Kung Lao (Mortal Kombat)

Kung Lao (Chinese: 功老) is a member of the White Lotus Society and former Shaolin monk and one of the main protagonists from the Mortal Kombat franchise. He is Liu Kang's arch-rival and best friend.
Kung Lao was voiced by Joe Yau in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, Jin Hyong in Mortal Kombat 9, Will Yun Lee in Mortal Kombat X, and Sunil Malhotra from Mortal Kombat 11 onwards. 
==History==
=== Original Timeline ===
=== Second Timeline ===
=== Mortal Kombat: Onslaught ===
This is a standalone story, although Kung Lao and the others resemble their MK11 selves.
=== New Era ===
==Personality==
He is a pacifist as a Buddhist monk, though a bit resentful at being in Liu Kang's shadows. Though in MK11, after learning his tragic future, he abandoned his arrogance to avoid his tragedy from a result of having himself off-guard by Shao Kahn’s neck snap on him from the back, especially calling out his future revenant-self for being ashamed of their family name for serving the likes of Kronika’s children.
==Powers and Abilities==
Kung Lao is an excellent fighter and is similar to Liu Kang in terms of strength, agility, and martial arts skills. However his preferred weapon is his razor bladed hat, which he can throw at the opponent and also uses it to deliver the finishing blows to his opponents. 
Lao seems to be able to control the hat in midair, since it can move in circular patterns as opposed to straight ahead and it seems magical in nature, since it will always re-materialize back on his head after he throws it, much like a boomerang.
Kung Lao's moves include teleporting by disappearing into the ground then popping up behind his opponent, flying towards his opponent, spinning like a tornado to kick them multiple times or to knock them into air, and diving down from the air to kick his opponent. As his alternate weapon fighting style, Lao wields a dao, a Chinese broadsword.
=== Powers ===
* Superhuman Strength: Kung Lao has an impressive amount of strength to defeat Outworld species like Shokan.
* Superhuman Speed: Kung Lao is extremely fast in combat like his best friend, Liu Kang.
* Superhuman Agility
* Superhuman Reflexes: Kung Lao has immense reflexes unlike peak human characters. He can quickly react to deflect gunfire.
* Superhuman Stamina: Kung Lao can fight for long periods of time without showing any exhaustion.
* Superhuman Durability: Kung Lao can survive blows from super-strong foes.
* Superhuman Endurance: Kung Lao can tolerate large amounts of pain than peak human characters.
* Magic: Kung Lao does possess magical powers and magic based attacks.
** Aerokinesis: Kung Lao can create powerful winds and vortexes that can raise his opponents. He can also create winds to push them away.
** Kapelokinesis: Kung Lao is able to control his hat when using it in battle. Similar to his Hat Trick variation in MKX
* Chi Manipulation: Kung Lao can channel anyone's chi to gain more strength and power. He can also attune to it in order to discover their origins.
* Teleportation: Kung Lao does possess a degree of teleportation.
=== Abilities ===
* Master Martial Artist: Like Liu Kang, he is one of the best Shaolin monks at the Wu Shi Academy. He may not be able to best Liu Kang, but he managed to defeat quite a number of warriors. Kung Lao has bested Noob Saibot, Goro, the Deadly Alliance, Kintaro, Scorpion, Revenant Jade, his Revenant counterpart, and Geras in the Alternate Timeline. In the Current Timeline he had bested Smoke, Kuai Liang, and Bi-Han. Had not Bi-Han, Kuai Liang, and Smoke held back, he would have been defeated easily. He defeated Raiden the beginning but was bested by him the second time at the Wu Shi Academy. 
** Mantis Fist
** Shaolin Fist
** Kenpo
** White Lotus
** Wing Chun
* Master Acrobat: Kung Lao is one of the best acrobats in Earthrealm alongside Liu Kang. He can perform flips and is capable of leaping at distances greater than peak humans.
* Weapon Mastery: Kung Lao does have incredible skills in using weapons, but his most preferred weapon is his razor-brimmed hat.
** Throwing: Kung Lao has expert skills in throwing his hat like a frisbee and can be sent right back to him in his hand or land on top of his head.
** Swordsmanship: Kung Lao also has some skills in using swords like a Broadsword in earlier games like Deadly Alliance, Deception, and Armageddon.
* Stealth: Kung Lao does excellent skills in using stealth.
* High Intelligence: Kung Lao does have intelligent strategic thinking. He can also figure out ways to deal with opponents he never fought before.
* Indominable Will: Kung Lao maybe arrogant, immature, and very boasting, but he deeply cares for his best friend and his family. He seeks to bring honor to all of his fallen ancestors and to bring glory to his family name. With his desires, he has an unbreakable spirit which makes him a very strong willed character.
== Paraphernalia ==
* Razor-Rimmed Hat
* Battle Axe
* Broadsword
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
*In the early years of the franchise, Kung Lao did not appear in non game media, apart from the Malibu comics, and his ancestor as the main protagonist of Mortal Kombat: Conquest (who wears his MK3 costume in the first episode).
*Kung Lao appears in the intro to Armageddon, fighting Baraka, before they take the fight to mid-air, where he battles against his arm blades with his broadsword. He stabbed the Tarkatan in the chest before being blasted away by his spark attack.
*In Deadly Alliance, Kung Lao had a joke about him having his own infomercial, where he sold swords for a limited time.
* In the Video Game Divekick, A female character named Kung Pao is a parody of Kung Lao and Kitana.
*Kung Lao's fatality was based off of Oddjob's hat from the James Bond film "Goldfinger".
==External links==
*Kung Lao on Villains Wiki
*Kung Lao on Mortal Kombat Wiki
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