Crystalline confirmed to be Kameo Tremor’s third Variation in Mortal Kombat 1

Among the DLC Kameo characters that have been announced thus far for Mortal Kombat 1, Tremor is slated to be the first to release. Though Kombat Pack owners will gain early access to DLC guest character Omni-Man on November 9, it would appear that everyone will have to wait until November 20 to gain access to Tremor as a Kameo, Kombat Pack or otherwise.

To tide us over until November 20, it would seem that NetherRealm Studios has been teasing details about Tremor indicating how he stands out from the rest of the Kameos. Ed Boon himself teased how Tremor can access the Aftershock and Metallic Variations from Mortal Kombat X, but we now also know that the Crystalline Variation will also be a possible selection for fans.

Over on the official Mortal Kombat 1 Twitter account, we were told the classifications for Kameo Tremor’s Aftershock, Metallic, and Crystalline Variations.

The Aftershock Variation is said to be useful for “offense.” Meanwhile, Metallic is intended for “ranged” applications. Finally, Crystalline is said to be Tremor’s “support” form.

However, it’s still currently unknown how Tremor’s unique Variation system will work in Mortal Kombat 1 with him as a Kameo. In Mortal Kombat X, players chose their Variations at the character select screen. Following this, they were unable to change their Variation mid match.

The Aftershock Variation gave Tremor access to the Earth Shake and Air Earth Shake specials. The grounded version of the special caused a low-hitting hitbox to occur on the ground after a countdown. Air Earth Shake made it so that Tremor could perform a low hitting attack even while airborne.

Tremor’s Metallic Variation gave the character access to two different stances — Gold Skin and Lava Skin. While his Gold Skin stance gave Tremor access to projectiles that could be thrown at different angles, Lava Skin gave him access to specials that caused additional hit stun and unique hit reactions. Needless to say, Gold Skin and Lava Skin were often referred to as “Variations within Variations” for Tremor.

Finally, Tremor’s Crystalline Variation had the ability to temporarily apply armor to himself as well as place a unique interactable that could be thrown or escaped with. It’s worth noting that this temporary interactable could be used by either Tremor or the opponent.

Crystalline was often believed to be Tremor’s best Variation in Mortal Kombat X. Thanks to his ability to apply armor to himself, it was quite difficult to poke against his offense in hopes of taking a turn back, resulting in non-stop strings from Tremor against a blocking opponent.

Evidently, some fans were apparently dreading the possibility of Tremor’s Crystalline Variation returning in Mortal Kombat 1. For better or worse, it’s now been confirmed.

Based on what it does in Mortal Kombat X, it’s possible that it may apply a temporary hit of armor to the player’s point character when Crystalline Tremor is called. Additionally, Tremor may be able to place an interactable that can be interacted with using the Kameo button, even though interactables currently don’t exist in Mortal Kombat 1.

Regardless, Tremor’s release on November 20 will mark an interesting point for Mortal Kombat 1’s meta as this reveals that he’s effectively three Kameos in one.

An earth-shattering assist. Tremor makes his #MK1 Kameo debut as part of the Kombat Pack and for standalone purchase on November 20. pic.twitter.com/7adCtDZC9M

— Mortal Kombat 1 (@MortalKombat) November 3, 2023