Shao Kahn

Shao Kahn is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise by Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios. Depicted as emperor of the fictional realm Outworld, he is one of the franchise's primary villains. Feared for his immense strength, which he complements with a large hammer, and knowledge of black magic, Shao Kahn seeks conquest of all the realms, including Earth. He serves as the final boss of Mortal Kombat II (1993), Mortal Kombat 3 (1995) and its updates, and the 2011 reboot, as well as the action-adventure spin-off Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (2005). An amalgam of Shao Kahn and DC Comics villain Darkseid also appears as the final boss of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (2009) under the name Dark Kahn.Shao Kahn is one of the most celebrated villains in video games. While noted as a difficult boss, he has received praise for his design, in-game abilities, and mannerisms, particularly his mocking and taunting of players. The character has appeared in various media outside of the games, including as the main villain of the film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997).

Powers and Abilities

Shao Kahn is shown to be an immensely powerful being throughout the series. He is able to utilize magic and has superhuman strength and durability. He is also able to charge at the opponent with considerable speed and power. His kombat abilities were demonstrated during the events of Mortal Kombat 3, where he defeated Kung Lao with relative ease. Armed with his Wrath Hammer, Shao Kahn can send opponents flying with one swing. During the events of Armageddon, he was able to smash through Mileena's magic barrier with his hammer.Like Shang Tsung, he can absorb the souls of others to increase his own power, often through the usage of Soulnados. His ability to absorb souls is so potent, he can rob the billions of souls of an entire realm with a hand motion, often using portals in conjunction with his soul steal to access the souls of a realm without stepping foot on it. The warrior souls he has taken have also retained their memories such as combat knowledge, making him wiser with every soul he imprisons within him.Shao Kahn is one of the few wielders of the mysterious green energy besides Johnny Cage, Cassie Cage, Nightwolf and Jade. He is one of the most versatile wielders of green energy, as he can use it to create energy weapon constructs such as spears, generate protective forcefields that reflect projectiles and fire energy beams seemingly from his eyes and shoot laser beams from his hands. He can enhance his strikes with green energy to increase the power behind his attacks, greatly increase his attack speed with it (like how Johnny Cage uses green energy to speed up his attacks in his Little Improve fatality) and sometimes use it to propel himself to great distances.Apart from his projectile attacks, Kahn's knowledge of magic seems to include cloning, as this is how he managed to avoid assassination at the hands of the Deadly Alliance. After escaping into the wilderness, he was able to heal and resuscitate a mortally wounded Goro and recruit him back to his cause. Shao Kahn has also created a body of flesh and bone for Shang Tsung using his magic when the evil sorcerer's original body was vaporized by Raiden's suicide attack in the events of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. He is capable of resurrecting others as well, he demonstrated this ability in the events of Mortal Kombat Trilogy where he brings Mileena back to life after she was killed by Kitana.His powers extend to wielding psychic powers, as he was able to enslave the thousands of souls within the magical being Ermac using his powerful mind control and is capable of using telekinesis to lift and rag doll opponents.It is revealed in Mortal Kombat 11 in an interaction between Scorpion and Skarlet that Shao Kahn has knowledge in other fields of magic as well, as he was the one who taught Skarlet how to use Blood Magik.

Signature moves

Light spear

Charging spikes

Wrath hammer attack

Explosive ball

Uplifting knee

Hammer dance

Ridicule

Grab and punch

Emperor's shield

Mystic choke

Hammer throw

Hammer swing

Hammer cut

Upward shoulder

scum grab

Up wrath hammer

Seeking wrath hammer

Dark priest

Ground shatter

Annihilation

Skewered

Spear charge