Why Is Johnny Cage Dancing To International Love?

Johnny Cage dancing to International Love by Pitbull, featuring Chris Brown, perfectly encapsulates the ridiculous appeal of Mortal Kombat.

It’s gory, it’s silly, and its characters are larger than life.

Hence, we have ryuko.org uploading a video of Johnny Cage dancing during his Fatal Blow animation, and titling it “this mf Johnny really emoted”, on the 8th of July this year, which has since blown up to peak popularity in late 2023.

The fruity dancing is also reminiscent of the chad busting down to Katy Perry’s 2010 hit 'California Girls' in Dead By Daylight, another gory yet absolutely silly game.

There’s just something about early 2010s pop music that fits so well with hyperviolence.

And, prior to Cage’s dance was a meme called “you got caged”, wherein compilations of Johnny getting up to his usual mischief were flown around the internet, more often than not showing that famous reel of him giving the finger.

What’s interesting is the fact that Johnny dancing during his fatal blow had already become massive news in the Mortal Kombat community, because it’s just so goofy and can be used as an unblockable parry.

It really does feel like Cage has only survived the world of Mortal Kombat because he’s absolutely mad, thoroughly enjoying killing creatures from another realm with a huge grin on his face as a parody of Hollywood martial arts characters.

It’s worth noting that Mortal Kombat has always starred heavily in meme culture, and the last bit to really take off before Johnny Cage dancing to international love was the skeleton smoking a cigar, which was actually from a modded version of the game.

Prior to this is the fact that the series has been going since 1992, and was the object of moral panic for its now quaint depictions of blood.

Today, there seems to be no boundaries with its characters being subjected to the most horrendous deaths known to mankind, yet much of this is offset with a healthy dose of humour and silliness acknowledging the fact that it is all a video game.

On that note, Johnny Cage is similar to Johnny Gatt – both are larger than life characters wearing sunglasses and known for starring in comedically violent video games, and people absolutely adore their douchebag antics.

As a result, it’s quite clear it’s not just Mortal Kombat that is the star of the show here – it’s that specific character of a larger than life American who has a loud mouth but can also back up his own brand of arrogance, unafraid to dance to an early 2010s pop hit because he knows he absolutely pulls it off.

What meme would you guys like me to give a lesson in next? Let me know in the comments below.