With the recent release of Mortal Kombat 11, iconic Black character
Jackson “Jax” Briggs’ inadvertently set off a discussion about slavery on social media.
Like previous games, 11 allows you to get different endings after beating every fighter, depending on the character you play when you’re in Arcade Mode (commonly known as the Klassic Tower in the series), according to
OkayPlayer.
For Briggs’ ending, he uses his powers to undo the slave trade, while also keeping his wife and daughter in his life.
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“All I wanted was to fix my life. Now I have the power to fix history,” Briggs says as he faces an hourglass. “I’ve been lucky, my family and I have lived the American Dream. But most people who look like me haven’t had that chance. I owe it to them to put things right.”
A Reddit thread titled “opinion” said, “I think Jax’s ending in mortal kombat 11 makes him racist.” A user named Valdish got more than 311 comments, and many agreed with Valdish.
Others on social media took the argument to Twitter, defending Briggs’ ending, poking fun at the hypocrisy of his critics, and reminding them that it’s only a game.
