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Mortal Kombat-Inspired Skin Pulled From Smite Without Explanation

Hi-Rez removes the Scorpion-looking skin but won't say why.

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Part of the appeal of Smite is its wide variety of new skins, more of which are added with each subsequent patch. Many of these are meant to simply make you smile--the one where you wield a giant corn dog comes to mind--while some take inspiration from other media--we've written before about those based on everything from Donkey Kong to Bob Ross to a Pokemon trainer. A skin introduced in June has now been removed from the game without explanation, leading some to wonder if a legal dispute is to blame.

Among the new skins in June's 4.10 update was Eliminator for Ravana. While the name is less referential than some (the Pokemon trainer one was called Monster Trainer), its inspiration isn't terribly hard to identify: it's modeled after Mortal Kombat's Scorpion. From the yellow vest to the mask and hood, there's no denying the strong resemblance.

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These references even extend to some of Ravana's voicelines with the skin equipped. His Ultimate, for instance, causes him to shout Scorpion's catchphrase, "Get over here!" While Hi-Rez has pulled its official spotlight trailer for the skin, other versions remain on YouTube, and you can see that particular voiceline in the embed below. Gamepedia's Smite wiki also has many of his other voicelines, and while the majority are innocuous, some don't shy away from making the connection. One emote sees him yell, "Brutality!" while another says, "No one beats me at combat."

Following the skin's introduction in June, Hi-Rez announced recently that it would pull the skin from the game and refund Gems used to purchase it. This was an unusual move; while a number of Smite's skins are no longer obtainable, they're typically not removed from the game altogether. Despite suggestions otherwise from fans, the development of a new skin--particularly one with custom voicelines like this--is no trivial matter.

This led to speculation that legal threats from Mortal Kombat publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment could have preceded the skin's removal. When asked about this by GameSpot, Hi-Rez would not address the possibility, instead opting to repeat its original statement: "We have removed Eliminator Ravana in 4.14 and will be issuing 400 Gems as a refund for all who have purchased the skin."

That leaves us with no real sense for why you can no longer dress up Ravana like Scorpion. But if the future sees fewer skins added that directly reference other IPs, you might be able to guess why.

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