Defenders of the Realm features Liu Kang and a group of warriors protecting Earthrealm from Shao Kahn's forces and other threats. It follows up on the events first live action Mortal Kombat movie, but adds several characters from the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 game, including Nightwolf, Smoke, Stryker and more. As this was a cartoon, the violence is nowhere near as extreme as it is in the games, with no blood and, for the most part, no fatalities. The first and only season of the show consists of 13 episodes in total.

The show is available on video and DVD in certain countries. The UK DVDs do not have the complete series -there are three DVD sets in total, but none of them feature the second episode, Sting of the Scorpion. My understanding is that these same DVDs were also released in the USA. In Australia, the entire series was released, with six DVD sets in total. Most of these contain just two episodes each, but at least every episode was released. The series has not seen an official Blu-ray set.

A writer's guide for the series has been scanned and is available online. This guide features notes about the characters, which characters to use and what they should be doing, some potential story ideas and a complete script for the first episode, Kombat Begins Again. It also has a lot of oddities and things of note in it, such as:

-The series was originally called "Mortal Kombat: The Animated Series", the final name would be Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm.

-Notes about "Kombat: The Sequel Movie", which is basically a retelling of the intro from the Mortal Kombat 3 game. The movie's real sequel, Annihilation, hadn't been released at the time this series aired.

-The team being part of something called the Outer World Investigation Agency. This agency is never referred to in the series itself.

-A note about Johnny Cage: "Johnny Cage is no longer, so do not use him in your premises." Johnny Cage is no longer what? "alive" is presumably the missing word. Cage never appears in any episodes of Defenders of the Realm.

-The guide states that characters should use their animality and babality moves from the games, but none of these moves are featured in the series.

-The dragon jets were supposed to have some special features, such as being able to self-repair and could change shape to conform to different environments. None of this stuff is seen in the show itself.

-A note about Rayden being angst-ridden from a burden he carries from a secret of his past, a secret the guide states they aren't ready to reveal just yet.

-Under the "villains" list, Jade is mentioned. Jade never appears in the series, for some reason, a new character called Ruby was created and used in the Abandoned episode.

-An unused potential story idea called "Shinnok's Return". This unmade episode would have guest starred Shinnok, a character who had yet to appear in the games.

-Another unused story idea called "Kano Steals Home", where Kano would have stolen Rayden's staff and used it to open a portal to Outworld.

-A completely different plot for The Secret of Quan Chi which would have involved Quan Chi getting assistance from Reptile's race and using them to capture the Defenders. Jax was to find a way to save his friends, although the notes don't state what that way was.

-Another completely different plot for Resurrection (spelt "Resurrections" in the guide). The unused version doesn't feature the orb at all, instead, Shang would have been sent on a mission to destroy the Defender's base.

-A plot outline for Skin Deep which doesn't mention Rain, it instead states "young ninja". The finished episode features Rain.

-An unused, unnamed idea about an episode where Nightwolf would have been tricked into entering a "hellish dimension". By merging with Kiva, he would have been able to escape.

-An entire episode about Liu Kang dealing with not aging any more, where Rayden would have helped him out. This was reduced to just one scene in Skin Deep, but Kitana is the one who helps Liu instead of Rayden.

-A different plot for Fall From Grace, where the entire team would have voted Sonya out instead of just Stryker. The plot outline states Sonya and Stryker would have to save the rest of the team, but in the finished episode, they instead have to protect their base from the Shokan.

-Ermac is not mentioned in the guide, but he does appear in a couple of episodes.

Ermac

Kevin Michael Richardson

Jax

Dorian Harewood

Kabal

Kevin Michael Richardson

Kano

Michael Des Barres

Kitana

Cree Summer

Liu Kang

Brian Tochi

Nightwolf

Tod Thawley

Quan Chi

Nick Chinlund

Raiden

Clancy Brown

Rain

Rino Romano

Shang Tsung

Neil Ross

Shao Khan

John Vernon

Sheeva

Dawnn Lewis

Smoke

Jeremy Ratchford

Sonya Blade

Olivia d'Abo

Stryker

Ron Perlman

Sub-Zero

Luke Perry