Shang Tsung
Shang Tsung is a male video game villain who features in Mortal Kombat.
Contents |
Biography
Original Timeline
Shang Tsung (尚宗 - pinyin: shàng zōng) was a male human-like being whose origins were largely a mystery though he was said to had been born in Earthrealm. At some point, he had developed a skill in the black arts and his relentless pursuit of powerful magic led him to Outworld. It was there that he came into the service of the Emperor Shao Kahn who had offered him great dark power. He was later charged with heading the Mortal Kombat Tournament and defeat Earthrealm's champions in order to allow Outworld to absorb that realm. Shang Tsung was noted to had won a number of tournaments but came to lose against the legendary Shaolin warrior monk named the Great Kung Lao. Though defeated, Shao Khan dispatched him again to compete but this time he was aided by the four-armed Shokan warrior Goro who remained undefeated in the tournament for the next 500 years. As the head of the tournament, he managed it from his island that lay in an area that resided between the realms of Outworld and Earthrealm. During one of his tournaments, he was noted to had defeated the samurai Muso Gonnosuke and consumed his soul. During this time, Shang Tsung came to sought to consume the souls of ancient Warrior Kings that resided in a labyrinth tomb under the House of Pekara. To gain access to it, he came to learn of a skilled swordsman named Kenshi and intended to exploit the warriors pride. This saw Tsung disguise himself as an old man named Song and praised Kenshi for his skill where he suggested that the warrior needed a sword worthy of his skill. Thus, he convinced Kenshi to journey through he tomb beneath the House of Pekara where he came upon a deep well covered by a large stone. 'Song' then told Kenshi to remove the cover with his prize lying beneath it but once he did so it caused the souls of the swordman's warrior king ancestors being released where their power blinded swordsman. Shang Tsung then revealed his true form and consumed the Warrior King's souls and left Kenshi to die as he had no further need for him. However, Kenshi survived and vowed revenge against the sorcerer for the disgrace he had experienced as a result of Shang Tsung's treachery. Afterwards, Shang Tsung journeyed across Earthrealm to find warriors to fight in his tournament and encountered the fighter Shujinko. After sparring with him, the sorcerer allowed Shujinko permission to participate in the tournament though he would not do so as he was on his own quest.
Upon losing the Shaolin tournament, he returned to his master in disgrace and faced being killed by Shao Kahn. However, he promised Kahn a victory by luring the Earth warriors to compete in a contest within Outworld. As a result, the Emperor restored the sorcerer his youth and set him about enacting the plan.
Though his plan failed, Tsung came to be instrumental in bringing about the conquest of Earthrealm and was granted even greater power by Kahn.
During this time, Shang Tsung came to be imprisoned within he depths of Shao Kahn's fortress for his repeated failures in winning the Mortal Kombat tournament. On occasion, he was freed in order to perform tasks for the emperor until he eventually regained Kahn's favour and was given his freedom. Tsung remained within Outworld where he risked his life in order to drain the souls of warriors to sustain his own youth. It was during this time that he met the sorcerer Quan Chi who had returned from the Netherrealm and he came to propose an alliance between the pair that would prove to be mutually beneficial. Quan Chi gave Tsung immortality by unlocking a portal that was linked to the Heavens thus giving the sorcerer access to an unlimited souls which he used to preserve his youth. In return, the necromancer required Tsung's aid in transplanting the souls of warriors into the mummified remains of Onaga the Dragon King's army thus leading to the two forming a deadly alliance to take over the realms.
In the resultant blast, he was killed and his soul along with Raiden's intertwined where they battled one another in the ether. This was until he was draw away by a magic that was more powerful than death where he found his essence draw to Outworld. Once there, he was reborn where he came to find himself before Shao Kahn himself who had seemingly survived the assassination. By his side, he also saw the Shokan Prince Goro who had also seemed to had returned from the dead.
Reboot Timeline
During the Armageddon, Shao Kahn ultimately won where all of creation faced destruction but during the last moments of Raiden he managed to his past experiences back to his younger self. This created a change in the timeline as the younger Raiden was guided by the scattered visions of the future where he sought to avert this dark future. In this timeline, he continued to be the host of the previous nine Mortal Kombat tournaments in Earthrealm on his island where he stacked the odds in his master's favour.
Tsung came to be imprisoned in the Void by Kronika after he had fulfilled his purpose where he was joined by Fujin and Nightwolf. Whilst there, he formulated a plan for revenge and attaining ultimate power for himself. After Kronika was killed, the sorcerer along with his fellow prisoners were able to escape where they appeared at Kronika's Keep. They came to warn the Fire God Liu Kang from using Kronika's Hourglass without the Crown of Souls which they had to get from the past. As Shang Tsung's past self was killed, he volunteered to take part in this mission where he was accompanied by Fujin and Nighwolf.
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Shang Tsung resembled a human but this varied depending on whether he had fed on souls to make himself young again. In his natural state, he resembled a decrepit old man whose skin was pale with long, balding white hair, a beard and moustache, with dangling thin fingers as well as long fingernails.
It was noted that he was ever-scheming and treacherous. To him, morality was an illusion and he believed that cunning prospered whilst those that were 'good' would only suffer.
He had pledged his eternal loyalty to Shao Kahn in exchange for evil magic but it was known that he was no faithful servant. In fact, he dreamt of a day when his sorcery would overtake Kahn's and would pay any price to achieve this goal.
He came to gain nothing but hatred for Liu Kang which ran deep and he desired nothing more than to consume the soul of the one warrior that denied him victory.
Powers and abilities
Born of Earthrealm, he was a human but one who came to be a skilled martial artist over the centuries. Tsung was skilled in a variety of fighting techniques that included Snake, Crane and Mantis though his talent of mimicry allowed him to adopt other styles as well.
He was a talented mystical shapeshifter which allowed him to take the form of others and even copy their techniques or abilities. This allowed him to morph into a number of warriors and use their techniques against his enemies.
Shang Tsung had a variety of fire-based spells that he could use in combat. He was shown as being able to project a fireball at his targets. It was also that he could shoot out Flaming Skulls at his opponents to deal damage to them.
Through his Soultaker technique, he was able to consume the soul of his opponent which left behind a shrunken corpse. He was known to keep vials of souls by himself which he used as part of his Scatter Soul attack where he shattered them to create small explosions of energy that knocked enemies away. His Soul Warp technique allowed him to switch places with his opponent with this causing a small amount of damage to his opponent.
Through his magic, he developed knowledge of genetics allowing him to create biological abominations and monsters within his Flesh Pits.
He was noted to had been bound to the emperor Shao Kahn by powerful dark magic.
On his island, he maintained an underground Well of Souls that contained numerous souls he had collected over the years. A sizeable number of them had been taken by the sorcerer over the years.
Notes
- Shang Tsung was created by Ed Boon and John Tobias with him making his first appearance in Mortal Kombat (1992).
- The character was based off of Lo-Pan from the 1986 film Big Trouble in Little China with the character originally being labelled as Shang Lao.
- Early concept sketches of Shang Tsung for Mortal Kombat II revealed that the character would have had a hidden demonic form.
- In Mortal Kombat 11, actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa returned to the role of Shang Tsung who was designed and mo-capped to resemble the live-action film version of the character.
In other media
Television
- In Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, Shang Tsung appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Neil Ross.
- In Mortal Kombat: Conquest, Shang Tsung appeared as a villain protagonist in the live-action television series where he was portrayed by actor Bruce Locke.
Films
- In Mortal Kombat, Shang Tsung appeared as the primary antagonist of the 1995 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa.
- In Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins, Shang Tsung appeared in the animated film where he was voiced by actor Jim Cummings.
- In Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge, Shang Tsung appeared in the 2020 direct-to-video animated film where he was voiced by actor Artt Butler.
- In Mortal Kombat, Shang Tsung appeared in the setting of the 2021 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Chin Han.
Video games
- In Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Shang Tsung appeared as a playable character in the fighting video game crossover where he was voiced by actor James Kyson.
Appearances
- Mortal Kombat: (1992)
- Mortal Kombat:
- Mortal Kombat XI:
External Links
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