Liu Kang (Mortal Kombat)

Liu Kang (Chinese: 劉鋼) is the main protagonist of the Mortal Kombat franchise. He is a Shaolin monk who is a member of the White Lotus Society as well as Earthrealm's greatest warrior and champion of the Mortal Kombat tournament. 
He was physically portrayed by Ho Sung Pak in Mortal Kombat and MKII, Eddie Wong in Mortal Kombat 3, and voiced by Joshua Y. Tsui in Mortal Kombat 4/Gold, Jin Kim in Shaolin Monks, Tom Choi from MKvsDCU to MKX, and Matthew Yang King from Mortal Kombat 11 onwards. 
==Appearance==
At his debut, Liu Kang appeared to be based on Bruce Lee; an adult of Chinese origin with a bare chest, black pants and white sneakers. From MKII and onward, he is depicted with shaggy black hair (even though Shaolin monks are bald), a red headband, spiked gauntlets, red and black kung fu pants, and kung fu slippers; still keeping his upper body bare (except in Mortal Kombat 4 where he has a tank top). This design is one of the most consistent in the series.
He is depicted as a zombie in Mortal Kombat: Deception. He gains a ghastly grey tint on his decaying skin, showing the most damage on his peeling face. He retains his usual attire, but now wears a pair of chains with hooks attached to his gauntlets. In MK vs DCU, Liu Kang has greater muscle mass than most characters in the roster and wears a championship belt. 
The continual use of dragons and the MK logo in Liu Kang's techniques, his costumes in recent games, and recurring Fatalities (e.g. his Arcade Drop) all reinforce the perception that Kang is the mascot of the series. However, this has never actually been confirmed by the developers.
==Biography==
===Original Timeline===
===MK vs DC Universe===
This game follows a version of Mortal Kombat 3.
===Second and Third Timelines===
As well as this, an alternate version of Liu Kang is playable as the Final Warrior of Mortal Kombat 1's final chapter. If selected, Liu Kang fights his way up the Pyramid of Armageddon, and aids his Fire God self in defeating Shang Tsung and Quan Chi.
=== Mortal Kombat Onslaught ===
This is a standalone story, although Liu Kang and the others resemble their MK11 selves. 
==Personality==
Liu Kang is the biggest threat to Shao Kahn's plans and has single-handedly won in the two previous Mortal Kombat Tournaments. Thus, he is a very dedicated and courageous man. He carries the title "Shaolin Champion" and is undoubtedly one of the greatest martial artists on the planet. For this reason (and the previous setbacks of Outworld) Liu Kang constantly finds himself as the number one target for Shao Kahn's troops, and he generally takes this calmly.
He probably has the personality of a fighting monk: insightful and cool, but in combat strong, fast, and merciless. Home is his training camp and the temple and his hobby used to be to create shadow puppets around the campfire. In combat he tends to be very noisy focusing his powers, screaming and intimidating his opponents and apparently also because it sometimes hurts so much to fight. Regardless, the man is a true hero and a living legend.
==Powers and Abilities ==
=== Powers ===
* Superhuman Strength: Liu Kang has shown to have beaten powerful warriors that are from different realms in the universe. He has shown to be powerful enough to defeat warriors like Goro, Kintaro, Geras and Shao Kahn. It was revealed that he is strong enough to punch through someone's chest like Shao Kahn's. In other games like Shaolin Monks, Liu Kang can destroy large statues with a powerful kick and can stomp right anyone's chest. He can even break large fallen rubble coming at him with a single punch.
* Superhuman Speed: Due to his training at the Wu Shi Academy, he is known to be extremely fast to punch anyone at an incredible speed. In Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, he was able to defeat The Flash, who is known as The Fastest Man Alive in the DC Universe. He was also able to defeat ninjas like Scorpion in the Mortal Kombat Tournament. In MK Shaolin Monks, he can climb and run on walls.
** Superhuman Agility
** Superhuman Reflexes
* Superhuman Stamina: Liu Kang can fight almost any being who might be larger or faster than him and, in some moments, he shows no sign of exhaustion.
* Superhuman Durability: Liu Kang has shown to keep on fighting after receiving powerful blows from warriors like Sheeva & Raiden.
* Superhuman Endurance: Liu Kang is able to keep on defeating Outworlders in the Mortal Kombat Tournament until the end.
* Dragon Fire: Liu Kang is commonly associated with the element of fire, which comes in the form of shooting fire bound projectiles. He appears to have some degree of control over it as the fireballs sometimes form dragon head-like shapes and has even used the element for finishers as well. It was noted by Cetrion, that his power came from Onaga the Dragon King, one of the most powerful beings in the Mortal Kombat universe. Besides his fiery projectiles, he has other abilities related to the element. He can also ignite his limbs on fire to add fire damage to his attacks.
* Teleportation: With his Dragon Fire, he is able to teleport in a burst of flames.
* Shapeshifting: Kang also appears to possess a degree of shapeshifting, able to transform himself into a Chinese dragon which includes a serpentine body with small arms. In Shaolin Monks, the form is also revealed to have fire-breathing capabilities, most likely associated with his ability to use fire.
* Chi Manipulation: Kang can attune to a being's chi with his own to discover one's origin. Liu Kang can also convert a person's chi into a fireball.
* Longevity: Due to his status as the Mortal Kombat Champion, Liu Kang hardly seem to age.
=== Abilities ===
* Master Martial Artist: Liu Kang has proven himself to be one of the most powerful characters in the series' span, emerging victorious from every Mortal Kombat tournament he's been involved in. He is an extremely skilled martial artist, possessing incredible acrobatic skills and agility and knowledge in a variety of techniques. He is always known for his Flying Dragon Kick and Bicycle Kick, which he always shows when in combat. He is shown to be a master in several fighting styles.
** Jun Fan
** Karate
** Pao Chui
** Jeet Kune Do
** Choy Lay Fut
** Monkey Fist
** Dragon Kung Fu
** Luohan Quan
* Master Acrobat: Liu Kang can perform a lot of high jumps and flips. His training with the Shaolin Monks had made him one of the best acrobats in not only Earthrealm, but in all the realms. He can leap across broken bridges and jump at incredible heights.
* High Intelligence: Liu Kang is very intelligent strategist when he is up against anyone. He has been able to best Kung Lao with his mind calm and great in countering any attack no matter who he is up against.
* Indomitable Will: Raised as an orphan by the Shaolin Monks, he is proven to be a strong-willed warrior who would put his life for all of Earthrealm. He can even tolerate being intimidated or mocked by evil warriors like Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung.
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
*Liu Kang is the longest running protagonist in franchise history, playing the hero for an entire decade. However, in later years, he would written into increasingly-antagonistic roles, starting as a monstrous zombie beginning in Mortal Kombat Deception which would continue into the rebooted era. 
*Liu Kang is the only character to have a fatality that does not kill the opponent, his original one, which was done because he was supposed to be a pacifistic monk character.
*His name was originally going to be Minamoto Yoshitsune, a legendary Japanese mythological character, but John Tobias decided the name was too long to deal with.
*Ironically, Ho Sung Pak also portrayed Shang Tsung in the first game, due to also portraying Shang Tsung.
*Liu Kang's official theme is titled, "Born in China."
*He is the second video game character to be based on Bruce Lee, another character is Kim Dragon, Fei Long, Marshall Law, Jann Lee, and Forest Law.
*The Human Tornado, a pro wrestler, uses a move called the Liu Kang Kick, in homage to the character.
*Upon him beating Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat II, the usual occurrence of Kahn's voice announcing him as winner is replaced with the monk giving off a small war cry.
*Liu Kang's original fatality and his fatality from MK2, where he turned into an Asian-style dragon to bite off top of his opponent's body, was voted second on Screwattack's Top 10 Lists of Worst Mortal Kombat and Best Mortal Kombat Fatalities respectively.
*The hooked chains that are attached to Liu Kang's arms have been in much demand to be used as his weapon fighting style, especially after he used them in the intro to Armageddon to attack Shang Tsung. These were later revealed by Raiden's Armageddon bio to be enchanted shackles used by a group of necromancers to control their undead. The thunder god had used their spells to turn Kang's body into a zombie, which is why he put the chains on the corpse.
*He deals double damage to Onaga in Deception.
*Liu Kang's alternate costumes in Armageddon and Deception depict him as a human or at least his soul fused with his body.
*Liu Kang was intended to be a secret surprise character in Deception. He is the most difficult to unlock and was meant to shock fans that their hero had been brought back as such a corrupted being.
*In the Flash's ending in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, he and Liu Kang form a psychic connection that allows them to warn each other if their worlds are threatened again, due to earlier events.
*Liu Kang is the only character that has his own voice file for every game he appeared in, consisting of "kiai," a shout that is said to maximize the force of the user's attacks. His voice in dialogue changed from a regular casual voice in Shaolin Monks to one with more of an Asian accent in Mortal Kombat vs. DC.
==External Links == 
*Liu Kang (Original Timeline) on the Near Pure Good Wiki
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