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"Watch, Miss Cage, as I rend your father's flesh...This is what awaits those who defy me: excruciating, exquisite death."
—Shinnok, to Cassie Cage, while torturing her father Johnny Cage, Mortal Kombat X
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Mortal Kombat is a Long Runner with Loads and Loads of Characters. But the utter cruelty and horrible deeds of some of these villains are more than enough to earn them a special place in the Netherrealm. Spoilers are not hidden.
Video Games[]
- Shang Tsung, the Evil Sorcerer of Outworld and The Dragon to Shao Kahn, was the grandmaster of Mortal Kombat who attempted to open Earthrealm to invasion by the dark forces he serves. This included reviving Queen Sindel to life, eventually resulting in a tremendous amount of deaths. Having been cursed by the Elder Gods for stealing a soul long ago, Shang Tsung continues to delve into forbidden arts, making stealing the souls of his victims his trademark and keeping them inside him in perpetual terror. Allying with fellow sorcerer Quan Chi in the deadly alliance, the sorcerers would proceed to open a path to the heavens so Shang Tsung could consume all the souls therein and gain even greater power after murdering his longtime foe Liu Kang and supposedly killing Shao Kahn. The sorcerers would also enslave villages, using the souls of their captives—an enormous amount—to fuel the mummified soldiers of the Dragon King's army. Later on, he would form an uneasy alliance with Quan Chi, Shao Kahn, and Onaga in the hopes of preventing the Forces of Good from defeating Blaze, then seizing his own opportunity to strike when it came. Shang Tsung also served as a scientist of sort to Shao Kahn, having used the "Flesh Pits", where people, including the likes of Kotal Kahn during his days as a general of Outworld, were tortured and vivisected to attempt to create Tarkatan clones of Kitana. It's revealed that Kronika enlisted his help to create her Crown which is fueled by the millions of souls Shang Tsung has collected, and when he attempted to use it against her, Kronika banished him into the Void. Being released from the Void after Liu Kang kills Kronika, Shang Tsung, to no one surprise, masterfully manipulates everyone in order to retrieve Kronika's Crown, defeat her and gain control over her Hourglass, succeeding in one timeline and becoming a tyrannical god who uses Raiden and Fujin to conquer realms. Ambitious and greedy, Shang Tsung repeatedly demonstrates nothing is beyond him in his tireless pursuit of power and his hunger for souls, and is so evil that in the new timeline he is erased from all timelines for good.
- Shao Kahn, The Emperor of Outworld, is a brutal warlord who seeks to merge all realms with his own. Having poisoned his master, Onaga, Shao Kahn would later subjugate many other worlds, including the peaceful Edenia where he killed the benevolent King Jerrod and took Jerrod's family for his own, prompting his new wife Sindel to kill herself. Shao Kahn would later invade Earthrealm and, with the help of a brainwashed Sindel, who had been resurrected by Shang Tsung, would use his magic to rip out the souls of everyone on Earthrealm while sending his extermination squads to hunt down survivors. Later on, he would go on to form an uneasy alliance with Quan Chi, Shang Tsung, and Onaga in the hopes of preventing the Forces of Good from defeating Blaze, then seizing his own opportunity to strike when it came. He eventually succeeds and takes Blaze's power, pretty much killing Raiden, but not before the battered thunder god sends a message to his past self to avert Armageddon. In the new timeline, Shao Kahn, besides using Shang Tsung's Flesh Pits to create Mileena, an Ax Crazy clone of Kitana, continues his brutal conquests, showing his total and utter disregard for anything resembling honor when he snaps Kung Lao's neck without even a formal issue of challenge, drains Shang Tsung of life to empower a brainwashed Sindel to slaughter Earthrealm's defenders, and then attempts to beat Earthrealm's remaining protectors to death, glorying in his attempts to take all creation for himself.
- Quan Chi, Shang Tsung's occasional partner in evil, is ostensibly The Dragon of Shinnok, but is loyal only to himself, giving Shinnok a fake amulet. Playing the Lin Kuei against the Shirai Ryu, Quan Chi exterminates the Shirai Ryu and blames the massacre on Sub-Zero, leading to the undead Hanzo Hasashi—better known as Scorpion—murdering him; he then turns the older Sub-Zero into a wraith named Noob Saibot. Manipulating Scorpion against Sub-Zero's younger brother, Quan Chi was eventually banished to the Netherrealm when the Shirai Ryu ninja learned the truth. Escaping by enlisting—and betraying—two demons, Quan Chi allies with Shang Tsung and assists in the crimes of the Deadly Alliance. In the new timeline, Quan Chi enslaves the souls of Earthrealm's fallen heroes, turns them into hideously-corrupted revenants, and sends them against their friends, while manipulating Shao Kahn's war to merge the realms so he can help free Shinnok and initiate more destruction. Loyal to nobody, with the exception of Shinnok in Mortal Kombat X because he has no choice, Quan Chi desires nothing less than ultimate power, no matter who he has to rub out or double-cross.
- Shinnok himself is a former Elder God banished to the Netherrealm. While he acts as The Corrupter to Daegon and a lesser degree Taven, this is only a sample of his deeds. Prior to the events of Mortal Kombat, he betrayed his fellow Elder Gods due to his lust for power and desire to rule Earthrealm, but was exiled to the Netherrealm, where he endured constant torture from the Netherrealm's overlord, Lucifer and was at his mercy until he encountered a sorcerer, Quan Chi; with Quan Chi's aid, he overthrew Lucifer and took control over the Netherrealm, amassing an army of loyal demons on his side over time. In Mortal Kombat 4, he tries to seize control of Earthrealm again by invading the Heavens, but was thwarted by Raiden. In the new timeline, he orchestrates a massive amount of bloodshed with Quan Chi to gain freedom, unleashes the demons of the Netherrealm—as well as the souls of the fallen heroes who have been revived as revenants and brainwashed to serve him and Quan Chi—to wreck havoc in Earthrealm as part of his revenge against Raiden and the Elder Gods for banishing him to the Netherrealm, and attempts to corrupt the Jinsei, Earthrealm's life force, nearly leaving Earthrealm in chaos. Though he was defeated after a long struggle, he does get his revenge against Raiden by twisting the Thunder God into something as evil as himself. In his lust for revenge, Shinnok planned to consume the life of all that lived, followed by destroying the Elder Gods themselves, and reawakening the One Being to end all of reality. The closest to ultimate evil in the world of Mortal Kombat, Shinnok showcases the terrifying nature of a fallen Elder God consumed by pride and hunger for power.
- Sektor is a cold and ruthless Lin Kuei assassin who embraces the Cyber Initiative, willingly sacrificing his humanity for power and forcibly converting and enslaving any of his comrades who refuse to. A monster whether machine or man, Sektor conspired with Quan Chi to exterminate the Shirai Ryu, offering his clan to Shinnok's service and only backing out when Quan Chi broke their deal. Devoid of loyalty, Sektor leads the Cyber Lin Kuei to Shao Kahn's service, aiding his attacks on Earthrealm, and goes on to murder the Lin Kuei Grandmaster, his own father, to take the clan for himself and completely rob his fellow Lin Kuei of their humanity, aspiring to have an invincible army of cybernetic slaves. Later recruited by Kronika, Sektor conspires with the equally vile Frost to kidnap warriors loyal to Sub-Zero and brutally convert them into Cyber Lin Kuei slaves.
- Kronika, the Titan, is the mistress of time and the Greater-Scope Villain of the entire franchise. A vicious Control Freak obsessed with her notions of balance between good and evil, Kronika manipulates her own children, Cetrion and the aforementioned Shinnok, into eternal conflict, keeping their armies fighting forever with countless lives lost. When a timeline proves disappointing to her, Kronika exterminates it, killing everyone and rebooting them to try again, which she has done countless times. Manipulating Liu Kang and Raiden's conflict, Kronika gains allies by promising them anything they want, even having the Lin Kuei traitor Frost unwillingly convert many people to cyborgs for her army. Finally having her own daughter sacrifice herself through a combination of control and emotional manipulation, Kronika proceeds to attempt to erase history again, caring only for her own domination and shaping of destiny.
- Frost is the former star pupil of Sub-Zero who betrayed her master in the cruelest way imaginable. Initially just an arrogant and brash Dark Action Girl, Frost believed she was more fit to take over the Lin Kuei and took Kronika's offer to lead the new Cyber Lin Kuei. Transforming herself into a cyborg, Frost lured out numerous of her former comrades to transform them into robotic minions, using a process that involves ripping them apart and then removing their will to place her own will on them, deliberately choosing Lin Kuei as a form of petty revenge against Sub-Zero. When Sub-Zero and Scorpion tried to stop the Cyber Lin Kuei, Frost ambushed and tried to kill them, believing neither of them ever saw her talent. She returns in the finale leading Kronika's defenses in hopes of having another chance to kill her former comrades and to bring Kronika's plans to fruition. even knowing this would destroy the universe.
New Timeline[]
- Quan Chi, once an Edenian slave working in the Outworld mines, realized his potential as a truly vile Evil Sorcerer thanks to Damashi's interference. Using his new powers of necromancy to assist Shang Tsung in kickstarting a massive war between Outworld and Earthrealm, Quan Chi plants Soul Stealers across the lands, killing millions of people and using their souls to empower Shang Tsung’s Dragon Army.
- Khaos Reigns DLC: Titan Havik is a variant of Havik whose worship of chaos and anarchy—as long as he gets to be the one who rules over it—has led to countless destruction all across The Multiverse. Titan Havik makes a habit out of invading different timelines and combining them with his chaotic home dimension, reshaping every world he conquers into an extension of his own, where anarchy reigns supreme, and Kombatants are forced to partake in Gladiator Gamesfor the entertainment of his bloodthirsty variants. Previously one of the many Kombatants who tried assisting Titan Shang Tsung in the destruction of Liu Kang’s New Era timeline, Titan Havik returns to claim Geras’s time crystals, which he hopes to combine with his Kamidogu to infuse the entire multiverse with his own brand of anarchy. Titan Havik’s cruelty also includes forcing Rain’s wife Tanya to fight in one of his gladiator matches; destroying the dragon Orin’s reality and keeping her locked away as a tortured pet; and torturing a captured Bi-Han into becoming his new minion, Noob Saibot. After Geras and Noob are taken from him, Titan Havik attempts to seize control of the New Era timeline out of spite.
Movies[]
Live-Action[]
- 1995 Film: Shang Tsung is an Evil Sorcerer who drains the souls of his victims and seeks to destroy Earthrealm for Shao Kahn, Emperor of Outworld. Starting the film by killing hero Liu Kang's younger brother and draining his soul, Shang Tsung manipulates the heroes into joining Mortal Kombat so he can see a victory for his side and finally see humanity destroyed. During his tenure as tournament grandmaster, Shang Tsung frequently drains the souls of defeated fighters, even still-living men from his own side, that he absorbs into himself, the souls suffering perpetual torment. When he realizes he may lose the tournament, Shang Tsung proves himself a dishonorable coward by doing everything he can to avoid fighting Liu Kang and trying to challenge weaker fighters in his place before relying on using Liu Kang's brother's form to try to break him.
- Mortal Kombat Annihilation: Elder God Shinnok, the God of Outworld and the father—and the one behind—Emperor Shao Kahn, is in one form or another largely responsible for the events of the films as a whole. Having once decreed that his sons, Shao Kahn and Raiden, must be able to kill the other to prove themselves worthy as his heir, Shinnok disowned his son Raiden after Raiden hesitated to kill Kahn, and seeks little else but his blood in the present day. Shinnok has conditioned Shao Kahn to be Emperor—threatening to take his soul should he fail to measure up to his standard—and has overseen the successful invasion of one other Realm by his hand, deliberately violating the Elder God's sacred rules to allow Kahn to invade Earth anyways after Shang Tsung's defeat. Shinnok callously oversees Kahn murdering Raiden after he denies his final offer of peace, sneering that Raiden shall die alongside the humans he's dedicated himself to protecting.
- 2021 Film:
- Shang Tsung as usual is an Evil Sorcerer and Right-Hand to the emperor of Outworld. In the past, he had hosted many tournaments for Outworld killing many warriors so that Outworld would win the tournament by default, all so that Outworld can destroy Earthrealm. During the events of the film, he had Sub-Zero and his Outworld champions, hunt down the Warriors in the tournament to prevent one from ever happening since there was nobody to fight. Raiden would lock him out of his temple but he was able to get Kano to betray them, allowing his fighters to get access to Raiden's temple. After Kung Lao kills Nitara he steals his soul and traps it in eternal damnation right in front of Liu Kang. Once again Shang Tsung proves himself to be completely monstrous willing to anything for his own ends.
- Bi-Han better known as Sub-Zero himself is a far cry from his Video Game counterpart. In the past for some unknown reason, Hh would massacre the entire Shirai Ryu, which included women and children. He eventually came face-to-face with Hanzo Hasashi and the two fought, with Bi-Han eventually coming out on top. He would continue serving Shang Tsung for many centuries, he would partake in the assassination of many Earthrealm warriors leading to Outworld to cheat a 9 tournament "win streak." During the events of the film, Shang Tsung once again ordered him to kill all the Earthrealm champions so that a tournament would never happen. Sub-Zero starts hunting them down and while many escape, he catches up to Jackson Briggs. He would beat him in a fight and then mutilate him by ripping off his arms and then leaving him for dead (though he would survive), and also kill several civilians during this. Sub-Zero would assist Shang Tsung throughout the rest of the film and eventually be assigned to kill Cole. He would kidnap Cole’s wife and child and keep them frozen and alive out of sadism so he could kill them all together.
Animated[]
- Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins: Shang Tsung is a Evil Sorcerer and right hand to the Emperor of Outworld. In the past, Shang Tsung showed up to the Mortal Kombat tournaments, killing all the tournament grandmasters and absorbing their souls, trapping them in perpetual torment. Shang Tsung uses their deaths to take over the tournament and begins a 9-tournament win streak for Outworld, during which he would get many people killed and absorb their souls. Shang Tsung was defeated by the Great Kung Lao but came back with Goro and had him killed. Shang Tsung and Goro would lead Outworld to another 9-tournament win streak. During the events of the film, a new set of heroes would come to the tournament on a boat. To prevent them from ever getting there, Shang Tsung orders one of his minions, Sub-Zero, to kill them and make their deaths look like an accident, all for the purpose of having Outworld destroy Earthrealm.
- Mortal Kombat Legends:
- Shao Kahn is once again the ruthless ruler of Outworld. At some other point, he conquered and merged with Edenia and took the princess of the Realm Kitana as his daughter. He first appears at the end of Scorpion's Revenge torturing Shang Tsung for his failure and getting his forces ready to invade Earthrealm. Shao Kahn first appears leading his army into battle against Earthrealm with many of his forces dying in the fight. Shao Kahn later appears before Raiden who says that he will keep sending his soldiers to their deaths for as long as it takes. He, however, offers Raiden an opportunity to put an end to the bloodshed by petitioning the Elder Gods to let them host a final Mortal Kombat tournament that decides the fate of Earthrealm. During the tournament, multiple people are killed as a result of it including his own allies and enemies, something which Shao Kahn is responsible for. Shao Kahn even gets in the action, murdering Kung Lao by ripping him in half and revelling in is his brutal kill. Raiden and Shao Kahn end up fighting but due to Raiden giving up his godhood he loses and is murdered by Shao Kahn.
- Scorpion's Revenge: Quan Chi is a powerful sorcerer and the highest-ranking servant of the mad god Shinnok. Taking over the Netherrealm after Shinnok was imprisoned by the Elder Gods, Quan Chi keeps the realm as a hellish nightmare, where countless people get tortured for eternity. Hatching a plan to free Shinnok, Quan Chi impersonated Sub-Zero and led Lin Kuei to slaughter the whole clan of Shirai Ryu, personally killing Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion's, wife and child. Promising to resurrect Hanzo's family in exchange for the key to release Shinnok, Quan Chi sent him undercover to the Mortal Kombat tournament to act as his champion, and when Scorpion failed him by choosing to kill Sub-Zero instead, Quan Chi taunted him by revealing that he was the one who destroyed his family and clan... causing Scorpion to BITE BACK...
- Battle of the Realms: Shinnok the Mad God himself. In the past, he was a Elder God who betrayed his fellow Elder Gods and was imprisoned in the Netherrealm which he took over. Shinnok first appears in the second film greeting Scorpion in the Netherrealm having claimed his soul. Shinnok threatens to flay Scorpion alive and bring him back to do it again if he does not cooperate, Scorpion however escapes. Shinnok also hired the Lin Kuei to make sure that Scorpion gets the Kamidogu, lying to them about what his true intention was as well as who he is. Shinnok doesn’t make many more appearances in the film until near the end when the Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei gives him the last Kamidogu. Shinnok then summons the One Being merges with him and merges all the realms together to destroy them all.
Other Media[]
- Mortal Kombat: Conquest: Shao Kahn is the lord of Outworld and the conqueror of countless worlds that he brutally dominates, enslaves and harvests for souls. Introducing himself by stealing the soul of a slave, Kahn aims to invade earth and subject it to his brutal rule like so many others. Setting himself as a God to a city called Shakaana under the name 'Shakaa', Shao Kahn attempts to harvest the souls of the people there under the promise of delivering them to 'paradise.' In the finale of the show, Kahn proceeds to use his Shadow Priests to exterminate every other member of the cast while defeating Rayden, including Kahn's own daughter Kitana. Mocking Rayden for the deaths of all the others, especially Rayden's champion Kung Lao, Shao Kahn forces Rayden to watch as he leads Outworld's forces to dominate and destroy every living soul on Earth.
- Mortal Kombat: Legacy:
- Shao Kahn is the tyrannical emperor of Outworld, who is bent on expanding his empire as far as possible. Invading the realm of Edenia, as soon as all their champions lose Mortal Kombat tournaments, Shao Kahn brings death and destruction to the peaceful kingdom, slaughtering countless innocents and forcing Sindel to marry him and adopting her daughter Kitana. Fearing that Sindel would tell Kitana the truth in the future, which could lead to her trying to rebel against him, Shao Kahn created her clone, Mileena, from Tarkatan blood, and when Sindel killed herself to merge her soul with that of her daughters to protect her from Shao Kahn's influence, Shao Kahn raised both his adopted daughters as his personal assassins, ordering them to murder all former King Jerrod's imposters and King Jerrod himself. Later ordering his daughters to participate in the current Mortal Kombat tournament, Shao Kahn plans to invade Earthrealm and do with it what he did with Edenia.
- Quan Chi is the powerful necromancer and leader of the Netherrealm, who has his own plans for the takeover of Earthrealm. Seeking his own champion for the Mortal Kombat tournament, Quan Chi found out about the rivalry between the Shirai Ryu and Lin Kuei clans and used it to his own advantage. As both clans managed to achieve a truce, Quan Chi murders the traveling lord of both clans Shogun and all his guards, while taking the appearance of Bi-Han, leader of the Lin Kuei, to lure Hanzo Hasashi, aka Scorpion, out of the Shirai Ryu village, so that he could brutally slaughter his whole clan, along with his wife and child, and blame it on the Lin Kuei. Using Scorpion's thirst for vengeance, Quan Chi resurrected him as his own champion and led him to murder Bi-Han, who was Scorpion's former friend, whom Quan Chi framed for the purging of the Shirai Ryu.