he Blood & Thunder story arc depicts the early Mortal Kombat series in greater detail, yet it also uses the "what if" theory to a great extent. The storyline, in addition to following the structure of the video game, also creates a storyline of its own. Blood & Thunder focuses on one primary source of power, which is a mythical book known as the Tao Te Zhan which, when opened, can unleash greater power that anyone can imagine. Originally, there were many, but over the years in which the powers of each book were unlocked and abused, the Elder Gods destroyed each separate book. They did, however place all its previous powers into the one book and devised a powerful spell in which was to keep the book permanently closed and placed in somewhere in the mountains, never to be found again. Therefore, there is only one undisputed and ultimate Tao Te Zhan book that remains in existence today. However, the catch with the Tao Te Zhan is that it requires a great power to break the spell keeping it closed and the answers to seven riddles in which unlock the great power. Each solved riddle advances to the next page and they have been answered by various warriors, most specifically Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Liu Kang, Johnny Cage and Sonya. Sub Zero answered two riddles (the rest only have answered one) and at some stage of their adventures have they tried to unlock the book's power. The books' last riddle was solved by Goro; Raiden and Shang Tsung however, join forces to strip Goro off his newfound power.
