Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that can help answer the question.
Query: When was the character Kano introduced in the game Mortal Kombat?
Kano is a fictional character from the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise. He is one of the series' original characters, having made his debut in Mortal Kombat in 1992. A calculating mercenary, and member of the international crime cartel known as the Black Dragon, Kano is also the top fugitive and persistent nemesis of Sonya Blade and Jax Briggs of the Special Forces, which has been his primary storyline throughout the course of his Mortal Kombat series appearances, and in Mortal Kombat 3, he also becomes the general of Outworld emperor Shao Kahn's armies. In the 2011 series reboot, he additionally poses as a crooked Special Forces informant and serves as Kahn's arms dealer. His most recognizable feature is his cybernetic metal faceplate that houses an infrared eye laser.
Kitana (also known as Princess Kitana and Lady Kitana) is a fictional character from the "Mortal Kombat" media franchise, where she was introduced as one of the new player characters in the fighting game "Mortal Kombat II" in 1993. Since then, Kitana appeared in a majority of "Mortal Kombat" series' video games and its other media, including the films "Mortal Kombat" and "", and the series "", "" and "", becoming one of the most popular and recognizable elements of the franchise.
In the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie, Kano was played by Trevor Goddard. The film expanded upon Kano's rivalry with Sonya from the games; she now sought vengeance against Kano for killing her (unnamed) partner, for which Shang Tsung hires Kano to lure Sonya into the Mortal Kombat tournament, promising to reward Kano's efforts after he presumably defeats Sonya, while demanding that she is "not to be harmed, only humiliated." Kano baits Sonya into boarding Shang Tsung's ship, and is later spotted by Cage, Sonya and Liu Kang conversing with Goro. When Sonya and Kano meet in battle, his earlier plan with Shang Tsung goes astray when he is defeated, and Shang Tsung betrays Kano by goading Sonya into finishing him; she complies by breaking his neck. Kano is described as wearing a business suit during the dining scene in the movie novelization, which also featured a detailed opening scene of an unsuccessful joint mission of arresting Black Dragon members by the Special Forces and an international task force, which culminates in Kano killing the task force's lieutenant who is designated therein as Sonya's murdered partner.[31][32] Kano is spared by Sonya in their fight, as she refuses to fall prey to Shang Tsung's scheme while declaring that nobody "owned" her, and at the end of the book, he is captured and handcuffed by Sonya.[31] Kano's wardrobe is minimalist in the film, as his game design was eschewed in favor of the character going shirtless with a simple brown vest, while he wears only a pair of pinstriped slacks, a metal choker and combat boots when he fights Sonya. The companion book published by Prima Lifestyles prior to the film's release said in his character profile: "A strapping Australian talented in all forms of martial arts, he's particularly skilled with a knife. He seems to enjoy his cat-and-mouse game with Sonya, which began after he murdered her partner."[33]
In all Mortal Kombat media from the first game up to Armageddon (save for the 1995 film), including the 1996 animated series and the 1995-96 theatrical show, Kano had either had a receding hairline or been completely bald (since Divizio had been going bald himself while filming for the first game and had shaved his head prior to shooting MK3) and his facial hair had regularly consisted of nothing more than stubble. However, in MKvsDC and the 2011 reboot, Kano was given a full head of hair and beard, and a cosmetic addition in the reboot was two large solid-black dragon tattoos that started at his chest and snaked around his arms, while his outfits in both games were throwbacks to the two-dimensional titles. As a nod to Trevor Goddard's performance as Kano in the first Mortal Kombat film, the character's nationality was changed from American to Australian, beginning with the cartoon in which he spoke with an Australian accent, and continuing with Kano's redesign in MKvsDC and thereafter that served as a visual tribute to the actor.
Kano is most notable for his Fatalities, which are regarded by various sources as among either the best or the worst in his series appearances. UGO Networks rated the "Heart Rip" from the original Mortal Kombat second in their 2011 listing of the "Top 11 Mortal Kombat Fatalities", crediting it as singlehandedly "herald[ing] the birth of anti-video game violence advocates" and describing it as "ripping the beating heart out of an opponent's chest like he's some sort of Mola Ram."[42][51] Prima Games ranked it runner-up to Sub-Zero's "Spine Rip" in their 2014 list of the series' top Fatalities.[52] GamePro, in 2008, rated the doctored version of the finisher from the censored Super NES version of the game, in which Kano instead smashes the opponent's rib cage with a deadly punch, first in their list of the series' twelve "lamest" Fatalities.[53] ScrewAttack ranked his "Skeleton Removal" from Mortal Kombat 3 sixth on their "Top 10 Mortal Kombat Fatalities",[54] but Dan Ryckert of Game Informer included it among the most confusing MK finishers.[55]Kano's "Stomach Pounce" Fatality from Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe has been particularly criticized for its tameness in a Mortal Kombat title negatively received for its toned-down violence. It led to his second appearance on GamePro's "Top 12 Lamest Fatalities" listing (fifth), with the magazine commenting that "absolutely no effort was put in [by the developers in] creating it."[53] Game Informer rated it among the series' worst finishers,[56] and Game Rant chose it as the series' worst Fatality, adding that it had no connection to the character.[57] David Saldana of 1UP.com listed it among his selection of the MK series' worst Fatalities (seventh).[47] ScrewAttack used the "Stomach Pounce" as the representative of all of MKvsDC's finishers topping its 2011 list of the series' worst Fatalities.[58] Adam Blampied of WhatCulture rated it third in his 2015 list of the "10 Worst Fatalities in Mortal Kombat History", commenting "it brings shame to the name ‘Fatality.’ It’s the weakest in the game, possibly of all time."[59]
Noob Saibot was first introduced in 1993's "Mortal Kombat II" as a hidden nonplayable opponent whom players fought in a secret battle in the "Goro's Lair" stage from the first game after winning fifty consecutive matches. He was a solid black palette swap of Sub-Zero who fought with increased speed and Scorpion's spear. He returned as a secret character in "Mortal Kombat 3" with the same attributes, but was instead a silhouette of Kano, since there were no human ninjas in the game, and in the Sega Game Gear port, he additionally had Kano's special moves and his "Eye Laser" Fatality. Upon being made playable in the console versions of "UMK3" and the 1996 compilation title "Mortal Kombat Trilogy", Noob Saibot returned as a palette-swap ninja, and one of ten human ninja swaps in the game overall. Noob Saibot is playable in "Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks" in the "Versus" mode if both players select Sub-Zero; the last player to select him will play as a variation of Noob Saibot. He is colored black but he has Sub-Zero's frozen forearms and retains the latter's moves and Fatalities.
In the original Mortal Kombat, Kano's special moves were the Knife Throw, making him one of two characters in the game (besides Scorpion) whose projectile was a physical weapon, while his body-propel move, the Cannonball, saw him curl into a ball and launch himself at his opponent. Sega Visions called the Knife Throw "a strong distance weapon and easily thrown."[20] Kano also possessed one of the more graphic Fatalities in the game, which involved him plunging his hand into his opponent's chest and ripping out their still-beating heart. In the censored SNES version, he instead fractures the opponent's sternum with a deadly punch. Boon claimed that Sub-Zero's "Spine Rip" Fatality from the same game stood out more, because Kano's finisher did not have a "mark left on the opponent's body."[21] Kano was cut from the Game Gear version of Mortal Kombat due to memory constraints, while a still image of him wielding an automatic weapon in his arcade ending was removed from the Genesis version of the game.[22][23]
Sonya and Kano were the least popular characters of the first game and so the team decided to replace them, saving image memory space and time for the new characters. Producers said Sonya was "chucked out" from the game in favour of the palette swapped Kitana and Mileena as part of revamping the game, so it would better compete against "Street Fighter II" and its popular female character Chun-Li"." Sonya and Kano were promptly dropped for the first sequel and appear in "Mortal Kombat II" only in one of the backgrounds, chained in Kahn's Arena. At the time, Tobias said: "We still wanted to include them in the story line, so we had them captured. I don't know where or when or in what form, but Sonya and Kano will be back." However, they both soon returned as playable character in the very next game and Sonya proved to be one of the most popular of "Mortal Kombat" characters. According to Midway's Mark Turmell, Sonya's "Mortal Kombat 3" actress Kerri Hoskins "started getting phone calls from kids at home because we'd published her name." Hoskins, whose martial arts training consisted of "some Tang Soo Do and a past of WWF wrestling and gymnastics," said she was asked to join the cast of "MK3" after establishing a working relationship at Midway with the producers of "NBA Jam". She later also voiced Sonya for "Mortal Kombat 4". Sonya's later voice actresses included Beth Melewski ("MK:SM"), Dana Lyn Baron ("MKvDCU", "MK2011"), Tricia Helfer ("MKX"), and Ronda Rousey ("MK11"). Her motion actor during the "Deception"-"Annihilation" era was Carlos Pesina.
This is a list of playable characters from the "Mortal Kombat" fighting game series and the games in which they appear. The series takes place in a fictional universe composed of six realms, which were created by the Elder Gods. The Elder Gods created a fighting tournament called Mortal Kombat to reduce the wars between the realms. The first "Mortal Kombat" game introduces a tournament in which Earthrealm can be destroyed if it loses once again.
Along with the original series characters, Kano was highlighted on an individual track from The Immortals' 1994 album Mortal Kombat: The Album. Titled "Use Your Might", it features a female vocalist singing the character's praises from a first-person perspective, citing him as "the strongest of them all" out of the other Mortal Kombat contestants.
Game Rant included her on their 2011 list of ten "most awesome" "Mortal Kombat" characters, stating that "while not nearly as unique as some of the other kombatants on the list, Sonya Blade is integral to some of the more interesting story-threads in the Mortal Kombat universe", citing her pursuit for Kano. In 2012, "the hot, butch" Sonya was given the eight place on UGO's list of top "Mortal Kombat" characters. That same year, she was at seventh place on Cheat Code Central's list of top "Mortal Kombat" "kombatants", along with a comment that "the badass army chick was all the rage back in the 1990s, but now she's part of a dwindling number of female characters that really kick ass." Her "Double Split" in the 2011 game was included by "FHM" on their list of nine most brutal Fatalities in the game. Sonya placed 18th in a 2013 Dorkly poll for top "Mortal Kombat" characters, noted as one "of the more grounded and strong-willed characters in "MK" history." In 2014, GamesRadar called her ""Mortal Kombat"'s leading lady". Similarly, including her as the only female in his 2015 list of ten most iconic "Mortal Kombat" characters, GameRant's Jason Gallagher opined that Sonya, "with all due respect to Kitana, Jade, and Mileena, is still the most recognizable female character in franchise history today. She's played a large role in various ongoing storylines, and is one-half of the reason Cassie Cage exists today. The Special Forces crew has expanded greatly over the last two decades, but it was Sonya that started it all."
Kano was the only one of the original seven characters who was omitted from Mortal Kombat 4 (1997), with new character Jarek debuting in his place. His role in the game was as the last surviving member of the Black Dragon following Kano's apparent death, and was being pursued by Sonya and Jax for "crimes against humanity." Jarek copied Kano's special moves as well as his "Heart Rip" and "Eye Laser" Fatalities despite possessing no cybernetic enhancements. He was not as well-received as his predecessor, and has not featured as a playable in the series again with the exception of Armageddon.
Out of the seven original series characters, Kano has featured the least in the Mortal Kombat games, though he was among the eleven characters who represented the franchise in the crossover game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. He has appeared in alternate series media such as the first Mortal Kombat film, the animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm and the web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy, in addition to having a central role in the 1995 Mortal Kombat novel and featuring on official series merchandise. General and critical reception for the character has been mainly positive, but mixed in regards to his Fatality finishing moves.
Some characters from the previous games returned and new characters were introduced into the series. "Mortal Kombat 3" notably omitted popular characters from previous games, some of whom were added in an update, "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3", released later in 1995. The PC and home console-exclusive "Mortal Kombat Trilogy" (1996) added even more characters, as well as other new features.
Kano was not playable in Mortal Kombat II; according to series co-creator John Tobias in a 1994 interview with GamePro, in the first game "Kano and Sonya were probably picked the least. We [Midway] still wanted to include them in the storyline, so we had them captured." He then confirmed that Kano and Sonya would return in a future installment.[24] Indeed, Kano and Sonya were playable in Mortal Kombat 3, where his moves from the first game were retained while he gained a new "Choke" maneuver where he lifted his opponents and then violently shook them. His Fatalities were far less graphic than in the first game, as he either exploded his opponent with a laser blast from his implant, or reached down their throat to pull out their entire skeleton and hold it aloft without any blood or gore present. The game featured the unplayable hidden character Noob Saibot, who was a silhouetted sprite of Kano before being switched to a traditional ninja palette swap in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and the 1996 compilation title Mortal Kombat Trilogy, the latter which featured the original MK1 Kano as a selectable along with the then-current version.
Divizio is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Kano in the original "Mortal Kombat" in 1992. He also appeared in "Mortal Kombat II" as Baraka, and reprised the role of Kano for both "Mortal Kombat II" in 1993 (as a chained up prisoner) and "Mortal Kombat 3" in 1995, making his playable return. In "MK3", he also played the masked hook swordsman Kabal and the shadowy fighter Noob Saibot. In 1997, he portrayed Quan Chi in both the game and full motion video sequences in the platform title "", and provided motion capture footage for the character as well in "Mortal Kombat 4". He returned to the series in 2002, contributing to "" as a motion capture actor. 
Kano placed 24th in UGO.com's 2012 selection of the series' top fifty characters,[42] and the site had additionally ranked him in 2011 as the seventh best cyborg character of all time, ahead of RoboCop and Star Trek character Seven of Nine.[43] Den of Geek placed him seventeenth in their 2015 ranking of the series' characters, commenting that "Kano is a special kind of scum, and the series is better for him existing ... [but] he probably wouldn’t rank quite as high if not for Trevor Goddard’s rocking performance in the first movie."[44] Josh Wirtanen of Cheat Code Central listed Kano as the fifth best Mortal Kombat character[45] while Game Revolution's Anthony Severino included in his 2011 "Top 10 Old School Mortal Kombat Characters" feature.[46] Saldana praised the character as "such a scene-stealer in the movie that the MK team retconned everything about Kano to fit that portrayal",[47] but Chris Buffa of Modojo.com included Kano in his "worst list" of characters from MK3 without explanation,[48] and IGN described him only by saying that he "sucks."[49] Fans ranked Kano as the 27th best MK character in a 2013 online poll hosted by Dorkly that rated the series' entire character roster.[50]
According to Prima Games' official guide for the 2011 reboot game, Kano’s " 'flinch and you will be comboed' style can be frustrating to play against, but if you are a die-hard Kano user back from the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 days, you will find that Kano completely fits your style." The guide also determined him to not be overly formidable nor at a great disadvantage in matches against the other characters.[27]
Several characters (namely Jade, Kitana, Mileena, Noob Saibot, Reptile, Scorpion, Smoke, and Sub-Zero) were created using the first game's palette swap technique on just two base models. The game was noted for its "strong
female presence," as it was featuring more than one woman character as it was common in the genre at the time. Due to memory limitations and the development team's desire to introduce more new characters, two fighters from the original "Mortal Kombat", Sonya Blade and Kano, whom Boon cited as the least-picked characters in the game, were excluded, substituted by two palette swaps, Mileena and Reptile. In place of Sonya, two new playable female characters, Kitana and Mileena, were introduced so the game might better compete against Capcom's "" featuring Chun-Li. Another planned female fighter, based on the real-life kickboxer Kathy Long whom Tobias admired, was omitted due to time constraints. A male bonus character played by Kyu Hwang was also cut from the game.
Raiden was originally going to use his staff as a weapon already in "Mortal Kombat II", but Midway was forced to omit it due to memory constraints. He was unplayable in all versions of "Mortal Kombat 3" and briefly appeared only as part of Nightwolf's Friendship, which saw him transform into Raiden while a "Mortal Kombat II "arcade cabinet appeared along with one of two quotes, ""No, But I Can Do a Raiden Transformation"", or ""I've never seen a Kano transformation"", both of which were based on false reports that Kano was secretly playable in "Mortal Kombat II" and Raiden likewise in "Mortal Kombat 3". The Friendship was changed in the Nintendo 64 version of "Mortal Kombat Trilogy" after Raiden became a playable character in that game.
"Mortal Kombat 3" was originally considered to be made using 3D graphics, before reverting to sprite graphics of the previous games. Its overall style was envisioned differently from in the previous "Mortal Kombat" games. Instead of the heavily-Oriental themes of "Mortal Kombat" and "Mortal Kombat II", the theme of "MK3" is more Western-contemporary. The game's stages are set in modern locations (such as urban highways, churches, and bank rooftops), three of the characters are cyborgs, and traditional character designs (such as Sub-Zero's or Kano's) have been dropped or modified in favor of modern replacements. This change is also reflected in the soundtrack, in which all Oriental motifs have been dropped in favor of modern instrumentation.
Some Easter eggs originated from in-jokes between members of the development team. One example is "Toasty", which found its way into the game in the form of a small image of sound designer Dan Forden, who would appear in the corner of the screen during gameplay (after performing an uppercut) and yell the phrase "Toasty!", originating from him saying "you're toast". This egg was also the key to unlocking the hidden character Smoke when it happened in the Portal stage in "Mortal Kombat II". In "Mortal Kombat 4", Forden would say "Toasty! 3D!" after Scorpion did his burn Fatality, a reference to the fact that it is the first 3D game of the series. "Toasty!" is also found in "Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks", appearing randomly after the character pulls off a chain of hits, though the picture of Forden was removed for that title, but brought back for the 2011 "Mortal Kombat" game. Yet another private joke was the hidden character Noob Saibot, who has appeared in various versions of the game starting with "Mortal Kombat II". The character's name derived from two of the series' creators' surnames, Ed Boon and John Tobias, spelled backwards. In addition, a counter for ERMACS on the game's audits screen (ERMACS being short for "error macros"), was interpreted by some players as a reference to a hidden character in the original "Mortal Kombat". The development team decided to turn the rumor into reality, introducing Ermac in "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3" as an unlockable secret character. The character Mokap, introduced in "Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance," is a tribute to Carlos Pesina, who played Raiden in "MK" and "MKII" and has served as a motion capture actor for subsequent titles in the series. 
Kano entered the Mortal Kombat tournament in the 1992 original game after hearing rumors that tournament host Shang Tsung's palace was filled with gold and other riches, with the intention of looting it for the Black Dragon, but he is fervently pursued by U.S. Special Forces officer Sonya Blade, who holds a personal grudge against Kano that is unspecified in the game's storyline. He evades capture by leaping onto Shang Tsung's junk bound for the tournament, and when Sonya tracks him onto his private island, she is captured and forced to compete. She and Kano were among the competition's few survivors, and during the final battle between Shang Tsung and Liu Kang, Sonya reluctantly teams up with Kano (along with Johnny Cage) to fight off Goro, enraged from his own loss to Liu Kang, but during their battle the island immediately self-destructs following Shang Tsung's defeat, trapping Kano and Sonya in Outworld. They are both captured and spend the events of Mortal Kombat II chained and on display in Outworld emperor Shao Kahn's arena.
Kabal is a fictional character in the "Mortal Kombat" fighting game franchise, created for Midway Games by Ed Boon and John Tobias. Kabal was introduced in "Mortal Kombat 3" as a former member of Kano's Black Dragon criminal organization who had reformed as a force for good and thus became one of the chosen defenders of Earthrealm, while notably suffering an attack by Outworld emperor Shao Kahn's extermination squads that left his face disfigured and thus concealed behind a mask. In the three-dimensional "Mortal Kombat" games, he returns to the side of evil by reforming the Black Dragon and feuding with Mavado, leader of their bitter rival, the Red Dragon. Kabal returns to the side of good in the 2011 "Mortal Kombat" reboot, again having quit the Black Dragon and fighting alongside Kurtis Stryker to defend Earthrealm against Kahn's forces.
Kano was the final fighter to be added to the first game, where his role was to serve as the enemy of the female character Sonya.[13] Kano originally had a large helmet with two red eyes, a concept that was dropped in favor of a smaller metal piece over his right eye. The eye piece was at first envisioned as a simple eyepatch, but then it was turned into a metal plate inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in The Terminator.[14][15] In his Mortal Kombat: Deception biography card, Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon described how Kano's bionic eye in the first game was created by cutting out a piece of a plastic mask and painting it a silver color, then attaching it with spirit gum to actor Richard Divizio's face, with the infrared eye added digitally. For the first game he wore a simple gray tunic that was changed to red and black for MK3; Divizio said, "I thought, 'Good, get rid of that white karate outfit!'" and remarked that his versus-screen pose in the game represented his "mean Kano face."[16] Kano's iconic heart-ripping finishing move was Divizio's idea inspired by the film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom on which he insisted as a fan of Indiana Jones.[17]