Shang Tsung (Midway)

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==Summary==
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|-|Summary=
Shang Tsung is a recurring fighter and occasional boss character who debuted in the first Mortal Kombat game.
The face of evil in the Mortal Kombat series, Shang Tsung is a sorcerer who best embodies the treacherous snake with his signature ability to shapeshift into anyone he pleases to deceive others with his appearance and skills. Afflicted with a curse that forces him to steal souls in order to stave off his waning life, he enacts dark ceremonies on each warrior he defeats to tear their souls from their bodies and consume the essence, amassing ill-gotten powers and vitality over the ages. Nothing is what it seems with Shang Tsung, and those who attempt to hold this serpent to an agreement on their terms will find themselves betrayed before they even know it.
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==Powers and Stats==
Tier: 
Name: Shang Tsung
Origin: Mortal Kombat
Gender: Male
Age: Thousands of years oldMortal Kombat 2 Collector's Edition Comic Book, page 7Shang Tsung: “My master--we can initiate a new challenge, a new tournament. The rules are quite clear in this matter. Any realm can exercise its right of challenge as long as it can breach the dimensional gates that separate it from the other realm. The trick is opening a portal. I could accomplish this task, as I did a thousand years ago--if my strength was renewed. The resulting portal would also be large enough for a small army of warriors to enter the Earth Realm... and, perhaps, enact revenge against those responsible for Goro's death.”
Classification: Human, Earthrealm sorcerer (former), Outworld sorcerer (current)
Miscellaneous info:
Height: 5 feet 11 inches
Weight: 210 pounds
*Superhuman Physical Characteristics
*Martial Arts (Skilled in the Snake, Mantis, and Crane styles, but he has also absorbed countless styles from the souls of his warrior victimsMortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance - Shang Tsung's Konquest ModeThe Sorcerer Shang Tsung is cursed to consume the souls of defeated warriors in order to stay alive. From these souls he attains greater strength and ability. It could be said that his fighting skill is the culmination of those he has conquered.The history of Shang Tsung's Snake fighting style is hard to trace historically because it is incorporated into so many Chinese fighting systems. Shang Tsung absorbed this fighting style by consuming the soul of a Shaolin monk.)
**Uses short and precise strikes on weak points of the body or wide attacks that hit wider areas on the body.
**Capable of blocking strikes and counter-attacking during kombat.
**Can perform martial arts throws on his opponents.
*Weapon Mastery (Skilled with the use of his Straight Sword in deadly close kombat, which is actually a Chinese jian sword meant for stabbing and slicing)
*Stealth Mastery (Shapeshifitng allows him to blend in.Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance - Shang Tsung's Konquest ModeShang Tsung and Quan Chi had traveled to Earthrealm to seek out Shang Tsung's nemesis, Liu Kang. By disguising himself as Kung Lao, Shang Tsung was able to approach Liu Kang while he was practicing his meditation katas. Able to constantly evade Kenshi despite him using his supernatural senses to track ShangMortal Kombat: Deception - Kenshi's side quest dialogue in Konquest ModeShang Tsung: “Ha ha! Would this acquaintance of yours be the blind swordsman, Kenshi?” He has been searching for me for quite some time, has he not?Shujinko: “You... know?”Shang Tsung: “There is little in this realm that escapes my attention, though I must admit I was surprised to learn that he had survived our previous encounter.”Kenshi: “Shujinko! It has been many years since we last met. Although I have sensed Shang Tsung's presence on many occasions, I have not been able to locate him.”Shujinko: “I have found him, Kenshi. He has invited us both to his island to face him in Mortal Kombat. He has been watching you. He knew that you were searching for him.”Kenshi: “I had suspected as much. This explains why I have never been able to find him... He was always one step ahead of me... I thank you for bringing me this news.”)
*Acrobatics (Can perform various acrobatic maneuvers, execute jump/aerial attacks, etc.)
*Longevity (By consuming the souls of others, he can harvest their vitality to sustain his own youth, temporarily reversing his own physical aging)
*Flight (Restricted flight via the air kombat system, allowing fighters to engage in prolonged kombat with others while airborneMortal Kombat: Armageddon's Teaser Trailer“Long ago, the Gods foresaw that the fury of Mortal Kombat would lead to the destruction of the realm. [...] They said that battle will not be confined to the ground...”)
*Immortality (Possesses several types of immortality that allow Shang Tsung to defy death throughout the long aeons of his life)
**Type 7; Death may release his spirit from the physical body, but he can continue fighting against other spirits in kombat during this state.Mortal Kombat: Armageddon - Shang Tsung's biography“In an instant, Raiden's blast destroyed us all! Our souls intertwined, we did battle in the ether. But I was drawn away by a magic more powerful than death. My essence returned to Outworld, where I found myself face to face with Shao Kahn! He was alive! Quan Chi and I had slain him in his fortress -- or so we thought. Yet here he stood. At his side was the Shokan prince, Goro! My ghostly visage startled them at first, but Shao Kahn knew what had transpired. Long ago I had pledged my soul to the emperor. That pledge was binding even beyond death. But if he were to die, so too would those who served him. At the time I believed it to be merely another empty vow, yet here I am. My soul has returned from beyond to rejoin Shao Kahn. He had need of me. But I required a host body in which my soul could reside. At the flesh pits, he forged for me a new body. It was weak and grotesque to behold, but it functioned well enough. I craved mortal souls to heal and fortify my new flesh. I found more than enough at a place all too familiar to me: the village where Li Mei was born. I consumed each peasant's life force as Shao Kahn and Goro slew them one by one. I was renewed!”
**Type 8; Pledged his soul to Shao Kahn, allowing his loosed soul to return to him instead of the afterlife so that Shao can restore his form.
*Magic (A powerful “demon sorcerer” who wields unholy powers of magic to subjugate and destroy anyone who opposes his dark willMortal Kombat 2 Collector's Edition Comic Book, page 8He will be reconstructed, his youth restored, his strength multiplied, his unholy power replenished.)
**Soul Manipulation (Not only can he steal souls, but Shang Tsung is also capable of transferring souls between vessels with his skill in soul transplanting)
***Absorption (When Shang Tsung steals a soul, he also absorbs their attributes, gaining unspecified benefits from this harvest of soulsMortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance - Shang Tsung's Konquest ModeShang Tsung has survived for centuries by stealing the souls of warriors. Once Shang Tsung has preformed his Soul Steal move, it is said that he absorbs some of his victims' attributes as well maintains his youth.)
***Healing (Can replenish his own life-force and stamina by stealing from the souls of those he consumes to harvest their life-force)
***Memory Manipulation (The souls he consumes are still people, so he also has access to their thoughts and memories gain info from themMortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero - Manual, page 18It was through Mortal Kombat that the Outworld's soul-stealing sorcerer Shang Tsung discovered the location of the sacred Map of Elements. After Goro, the reigning Outworld champion, defeated the original Kung Lao over 400 years ago, Shang Tsung sapped the human's soul. He retained his thoughts and memories thus discovering the secrets of the sacred map, which has been hidden within the Shaolin temples for centuries.)
**Shapeshifting (Can assume the forms of others. Assumed the form of Kung Lao as a disguise, allowing him to approach Liu Kang without suspicionMortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance - Intro cinematic)
**Fire Manipulation (Using the extinguished souls he consumed, he can shoot them as exploding fire skulls.Mortal Kombat 2 Collector's Edition Comic Book, page 17The ball of energy Shang Tsung throws is actually the lifeforce of an extinguished soul. Can shoot fire beams and fireballs)
**Summoning (Capable of summoning a massive cobra whose form is made of flames, allowing it to wrap its victims with flames while biting them)
**Teleportation (Via his Mysterious Magic special move in which he instantly teleports behind his opponent to quickly attack them from a blind spot)
**Telekinesis (Can magically suspend his opponent in the air to leave them vulnerable to his next attack or slam them back down afterwards to smash them)
**Metal Manipulation (Using his wicked brand of arcanery, Shang Tsung can cause a bed of wicked spikes to erupt from the ground to impale his victims)
**Portal Creation (Limited to breaching the dimensional gates between the realms in MK's universe by opening a portal of a specific size)
*Minor Reality Warping (Shang Tsung is among those who are called “superpowered warriors” or “superior kombatants” who have the ability to tap into the forces that bind the realms through sheer kombat.Mortal Kombat: Armageddon - Blaze's Trading Kard (Bio)John Vogel: “Blaze is a firespawn who was created by an Edenian sorceress. His initial purpose was to wander the realms and keep an eye out for super powered warriors: Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn, even Raiden. The sorceress had a vision that eventually there would be too many of these superpowered warriors and eventually will cause Armageddon”Mortal Kombat: Unchained - Blaze's biography“For millennia I existed for one purpose... to monitor the strength of the world's kombatants. My creator foresaw a time when warriors would become too powerful and threaten all of existence.”Mortal Kombat: Unchained - Blaze's biography“During my quest, I was overpowered by holy men who served Onaga. For ages I was bound by their sorcery and oblivious to the growing strength of Ki Chao warriors. Finally free, I have emerged to discover beings whose power and numbers exceed that which the realms can sustain.”Mortal Kombat: Armageddon - Blaze's biography“I searched the realms to find a concentration of warriors with the ability to tap into the forces that bind the realms. What I discovered alarmed me! The number of kombatants had grown since I last walked among them. [...] I could feel the strain upon the realms and concluded that the time had come: I would awaken the brothers and begin the second phase of the quest.” In practice, this allows them to weaken the bond between realms whenever they engage in battle, said weakening becoming stronger the more intense the battle they're participating in is, like a war. This will eventually undo all realms and destroy existence through an accumulated effort, as in more kombatants must fight to eventually destroy the realms.Mortal Kombat: Armageddon - Konquest ModeBlaze: “Your mother, my creator, foresaw the coming Armageddon: that through Mortal Kombat, warriors would unknowingly tap into the very forces that make reality possible. Those warriors are in the crator [sic] below, engaged in Mortal Kombat.”Taven: “All of them? But with that many fighting in one place...”Blaze: “This crater will be the origin of the Apocalypse unless something is done to prevent it.”)
*His life sustained his island's existence and his defeat caused it to self-destruct, consuming the island in fiery explosionsMortal Kombat 2 Collector's Edition Comic Book, page 3Raiden: Hold tight, Johnny Cage. This island realm is self-destructing as a result of Shang Tsung's death.Johnny Cage: So Liu Kang won?Raiden: Yes, he did. But this island was held together by Shang's existence. We must make a quick exit through a portal I have created.
Attack Potency: Town level (Is a "superpowered warrior" like Shao Kahn and Raiden, scaling to the likes of these top tier warriors since he killed a clone of the former in Deadly Alliance and defeated the latter in Deception.Mortal Kombat: Deception - Intro cinematic Scaling to Blaze who can displace storm clouds that he formed when the Pyramid of Argus that he was on burst from the earth, since Argus anticipated a plan that would make use of the kombatants' growing power,Mortal Kombat: Armageddon - Intro cinematicNarrator: “There have been many powerful warriors throughout the millennia. But ages of Mortal Kombat have begun to tear at the fabric of the realms. The critical point has finally been reached. It was foreseen that kombatants would one day grow too powerful and too numerous. If left unchecked, their intensifying kombat would weaken and shatter the realms... and bring about... the apocalypse. The Elder Gods demanded a safeguard be put in place to avoid total destruction. One that would make use of the kombatants' insatiable bloodlust. Like moths to flame, they would be drawn to battle.” plus Blaze certainly believed that he could be defeated by any one of them,Mortal Kombat: Armageddon - Konquest ModeBlaze: “The quest has been corrupted. All did not go exactly as my creator had foreseen it. You are in the wrong location. I will transport you to the rim of the crater where the final battle will take place. The quest will conclude when one of you defeats me there in kombat. We must make haste! Many warriors are gathering. If I am defeated by one of them, they will steal the prize and the true purpose of the quest will have failed. Armageddon will be upon you all.” meaning he scales to Blaze)
Speed: Massively Hypersonic+ reactions and combat speed (Fought Raiden and Quan Chi, scaling to the latter's feat of reacting to Raiden's lightning by erecting a wall of skulls to block it)
Lifting Strength: At least Class K (With Kreate-A-Fatality in Armageddon, all kombatants can rip out heads with the spine attached using 101-102 tons of force)
Striking Strength: Town level (Capable of drawing blood from Quan Chi and Raiden with his strikes in hand-to-hand kombat)
Durability: Town level (Took hits from Raiden's physical strikes and lightning attacks)
Stamina: Superhuman (Can quickly replenish himself to full strength by consuming just one soul. Without using his magic, he recovered to full strength in less than just a minute from being throttled violently enough by Quan Chi to make him profusely spew blood)
Range: Standard Melee Range with hand-to-hand combat and his straight sword. Several Meters with projectiles.
Standard Equipment: His straight sword.
Intelligence:
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Gifted (Constantly scheming his next move in his long life, schemes and plots always spring forth from his dark mind. He was responsible for hatching the scheme that started the events of Mortal Kombat 2, coming up with a plan that allowed Outworld to challenge Earthrealm in a Mortal Kombat tournament that they hosted in their realm, which served as a distraction for the champions of Earthrealm to let Shao invade it in Mortal Kombat 3 and many other schemes that were initially successful. He also retains the thoughts and memories of the souls of those he has taken them from. As such, he has accumulated countless categories of miscellaneous knowledge that has proven useful to him, such as the knowledge of the location of the secret Map of Elements that he gained from consuming the Great Kung Lao's soul)
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Gifted (Shang Tsung has consumed an uncounted amount of souls from warriors to gain their martial knowledge, such as an unnamed Shaolin monk whence he took his Snake style from and the soul of Muso Gonnosuke, the founder of Jojutsu who [in the MK universe] beat the legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi in their second duel.>Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance - Bo' Rai Cho's Konquest ModeJojutsu is the Japanese art of the short staff. It was first used by Muso Gonnosuke in the early 1600's after his loss to the swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi, while using a long staff of 6 feet. With assistance from Master Bo' Rai Cho, he subsequently developed a style with a shorter staff of 4 feet. Although he beat Musashi in a second duel, he was later defeated in his first Mortal Kombat tournament. Gonnosuke's soul was consumed by the sorcerer Shang Tsung. As such, he has accumulated hundreds of lifetimes' worth of kombat skill)
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Weaknesses: Must stave off his waning life by feeding on souls. His soul pledge to Shao Kahn means that he will die if Shao dies as well.
Notable Attacks and Techniques:
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==Notable Matchups==
Victories:
Losses:
Inconclusive:
==References==
Category:Characters
Category:Mortal Kombat
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