During a recent conference call with PlayStation Universe, several NetherRealm developers reiterated that Kratos is only a special guest in Mortal Kombat, not a newly established character in the series’ canon.
"Kratos is actually not involved in any of the story elements of Mortal Kombat, he definitely has his own independent position," said NetherRealm Producer Hector Sanchez. "He’s not in story mode, so he doesn’t actually have any influence on the Mortal Kombat universe canon."
"As far as [Kratos returning in future Mortal Kombat games], we’re not really looking at anything past this game for any of the characters," continued Sanchez. "We wanted to make sure all our energies were focused on making sure this version of Mortal Kombat was as solid and as good as possible."
Though Kratos isn’t part of the Mortal Kombat narrative, he does have his own "complete violent ladder sequence," according to MK Lead Graphics Engineer John Greenberg.
"So if you play with him in the single-player ladder stuff, he does make sense in that context," said Greenberg. "But yeah, he’s not in the game canon at all."
"It was great working with the guys over at Sony Santa Monica," added MK Senior Producer Hans Lo, "getting him to match with our universe and everything."
Kratos and the rest of the Mortal Kombat crew smash into store shelves on April 19, 2011 in North America and April 21, 2011 in Europe.