Mortal Kombat Has Officially Made Shaggy Canon

Zoinks, Shaggy has finally joined the Mortal Kombat series (well, sort of). For anyone who has stuck with NetherRealm's brutal brawler, you'll know Scooby-Doo's slapstick sidekick has been championed for the franchise since MK11 started releasing DLC characters.

Much like Smash Bros., Mortal Kombat has made a name for itself by adding pop culture favourites to the game. Starting with 2011's Mortal Kombat 9, we've seen the likes of God of War's Kratos, Alien's Xenomorph, and RoboCop. Shaggy might seem like an out-there addition, but now, he's become MK canon.

How is Shaggy in Mortal Kombat?

This bizarre turn of events comes courtesy of Warner Bros. Animation's Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms. The animated movie KOd the competition on Tuesday, and featured the usual tale of Earthrealm champions squaring off against Outworld's own warriors. In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance, the movie confirmed the existence of Shaggy in the battle.

For context, we need to go back to 2017 and the birth of the Ultra Instinct Shaggy meme. A YouTuber called Midya shared a clip from Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur, where Shaggy beats up a bunch of biker thugs as the Dragon Ball Super soundtrack is superimposed over the background. From this, things spiralled, with a viral petition eventually being launched to add Ultra Instinct Shaggy to Mortal Kombat 11. 

Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms kicks off with the WB Animation production logo and MK favourite Scorpion doing what he does best. The intimidating Scorpion is then grabbed by the throat by Shaggy - complete with glowing eyes. To add insult to injury, he steals Scorpion's catchphrase but puts a twist on it as he says, "Zoinks! Get over here, man!"

Could Shaggy come to Mortal Kombat?

Sadly, MK overlord Ed Boon has confirmed there are now more characters coming to the 11th main series game. It's heavily reported that NetherRealm Studios is tinkering on Mortal Kombat 12, so it's great news that WB at least acknowledges the Scooby snack-loving slacker. 

Boon himself has acknowledged the latest twist, but with him being the master of trolling - and previously teasing Shaggy for a non-existent DLC pack - we aren't going to jump the gun with this one. Still, Boon's Tweet blew up, with even the official Xbox account writing, "Put Shaggy in the next game 100% if you still end up having access to WB properties PLEASE."

Even if we're probably a while off jumping into the ring for MK12, developers could already be drawing up a roster of base characters and presumed DLC additions. Could this be the first hint that Shaggy will finally make his mark? We guess we'll need the Mystery Gang to solve this one.