Peacemaker’s Animality in Mortal Kombat 1 Is About as Patriotic as You Can Get

With Mortal Kombat 1 expansion Khaos Reigns almost upon us, developer NetherRealm has lifted the lid on its new characters and, in particular, its brand new animalities.

Animalities, free for all Mortal Kombat 1 players as part of an update released today, September 24, see characters transform into an animal before tearing apart their opponent in the trademark over-the-top style. Animalities return to Mortal Kombat alongside the release of Khaos Reigns, having made their debut in Mortal Kombat 3 all the way back in 1995.

Now, NetherRealm has revealed Peacemaker’s Animality. Peacemaker, a DLC guest character lifted from the DC Universe featuring the likeness and voice of actor John Cena, transforms into an eagle for a patriotic team-up with Eagly that involves severed legs, machine guns, a grenade, and, finally, the flag of the United States itself.

WTF is Peacemaker's Animality / Friendship ????This is hilarious#MK1 #MortalKombat1https://t.co/pQYi3T0qzD— thethiny ???????? (@thethiny) September 24, 2024

Fans are already comparing Peacemaker’s Animality to the 'WTF Is A Kilometer' meme, which refers to a satirically patriotic American catchphrase sprawled on picture of George Washington with a bald eagle and a minigun.

NetherRealm has form when it comes to references. Indeed, Ghostface’s Fatality in Mortal Kombat 1 is a reference to the Scream movies from which the guest character originates. Noob Saibot’s bone-crunching Animality is a direct reference to the character’s Fatality in Mortal Kombat 9. And fellow DLC character Sektor has a Fatality that references Marvel’s Iron Man.

And sticking with the patriotic bird theme, Homelander's Animality sees The Boys supervillain turn into a griffin.

Homelander animality (Griffin) Eagle ????????#MK1 #MortalKombat pic.twitter.com/LjZ5r9mNc5— iScream (@iScreamFGC) September 23, 2024

Khaos Reigns hits Mortal Kombat 1 after four million sales since launching in September 2023. The expansion adds new story mode chapters available from September 24, along with Kombat Pack 2, which itself includes six new DLC characters: Cyrax, Sektor, and Noob Saibot (available on September 24), and guest fighters Ghostface (Scream franchise), T-1000 (Terminator 2: Judgement Day), and Conan the Barbarian (post-launch release timing to be announced at a later date).

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.