"Oh, no child, I will not kill him right away. I will torture him just like I tortured poor Fujin ages ago. And I will let him live long enough to see his child born, and then I will force him to watch as I set it on fire over and over and over, keeping it alive, a twisted, mutilated thing screaming in pain and begging to die. And perhaps after eons have passed, I will allow them both to die, and he will become my servant."
In the many fan interpretations of the Mortal Kombat franchise in the never-ending war between the realms, Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn, Shinnok and Quan Chi prove to be just as despicable as their canon counterparts, but aren't the only ones.
- Crossovers can be found here.
All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
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Examples
- Grandmaster Oniro is the leader of the Lin Kuei who filled his ranks by kidnapping toddlers and training them as assassins. He executes those who protest his plans, including An Zhi, and often beats any Lin Kuei for minor infractions. Deeming Kuai Liang to be weak, Oniro captures an elderly man for defaulting on a loan and orders Kuai Liang to execute him; Oniro kills the man himself when Kuai Liang refuses. To remove any "imperfections" of human emotion, he initiates the Cyber Initiative that would cyberize every Lin Kuei and enslave them to his directive. After cyberizing a few Lin Kuei, he brings in a 10-year-old girl for trespassing in the Lin Kuei temple and orders the cyborgs to kill her. After Sub-Zero and Smoke's defection from the clan, the former discovers that Oniro had kidnapped mothers from villages that he razed, where he chained them and captured their newborn babies, throwing any female babies over a cliff for being "weak". More than willing to kill those who don't follow his philosophy, Oniro is the model Sub-Zero strives to avoid when he becomes Grandmaster himself.
- Netherrealm sorcerer Quan Chi first tried to acquire Shinnok's amulet by sending Bi-Han and Hanzo Hasashi after it, organizing the death of the latter, and exterminating the rest of the Shirai Ryu clan as payment to the Lin Kuei. When Sareena helps Bi-Han reacquire the amulet, Quan Chi kills her and sends her soul to be tortured in the fifth plane of the Netherrealm. He also revives Scorpion into his servant and manipulates him into killing Bi-Han so that he could also be enslaved. Quan Chi then massacred the city of Bandiagara by manipulating the populace into summoning Malphas, while also manipulating Frost into exterminating her own village and killing her adoptive father, Shinji. He later aids Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm by sacrificing over a hundred people to create a soulnado. After usurping Shao Kahn, Quan Chi plans to revive Onaga's army and then exterminate all Earthrealmers to expand his ranks. He first orders the assassination of Sub-Zero and his allies' family members and captures four of them as a sacrifice to resurrect Onaga's army, torturing Anya through a strappado when she tries to escape. Ultimately loyal to no one, Quan Chi will manipulate anyone and commit any atrocity to get what he wants.
- Sub-Zero: Origins: Shao Kahn is the second ruler of Outworld who leads genocidal conquests against the realms. Upon taking control of Outworld, Shao Kahn exterminated and enslaved anyone who opposed his rule, and then conquered other neighboring realms, exterminating the Usirneans and nearly doing the same to the Zaterrans. After he conquered Edenia, Shao Kahn bribed Xiao the Corrupted One into aligning the Cryomancers to himself, executing anyone who didn't accept Xiao's proposal and eventually killing the rebelling Edenians, before taking King Jerrod's family and raping Sindel. He also colluded with Rain to exterminate the Hydromancers, decimating a quarter of Edenia's population. During the Mortal Kombat tournament in Outworld, Shao Kahn dishonorably kills Kung Lao and, after he's defeated by Liu Kang, launches an illicit invasion of Earthrealm, sending out extermination squads to massacre entire human populations and ordering Quan Chi to sacrifice a hundred people to create a soulnado. When he arrives to Earthrealm, Shao Kahn attempts to kill the Earthrealm defenders himself, mocking Sub-Zero that he'll make Anya his concubine when he's done. Although he was a noble warlord in the past, Shao Kahn's ambition turned him into a merciless warmonger only interested in dominating others.
- Frostbitten & The Curse of the Dragon Medallion: Onaga, the Dragon King, far worse than in canon, is the ruler of Outworld who wanted to control all realms. To that end, Onaga planned to conquer every realm to awaken the One Being and kill the Elder Gods, before wiping out existence with a spell and recreating it with the Kamidogu, enslaving everyone's will to his own. Onaga captured Eidotheia and Fujin to force the former to create said spell, exterminating the Hydromancers when she refused. He then tortured Fujin to coerce her until he was assassinated by Shao Kahn, but his spirit lived on to manipulate Shujinko into collecting the Kamidogu. Upon being revived, Onaga sends his army to Outworld to kill anyone who didn't submit and to get the Dragon Medallion to initiate his plan, massacring thousands of citizens. He later has an enslaved Raiden capture the three Elementals, including a pregnant Anya, before he has Raiden torture Sherman for speaking out. He also plans for Anya to give birth to Sub-Zero's child, where he'll kill it multiple times in front of Sub-Zero, before killing them both and enslaving the latter. In the final battle, Onaga gloats that he'll make Sub-Zero watch his friends die slowly. Despite claiming to enforce order, Onaga is just obsessed with dominating everything and stands as the vilest threat Sub-Zero has faced.
- The Curse of the Dragon Medallion: Malphas is a crow-demon from the Netherrealm, whose influence can drive others insane. When summoned by the city of Bandiagara to protect from Shao Kahn's siege, Malphas feigned friendliness, before driving the population mad and causing them to kill each other. Afterwards, Malphas wiped out a nearby Tarkatan encampment and slaughtered anymore armies sent to investigate. When the Earthrealm defenders arrive to Bandiagara, he tries to lure them into a trap to kill them as well, stalking them when they try to escape. He quickly takes an interest in Anya and her unborn baby, planning to exploit its birth to escape the Netherrealm and burn all of the realms into oblivion. As a result, he haunts her dreams and later possesses Rain to capture Anya and await her pregnancy, planning to let Rain even rape her when his plan is achieved. Depraved and sociopathic, Malphas stands out as a monster of a demon and commits atrocities just because he can.
Others
Examples
- Enemies of the Past (link
): Shao Kahn is the cruel despot of Outworld who seeks to conquer other realms to expand his dominion. When Outworld won ten consecutive Mortal Kombat tournaments against Edenia, Shao Kahn murdered King Jerrod and took his family, while also ordering the extermination of numerous Edenian villages. After his defeat in Mortal Kombat 3, Shao Kahn enlists the aid of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi to rebuild an army to conquer Earthrealm and Edenia. He then orders the two sorcerers to kidnap Sindel and Kitana for him and to kill Liu Kang and bring his body so that he could be turned into his mindless servant. Shao Kahn also sends extermination squads to Earthrealm to the Wu Shi Academy and to various cities, killing thousands in the process. When the Earthrealm forces infiltrate Shao Kahn's fortress, he engages them in combat, taking pleasure that he'll kill his own brother, Raiden. - The Fable of the Fallen Elder God; Shinnok (sic) (link): Shinnok was once a benevolent Elder God who grew jealous that his fellow deities received more praise from the Earthrealmers. Eventually, he decided to overthrow his former comrades and become worshipped by all the realms, sacrificing all of his followers to amplify his own power and use an amulet to plunge Earthrealm into darkness, creating famines and enslaving all of humanity. When he was condemned to the Netherrealm as punishment, he ordered Quan Chi to manipulate a conflict between Earthrealm and Outworld to weaken both realms by the time of his return, so Shinnok could extinguish all life in Earthrealm.
- The Movie (Martin Delrio's novelization) fanfic Fall of EarthRealm (sic) (link):
- Shao Kahn is the ruler of Outworld who wanted to rule over all the realms by awakening the One Being and exploiting its power to become unstoppable. After conquering nearly every other realm and enslaving its residents, Shao Kahn then conquers Earthrealm by winning ten consecutive Mortal Kombat tournaments, in which he has billions of humans enslaved and uses fire to kill thousands more. He also has his daughter, Kitana, and a crowd of Edenians, executed via immolation for conspiring with Earthrealm against him. After he rescinds Shang Tsung's rule over Earthrealm, he has his wife, Sonya Blade, fight Sindel for his entertainment, taking joy that Sindel nearly kills her. He later leads his forces to destroy the Earthrealm warriors to consolidate his rule over their realm, slaughtering hundreds more.
- The demon is an evil spirit that wants to steal souls and reawaken the One Being to become the most powerful figure in the realms. To achieve this, he massacres Shang Tsung's entire village and manipulates him into being possessed, allowing the demon to kill thousands more and steal their souls to enhance its power. It later influences Shang Tsung into raping Sonya Blade, as the soul of the unborn baby will amplify its powers even more when it possess Sonya. Eventually, the demon decides to possess Sonya and leave Shang Tsung to wither away, in which it kills Shao Kahn to gain his knowledge of how to reawaken the One Being. When Shang Tsung begs to be in its service again, the demon orders him to kill Raiden, taking satisfaction when he does so.
- ProudNintendoFan's series (part 1, part 2, part 3): Shao Kahn is the brutal tyrant of Outworld who is solely motivated to conquer other realms. Upon invading Edenia, he wipes out entire villages and murders its ruler, King Jerrod, but not before taunting him that he'll take his family as his own. When his attempts to merge Earthrealm via the Mortal Kombat tournament fails, Shao Kahn beats Shang Tsung and only spares him when the latter formulates a plot to lure and kill the Earthrealm warriors in an Outworld tournament, in which Shao Kahn orders his forces to raid the Shaolin temples and slaughter the monks there to lure Liu Kang. When he learns that Reptile was defeated in the tournament, he informs Reptile that his entire race went extinct to increase his loyalty, leaving out the fact that Shao Kahn himself was responsible for exterminating them. During his fight with Liu Kang, Shao Kahn tries to strangle Kitana when she intervenes, murder Liu Kang after he's defeated, and then orders his forces to slaughter the Earthrealm warriors anyways. He later invades Earthrealm illicitly, where he wipes out entire cities and absorbs the countless souls lost in the conflict to increase his own power.
- Shang Tsung: Sorcerer Supreme (link): Shang Tsung, after the events of Mortal Kombat X, resurrects himself by absorbing every single soul inside Ermac and sees a chance to gain ultimate power. Shang Tsung teams up with Noob Saibot, and first, they take down Sub-Zero and Scorpion, with Shang Tsung absorbing their souls. Shang Tsung then tries to recruit Kano, and when he refuses, Shang Tsung kills him and a crowd of spectators, then absorbs their souls, then does the same to everyone in the Wu Shi Academy. Shang Tsung lets Noob Saibot weaken Raiden, then betrays Noob Saibot. Shang Tsung then defeats and absorbs the souls of Raiden, Kotal Kahn, and Liu Kang. Shang Tsung takes over Outworld, merging it with Earthrealm and forcing the Neatherrealm to submit to him, as well as creating a soulnado to the heavens, providing him with an endless number of souls. Shang Tsung then uses Onaga's army to conquer even more realms.
- Spectre in the Flame (link): Shinnok and Quan Chi are a duo ruling over the Netherrealm who wish to conquer Earthrealm and Edenia. To recruit Scorpion into their army, Quan Chi sets up his death by Bi-Han and the duo have him temporarily kept in the Prison of Souls to be tortured by demons. Quan Chi also eradicates the Shirai Ryu clan and personally kills Scorpion's family to both repay the Lin Kuei for their aid in his plan and to stoke Scorpion's rage. The duo then frame Bi-Han for the massacre and release Scorpion to kill both Sub-Zero brothers, successfully killing Bi-Han in the process. When Scorpion returns to the Netherrealm, the duo officially recruit him and invade Edenia, slaughtering millions of citizens. When they invade Earthrealm next, they order Scorpion and their generals to kill Liu Kang, while making Kitana watch. After Scorpion learns that Kuai-Liang wasn't responsible for his clan's destruction, Quan Chi reveals himself to be responsible for the atrocity and taunts Scorpion about it before trying to banish him back to the Netherrealm.
- SSXIX's 3-part series: Shinnok is a former Elder God who wanted to destroy all of Earthrealm by corrupting its Jinsei to remake it and rule over it with an iron fist. When he was first foiled by Raiden and Fujin, he returned with the aid of Quan Chi, enslaving Sonya Blade, Erron Black, and Reptile in the process. He also captures Raiden, torturing him and planning to make him watch Earthrealm's destruction before he finally kills him. He even plans to destroy the other realms when he's finished with Earthrealm. When he's foiled again, Shinnok spitefully corrupts the Jinsei to wipe out all life in Earthrealm, setting up a successful gambit that corrupts Raiden when he purifies it. He also leaves some influence over Sonya Blade that drives her to kill Kenshi and nearly do the same to Cassie Cage.
- Victar's series:
- Shang Tsung, the Villain Protagonist of the chapter "The Most Necessary Evil", is a sorcerer who desired immortality and made a pact with the Elder Gods to steal the souls of others to maintain his age. Taking over the Mortal Kombat tournament in Earthrealm by murdering its previous Grandmaster, he would organize the deaths of numerous combatants and steal their souls. When he was beaten and exiled by the Great Kung Lao, Tsung enlisted the aid of Goro to kill him and then captured the rest of his family and friends to slowly absorb their souls as well. In exchange, he swore loyalty to Shao Kahn and agreed to help him build a dimensional bridge to Earthrealm that would enable him to conquer it. To acquire the energy needed to build the bridge, he continued to absorb the souls of those killed in his tournament and he even created Mileena for Shao Kahn in exchange for enslaving the Saurian race. When his plan was foiled by Liu Kang, he complied with Shao Kahn's order to massacre the Shaolin temple and lure him into another tournament in Outworld.
- Shao Kahn was a minor warlord in Outworld, until he started the Great War against its rulers, overthrowing them and taking their daughter, Kitana, as his own. During said conflict, Shao Kahn enacted a brutal scorched earth policy that wiped out most life on Outworld and rendered some parts of it into a wasteland. Without enough resources to maintain his population, Shao Kahn regularly culled them by forcing them to fight in his Arena, while also forcing Kitana to murder one of her former servants during one event. Shao Kahn also executes those who criticize his government and ordered the genocide of the Black Moon tribe after they attacked his tax envoy. Wishing to conquer other realms, Shao Kahn ordered Shang Tsung to build a dimensional bridge to transport his army to Earthrealm, allowing him to enslave or kill billions of humans. After Earthrealm defeated Outworld in a Mortal Kombat tournament, Shao Kahn sent his forces to massacre the Shaolin Temple to lure the Earthrealm warriors into a second tournament in Outworld to kill them. Additionally, Shao Kahn chained Kano and Sonya Blade to his Arena to be corrupted into his servants and sent Kitana to further lure the Earthrealm warriors into Outworld, relishing the suffering they all go through.
- Shang Tsung, the Villain Protagonist of the chapter "The Most Necessary Evil
