Liu Kang follows
the teachings of the Shaolin White Lotus Society and was sent by the Temple
of Light to defeat Shang Tsung. He desired to defeat Shang
Tsung and bring the tournament back to its Shaolin owners. Liu Kang
was trained by Master Bo' Rai Cho,
who taught him the Flying Kick. As he made his way to the tournament, he
met and became friends with Johnny
Cage and Sonya Blade. At the
time of Liu Kang's entry, Outworld had won nine Mortal Kombat tournaments
in a row. Upon hearing of Goro's
defeat, Shang Tsung challenged him. After an epic battle, Liu Kang defeated
Shang Tsung with his Flying Kick, emerging as the new champion of Mortal
Kombat.
Coming home from Tsung's
island, he found many of his Shaolin killed in a vicious attack by a Tarkatan
horde. Enraged, Liu Kang decided to travel to Outworld, backed by fellow
White Lotus member and spiritual brother Kung Lao,
Raiden,
Sub-Zero's
younger brother, and Smoke to seek revenge. Before he traveled to Outworld,
Liu Kang went to Hollywood to seek Johnny Cage's help.
Luckily, Liu Kang
arrived at the right time as Cage was being attacked by a Tarkatan horde.
Now joined with Johnny and new-found friend Jax they finally traveled to Outworld. At the tournament, he and Kung Lao met Kitana,
and Liu Kang began to fall in love with her. He learned the true nature
of the Outworld tournament but competed anyway. While it is unclear as
to what matches took place, it is known that Liu Kang fought Shao
Kahn, eventually overpowering the emperor. It is also strongly possible
he also faced Shang Tsung in front of Shao Kahn, defeating him despite
his youth and renewed powers, and Kintaro as
well. Near defeat, Kahn ordered his forces to destroy the earth fighters,
forcing Earth's heroes to return home and to begin preparing for the coming
invasion.
After returning to
Earthrealm, Liu Kang, along with Kung Lao, began training a new generation
of Shaolin Warriors, but was interrupted when the invasion began. As Kahn's
extermination squads were sent to kill Earth's chosen warriors, Liu Kang
found himself the primary target. Kung Lao who went against Shao Kahn was
nearly beaten to death. Enraged, Liu Kang, who thought Kung Lao perished,
challenged the Emperor to Mortal Kombat, and after the final battle, he
defeated Shao Kahn again, causing him and his forces to retreat back to
Outworld. The souls that Khan had trapped were set free and, just before
the portal closed, Liu Kang was thanked by Kitana for his part in saving
both Earth and her realm from Shao Kahn.
Liu Kang traveled
to America to look for a new generation of Shaolin warriors to train. While
there in America, he met his old friend Kai. The two then travelled back
to China, where Liu Kang trained Kai to be a Shaolin Warrior. However,
the peace was not to last, as the fallen Elder God Shinnok
had escaped from the Netherrealm through a portal to Edenia. Upon learning
that Kitana had been captured, Liu Kang set out on his own to save her,
but he was unsuccessful. Liu Kang returned to Earth, where he began gathering
Earth's warriors to save Earth and assist his mentor, Raiden.
Eventually, Liu Kang
confronted the fallen Elder God Shinnok and once again emerged victorious,
effectively ending his attack on Earth. Liu Kang returned to the Shaolin
Temples, believing he has lost Kitana forever. However, the Edenian Princess
appeared through a portal from Edenia and thanked Liu Kang for all he had
done. She offered him a chance to join her at the throne of Edenia. However,
due to the responsibilities as a Mortal Kombat Champion, Liu Kang was forced
to decline her offer.
For some years, Liu
Kang went on to enjoy relative peace. However, the Deadly Alliance would
make itself known on Earth by its successful assassination attempt of Liu
Kang. Shang Tsung posed as Kung Lao and snuck up on the champion as he
was practicing his katas. Shang Tsung was assisted by Quan
Chi, who caught Liu Kang in the back unawares with a projectile. Shang
Tsung used this distraction to gain the upper hand and snapped Liu Kang's
neck and proceeded to consume his soul. Liu Kang's mutilated body was discovered
by his friend Kung Lao, and he was laid to rest at the Wu Shi Academy,
where a shrine was built to honor him.
In the culmination
of the events of Mortal Kombat: Deception, Raiden released his godlike
essence in order to destroy Onaga, killing Shang Tsung and presumably Quan
Chi in the process. While it is unknown whether or not Quan Chi and Shang
Tsung are truly dead, it has been established that the thousands of souls
that Tsung consumed in the past were released, including that of Liu Kang.
Furthermore Raiden, now somehow corrupted in his reformation, reanimated
Liu Kang's body and sent it on a rampage, slaughtering many of Liu Kang's
fellow Shaolin monks. Liu Kang's spirit decided to stay in Outworld to
assist in the war against Onaga, but he soon discovered his body's "resurrection"
and was stricken by what he had done. Although Liu Kang wasn't technically
responsible, he couldn't help but feel responsibility for the actions committed
by his corporeal form. He also learned about his comrades (Jax, Johnny
Cage, Sonya, Kitana, and Kung Lao) and how they had been enslaved by Onaga.
From there, Liu Kang enlisted the mysterious ninja Ermac
as an ally and had two missions to complete. The first was to try and save
his friends from Onaga with Ermac, the second to defeat and stop his body
from doing further harm.
OTHER
APPEARANCES:
Mortal
Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal
Kombat 3 Ultimate, Mortal Kombat 4,
Mortal
Kombat Trilogy, Mortal Kombat Gold,
Mortal
Kombat: Deception,
Mortal Kombat Vs.
DC Universe, Mortal Kombat 9, Mortal
Kombat X, Mortal Kombat 11, Mortal
Kombat 1
|
|
Page Updated:
Apr. 18th, 2024
|
|
Liu Kang was always a
fan-favorite MK character, and in his debut, was a fairly decent homage to the late Bruce Lee. Liu Kang's original MK outfit was a bit on the
generic side, but they kept his design pretty fresh
and gave him some better outfits in the sequels. After his glory days in
MK2/MK3, he never really got any
spectacular "new" moves worth mentioning... but his classic moves always
managed to keep their
appeal.
For some reason or another, the dev-team decided it would be a good idea to "kill him off" in
MK: Deadly Alliance... it was a pretty epic move. The silly part is,
they then decided to just to bring him back in MK: Deception and turn him into a
retarded-looking zombie with chains on his wrists... so who's brilliant idea was that
again? lol. Yeah... well, I guess we're just supposed to forget about all that,
since Liu Kang returned as
his original self in MK VS DC Universe & MK9, thankfully.
|
|
Fighting
Style / Moveset |
|
Personality
/ Charisma |
|
Outfit(s)
/ Appearance |
|
Effectiveness
in series |
|
Overall
Score |
|
|