Just missing out on the tenth place spot by 2 votes, we have Johnny Cage. Being one of the original characters in Mortal Kombat has surely helped here, because Johnny Cage has seemingly been around forever. When he first came to our screens he was just a movie actor who wanted to prove that he did his own stunts and that everything he did was real. Well, in a tournament with cryomancers, hellspawns, monsters, sorcerers and a turkey boy, he had to be. Now, whether he did any good is all speculation, if you believe the MK: SM intro, it wasn’t a tournament, but one massive free for all in which he fought Reptile and had his head munched on before eventually being swatted away by Goro. Ignoring the good, but in many fans eyes non-canon, intro Johnny Cage survived Mortal Kombat and he and Liu Kang was the only ones to stay in Earthrealm after the tournament was over. Thanks to Johnny, Jax came to Outworld with him and the other characters, so you could say Johnny was the one who helped save Sonya. In Mortal Kombat 3, because his actor was fired, Johnny was killed off by the extermination squads before the game even started. I believe that it would have been Motaro, as he was leading the whole thing. Anyway, he came back in MK: T, after a new actor was found, to help his friends before going onto the afterlife.
He did not stay there long, soon Shinnok made his bid to take over Earth and Raiden decided they needed all the help they could get and resurrected Johnny Cage. Johnny then contributed in keeping Shinnok’s forces back. How? Who knows, a lot of what people do in the game itself is left up to the fans to believe. In Deadly Alliance, you actually get to see what he contributed to the story, he was one of the few who made it to Shang Tsung palace, where he was killed off by the Deadly Alliances forces. Poor Johnny. Well, it was a doomed mission, with Sub Zero elsewhere and other allies like Cyrax and Kenshi missing, it was essentially 5 humans versus an army and two sorcerers. He was resurrected again, this time by Onaga where he became one of his enforcers. He was freed when Ermac came back and helped Liu Kang’s spirit slap some sense into his five friends. And in Armageddon, he has a lot of deja-vu like dreams and helps gather the forces of light against Shinnok’s plans.
Will Johnny Cage be in future games? Probably not, storyline wise, he never had much to go on, but, Johnny Cage has done what he needed to do, he proved that he is for real and that he is one of the strongest fighters Earthrealm has to offer.
Adam’s Input
The king of the box office doesn’t even make the cut of the top ten? What are you people smoking? Have you seen Ninja Mime? What about The Gist of my Fist? Sudden Violence I – III maybe? HWAAAA!! (for which he won an Oscar)? If not, I suggest you stop reading this and head on over to your local video store. Ask the store clerk to find you a copy of HWAAAA!!! Trust me. Did you know that he holds the record for most times killed and resurrected (3 deaths, 2 resurrections so far). His first two deaths, however, were attributed to bad writing, and his official death was in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, though he returned in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Try to top that…
Grail’s Input
For a guy who was originally supposed to be the based on Jean Claude van Dam, he’s certainly taken an interesting twist. Then again, most van Dam movies are pretty funny! Johnny always struck me as the odd one out. Cage seems like he’s trying so damn hard and no matter what he does, he somehow manages to trip over himself and goof it. Or die. Which ever happens first. He also quickly became the whipping boy when somebody ‘had to die’ – only to be brought back again from what I can only assume was sheer rabid fan-boyism. I sometimes wonder what would happen if Johnny was consumed by his “shadow” powers and turned to evil. Could make his story a whole lot more interesting than trying to prove how great he is at fighting and chasing women…
Dave’s Input
Whoa, Johnny moved from 2004’s voting #6 spot to not even making the top 10 this year? I guess Johnny’s latest appearances in MK: Deadly Alliance and MK: Armageddon have been less than impressive in the last three years. Anyway, Johnny was never one of my favorites but I always liked the fact that he brought the MK series that comic relief factor and was one of the few actual human characters who you could identify with. As with Raiden, Johnny’s appearance in the first motion film helped increase my interest in the character and I think it was a damn shame when he was killed right off the bat in Annihilation.