Mortal Kombat 1's Secret Pink Floyd Fight Explained

As the most recent entry in the acclaimed Mortal Kombat series, Mortal Kombat 1 has been under a lot of scrutiny. While it has attracted a small pool of dedicated competitive players, aspects of the game have been hit-or-miss within the wider community. Unconfirmed rumors of Mortal Kombat 1’s third DLC season being canceled have just thrown more fuel on the fire. However, the January 21, 2025, Conan update added more than its advertised fighter, allowing Mortal Kombat 1 to finally tap into the good kind of scrutiny that past MK games have thrived on.

Since its arcade beginnings, Mortal Kombat has thrived on including secret, recolored boss characters for players to find. The method used to face MK 1992’s Reptile within The Pit is ingrained in many veteran fans, and the tradition remained for a long time. Most recently, Mortal Kombat 2011 included Klassic versions of the first few secret fighters, who were otherwise already playable, as hidden opponents. Things have changed with MK1’s Conan update, however, as there is now a brand-new palette swapped ninja in the game for players to find, just like there was in Mortal Kombat’s early years.

How Floyd Fits Into Mortal Kombat 1's Gameplay Loop

This mysterious pink-and-white ninja was dubbed Floyd in reference to the classic rock band Pink Floyd, playing off of fellow ninja Rain being named after Prince’s song “Purple Rain.” Floyd has a low chance to appear and drop a hint about his discovery, and fulfilling a hint prompts a guitar riff and a “Floyd” message at the end of a match. He immediately sent the Mortal Kombat community into an excited frenzy, which was exactly what Mortal Kombat 1 needed. NetherRealm Studios predicted the excitement Floyd would cause, and designed an Easter Egg hunt around Floyd that even datamining can't fully crack.

There are 37 challenges attached to Floyd with matching hints, and while players don't need to complete all of them, many of them haven't even been deciphered as of January 23. A legitimate Floyd fight was posted online early that day, but it came after hours of deliberate online Versus experiments, and many mysteries remain. What's known for sure is that Floyd’s challenges apply to MK1's Versus mode and the seasonal Towers of Time, although they can be completed offline or online and on any difficulty. The community is keeping track of everything discovered in a Google document.

Finding Floyd Is Only Half Of Mortal Kombat 1’s Newest Secret

Fortunately, Floyd himself is easy to understand. He shows up with Mortal Kombat 1’s flashiest intro, but players need to keep their wits about them, as losing to Floyd resets his challenges. Floyd is rooted in the history of Mortal Kombat’s color ninjas, utilizing a modernized Chameleon moveset cobbled together from Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Reptile, Ermac, Smoke, Rain, Noob Saibot, and Shang Tsung’s ninja-infused MK11 incarnation. Floyd has a light-themed flourish to his abilities, and instead of a Kameo assist, he can summon a rainbow barrier named after Pink Floyd’s hit “The Wall.” As is tradition, Floyd isn't playable and there are no signs of that changing, but future games could change that.

Why Players Will Want To Defeat Floyd

Beating Floyd may not unlock him, but it does come with some nice rewards. There are a couple of banners for online use and a few Floyd skins for the Kameo Scorpion and Sub-Zero. However, the big reward is actually the stage Floyd is fought on, The Field. While it fittingly resembles the fields that Street Fighter secret boss Akuma can be found in, it's actually the main backdrop for Mortal Kombat 1’s CG reveal trailer. It's a meta reward for a meta fighter, and even if he won't affect Mortal Kombat 1 outside his fight, Floyd is the exact sort of extra content the game needs right now.

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OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Avg: 84 /100 Critics Rec: 87%

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Released: September 19, 2023
ESRB: M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
Developer(s): NetherRealm Studios
Publisher(s): Warner Brothers Games
Engine: Unreal Engine 4
Multiplayer: Online Multiplayer
Cross-Platform Play: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S