Hell

Hell, also known as Scorpion's Lair^[1] and Hades,^[2] is Scorpion's original battlefield and a stage in the Mortal Kombat series. The stage debuted in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Here, as a Stage Fatality, an opponent can be uppercut into a pool of lava nearby. 

Overview

It was never clarified if Hell and the Netherrealm are one and the same, or if Hell is just a part of the dark realm. However, in the manuals of earlier games and the back of the game's box cover, it is often referred to as "Earth's Hell" or "Earthrealm's Hell" respectively, further confusing the matter. Yet in MK 2011 Story Mode, when Raiden said he was going to the Netherrealm, he ended up in Hell, where Scorpion was. Additionally, Lucifer is said to have been the former ruler of the Netherrealm before being deposed by Shinnok. Assuming this Lucifer is equivalent to the Judeo-Christian Devil, then Hell and the Netherrealm may be the same place.

The same diabolical arena reappeared in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Resembling some parts of Scorpion's Lair, this arena is still situated in the hoary Netherrealm. Surrounded by boiling lava, skull pillars and jagged structures, kombatants took part in ferocious battles here on multiple levels after each opponent gets knocked out and then thrown down into the next level of the Netherrealm.

Hell returns in Mortal Kombat (2011), with a darker, updated look from Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. The changes made in the arena is that there are less skull pillars and smoke clouds the environment. In the far background, a giant, three-headed, dog-like beast is seen standing ominously and watching over the land below. This could possibly be a reference to Cerberus, the giant three-headed hellhound from Greek mythology that guards the gates of the Underworld. In addition, the skulls glow with sparks and lava and there are lit skulls on the ground. There are hands coming out of the small pits of lava. This arena can also be seen in Scorpion's Victory Pose in the game. In this game's version of Hell, a Stage Fatality can be achieved. It involves forcing the victim's head into lava, burning the unfortunate soul's face off with their eye sockets leaking molten rock, trying to scream, but obviously being unable to. Then the victim's opponent stomps on their head, dipping it even deeper in the lava. Finally, the victim's entire head is melted.

Appearances in other media

Mortal Kombat (1995 film)

Scorpion's Lair was featured in the 1995 film Mortal Kombat film, which is released nearly a season prior to Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. After fighting Johnny Cage in a forest on Shang Tsung's island, Scorpion teleported both Cage and himself to an unspecified location, "welcoming" Cage on arrival, before continuing the fight. Cage managed to overcome Scorpion through the use of medieval weaponry and escaped the dark place with his life. The arena is lit red and contains seemingly endless, randomly arranged networks of wooden bridges and scaffolds, along with the skeletons and weaponry of dead warriors.

Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm

In the animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm (due to the show being targeted towards children), Scorpion attempted to open a portal to, and was consequently returned to Hell, referred to as the Realm of Lost Souls after his defeat by Liu Kang, but reminded Sub-Zero of his honor. It was here, told in a flashback by Sub-Zero, that Scorpion was sent there due to his dishonor as a vengeful specter, began his revenge plan, and absorbed a number of warrior spirits. Shang Tsung remembered his time in Hell after he was defeated and killed by Liu Kang and vividly described it as "eternal torment among the damned within the dark and fiery void."

Mortal Kombat: Conquest

In the television series Mortal Kombat: Conquest, the same location is shown using stock footage from the 1995 film along with new footage.

In the pilot episode "Warrior Eternal", Scorpion was sent to Hell after he was defeated by the Great Kung Lao as a crack opened on the floor inside the Temple of Order of Light. The crack closed after Scorpion 'fell' into the fiery lava river below. It is here that Scorpion recruits fighters for his organization, especially in the episode "Thicker Than Blood" in which Siro's brother Cassar was indoctrinated, but later rebelled by siding with his brother, and was killed by Scorpion as a way of repaying his debt.

Trivia

• Originally, artist Tony Goskie had designed skull-cube, bubble animations and skeletons on pillars with chains for the background of the Scorpion's Lair in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Ultimately, they were later removed.