Liu Kang

"For Kung Lao, the Shaolin and Earthrealm!"

- Liu Kang, before he delivers a killing blow to Shao Kahn. "Show me what you can do."

- Liu Kang's Battle Cry in Mortal Kombat (2011)

Liu Kang is a Shaolin monk that is a member of the White Lotus Society and a hero from the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games.

Mortal Kombat
Liu Kang was selected by the White Lotus Society to take part in the Mortal Kombat Tournament and wanted to defeat the sorcerer Shang Tsung, so as to return control of the tournament to the Shaolin Order. Kang trained with the master, Bo' Rai Cho, where he learned the Flying Dragon Kick technique. After arriving to compete, he befriended his fellow competitors, Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade, and eventually won the right to challenge Goro, current nine-time champion. Kang used the Shokan prince's overconfidence to his advantage and emerged the victor in their battle, becoming the Mortal Kombat champion. After this, Kang was challenged by Shang himself and defeated him after an epic battle.

Mortal Kombat II
Returning victorious from Shang Tsung's island, Liu Kang arrived at the temple to find many of his brethren slaughtered by Tarkata. Outraged at this, the monk decided to journey Outworld for revenge, aided by a fellow White Lotus member, Kung Lao, the thunder god Raiden, and the two Lin Kuei warriors, Sub-Zero and Smoke. Kang managed to arrive at Johnny Cage's location, just as he was being attacked by Tarkatans, and then joined forces with Sonya and her superior Jax. They then headed to Outworld where Shao Kahn was having his own Mortal Kombat tournament.

During the tournament, Kang met Princess Kitana, whom he began to have feelings for and later found out that the tournament's purpose was to get rid of him and the others who had defeated Outworld in the tournament, but still chose to compete. Kang had to fight against Shang again, this time with his youth restored and his powers renewed, and the Shokan general Kintaro, before finally facing Shao Kahn. Kang managed to overpower the emperor, who ordered his forces to destroy the Earthrealm warriors, forcing them to head back to Earth and await the coming threat.

Mortal Kombat 3
Upon their return to Earth, Liu Kang and Kung Lao began training a new generation of Shaolin warriors, but this was interrupted when Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm began. Kang soon found himself the main target of the emperor's extermination squads, however, Lao went up against Kahn, only to be blasted by a powerful spell, presumably killing him. In a rage about the loss of his friend, Kang challenged the emperor to battle and emerged the victor once more, driving him and his forces back into Outworld and freeing the captured souls of Earth. Just before things went completely back to normal, Kang was thanked by Kitana for saving both Earth and her realm of Edenia from Kahn.

Mortal Kombat 4
Liu Kang went to the United States of America in search of new Shaolin warriors to train, where he met his old friend Kai. They traveled to China together, where Kang trained his friend in the ways of the Shaolin warrior. However, the fallen Elder God Shinnok made his return and took control of Edenia, capturing Kitana. Kang set out on his own to try and rescue her, but he failed and returned to Earth, so as to gather his allies to aid Raiden. He eventually faced off against Shinnok, and defeated him as well, saving the Earthrealm. Kang believed he had lost Kitana forever, but she appeared to him through a portal and thanked him for all he had done. She then offered the monk a chance to join her on the throne of Edenia, but due to his responsibilities as Mortal Kombat champion, Kang refused.

Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance
Liu Kang enjoyed a time of peace for some time, however the Deadly Alliance came to Earth to take care of him. Shang Tsung posed as Kung Lao to get into the Shaolin Temple and came upon the monk while he was practicing his katas. Though the sorcerer had some trouble fighting Kang at first, Quan Chi managed to blast him in the back, allowing Shang to snap the monk's neck and absorb his soul. Lao found his mutilated body and he was laid to rest at the Wu Shi Academy, where a shrine was built in his honor.

Mortal Kombat Deception
After Raiden released his godly essence in an attempt to destroy Onaga, it destroyed Quan Chi and Shang Tsung as well. Liu Kang watched these events through Shang's eyes and with the sorcerer's destruction, his soul and the thousands of other souls imprisoned within Shang were released. However, Raiden, corrupted upon his return, reanimated Kang's body as a vicious zombie that he sent on a rampage, even killing some of Kang's fellow monks. The monk chose to stay in Outworld to help to fight Onaga but when he discovered what Raiden had done and the havoc his corpse was wreaking, he was horrified. Despite it not technically being his fault, Kang could not help but feel some responsibility for what his zombie was doing.

After hearing that his comrades had been enslaved by Onaga, the monk enlisted the aid of Ermac so as to free them. However when he met Shujinko, Kang was glad to teach him his techniques to help him fight Onaga, not knowing that Shujinko had been deceived by the Dragon King into bringing him the Kamidogu. Afterwards, the monk succeeded in freeing his friends and had a small reunion with them, before setting out to get his body under control.

Mortal Kombat Armageddon
However, Liu Kang did not apparently succeed in this mission and was later bonded to Kitana to keep his spirit energy intact until they could find a way to bond his soul and body back together. At the gathering of the Forces of Light, Nightwolf came across them and took up the job of acting as Kang's spirit anchor. In his ending, Kang's defeat of Blaze reunited his body and soul once more, now with the powers of a god. The monk reluctantly confronted his mentor Raiden and defeated him, becoming the protector of Earthrealm.

Mortal Kombat vs DC
After Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm was stopped, Liu Kang returned to the Wu Shi Academy, but then his fellow monks began to disappear. Kitana appeared to tell him that her Edenian warriors had begun to disappear as well and they concluded that either the Black Dragon or the Lin Kuei were responsible. The two split up to investigate with Kang going after Sub-Zero, but the ice ninja attacked him, thinking that he was responsible for the disappearances of some of the Lin Kuei. However the monk told him of his innocence and of the own disappearances that the White Lotus was suffering. Scorpion appeared and Kang fought him off, while Sub-Zero made his escape, however the specter was surrounded by a flash of yellow energy and was replaced by the Flash. The monk fought him, believing that the superhero was Shang Tsung in disguise, but realized that he was not the sorcerer. Kang brought him to the temple to be examined by the masters, where the real Shang confronted him. The two fought and he tried to examine the Flash himself, but the energy transported him to Gotham City, where he confronted Batman.

Liu Kang became overcome by the combat rage and mistook the dark knight for Shang Tsung as well. They fought and the monk was knocked unconscious, then brought to the U.N. orbital space station, where he was rescued by Raiden. Kang then teamed up with Shang in the alliance with the other Mortal Kombat fighters to face off against the members of the DC universe. After journeying to the fusion of Outworld and Apokolips, Kang faced off against Green Lantern in the final battle with the DC fighters. When Raiden was consumed by rage, the monk attempted to calm him and eventually succeeded in doing so, allowing the thunder god and Superman to go face Dark Kahn.

In his ending, Raiden discovered the secrets of the Rock of Eternity and used its power to transform Liu Kang into a Captain Marvel for the Mortal Kombat universe, infusing the monk with his power, as well as that of his fellow gods, such as Argus and Fujin. In order to transform into a being in possession of unbeatable power, Kang simply had to shout "Mortal Kombat!"

Powers
Liu Kang is a highly skilled fighter as seen due to his victory in every Mortal Kombat tournament. He is an extremely skilled martial artist, possessing incredible acrobatic skills and agility and knowledge in a variety of techniques. Kang is able to perform a powerful flying kick attack, use a bicycle kick, and send out fireballs from his hands that take the shape of dragon heads. These fireballs are part of fire element theme to Kang, which also is involved with some of his fatalities. It also suggested that he regularly increases and maintains his strength through mediation and as champion of Mortal Kombat, he never ages.

Movie appearance


Portrayed by Robin Shou, Liu Kang is the main hero in both Mortal Kombat movies (Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation), and it's there that his love interest with Kitana develops, and was later ported to the games.

In the first Mortal Kombat movie, Kang's brother was killed by Shang Tsung. The guilt of his brother's death provides Kang's primary motivation for competing in the Mortal Kombat tournament.

In the second movie Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Kang joins the Earthrealm warriors to stop Shao Kahn's menace.

TV appearance
Liu Kang also appeared in the animated cartoon series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, where the series relies on the group of protagonists instead of one hence, including Kang, who was the main protagonist in the Mortal Kombat series.

Trivia

 * Liu Kang is the only character to have a fatality that does not kill the opponent, his original one, which was done because he was supposed to be a pacifistic monk character.


 * Upon him beating Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat II, the usual occurrence of Kahn's voice announcing him as winner is replaced with the monk giving off a small war cry.


 * The hooked chains that are attached to Liu Kang's arms have been in much demand to be used as his weapon fighting style, especially after he used them in the intro to Armageddon to attack Shang Tsung. These were later revealed by Raiden's Armageddon bio to be enchanted shackles used by a group of necromancers to control their undead. The thunder god had used their spells to turn Kang's body into a zombie, which is why he put the chains on the corpse.


 * He deals double damage to Onaga in Deception.


 * Liu Kang's alternate costumes in Armageddon and Deception depict him as a human or at least his soul fused with his body.


 * His name was originally going to be Minamoto Yoshitsune, a legendary Japanese mythological character, but John Tobias decided the name was too long to deal with.


 * Liu Kang was portrayed by Ho Sung Pak in the first two games, the same actor who ironically portrayed Shang Tsung in the first game.


 * The Human Tornado, a pro wrestler, uses a move called the Liu Kang Kick, in homage to the character.


 * Liu Kang was intended to be a secret surprise character in Deception. He is the most difficult to unlock and was meant to shock fans that their hero had been brought back as such a corrupted being.


 * In the Flash's ending in Mortal Kombat vs DC, he and Liu Kang form a psychic connection that allows them to warn each other if their worlds are threatened again, due to earlier events.


 * Liu Kang is the only character that has his own voice file for every game he appeared in, consisting of "kiai," a shout that is said to maximize the force of the user's attacks. His voice in dialogue changed from a regular casual voice in Shaolin Monks to one with more of an Asian accent in Mortal Kombat vs. DC.


 * Liu Kang's original fatality and his fatality from MK2, where he turned into an Asian style dragon to bite off top of his opponent's body, was voted second on Screwattack's Top 10 Lists of Worst Mortal Kombat and Best Mortal Kombat Fatalities respectively.