The Cobalt Mines
The Cobalt Mines of Shokan is a location in Outworld which is often used as a prison for "the lowest scum of all realms" by Shao Kahn and the Shokan race (the latter is the reason why they are named as such). Unlike real-world cobalt mines, these mines contain pure cobalt embedded into the rock walls of the mines. The cobalt is blue in color rather than silver.
The cobalt mines themselves seem to be an original creation for the show and comic book, and so far have made no official appearances in any of the games. In Undying Dream, the Mines are revealed to be "as big as some realms" and have at least one-hundred countable levels. It is also referred to as a "Cobalt Prison" and "blue hell" by various characters.
Overview[]
In Mortal Kombat: Conquest[]
In the 1998 TV series Mortal Kombat: Conquest, Shang Tsung is imprisoned here by Shao Kahn after his defeat at the hands of the Great Kung Lao; Z'dak was originally the mining leader of the Cobalt Mines until he was tricked by Vorpax into being killed by Shang Tsung. Afterward Shang Tsung kept Vorpax, the Kreeyan princess as his personal slave. Vorpax who was also a prisoner in the Mines and was imprisoned for lying to others and to herself. Within the Cobalt Mine are entombed hundreds of warriors sent to rot in the Cobalt Mine by Shoa Khan over the millennia, Kreeyan shows them to Shang Tsung with plans to use them as his personal army. Shang Tsung would take over the role of leader after Z'dak's death, he made use of his fellow prisoners, such as having them serve minual tasks, or harvest their souls to fuel for his powers. Jola was the daughter of Bannak, the leader of the Black Dragon. After killing her father Shang Tsung gave Jola the power of the Black Dragon. Jola was later defeated by Kung Lao, and was brought back to the Cobalt Mines, Shang Tsung commanded that Jola is to remain in the Cobalt Mine until she can control her new powers. Shang Tsung gave Jola her power, but the price for those is that Jola belongs to him. Taja would eventually be manipulated by Vorpax into thinking that her long-deceased father was still alive and was a prisoner in the Mines, only for it to all turn out to be nothing more than a trap for the Great Kung Lao.
The mines has a secret chamber were Scorpion was imprisoned within his insect from, and also contains a execution/torture chamber (showing several emaciated male prisoners chained by their wrists; at the end of the chamber is a wrought-iron sarcophagus containing a worm-infested rotting skeleton). Shang Tsung's powers are unaffected by the cobalt in the mines, thanks to his human heritage, but in everyone else's case, the cobalt poisons or weakens them (such as Quan Chi).
Food provided to most prisoners in the Mines is some kind of soup or stew served in a clay bowl, but Shang Tsung eats lizards and something that seems to resemble shrimp.
Some miners look like ragged, but muscular long-haired men, while others are dressed in dark cloaks or ragged clothes. Prisoners are dragged to lower levels of the Mines in chains, being led by guards that seem to resemble reapers (as they hold scythes). Some prisoners can be heard screaming in pain as they are tortured; in at least a few episodes, what sounds like a female's scream can be heard, suggesting that none of the guards discriminate prisoners based on gender. Shao Khan has countless spies all thoughtout the Cobalt Mines, reporting the ongoing and recent event. Shang Tsung makes a pass time out of killing them.
At the end of the series, Taja's friend Dion later was sacrificed to open a portal to Outworld permanently and she is banished to the Mines as punishment.
In Other Media[]
In the Mortal Kombat 4 Limited Edition comic, Reptile is banished to the mines by Queen Sindel for the crime of genocide committed under his service to Shao Kahn. However, Reptile's bio in the Mortal Kombat 4 game itself states that he was instead banished to the Netherrealm.
Notable Residents[]
Trivia[]
- In Mortal Kombat: Deception, the stage Lower Mines is located within a large mine, proving that Outworld does indeed have a mining area. However, it is not certain if these are the cobalt mines as seen in Conquest.