Not many people can drop into the splits and pull off a crotch-uppercut, all while wearing the ninja outfit of an undead specter bound for vengeance, but Daniel Pesina makes it look easy.
While checking out the Cinci Classic gaming and comic book convention back in 2019, we got a chance to see the OG Johnny Cage from the first Mortal Kombat game Master Daniel Pesina in action. He was on hand to sign autographs, take pictures and all around be awesome in his Scorpion/Johnny Cage gear. Also picked up a great Cincinnati/Contra shirt from the folks at cincyshirts.com, so be sure to check them out! We love this video, simply because it highlights how some celebrities truly do appreciate their fans, and interacting with them (pre-COVID) is a great way to return the love! If you like the video, be sure to FINISH IT and hit that subscribe button over on Sci-Fi 3D on YouTube.
Johnny Cage Wins...FRIENDHSIP. To My Best Fan! - CAGE
Daniel Pesina bio (from MK Fandom): Daniel Pesina (born December 1st, 1958 in Chicago, Illinois, USA) played Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II, and also portrayed the ninja characters Reptile, Scorpion, and Sub-Zero in the 1st and 2nd games as well (also including the secret ninja characters Noob Saibot and Smoke in MKII). Pesina left Midway in 1994 due to an issue regarding "royalty checks". After his departure from Midway, further ventures into other fighting games proved unsuccessful. After the failure of BloodStorm, he and his brother Carlos, who portrayed Raiden in the 2D Mortal Kombat games, assisted Wikipedia:Data East with its digitized fighting game, Tattoo Assassins, which, despite an extensive feature in a summer '94 issue of EGM, never made it to arcades. In 1995, he and fellow MK actors Ho Sung Pak, Katalin Zamiar, and Dr. Phillip Ahn, M.D. all appeared in a fighting game produced exclusively for the Atari Jaguar titled Thea Realm Fighters, but it was never released after Atari ceased production on the failed system later that year. Pesina appeared as one of Shredder's foot soldiers in the 1991 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze. In the 2003 martial arts movie The Book of Swords, which also starred fellow MK actors Zamiar, Pak and Richard Divizio, he played a hitman whose task was to take out the movie's leading man. Daniel and his brother Carlos also appeared in a videogame-based comedy film entitled Press Start, which was released to DVD on September 25, 2007. Daniel's character is called Sasori, which is Japanese for Scorpion. As of 2004, Daniel Pesina is a teacher at the Chicago Wushuguan School, while Carlos is working with Warner Bros.
Sci-Fi 3D Team
Cameron McFarland | Contributing Writer
