Shao Kahn
Shao Kahn is a video game villain who features in Mortal Kombat.
Contents |
Biography
Original Timeline
Shao Kahn was a denizen of the realm of Outworld who long ago once served as the personal advisor to its emperor namely the Dragon King Onaga. During Onaga's reign, his empire grew to be the most powerful in all the realms and he sought to make his rule eternal by seeking the means of attaining immortality. Before he could achieve his goal, Onaga was poisoned by his advisor thus leading to the demise of the Dragon King whilst Shao Kahn became the new ruler of Outworld. Under Emperor Shao Kahn, Outworld continued its policy of conquest of other realms that were merged with his own and thus expanded his powerbase. Such conquests made use of a series of combats that were put in place by the Elder Gods with these being the Mortal Kombat Tournaments. Many years ago, the realm of Edenia became subject to the attention of Outworld with Shao Kahn conquering it after one of his warriors won the Mortal Kombat Tournament. This allowed Kahn to invade the realm and conquer it where he killed the Edenian King Jerrod. In the aftermath, Edenia was merged with Outworld whereupon Kahn took the Edenian Queen Sindel as his wife with her and Jerrod's daughter Princess Kitana as his own child. Kitana grew unaware of her heritage and only knew Shao Kahn as her father where she was trained to be his personal guard as well as assassin. In time, Sindel could not live with Shao Kahn any further and decided to take her own life rather than continue in servitude to the Emperor of Outworld. However, Kahn was not willing to be denied his prize and held Sindel's soul in Outworld rather than allow it to pass on to the afterlife. Centuries ago, Shao Kahn turned his attention to Earthrealm and desired to conquer it with him dispatching his warriors to complete the Mortal Kombat Tournament so that he could possess that realm. Chief among his servants in this endeavor was the sorcerer Shang Tsung who spearheaded the attempt to win the Tournament.
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 the aftermath of his death, the throne of Outworld came to pass to his 'daughter' Mileena. However, the Osh-Tekk general Kotal arose where he rallied warriors to his rule thus dividing the realm in civil war. Ultimately, Mileena was forced from her throne and Kotal took the position of Kahn of Outworld.
Overview
Personality and attributes
Kahn was said to not trust anyone except those of his own creation. As a result, he had experiments made to create warriors to serve him such as Ermac and Skarlet. He cared little for the fate of his minions and was perfectly willing to sacrifice them to achieve his goals. Such was the case when he consumed Shang Tsung's soul in order to empower Sindel so that she could bring about the merger of Earthrealm with Outworld.
With regards to Kitana, he was shown to hold no affection for his adopted daughter and stated that he only kept her alive because her mother Sindel convinced him of her worth. It was this dismissal of Kitana that led him to authorize Shang Tsung in crafting him a child that he could call daughter. Through his Flesh Pits, Shang Tsung was able to use Kitana's DNA and merged it with a Tarkatan to create his 'daughter' Mileena.
It was said that Shao Kahn's position in Outworld was similar to that of Raiden in Earthrealm.
Powers and abilities
The magic he wielded often manifested as a green energy that he could use for a variety of effects. These including generating constructs from this power or form a protective energy field that reflected attacks back at his enemies. In some cases, he could fire beams of energy from his eyes or hands that he struck at a target. Kahn could also use it to enhance his physical strikes such as his attack speed or aid him in propelling him by jumping over great distances.
One of his signature weapons was the mighty warhammer know as the Wrath Hammer.
Among his followers were a cadre of sorcerers known as the Shadow Priests.
Notes
- Shao Kahn was created by Ed Boon and John Tobias where he made his first appearance in Mortal Kombat II (1993).
In other media
Television
Film
Video games
- In Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Shao Kahn appeared as a playable character and featured in the story mode of the fighting video game where he was voiced by actor Patrick Seitz.
Appearances
- Mortal Kombat II: (1993)
- Mortal Kombat:
- Mortal Kombat 11: (2019)
External Link
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