Shao Kahn

All the realms shall bow to the will of Shao Kahn

Shao Kahn is a powerful and dreaded tyrant of the Outworld throne, he is one of the main antagonists of the series and is the most well known. Originally an advisor of Onaga, he rose to power after successfully usurping the dragon king by years of slow poisoning and rallying Onaga's own allies against their former ruler.

## Appearance

Being an outworlder, Shao Kahn resembles a human, he’s very muscular and tall as his height towers over other outworlders and humans. He’s usually topless with only spiked shoulder pads, a cape, and war gauntlets covering his upper body parts. He wears loincloth, armored pants, and metal boots on his lower body.

After becoming an Ascended, his face gained some demonic attributes such as small horns/spikes, fangs, and red eyes with slit pupils. After this point he wears a horned war helmet with skull design and flames pulsating through it.

## Personality

Shao Kahn is an evil dictator and warlord, who is intelligent, cruel, merciless, arrogant, manipulative, and power hungry. He is obsessed with conquest and dominion over the realms, and will go to any means, including manipulating the other kontestants to do his dirty work for him.

He has no regard for the lives of his subjects or other kontestants, but he still rewards those who are loyal to him, and will punish those who are not. He is extremely ruthless and brutal, and is not above using torture to get information out of his prisoners. He is also highly skilled in psychological warfare, and will often use mind games to break the will of his opponents. He's patient enough to wait years for his plans to unfold, as he did when slowly poisoning Onaga and gathering allies against him.

He is also a cunning strategist, as he is always thinking several steps ahead when planning his conquests. He is not afraid to resort to trickery and deceit in order to achieve his goals, and will do whatever it takes to gain the upper hand. He is also very charismatic and persuasive, which makes him a formidable opponent.
However, despite his great power and intellect, he is not without his flaws. He can be impulsive at times, and is prone to fits of rage if things do not go his way. He is also incredibly arrogant, which can lead to him underestimating his opponents and thinking lowly of them especially given his IQ of 400 which leads to him believing his enemies to be less intelligent than him and not worth his time which has proven to be a fatal mistake on his part.

Shao Kahn's lust for power and dominance is seemingly insatiable. In spite of him already being an Ascended, Shao Kahn craves for even more power. The deaths of his enemies, whether he's the one killing them or not, seem to satisfy this bloodthirst for a time.

When it comes to his family, he seems to show some level of respect and care towards them, however he is also willing to use them as tools or pawns to accomplish his goals and is not above killing them if they prove useless or even attempt to betray him. Despite owing his life to his brother, Sebek Kahn, Shao Kahn was not above killing him either when he sided with Onaga and was against his plan of treason due to Sebek Kahn owed the Dragon King his loyalty for saving his brother's life. However, he seems to have had a good relationship with his now deceased 1st wife, Tha'lah, who gave birth to their first and only child, Reiko. Unfortunately the same can't be said to Reiko as Shao Kahn sees him as inferior to his adoptive son, Rain, and doesn't value him as much as the Edenian boy, while Reiko tries so hard to please his father to gain his approval.

His relationship with Kitana is complex. It's obvious he cares for her, but not out of any sort of love. She's simply a useful tool to him and nothing more as he was originally keeping her just to appease Sindel whom he forced to marry him and make her his queen. Kitana herself never realized that her father's affection was never genuine, he's just using her for his own ends.

His relationship with Mileena was somewhat better than with Kitana and Reiko, though it wasn't really love either as Shao Kahn only raised her and cared for her as she was a clone of his precious "daughter", Kitana, and saw her as a useful tool since he planned to have Mileena replace her "sister" if Kitana betrayed him.

His relationship with Rain is the most interesting. The boy initially was vengeful against him and wished to kill the emperor for killing his guardians. Rain attempted to assassinate him countless time and failed, but Shao Kahn was intrigued by the boy's skills and eventually took him in as his adoptive son. The two's relationship was rather strained at first, as Rain was not happy with this, but overtime he eventually warmed up to Shao Kahn and seemed to grow to be loyal to him especially after Shao Kahn made him his favorite son and granted him the position as the prince of Outworld which earned him lavish living. Shao Kahn also taught him to harness his abilities and how to master them, thus turning Rain from a mere assassin into a formidable warrior.

When it comes to his subjects, Shao Kahn treats them like slaves. He will often demand harsh labor from them and will not hesitate to punish them if they do not meet his expectations. He also has no qualms about executing his subjects if he feels they are no longer useful to him. He likes to put the Shokan and the Minotaurs at odds to gain his favor, knowing it would keep both races fighting thus giving him an entertainment out of it. He views the Tarkatans as useful but disposable brutes, and keeps them around for their brutality and strength in battle.

Despite his cruel nature, Shao Kahn is not without his admirers. Many of the Outworld inhabitants revere him as a god, and some have even taken to worshipping him. There are also those who are loyal to him due to his strength and power, and they will do whatever it takes to earn his favor. This was shown when he took Rain under his wing. Despite his initial hatred for him, the Edenian was eventually loyal to Shao Kahn and became one of his greatest allies.

Shao Kahn has lecherous tendencies, and he's not afraid to force women to become his concubines or sex slaves. This was shown with Sindel and later Nitara. While it is clear that Shao Kahn was never genuinely in love with Sindel and had simply taken her as a trophy wife and to make her his queen and rule alongside him, it is also clear that he is indeed physically attracted to her and takes pleasure in having his way with her, ideas that drove Sindel to commit suicide. He also doesn't mind his underlings taking his conquered enemies for themselves, such as Skarlet and Rain.

Overall, Shao Kahn is an incredibly powerful and dangerous adversary. His vast array of powers and abilities make him a force to be reckoned with. He is not to be trifled with, and those who dare to stand against him had better be prepared for a fight of their lives.

## Abilities & Powers

Even when he was still an ordinary Outworlder Shao Kahn is already an extremely powerful and intelligent warrior. After becoming an Ascended his powers were amplified to an even more extreme level.

* Superhuman Strength: Shao Kahn's strength is far beyond that of a human. He can effortlessly lift a warship which weight over 100 tons.
* Super Advanced Intelligence: Shao Kahn's most dangerous trait is his superior intellect, boasting a staggering IQ of 400 which is far beyond any human. He is capable of perfect recall and are able to instantly analyze and understand the mechanics behind anything including complicated things such as languages, machinery, tactics, systems, and people's minds and actions, within a matter of seconds.
* Magic: Shao Kahn has the ability to use many forms of magic and has mastered them to very high degree.
	+ Flight: Shao Kahn is able to fly by using magic.
	+ Elemental Magic: Shao Kahn has mastered all 7 of nature's elements: fire, water, earth, wind, wood, metal, and lightning.
		- Fire and Magma Manipulation: Shao Kahn can manipulate fire and magma such as making constructs made of fire and creating magma eruptions from the ground by using his fist or Wrath Hammer.
		- Water and Ice Manipulation: Shao Kahn is able to manipulate water in all of its stages.
		- Earth Manipulation: Shao Kahn can create tremors and levitate rocks to be thrown at his opponents.
		- Wind Manipulation: Shao Kahn can conjure winds with incredible force, and can also manipulate air to the point where he can suffocate his opponents.
		- Lightning Manipulation: Shao Kahn is capable of conjuring and controlling lightning. He is capable of charging his wrath hammer with electricity akin to Thor from Norse mythology.
		- Metal Manipulation: Shao Kahn can manipulate metal such as by making metal constructs, disassembling metallic weapons, and even ripping out iron from his opponents' blood which deprives them of oxygen.
		- Wood Manipulation: Shao Kahn can control plant life and create wood constructs.
	+ Soul Magic: Shao Kahn is one of the most powerful practicioner of soul magic as he can create soulnados and creating entities such as Ermac by combining many souls of fallen warriors. His mastery far exceeds that of Shang Tsung's and Quan Chi's.
	+ Blood Magic:Shao Kahn is extremely skilled in Blood magic, being able to use blood itself as a weapon. He can drain his victims of their blood and use it to enhance his own powers, or even re-absorb the blood back into his body.
	+ Arcane Magic: Shao Kahn's magic is very powerful. He is a master of spells and incantations. He can create powerful enchantments and curses.
* Master Combatant: Even before he was an Ascended, Shao Kahn was an experienced and formidable combatant. He is able to utilize many forms of martial art such as Xing Yi, Karate, Judo, and even Edenia's unique martial art.
* Weapon Mastery: Shao Kahn is extremely proficient in the use of weapons, both melee and ranged. He can use spears, hammers, maces, clubs, and swords. He even managed to figure out how to use modern weaponry such as guns and bombs.
* Immortality: Being an Ascended, Shao Kahn is virtually immortal and cannot die of old age.

### Weapons

* Wrath Hammer: Shao Kahn's signature weapon which was made of special alloy making it nigh indestructible. Over the millenia he has enchanted the hammer with many magics and spells which made it a force to be reckoned with and one of the most destructive weapons ever crafted.

## History

### Early Life

Shao Kahn was born on Outworld, the youngest son of a commoner. However, despite their commoner background, he and his brother, Sebek Kahn, had the hearts of a warrior and great ambitions, and they aspired to become mighty warriors that could bring glory to their names and Outworld. They spent years training and honing their skills until one day, Shao Kahn and Sebek Kahn decided to involve themselves in the Tervarian war where the Outworld forces led by Onaga were fighting against a rebellion force aided by foreign forces. The Outworld army won the war but was greatly weakened. Shao Kahn and his brother were there and helped Onaga's men to secure the victory. During the battle, Shao Kahn was fatally wounded and died, leaving his brother in distraught. Sebek Kahn later carried his corpse before Onaga, begging the Dragon King to revive his beloved brother.

Onaga, impressed with the brothers' service and bravery, revived the younger sibling and made him his advisor, thus saving him. While Sebek Kahn, being indebted to Onaga for saving his brother, pledged his loyalty to the Dragon King and swore to serve him as long as he lived.

### Rise to Power

After becoming an advisor, Shao Kahn and his brother would serve Onaga and help him rebuild the Outworld empire. They would spend decades serving Onaga until one day, power started to get into Shao Kahn's head and he began to plot ways to seize power from Onaga. Knowing that his older brother would not approve of his actions, Shao Kahn secretly and slowly poisoned the Dragon King and after years of careful planning and manipulations, he had rallied many of Onaga's own generals and subjects against their king. Sebek Kahn, being in disbelief of his brother's betrayal toward Onaga despite the latter having saved his life, was forced to battle his own brother. The two brothers fought with Shao Kahn emerging victorious, killing his own brother and usurping the throne from Onaga who succumbed to the poison and his injuries, thus becoming the new emperor.

As the new Emperor of Outworld, he basked under the light of Onaga's Altar of Ascension , becoming an Ascended just like his former emperor. Shao Kahn sought to conquer other realms to further expand his power and knowledge. He first attempted to conquer the nearby realm of Osh-Tekk ruled by Kotal K'etz which had been on subsequent war with other realms including Outworld. However, the Elder Gods warned him that merging the realms without their consent is a treason against them. So, he asked an audience with the Elder Gods and proposed a solution; a tournament between the warriors of Osh-Tekk and the warriors of Outworld, and if he were to win, the Elder Gods would grant him the right to invade and merge the two realms and if Osh-Tekk were to win it would keep its freedom and might take parts of Outworld as its own. The Elder Gods agreed and the tournament was held with Outworld emerging victorious by scoring 5 victories over Osh-Tekk which scored only 1 victory, allowing Shao Kahn to merge the golden realm with Outworld.

Shao Kahn would later continue his campaign, merging many more realms into Outworld including Zaterra, Xaa, Ilkan, Hinpar, and many more, enslaving the inhabitants of the conquered realms and recruited their finest warriors into his army. During this time, he married an Outworld woman named Tha'Lah, who would later bear him a son, Reiko. However, their marriage would not last as the woman died after giving birth to their child, leaving Shao Kahn a widower.

### Getting to Know Shang Tsung

At some point, he would meet a human called Shang Tsung who came to his palace and offered to serve him and became a loyal subject to the emperor. Shao Kahn saw potential in him and ordered him to be taught in the dark arts, granting him a place in the royal court. During this time, the sorcerer also served as an advisor to Shao Kahn. However, Shao Kahn knew that the sorcerer wasn't one to be trusted so he grasped a fragment of Shang Tsung's soul through soul magic to make sure that the sorcerer would not think about betraying him.

Shang Tsung would serve him loyally, even doing dark experiments under the Emperor's orders to enhance the abilities of his warriors such as giving the Tarkatans enhanced strength by grafting bone blades into their arms, and experimenting on the Minotaur species, turning the majority of them into mindless berserkers, while a few escaped his grasp and fled the empire.

### The Fall of Edenia

Shao Kahn eventually set his sight on the realm of Edenia, the realm ruled by King Jerrod. The realm was defended by the might of the Edenian clans, the Anunnaki and the Ennead. He challenged the Edenian king to a Mortal Kombat tournament with King Jerrod accepted the challenge and the two realms sent their finest warriors to compete in the bloody tournament.

After the tournament was concluded, Outworld had secured 5 wins while Edenia scored only 3 wins, giving Shao Kahn the right to invade the realm. As soon as the invasion preparations were completed, Shao Kahn launched the invasion which was met with great resistance from the Edenian forces and the united clans. King Jerrod himself challenged Shao Kahn in a duel to the death and the two rulers clashed in a cataclysmic battle which lasted for days. King Jerrod was a very powerful fighter and fought the despot valiantly but he was eventually defeated by Shao Kahn and killed. Sindel, Jerrod's wife and Queen of Edenia, witnessed her husband's death and begged Shao Kahn to spare her daughter and people. The Emperor was impressed by the Queen's beauty so he agreed.

However, what he did was not out of mercy but because he wanted Sindel as his own. He spared the princess and her mother and brought the two to Outworld where he forced Sindel to become his bride and his queen. He made Kitana his adoptive daughter just to appease her mother, though this wasn't done out of any love or care, it was simply to keep her under his thumb.

Shao Kahn subjected Sindel to his sexual desires and the Edenian queen eventually committed suicide in shame, unable to endure the torment she was subjected to. Her death made the remaining Anunnaki and the Ennead to revolt against him to make their escape to Earthrealm where they would find refuge from his tyranny and became known as the Babylonian and Egyptian gods by ancient humans.

Rain, the son of the late Amara the Ennead sorceress, vowed vengeance upon the Outworld Emperor and attempted to assassinate the despot many times and failed. However, instead of killing the Edenian boy, Shao Kahn became intrigued by Rain's skills and took the young boy under his wing, adopting him as his own son and gave him the title of Prince. He even taught the boy his own skills and turned him into a fearsome warrior and a formidable opponent, thus making Rain one of his greatest assets and one of his most trusted and favored servants.

During this time, Shao Kahn ordered Shang Tsung to create a girl named Mileena, a clone of Princess Kitana mixed with Tarkatan DNA as a fail-safe if Kitana should betray the Emperor when she grew up.

### Conquering Vaeternus

After merging Edenia and few other realms prior, Shao Kahn targeted the vampire realm Vaeternus as his next target due to him being interested with its residents' knowledge about blood magic. The realm was ruled by the vampire Queen Sarna who was a fierce warrior and Shao Kahn challenged her to a tournament. Sarna accepted the challenge and the two realms sent their finest fighters. In the end, Outworld won and Vaeternus was conquered and made a part of Outworld.

Knowing that the vampires of Vaeternus were also beings with high libido, Shao Kahn subjected some of the vampires including Sarna herself and Nitara who was one of Vaeternus champions who survived the tournament to become his sex slaves, giving them false promise that he would free Vaeternus if they obeyed him. Unfortunately for Sarna, Shao Kahn broke her mind, rendering her a shell of her former self due to his extreme roughness. Shao Kahn kept Sarna alive, using her as a pleasure slave as he had grown fond of her beauty. Nitara, however, refused to be broken and swore vengeance upon the despot before making her escape to Earthrealm where she would find refuge.

### First Conflict with Earthrealm

Shao Kahn developed an interest in Earthrealm and decided to invade it in hopes of expanding his power even further. Therefore, he challenged lord Raiden, the protector of Earthrealm, to a Mortal Kombat tournament. Initially, Outworld managed to score 1 win against Earthrealm but he was forced to accept defeat 3 times due to a warrior known as the Great Kung Lao, who had defeated many of his champions in 3 consequtive Mortal Kombats. Keeping his patient, he began to recruit more and more warriors from different regions in his realm until he finally found one that he had been looking for; Prince Goro of the Shokan. Goro agreed to fight for the despot in exchange his people will gain the despot's favor and high rank in Outworld's hierarchy.

Goro proved to be more than worthy for the task as the Shokan Prince managed to defeat and kill the Great Kung Lao and later on earned him 3 more consequtive victories, needing only one more to conquer the Earthrealm.

## Quotes

"I'll grind your bones to dust!" (Battle cry)

"I'll tear out your heart and have my tygores feast on your entrails." (Battle cry)

"Feel the wrath of Shao Kahn!" (Taunt 1)

"You're still trying to win?" (Taunt 2)

"You will never win" (Taunt 3)

"You are nothing!" (Taunt 4)

"You are weak, pathetic fool!" (Taunt 5)

"I rule this world!" (Win a round)

"Is that your best?" (Win a round)

"You dare oppose the might of Outworld?" (Win a round)

"You're just a bug that's about to be squashed!" (Win a round)

"Your death shall come by my hand" (Win a round)

"The weak shall fall" (Win a round)

"I am Outworld's Emperor!" (Win a round)

"Pathetic" (Win a round)

"Don't make me laugh!" (Win a round)

"It's a disgrace that the Earthrealm had produced such a pathetic warrior." (Win a round against an Earthrealmer)

"This is how the true warriors of Outworld fights!" (Win a round against an Outworlder)

"I'll do you a favor by sending you back to the Netherrealm!" (Win a round against a demon)

"You will make an excellent addition to my concubine collection." (Win a round against non-Outworlder female characters)

"A warrior's spirit is his pride and joy, and I have crushed it." (Win a round against a fellow ascended)

"I'll crush you all!" (Win a round against 2 players)

"One or two matters not to me." (Win a round against 2 players)

"You have no idea what true power is!" (Win a round against Liu Kang)

"You've been a thorn on my side for far too long, Raiden." (Win a round against Raiden)

"The Earthrealm will soon belong to me!" (Win a round against Raiden)

"I'm all too familiar with cryomancy. I know exactly how to kill you." (Win a round against Sub-Zero)

"Your magic is nothing compared to mine." (Win a round against the sorcerers: Raiden, Nightwolf, Quan Chi, or Shang Tsung)

"You may have escaped my grasp last time, but you won't be so lucky this time!" (Win a round against Sonya Blade)

"You're better off as my concubine, Nitara, rather than wasting your life here." (Win a round against Nitara)

"The only reason why I didn't kill you was because of my promise to your mother." (Win a round against Kitana)

"You have disappointed me yet again, son." (Win a round against Reiko or Rain)

"You have so much potential, Mileena." (Win a round against Mileena)

"It's a shame that your mind control has been broken. Now you're just another bug for me to squash." (Win a round against Sindel)

"You will pay dearly for turning against me." (Win a round against his underlings)

"You're a fool if you think you can manipulate and then betray me, sorcerer." (Win a round against Shang Tsung)

"You're no longer useful to me, sorcerer. It's time I dispose of you." (Win a round against Shang Tsung)

"I will have your head for biting the hands that fed you." (Win a round against Baraka)

"Your treachery ends today, sorcerer." (Win a round against Quan Chi)

"You're not even worth the dirt under my boots, sorcerer." (Win a round against Shang Tsung or Quan Chi)

"Pray to your great spirit! That's the least you could do before i crush you." (Win a round against Nightwolf)

"Are you really that desperate to join your wife and son in the Netherrealm? Then you've come to the right place!" (Win a round against Scorpion)

"You know what would be funny? Crushing your jaw to shut that annoying mouth of yours" (Win a round against Johnny Cage)

"A hat? A HAT!? Hahahahahaha!!!" (Win a round against Kung Lao)

"For your betrayal, I'll break your mind personally myself, Jade." (Win a round against Jade)

"Your level of technology is fascinating but still nothing compared to my power!" (Win a round against a cyber Lin Kuei)

"There's nothing you can do to stop me from conquering the realms." (Win a round against Fujin or Raiden)

"I'm taking back the magic that gave you your speed" (Win a round against Kabal)