Smoke is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise by Midway Games/NetherRealm Studios. He debuted in Mortal Kombat II (1993) as a hidden opponent and became a secret playable character in Mortal Kombat 3 (1995), making him the franchise's first unlockable fighter. In keeping with his namesake, he is distinguished by the smoke fumes emitting from his body and his smoke-based powers. A member of the fictional Lin Kuei clan, Smoke has been depicted as both a human ninja and a cyborg in the series. He is also a close friend of fellow clansman Sub-Zero. The character's original storyline sees him forcibly transformed into a cyborg by his clan, but he retains his human soul. This allows him to join Sub-Zero in defending Earthrealm. However, following the events of Mortal Kombat 3, Smoke is reprogrammed into serving Sub-Zero's evil brother Noob Saibot. In the rebooted timeline, he avoids automation, but becomes an undead revenant in service of the Netherrealm. Smoke has appeared in various media outside of the games, including the 1997 film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Reception to the character, particularly his human version, has been generally positive. Appearances Mortal Kombat games Smoke started out as a Lin Kuei assassin alongside the younger Sub-Zero, and had accompanied him to Outworld on the latter's unsuccessful mission of assassinating Shang Tsung. When they returned to the Lin Kuei, they discovered that their clan had chosen to transform their best warriors into cyborgs, having already performed the procedure on Cyrax and Sektor. Smoke and Sub-Zero, not wanting to take part, defected from the clan; Sub-Zero managed to escape, but Smoke was captured and converted into a cyborg, designated LK-7T2. Under the programming of the Lin Kuei, Smoke was forced to hunt his old friend. However, during the events of Mortal Kombat 3 and Shao Kahn's invasion of Earth, Smoke discovered, with Sub-Zero's help, that he had still retained his soul during the automation process, and was in fact one of Raiden's chosen warriors. He aided Sub-Zero in defeating Cyrax and Sektor but was captured by Kahn's forces, taken back to Outworld and locked in the bowels of Kahn's fortress. Nearly a decade later, however, during the events of Mortal Kombat: Deception, he was discovered by Noob Saibot, who reactivated the cyborg. Smoke's nanotechnology set about repairing and improving his systems, but Noob Saibot reprogrammed him into serving as both his