Bringing Woodsboro to ‘Mortal Kombat’: An Interview With Developer Joe Epstein
With the recent release of the Mortal Kombat: Khaos Reigns expansion, we’ve gotten a deeper look into what downloadable characters NetherRealm Studios has up its sleeves. In the past, they’ve always had at least one iconic horror character join their roster, and this time we are getting a very important member of the Slasher Mount Rushmore: Ghostface.
Ahead of their debut on November 19, 2024, Dread Central sat down with Joe Epstein, a Designer at NetherRealm Studios, to dive into what bringing Ghostface into the Mortal Kombat Universe looked like.
Dread Central: What inspired the decision to include Ghostface in the Mortal Kombat 1 Universe? We’ve seen a range of horror icons like Jason, Freddy Krueger, Predator, Leatherface, and even the Xenomorph. Was Ghostface a character that was consistently on everyone’s radar?
Joe Epstein: Oh yeah, absolutely. Ghostface and Scream are almost as old as Mortal Kombat itself, with the same kind of dedicated multigenerational following. Horror characters just seem to be a natural fit as Mortal Kombat guests. Some fans have been hoping for a long time, and superfans inside the studio have clamored for it, too. It was just a matter of time, and ended up working out really well to be able to include as part of the Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns Expansion. And fans won’t have to wait long. Ghostface will be available on November 19 for Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns owners.
DC: Can you discuss the iconic voice changer we see in Ghostface’s hand and the presence of two Ghostface characters on screen? How did you approach the design process for Ghostface, balancing his classic look with the unique aesthetics of Mortal Kombat 1? If you can say, which film in the series did the team look to when designing his look, and is his mask a specific one?
JE: For all our guest characters, from the very start, we ask “How can we make this feel like it has a faithful spirit?” Ghostface wouldn’t be Ghostface without using the voice mod and Roger L. Jackson’s unmistakable voice, and they’re both here. And it’s a pretty consistent twist in the films that there are multiple Ghostface killers, so it was always the plan for our design to involve playing as a team of Ghostface characters.
As for Ghostface’s aesthetics and tone, the Scream films are a mix of deadly serious horror balanced with humorous and self-aware moments, which is comfortably in our ballpark. We took the most inspiration from the first Scream film, though you will definitely pick up various references to them all throughout the character’s presentation.
DC: Do YOU know who is under the mask? And by that, I mean, in-universe, is there a specific set embodying this Ghostface? Stu and Billy, Mickey and Debbie, etc…
JE: I do know, yes.
DC: We saw a few iconic moves from Ghostface, the big one being his laydown ability almost to feign their death. Beyond this, there are his stab motions that feel like they are ripped from the screen. When the team looks at adding a character this iconic, how do they go about choosing their move set and making them related to the character we all know and love on screen?
JE: This process for adapting a guest to our fighting game is a ton of fun and starts about as you might guess. The first step is just gorging on the source material, taking lots of notes, and capturing lots of references about what will work well as possible moves. Although Scream is a horror franchise, it contains lots of what are basically well-shot action scenes (my favorite example is a brief sequence of Ghostface in a single room of a mansion fighting against almost everyone in the cast toward the end of Scream 3). There was a wealth of material to use, and we used it, and hopefully you notice that in the game.
DC: When you look at Ghostface, his threat doesn’t come as a one-on-one, more so as a surprise. So how did the team take that character and make them more imposing as a person toeing up against Sub-Zero or Geras?
JE: We definitely thought about how Ghostface could possibly be fighting against otherworldly ninjas and keepers of time and so forth. The most important idea to get across is that Ghostface in the movies is usually a team of Ghostface characters working together. Ghostface is also a horror movie villain, which means there’s a special kind of plot armor at work. Ghostface can always seem to already be in the house, right behind you, in a closet you didn’t check, etc. So, in addition to there being several Ghostfaces to worry about, they’re sneaky and can pop up where you least expect. And a big hunting knife up close is going to be a problem for almost anyone.
DC: Mortal Kombat 1 has deep customization options. Will we see different options for Ghostface? And if so, could you tell me how the team went about crafting them?
JE: Ghostface’s costume is a bit limited by nature. At heart, it’s a cheap black reaper robe and cartoonish reaper/skull mask, and a knife. With rare exceptions across the movies, the costume does not change at all. So we worked with the canvas available and mostly riffed on many different masks. Some are silly, some are serious, some are subtle, and some are pretty bold. Our concept artists are great and came up with tons of different ideas, so it’s just a matter of honing in on the coolest, funniest, and most striking ones.
DC: The Fatality is clearly a nod to the in-universe STAB. How did this come to be instead of one of the more iconic kills? I think the Fatality chosen is PERFECT; just curious how it was decided upon.
JE: There are lively, regular meetings where people from different disciplines come together to discuss what we should do for cinematic moments like Fatalities, Animalities, Fatal Blows, etc. Ideas come from all over—they can be direct references, ‘inspired by’ ideas, or just a cool riff. The fourth-wall-breaking Fatality idea came courtesy of superfan Stephanie Brownback, Quality Assurance lead and resident NetherRealm Studios undisputed #1 Scream fan. It puts a Mortal Kombat riff on Scream’s meta flavor.
It’s been a while since I’ve sat down with Mortal Kombat, but with the addition of Ghostface, I think it’s about time I dive into it again. Now if only I could talk to someone at NetherRealms about adding in Billy the Puppet…
Categorized:Interviews
