Shang Tsung

Shang Tsung (Chinese: 尚宗 pinyin: Shàng Zōng; Wade–Giles: Shang4 Tsung1) is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise by Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios. He debuted as the final boss of the original 1992 game and has remained one of the franchise's primary villains. A powerful sorcerer, he is principally defined by his abilities to shapeshift into other characters and to absorb the souls of defeated warriors. Shang Tsung is usually portrayed as the right-hand man of Outworld emperor Shao Kahn and the archenemy of Shaolin monk Liu Kang. He also appeared as the main villain of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (2002), alongside Quan Chi as the eponymous Deadly Alliance, and Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath (2020).The character has appeared in various media outside of the games, including as the main villain of the 1995 film adaptation and the 2021 film. He has received a positive reception for his design, abilities, and role in the series.

Powers and Abilities

Shang Tsung was cursed by mysterious entities identified only as his gods. The curse forcibly decreases his lifespan, unless he takes the souls of others to replenish himself. Shang Tsung's primary objective is to find an infinite source of souls on which to thrive indefinitely. Without souls, his body will rapidly age, wither, and eventually die.However, due to his ability to absorb souls, he has also discovered an unforeseen side effect, granting him the ability to shape-shift into the people whose souls he has taken. The change is more than skin deep as he has access to their memories, fighting prowess and powers as well. Shang Tsung is not required to steal a person's soul in order to morph into them, as he took on the form of Kung Lao to sneak up on Liu Kang. As a sorcerer, Shang Tsung wields incredible black magic, most of it provided by Shao Kahn though after the third and second tournaments, this is no longer the case. It would appear that he, when paired with Quan Chi, was able to defeat the Thunder God of Earth, Raiden.Like his rival, Liu Kang, he is associated with the element of fire, able to fire flaming skull-shaped projectiles at his opponent. In addition to his projectiles, he has the ability to create a giant, flaming cobra of fire that easily defeated Raiden (as seen in Deception's opening cinematic) and can turn into said cobra in Mortal Kombat 11. In Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Shang Tsung could teleport using pools of fire. He can also use his element of fire for sorcery and black magic, such as his ability to create portals as seen in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. Early concept sketches of Shang Tsung for Mortal Kombat II revealed that he had a hidden demonic form, although it has since been established that Shang Tsung is a human of Chinese origin, having been granted powers of sorcery by Shao Kahn.In Mortal Kombat 11, his sorcery is heavily expanded upon with his previous abilities having more combat application behind them and the addition of new abilities that revolves around the theme of a treacherous, serpentine sorcerer. Shang Tsung's cobra familiar can now banish opponents by crashing them down to a lava portal and it also has the ability to drain the souls of those caught in its magics. The extent of his ability to steal attributes via soul stealing has been increased as he can siphon abilities and permanently gain them rather than assuming the appearance of his opponent. While transplanting souls can give life to corpses, he can also use it take lives by resurrecting spirits inside live opponents, reforming their physical forms which tears them apart inside out. He now has access to phylacteries and ancient scrolls that act as catalysts for his soul magic and curse spells. He appears to possess forms of necromancy with his ability to summon undead monks and is able to easily summon Soulnados, something Quan Chi would take time to summon.As revealed in Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath's Story, he is revealed to have been the creator of Kronika's Crown and is fully aware of its workings. As such, he is the one of the few people who can use the crown's true power without straining himself, even in his elder form.Upon wearing the crown of Kronika and gaining the powers of many powerful kombatants including the previous wielder of the crown, Shang Tsung becomes a being with power comparable to the Elder Gods themselves. The powerful elemental Gods Raiden and Fujin stand no chance against his new found power, with Shang Tsung becoming so powerful he easily kills both the immortal Shao Kahn and Kronika with little effort.Additionally, Shang possesses knowledge of genetics, having created such biological abominations as Mileena and Meat in his Flesh Pits as well as an affinity for constructing and operating booby traps.

Signature Moves

Morphing

Flaming skulls

Flaming skull eruption

Ground skull

soul steal

Forward fireball

Fire ring

Mysterious magic

Body switch

slide launch

hot scape

up skull

crashing flames

Corpse drop

Sorcerey rush

Vile sorcery

Inferno barrier

Soul well

Shake

Superkick

Slide

Force lift

Screaming soul

Scatter soul