Richard Divizio

Richard Divizio (born September 6, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actor best known for his work in the Mortal Kombat video game series. He holds a degree in computer graphic design from the American Academy of Art in Chicago, of which MK co-creator and former Midway employee John Tobias was an alumnus. Richard Divizio is also a martial artist, trained in the ways of 7 Star Preying Mantis, Chinese Kung Fu, and Wushu.

Divizio is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Kano in the original Mortal Kombat in 1992. He also appeared in Mortal Kombat II as Baraka, and reprised the role of Kano for both Mortal Kombat II in 1993 (as a chained up prisoner) and Mortal Kombat 3 in 1995, making his playable return. In MK3, he also played the masked hook swordsman Kabal and the shadowy fighter Noob Saibot. In 1997, he portrayed Quan Chi in both the game and full motion video sequences in the platform title Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, and provided motion capture footage for the character as well in Mortal Kombat 4. He returned to the series in 2002, contributing to Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance as a motion capture actor.

He was the only actor who appeared in all of the digitized Mortal Kombat games, and the characters he portrayed were concealed under masks or makeup. Kano's infrared implant was attached to his face with spirit gum for filming in the first and third games.

Divizio and his fellow MK actors became minor celebrities during the height of franchise's success with Mortal Kombat II. They appeared in costume on the cover of the January 1994 issue of Video Games, which featured the group in an extensive profile three months later. Divizio made several appearances at trade shows dressed as Scorpion, despite not having played him in any of the games; this was because Daniel Pesina, who had played Scorpion during filming for MKII, regularly suited up as Johnny Cage.

In the 2002 martial arts movie Book of Swords, he portrayed a crime boss named Taz, who was out for a magical tome called The Book of Swords. The movie also starred three other Mortal Kombat actors in Katalin Zamiar, Ho Sung Pak, and Daniel Pesina. In a nod to his Mortal Kombat alter ego, Divizio's character was very similar to Kano in looks and storyline, and the other three actors are also seen in MK referencing clothing/roles throughout the picture. Divizio can also be seen as a background thug in the 2008 film The Dark Knight, also with another Mortal Kombat alumni John Turk.