Jarek

Jarek is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series, who made his debut in Mortal Kombat 4.

About Jarek

First debuting as a playable character in Mortal Kombat 4, Jarek was depicted as the brutish and short-tempered second-in-command of the Black Dragon clan.^[1] In the games, he initially utilized special moves and fatalities popularized by Kano, a trait later explained by stating that Jarek was once a student of his.^[1][2] Jarek's lack of originality caused him to be labeled as a somewhat uninspired character by the Mortal Kombat fanbase. He would later gain his own unique moveset in Armageddon.

Appearance

In Mortal Kombat 4 and Gold, Jarek is a young, brutish-looking man in his 30s. He has short black hair in a military crewcut and a prominent widow's peak, and a small shallow goatee. He wears an orange sleeveless vest with the Black Dragon logo imprinted with black paint in its back, dark green tactical pants, orange wrist and shin guards, and combat black boots.

In Armageddon he wears drastically different clothing. His default costume consists of red chest armor, shoulder pads, wrist guards, and boots. His alternate costume is a full suit of green armor with orange outlines. He also sports frilled black hair and a slightly fuller, brush-style goatee.

Combat characteristics

Initially, Jarek shared most of his moves with a fellow Black Dragon member Kano, but later on he gained his own moves. This was explained with the fact that Jarek was Kano's student. It is stated in Jarek's bio that he spent his time training new fatalities but he never got to show them, as Armageddon featured a kreate-a-fatality system that replaced character's individual fatalities.

Signature moves

• Tri-Blade Toss: Jarek throws a star-shaped exotic blade at his opponent. (MK4, MKG)
• Cannonball Roll: Jarek curls himself to a ball and hurls himself to his opponent. Jarek also has a vertical version of this attack in which he launches himself upwards. This move was borrowed from Kano. (MK4, MKG)
• Rhino Stomp: Jarek slams his body to the ground, creating a small tremor and damaging the opponent. (MK4, MKG, MK:A)
• Lasso Snatch: Jarek throws a lasso towards the enemy; if it connects, then the lasso will wrap around the enemy making them stunned and he brings the enemy over his body and slams them down, making him/her bounce. (MK:A)
• Flying Legs: Jarek anchors himself to the ground with his rope and swiftly lunges himself horizontally, feet-first, towards his opponent for a devastating flying kick. (MK:A)
• Tricky Switch: Jarek lunges forward with his arms outstreched in front of him, attempting to grab the enemy; if successful, he will forcibly push them to the side and then kick them in the back. (MK:A)

Other Moves

• Throw: Jarek lifts his foe up & power bombs them into the floor while shouting random gibberish. If performed too close to a wall, Jarek will instead whipslam his foe to the ground. (MK4)
• Knee Breaker: Jarek stomps his foe in the kneecap, causing them to scream with pain, stunning them briefly. (MK4)

Fatalities

• Eye Laser: Through no visible means, Jarek shoots a laser beam out of his eyes which tears the opponent to shreds. This fatality is borrowed from Kano. (MK4, MKG)
• Heart Rip: Also borrowed from Kano, Jarek rips the opponent's heart out of his/her chest. (MK4, MKG)

Appearances in other media

Comic books

Jarek makes a small appearance in the official Mortal Kombat 4 comic book that was distributed with some versions of the game. In it, Sonya had tracked him down to the city of Shanghai. After fighting Sonya in the rooftop, Jarek was able to evade her clutches and escaped on his motorcycle.^[3]

Character development

Jarek's facial appearance was based on Mortal Kombat character designer and modeler Herman Sanchez.^[1] Because Jarek had the same moves as Kano, many fans angrily claimed that he was simply Kano in Mortal Kombat 4. This holds some truth since the development team began making 3D models of existing MK fighters and then decided they needed to add some new people as well. Jarek was designed to be the "Kano character."^[1] This explains why he shares so many moves with him. The same holds true for Reiko (originally Noob Saibot) and Tanya (originally Kitana). However, Tanya and Reiko had their own original moves, while Jarek only had two (the Tri-Blade and the Rhino Stomp). It is also notable that Jarek is often compared with Kira. The main reason for their comparison is that both are Black Dragon clan members who used moves from Kano. Unlike Jarek, however, Kira has her own set of fatalities and shared some of Sonya's moves as well. In MK4, Jarek was assigned Kano's fatalities, but without an artificial eye like Kano's, he had no viable reason to shoot lasers from his own eyes. This was left anyway and never explained. In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Jarek was finally given his own set of moves, thus making him unique from Kano.

The Krypt in Armageddon includes several pieces of concept art relating to Jarek. A sketch of his Lasso Snatch move drawn by Ed Boon reveals that this rope throw was influenced by Scorpion's spear technique.^[4] Two possible weapon stances are also shown: one with Jarek holding two leaf swords^[5] and the other with him holding two kick axes.^[6] The leaf blades were dropped as they did not fit Jarek's unrefined look.^[5] In the finished game, he only uses one kick axe.

Game information

Jarek appeared as the boss of the third level in Mortal Kombat: Special Forces. He had the ability to throw blades, taunt, and fire an orb that paralyzed the player if shot. He also makes a cameo appearance in Mortal Kombat: Deception's Konquest mode. In it, Jarek can be found in the Netherrealm searching for Oni teeth in order to prove his worth to the Black Dragon clan.^[7] However, he simply pays Shujinko to find these for him. Jarek also appears in Armageddon's Konquest mode during the first training obelisk, representing a generic enemy that Taven must fight.^[8]

Trivia

Mortal Kombat Armageddon

• In early versions of Armageddon, the Holy Leaf Blades were supposed to be his weapon.
• Jarek used the Dragon fighting style that Sub-Zero had in Deadly Alliance and Deception.
• He is seen fighting Sindel in the game's opening cutscene.
• It was stated in the artwork for Jarek's "Lasso Snatch," that that would be the only time the team would re-use Scorpion's rope model for another move/character.
• Jarek is the only returning character introduced in Mortal Kombat 4 who does not feature a costume referencing his original design.

Mortal Kombat X

• Jarek is mentioned in an intro between Kano and Jax in Mortal Kombat X.
• Jarek along with Kira were considered as NPCs in Mortal Kombat X but the idea changed.^[9]

Mortal Kombat 1

• Jarek is mentioned in Smoke's mirror match intro, being responsible for killing Smoke's parents. It is unknown if he killed Smoke's parents from current timeline or another.

References

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