#1171

Gameplay of the unplayable character/NPC Jax in Midway/Netherrealm’s Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks.

Jax’s moves:
• Square: Ground Pound [Infinite!]
• Triangle: Projectile
• Circle: Grab Attack
• R1+Square: [Same as Square]
• R1+Triangle: [Same as Triangle]
• R1+Circle: [Same as Circle]
• Square+Triangle: [None]
• Triangle+Circle: [None]
• Circle+Square: [None]

Jax is probably the best known NPC of Shaolin Monks. He helps you out in a couple of scenarios, using his three best known specials (his ground punch, projectile, and grab-and-punch throw) to aid you. As you’d probably expect from an assist character who doesn’t even appear as a boss, that literally is all he has; just those three moves. And yet, weirdly, Jax is surprisingly good. The main reason for this is his ground pound attack, as it not only deals a pretty great amount of damage, but it’s yet another infinite, and so long as you get can get the timing right you can just knock an enemy back into a corner and then use it ad nauseum until the opponent is dead. Add to this the fact that it’s an AOE move, acting also as a crowd-control attack in the process, and Jax ends up surprisingly broken simply by virtue of this one move. His projectile attack is quite fast too, with such little recovery that he can even combo opponents with it, and his grab, although a little finicky to land, grants him invulnerable when it lands and deals a decent enough amount of damage.

This leads to Jax, hilariously, probably being more viable than many of the bosses, simply because his moves have such broken properties. Maybe it’s a good thing he wasn’t a boss! Given the fact that he’s overpowered despite only having a number of attacks, and isn’t really meant to be playable in any form, I’d say he’s this game’s Wild Card. The legend lives on after all.

I’m relatively tempted to try a playthrough as Jax; I swear it’s probably doable, too. One to test out in the future, certainly, as I have this sneaking suspicion that it’s possible.

On the whole, Jax is weirdly good. The same can’t be said for the other NPCs, however. Up next, it’s Jax’s partner in crime-stopping, Sonya.