Up Your Costume: Mortal Kombat-Inspired Ninja Hoods

If you're a fan of the Mortal Kombat videogame series, then today is a jubulous (a word I just made up) day! 

For TODAY marks the day that the simply titled "Mortal Kombat" is released for PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles.  Some would call it a "reboot" but I'm going to call it a "return to form."  Less silly Animalities, multiple rib cages and Friendships and more fighting, fisticuffs and Fatalities.

I have MY copy and will be fighting my way through the minions of Shao Kahn as Scorpion... my favorite character over these 19 years of playing this franchise.

Ok, exposition out of the way, what's this got to do with Halloween, you ask?

Well I dressed up as Scorpion (the yellow and black clad ninja... reference pick to the left) one Halloween a few years ago. 
Amazingly I do NOT have any pictures. 
None.  Not one. 
300 people.  Probably half of them had cameras... including me. 
Not... one... picture.  -sigh-
I'll describe it to you because it was pretty impressive.  I had purchased an out-of-the-bag cloth ninja costume a few years earlier in a Halloween store "everything must go because it's November 2nd"-sale.  Why?  Because I frequent these sales for staple items:  cobwebs, extra tombstones, bottles of blood, foam pumpkins, what have you.
The ninja costume was all cloth, multiple pieces.  Not some vinyl job with the word "NINJA" across the front or anything.  Just a generic ninja.  And it was marked down 70%.  And, frankly, you never know when you might need a ninja costume.
So I bought it.

It sat in storage for a number of years until this particular year when I decided that I was going to become Scorpion from Mortal Kombat for our annual Halloween costume party.  As one of the hosts (it wasn't my house, but I was one of the "key" designers, builders and promoters) I had to make sure I would up-the-ante in the costume department each year. I had chosen Scorpion late in the month so I had to make sure that I had most of the costume already in-hand as time was short.

I used the ninja costume as a base (my motto "It's not what it IS, it's what it CAN be."), bought some yellow fabric and cut it into a "V" shape that could be draped over the ninja outfit.  Basically my head went between the two points of the "V." 
Up 'til this point I'm just looking like a yellow ninja.  How to make it Scorpion?

Well I decided to go with a modification of Scorpion's mask.  As Scorpion is supposed to be from hell and can pull his mask off to reveal a Ghost-Rider-esque flaming head, I created a front mask from a skull t-shirt cut to bandanna size and worn like I was old west bank robber.  It totally worked. 

Lastly, for Scorpion's "Get over here!" spear:  so simple I kicked myself for how clever I can be.  I taped the stick of a Chinese paper yo-yo to my wrist and would throw my hand out yelling "Get over here!" making the yo-yo fly out and return automatically to my wrist.  Simple and, most importantly, people got it without me carrying a weapon around and having to coil it up every time.

BUT, if I had access to Ballys Merch Store HERE I would have just ordered up one of their balaclavas (which is what we old-timers used to call "ski masks") of their "Demon Ninja" and I would have had that Scorpion mask in 5-7 shipping days. 

Costume do-it-yourselfers can also benefit from Mortal Kombat's Sub Zero-alike balaclava "Zero," or the many others like the Iron Man-esque "Sparks" or the Joker-similar "Smiler."  (I'll play along so nobody gets sued.)

Check 'em all out HERE at Ballys Merch Store.