Mortal Kombat 11’s Daanish Syed Explains Why Johnny Cage’s ‘Okay’ Sign Was Changed
John F. Trent
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Mortal Kombat 11 developer Daanish Syed explained that NetherRealm Studios changed Johnny Cage’s ‘Okay’ sign hand gesture because of “Nazis.”
In a now deleted tweet a user by the name of Xiphi questioned why Johnny Cage’s “Got em” okay hand gesture was changed to a middle finger. (Archive link: https://archive.fo/kRJlc)
Daanish Syed simply replied “nazis.”
nazis
— Daanish Syed (@_DaanishSyed) April 23, 2019
You can see the original hand gesture that was in Mortal Kombat 11 courtesy of YouTuber Caboose. Cage makes the “Okay” sign around the 3:43 mark. After the camera pans down towards the hand gesture, Cage launches a punch at the camera in reference to the “Circle Game.”
When Xiphi responded to Syed simply asking, “huh?” Syed pointed him to a Reddit thread showing the updated hand signal that Johnny Cage uses.
— Daanish Syed (@_DaanishSyed) April 23, 2019
You can see the updated hand gesture here:
Instead of the normal “okay” sign used, Cage still makes a circle with his hand, but only has his middle finger flicking off the camera. He still does punch the camera after it pans down and you see the gesture.
Syed’s answer for the decision appears to be the same “logic” used by Blizzard after they reportedly banned the “okay” sign from the Overwatch Arena League.
Much like Blizzard’s decision, Syed and allegedly NetherRealm Studios’ and Mortal Kombat’s reasoning was openly mocked.
idiots fell for a 4chan troll so bad, it is to laugh
— Pimpin Professor X (@hardcpy) April 24, 2019
This is why you NEVER hire an SJW…
— Michael Derrick (@cauldroncomics) April 24, 2019
So more than the half of the people are “nazys” now? That are persecuted by not let being brainwashed by failed politics that only ruin industries with forced results ,you are 1984 you are the real problem to humanity
— Abdel ali (@Abdel_ali2016y) April 24, 2019
— Alalmë Creative (@AlalmeCreative) April 24, 2019
Now, this is just pure lunacy.
— Mateusz K. (@DVine2077) April 24, 2019
But the 👌is just a hand gesture. The entire thing started from 4chan saying it was a sign of white supremacy in order to troll people.
— Floofie (@Floofiekunz) April 24, 2019
But it doesn’t really have to do anything with actual nazis. It’s a simple hand sign for OK. Nothing wrong with that.
— zitagirl (@zitagirl1) April 24, 2019
You realize thats not real right? Whats it gonna be next week? Thumbs up? Peace? Handshakes?
— LightBuilder777 (@LBuilder777) April 24, 2019
it’s a godamn hand sign for OK , what’s the next step? the thumb up becoming a terrorist sign? the Metal sign being a satanist sign? pic.twitter.com/xzxyzF3DGb
— Doctor Dementor (@Extravaganzazz) April 24, 2019
And much like the official Overwatch League twitter account, the official Mortal Kombat twitter account also used the hand gesture emoji earlier this year. If they made the decision to remove the sign because of “nazis” why are they using it in their marketing for their game?
🤵👰, 👉👌, ⚔️☠️ Scorpion, Raiden, and Shao Kahn. Choose wisely. #MK11
— Mortal Kombat 11 (@MortalKombat) January 5, 2019
And as a number of critics of Blizzard’s reported decision on the okay symbol pointed out, by censoring the hand gesture, Syed, NetherRealm Studios, and Mortal Kombat are actually ceding the popular symbol by somehow claiming it’s a “nazi” symbol now. They are actually giving the symbol more power by trying to universally claim the symbol is somehow related to “nazis” when in fact it is not.
The Anti-Defamation League states the symbol is not a “nazi” symbol:
“The ‘OK’ gesture is a nearly universal hand gesture and most usage of it is completely innocuous. Even when used as described here, the fact that white supremacists, the alt lite and many Trump supporters all use the symbol means that one cannot assume that anyone who poses with such a gesture is intending or exhibiting an association with white supremacy.”
What do you make of NetherRealm Studios and Mortal Kombat changing Johnny Cage’s “Circle Game” reference? What do you think of their reasoning for doing so?
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