The Kurious Kase of Kabal

The Man of the Sand is a man of mystery. Mostly because he gets retconned a lot. I've been thinking about what I want for Mortal Kombat 12, and I think if Kabal was to be in it. I would want the original version of Kabal. Now, there are technically two "original" Kabals, but the one I am talking about is the one that uses the respirator and mask because of an extermination squad working for Shao Khan almost killed him. Hero Kabal. Hero is a strong word. Let's go with "less bad" Kabal.
I think Kop-bal is cool... for a cop....In the NYPD. But I really, really don't think the original version of Stryker will ever come back. I've already talked about why and I am tired of talking about it, and y'all are tired of reading about it. I want them as a duo or no Styker at all.

So anyway, I was looking at pictures of Kabal for cosplay inspiration and I noticed that as usual, I was right. Remember when I said it was weird that Kabal has no friends, significant other, or any life outside of being a cop? Well, someone on Reddit found a picture of Kabal with a wedding ring. I don't see a wedding ring in the picture they posted, but I don't see anyone calling them out for lying so maybe I'm just extra bad sighted today.  (post edit: I rewatched Styker's chapter in 2011, Kabal does have a ring on. You can see it after Kintaro is defeated. I'm like, kind of dumb and it doesn't look like it's on the correct hand to me, but at the same time, Kabal.....idk. I don't get the #vibe he's the type of dude that wears rings for fun. My husband doesn't wear his wedding ring, which is annoying. I think jewellery on men is hot lol.  But it's also proof I don't really know what I'm talking about in terms of men wearing wedding rings. But Kabal did wear a ring. Does that mean that Kano or Shang Tsung took it off? Rude. Where is the ring now?)
 So, I still stand by what I said in my tower endings post. Our timeline's Kabal would have gone back in time to be with his WIFE.
A lot of people like to argue about how lore in Mortal Kombat doesn't matter anymore. I don't think that's true. I think Mortal Kombat 11 made lore extra important, and something that needs to be paid attention to.

Kronika says she tried to turn back time many, many times. I think we've been seeing Kronika try to "fix" time over and over again. That's where the ladder endings come from! I also think if a character has a slightly different backstory, it's because Kronika pulled them from a different timeline and brought them to "our" timeline offscreen at some point. Scorpion might not be from the same time as most of them either. It explains the lack of character development in his tower ending. He's not at the point of listening to reason and healing.Or why we didn't get a proper Noob/Scorpion showdown. It's not on sight for that particular version of Scorpion.
 I think Kabal was one of those people. We never saw Kabal come back with the others. But Kabal said that Kronika told him she would not let him become a revenant. Which actually makes you wonder if my main man is destined to be evil, since he died after deciding to be a good person. I stan. This is why he needed his own chapter. What's going on with Kabal is a lot more interesting than Raiden and Liu Kang. I know I'm saying something super controversial and brave. But, I really liked MKX because it was a break from Liu Kang. New characters, and characters that have got less attention in the past got to shine and I thought that was neat and refreshing. Let's give Kabal another chapter! It's been like eight years.

I think we have never seen the timeline that Kabal came from. The Kabal that bests Kronika goes off and marries Sareena, when alive, preburned, non revenant, and Black Dragon thug Kabal never even had the opportunity to meet her. I've done the research. Ain't no freakin' way. Also, why does pre-burned Kabal have super speed? The Kabal that fought Sonya (and lost) is not a Kabal any of us have experienced before. For some reason, Kabal can't tell himself from Mavado. I'm mad about it. Mavado was not cute.
 I've actually done sooo much research on this that I have to retract what I said about Sareena in a previous post.  If her and Noob were ever a legit thing, he totally ghosted (lol) her when she changed her affiliation to good. I've been looking at the Noob Saibot stuff you can unlock and I think Noob has moved on. And, it's worth nothing that Bi Han/Noob died before Mileena was created in "our" timeline. hmmmm
Kabal and Sareena literally makes no sense unless they are both from a timeline where there was a situation where they would have met. Are there any other characters that lead me to believe they are not from "our' timeline? Yes, and you're just going to have to stay tuned to find out who.

I know y'all have noticed something different about me lately. And, I don't want anyone to think I've been pulled from a different timeline. Because I have been doing something very off brand lately. I have not really talked about Bill Skarsgard or even IT Chapter Two. I didn't think the movie was bad or anything. I actually cried when I watched it. However, I think I'm kind of over the tall glass of water that is Bill. Certain things have rubbed me the wrong way lately, and I'm not going to go into specifics here, because I don't want to be a jerk for no reason. So, gals and pals, we've decided to ascend. Video game men are our fake boyfriends now.
Something I've noticed is that there was a much bigger demand on who the face models for the women of MK11 than the men. There's a running (lol) joke that Kabal's face model is Vinnie Jones. There are two HUGE problems with that.

The first problem being that if they got Vinnie Jones, who is an actual working actor and sports person, to be a face model, Netherrealm Studios would have said something. Because there's a chance it might drive up sales! If an actor I liked was the face of  a video game, I would buy it. Not to call myself out, but Detroit: Become Human has been sitting in my library for months, unplayed. Mortal Kombat has taken over my life.
The second problem is, Kabal is OBVIOUSLY a person of color and I have sufficient evidence to back it up. Even if I didn't have this plethora of #facts Kabal just does not look like the other white people in the game. None of them are necessarily ugly, just different looking. I actually find all of the men quite attractive, but I think that Kabal is the hottest. Like a lot of the men are "pretty" and I'm not really into that. But I would not say that they are ugly. It takes A LOT for me to actually find a person ugly though. Ugly is more of a personality trait to me.  I've spent far too long trying to convince the people around me that Steve Bushemi could like, get it. So my opinion on hotness doesn't mean anything.
I kind of think MK11 Kabal didn't have a face scan model and he's just something someone made up. Or maybe whoever did the face scan does not have social media. I think that Erron Black has his voice actor's eyes, so maybe Kabal is a mix of his voice actor and some made up stuff. I don't think Jonathan Cahill looks like Kabal, like at all.I still think he is pretty cute!

Or maybe, because y'all insist he looks like an old British man, the face model is not coming forward. And, as annoyed about it as I am, I don't blame him. The internet is a cruel and lawless land. I think he is #boyfriendmaterial, whoever he is. But some people are straight up mean and I can totally get why someone would not want to put themselves out there like that. Like, the woman that face modeled Frost is so unique and beautiful, but people still clown her for her looks. When she is HOT!
Facially, Kabal looks more like he could be Kotal Khan's Kousin than anything. I really feel like he is not white. Another thing to think about is that Kabal is unable to tell himself apart from Mavado.

So, I take that as Kabal and Mavado looking alike. Even though it's not shown in the MK11 design, Kabal is apperently blind in one eye. I'm not sure if this is a kanon fact, but I've heard and read people saying this multiple times. It's also very believable. 
I don't and I doubt Kabal thinks all POC look the same. Mavado kind of sounds like the Spanish word for "evil man". I don't take that THAT seriously because Bo Rai Cho is obviously Asian even though his name also sounds like Spanish for drunk. However, Mavado was originally designed to look like a Matador. So, I consider him Spanish (as in from Spain) or Mexican. Something pretty neat and simultaneously evil is that rodeo clowns are just white washed bullfighter. You know what? I think I'm going to rename my Kustom Erron Black to Rodeo Clown I totally forgot the rodeo even existed even though its part of Nevada culture.  Even though it's probably not very cool, I am so proud to be from Nevada. I talked about why in my post regarding the MK11 Tower endings. Wild. But anyway, I love the aesthetic, but I do not support the rodeo or bullfighting.


Also, his interactions with Johnny Cage tend to point toward him being Mexican. Johnny calls Kabal Karlos and Speedy (as in Gonzales, because it's already been established that Kabal's DC counterpart is The Flash). Let me tell you guys, there is a very large group of people that are from a part of my country that "look" Mexican...because they are Mexican. I started college in New Mexico, and saw a lot of men that looked like Kabal. Some of my friends even kind of look like him. But like...less hot. The reason these not Mexican looking men exist because of kind of a big thing that happened in our country in 1848. If you don't see where I'm goin' with this...Kabal is Native Mexican-American. Technically, Mexicans are Native Americans. But I would feel more comfortable if a Mexican/Native American person explained this instead of me! Please consult Dr. Google!
So, when Kabal was first being created, they wanted to call him Sandman. Why? No idea,  I was unable to locate an actual reason. However, uhhhh. I'm not not a lot of people have caught wind of this as I obviously like to keep it to myself, but I am quite the Star Wars fan.

Actually one of the reasons I like Kabal so much is that his mask situation reminds me of Tusken Raiders. I did find out the similarities were intentional. Tatooine, where the raiders are "from" is a hot desert planet. Someone once said, they didn't like sand, but I don't like to think about it.
They filmed Tatooine in Tunisia. Kabal is clearly American. He has a general "American" accent. The one time he has had any other kind of way of speaking is in the Shaolin Monks game, where he was randomly doing an Elvis impersonation. So, I believe he is "from" somewhere that has a desert climate. I've spent most of my life in deserts, and most of that time has been spent in a place where Elvis is kind of a big deal. You know what's also kind of a big deal? Organized crime, like the Black Dragon.
I've peeped the stupid man bun hairstyle on far too many people over here. Kabal is on his Vegas f*ckboy shit.
Kabal has mentioned growing up poor to people in arcade mode. But, the one I feel is most significant is with Nightwolf, where he mentioned that Kano offered him a similar deal and he was smart enough to take it. I don't think selling out the police force was the only time he did something like that. I think he did something prior to make him become a "Nomad. After doing such a despicable thing to his people, Kabal was obviously not welcome within his tribe. And rightly so, as that would be what the kids call a "dick move. And that's why Kabal is known as a Nomad now. There's no cool angst filled reason, he's just a jerk and his family has ostercized him for his asshattery.

Maybe only locals know this, but we do have a sovereign nation very close by! It's been federally recognized since the 1970s!  The Paiute's ancestors are referred to as "desert people" on their site.  The only thing that kind of puts a crack in my theory is that the Paiute people are not poor. I kind of feel like that was a *Kabal* thing and not a *collective* thing. A lot of people headcanon him as coming from a large family, and maybe that's why he felt like he was poor. I generally don't like reading Kabal's headcanons because most of them are far too sexual. That actually makes me uncomfortable.That's also why I find most fan fiction to be not particularly enjoyable. Especially now that I know he had a whole wife before getting burned. There is one where there like, he wears glasses. I like that one as it is #relatable.

Something else that I think is kind of cool about Kabal is that he very obviously believes in Mothman. I noticed some of his gear references Mothman! Which makes a lot of sense. Even if you ignore all the evidence that the Mothman is very real....You have to think about it from Kabal's point of view. He knows 10,000+ year old women, Ninja robots, a soul stealing sorcerer,  he was almost killed by something that was kind of a dragon, kind of a human, and kind of a tiger. Also, I mean....D'vorah exists. For all we know, Mothman is a Kytinn. Something I recently learned and wish I could unlearn is that some people in the 1960s thought Mothman was a Native American curse. I really hate that and wish y'all would leave Mothman alone!

So, I think I've solved a lot of mysteries surrounding Kabal. I have one more post like this, do you think you can guess who it's on? Are you enjoying Kombat Week? Oh, one more thing, I don't know why more people aren't maining Kabal. I know he got ~nerfed~ but I think he is still a very good character.  He is very easy to learn, he's cute, and you get to do this: