Joker's Mortal Kombat 11 Ending Explained

Mortal Kombat 11, meet the Jester of Genocide. Joker officially makes his way into NetherRealm's excessively violent fighting game tomorrow, and fortunately, thanks to early access granted to some players, we know all about this DC villain's story arc and how his time in the MK universe wraps up.

Of course, Joker as a character is no rookie when it comes to dueling with Mortal Kombat characters. DC and MK stars squared off previously in a title called Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, and though there are some similarities between the Joker in that game and this latest iteration, there don't appear to be any links between the two stories. Just keep that in mind if you're hoping for some kind of continuity.

Now, with that out of the way — what happens with Joker in Mortal Kombat 11?

After Joker claims his final victory, he spends some time talking about how he spent his "dream vacation." We're not sure we'd call it that, but given Joker's penchant for mayhem and murder, the term does make a lot of sense in this instance. At any rate, Joker speaks of how he's "finished just about everyone worth finishing" in multiple realms. And you know what? That's left one of Gotham's most infamous villains feeling a little lonely.

It doesn't take Joker long to meet someone new, though — someone who is just as in love with disrupting "order" as he is.

Using Kronika's Hourglass, Joker summons a new buddy who might surprise some but actually makes perfect sense — Havik.

Havik is a character from past Mortal Kombat titles who's made his name causing problems for the Orderrealm. Joker essentially does the same for Gotham, so the two teaming up sure seems like a match made in heaven; that is, if your heaven is actually hell.

"Havik and I are going to be bosom buddies!" Joker says. "And what's that? My new pal knows an entire realm devoted to law and order? And he exists solely to disrupt it? Well I say, he and I need to get busy!"

The meeting of Joker and Havik could end up having some terrible implications for Orderrealm. But it's also kind of hilarious. During Joker's ending, the two are shown having a good old time. Havik has a friendly hand on Joker's shoulder and can be seen laughing heartily. Joker accidentally pulls Havik's hand from his body and sheepishly grins for the camera.

The two are clearly BFFs now, and we have to be honest — we're here for it. Joker rarely gets to team up with someone he truly sees eye to eye with, and if that partnership means we get to see a little more Havik, then count us in.

We're sure the mere presence of Havik in Joker's ending might have people wondering — could he be added to Mortal Kombat 11? But there's actually another cameo character who might end up dominating that conversation. And she shows up in the very last scene.

"Meet the League of Misunderstood Maniacs!" Joker exclaims. "We're giving Orderrealm an enema! And when we're done, who knows where we'll crash next. Maybe we'll come to your house and slip live grenades under your pillow. Maybe we'll gut your favorite pet. Or maybe we'll just break your TV right now!"

Okay, let's rewind for a moment — before that moment when Joker breaks both our TVs and the fourth wall. Who do we see in that final shot? We see Joker, of course, giving a cheesy thumbs up as he prepares to end one of the Orderrealm's protectors. We see Havik in the background, who is likely a split second away from cutting a life short himself. But who is that third character on the left?

Get ready for the Mortal Kombat fan base to go slightly crazy. That, folks, is Mileena — a favorite villain of the franchise who has yet to appear in Mortal Kombat 11.

So what does Mileena's appearance mean? The way we see it, this could be interpreted in one of two ways.

There's a fairly good chance Joker's Mortal Kombat story officially ends here, so it makes sense to send him to Orderrealm with two other characters who probably won't show up in the game: Mileena and Havik. This puts a nice little bow on everything and lets NetherRealm move on without having to touch on these characters again.

NetherRealm could be using this as a tease, though. Fans have been begging for Mileena's return to the roster ever since the final character list was unveiled. They'd hoped she'd be added as DLC, but so far, that hasn't happened. If Mileena is off sewing chaos in the Orderrealm with Joker and Havik, there's a shot NetherRealm could bring these characters back into the fold at some point. That could mean Mileena and even Havik as new playable characters.

It could also mean more Joker, too. And who wouldn't want that?

There are more characters coming to Mortal Kombat 11 in the months ahead, and though we already know the rest of the lineup for the current pass, who knows — perhaps Mortal Kombat 11 will pull a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and do a second pass. Should that happen, or should we hear any news about more content coming to MK 11, we'll be sure to fill you in.