Shang Tsung

Shang Tsung is a character from the Mortal Kombat series.
== Charactah Account ==
A powerful and deadly sorcerer, Shang Tsung is a demonic shapeshifter who needs to consume souls in order to sustain his health and life. Throughout his unnatural lifespan, he has achieved an intellectual and mental sophistication far greater than that of any other baddie of the series.
Several centuries before the start of the series, a young and promising Tsung was taken to Outworld and trained by the Emperor in the Black Arts. For a time, Shang Tsung would be the Grand Champion of Mortal Kombat himself, but when he lost his title to the legendary Shaolin warrior, the Great Kung Lao, he had to wait several years for his greatest student, the Shokan prince Goro, to restore once more Outworld's domination of the Mortal Kombat Tournament. This time Tsung, now aged and weakened, secured his domain on the Tournament, by becoming its sole Grandmaster and holding future competitions on his private island, a zone in between Earth and the Outworld.
During the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament, the final victory that would enable Shao Kahn to conquer Earth, Liu Kang, a Shaolin Monk, defeated Goro, breaking the streak. Liu Kang then challenged Shang Tsung in Kombat to restore the honour of the once-sacred tournament; Liu Kang prevailed, and Shang Tsung fled to Outworld. He confronted an enraged Shao Kahn and convinced him 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. Despite this, in the Tournament the sorcerer lost again to Liu Kang, who also defeated Kahn. Shortly after, with the aid of his cult of Shadow Priests, Shang Tsung managed to revive Shao Kahn's former queen, Sindel, on Earth, giving Kahn and his forces a way to invade the Realm. Tsung was granted more power than ever before, but during the invasion that followed he lost to Liu Kang once more.
== Appearance ==
=== Cartoons ===
* Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm
=== Comics ===
* Bruce Lee
* Mortal Kombat
* Mortal Kombat 4
* Mortal Kombat Collector's Edition
* Mortal Kombat II Collector's Edition
* Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe "Beginnings"
* Mortal Kombat: Battlewave
* Mortal Kombat: Goro - Prince of Pain
* Mortal Kombat: Kitana and Mileena
* Mortal Kombat: Kung Lao
* Mortal Kombat: Onslaught
* Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition
* Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition II
=== Literature ===
* Mortal Kombat
=== Movies ===
* Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge
=== Video Games ===
* Mortal Kombat
* Mortal Kombat (2011)
* Mortal Kombat 1
* Mortal Kombat 3
* Mortal Kombat 11
* Mortal Kombat Advance
* Mortal Kombat II
* Mortal Kombat Mobile
* Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero
* Mortal Kombat Trilogy
* Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
* Mortal Kombat X
* Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
* Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
* Mortal Kombat: Deception
* Mortal Kombat: Onslaught
* Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
* Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition
* Mortal Kombat: Unchained
* Ultimate Mortal Kombat
* Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
== Trivia ==
* Shang Tsung's Battle Cry "Your soul is mine!" originated from the 1995 film Mortal Kombat movie and the TV series Mortal Kombat: Conquest.
* Responding to player queries about how Shang Tsung's last name is pronounced, Acclaim Entertainment stated in 1994 that there is no one definitively correct way of pronouncing the character's name. The 1995 film and Ed Boon pronounce his name as Shane Song (Sien Sung).
* Shaolin Monks, Deadly Alliance, Armageddon and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe are the only games where the Soul Steal allows Shang Tsung to regain health.
* Shang Tsung's shapeshifting went mostly unused in Deadly Alliance, Deception, Armageddon, and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. Ed Boon explained this was due to a lack of sufficient memory. It returns in the 2011 game, but its use is more limited; a player-controlled Shang Tsung can only morph into his current opponent. In Mortal Kombat 11, aside from morphing into the current opponent, Shang Tsung can also morph into several ninja characters performing special moves as his variation abilities.
* A recurring animal motif for Shang Tsung is cobras.
** Shang Tsung's Animality in MK3 is a cobra.
** In the intro of Deception, Shang Tsung unleashed a huge flame in the form of a cobra to knock out Raiden.
** Shang Tsung's primary outfit in Mortal Kombat (2011) has cobras designed in his shoulders, back and belt.
** Shang Tsung transforms into a giant cobra made of Hellfire for an intro in Mortal Kombat 11, and even uses it in the Aftermath Story Mode expansion to fend off Cetrion.
* Up until Mortal Kombat (2011), Shang Tsung's elderly form remained unplayable as it was eliminated ever since Mortal Kombat II. This trait is carried over to Mortal Kombat 11.
* In a Top 10 list hosted by Screwattack.com, Shang Tsung was placed at #7 of the bearded characters in video games.
* Shang Tsung's Friendship, Rainbow Konnection, could be a reference to the song "Rainbow Connection" that originally debut from The Muppet Movie.
* Shang's alternate outfit from Deadly Alliance is based from the time he was champion of Mortal Kombat Tournament before the Great Kung Lao defeated him, as seen in the official Mortal Kombat comics. His MK 2011 outfit in his young appearance also shares some of the feature with his costume in the official MKI comic.
* The Great Kung Lao's given name may have derived from Shang Lao, Shang Tsung's original name in early production stage of Mortal Kombat (1992).
== Gallery ==
File:Shang Tsung Render 01.png
File:Shang Tsung Render 02.png
File:Shang Tsung Render 03.png
File:Shang Tsung Render 04.png
File:Shang Tsung Render 05.png
== External Links ==
* Shang Tsung at Mortal Kombat Wiki
Category:Characters
Category:Males
Category:Mortal Kombat