Shao Kahn/Synopsis

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Villain Overview Synopsis Gallery

The history of Shao Kahn from the Mortal Kombat fighting videogame series.

Pre-Mortal Kombat

Shao Kahn without his signature helmet, already became the new Emperor of Outworld.

Shao Kahn was originally a royal advisor to the first emperor of Outworld known as Onaga the Dragon King, and that position was somewhat similar to the celestial title "Protector" and the duty to the specific realm. But soon, consumed by his lust for power, Shao Kahn poisoned his former king and assumed the throne, turning the once unified and glorious realm of Outworld into an extremely dangerous and dystopian empire hated by all the other realms.

One of the backwards dialogues in Mortal Kombat: Deception says that Shao Kahn is part of the same race of beings as Lucifer and Raiden. In Deception's Konquest mode, Damashi who is the spiritual avatar of Onaga states to Shujinko that Shao Kahn was to Outworld is what Raiden is to Earth making Shao Kahn a god similar to Raiden. Given his power, what Damashi said might be true.

Shao Kahn also wanted to expand Outworld so he conquered more and more realms starting with a bunch of very small realms like Osh-Tekk, Zaterra, Vaeternus and the Arnyek Islands. As Shao Kahn conquered each realm his power grew stronger and stronger. Eventually, Shao Kahn set his eyes on Edenia. He was eventually able to win ten consecutive tournaments of Mortal Kombat allowing for Kahn to invade Edenia. The Edenia god Argus and his sons were able to fend off Shao Kahn for a bit until Argus and his wife were killed by their son Daegon. With nothing left in his way, Shao Kahn conquered Edenia with little effort.

Shao Kahn killed Edenian king Jerrod and took Queen Sindel as his queen through (forced) marriage, raising her daughter, Princess Kitana, as his own. He had the young princess trained as his guard and assassin. Sindel tried to take her own life to prevent Shao Kahn from invading any other realms, however, Shao Kahn held her soul in Outworld, stopping her transition to the afterlife, not willing to let his beloved queen go so easily. In the alternate timeline, this is changed that Sindel killed Jerrod and married Shao Kahn willingly, and was secretly killed by Quan Chi instead of taking her own life.

Shao Kahn then set his sights on Earthrealm to conquer it first through Shang Tsung then Goro. They were eventually able to lead Outworld to a 9 tournament win streak leaving one more before Shao Kahn could invade Earthrealm especially, after Goro killed the great Kung Lao. However, Outworld lost the tenth tournament.

Original Timeline

Mortal Kombat II

Shao Kahn in his Mortal Kombat II attire in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks.

“	I am Shao Kahn! Bow to me!	„
	~ Shao Kahn taunting a Mortal Kombat fighter before the fight begins.

Shao Kahn makes his first physical appearance in Mortal Kombat II. Enraged that the final victory so close at hand was once again eluded from him and is forced to start over again for another 5 centuries, promptly orders Shang Tsung, the grandmaster and sponsor of Mortal Kombat Tournament on the island. But Shang Tsung concocted a plan to lure the Earthrealm champions to Outworld; if they could be killed, they would not be able to cause further damage to his plans. Kahn was mollified and restored Shang Tsung his youth. He captured Kano and Sonya Blade to use as bait, and enraging Liu Kang by sending Baraka and his troops to destroy the Shaolin temples, they confidently waited for the Earth warriors to fall into the trap. Despite Kahn's vast power, Liu Kang's determination saw him through, and he defeated the despot. Unwilling to accept defeat, Kahn called his armies to destroy the Earthrealm warriors. They fled back to Earthrealm, out of Kahn's clutches.

“	You will die, mortal!	„
	~ Another one of Shao Kahn's taunts.

Mortal Kombat 3

Shao Kahn along with his palace fortress that emerged during his invasion of Earthrealm.

In an attempt to claim Earthrealm, Shao Kahn has Shang Tsung and his other elite mystics called Shadow Priests revive Sindel but to where she would be revived in Earthrealm so he can go "reclaim" her forcibly to merge Earthrealm with Outworld. Upon doing so most of the souls in Earthrealm are stolen be Shao Kahn except those who are protected by Raiden. However due to Raiden being weakened due to the forced merger Raiden was unable to fight Shao Kahn on his own. Shao Kahn upon hearing of survivors sent his troops to kill all survivors. As Raiden and Earths defenders fight his men, Shao Kahn annoyed seemingly killed Kung Lao with an energy attack once Kung Lao defeated Goro. This lead to Liu Kang directly facing and even defeating Shao Kahn who then ordered his men to retreat thus preventing the merger and returning the world to it's original state. His revival of Sindel also weakens his power as Kitana was able to return her to her original mindset freeing their realm from him along with several of his troops abandoning him to return to Sindel's side.

Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Shao Kahn was approached by Quan Chi and Shang Tsung, who pretended to offer themselves as servants. However, the two attacked the weakened Shao Kahn and slay him.

Mortal Kombat: Deception

Mortal Kombat Deception Shao Kahn Ending

Shao Kahn's Mortal Kombat: Deception ending.

“	None shall oppose the might of Shao Kahn -- he will rule all!	„
	~ Kahn's militia in Mortal Kombat: Deception.

It was revealed that the Shao Kahn killed by Shang Tsung and Quan Chi was actually a clone and that after being weakened from his attempted takeover of Earthrealm, Kahn had created the clone to rule Outworld for him, while he recovered. Shao Kahn found his former servant, Goro, mortally wounded and healed him, regaining the allegiance of the Shokan. The two set out to overthrow Onaga, so as to let the emperor regain his control over Outworld.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon

Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.

Shao Kahn had become the ruler of Outworld again and joined forces with Quan Chi, Shang Tsung, and Onaga in an uneasy alliance so as to gain the god like powers of Blaze. However, all of them betray each other during the final battle. In his ending, Shao Kahn defeated Blaze and claimed his powers, destroying all of his enemies. He eventually conquered all other realms and joined them with his own. However with nothing left to conquer, Shao Kahn went insane from the boredom.

In Konquest mode, a giant statue of Shao Kahn stands in the courtyard of the emperor's fortress. If an intruder enters the fortress, the statue will come to life. It will use its enormous hammer to smash the intruder. The statue can only be stopped if four magical orbs are used. The orbs will weaken the statue to the point where it can be damaged by normal attacks. After being damaged by normal attacks, the statue will crumble into pieces.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

Main article: Dark Kahn

At the beginning of the game, Shao Kahn had been defeated and met in a graveyard with his secret ally, Quan Chi. He was blasted into a portal by a blast of lightning from Raiden, causing him to combine with Darkseid and transform into Dark Kahn. After his defeat, Kahn ended up in the DC universe, rendered powerless. Kahn was then imprisoned in the Phantom Zone by Superman.

Shao Kahn escaping the Phantom Zone with a collection of Kryptonian criminals now at his command.

In his ending, while the Phantom Zone weakened the others imprisoned there, the magical nature of Kahn's powers made it have the opposite effect on him. It restored his power, allowing him to escape the Phantom Zone along with an army made up of all the others imprisoned there, who swore him their allegiance in gratitude and joined Kahn in his quest to take control of both universes.

Alternate Timeline

Main Article: Shao Kahn (2nd Timeline)

New Era

Main article: General Shao

As well as General Shao, a version of Shao Kahn, known as Dark Shao appears among Titan Shang Tsung's legions, implied to be a reborn version of Shao from the previous timeline. Shao's lifeforce was linked to the portals used to transport the Dragon Army, and Dark Shao revelled in bringing about Armageddon. He confronted the New Era's Raiden, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi when they destroyed two of the five portals, Shao nearly killed them, but the three magic users managed to defeat him with the act of surprise. Shao recovered his strength and attacked Raiden while the Deadly Alliance fought other minions. Shao was interrupted by Shang Tsung, and was joined by Reiko, and taunted the sorcerers by saying that they just caught him off guard. Fighting an intense battle with the sorcerers, Shao and Reiko were defeated, and Shao had his soul stolen by the Deadly Alliance.

Other Media

Movies

Main article: Shao Kahn (1995)

Shao Kahn is the overaching antagonist of the live action Mortal Kombat movie, appearing in the film's cliffhanger ending, and the main antagonist of it's sequel Anhilation.

Defenders of the Realm

• Shao Kahn appeared as the main antagonist of the cartoon series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm.

Mortal Kombat Legends

Main article: Shao Kahn (Mortal Kombat Legends)

Shao Kahn is the overarching antagonist of Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge and one of the two main antagonists (alongside Shinnok) of it's sequel Battle of the Realms.