Humans

Malcolm, a famous human

Humans are a species who originated on Earth, and play a central in the Unreal games.

Human presence in the universe is mostly known through their megacorporations, especially the Liandri.

An large reason for the humans' importance is the fact that the Grand Liandri Tournament was invented by humans. Most corporations featured in the Unreal games were started by humans. Most weaponry and vehicles found in the Tournaments are of human design.

It was a human who killed the Skaarj Queen, altering the Skaarj of their existance. This started a war involving many other species, which lasted until 2216, although one could argue it never truly did.

Humans were also involved in an incident involving Artifacts of ancient power in 2251, again attracting Skaarj attention. Disaster was averted because the Artifacts were destroyed.

Planets

Humans still live on Earth, but have also colonized many other planets and moons. A notable example are the Nakhti people, whose culture diverged from other humans a long time ago. The Nakhti emperor lives on the Nakhti homeworld, but the Nakhti have colonized a number of other planets on their own.

A great number of planets other than Earth is also used in the Tournaments.

Offshoots

The human race produced a number of offshoots, mostly due to technological advancements, such as gene-boosting and cybernetic prosthetics. Almost every Tournament competitor is enhanced in one way or another, the Juggernauts being a good example. More extreme examples are the Nightmare and Skaarj Hybrids, having little humanity in them left.

Not much is known about the Necris, other than the fact that they are dead humans who have been resurrected by the Phayder Corporation using Nanoblack, a black liquid filled with nanobots. Necris are white-skinned with many black, angular tattoos, and may or may not remember their former lifes.

Humans are also responsible for creating large numbers of robots and Cybernetics, including the infamous Xan Kriegor, more or less in their own image.

The 523rd Nakhti Ascension Rites were visited by Mortal Kombat's Raiden, who came looking for competitors to fight for Earthrealm in the Mortal Kombat tournament. Raiden appears human but is actually a Thunder God from another realm.