlike previous hidden characters who acquired their own unique special moves and combination attacks upon becoming part of the standard cast, Smoke continued to use techniques identical or similar to other characters through the MK3 series, in both his human and cyber forms. It was not until Mortal Kombat: Deception that Smoke arguably acquired his first original set of moves. Before Smoke was included in this game, a tinted Cyrax was used as a filler until the final version of the game was finished. An unlockable photo of him as a tinted Cyrax is in the Krypt.

In reboot game Mortal Kombat (2011), Smoke is once again human and Sub-Zero gets automated instead of him.

Gameplay
When first appearing in MKII, Smoke's moveset was identical to that of Scorpion. In MK3, he borrows Reptile's invisibility and Sektor's teleport uppercut. It's not until Deception that Smoke starts to utilize a more unique moveset, using the smoke from his body as part of his special moves. In MK 2011, Smoke's moveset gets a big overhaul. Unlike most characters, most of his special moves are new to that game.

In other media
Smoke appears as a minor character in Malibu Comics series Battlewave, and appeared on the cover of the third issue along with Jade. He was a hidden assassin of Shao Kahn. He is usually seen with Jade, likely since fans regularly associated them with each other after they appeared in the background of the Living Forest in MKII. Among his abilities, he was capable of turning his entire body into smoke and making himself untouchable (though Jax disposes him easily by opening a hole in the plane they fight on, blowing him out). He would also spout the word "Toasty!" while speaking. Smoke and Jade are ordered to take down menaces to Shao Kahn's rule. They attempted to kill the hospitalized Jax after Goro attacked him, but Jax stopped their attempt. They then hijacked the plane he and Johnny Cage used to travel to Outworld. Faced with defeat again, their last attempt to regain the emperor's grace was during Raiden and Kano's fight in the third issue of the miniseries Rayden & Kano, where they tried to kill a weakened Raiden, but were instead stopped by Kano himself.

The robot version of Smoke appeared in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, played by Ridley Tsui. In the film, Smoke is a silver-colored version of Sektor, as he shot missiles from his chest in lieu of his harpoon. His backstory with Sub-Zero was ignored in the film's non-canon storyline; Smoke is instead sent by Shao Kahn to keep Liu Kang and Kitana away from Sindel, but he was collaboratively destroyed by Liu Kang and Sub-Zero.

In the animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, Smoke appeared in one episode (titled "Old Friends Never Die"), serving the Lin Kuei clan and seeking Sub-Zero. He is briefly seen in human form in a flashback scene before becoming automated, where it is shown that he and Sub-Zero defected the clan together, but Smoke chose to stay behind at a certain point to help Sub-Zero escape. In the end, Smoke's human soul was able to overpower his programming and he stood to the vow of friendship between him and Sub-Zero. He was voiced by Jeremy Ratchford.

Smoke makes a very brief appearance in his human form during the ending of one Mortal Kombat: Konquest episode, following Sub-Zero's betrayal of the Lin Kuei. Smoke is called upon by the clan as the next warrior to be sent to hunt and kill the traitor, at which point he emerges from mist as a faint, grey figure with glowing red eyes.

Reception
In 2011, GamesRadar named Smoke as the first on the list of "gaming's most malicious machines" along with Cyrax and Sektor, commenting "no one does killer cyborgs quite like MK." Game Rant ranked Smoke at #3 on their "10 Most Awesome Mortal Kombat Characters" list, citing his teleport uppercut and harpoon special moves. Game Rant also listed his "Smoked Out" Fatality from MK 2011 as an honorable mention on their "Top 10 Fatalities Of Mortal Kombat 9 (2011)" list, praising it's uniqueness, as well listing Cyber Smoke as their most wanted DLC character for MK 2011. Paste also ranked his "Smoked Out" Fatality as the seventh best from that game. ScrewAttack listed Smoke as the 5th best character on their "Top 10 Mortal Kombat Kharacters" list, commenting "With Scorpion's harpoon and Reptile's invisibility, this is one ninja you do not want to screw with". 411mania ranked Cyber Smoke as the best Mortal Kombat character, commenting "Cyber-Smoke is the character I miss the most in the current MK". In UGO Networks' 2012 list of the "Top 50 Mortal Kombat Characters", Smoke placed at 13th.

Topless Robot listed Smoke as the eighth goofiest Mortal Kombat character, citing the smoke flowing around his body and his Fatality from MK3 where he blows the whole planet. That same Fatality appears to be one of the most popular finishing moves, as it was listed as the best Fatality ever by IGN in 2010 and the most confusing Fatality by Game Informer in 2010, as well as listed as the best Fatality ever and the 2nd most gruesome finishing move by UGO Networks in 2007 and 2011; in addition, GameSpy ranked that Fatality as ninth on their 2009 list of 10 biggest video game explosions.