Shang Tsung

Shang Tsung is a video game character in the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games. He first appeared in Mortal Kombat, in which he was the tournament holder and the game's end boss.

Biography

Shang Tsung is a demonic shapeshifter, who needs to consume souls in order to sustain his health and life (sort of like Vulture from Spider Man). In the Mortal Kombat series, he is the epitome of cunning and decadence, as symbolized by his preference for lavish parties, grand palaces and stylish clothing. Unlike the crude Shao Kahn, this bombast is a façade of Tsung's true intellectual and mental sophistication. His nemesis is Liu Kang, but through his unnatural lifespan, he has earned the mortal hatred of many people.

Alignment

Evil. The only trace of good deeds he has ever done was when he assisted Raiden in attempting to slay Onaga. This, however, does not mean he turned good, rather, it appears to be more of an act of self-preservation.

Place of origin

Earthrealm, from which he escaped into the Outworld.

Allies and enemies

Allies: Reptile, Shao Khan, Goro, Kintaro, Mileena
Enemies: Liu Kang, Raiden, Bo' Rai Cho, Kung Lao, Sonya Blade, Kenshi, Quan Chi (after betrayal), & Onaga

Favorite weapon

Shang Tsung's weapon of choice is the Straight Sword, which he can impale his opponents with.

Kombat highlights

Former Mortal Kombat Grand Champion. Defeated by Original Kung Lao, who was then defeated by Goro.
Mortal Kombat tournament holder.
Liu Kang's murderer (assisted by Quan Chi, though it was Tsung that finished Kang off.)
Creator of Mileena.
Shao Kahn's lead sorcerer.
Leader of Shao Kahn's dark shadow priests (the group that help resurrect Sindel in her evil form.)
Kenshi's deceptor.
Murderer of Shao Kahn (with help of Quan Chi.)

Tsung's Height

Shang Tsung is reported as 5' 11" (180 cm) in MK:DA, but looked substantially shorter in all previous games.

Fighting styles

In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Shang Tsung uses the unarmed fighting styles snake and crane. When armed, he uses straight sword style. He is considered one of the better characters in the game. His speed is good, as are his side-steps. He has more special attacks than most in the game: 3D Fire Long Range, 3D Fire short range, fire blast, and soul steal (this last is particularly effective because not only does it take away an opponent's life, it gains Shang Tsung life and could be the deciding blow in a close match).

Storyline

File:Shangtsung.gif

Shang Tsung

Contrary to popular perception, Shang Tsung was not born on Outworld, but actually came from Earthrealm. Ages ago, he had somehow angered the Gods, and they cursed him: he would rapidly age, unless he consumed the living souls of other people. A side effect of consuming souls is that Shang Tsung gained their knowledge, and the constant revitalization extended his life. By becoming a roaming sorcerer, he was enlisted by Outworld's emperor Shao Kahn many millennia ago. There, he became leader of the cult of Shadow Priests.

It was Shang Tsung who was instrumental in Kahn's plan to have his dead queen Sindel reborn on Earth so he could claim both her and that realm, and it was also him who supervised the Mortal Kombat tournaments on Earth. Through his superior powers, he quickly overcame all competition. He incurred his first defeat, however, at the hands of the Great Kung Lao, who was in turn defeated later by Tsung's student the Shokan prince Goro. Shang Tsung consumed his soul in retaliation for his earlier defeat, and learned of the location of Shinnok's amulet. He traded this knowledge to Quan Chi in exchange for assistance in reviving Queen Sindel at a later date. Tsung then presided over the tournament for the next 500 years, watching Goro rack up a winning streak that would eventually unbalance the furies and allow his lord Shao Kahn to invade Earthrealm.

During the tenth tournament, the final victory that would enable Kahn to conquer Earth, Liu Kang, the descendant of the Great Kung Lao, defeated Goro, breaking the streak. Shang Tsung challenged Liu Kang, hoping to salvage something of that streak, and used all of his accumulated martial arts knowledge against the monk. Liu Kang prevailed, and Shang Tsung went back to Outworld. Dragged before Shao Kahn, Shang Tsung begged for his life. He told the tyrant that if they challenged Earthrealm to Mortal Kombat in Outworld, they would have to accept or forfeit. Kahn agreed to this plan, and restored Tsung's youth, gambling that the Elder Gods would not recognize him after so long. Shang Tsung, Liu Kang and Kung Lao would dominate the Outworld tournament. After another crushing defeat at the hands of Liu Kang for a second time (this time in front of his master Shao Kahn), Shang Tsung contacted Quan Chi and called in the favor. When Queen Sindel was revived in Earthrealm, Shao Kahn could reach across the realms and reclaim her, forcefully merging Earthrealm with Outworld. Shang Tsung led one of Kahn's extermination squads to hunt down the fighters that Lord Raiden had protected. Despite being granted more power than ever by Shao Kahn he was yet again defeated by Liu Kang. Upon Kahn's defeat, Shang Tsung retreated with him back to Outworld proper, when the merger was reversed. Tsung would then be imprisoned for his failure to help his master merge Earthrealm into Outworld. He was periodically released to do Kahn's bidding, but was released after regaining Kahn's favour.

A few years later, Shang Tsung found Quan Chi in his palace courtyard, fighting Scorpion. When Quan Chi defeated him, he gave Shang an offer: if Tsung helped him revive the lost army of the Dragon King by means of his ability to transplant souls, he would open a "Soulnado" to the Heavens, giving him an endless supply of souls. In order to carry out their scheme, they needed to remove the two largest obstacles in their way: Shao Kahn and Liu Kang.

Shang Tsung introduced Quan Chi to Shao Kahn, vouched for his loyalty, and then they attacked him. After defeating him (or rather a clone of him), Shang Tsung disguised himself as Kung Lao and visited Liu Kang. As Liu practiced his kata, Shang attacked. Although Liu had the upper hand, Quan Chi struck from behind, giving Shang the opportunity to take his revenge on Liu Kang by killing him and taking his soul. Shang Tsung did not fully trust his ally, so he gave the Oni Drahmin and Moloch an offer: after he did what he had to, he would let them have Quan Chi. It did not come to this, however. The Deadly Alliance defeated Earthrealm's champions (with Shang Tsung defeating Kung Lao in one on one battle) and Raiden. However, like most ambitious sorcerers, only one could assume absolute power over the Dragon King's Army. Unfortunately for Shang Tsung, that sorcerer was Quan Chi, because he had the amulet that gave him the ability to control the army. After supposedly killing Raiden, the duo turned on each other. At first it would seem that Shang Tsung would emerge victorious, but Quan Chi turned the table of the fight and choke-grabbed Shang Tsung rendering him unconcious. Whether it was Shang Tsungs overconfidence to challenge his partner in crime for power, or Quan Chi and his superior skills, Shang did not harness the power of the Soulnado against his opponent, and he was defeated. Quan Chi could not savor his victory however, as he was immediately confronted by a reborn Onaga, who seemed to shrug off his most powerful blasts with ease. Tsung regained consciousness, and recognizing that the Dragon King is the biggest threat before him, assisted Quan Chi in attacking the Dragon King. Bare moments later, the thunder god did as well, but their combined efforts could not stop the former Outworld ruler, who had come to reclaim Quan Chi's amulet and his ancient army. In Raiden's ensuing last-ditch attempt at victory through a self-sacrificial blast, Shang Tsung apparently died, thus releasing the soul of Liu Kang. He is nevertheless scheduled to return in the upcoming Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.

Movie appearance

In the first Mortal Kombat movie, Shang Tsung serves as the primary villain. At the beginning of the film, Shang develops an interest in Sonya. His tactics during the bulk of the movie are intimidation and trickery; for example, he allows Johnny Cage to challenge Goro on the condition that he may challenge anyone of his choosing in any place, thus setting the stage for Liu and Johnny's desperate move to save Sonya and leading to the climactic battle between Tsung and Liu Kang (Liu, however, said that Sonya had to accept the challenge or the battle couldn't occur). In the end, Shang Tsung is knocked off of a platform onto spikes (a la "The Pit"), where he dies and all the captured warrior souls escape, including Liu's younger brother, Chan. Shang Tsung only has a flashback cameo in the sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. He is played by actor Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa.

Memorable Moves

Morphing: Shang Tsung could assume the shape of anyone in the game. In the second, and third game he couldn't morph into the bosses. In Trilogy he could morph into anyone on the PSX, Saturn, and PC versions only. (MK, MKII, MK3, UMK3, MKT)
Flamming Skulls: Shang Tsung would send a firey skull at his opponent. In the first game he could throw up to six. In the other games it was either one, two, or three only. (MK, MKII, MK3, UMK3, MKT)
Flamming Skull Eruption: Shang Tsung could summon his firey skulls to burst out of the ground in a series of three. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
Dash Back: When Shang Tsung was the boss character in MK1 he could back away very quickly to avoid being hit. (MK)
Super Punch: In a move rarely used in MK1, he would float forwards and if he punched you, you would go flying across the screen. (MK)
3D Fireballs: Shang Tsung could send out a 3D fireball either at close range, or far range that would target his opponent's head. (MKDA)
Fireball: Loosing the skulls he would send out a normal fireball. (MKDA)
Soul Drain: If he needed energy, Shang Tsung could drain it from the other player. (MKDA)

Memorable Fatalities

Soultaker - Shang Tsung grabs his opponent and consumes their soul, leaving behind a soulless corpse. (MKII, MK3)
Possession - Shang Tsung forces himself in the body of his opponent through their ear and his opponent explodes. (MKII)
Nine Inch Nails - Shang Tsung rises sharp spikes from the ground, grabs his opponent and slams him/her straight into the spikes. (MK3)
Soul Steal - Shang Tsung levitates his opponent in the air and repeatedly slams him/her to the ground and jumps on his/her stomach, consuming the victim's soul in fragments in the process (MK:DA)
Kintaro's Fatality - Shang Tsung morphs into Kintaro and with a mighty punch knocks the torso of his opponent off. This fatality is particularly memorable due to being a hidden "easter egg" fatality in MK2.

Memorable Finishers

Rainbow - Shang Tsung creates a rainbow with his bare hands. (MKII)
Joust Morph - Shang Tsung morphs into the main character from the classic game Joust. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
Cobra - Shang Tsung transforms into a huge cobra snake and swallows the opponent whole. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)

Trivia

In the intro movie of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Shang Tsung kills Liu Kang by breaking his neck. This is the same method Liu Kang uses to kill Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, though it is non-canon as far as storyline goes.