Cassie Cage

Cassie Cage is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series by NetherRealm Studios. She debuted in Mortal Kombat X (2015) as the daughter of Mortal Kombat champions Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage as she leads a new generation of combatants in the ongoing fight to protect Earthrealm from Shinnok and his forces. Cassie is featured as the main protagonist in the game's story mode and in DC Comics' 2015 prequel comic series as a supporting character. The character has had a mainly positive critical reception for her personality, gender representation, and her Fatality finishing moves.

Cassie Cage
Mortal Kombat character
Cassie Cage in Mortal Kombat 11 (2019)
First appearanceMortal Kombat X: Blood Ties (2015)
Created byShawn Kittelsen (writer)
Voiced byAshly Burch (MKX)[1]
Erica Lindbeck (MK11)[2]
Motion captureBrenda Barrie (MKX)[3]
Christina Eenigenburg (face) (MK11)
In-universe information
GenderFemale
WeaponNightstick, handgun (MKX, MK11), Pistols, drone and smartphone (MK11)
FamilyJohnny Cage (father)
Sonya Blade (mother)
OriginUnited States (Earthrealm)
NationalityAmerican
Hair ColorBlonde
Eye Colorblue

Appearances

In video games

Following the defeat of evil Outworld emperor Shao Kahn at the end of the 2011 series reboot,[4] Johnny Cage and his wife Sonya Blade see the birth of their child “Cassandra Carlton Cage”, shortened to "Cassie", but they later divorce.[5][6] Following in her mother's footsteps, Cassie joins the Special Forces, which uses military training and technology to protect Earthrealm from its enemies.[7][8] Under Raiden's orders, Cassie leads a task force assembled by her father and composed of a new generation of combatants—Jacqui Briggs, Takeda, and Kung Jin.[9][10] Sonya does not give Cassie preferential treatment.[11] The team gain experience as they attempt a sneak attack on Sub-Zero's Lin Kuei temple and fail, though the attack is revealed to have been a training exercise set up by Johnny. Sub-Zero tells Cassie and her unit they will fail unless they work together as a team.[12]

Sonya sends the team to Outworld to locate Mileena, who has Shinnok's amulet. Cassie encounters the realm's new ruler Kotal Kahn, who begrudgingly allies with her unit to locate the amulet.[13] The team recovers the amulet, but Kotal has them captured out of distrust and intended to use them to lure Raiden to Earthrealm.[14] When the unit return to Earthrealm, they discover Johnny had been abducted by Shinnok and taken to Raiden's Sky Temple, where the fallen Elder God has corrupted the Jinsei, the source of Earthrealm's life force.[15] After her team gets incapacitated or caught up fighting Shinnok's allies, Cassie faces Shinnok alone. During the battle, she discovers she inherited Johnny's ancient power, which increases her strength, and defeats Shinnok before helping Raiden restore the Jinsei. Following this, Sonya, Johnny, and Cassie happily reunite.[15] In a non-canonical arcade ending, Cassie is assigned to hunt a "soul stealer", who is believed to be the resurrected sorcerer, Shang Tsung. She tracks down the soul-stealer, an elderly man who identifies himself as Shujinko after she beats him to near-death.[16]

Cassie returns in Mortal Kombat 11. Two years after defeating Shinnok, she is promoted to Commander and leads a Special Forces strike team alongside Sonya and Jacqui in assaulting the Netherrealm. While the mission was successful, Sonya gave her life to ensure Cassie and the others escaped safely.[17] Due to a time storm caused by the keeper of time, Kronika, Cassie worked with younger versions of Johnny, Sonya, and Jax to figure out what happened.[18] When the Black Dragon cartel and Cyber Lin Kuei warriors attacked the Special Forces headquarters, Cassie fought to keep her parents' younger selves safe, but Kano ultimately captured them. In light of the attack, Raiden transported Cassie and their remaining allies to Hanzo Hasashi's Fire Gardens to regroup. Having put a tracker on Kano's helicopter,[19] Cassie led the surviving Special Forces members in weakening the Black Dragon and rescuing her parents' younger selves.[20] After Kronika kidnaps Liu Kang, Cassie took part in a joint Earthrealm/Outworld attack on Kronika's keep to rescue him.[21] In her non-canonical arcade ending, after defeating Kronika and attaining her god-like power, Cassie resurrects Sonya so she can retire peacefully and maintains her position as a Special Forces commander instead of becoming the new keeper of time.

Design

In Mortal Kombat X, Cassie was voiced by Ashly Burch;[1] the character's official biography describes her "as strong-willed–and occasionally hotheaded as her mother; and as quick-witted as her beloved dad".[16] An early sketch by concept artist Justin Murray showed Cassie as a "robotix [sic] engineer" with spiked, pink hair and a massive, hand-operated, mechanical arm.[22] Another concept depicted her as a muscular MMA-style brawler with long, pink hair and wearing a customized leather sports bra and panties, tall, black boots and fighting gloves with a personalized logo of her initials framed in a star.[22] Her design for the game consists of her short, blonde hair, aviator sunglasses, and a full Special Forces tactical suit; the design was finalized by artist Marco Nelor, who considered Cassie among his favorite designs.[23]

According to Kickboxer and mixed-martial artist Felice Herrig, physical and visual similarities between herself and Cassie Cage are not coincidental.[24] Cassie's in-game mannerisms include the blowing of bubble gum and the taking of selfies; the latter for which Herrig is well-known.[24][25] Herrig first mentioned possible similarities in a January 2015 post to her Instagram account,[26] and in April 2015, following the release of Mortal Kombat X, she said in an interview with Fox Sports, "Cassie Cage is 100-percent me",[25] and added, "Who doesn't want to be a bad ass in a video game? It's definitely cool and if they would have came to me and said 'hey can we use your image and your likeness in a video game as Cassie Cage?' I would be more excited."[25]

Gameplay

Cassie's fighting style is similar to that of her parents; she can fight with her hands in close combat and use her pistols from long range like Stryker.[27] Cassie adopts her father's attitude and her mother's combat styles.[28][29] She is playable in the game's twelfth and final chapter, in which she fights Sindel, Kitana, and D'Vorah before battling and defeating Corrupted Shinnok.[30]

Like the game's other selectable characters, Cassie's special moves and attacks are split into three gameplay variations; "Hollywood", "Spec Ops", and "Brawler".[31] In the "Hollywood" variation, Cassie—like Johnny Cage—wears sunglasses during battle, adopts his groin-punch move, and uses her handguns on the ground and in mid-air.[32][33] "Spec Ops" features a military-style offensive similar to that of Sonya; it features attacks such as air strikes with missiles and lasers, which she calls in through an earpiece.[31][34] In "Brawler", Cassie performs takedowns, tackles, and mid-air tosses.[31][33]

Using her "Testi-Kill" X-ray move, she assaults her opponent's groin area, rupturing the testicles of the male characters.[35][36] In Cassie's "Bubble Head" fatality[37] she shoots her opponents in both legs to incapacitate them, then shoots them once in the forehead, removes her gum from her mouth and sticks it onto the wound, causing the gum to fill with the victim's blood before they die. In "Selfie" she knocks off her opponent's lower jaw with her nightstick then takes a selfie image with the corpse, which she then uploads to a fictitious social media site.[38]

In other media

Cassie is a supporting character in DC Comics' Mortal Kombat X weekly prequel miniseries that is set before the in-game storyline.[39] Her role is similar to that in the game; she aspires to establish her own identity as she follows in the footsteps of her parents.[40] She debuts in a two-parter in the fourth and fifth chapters; she is first seen training with Jacqui when her strained relationship with Sonya is revealed.[41] Cassie and Jacqui sneak into an underground, mixed-martial-arts arena, where Cassie is suddenly forced to fight Frost in a death-match, which Cassie wins and the Black Dragon crashes before she can kill Frost.[42] She and Jacqui take Frost to safety before they flee the arena, during which Cassie snaps selfies to leave a traceable trail for the Special Forces.[42]

In the ninth chapter, Cassie and Jacqui are captives of Kano and the Black Dragon but are intercepted by Mavado and the rival Red Dragon clan in an Outworld jungle. The factions fight over custody of Cassie and Jacqui before Erron Black frees them.[43] Mavado attacks Black and tries to kill Cassie and Jacqui, but they overpower him and Cassie kills him with his hookswords.[43] Cassie is then absent from the series until chapter eighteen, where she is imprisoned in a dungeon on Shang Tsung's island and is described by Havik as "the heir to an ancient warrior power", in reference to her father Johnny Cage's lineage.[44]

Cassie is forced to watch Skarlet assault Jacqui. Havik tells her he is capable of acquiring this power when Cage's loved ones are close to death.[45] In her cell, Cassie is attacked by Jacqui, who is under the influence of Havik's "Blood Code" curse. Skarlet, working with Havik, stabs Cassie in the chest with a Kamidogu dagger, inflicting a curse on her.[46] Sonya and Cage enter Shang Tsung's island to confront Reiko and the Red Dragon; they are presented with the brainwashed Jacqui and Cassie, who tries to kill her own parents to prove her loyalty to Reiko.[47]

Reception

The character has had a mainly positive reception. Den of Geek ranked Cassie eleventh in their 2015 rating of the series' 73 characters, describing her as "a new main hero character who is actually likable" and "everything you'd want out of a good female protagonist and it's wonderful that NetherRealm [Studios] was able to hit the potential on such a fun character design".[48] Lucas Sullivan of GamesRadar praised the game's "depictions of strong women, particularly Sonya Blade, Cassie Cage, and Jacqui Briggs" as "some of the most grounded, believable, and most importantly relatable portrayals I've seen".[11] Greg Knoll of Realm of Gaming said, "she is, without question, the new face of Mortal Kombat. She has her mother's incredible fighting ability (not to mention looks) and her father's egotistical, snarky charm. Her fatalities are the most entertaining, her voiceover work is phenomenal and ... there's just something really captivating about her."[49]

Ikhtear Shahrukh of Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star commented, "Some of the newbies like Takeda and Kung Jin are a blast to play with interesting variations and sick looking combos. Others like Jacqueline Briggs and Cassie Cage … not so much; as they fit into typical generic fighter game character stereotypes instead of being Mortal Kombat material."[50] Eurogamer described Cassie and her companions as a "quartet of daddy issue-riddled newbies", and said, "Takahashi Takeda [is] angry with his father [Kenshi] for abandoning him to a ninja clan led by Scorpion ... Takahashi's got a point. The others just need to get over themselves."[10]

Cassie's "Selfie" fatality has gained critical praise. Steven Schneider of Tech Times wrote, "It's not the most subtle nod to our selfie-obsessed culture, but it fits in perfectly with both Cassie's character and the series' comedy as a whole".[51] Tristan Cooper of Dorkly called the finisher "perfect",[52] and Polygon commented, "We've become accustomed to Mortal Kombat's brand of gruesome humor over the past 20-plus years but even I had to wince at this one".[53] Kotaku's Patricia Hernandez stated, "Yes, it's not the most brutal fatality in the game. But it is the most memorable and culturally relevant one."[54] In their listing of the game's top 10 fatalities, CraveOnline ranked it at #2.[55] Den of Geek commented, "Usually something like that would come off as too corny and forced, but they go so over-the-top with it, to the point of showing a Facebook knockoff page with scrolling comments from other kombatants, that it's one of the true highlights of the new game."[48]

See also

References
  1. "Mortal Kombat X Details & Credits for PlayStation 4". Metacritic. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  2. Lindbeck, Erica [@ericalindbeck] (March 6, 2019). "'Sup? #MK11 #CassieCage" (Tweet). Retrieved March 6, 2019 – via Twitter.
  3. Cianciolo, Dominic (January 1994). "Big Thx to the #MKX story mode mocap talent". Twitter. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  4. Dunsmore, Kevin (March 12, 2015). "Hands-on with Mortal Kombat X's Story, Johnny Cage and Kenshi". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  5. Kozanitis, James (March 12, 2015). "Here's Johnny: 5 Things We Learned From Mortal Kombat X's New Trailer". CraveOnline. Archived from the original on May 26, 2015. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  6. Romero, Ishmael (May 8, 2015). "Top 10 Most Memorable Mothers in Video Games". Twinfinite. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  7. Hannley, Steve (April 10, 2015). "Mortal Kombat X Special Forces Shown Off in New Trailer". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  8. Haas, Pete (March 12, 2015). "Mortal Kombat X Johnny Cage And Sonya Blade Trailer Sneaks In A Third Character Reveal". Cinema Blend. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  9. Tran, Can Hoang (February 27, 2015). "'Mortal Kombat X' story trailer introduces Jacqui Briggs, Takeshi Takeda, and Kung Jin". The News Hub. Archived from the original on 2015-05-25. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  10. Yin-Poole, Wesley (April 13, 2015). "Mortal Kombat X's dumbly enjoyable story puts other fighting games to shame". Eurogamer. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  11. Sullivan, Lucas (April 24, 2015). "Sonya Blade finally feels like a real character in Mortal Kombat X". GamesRadar. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  12. NetherRealm Studios. Mortal Kombat X. Warner Bros. Level/area: Chapter 3: Sub-Zero.
  13. NetherRealm Studios. Mortal Kombat X. Warner Bros. Level/area: Chapter 4: Kung Jin.
  14. NetherRealm Studios. Mortal Kombat X. Warner Bros. Level/area: Chapter 7: Takahashi Takeda.
  15. NetherRealm Studios. Mortal Kombat X. Warner Bros. Level/area: Chapter 12: Cassie Cage.
  16. Cassie Cage—Mortal Kombat Warehouse. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  17. NetherRealm Studios (2019). Mortal Kombat 11. Warner Bros. Level/area: Chapter 1: Next of Kin (Cassie Cage).
  18. NetherRealm Studios (2019). Mortal Kombat 11. Warner Bros. Level/area: Chapter 2: Timequake (Kotal Kahn).
  19. NetherRealm Studios (2019). Mortal Kombat 11. Warner Bros. Level/area: Chapter 6: War on the Homefront (Johnny Cage).
  20. NetherRealm Studios (2019). Mortal Kombat 11. Warner Bros. Level/area: Chapter 8: Fight Club (Sonya Blade).
  21. NetherRealm Studios (2019). Mortal Kombat 11. Warner Bros. Level/area: Chapter 11: Cutting the Strings (Raiden).
  22. "Exclusive 'Mortal Kombat X' Concept Art by Justin Murray". Concept Art World. May 12, 2015. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  23. "Exclusive 'Mortal Kombat X' Concept Art by Marco Nelor". Concept Art World. May 12, 2015. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  24. Grayson, Nathan (April 14, 2015). "MMA Star Says Mortal Kombat Likeness 'Cannot Be A Coincidence'". Kotaku. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  25. Martin, Damon (April 16, 2015). "Felice Herrig: I think Cassie Cage from "Mortal Kombat" is 100% me". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on May 23, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  26. Haas, Pete (January 15, 2015). "Who Mortal Kombat X's Cassie Cage May Have Been Based On". Cinema Blend. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  27. Gwaltney, Javy (April 20, 2015). "Mortal Kombat X Review: New Kids On The Block". Paste Magazine. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  28. Myers, Maddy (May 8, 2015). "Choose Your Character: All the World's a Mortal Kombat Stage". Paste Magazine. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  29. Harrison, Will (May 7, 2015). "'Mortal Kombat X' fights for a new life". Toledo Blade. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  30. Dawson, Bryan (April 2015). "Mortal Kombat X - Story Mode Walkthrough". Prima Games. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  31. Romero, Ishmael (April 17, 2015). "Mortal Kombat X Guide: How to Play Cassie Cage". Twinfinite. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  32. Caulfield, Luke (June 12, 2014). "'Mortal Kombat X' News: Sonya Blade & Johnny Cage's Daughter Cassie Makes Her Gameplay Debut At E3 2014 [VIDEO, IMAGES]". Game N Guide. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  33. Martinez, Phillip (February 26, 2015). "Mortal Kombat X Cassie Cage Variations And Brutality Shown During Twitch Stream [VIDEO]". iDigital Times. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  34. McWhertor, Mike (2014). "The tenth Mortal Kombat adds a new twist to character selection". Polygon. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  35. Hernandez, Patricia (April 23, 2015). "Mortal Kombat Nut Punches Are Brutal". Kotaku. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  36. Dawson, Bryan (April 2015). "Mortal Kombat X - How to Play Cassie Cage: Combos and Strategies". Prima Games. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  37. Espineli, Matt (April 14, 2015). "How to Do Every Fatality in Mortal Kombat X". Gamespot. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  38. Morris, Tatiana (April 7, 2015). "Cassie Cage's second fatality will leave you tongue-tied". GameZone. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  39. Jasper, Gavin (April 14, 2015). "Shawn Kittelsen Interview: Mortal Kombat X, WWE Immortals, & DC Comics". Den of Geek. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
  40. Yehl, Joshua (January 23, 2015). "Preview for Mortal Kombat X Chapter 4 from DC Comics". IGN. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
  41. Shawn Kittelsen (w), Dexter Soy (p), Dexter Soy (i). "Blood Ties: Caged (pt. 1)" Mortal Kombat X chapter #4 (January 2015), DC Comics
  42. Shawn Kittelsen (w), Dexter Soy (p), Dexter Soy (i). "Blood Ties: Caged (pt. 2)" Mortal Kombat X chapter #5 (February 2015), DC Comics
  43. Shawn Kittelsen (w), Igor Vitorino (p), Oclair Albert & Ruy José (i). "Blood Ties: Betrayal in Outworld (pt. 3)" Mortal Kombat X chapter #9 (March 2015), DC Comics
  44. Shawn Kittelsen (w), Igor Vitorino (p), Oclair Albert (i). "Blood Gods: The Oni/Shokan Uprising (pt. 2)" Mortal Kombat X chapter #18 (May 2015), DC Comics
  45. Shawn Kittelsen (w), Dexter Soy (p), Dexter Soy (i). "Blood Gods: Deadly Allies (pt. 1)" Mortal Kombat X chapter #20 (May 2015), DC Comics
  46. Shawn Kittelsen (w), Daniel Sampere (p), Juan Albarran (i). "Blood Gods: Cage Family Sekret Origin" Mortal Kombat X chapter #23 (June 2015), DC Comics
  47. Shawn Kittelsen (w), Igor Vitorino (p), Oclair Albert, Ruy José (i). "Blood Gods" Mortal Kombat X chapter #24 (June 2015), DC Comics
  48. Jasper, Gavin (April 20, 2015). "Mortal Kombat: Ranking All the Characters". Den of Geek. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  49. Knoll, Greg (June 4, 2015). "Mortal Kombat X Review - PlayStation 4". Realm of Gaming. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  50. Ikhtear, Shahrukh (May 21, 2015). "Mortal Kombat X: Building on the Legacy". The Daily Star. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  51. Schneider, Steven (April 8, 2015). "Cassie Cage's Selfie Fatality May Be The Best 'Mortal Kombat X' Finisher Yet". Tech Times. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  52. Cooper, Tristan (April 7, 2015). "Mortal Kombat X's Selfie Fatality is Perfect". Dorkly. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  53. Good, Owen S. (April 7, 2015). "Cassie Cage's second Mortal Kombat X fatality will leave you slack-jawed". Polygon. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  54. Hernandez, Patricia (April 8, 2015). "Mortal Kombat X Has a Selfie Fatality". Kotaku. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  55. Leack, Jonathan (April 16, 2015). "Ending You: The Top 10 Best Fatalities in Mortal Kombat X". CraveOnline. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.