Characters / Mortal Kombat – Quan Chi

Mortal Kombat Main Character Index
Original and Reboot Timeline: MK (1992) | MK2 | MK3 | MK4 | Deadly Alliance | Deception | Armageddon | MK vs. DC Universe | MK9 | MKX | MK11
The New Era: MK1
Spin-offs: Mythologies: Sub-Zero | Special Forces
Non-video game: The Movie | Conquest | Defenders of the Realm | 2021 Movie
Individual Characters: Scorpion I (Hanzo Hasashi) | Sub-Zero I/Noob Saibot (Bi-Han) | Johnny Cage | Liu Kang | Raiden | Shang Tsung | Sub-Zero II/Scorpion II (Kuai Liang) | Kitana | Mileena | Shao Kahn/General Shao | Quan Chi

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Spoilers for Mythologies will be unmarked

Quan Chi

"You will serve me in the Netherrealm!"

Debut game: Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero (Richard Divizio)

Other appearances: Mortal Kombat 4 (Richard Divizio face model, voiced by Herman Sanchez), Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (Herman Sanchez), Mortal Kombat: Deception (Herman Sanchez, non-playable), Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (Herman Sanchez), Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (Ronald M. Banks, non-playable), Mortal Kombat 9 (Ronald M. Banks), Mortal Kombat X (Ronald M. Banks, English; José Gilberto Vilchis, Latin American Spanish), and Mortal Kombat 1 (DLC) (Sean T. Krishnan, English; Daniel del Roble, Latin American Spanish; Shahjehan Khan, face model)

Non-video game appearances: Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm (Nick Chinlund), Mortal Kombat: Conquest (Adoni Maropis), Mortal Kombat: Legacy (Michael Rogers; first season only), Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge (Darin De Paul)

A sorcerer from the Netherrealm, Quan Chi is quite easily, one of the most treacherous characters in all the games. While originally supposed to serve the Elder God Shinnok, Quan Chi's true allegiance is only to himself, and he will make and break deals with anyone if it furthers his goals. Quan Chi, contrary to most characters in the series, does not actually belong to either a mortal race or the myriad gods: he used to be an oni, a demonic torturer from hell, who eventually took a humanoid form.

Quan Chi has had a behind-the-scenes presence through a myriad of major events in the series' history. Serving Shinnok, he directly caused the deaths of both Scorpion (and his clan and family...) and the original Sub-Zero, was the one who revived Sindel in order to facilitate Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm, released Shinnok from his imprisonment in the Netherrealm, and brought about Liu Kang's death during the events of Deadly Alliance. He has also betrayed every single ally he ever had at one point or another.

During the events of both Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat 4, Quan Chi was working to release his master, the banished Elder God Shinnok, from his imprisonment in the Netherrealm. To this end, he also worked with Shao Kahn (bringing back Sindel for him, as previously mentioned). After Shinnok's defeat, however, Quan Chi eventually discovered the tomb of Onaga The Dragon King, which contained within his undead army, which slept in suspended animation. Wanting to control the army to conquer both Outworld and Earthrealm, Quan Chi allied himself with Shang Tsung, eventually bringing down Liu Kang together during the events of Deadly Alliance. Of course, after being victorious over Earthrealm's warriors at the end of Deadly Alliance, Quan Chi turns on Shang Tsung (with Shang Tsung doing the same, of course). They are both attacked by Onaga the Dragon King, however, and both Quan Chi and Raiden are supposedly destroyed during the events of Deception. Quan Chi did survive the events of Deception, but eventually dies along with... well, everybody else, during the events of Armageddon.

Quan Chi has an important role in the events of Mortal Kombat 9: all the aforementioned events which happen during the course of the first three games also happen during this one. It starts with the fact that he slaughters Scorpion's family to convince him to kill the original Sub-Zero, not the younger one - and it only goes downhill from there. Quan Chi revives Queen Sindel as part of his deal with Shao Khan and manages to get the entire army of fallen Earthrealm fighters under his command, resurrecting them as his revenant slaves.

After Shinnok was imprisoned in his own Amulet at the prologue of Mortal Kombat X, Quan Chi spends the rest of the game finding a way to release him. 25 years later, he manages to recruit D'Vorah - one of Kotal Kahn's servants - to his side. In his weakened state, Quan Chi was captured by Special Forces. The sorcerer counted on this, however: releasing Shinnok in Earthrealm would allow the fallen Elder God to easily get the access to Jinsei Chamber and corrupt it. The intervention of Scorpion (who was resurrected to his former self, Hanzo Hasashi) put an end to Quan Chi's life... but Shinnok was freed from imprisonment in the process.

In the New Era, Quan Chi's history (among many others) is altered by the Keeper of Time in an effort to neutralize the threat he poses — No longer a demon of the Netherrealm, Quan Chi is now an impoverished miner in Outworld, destined to live and die as a nobody. However, a mysterious benefactor seeking to upset the new timeline finds Quan Chi and teaches him necromancy, bringing the reborn sorcerer once more into a deadly alliance with Shang Tsung...

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Tropes related to Quan Chi in the Midway and original Netherrealm timelines^note Tropes that appear across all of Quan Chi's appearances from Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero to Mortal Kombat X.

A-G

• Actually a Doombot: Baraka's non-canon ending in Gold.
• Adaptational Heroism: Downplayed, but still notable given his prior personality and goals in every other game that he's featured in. In Mortal Kombat 1 when Titan Shang Tsung reveals his plot to conquer or destroy every timeline that diverged from the battle between himself and Liu Kang at the end of Mortal Kombat 11, Quan Chi and the New Era Shang Tsung both make a tenuous alliance with Liu Kang and the champions of Earthrealm and Outworld to stave off Armageddon. Both of the erstwhile villains realized that if Titan Shang Tsung conquered every timeline then they would be in no position to conquer their own, much less any others, making this a case of Pragmatic Villainy. It is mentioned in the epilogue to 1 by Liu Kang that the sorcerers are imprisoned, implying that Quan Chi and New Era Shang Tsung outlasted their usefulness after the great battle with Titan Shang Tsung and were imprisoned before they could enact one of their schemes.
  • However, it is worth noting that both a good Quan Chi alongside a moral Shang Tsung together perform a Heroic Sacrifice to aid Liu Kang and the player to the top of the pyramid to face their dark counterparts in the finale.
• Adaptational Superpower Change: In Scorpion's Revenge he has the ability to shapeshift a power he never shows in the main games.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When he's at Hanzo's mercy in X, Quan Chi briefly tries to talk his way out of his impending demise, but Hanzo is having none of it.
• Arch-Enemy: Serves as Scorpion's primary foe, at least when Scorpion isn't his pawn.
• Asshole Victim: He's subjected to a lot of physical abuse in Mortal Kombat X and ends up killed by Scorpion, but hardly any sympathy can be mustered for him and the heroes only wanted him alive to restore the Revenants to their original form. Once he's dead, the only real regret anyone has is that Scorpion killed him before that could happen. Otherwise, Quan Chi's death is treated as, in Jax's words, "good riddance to bad trash.
• Bad Boss: Zigzagged. He is remarkably polite and cordial to his revenant servants and seems to see them as "friends" if pre-match dialogue is anything to go by. On the other hand, he will kill lesser subordinates like Moloch and Drahmin for the pettiest reasons and thinks absolutely nothing of them.
• Bald of Evil: Not one strand of hair on his head and he doesn't do one good deed throughout the franchise.
• Bat Out of Hell: His Summoner variation in his X incarnation has him summon a Netherrealm Bat.
• Beating A Dead Player: Quan Chi's signature finisher, the Leg Beatdown, involves him ripping off his opponent's leg and endlessly smacking them with it long after they're already dead. In 9 this also gets accompanied by Your Head Asplode (though he still just keeps pounding away). Ed Boon has called this his favourite Fatality of them all.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: With Shang Tsung in Deadly Alliance; though he's the one who founded the titular alliance and is clearly the dominant one between him and Shang Tsung. They do it again in Mortal Kombat 1, and this time Shang Tsung takes the lead.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Serves as this with Shang Tsung in Scorpion's Revenge being the more personal threat the The Protagonist Scorpion and the one who is behind the massacre of his clan, as well as the Final Boss at the end. While Shang Tsung is the one controlling the tournament so Shao Kahn can conquer Earthrealm.
• Big Bad Wannabe: In the original timeline, after he started acting on his own (how successful he was with he plotting to overthrow Shinnok is unclear). He nearly succeeds with his plan to revive Onaga's army, only to suffer from an Eviler than Thou from Onaga himself.
• Big "NO!":
  • When Scorpion drags him into the Netherrealm in 4.
  • Also occurs before being killed by Scorpion in Sub-Zero's ending from the same game.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: In 4, Quan Chi foolishly reveals that he was the one who killed Scorpion's family just as the ninja specter is about to kill Sub-Zero. Bare in mind that Sub-Zero had simply denied killing Scorpion's family meaning he didn't know who the culprit was either so Quan Chi revealed his actions for nothing. Scorpion grabs onto the sorcerer as he is about to teleport away and he spends the remainder of his time being hunted and tortured by Scorpion until he finds away to escape the Netherealm in Deadly Alliance.
• Brought Down to Normal: Due to Shinnok being sealed in MK9, he has lost a lot of his former power.
• Butt-Monkey: Scorpion killing him notwithstanding, after spending a lot of time as a Karma Houdini, X had karma bite him back hard. Pretty much every appearance he makes in the story involves having the shit kicked out of him, and most of what goes right is all D'Vorah's handiwork. Given what he's done over the years, it's almost funny watching him fail so badly, but it gets even funnier in his Arcade ending where he's (apparently) revived by the Elder Gods with the order of killing Raiden - all without his free will.
  • Doesn't get treated with much respect in Mortal Kombat 1's story either. He is thwarted and knocked out by the heroes rather quickly, while unconsciously dressed up like a buffoon by them and comically led around by them during a parade. A ghost even turns his skin white for no apparent reason other than to startle the shit out of him. Even at the end of the Klassic Towers he's seen getting severely pummeled alongside his partner in crime, except his beatdown's objectively more humiliating as the player's Kameo Kharacter will take him on and cruelly Judo chop his throat, causing him to choke and gasp for sweet air.
• Canon Immigrant: Made his debut in Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, then made his canon game debut in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero.
• The Chessmaster: Especially in 9, where he manipulates both Raiden's and Shao Kahn's forces so he could make conquest by Shinnok easier by having the latter disposed of by the Elder Gods as a consequence for violating the Mortal Kombat laws.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: One of the most treacherous characters in the franchise, probably more so than Shang Tsung. There's not a single character he's allied or bargained with that he didn't later betray.
  • In an inversion, his Arcade ending in 9 has Shinnok betray him first, but he still gets the better of him.
  • Subverted in MKX. Quan Chi serves Shinnok with no doubt. He even sacrifices himself to free the fallen Elder God.
  • In the same game, pre-fight dialogue in a Mirror Match hangs a lampshade on this.
    Quan Chi 1: We mustn't fight!
    Quan Chi 2: I'm afraid we must.
    Quan Chi 1: You were my only friend...
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: In his X incarnation, parts of his outfit will change color based on his variation: green on his skull and skeleton hands for Warlock, red on his spikes for Summoner, and purple on his body markings for Sorcerer. The latter two variations also gets a corresponding eye glow.
• Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: His face in X is an composite of various Universal Horror actors such as Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, while his voice actor's performance makes him sound suspiciously like Christopher Lee.
• Dark Is Evil: Uses black magic and necromancy as powers, plus the fact that he is a demon from the Netherrealm.
• Deadpan Snarker: Never loses the polite tone of his voice in many of his intros in MKX, and has a dry sense of humor in several of those.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • While Scorpion is a powerful ally, Quan Chi never really considered the potential downsides to employing and empowering someone whose family he murdered. Every timeline and adaptation where Scorpion discovers the truth sees him turn on Quan Chi with extreme prejudice.
  • After resurrecting Scorpion, Quan Chi seemed to believe that the Lin Kuei would either not notice or not care that, despite his promise to exterminate the Shirai Ryu, he brought one of the clan's most prominent members back from the dead. Unsurprisingly, Sektor calls him on it, rightfully tells Quan Chi that he violated the spirit of their agreement, and refuses to fulfill their end of the bargain.
  • Downplayed with Noob Saibot; while resurrecting a man who hated you in life and whose death you orchestrated sounds like a terrible idea, turning Bi-Han into his shadowy servant never canonically backfires on Quan Chi, though Noob's bios and tower endings strongly suggest that he was just waiting for a good opportunity to stab Quan Chi in the back, and it's implied that the only reason Quan Chi avoided such treachery is because Hanzo killed him before Noob could get a chance to.
• The Dragon: To Shinnok in 4 and 9, but...
• Dragon with an Agenda: He was plotting against him in the original timeline, as he does with everyone he allies with.
• Dystopia Justifies the Means: Baraka's ending in Gold shows a Quan Chi that had successfully betrayed Shinnok and stolen his power...and used it to kill everyone in Edenia and rule over a dead realm, considering domination over the living to be a limitation on himself; the Deadly Alliance intro suggests that his ultimate motivation is to "destroy all that is good".
• Dual Wielding: Wields twin broadswords in the DA-D-A trilogy.
• Empty Promise: He sees Scorpion as a pawn and nothing more, in every timeline. He even confesses as much to Kuai Liang in 4.
  Scorpion agreed to fight for us in exchange for freedom from the Netherrealm; a deal I had no intention of fulfilling. By killing him, you saved us the trouble. Both you and Scorpion were pawns for Shinnok.
• Enemy Mine:
  • His "Deadly Alliance" with Shang Tsung is this. They only ever teamed up because they wanted to eliminate their opponents and what they wanted in the end were not mutual and very different. Once they took out the opposition, they quickly fight one another, with Quan Chi prevailing. Eventually, Tsung kills him in the Battle of Armageddon much later on. Averted in Mortal Kombat 1 where they actually seem to enjoy working together.
  • Also briefly forms one with Raiden and again Shang Tsung to help fend of Onaga when he returns though they aren't able to stop him.
  • Initiates one with Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn, and Onaga in Armageddon. He outright admits that the four of them will inevitably betray each other, but with the heroes gathering their forces the only way for any of them to even have a chance at claiming the power atop the pyramid if they team up and wipe out their opposition first.
  • Confirmed even further in 11, where Tsung outright thanks Scorpion for killing him.
  • In MK vs. DC, he joins the MK side.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:
  • In one of his intros with Scorpion in MKX (if the player chooses the Hanzo Hasashi skin), he seems to be baffled that the spectre is no longer his wraith.
  • In several of his intros with the other revived revenants, he seems genuinely confused as to why they fell out of his service and calls them ungrateful despite being told that he turned them into his slaves.
  • Unlike many of his fellow revenants, it's shown that Kung Lao secretly hates being one and wants to find a way to get out of the Netherrealm for good, but could not. But Kung Jin did not give up hope, and he comes to help his older cousin's aid and redeems him in both of their arcade endings, enabling Kung Lao's Heroic Willpower to overcome the corruption that bound him to the Netherrealm as a revenant and escape to rejoin the side of good, something which neither Quan Chi nor Shinnok did not expect. And while it may be very hard for a revenant to embrace positive emotions as Quan Chi brainwashed them to the point of extreme hatred in MKX, it also shows that Heroic Willpower and familial bonds are much stronger than the Netherrealm's taint, things that neither Shinnok nor Quan Chi wouldn't be able to comprehend.
• Evil Overlord: In exchange for helping Shinnok overthrow Lucifer, he was granted the chance to rule at his side in the Netherrealm, qualifying him for this trope.
  • In Scorpion's Revenge, Quan Chi is the ruler of the Netherrealm. Until Shinnok gets free from his imprisonment, that is.
• Evil Sorcerer: One of the biggest users of dark magic in the entire series, whose abilities have been so far the most plot relevant. In 9, he conjures images of Sub-Zero killing Scorpion's family, so that the enraged spectre would kill the Cryomancer; heals Shao Kahn's wounds; resurrects Sindel in Earthrealm; attempts to create a Soulnado and conjures undead versions of the warriors killed by Sindel to attack Raiden.
• Evil Sounds Deep: This wicked sorcerer's voice was deep as hell in Mortal Kombat 4 through Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Not quite as much now, but almost as deep as Shao Kahn's in modern titles.
• Exact Words: Sektor considered Scorpion's existence to be a violation of Quan Chi's promise to exterminate the Shirai Ryu; Quan Chi tried to worm his way out of the accusation by saying that he created Scorpion from Hanzo's soul after Hanzo was dead, but Sektor was having none of it, telling Quan Chi that he had violated the spirit of the arrangement, if not the letter, and refused to have anything more to do with him.
• Excessive Evil Eyeshadow: Also a staple of his appearance. It gives him a more sinister look than he already has.
• Facial Markings: He seems to have a chakra painted on his forehead. Also, there are two black lines coming out of his eyebrows towards the back of his head.
• Faux Affably Evil:
  • Best seen when he talks to Raiden towards the end of 9, where he's dripping with contempt toward the Thunder God, but never loses the polite tone in his voice.
  • This is also frequently demonstrated in his intro dialogue in X, in which he maintains a calm and collected tone, even when making threats against his opponent. He even occasionally tries to strike up a "friendship" with his opponent and expresses false sorrow when said opponent wisely rejects the sentiment.
• Filler Villain: In Defenders of the Realm, he was only around for one episode and didn't show up after that. Not so much in the games, as well as another animated adaptation.
• Final Boss: Being one half of the titular Deadly Alliance, he can be either the last or second-to-last opponent in the fifth game's arcade ladder.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Could be seen as this in the MKX comic series as he is the one who made an alliance with Havik and got him started on the track to enact his plan. Though Havik ends up betraying him and Quan Chi is pretty much uninvolved in the main conflict after that.
• Grievous Harm with a Body: Ed Boon went on record as claiming that Quan Chi had both his most and least favorite fatalities in the series.
  • His Leg Rip fatality in 4 and 9, where he tears your leg off and beats you to death with it, was his favorite.
  • In Deadly Alliance, he stretches your neck to cartoony proportions, and while he does it, it can be assumed that he's tearing your spinal kord from the rest of your nerves while keeping your head attached. It's basically Sub-Zero's head rip, but far less bloody. Ed Boon has repeatedly stated that this is his least favorite fatality, and it has the honor of being the only fatality in Mortal Kombat history that he outright regrets putting in an MK game.

H-W

• Hated by All: His Outworld allies, including Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung^note Specifically in the NRS timeline, in the original they get along well enough to form the Deadly Alliance, only betraying each other once their goal was met, distrust and despise him, while his allies in the Netherrealm aren't fond of him either. Scorpion, Drahmin, and Moloch want to kill him for his treachery, Noob Saibot feigns loyalty and secretly wants to overthrow him, and Shinnok hardly acknowledges his sacrifice in Mortal Kombat X. Only the Netherrealm Revenants are loyal to him and that's only because they're under his influence.
• The Heavy:
  • He is this in Mythologies as he is the one who is driving the plot by employing the Lin Kuei and attempted to get Shinnok's amulet while he is working for Shinnok.
  • Also serves as this is in MKX while Shinnok is the one Quan Chi is working for and ultimately the one who takes center stage at the end. Quan Chi is the one actively working to free him throughout the game and is eventually the one to do so.
• Heel–Face Brainwashing: In his Mortal Kombat X arcade ending, the Elder Gods acknowledge Quan Chi's slaying of Shinnok by taking away his free will tasking him with destroying Raiden, who had become a new liability for them.
• Hellish Horse: Can be seen riding one in some of his pre-fight dialogue if he's the first one to speak in Mortal Kombat X. He and the revenants briefly ride some towards the end of story mode.
• Hoist by Their Own Petard:
  • Quan Chi's non-canon ending in Deadly Alliance sees this slam dead-on into him. With Onaga's army resurrected, Quan Chi no longer needs Shang Tsung, and shuts off the portal to the heavens before having Kano gut Shang Tsung like a fish. He then realizes Kano has no reason not to kill him, too, so he uses his necromancy to drain the life from him. Unfortunately for Quan Chi, killing Shang Tsung released the souls inside his body, one of which promptly reanimates Kano. To Quan Chi's terror, Liu Kang is alive once again...
  • His Armageddon ending has him take Blaze's powers and attack the heavens only to find Argus and the Elder Gods waiting him for him. It turns out that the entire battle was just a ruse to lure out the real threat to the realms. The gods transform Quan Chi into a Kamidogu, the very amulet he had been carrying for years and then send him back in time to the exact moment Shinnok discovered it.]]
• Humiliation Conga: Gets treated with severe disrespect in MKX's story. All of his plans fail, he's constantly getting his ass kicked by the heroes, and Sonya Blade even stomps on his testicles.
• Hypocrite: In X, Quan Chi, backstabber extraordinaire, expects the Lin Kuei to hold up to their end of a bargain that Quan Chi has already violated the spirit of. His remark that the Lin Kuei need to "abide their agreements" is downright laughable coming from him.
  Quan Chi: The Lin Kuei need to abide their agreements, Sektor. The Grandmaster gave Shinnok his word.
  Sektor: Shinnok's currency is lies, as is yours.
• Insistent Terminology: Quan Chi's use of the word "ninja" to refer to Sub-Zero (who's a Lin Kuei), specifically done as a form of mockery.
• Instant Expert: According to Deadly Alliance's Konquest Mode, the bulk of Quan Chi's knowledge of the martial arts comes from magic. When he was drained of his powers in the fifth plane of the Netherrealm, Quan Chi could only rely on basic Tang Soo Do attacks to ward off Scorpion.
• Jerkass: He hides it under a lot of fake charm, but Quan Chi is a remorseless backstabber who enjoys bringing out the worst in people and who revels in his evil deeds.
• Karma Houdini: The ending of 9 makes him one.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: Subverted. His own ticket gets torn in X, thanks to Hanzo/Scorpion beheading him, but this comes with the consequence of Shinnok reviving and the remaining revenants staying that way. It gets played straight when Shinnok is defeated by Cassie and his machinations are ultimately undone by Raiden and Liu Kang in the next game.
• Karmic Death: Quan Chi murdered Hanzo Hasashi's wife and son, butchered his entire clan, then manipulated him into murdering a (relatively) innocent man for it, as well as using him as a slave; it's only fitting that it's Hanzo who gives the demon sorcerer the beating of a lifetime before taking off his head.
• Killed Off for Real: He makes no appearances in 11 despite the circumstances. An intro with Jacqui and Raiden has them discussing this, and Raiden expresses Kronika's plot did not bring him back in any form. The Grand Finale of "1" reveals he did indeed survive and managed to replace Kronika as Keeper of Time and rule his own universe just like every other character.
• Kung-Fu Wizard: A more literal example than most, as Deadly Alliance shows that his martial art skills are almost entirely the result of his magic, without which he only has very basic fighting abilities.
• Large Ham: Quan Chi absolutely devours the scenery in Mythologies Sub-Zero.
  Quan Chi: The amulet! I have Shinnok's amulet!!
  Sub-Zero (Bi-Han): Whose amulet?!
  Quan Chi: He is my deity, ruler of the Netherealm and, soon, destroyer of your Earthrealm.(...)
  Quan Chi: Shao Kahn is nothing but a peasant ruler of a long dead realm. Shinnok... is the destroyer of ALL realms. Including Kahn’s Outworld!
• Laser-Guided Karma: Quan Chi resurrected the heroes of Earthrealm and Edenia as Revenant slaves under his control. In his X ending, Quan Chi is resurrected as a slave to the Elder Gods who order him to kill Raiden.
• Living MacGuffin: Given his magic being the method by which the dead kombatants of 9 were turned into Revenant Zombies, he's this in X, as his magic combined with that of Raiden is the only known method by which the revenant curse can be reversed. Raiden manages to revive Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Jax, as they were present after Sonya beat Quan Chi to unconsciousness. However, years later after Jax captured Quan Chi, Scorpion attacked and killed him before any of the other revenants could be returned to life.
• Looks Like Orlok: Manages to even outdo Baraka in this regard, and his face was based on an actually Orlok mask.
• Manipulative Bastard: Arguably the biggest example in the games.
  • Quan Chi is the one who killed Scorpion's family and clan, not Sub-Zero. He told Scorpion that it was the younger Sub-Zero, because he wanted Scorpion on his and Shinnok's side during the events of MK4.
  • He does it again with Scorpion and the elder Sub-Zero during MK9. In the process, Scorpion's now a much more willing pawn for him, and he's also secured Noob Saibot as his servant. He might also be manipulating Raiden himself, if Raiden's visit to the Netherrealm and the Stinger at the game's end are any indication.
  • Does some with Shinnok as well. After retrieving Shinnok's amulet, he kept the real one for himself and gave Shinnok a fake.
  • MK vs. DCU also allows him to manipulate both forces of the conflict to release him from his chains on the Netherrealm. Raiden's Arcade Ladder ending also gives a bit of foreshadowing to the reboot, as Raiden is forced to use what might well be Kyrptonite as a power source. Quan Chi forces him to be a servant in order to stay alive.
  • Taken to ridiculous levels in X, where he manages to install D'Vorah within Kotal Kahn's elite circle and somehow manipulated Kano into assisting Mileena get back Shinnok's amulet, then proceeded to set up a series of events where he would be captured by Special Forces while D'vorah would teleport to the exact location and hand him said amulet, so that Shinnok would be freed in Earthrealm and could corrupt the Jinsei. The only wrench in all of this was Scorpion showing up and cutting his head off, and even then, it only barely failed as he managed to utter the incantation anyways and free Shinnok.
  • Subverted in Scorpion's Revenge. Quan Chi makes a mistake of revealing that he himself killed Scorpion and his family while in disguise. Shang Tsung also gets wise to his true intentions of releasing Shinnok and outsmarts him with ease.
• Mind over Matter: In Scorpion's solo movie. To show that he's not as defenseless as titular character might think, Quan Chi lifts him telekinetically into the air and breaks his bones... and then casually continues the conversation.
• Necromancer: As seen in the opening to Armageddon as well as in the story modes of 9 and X, although he can't do this in gameplay. He can exert limited control over the living as well (see People Puppets below).
  • One of his variaions is based around summoning a bat-like creature to use in combat.
• Not Me This Time: Havik, through the Kamidogu, is the one behind the second Shirai Ryu massacre, not Quan Chi.
• Off with His Head!: How he's killed by Hanzo in MKX.
• Offscreen Inertia: One of the reasons why his leg beating fatality is well-liked. In 4 the game would continue to the next screen while 9 keeps it going until you exit out of the menu.
• Oh, Crap!: When Hanzo comes looking for Quan Chi in MKX, the sorcerer clearly recognizes just how screwed he is; he tries to talk his way out of the situation to no avail, and he knows he can't escape death after ending up on the receiving end of Hanzo's rope spear. That said, as he manages to secure Shinnok's release the instant before Hanzo takes off his head, Quan Chi does manage to die with some dignity and even a brief smirk.
• Omnicidal Maniac: In Baraka's Gold ending, Quan Chi has stolen the powers of Shinnok and used it to kill all of the other kombatants as well as everybody in Edenia save for himself and Baraka, his ally. Baraka is infuriated that Quan Chi is such a madman that he is happy to rule over a dead realm and turns on him, so Chi kills him as well.
• People Puppets: Some of his moves allow him to control his opponent's body for a short period of time.
  • Used in-story in the DC crossover with Kitana, as a way to show the effects of the Rage virus to the MK warriors.
  • His X-Ray move in 9 is all about this.
  • His first Fatality in X has Quan Chi controlling and forcing his victim to walk forward and impale themselves in the mouth on a floating blade before being vertically bisected.
• Portal Cut: His second fatality in X, around the opponent's midsection.
• Posthumous Villain Victory: Subverted; while Quan Chi manages to complete the incantation to release Shinnok an instant before Hanzo beheads him, Shinnok himself is ultimately defeated by Cassie Cage and brought down even further by Dark Raiden; at best, Quan Chi gave his master a chance at victory, and at worst, opened Shinnok up to a horrific fate.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Not immediately noticeable, but the red eyes are always there. It contributes to his demonic-looking appearance.
  • Made much more obvious in his Summoner variation.
• Reforged into a Minion: A favorite tactic of his; he used Hanzo Hasashi's soul to create Scorpion, revived the fallen Sub-Zero as Noob Saibot, and raised all of the Earthrealm champions who died in 9 as his Revenant servants
• Secret Character: Beat the Story Mode in 9 to unlock him.
• Shapeshifting: While he never shows this ability In-Canon in Scorpion's Revenge he uses it to shapeshift into Sub-Zero to both slaughter the Shirai Ryu and pin it on Sub-Zero.
• Shout-Out: Inverted. He looks like a modern-day Kratos, but precedes him by a margin of 7-8 years (with his DA design predating GoW by almost three years).
• Skeletons in the Coat Closet: His chestplate in his X incarnation has a glowing skull in the center and he wears skull knee pads. His Warlock variation also gives him a pair of glowing skeleton hands in his back.
• Slouch of Villainy: His win pose in 9.
• So Long, Suckers!: Closely watch the intro to Deception. Quan Chi makes a getaway seconds before Raiden's Heroic Sacrifice kamikaze after calling him out on it.
• Spikes of Villainy: Present on his original armor from Mythologies and 4, but also included to a degree in his current attire.
• Spontaneous Weapon Creation: His "On Your Knees" and "Mind Game" Fatalities have him creating a sword of green energy to kill the opponent in gruesome ways. In Scorpion's Revenge, he uses this ability in the climactic fight with the titular character.
• Stance System: Had Tang Soo Do and Escrima in Deadly Alliance. He keeps the latter in Armageddon.
• The Starscream: To Shinnok in the original timeline. Subverted in the new timeline, where he continues to serve Shinnok until his death, but some of his intro dialogues and one-liners have him trying to take the Netherrealm.
• Summon Magic: The appropriately-named "Summoner" variation in X allows him to call forth a demonic bat familiar to sic on his opponent.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: In 4, he is this to Shang Tsung as an Evil Sorcerer who fights with skull fireballs and serves as the chief minion to a more powerful villain.
• Thanatos Gambit: Subverted. Scorpion cutting his head off only resulted in Shinnok being freed, but part of it was because he finished the incantation in time. Shinnok is also apparently smart enough not to revive him.
• There's No Kill like Overkill: His above mentioned Fatality where he beats the victim with their own severed leg. Even when the announcer deems the opponent dead, Quan Chi ignores it and keeps bludgeoning his foe's corpse, past the screen fading to black.
  • Quan Chi himself gets killed in this fashion as of Scorpion's Revenge.
• Thinking Up Portals: Travels between the Netherrealm and other realms at whim by creating magical gateways. Comes to the fore in Mortal Kombat X, using his "Warlock" variation that enables him to use these creatively to get the drop on his enemy.
• This Cannot Be!: Has an Oh, Crap! moment upon the return of Onaga. If you listen closely, he actually says this, too.
• Too Many Belts: His X incarnation has 6 belts arranged in a checker pattern.
• Tranquil Fury: Quan Chi never really raises his voice, or seems to give any indication he feels anything other than mild disgust and a sense of self-superiority. But if his "Leg Beatdown" fatality and the general sadism of his others are any indication, he is a very spiteful man.
• Tron Lines: His Sorcerer variation in his X incarnation has his body markings glow purple a la Kotal Kahn. Extra bonus points for glowing during certain moves.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Views those who defect from his services as this.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Starting in Deadly Alliance.
• Was Once a Man: Inverted. He was an oni who became humanoid.
• We Have Reserves: Casually kills one of his own demon minions in Mortal Kombat X just for standing in the way.
• White and Red and Eerie All Over: Since Deadly Alliance onwards, his face is tattooed with the Dragon King runes across his pale white body with red ink, giving this effect along with his matching dark clothing. Even in the reboot timeline, where the events of that game never canonically happened, simply because of how cool it looks.
• The Worf Effect: Across the series, he's shown as a force of evil to be reckoned with. Come X, he's hit with the power nerf bat hard.
  • Worf Had the Flu: In the present day in X, he's noticeably weaker than he was earlier, especially during the Netherrealm War, and some characters, notably Sareena, notice this. This is because, with Shinnok being a Sealed Evil in a Can, he doesn't have the fallen Elder God to back him up with his magical potential, and he's using all of his resources trying to break him free.
• Would Hurt a Child: Slaughtered the entire Shirai Ryu clan of ninjas and their village. This included the children too, one of which being Scorpion's own son.
• You're Insane!: On the receiving end of this from Baraka of all people in the latters MK Gold ending, with Baraka calling him out for being an Omnicidal Maniac rather than just a regular conqueror.

Tropes related to Quan Chi in the New Era

Tropes related to Quan Chi in The New Era

Tropes that appear across all of Quan Chi's appearances from Mortal Kombat 1 onwards.

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• Adaptation Origin Connection: In the New Era, it's Quan Chi who creates Ermac, not Shao.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Downplayed. While he's still a villain, and still very evil, Quan Chi's goals here are much less destructive than in prior timelines; rather than serving an Omnicidal Maniac like Shinnok, he's just out to get some power after living a mediocre life. His alliance with Shang Tsung is relatively more stable because of this, as they're on the same page regarding what they want.
• Adaptational Species Change: A Netherrealm demon in the previous timelines, an Outworlder here, though one who still makes use of the Netherrealm's malignant magic and demonic residents.
• Adaptational Superpower Change: A Downplayed example when it comes to his moveset. In previous games, Quan Chi's Summon Magic focused almost entirely on skeletons and demons, tying in with his master being the Ruler of the Netherrealm. Here, while the skeletons and bone constructs are still present, he instead summons the limbs of various Eldritch Abominations for many of his attacks. He does still retain his usual demonic summons in the story, though he lacks any direct allegiance to the Netherrealm in the New Era.
• Adaptational Wimp: Just like Shang Tsung, Liu Kang gave Quan Chi a different life to prevent him from becoming the dangerous sorcerer that he was on the previous two timelines. As such, Quan Chi is not as powerful in this timeline as he was in the previous ones.
• Amazon Brigade: Quan Chi commands the Sisterhood of Shadow, a cadre of demonesses who serve his evil whims. Only Ashrah (who forsook Quan Chi prior to the story) and Sareena appear in story mode, though Ashrah mentions that Kia and Jataaka were among the Sisterhood before their deaths, her tower ending shows unnamed demonesses fighting her on Quan Chi's behalf, and in one of their intros, Quan Chi offers Nitara a spot in the Sisterhood's ranks (she's not interested).
• Ambition Is Evil: Like Shang Tsung, Quan Chi led a mediocre existence before Damashi got her hooks into him, and once he got a taste of power, he became very eager for more. His tower ending shows that Quan Chi ultimately won't settle for less than omnipotence.
• Arch-Enemy: Ashrah utterly despises Quan Chi, hating having been in his service and even more so that he forced her to kill Kia and Jataaka by sending them after her for her desertion. Ashrah's ultimate goal, in addition to purging herself of evil, is seeing Quan Chi dead (though given how evil Quan Chi is, killing him would serve both goals).
• Assist Character: He acts as Shang Tsung's Kameo during the thirteenth chapter of the story when the two are in an Enemy Mine situation with the rest of Liu Kang's timeline.
• Bad Boss: Quan Chi is implied to control his demonic minions through brainwashing, and it's very telling that Ashrah, who cut her sisters down in self-defense, felt worse about Kia and Jataaka's deaths than Quan Chi himself did.
• Bald of Evil: As before, Quan Chi sports a bald head and the only decency he shows is out of self-serving pragmatism.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Just like Shang Tsung, Quan Chi thought he'd be conquering realms by Damashi's side, only for to have the rug pulled out from under him and learn that his benefactor never saw him as anything more than a pawn.
• Boomerang Bigot: He believes that people detest him because of his lowborn status (and not, you know, any of the atrocities), but at the same time dismisses his fellow miners because he views them as too worthless and unintelligent to help.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Every intro where someone calls Quan Chi evil or condemns him for his dark magic has the sorcerer take the remark as a compliment. His only expressed regret about diving headlong into a life of pure evil is that he didn't do it sooner.
  Reptile: You're not as bad as Shang Tsung, you're worse!
  Quan Chi: [chuckles] What have I done to earn such praise?
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Less prominent than in his previous incarnation, but Quan Chi is as treacherous as he ever was. An intro where Smoke accuses him of having betrayed everyone he's ever met has Quan Chi shamelessly remark that that sounds about right. In a Mirror Match, he also declines an alliance with an alternate version of himself because he knows best of all how treacherous he is.
• Co-Dragons: He and Shang Tsung serve their benefactor, "Damashi", under the belief that she will lay the realms at their feet.
• Combat Tentacles: Not of his own, but among his various applications of Thinking Up Portals for combat is to summon massive tentacles to attack and grapple enemies, presumably coming from some unseen beast from the Netherrealm.
• Composite Character: His ending in Mortal Kombat 1 shows that Quan Chi aspires to godhood, implying that he will take Shinnok's place as the series' resident God of Evil.
• Control Freak: Implied. He's very miffed at losing control of Ashrah, and in her tower ending actively fights her to retain control of Sareena. Quan Chi does not suffer the theft of his minions lightly, despite not valuing them beyond that. He also tries to regain control over Ermac in the latter's tower ending, only for the attempt to backfire and sour the Collection on Quan Chi entirely.
• The Corrupter: Quan Chi has a nasty habit of enabling or encouraging others toward further depravity. He built Shang Tsung’s laboratory, and in a pre-battle intro starts egging on Havik to further torment Seido after Havik destroys it with Rain's flood.
• Dark Is Evil: Although he himself is no longer a creature of the Netherrealm, Quan Chi still draws on its power to fuel his malign sorcery, as well as exploiting its demonic residents to serve as his minions.
  Johnny Cage: Nighty-night, sweet Prince of Darkness.
• Decapitation Presentation: In a pre-kombat dialogue with Syzoth, he muses about how happy his ally Shang Tsung would be if he presenting him Syzoth's severed head.
• Enemy Mine: Once he realized Titan Shang Tsung's deception, he temporarily joins forces with Liu Kang.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: Quan Chi makes use of anyone who can either be convinced or coerced into working for him, forming alliances with both Nitara (a Vaeternian) and Havik and Darrius (both Seidans, albeit atypical ones) to secure their aid and employing Netherrealm demons as his personal servants. Gender is likewise irrelevant to him, as he has no problem employing the Sisterhood of Shadow as his top enforcers (though at least some of them might not be working for him willingly).
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Having embraced a life of evil and loving every minute of it, Quan Chi doesn't understand why Ashrah seeks anything more than that; he mocks her quest for redemption and sees no point in her trying to be anything other than a Netherrealm demon (despite his own twisted ambitions being far grander).
• Evil Sounds Deep: Quan Chi has a booming voice as usual, and is as villainous as ever.
• False Prophet: While serving Sindel's court, Quan Chi makes a number of predictions that seem to come true (through the intervention of either Quan Chi himself or Shang Tsung), all for the sake of manipulating her and General Shao for the sake of souring them on Liu Kang.
• Fantastic Ableism: An intro with Baraka has Quan Chi say that Tarkatans should be used as labor in the mines, as they're "disposable", and in another, Quan Chi claims that if he and Shang Tsung had won, they would have burned the Tarkatans' colony.
• Faux Affably Evil: Quan Chi plays sympathy for Mileena's Tarkat disease and occasionally tries to flatter the other characters, but it's all a front to backstab them later. Even with supposed allies like Havik or Nitara, Quan Chi feigns benevolence, supporting their causes and granting them fantastic abilities, but quickly starts threatening to take back his gifts if they don't acquiesce to his demands.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Quan Chi used to be a laborer in Outworld's mines, and clearly dreads the notion of ever returning there. All sympathy you might have for him evaporates when you see how far he'll go to avoid it, and he hates the people who worked alongside him because they were "worthless."
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Like Shang Tsung, Quan Chi had been deliberately placed in a meaningless life by Liu Kang to avert the damage that he caused in previous timelines. Unfortunately, the same benefactor who elevated Shang Tsung did the same for Quan Chi, and while not quite as high and mighty as in previous timelines, where he was right hand to a fallen Elder God, Quan Chi has become a powerful sorcerer and threat to the realms.
  Quan Chi: Before she found me, languishing in the mines, I would not have though such a thing possible. But soon... she'll have transformed us from serfs into scions.
• A God Am I: In an intro with Scorpion, Quan Chi dismisses Kuai Liang's disgust that he draws power from the Netherrealm, insisting that doing so destines him to be a god among men. Intros with Nitara and Ashrah also suggest that Quan Chi makes the Sisterhood of Shadow worship him (Nitara refuses to do so when he offers her a place in the Sisterhood, and he promises to punish Ashrah's "faithlessness").
• Godhood Seeker: In his tower ending, Quan Chi decides that merely being a powerful sorcerer isn't good enough for him anymore; his new goal is to find the Hourglass so that he can usurp Liu Kang as Keeper of Time and become truly omnipotent.
• Hated by All: As his intros demonstrate, Quan Chi is one of the most loathed characters in the roster (more than even Shang Tsung). Everyone either distrusts him, hates him or wants him dead; his Mirror Matches show that Quan Chi can't even get along with himself. His alliance with Shang Tsung is his only positive relationship, and even then, their intros suggest that they're keeping secrets from each other and that their partnership isn't quite as stable as it seems. Even the quest characters hate his guts, Omni-Man views him as a sniveling parasite and Peacemaker views him as a dickhead.
• Hoist by Their Own Petard: Quan Chi used a Soul Stealer to harvest the souls of the Living Forest to create Ermac. Once a few of those souls are freed after Ashrah destroys the Soul Stealer, one attacks Quan Chi, painfully devouring part of the sorcerer's own soul and rendering him unconscious.
• Humiliation Conga: Downplayed, but Quan Chi takes his share of indignity during the middle of the story: despite successfully creating Ermac, when one of the souls used in the creature's creation escapes, it sucks out part of Quan Chi's own soul, bleaching his skin and leaving him unconscious to be dragged around by Johnny Cage and Kung Lao, who pretend that he's just passed out from drinking too much. When he finally comes to, the still dazed Quan Chi takes a quick beating from the Earthrealmers as they try to knock him out again, with Quan Chi only escaping because of General Shao's interference.
• Hypocrite:
  • Quan Chi complains in several intros of the meaningless, difficult life he endured in Outworld's mines, even claiming to Sindel that he had no choice but to take Damashi's offers of power. Whenever the subject of the other miners, who no doubt languished as Quan Chi did, comes up, the sorcerer dismisses their lives as worthless and undeserving of compassion.
  • Quan Chi's contempt for Ashrah's quest of absolution rings hollow when one remembers that Quan Chi himself aspired to be more than the miner he once was, and keeps aiming for more and more power even after getting some.
• Iconic Attribute Adoption Moment: One of the souls he leeched from the Living Forest escapes the body of Ermac and attacks him. This drains part of his soul and the color from his skin, leaving him as the bleached menace we remember from previous timelines.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • Although he's no longer from the Netherrealm himself, Quan Chi still uses its demonic residents as his minions.
  • Independently of his new origin, his albinism is now the result of a freed soul of the corrupted Living Forest devouring part of his soul rather than being part of it in the previous timelines.
• It's All About Me: Despite sharing his laborious existence with many others in Outworld's lower castes, Quan Chi only cares about elevating himself, insisting that his former fellow miners aren't worth helping.
• Jerkass: When he doesn't need to keep up the appearance of courtesy, Quan Chi shows himself to be a cruel, malicious fiend who delights in mocking his opponents and has no qualms about coercing others to get them to do his dirty work.
• Kraken and Leviathan: In gameplay, Quan Chi is able to summon the limbs of a kraken-like creature to aid himself.
• Lack of Empathy: The suffering of others means nothing to Quan Chi. Even those who suffer as he has, like the miners he once labored alongside, are dismissed by the sorcerer as beneath him.
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • Quan Chi ravaged the Living Forest with a Soul Stealer to create Ermac; not only is the Soul Stealer destroyed, but one of the freed souls pays Quan Chi back by sucking out part of the sorcerer's own soul, to say nothing of the fact that Ermac ultimately turns on Quan Chi, first due to Jerrod's emergence, then by the Collection's own free will.
  • Like Shang Tsung, Quan Chi remorselessly lied, manipulated, and destroyed lives to fulfill his own twisted ambitions and rule at Damashi's side, only for "Damashi" to be revealed as Titan Shang Tsung, who promptly betrays the Deadly Alliance and leaves them to die with everyone else in Liu Kang's timeline.
• Manipulative Bastard: He's no Shang Tsung, but he does also play a role in controlling Sindel. He also uses his Super-Empowering of Havik and the Vaeternians as leverage to control them; if they don't agree to his demands, he can easily take his gifts back.
• Matricide: Admits to Johnny Cage that he had killed his own mother for his own selfish purposes.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Creating Ermac ultimately does more to help the heroes than the villains; using souls from the Living Forest to create the gestalt being allows one of those souls, Emperor Jerrod, to take control of Ermac's body, giving the heroes a powerful new ally. Even his attempt to regain control over Ermac in the latter's tower ending does Quan Chi no good, as the effort fails and just convinces Ermac to forsake the sorcerer forever.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Quan Chi's facial features and propensity for intense eye contact in Mortal Kombat 1 have been noted by players to heavily resemble Amrish Puri, specifically his portrayal of Mola Ram.
• Not Me This Time: When Syzoth threatens to avenge his family's murder upon him, Quan Chi claims that Shang Tsung did the deed before the two sorcerers ever met.
• Out of Focus: Compared to his partner in crime Shang Tsung, Quan Chi gets much less focus in the story, though he serves as the main antagonist for Ashrah's chapter. This may be to delay The Reveal of the extent of his and the original Shang Tsung's involvement.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: An intro with Kenshi has the blind swordsman say that he doesn't want to see Quan Chi in Earthrealm; Quan Chi tastelessly replies that Kenshi can't "see" him at all.
• Pragmatic Villainy:
  • When Titan Shang Tsung reveals his duplicity and true intentions for their timeline, Quan Chi joins Shang Tsung in allying with Liu Kang and the heroes, partly for the sake of survival, and partly so the Deadly Alliance can get some payback for being used.
  • During the battle against the Dragon Army, Quan Chi agrees with Shang Tsung that Raiden is unbearable, but tells his partner that it's "tomorrow's problem", and the sorcerers opt to focus on the issue at hand.
  • In Ermac's tower ending, Quan Chi does go to the trouble of stabilizing the construct, not because he's grateful that Ermac freed him, but because he wants to re-enslave Ermac and wants him in top form to do his evil bidding.
• Race Lift: Two-fold in Mortal Kombat 1; His initial appearence in the story mode shows that his skin is naturally a medium tan, making him look ethnically Indian as opposed to the aracial appearence he's had in previous entries in the franchise. Quan Chi only gains his ghostly white skin after a Living Forest spirit sucks out part of his soul. Secondly, he is no longer an Oni from the Netherrealm in the New Era, and is instead a mortal Edenian sorcerer.
• Rags to Riches: Like Shang Tsung, he had a mundane origin prior to his benefactor's aid, alluding to himself "languishing in the mines."
• Skewed Priorities: Quan Chi assumes that everyone hates him for being a low-born, working-class commoner. While this holds true for Sindel, the rest of the cast is a little more concerned with his numerous atrocities.
• The Sociopath: Much like his partner in crime, Quan Chi is a vile, self-important schemer who only cares about his own benefit, caring nothing if billions of innocent people suffer because of him.
• Super-Empowering: Quan Chi's magic enabled him to turn Nitara into a Daywalking Vampire and to give Havik his Healing Factor, using these gifts (and possibly empty promises to help their respective causes) to get them on his and Shang Tsung's side. Of course, once these powers are supplied, he uses them as leverage to control the recipients, since he can just as easily take those gifts back.
• Thinking Up Portals: Several of his attacks involve opening portals, either to attack his opponent directly or summoning monsters and projectiles through them.
• Undeathly Pallor: Quan Chi doesn't have his trademark ashen-white skin initially, being an Outworlder instead of a demon, however, having part of his soul devoured by a released soul bleaches his skin in an instant.
• Ungrateful Bastard: In Ermac's tower ending, he springs Quan Chi from prison so that the sorcerer can stabilize the magic binding Ermac's souls together, which Quan Chi does, and immediately follows up by trying to bring Ermac back under his control, considering the construct nothing but his slave. Ermac is miffed, to say the least.
• Unwitting Pawn: Just like Shang Tsung, Quan Chi believed that Damashi would elevate him to unimagined heights of power. In reality, Damashi lied about everything, up to and including his very identity, and always intended for the Deadly Alliance to perish with everyone else in their timeline once the Dragon Army was ready.
• Villainous Friendship: Quan Chi and Shang Tsung work together well and seem to genuinely enjoy each other's company. Whether they would have turned on each other, as the Deadly Alliance did in previous timelines, is never put to the test.