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Working on slight variations of the same game for your entire career must slowly chip away at your soul. Take Masahiro Sakurai—he’s obsessed with the bottom of a character’s feet, to the point where it’s almost concerning. Then there's Todd Howard, who wakes up every morning and pledges his allegiance to the Nords instead of the flag. And let’s not forget Ed Boon, Mortal Kombat lead, whose erections for putting Arnold Schwarzenegger in MK games has given him the loving nickname Ed “Boner Champ” Boon.
Mortal Kombat 1 (MK1) launched in 2023 to a chorus of "safety 7" reviews. Since then, it’s been trying to keep fans engaged by rolling out DLC that was cut from previous MK games for being “ridiculously lame”. But it seems like “Boner Champ” Boon’s questionable choices have finally caught up with him. The latest leaked DLC pack for MK1, titled “Old School Kombatants,” has been getting absolutely roasted online.
According to an anonymous insider, any suggestion of adding interesting or fan-favorite DLC characters was immediately shot down because they "weren’t from a Schwarzenegger movie." Over the years, Mortal Kombat DLC has seen The Terminator, The Predator, The Terminator 2, Conan the Barbarian, and even The Predator again—this time with a Carl Weathers skin for Jax.
Despite developers and fans suggesting a fresh direction, Boon reportedly insisted on his own vision: a “Sexy Schwarzenegger” pack featuring four different Arnold characters. We're talking Turbo Man from Jingle All the Way, Julius from Twins, John Kimble from Kindergarten Cop, and The Terminator again. But, as fate would have it, the day Boon had this epiphany, his mom took him out to his favorite Chuck E. Cheese. Upon returning to the studio, he completely abandoned his Sexy Schwarzenegger plans and became fixated on creating an “Old School Kombatants” pack instead.
The devs, bless their hearts, tried their best to research these bizarre characters Boon insisted upon. But alas, Rory from Gilmore Girls—the pinnacle of skull-crushing combat, apparently—wasn't quite the brawler they had hoped for after seven seasons of emotionally charged coffee shop chats. But they forged ahead and managed to put together a dev build featuring Betty White fighting Rory. This, alongside plans for two more packs with the same theme, was pitched to upper management. According to reports, management declined the proposal in about 10 minutes—9 of which were spent trying to get up from the floor laughing.
Naturally, some devs, clearly feeling vindicated, leaked the gameplay footage online as a giant “I told you so” to Boon. The leaked clip showed Betty White and Rory on the character select screen, but that wasn't all. Other possible future DLC included Moses from Jesus, Sacagawea from Canada, and Helen motherf***ing Keller.
As ridiculous as it sounds, we can’t honestly say this DLC would have hurt Mortal Kombat’s legacy. After all, the mods coming out of MK1 right now are arguably more intriguing than the game itself. From Disney Princesses to American Presidents replacing iconic fighters, it’s clear the weird and chaotic seem to be exactly the type of brain-rot kids these days are looking for. If it's stupid but it makes money, then it wasn’t stupid, was it?
Source: Trust me, bro.
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