Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (originally known as Mortal Kombat V: Vengeance) is a fighting game developed and produced by Midway. It is chronologically the fifth in the Mortal Kombat series. Deadly Alliance was released for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Game Boy Advance on November 20, 2002. Deadly Alliance is notable for being the first, and to date, only, game in the series that does not feature Liu Kang as a playable character. It is also the last game to feature both Scorpion and Sub Zero in their unmasked forms. Deadly Alliance was the first all-new Mortal Kombat fighting game produced exclusively for home consoles, with no preceding arcade release.
Mortal Kombat has always been and always will be. For a millennium the forces of good and evil have been locked in a battle for the control of Earth realm, some seek to use it to destroy the forces of good, others seek vengeance, power, or eternal life. Time after time each individual threat has been vanquished, and Earth realm has enjoyed relative peace for many years, but there is concern that earth is once again in peril, and this time the threat of the earth has two faces. It is now known that the sorcerer Quan-Chi has escaped the Nether realm. Since his escape he has unlocked the secret of the Ancient Runestone, discovered the ancient unbeatable army of the long forgotten dragon king, and most disturbing of all formed an alliance with one of our deadliest enemies, Shang Tsung. With their combined strength, they plotted to overpower the two beings who could prevent them total domination of the two realms. The first was the emperor of Outworld Shao Khan, in a false show of allegiance they sprung their attack. They then traveled to Earth realm by way of a mystical portal known only to the sorcerers themselves. There they confronted earth's mightiest warrior and champion of Mortal Kombat, Liu Kang. It has been Shang Tsung's desire to consume the soul of Earth realm's greatest warrior, with Quan-Chi's assistance he achieved his goal, Liu Kang is dead. They have since returned to Out world and are using the souls of conquered warriors to resurrect The Dragon King's unbeatable army. Should they succeed they will have the means to conquer Outworld and eventually Earth realm. They will be unstoppable. I can no longer stand idly by and watch this evil consume the world, I have relinquished my status as elder god to return to Earth and lead you to battle against our old adversaries. We must act now, we must stop this Deadly Alliance-These are the words of Raiden.
