Johnny Cage is an S-Tier fighternot just for his excellent moves and fighting styles but also due to his expertise in all things film and pop culture media. When he’s not saving the realms, beating folks up, and flipping them the bird inMortal Kombat 1, he’ll be schooling even the biggest movie buffs and cinephiles on their knowledge.
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Johnny’s personality and the constant references in his one-liners, whether the intro dialogues with other fighters or his comments in story mode, are always fun and entertaining to catch and make himone of the series' best characters. Here are some of his most iconic references in MK1.
16Predator
Chapter Seven sees Johnny and the rest of the team putting on disguises to camouflage with Outworld’s Sun Do Festival to carry out their mission, butReptile demonstrates he doesn’t necessarily need one. He uses his ability to cloak himself and become invisible, which prompts this shocked response from Johnny, “You didn’t tell me you could go full Predator.”
This is a direct reference to the Predator film series, where the 1987 film introduced the titular alien warrior having a similar ability to cloak itself when hunting victims. The use of Predator is also a nod to the creature’sDLC special guest character appearancein MKX alongside its series nemesis, the Tarkatan Xenomorph.
15Gollum
When Kung Lao, Johnny, and Kenshi set out to locate Shang Tsung in Chapter Four, Liu Kang hands them a talisman device that follows his chi. The talisman catches a strong reading as the trio approaches a Tarkatan battle, and Johnny asks Kenshi, “What’s your precious say?”
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This is Johnny making fun of the talisman and how Kenshi needs to hold onto it, liking it toThe Lord of the Ringscharacter Gollum. Gollum is portrayed by Andy Serkis, formerly a Hobbit named Smeagol who became corrupted by the Ring of Power and now refers to it as “My precious!” in a hideous voice.
14Dory
Once escaping their imprisonmentwith the help of new allies Baraka and Reptilein Chapter Six, the Earthrealm team encounters the demon Ashrah in the Living Forest. She’s in the middle of a fight where she slaughters a bunch of Tarkatans, and Kenshi, now blind, sniffs the bodies and asks what the smell is about. Johnny tells him to ignore it by saying, “Just keep swimming.”
This is, of course, the motivational song in Finding Nemo that Dory has for Marlin when he’s reluctant about getting further into the depths, and it’s reprised in the Finding Dory sequel as well. Leave it to Johnny to drop aDisneyPixar reference like this instead of something simple like “Don’t let it bother you.”
13Crazy, Stupid, Love
Someone on the Mortal Kombat team enjoys too many rom-coms because there’s a clever quote taken from the 2011 Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, and Emma Stone-led film Crazy, Stupid, Love as an intro response to Kitana’s costume. The line that Johnny uses to compliment Kitana is “You’re wearing that outfit like you’re doing it a favor.”
It’s the exact pickup line Ryan Gosling’s character Jacob uses to introduce himself to Hannah, Emma Stone’s character, and smoothly pivot from the conversation about Conan O’Brien. The only difference is Gosling’s character mentions Hannah’s “dress” instead of outfit.
12Eurythmics - Here Comes The Rain Again
For Johnny’s intro with Rain, he initiates the smack talk with the line “Here comes that rain again,” before Rain responds that he’ll fall on his head “like the Nuem Ocean!” Rain is obviously there on-screen again to face Johnny in a match, but it’s also a nod to the 1983 Eurythmics song ‘Here Comes the Rain Again.’
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Released in the same year as the pop duo’s hit ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This),’ this song’s original lyrics are almost word-for-word of Johnny and Rain’s banter: “Here comes the rain again, Falling on my head like a memory.” If Rain was ever to be a part of the WWE, this would surely be his entrance theme song.
11Grindhouse Cinema
Johnny’s got a reference for Havik too, though he’d probably take this one as more of a compliment. When butting elbows with each for their intro, Johnny comments that he’s “digging [Havik’s] grindhouse vibe.” And Havik absolutely has no idea what grindhouse means in this scenario.
You may recall that legendary directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino created two films as an homage to old-fashioned gory Grindhouse cinema, released as a double feature in 2007, with Rodriguez directing Planet Terror and Tarantino directing Death Proof. Planet Terror starred Rose McGowan, Bruce Willis, and Josh Brolin and has a gritty zombie apocalypse plot, while Death Proof saw Kurt Russel as a stunt driver serial killer.
10Santa Clarita Diet
The Santa Clarita Diet reference shows up when there’s a toss-up between Johnny Cage and Johnny Cage. During their intro sequence, one Johnny says to the other, “Whoa, dude! You are so cut!” to which the other Johnny responds with, “Yeah! I’m on the Santa Clarita diet!”
Santa Clarita Diet is a dark comedy Netflix series that stars Drew Barrymore, Timothy Olyphant, Skylar Gisando, and Liv Hewson about a husband and wife realtor duo in Santa Clarita whose lives get turned upside down when Barrymore’s Sheila Hammond becomes a living zombie. This diet sounds like the usual regimen for Baraka or Mileena.
9Stranger Things
Another Netflix show that gets a mention from Johnny in Mortal Kombat 1 is Stranger Things. It’s a reference to their time in Outworld, but it’s not found in the Kampaign story, instead as friendly banter between him and Raiden in an intro. Johnny says that Outworld “flipped my mind upside down,” and Raiden responds, “I’m told there’s more, even stranger things.”
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Between what they saw in Shang Tsung’s lab, what he did to Mileena, and the various other species in Outworld and its Wastelands, there sure is some strange stuff that can warp your mind. “Upside down” is a direct reference to the alternate dimension the creatures in the show are coming from, and Raiden solidifies it by name-dropping the title.
8Scooby-Doo
TheScooby-Dooreference applied to Shang Tsung fits perfectly with his villain arc in Mortal Kombat 1, and since it may have been too silly for the story, it gets utilized as his intro dialogue with Johnny. Tsung proclaims, “You Earthrealmers foiled my plans.” Johnny’s comeback is, “Just like a bunch of meddling kids.”
“Meddling kids” is the signature phrase every villain signs off with after Scooby-Doo’s Mystery Incorporated team unmasks the culprit and solves the case. Although Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, Fred, and Scoobyprobably won’t show up in MK1 as potential guests, this spoken kameo is awesome enough.
7Queen - We Are The Champions
Queen shows up yet again in a Mortal Kombat game.MK11referenced the iconic group’s 1974 Queen 2 album with Rain’s second fatality, which featured a guitar sound and Rain in a similar pose on the cover with three other heads arranged around him. And MK1 goes further with an actual song reference.
In a different intro dialogue between Raiden and Johnny, the two recite the lyrics to Queen’s ‘We Are the Champions’ song, Johnny starting with, “You are a champion, my friend,” and Raiden finishing, “I’ll keep on fighting until the end.” It’s also a fitting line since Raiden isnow Earthrealm’s chosen champion in the story.
