Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
Developer: Midway Games Publisher: Midway Games Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 Released in US: November 16, 2008 Released in EU: November 21, 2008 Released in AU: November 20, 2008 This game has unused playable characters. This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused sounds. This game has unused text. This game has regional differences.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, also known as that one Mortal Kombat game without great amounts of blood or gruesome Fatalities. At least the idea of characters from the DC Universe fighting would eventually be revisited in the Injustice game series. Notably, this is the last game developed and published by Midway Games before the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009, though NetherRealm Studios was created not too long after Midway's demise in order to continue developing the Mortal Kombat series.

Unused Character Data

Brainiac

A DC villain who was set to appear in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, but he was likely replaced by Darkseid. Evidence that this character was considered can be found in some character packages, such as The Flash's package. The NameTable.txt file reveals the following:

117 = "Brainiac"
118 = "Brainiac_Diff"
119 = "Brainiac_Mic"
120 = "Brainiac_NormHQA"
121 = "Brainiac_Pmsk"
122 = "Brainiac_Spec"

The files in question are "ObjectRedirectors", which are tiny files and not actual textures. Brainiac is seen later on as the main antagonist in Injustice 2.

Quan Chi

Quan Chi's files are discovered in a manner similar to Brianiac's. While Quan Chi is seen in the game's Story Mode, they are pre-rendered videos and therefore he does not have a dedicated file. Ed Boon confirmed that there was going to be DLC for Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe with Quan Chi even having a completed render, but he would have to wait until the next game for his playable appearance.

BaseMale Medium

A male figure who is colored red and blue for Mortal Kombat and DC respectively. The art files related to him call this guy "Silhouette", and he seems to also have been a placeholder for the DLC characters slot. In the final game, the DLC character slots are used for Shao Kahn and Darkseid.

The legs for the DC Basemale are darker than the rest of him, and the Character Select icon was used in early versions of the game for fighters that were not available yet. In Mortal Kombat (2011), the MK Basemale's portrait gets reused for the "DLC Character Select" icon that's not normally selectable in that game, since it immediately opens up the DLC character select, so you will need to utilize a glitch to see MK Basemale. The character has a model and textures, which are exactly what's depicted in his artwork, except he has a bright purple skin color. He uses Baraka's Test your Might icon and Scorpion's lifebar icon. He also has Green Lantern's "Boxing" style which are animations for Close Kombat, a test MKScriptBinary which contains nothing, and his own MKScriptBinary gives him Scorpion's voice.

Dark Kahn

This video showing gameplay of Dark Kahn shows a couple unused things related to him. He has an "Enrage" special move similar to one of the Joker's, where he roars and fills up part of his Rage meter. This unique special move is never used by Dark Kahn's AI. He also has an unused Player 2 color which gives him a yellow body tint.

(Source: The Game Modding Channel)

Fatality/Heroic Brutality Names

NameTables also reveal the internal, or official names of character finishing moves. Heroic Brutalities were also once simply called "Brutalities", with no Heroic prefix.

Character	Fatality 1	Fatality 2
Baraka	Kick Stab	Slash Impale
Jax	Head Klap	Machine Gun
Kano	Double Leg Massive Stomp	Knife Throw
Kitana	Fans 2 Face	Kiss of Death
Liu Kang	Arcade Drop	Bicycle Kick Fireball Combo
Raiden	Skeleton Sizzle	Throw from Sky
Scorpion	Fire Breath	Going 2 Hell
Shang Tsung	Choke Stomp	Transform Soulsteal
Sonya	Flipover Neckbreak	Kiss of Death
Sub-Zero	Body Freeze and Smash	Freeze
Batman	Grappling Hook	Summon Bats
Captain Marvel	Headfirst into Ground	Shazam
Catwoman	Scratch Slam	Whip Drag Necksnap
Deathstroke	Stab Shoot	Sword Neck Snap
Green Lantern	Bubble Crush	Mallet Crush
Lex Luthor	Twist of Fate	Calling Reinforcements
Superman	Freeze Sky Crash	Pound
The Flash	Quadruple Flurry	Tornado Lift
The Joker	Phony and Real Gun	Deal Me In
Wonder Woman	Lasso Rotations	Lasso Top Spinner

Kitana's first Fatality name is a reference to an earlier version of it, where she throws the fans into the opponent's face rather than the heart. Source

Unused Sounds

The Announcer

Filename	Sound	Comments
vo_anno_name_dkkn01		Announcer saying Dark Kahn, suggesting he may have been playable at one point. Was used on the official site.
vo_anno_laugh		The announcer laughing. Wasn't found in the same file as the compliments, instead it's in the file with the character names being announced in the select screen.
vo_anno_round06		The announcer saying "Round 6!".
vo_anno_round07		The announcer saying "Round 7!".
vo_anno_round_final		The announcer saying "Final Round!"
vo_anno_welldone04		"Well Done!" Apparently, like in previous games, the Announcer would have commented on your performance.
vo_anno_welldone03		"Superb!"
vo_anno_welldone02		"Outstanding!"
vo_anno_welldone01		"Excellent!"

You can hear the announcer saying Round 4 / 5 if you set the round counter in the game settings to 3, and allowing you and your foe to win 2 rounds.

FightFX1

This sound package has sounds related to in-game battles, such as attack noises.

Filename	Sound	Comments
sfx_fatality_rage		Sound of flowing Rage energy. Meant to be used in the growl animation right before a Fatality.
sfx_enter_transition		Meant to be used in Free-Fall Kombat.
sfx_ak_switch		A "woosh" noise, could have been meant for a Battle Stance swap like the leftover sound clip below.
sfx_blood_splish05		Squishy blood noise.
sfx_blood_splish04
sfx_blood_splish03
sfx_blood_splish02
sfx_blood_splish01
sfx_blood_gush_loop01		Juice being viciously squeezed out of a fruit.
sfx_blood_gush01		Another squishy blood noise.
sfx_blood_drizzle_loop01		Drizzling blood.

Most of the blood sounds would eventually find their way into the next game.

Bosses

Filename	Sound	Comments
vo_dark_fatality_growl		Darkseid growling before a Fatality. This voice clip would be shortened for Dark Kahn's "Rage On" voice clip.
vo_shao_fatality_growl		Shao Kahn growling before a Fatality. In the final game this is actually one of his "On Fire" voice clips, but without the Rage effect.
vo_dkkn_death01		A death scream for Dark Kahn. Sounds like Shao Kahn's scream.

Dark Kahn has a Fatality Growl but it ends up used in the final game for some of his attack yells and right before you face him in Story Mode. He also has a falling scream used when you use a Free-Fall Super Move on him.

Armageddon Leftovers

Some UI sounds leftover from the previous game.

Filename	Sound	Comments
ui_controller_woosh		Sound of the controller "wooshing" in the controller config of Armageddon. This sound was also used in the character select of that game, and earlier versions of this game. While you can view the trigger buttons on a controller while configuring it in this game, this sound never plays.
ui_cap_pop_up_1		Sound for the "Cap" popping up.
ui_cap_cursor_move_1
ui_cap_sel_success_1
sfx_ui_chngstyl		This sound clip was found in "Snd_ui_in_game", and is the sound clip for when you swap your Battle Stance or get into Weapon Stance in Armageddon.

"In-Game" UI

Filename	Sound	Comments
sfx_super_bar_appear		SFX of the "Super Bar" appearing.
sfx_super_bar_available		Super Bar being ready.
sfx_super_bar_empty		Super Bar emptied.
sfx_ui_power_bar		The "power bar", likely related to the Super bar.
sfx_ui_expert03		Unknown.

There is a used sound clip for the Super Bar being used, it's used when you input a "Enhanced" special move such as Jax's Gotcha Grab having extra punches. Perhaps that is how you would have used this "Super Bar" and enhanced specials would have been limited.

Unused Text

PLACEHOLDER_COMBO_NAME_TM_01=NOT DONE I WILL LET QA KNOW WHEN AVAILABLE

A placeholder name for a Kombo Challenge. This is repeated nine more times.

CorruptDownloadedContent="Downloaded content appears to be damaged. Some downloaded content may not be available."

Located within the "message box" text data.

Kontent=KONTENT

Likely a earlier name for Extras or how you would have accessed a DLC store. Found within the menu options text data.

Krypt

Located within the text data for the menu options is an entry for the Krypt.

Krypt=KRYPT

There's also a "UI_S_Krypt" file, containing this picture of shiny MK and DC logos, a font, and a blank picture called "xbox_Back". In previous Mortal Kombat games, as well as the games that come after this one, you can earn Koins to purchase unlockable content within the Krypt. This game does not feature Koins either.

Unused Stages

Calibration

A "stage" that has a blank floor and a wall that has colorbars for calibration configuring.

CharTest

A stage for testing characters. It has a dome and a flat ground with no textures.

TestParticles

Contains particles such as a laser beam, fire, smoke, and... a picture of Bart with his pants down.

EmptyMap

As the name implies, it's a completely empty map.

Project Name

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is internally known as Mortal Kombat 8. This is a remnant from before the game got involved with DC Comics.

Regional Differences

Deathstroke's "Stab Shoot" Fatality and the Joker's "Phony and Real Gun" Fatality are both censored in the US release of the game, in order to keep the T rating. In the Europe release, the Fatalities are not censored, the respective camera files are suffixed "_eu". Specifically in the US release the camera will zoom in on Deathstroke/Joker right before the gunshot, while the Europe release does not.