Check out the very first sketch of Mortal Kombat's iconic dragon emblem

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Here's the drawing that was digitized for use in the game

Megan Thee Stallion Mortal Kombat 11
(Image credit: Warner Bros. Entertainment)

Video game historians have reason to celebrate today, as the first-ever drawing of Mortal Kombat's iconic dragon symbol has been shared publicly for the first time.

Mortal Kombat co-creator John Tobias shared the image alongside some fascinating insights into its creation and the series itself. Tobias says he designed the symbol as a way to represent both Mortal Kombat and the in-game fictional tournament players take part in when they play.

As if it isn't cool enough seeing the very first sketch of Mortal Kombat's now famous dragon symbol, Tobias also shared some neat details about its conception. For example, he revealed that John Vogel, another one of the key developers behind the original Mortal Kombat, recorded a video of Tobias's drawing and used it to digitize the image into something that could be used in the game. The image above is a screenshot of that video recording.

Tobias also said that the reason the official Mortal Kombat icon is a dragon is because the title 'Dragon Attack' was being considered before the one we all know and love. 'Dragon Attack' is the name of a Queen song loved by Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon, so that's where that came from.

The actual design of the dragon was inspired by a golden statue that sat on the desk of Midway general designer Ken Fedesna, which Vogel took and turned into a model for the game.

Tobias noticed the statue in the game and was inspired to design an Asian-themed arcade cabinet with a version of the dragon on the sides. "I used the dragon from my cabinet side panel sketch to inform the look of the dragon icon as our symbol," Tobias said.

You'll definitely want to peruse the entire Twitter thread to hear the complete story from Tobias himself, which includes a hilarious tidbit involving a family member of his confusing his original dragon sketch for a drawing of a seahorse.

In an entirely separate nugget of video game history: check out this cut Super Mario 64 level that was found after months of searching.

Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick
Staff Writer

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.