Liu Kang

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Powers and Abilities

Liu Kang is a master hand-to-hand combatant. Furthermore, his mastery over his own chi  enables him to do superhuman feats. By releasing his energy he can project bolts of energy, turn himself into energy or even turn himself into a humanoid-sized dragon.

He is very fast, strong and tough. Liu Kang is capable to defeat the strongest and biggest opponents, even superhuman ones, by a series of martial arts attacks.

As a trained monk, he is also an adequate philosopher.

History

Many thousands of years ago a group of wise men from the Far East received visions of a dark realm. This realm would later be known as the Outworld. This dark realm was placed in another dimension and ruled by its malicious emperor, Shao Kahn.

The wise men realized that travel might some day be possible between the two realms if the conditions were right. Fearing an imminent Outworld invasion they appealed to the Elder Gods. The Gods answered their appeal by creating the tournament of Mortal Kombat in which chosen earth warriors could fight for the safety of the earth realm.

The Mortal Kombat tournament it thus earth’s last chance against Kahn’s forces: a fight for the lives and souls of all people on Earth. For centuries Earth now has used Mortal Kombat to defend itself against the Outworld’s Emperor Shao Kahn. But Kahn became exceedingly frustrated by failed attempts at taking Earth though the tournament battle (MK1-MK2).

He decided to enact a plan which began almost 10,000 years ago. It was during a time in which Kahn had a queen, by the name of Sindel. Unfortunately she died a premature death. Kahn’s shadow priests, lead by the master sorcerer Shang Tsung, made it so Sindel’s spirit would someday be reborn: not on the Outworld but on the Earth realm itself.

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Invasion

This unholy act gave Shao Kahn the power to step though the dimensional gates and reclaim his queen, thus also enabling him to finally seize Earth. Upon breaching the Portal into Earth, Shao Kahn stripped the planet of all human life. Kahn claimed every soul as his own and slowly the Earth began to be transformed into a part of the Outworld itself.

But there were souls which Shao Kahn could not take; the souls of the warriors chosen to represent Earth in a new Mortal Kombat.

Kahn sent an army of terrible Outworld warriors to find and eliminate the warriors who where spread throughout the planet. Some of the Earth’s warriors did survive the attacks, but most did not. The remaining few were mankind’s only hope of saving them all (MK3).

The survivors were contacted by the Elder god named Raiden, who had been the coordinator of the previous Mortal Kombat Tournaments. All gathered in the lands held by Nightwolf’s tribe (one of the survivors) and they began to enact a plan…

The wrath of Kahn

Directly after the Outworld invasion the two-time champion of the previous Mortal Kombat Tournaments Liu Kang found himself the prime target of Kahn’s extermination squads. Kang was a Shaolin Monk Champion, a master of Kung Fu and was until the invasion living in his Shaolin Temple training a new generation of fighters alongside another master by the name Kung Lao.

But nothing could have prepared them for the coming invasion: all, except Kang and Lao were killed.

Kang was now the single greatest threat to Shao Kahn’s invasion. With the help of the other survivors, again, and yet again, Liu Kang was able to liberate and protect the Earth and its citizens by winning the Mortal Kombat Tournaments (MK3 and MK4).

Liberation

When Earth was finally free again, Kang returned to his homeland to continue his life as a monk and tutor. In some time, however, his former enemy Shang Tsung and another Outworld sorcerer, named Quan Chi, formed a pact, and performed a bloody coup to oust the Outworld ruler, Shao Kahn, from power.

Quan Chi had recently found and reanimated an army of legendary Outworld soldiers. He used it to take control of the world together with his ally. The two of them entered the Earth realm and managed to kill the great champion and protector, Liu Kang, by using team work.

A new Mortal Kombat Tournament was started and this time the stakes are higher than ever. Having lost its greatest champion the future of the Earth did not look promising. Therefore, the Elder God named Raiden denounced his immortality and entered the tournament himself in order to save his beloved human race from destruction. The full Tournament has yet to be played out (MK: Deadly Alliance).

Description

Liu Kang looks like a typical fighting Shaolin monk. Slender built, long black hair, brown eyes, red headband, no shirt and red-black trousers. Among Kang’s many abilities are his extreme mastery of the art of Kung Fu, his chi blasts and his extreme agility. It is clear from his looks that he is a highly trained fighter.

Being the Mortal Kombat Champion the other Chosen tend to respect him and his enemies generally fear him.

Personality

Liu Kang is the biggest threat to Shao Kahn’s plans. He 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. Liu Kang also has a light voice like many Asian people.

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 damn much to fight!

Regardless, the man is a true hero and a living legend.

Quotes

No real quotes, but Kang normally screams a lot of unintelligible sounds while in combat for purposes of concentration and intimidation.

DC Universe History

Shao Kahn might have been the leader of an ancient empire centered on Bahdnesia (where Johnny Thunder and his Thunderbolt are from), and contained the Hidden City of the homo magi. Kahn, of course, would have been a homo magi sorcerer.

Fifteen thousand years ago, after a thousand years of Kahn’s rule, a band of rebels sacrificed their lives to banish Kahn from the Earth dimension, stranding him in Outworld, where he forged a new empire, and took a queen—Mera, who died and was reborn into the Earth dimension.

The warriors who fight to prevent Kahn’s return are primarily chosen from the civilizations of Atlantis, Bahdnesia, and the Hidden City, since their lives are at the most immediate risk should Kahn be successful. Also, the special abilities of these residents seem to most closely match the video-game powers than anywhere else in the DCU.

This gives potential links to Johnny Thunder, Zatanna, Zatara, Power Girl, Aquaman, Tempest, and probably others. Naturally, the kombats take place in an ancient arena in Bahdnesia-mainly because it’s probably the one place in the DCU we’ve never gotten a good look at !

By Dr. Peter S Piispanen.

Helper(s): Sean MacDonald, John Colagioia.

Source of Character: Mortal Kombat (MK1-4) Games.