Cassandra Carlton "Cassie" Cage is a former sergeant and commander of the Special Forces, Cassie is the daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade in the second timeline. She, alongside Takeda, Kung Jin, and Jacqui Briggs, is known collectively as the Kombat Kids. Sometime after the Netherrealm War, Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade got married and had a daughter, Cassie. However, Sonya's perceived prioritization of work over her own family led them to divorce, much to Cassie's sadness. Being the daughter of a high-earning Hollywood actor, Cassie was somewhat spoiled, although her attitude changed after she was kidnapped by the Black Dragon. This experience convinced her to join the Special Forces, where she would be trained by both of her parents in combat. Inheriting the charisma and cocky wit of her father and the stern, tough as nails attitude of her mother, Cassie quickly rose through the ranks to become team leader and, eventually, sergeant. She managed to defeat the fallen Elder God Shinnok single-handedly, even in his full corrupted form, and eventually attained the rank of commander. Initially, Cassie harbored deep insecurities, fearing that she might not be able to live up to her parents' legacy and expectations, especially her mother's. But over time, Cassie developed into a more confident leader with the aid of her friends. She is a stereotypical millennial, sporting many of the most iconic trends and technologies of her generation, including iPods, social media, and digital phones.

Kait was born in Fort Umson, Tyrus, in 20 A.E. to Gabriel and Reyna Diaz. Gabriel was formerly a sergeant in the COG Army and Engineering Corps. Reyna was a Stranded, a survivor of the Hammer of Dawn Strikes, and the daughter of geneticist Doctor Torres and Queen Myrrah of the Locust Horde. Reyna met Sgt. Diaz during the first year of the Locust War in his mission to assassinate the Locust scientist, Ukkon. Due to Sgt. Diaz learned about the Locust origins, he fled the COG with Reyna, and spent the remainder of the war as a Stranded and leader of their group. The two were married and had Kait in 20 A.E. At age ten, her father was diagnosed with Rustlung. Kait was horrified by what her father had become and was haunted by dreams of killing him to end his pain. Reyna comforted Kait that her thoughts were from a place of love and asked to be euthanized as well if she were ever put in a similar position. Before her father's death, Reyna revealed the existence of Kait's uncle and Gabriel's father, Sergeant Oscar Diaz. While the Outsiders usually went on routine raids of COG Settlements, the Outsider Movement became too heated as First Minister Mina Jinn threatened war against the Outsiders. Unknown to them at the time, First Minister Jinn's civilians and soldiers had been kidnapped, and Jinn believed the Outsiders, especially Reyna Diaz's villagers, of taking them. Reyna ordered the halt of Settlement raids, but eventually, Fort Umson ran out of power. In Bloom 42 A.E., on the 25th anniversary of Victory Day. Reyna ordered JD and Del to raid Settlement 5 while it was under construction, with the objective of stealing a Fabricator for Outsiders to replenish their power source. Kait volunteered to go with them, and Reyna agreed but sent Oscar with the three.

Jade is a loyal Edenian patriot and does not tolerate those who threaten her homeland. Like Kitana, Jade's origins were not from Outworld. She originated from the realm of Edenia, a realm conquered many years ago by the emperor, Shao Kahn. A longtime ally of the Edenian crown and a close friend to Princess Kitana, Shao Kahn had her trained to be a proficient and formidable assassin under his command. During the Earthrealm invasion by Shao Kahn's army, Kitana was sentenced to death after pleading guilty for treason and murdering Mileena during the events of the second tournament. She escaped Outworld and fled to Earthrealm. Enraged, Shao Kahn appointed Jade and Reptile to venture into Earthrealm and capture the princess. She decided to help Kitana and thwarted Reptile's assassination attempt. With his defeat, the path was cleared for the two women to join Raiden and his Earthrealm combatants in the battle against Shao Kahn and his forces. Of immediate importance, however, was Kitana's personal mission to reach and warn the resurrected Queen Sindel about their true past together. Jade's assistance made that possible. With Sindel's memories recovered, she turned against the emperor. Shortly afterward, Shao Kahn was defeated by Liu Kang, and Kitana went on to free Edenia from Outworld.

Arthur Morgan was born circa 1863 to Beatrice and Lyle Morgan in the northern United States. As a child, his mother died of unknown causes, while his father was a petty criminal and outlaw. In 1874, when Arthur was 11 years old, his father was arrested for larceny. Morgan later witnessed his death and, despite a strained relationship with him, still donned his hat and kept a picture of him. Around 1877, a 14-year-old Arthur was found as a "wild delinquent" and picked up off the streets by outlaws Dutch van der Linde and Hosea Matthews. Viewing the pair as surrogate father figures, Arthur came to share Dutch's vision of a life lived free from the constraints of civilization and the rule of law. The pair taught him how to read, write, hunt, fight, shoot, and ride, becoming their first protégé as well as one of the founding members of the Van der Linde gang. A little later, Arthur met Susan Grimshaw, who became romantically involved with Dutch and joined the gang, acting as a tough mother figure. In 1885, Arthur met a 12 year-old boy named John Marston who had been saved by Dutch from being lynched by a group of Illinois homesteaders. John was inducted into the gang and raised alongside Arthur with the pair growing as close as brothers. Dutch instilled the boys with his anarchist worldviews against a corrupt government and preached that revenge was a fool's game. Over the years, Arthur and John became regarded as Dutch's favorite 'sons'. After the botched ferry heist, Dutch and the gang are forced to flee Blackwater and attempt to cross the mountains west to evade law enforcement. Dutch sends Arthur scouting ahead for a place they can camp at and he discovers an abandoned mining town named Colter, returning shortly after to direct the gang to the place. After the thaw comes in, the gang leaves the mountains for a new location in The Heartlands, near the town of Valentine.

Panam Palmer was part of the Aldecaldos nomad tribe. Her best friend was captured by the Raffen Shiv, a hostile Nomad group, when they were a child, only to be saved by fellow-Aldecaldo Cassidy Righter - an incident that deeply affected Panam into her adulthood, to the point of never telling anyone what happened in order to forget about it. Cassidy would remain a close friend of Panam and become somewhat protective of her. Panam also befriended several other clan members, including Mitch Anderson and Driss "Scorpion" Meriana. Panam idolized Saul Bright, a fellow Aldecaldo who used to pull off impressive as well as funny stunts in his earlier years. At some time, Panam and Mitch were hauling cargo from San Francisco to Kansas for the owner of a syn-meat farm. The stench at the farm got Panam so sick that she puked on the owner's boots to which he simply replied "No need to bow, I'll just take a handshake." Another "long story with many twists and turns" involved the corpse of the Deputy Finance Director of Kaukaz riding in Panam's trunk. At some point, Panam's clan set up camp in the Badlands outside Night City. She didn't see eye to eye with the clan's leader, Saul Bright, who was trying to strike a deal with Biotechnica in his attempt to keep the clan alive with consistent work. Panam disapproved, believing the clan should remain independent from corporations. Together with Scorpion, Panam kept joking about getting Mitch on board and heading off to Oregon on their own. Panam's conflict with Saul came to a head, however, when, due to her rebellious attitude, she eventually left the clan and moved to Night City, even though her friend Mitch tried to talk her out of it at first. Working as a mercenary under the fixer Rogue, Panam was often paired with nomad Nash on a few gigs, though she was unaware he was Raffen Shiv. Despite moving away, Panam maintained communication with members of the Aldecados, including her close friends Mitch Anderson and Scorpion.

V was raised by the streets of Heywood, Night City. At the age of 13, a junkie tried to knife one of their chooms. V reacted and stabbed him first, becoming their first kill. V knew him from before, as the junkie had always been begging on the streets, and was fond of him. Though V initially left for Atlanta two years ago, they returned to Night City after realizing it was not going to work out. Whilst recovering from a fight in El Coyote Cojo, V agreed to help the bartender, Pepe Najarro, settle a debt with a fixer by the name of Kirk Sawyer. In exchange for paying the debt, Kirk sent V to steal a Rayfield Aerondight from a corpo agent. After receiving a lift from their old friend Padre, V proceeded with the job. As they managed to enter and start the car, V was stopped by Jackie Welles, who was also attempting to steal the vehicle. However, they were quickly surrounded by the NCPD, led by officer Henry Stints, and were arrested. Though ordered to be executed by the vehicle's owner - Kaoru Fujioka - they were instead knocked out and left bloodied in an alleyway of Heywood. After the ordeal, V and Jackie were properly introduced, the latter revealing that Kirk's threats were actually empty. When he invited them for a meal, V hesitantly accepted, leading to their friendship. V stayed with Jackie for six months, doing mercenary jobs together while improving their street cred. Eventually, V managed to save enough money to rent an apartment of their own in Megabuilding H10.

She was born and grew up in Maribor. Sometime during her childhood, she had a conduit moment and was noticed by sorcerers. Thus, she found her way to Aretuza. Here, she became a sorceress on her own, specializing in making of magical potions, mainly healing ones. This was rather amusing twist of fate as she herself was allergic to magical potions and could only tolerate non magical ones. During her studies, she befriended the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg, and by 1249, the two of them were already close friends and colleagues. After graduation, she became a very well known and respected sorceress, taking her assignment as a advisor to the throne of Temeria. In 1263, after the First Northern War with Nilfgaard started, and the kingdom of Cintra destroyed, sorcerers and sorceresses under the leadership of Vilgefortz of Roggeveen decided to stand on Sodden Hill supporting Northern troops with their magic. Here, they wanted to stop the invading forces. Triss was among those who volunteered. The battle was brutal and the mages stood against incredibly strong forces but in the end, they managed to defeat the invaders. The cost of victory was high, though, as 13 mages died. As a matter of fact, it was first believed that the number of dead was 14 - the last one being Triss. She was very seriously wounded, sustaining burns on her body, but also having all of her hair burnt off. With Yennefer, the only mage that would have still recognized her, blinded during the battle, she was counted amongst the dead.

Renee Hope “Wraith” Blasey was born on December 21, 2701 on Typhon, the planet infamous for housing the IMC’s Fold Weapon. She eventually relocated to Solace City, Solace and served in the ARES Division as a Senior Science Pilot. Working with her colleague, Amer Singh, on what was codenamed Project: Wraith, Blasey tested phase shift technology in order to prove the existence of other dimensions. In her original dimension, the IMC defeated the Frontier Militia and emerged victorious from the Frontier War. The two scientists were unable to find a willing human volunteer for their experiments, so Blasey volunteered herself, becoming designated as Subject 61137. The experiment went awry, resulting in Blasey losing her memory and falling into what was believed to be insanity, hearing voices tell her what to do. Rather than help his partner, Singh took advantage of the situation to continue their experiments on an unwilling and unaware Blasey. She describes her first memory after the incident as being gagged and bound to a gurney. Blasey had officially been taken to Solace for termination. One day in 2727, an interdimensional portal opened in Singh Labs and Blasey was visited by a warrior in white armor and a purple helmet, who sought vengeance against Singh. Revealing herself to be a version of Blasey from an alternate universe, she helped to free Blasey, giving her the technology required for phase shifting and interdimensional travel, as well as a kunai. Telling her to leave, the Voidwalker stayed behind to fight Singh and his contingent of IMC soldiers. Entering the portal, Blasey found that the voices she had been hearing were more alternate versions of herself, all communicating through a place between realities. Leaving this in-between space, she found herself in the Voidwalker’s dimension, where Singh Labs were decrepit and abandoned. Exiting to the surface and taking a cloth as a scarf.

David Mason was born in 1979 to CIA Agent Alex Mason and his unidentified wife. Raised in his father's hometown of Fairbanks, Alaska, David's relationship with his father soured after the death of his mother. Due to his father's past experiences, harsh upbringing, and his commitment to serve the U.S., David held a deep resentment towards his dad but did not want to lose him, which was why he made his dad promise to not go on any more missions for the military. In spite of their shaky relationship, David still had some positive memories of his father, such as fishing with him or being taught how to handle his first gun. In 1996, David was commissioned as a Naval officer and made it into the Navy's elite U.S. Navy SEALs in 2000. After a few years serving with the SEALs, David was recruited into the ultra-elite SEAL Team Six by the mid-2000s, operating at the highest levels of Special Operations, and proving himself in counterterrorism missions across the Middle East. It was during his time in the Navy that David met Mike Harper, another elite Navy operative, and the two became close friends. Having risen to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, by the 2020s David had attained the rank of Commander within Joint Special Operations Command - an elite counterterrorism unit specializing in high-risk threats. David, going by his callsign "Section", would eventually form a task force with his long-time colleague and friend Mike Harper, as well as operatives Javier Salazar, Crosby, and King.

Frank Woods was born on March 20th, 1930, in Coatesville, and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He ran away from his home as a young child, forced to rely on street smarts and follow his instincts. Woods quickly learned to be fully independent. He served in the United States Marine Corps, during which he had much combat experience fighting in the Korean War. This gained him a reputation that led the CIA to recruit him for their Special Activities Division. Woods is seen in a Cuban bar with Mason and Bowman talking to Carlos in "Operation 40" where they make plans for Carlos' militia to assist in the takedown of Fidel Castro. Woods talks to Carlos about the location of Castro. Suddenly, the police arrive, and when a Tropas Officer questions Mason, Woods stabs his hand to the table, smashes a bottle across his face, and then executes him. The squad flees to the streets, where the police are waiting for them. The squad fights their way through a police-infested street and in an alleyway, Carlos provided a car where they flee for Castro's compound. While Carlos and the rebels attempt to distract Castro's bodyguards in the airfield, Woods leads the raid into the compound. At some point, Bowman splits from the group and continues the search for Castro along the rooftops. Woods and Mason fight their way to Castro's bedroom, where Mason executes Castro with an ASP and either Woods or Mason kill his mistress. Regrouping with Bowman, Woods leads an escape to Carlos's C-130, where Mason jumps off and sacrifices himself for the escape of his squad. Later leading to his capture by Nikita Dragovich and Lev Kravchenko, it is revealed here that the Castro they assassinated was a double, and the real Fidel Castro then turns Mason over to the Soviets, leading to Mason's two year imprisonment and then their prolonged escape from Vorkuta.

Alex Mason was born on June 3rd, 1933, in Fairbanks, Alaska. The geographical proximity of his home state to Communist Russia brought the threat of the Cold War much closer to his doorstep than most Americans. This was a key contributor to his fervent anti-Communist ideals and eventually led to him joining the Marines. He spent his youth by hunting the elk and grizzlies in the Alaskan wilderness with his father, a WWII veteran and recipient of the Purple Heart for wounds received during action at the Makin Atoll. As such, he is adept in cold weather environments and is an excellent sniper. In 1953, he became the youngest Wimbledon Cup winner in the history of the marksmanship competition at just 20 years of age. In the early 1950s, Mason served as an infantryman and later Force Recon Marine in South Korea. In 1958, he was recruited to SAD/SOG after an exemplary term of service with the Marines. Having served with distinction since joining the Agency, Mason has a long-standing friendship with many of his fellow Agency colleagues and shows a particular kinship with an operative named Frank Woods. Always itching for action, Mason's tendency towards impulsiveness is the one trait that may not have been completely "trained out of him." However, Woods was well aware about this and knows exactly when and how to rein him in. In 1961, Mason was a member of a CIA assassination squad known as Operation 40. Mason and fellow Operation 40 members Joseph Bowman and Woods infiltrated Cuba prior to the Bay of Pigs Invasion to carry Operation Zapata out which was the assassination of Fidel Castro. Using the distraction that was caused by the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Mason, Bowman and Woods raided a compound where Castro was reportedly living. Mason was transported to a Soviet labor camp at Vorkuta, Russia. Dragovich then had Friedrich Steiner and Lev Kravchenko brainwash Mason. Mason was implanted with the knowledge to interpret the outgoing broadcasts from Dragovich's numbers station.

Sometime after the Netherrealm War, Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade got married and had a daughter, Cassie. However, Sonya's perceived prioritization of work over her own family led them to divorce, much to Cassie's sadness. Being the daughter of a high-earning Hollywood actor, Cassie was somewhat spoiled, although her attitude changed after she was kidnapped by the Black Dragon. This experience convinced her to join the Special Forces, where she would be trained by both of her parents in kombat. Inheriting the charisma and cocky wit of her father and the stern, tough as nails attitude of her mother, Cassie quickly rose through the ranks to become team leader and, eventually, sergeant She managed to defeat the fallen Elder God Shinnok single-handedly, even in his full corrupted form. Initially, Cassie harbored deep insecurities, fearing that she might not be able to live up to her parents' legacy and expectations, especially her mother's. But over time, Cassie developed into a more confident leader with the aid of her friends. Despite her brash demeanor, she has a deep sense of morality, refusing to kill opponents except when absolutely necessary. She also shows genuine respect for her elders and masters, as seen while approaching Sub-Zero. She is childhood friends with Jacqui Briggs, who is also part of the team she leads along with Kung Jin and Takeda Takahashi.

As a child, Sarah lost several close members of her family to incidents in which the IMC displaced Frontier citizens by force. As a result, she vowed to take revenge on the IMC at every possible opportunity, refusing to rest until they have been removed from the Frontier. For most of her career, she served in Covert Operations for the Militia, before moving into the command ranks of the Militia's Marauder Corps. Her long list of successful attacks on IMC installations landed her on the IMC's High Value Target List, where she remains listed as one of the top 50 most dangerous Militia operatives still at large. Sarah is at least the 6th generation of her family to inhabit the Frontier. It is likely that she is not the first in her family to go up against the IMC. Sarah served as an intelligence and logistics officer and field commander for the Militia, working in tandem with Bish to process intelligence and direct ground forces during battles with the IMC. There was one notable instance where she took to the field herself: in the mission The Three Towers, while Militia forces engaged the IMC defenders to keep them busy, Sarah led a squad of covert operatives to silently assault and sabotage the Repulsor Towers protecting the IMC base from the dangerous local fauna. After the Battle of Demeter, Sarah rose to prominence and became a respected commander of the Frontier Militia as a whole. With the Militia's newly-formalized military structure, she was installed as a commander of the newly-created special forces branch, the Special Recon Squadron, which the M-COR now answers to as one of the SRS's sub-sections.

Kairi "Valkyrie" Imahara, born in 2704 on Angelia, was the daughter of Viper, a notorious mercenary who worked for the Apex Predators. She held great respect and admiration for her father, and wished to follow in his footsteps as a Pilot. Viper would often humor her by taking her for joyrides in his modified Northstar. However, he frowned upon his daughter becoming a Pilot, telling her that these Titans were “death traps." As a result of her father’s profession, Imahara would often see Kuben Blisk in her home. In 2715, Imahara hijacked her father’s Northstar, flying it solo around and above her family’s home. Despite her father’s commands for her to land, she continued to fly, eventually reaching an altitude where an aircraft battle was taking place. Caught in the crossfire, the Titan engaged its autopilot, firing a salvo of missiles at its nearest target. In return, an aircraft fired and struck the Northstar, causing it to fall uncontrollably to Angelia’s surface. Viper followed in his own aircraft and took control of the Titan, ejecting his daughter and crash landing in a nearby field. Imahara and Viper both escaped relatively unharmed. Soon after this incident, Viper left to escort the Ark during the Battle of Typhon, where he was killed by Jack Cooper and his Vanguard-class Titan BT-7274. Not knowing who killed him, Imahara blamed Blisk for her father’s death. After retrieving Viper’s body, he was cremated. Some of his ashes were left at the family’s home on Angelia, near the barn where his Northstar was stored, while some were kept in their new residence in Gaea. The rest were scattered on a sudden gust of wind by Imahara’s mother so that he would always have “a sky-high view."

Monarch’s design was based on the salvaged, badly burnt up remains of two Vanguard-class Titans recovered by the IMC from the Battle of Typhon. While the Vanguard-class was designed by the Militia for armed recon deep behind enemy lines, the IMC’s mandate for Monarch focused on flexibility through survival and support options, to serve many operational roles. Although Vinson Dynamics was unable to reverse-engineer and replicate key aspects of the original Vanguard design, they brought their own R&D innovations when creating Monarch. One of these innovations is her Upgrade Core, which allows her to improve her combat abilities during a battle, based on options set by her Pilot. Monarch also has an impressive ability to draw power from enemy Titans to recharge her own shields, or the shields of her friendly Titans. Despite the IMC and Vinson Dynamics’ efforts to maintain secrecy, several shipments of early Monarch production variants invariably leaked onto the black market, allowing mercenary Pilots and independent manufacturers across the Frontier to discover her true potential.

Legion is a Titan class that is based on the Ogre chassis design, focusing on inexorable advances, dealing damage and controlling combat zones. He wields the Predator Cannon, which is equipped with short and long range ammo variations. His ordnance is known as Power Shot. While in short range mode, he fires a shotgun-like spray, which is great for taking out nearby pilots. While in long range mode, the shot is similar to the Plasma Railgun's projectile. The minigun is also equipped with a protective Gun Shield capable of absorbing a fair amount of damage.

Tone is a Titan class that is based on the Atlas chassis, with a focus on target-locking weapons and rockets. Her 40mm Tracker Cannon still fires semi-automatic explosive shots, but has been upgraded to acquire partial locks on hostile Titans. Her abilities include Tracker Rockets, which fires rockets at fully locked enemies, Sonar Lock, which reveals enemies in an area and establishes partial lock, and Particle Wall, which places a transparent wall in front of Tone that she can shoot through. Her core ability, Salvo Core, fires a heavy barrage of guided rockets, and will gradually orient toward any target Tone looks at. Targets with a partial lock cannot be fired upon with the guided rockets - a full, 3-ring-segment lock must be achieved for offhand weapons to fire.

Ronin is a Titan class that is based on the Stryder chassis design. Ronin is a versatile Titan that can act as a scout, damage/offensive, or a tank/defender. He can do a lot of damage in short bursts, but his fragility makes it unwise to take sustained fights without cover. His speed, combined with Arc Wave's ability to slow, gives him the tools to keep enemies in his shotgun range or deter an enemy push. Ronin's primary weapon is the Leadwall. Ronin's melee attack is his massive Broadsword and has both a longer range and a larger hitbox. However, it has a slightly longer wind-up animation and cooldown compared to other titans.

Northstar is a Titan class that is based on the Stryder chassis design. Northstar is built on high mobility and precision attacks with her railgun and cluster missiles, and can perform vertical takeoffs and landings to access unorthodox lines of sight. The Northstar chassis, by default, is only capable of a short VTOL-style hover, which she can use to gain an elevated position or rain missiles down on the enemy. Extremely expensive and time-consuming modifications can be equipped to allow flight more akin to that of a more standard aircraft - however, these upgrades are prohibitively expensive to obtain and are available for a very small amount of Pilots such as Viper. A more standard modification for the majority of Pilots is the Viper Thrusters, which allow Northstar increased movement speed while airborne.

Scorch is a Titan class based on the Ogre chassis. Scorch's loadout is entirely centred around fire. Blunt and direct, Scorch can chain its abilities to force enemies out of important objectives or trap them to deal maximum damage. Scorch achieves this by primarily using its incendiary traps, and the T-203 Thermite Launcher; a single-shot, break-action grenade launcher designed as a lighter and as added damage.

Ion is a Titan class that is based on the Atlas chassis design. Laser-focused, Ion is all about power. With a central energy system that fuels all of its offensive and defensive abilities, the Ion is an effective, tactical force on The Frontier. Ion's primary weapon is a Splitter Rifle. The Ion has an energy bar that recharges slowly, and almost all of her attacks require using this bar (with the exception of un-split Splitter rifle and, if you have Zero-Point Tripwire, then deploying tripwire). Ion has relatively low damage, but its ability to take the place of almost any role on the battlefield makes this a good titan for beginners (hence the reason why it is first on the titan list, and why it is chosen for you at first.