Johnny Cage

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Johnny Cage as he appears in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.

Johnny Cage is the stage name of John Carlton, a video game character from the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games.

About Johnny Cage

In the eyes of many, Johnny Cage is the typical American movie star: laid back, suntanned, and enough attitude to take on the whole world. Of course, as with many of these stock characters, his attitude is merely a shield to defend himself from his critics, who never leave an opportunity unused to question his fighting skills on the scene. He takes few things seriously in life but himself, but in turn the world seems to do just the opposite. He has eyed Sonya Blade during their adventures and considers her more than just a friend. In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Johnny employs the fighting styles that he uses in his own movies. His fighting styles are Karate (most likely Shorin Ryu, as indicated in the Konquest mode of Mortal Kombat: Deception) and Jeet Kune Do. His weapon style is Nunchaku.

Storyline

Johnny was derided by film critics and the moviegoing public for using special effects and wires for his fights. Unknown to them, his Shadow Kick and Force Ball were not effects; he actually performed those supernatural feats. To prove it to the world, he entered the Mortal Kombat tournament. Although he did not win, he didn't die, as so many of the other unnamed participants. After Liu Kang defeated Goro, Shang Tsung sent his army to kill Earth's warriors. Johnny was one of the few that survived. During the battle of Liu Kang and Shang Tsung, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade and Kano fought an enraged Goro (according to the comic), but the island started to crumble during the battle, preventing the fight from reaching a conclusion. After the island crumbled, Raiden dropped him off in the water near a Special Forces boat.

Johnny joined the Earthrealm warriors for Mortal Kombat in Outworld, and used his experiences as a script for a sequel to the Mortal Kombat movie he had been shooting when he was interrupted for the tournament. During the war against Shao Kahn, Cage was slain by Kahn's extermination squads. As his soul ascended to the Heavens, suddenly Earth had merged with Outworld and he returned to his body, although this return was temporary as if Earth and Outworld were unmerged, he would have to leave his body and ascend to the Heavens. In spite that regardless of the outcome, that he was going to die, Johnny Cage fought against Shao Kahn with everything he had. When Earth was freed from Outworld, Johnny bid farewell to his friends and ascended to the Heavens.

For an undisclosed length of time, Johnny remained in Heaven, until the fallen Elder God, Shinnok returned and declared war on the Elder Gods. Johnny Cage found Raiden and begged him to bring him back to life. Raiden, believing he did not have enough warriors to defeat Shinnok, agreed and had him resurrected. After Shinnok's defeat, Johnny Cage went back to making movies, even winning an award for his latest film, but when he opened his big mouth, all he received were boos and a whole bunch of vegetables.

Later on, Johnny Cage went on to film Mortal Kombat: The Death of Johnny Cage, in which he was repeatly killed and brought back to life. Upset at the way he was being potrayed, he wanted out of the movie, but he couldn't due to his contract.

But as luck would have it, he was approached by Raiden, who asked him to help fight the Deadly Alliance, at first Johnny thought it was the actor who played Raiden, but when he saw the actor eating lunch, he realized it was the real Raiden, who told him to go to Shang Tsung's island for further instructions. He found a loophole in his contract and left the movie, he would then use this new adventure to make his own movie, arriving on the island by way of parachute, he learned of Liu Kang's tragic death and went to Outworld to help his friends, however he was killed during the final assualt on the Deadly Alliance. However, he was resurrected by Onaga and made into his slave, what happens to Johnny Cage after, will not be known until the next game.

Status

• Real Name: John Carlton
• Birthday: November 14, 1973
• Age: 32
• Height: 6'1"
• Weight: 200 lbs.
• Hair: Brown
• Eyes: Blue
• Legal Status: Citizen of the United States of America
• Known Relatives: Robert (father, born September 23, 1947), Rose (mother, born October 25, 1948), Rebecca (sister, born April 27, 1984), Cindy Ford (wife, April 23, 1974, divorced)
• Birthplace: Venice Beach, California
• Occupation: Actor, Martial Artist
• Love Interest: Sonya Blade

Movie appearance

Johnny Cage was portrayed by Linden Ashby in the first Mortal Kombat movie. In the movie, he defeated and caused the death of Goro, which, contrary to popular belief, is not canon. The movie also took a page from the Mk comics produced during the 1992-1993 years by Malibu by starting his love interest with Sonya and was later imported to the games (his ending in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance seems to be the most indicative of this.) He received a cameo appearance in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, in which he was killed by Shao Kahn in the opening scenes.

Trivia

• In the first game, Johnny Cage was modelled after the Belgian actor Jean Claude Van Damme.
• Originally the creators wanted Van Damme to be Johnny Cage in the first Mortal Kombat, but Van Damme was unable due to his busy movie work. Johnny Cage's clothes in the first Mortal Kombat are almost identical to the clothes Van Damme wore in the last match in the 1988 movie Bloodsport and his split punch is taken directly from a move done by Van Damme in the movie.
• Originally Brandon Lee was the actor in talks to be Johnny Cage in the first Mortal Kombat movie.
• Johnny Cage was played by Daniel Pesina in Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II. His brother Carlos Pesina played Raiden in the 2D games.
• According to Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and his official biography, Johnny Cage has starred in Ninja Mime (a box office flop in America, but a cult classic in France), Dragon Fist, Dragon Fist 2, Son of Dragon Fist, HWAAAAA!!, Sudden Violence, Aquatic Assault, Exiting the Dragon of Death (opposite Hong Kong action star Channie Jack, a spoof of Jackie Chan), 7 Poisons, Cage Match, The Gist of my Fist, 24 Karate Gold, Who's That?, the Wu Shu TV series, Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, and Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (movies which depict him as the hero and champion). Mortal Kombat: the Death of Johnny Cage is unfinished. He also appeared on Celebrity SMASH TV! Cyrax, another fighter in the Mortal Kombat series, purportedly wants his money back for all of them, but especially Ninja Mime (this was mentioned in Deadly Alliance's Konquest mode).
• He shares his name with a 20th century American dada artist and musician, John Cage (1912-1992), whose only similarity with the Mortal Kombat character is that they both are performers.
• Johnny's death in MKT and resurrection for MKG were retconned by John Vogel into "bad writing." Possibly part of the script for The Death of Johnny Cage. Johnny doesn't officially die until the opening of Mortal Kombat: Deception, where the Deadly Alliance kills Raiden's warriors (and Onaga resurrects them).

Memorable Fatalities

• Decapitation: Johnny Cage delivers a savage uppercut that tears his opponent's head off.
• Torso Rip: Johnny Cage grabs his enemy around the waist, rips their upper body from their lower, and throws it to the ground.
• Triple Decapitation: A bizarre fatality from MKII, in which Cage performs his uppercut fatality, only instead of one head, Cage knocks off three. Most likely done in parody of a glitch discovered in the first Mortal Kombat game, where Johnny Cage would apparently knock off more than one head in his fatality.
• Torso Kick - Johnny Cage begins to smoke, right before he performs a Shadow Kick that tears the opponent's torso off. The severed head then falls on what remains of the enemy.
• Brain Rip: Cage thrusts his hand through the enemy's head and pulls out their brain.