Kung Jin

"Because not all thieves are irredeemable."

- Kung Jin in Mortal Kombat X.

Kung Jin (功進) is the younger cousin of Kung Lao and is a playable character in Mortal Kombat X.

About Kung Jin
As a child, Kung Jin admired his cousin Kung Lao and considered him a hero. After his cousin's death, Kung Jin's family lost their family fortunes and moved to the United States of America. Because of this, Kung Jin became a thief and blamed Raiden for the death of his cousin. However, after meeting the Thunder God, he let go of his resentment and trained under the White Lotus Society, who Kung Jin originally thought wouldn't accept him. Having learned much of Outworld and the ways of the Shaolin, Kung Jin now fights to protect Earthrealm in honor of his family.

Like his older cousin, Kung Jin is a Shaolin monk who excels in a projectile weapon, using a bow and arrow. However, he's far more egotistical and rude than Kung Lao, as he will talk offensively even to his own team. For example, Kung Jin doesn't respect Cassie Cage's leadership and will make rude remarks about Jacqui Briggs' father being a revenant. Despite his shortcomings, Kung Jin's streetwise proves useful and can see that others can redeem themselves. Overtime, he grows to respect his team and protect his friends, and going as far as risking his own life in Kombat to protect their lives.

Appearance
Kung Jin is of Asian descent, having long black hair tied into a mid-high ponytail and dark brown eyes. He dons a gold headpiece that travels towards the chin with sharp edges, a necklace with two teeth-shaped objects, with a stone in the middle, and a red beaded necklace. He wears a metallic plate on his left shoulder, armbands, and a kimono-like attire with a ring holding on towards the top of the left side of his shirt with various designs. He has a red otaiku with a white sash in the middle and a ring holding it together. He wears baggy-like pants with golden, vertical stripes going down towards his armored boots. His quiver of arrows are slung behind his back.

Powers and abilities
Kung Jin is more than adequate in unarmed combat, but his weapon of choice is the bow which he can fire multiple arrows with great precision and accuracy. He has shown incredible acrobatic prowess and agility able to maneuver around the battlefield and attack from various angles. He has demonstrated to use his bow as a melee weapon in versatile ways. He can shift his arrows into different effects that inflict much more damage than normal arrows.

Signature Moves

 * Air Dive Kick: Kung Jin dives down from the air to kick his opponent and slams his bow on their head, bouncing them. (MKX)
 * The enhanced version is called Air Shaolin Strike.
 * Straight Arrow: Kung Jin shoots an arrow straight at his opponent. (MKX)
 * The enhanced version is called Split Shot and shoots two arrows, one of which also hits distant crouching enemies.
 * Up Arrow: Kung Jin shoots a diagonally upwards arrow from the floor. (MKX)
 * The enhanced version is called Up Split Shot and fires two arrows upwards, hitting both distant and nearby aerial foes.
 * Lunge Kick: Kung Jin uses his bow to lift himself above the floor and launch himself at the enemy with a kick to their chest. (MKX)
 * The enhanced version Fly Kick deals more damage and armors Kung Jin while performing it.
 * Cartwheel Drop: Kung Jin does a flip leap and lands an overhead kick to his opponent, knocking them away. Notice that he can also avoid low attacks if this move is timed correctly, due to the leap. (MKX)
 * The enhanced version is called Cartwheel Smash. It hits twice, doing more damage and also armors Kung Jin while it's performed.
 * Air Straight Arrow: Kung Jin shoots a Straight Arrow in mid-air against other jumping foes. (MKX - Ancestral Variation)
 * The enhanced version is called Air Split Shot and shoots two arrows.
 * Air Angle Arrow: Kung Jin shoots a diagonally downwards arrow in mid-air against distant foes on the ground. (MKX - Ancestral Variation)
 * The enhanced version is called Air Angle Split Shot and shoots two diagonally downwards arrows.
 * Air Down Arrow: Kung Jin shoots a downwards arrow in mid-air against nearby foes on the ground. (MKX - Ancestral Variation)
 * The enhanced version is called Air Split Down Arrow and shoots two downwards arrows.
 * Low Shot: Kung Jin crouches and fires a Straight Arrow that hits his enemy's legs. (MKX - Ancestral Variation)
 * Fire Quiver: Kung Jin empowers his arrows with a fiery orange quiver for about six seconds. As long as the effect lasts, every arrow shot will have its damage considerably increased and knock the enemy down whenever it hits. (MKX - Ancestral Variation)
 * Stun Quiver: Kung Jin empowers his arrows with a blue stun quiver for about six seconds. If he fires an arrow while this effect is on, it will leave his opponent in a stunned state for a few moments, giving Jin enough time to hit them even when he's on the other side of the arena. Unlike the other quivers, this one can only be applied for one arrow at a time, and then has to be activated again for another stun arrow. (MKX - Ancestral Variation)
 * Vampiric Quiver: Kung Jin empowers his arrows with a purple vampiric quiver for about six seconds. As long as the effect lasts, every arrow shot will drain the opponent's super meter whenever it hits. Notice that their damage is greatly reduced while the effect is on as well. (MKX - Ancestral Variation)
 * Bo Flame: Kung Jin fires a fireball from his bow's dragon head that travels through the high part of the screen, working as an anti-air. (MKX - Bojutsu Variation)
 * The enhanced version is called Bo Inferno. The fireball is larger, does more damage and is much slower.
 * Bo Swat: Kung Jin uppercuts his opponent with his bow, leaving them vulnerable to a juggle. (MKX - Bojutsu Variation)
 * The enhanced version is called Bo Strike, and it is armored and more damaging.
 * Bo Swing: Kung Jin spins and smacks his opponent twice, then uppercuts them into the air using the ornament on his bow. (MKX - Bojutsu Variation)
 * The enhanced version is called Bo Spin and turns the last bow smash into an overhead bow slam, bouncing enemies and throwing them in the air for subsequent juggles.
 * Low Bo Swing: Kung Jin hits the opponent's shins with his bow twice, tripping them. (MKX - Bojutsu Variation)
 * The enhanced version is called Low Bo Spin and turns the second bow trip into a bow uppercut, throwing foes in the air and also doing more damage.
 * Up Kick: As with the Lunge Kick, Kung Jin uses his bow to lift himself in the air, but lands an upwards kick instead of a straight one, knocking nearby foes in the air as well. After doing this, he can perform a Shaolin Drop, in which he kicks the opponent down while stil in mid-air. (MKX - Shaolin Variation)
 * The enhanced version of the Up Kick is called Rising Strike and has armor, while the enhanced version of the Shaolin Drop is called Shaolin Slam, which does more damage.
 * Chakram: Kung Jin throws his Chakram at his enemy, which can be directed either up or down after being thrown or simply follow the normal straight route. (MKX - Shaolin Variation)
 * The enhanced version is called Chak-A-Rang and makes the Chakram return to Kung Jin after going all the way through the screen, hitting the enemy twice.
 * Low Chakram: Kung Jin crouches and throws his Chakram at his enemy's feet. (MKX - Shaolin Variation)
 * The enhanced version is called Low Chak-A-Rang and also makes the Chakram return to Kung Jin, repeating the low route.
 * X-Ray Move - Staff Infection: Kung Jin stuns the opponent by slamming the the staff end of his bow down on his opponent's head before smashing the back of their skull with the ornament, and as they reel back into the air he fires two arrows through their eyes. Jin then grips these arrows and slams the opponent onto the ground, shattering their ribs. (MKX)

Fatalities

 * Target Practice - Kung Jin runs up his opponent's leg, and then delivers a powerful flip kick to their chin, sending their head clear off and into the air. Landing back down, Kung Jin draws and fires three arrows at the head, impaling the eyes and mouth. The head lands next to the collapsed body, supported by the blood covered arrow shafts. (MKX)
 * Pinned Down - Kung Jin shoots three arrows in the air. He proceeds by stabbing his staff into his opponent. The opponent screams before being blasting apart. As the arrows fall down, they pierce the two arms and head, before landing on the ground next to large amounts of blood. (MKX)

Other Finishers

 * Brutality #1 - A Little Heart: Jin fires a straight arrow into the opponent's chest that pokes their heart out at the back. (MKX)
 * Brutality #2 - Round About: Jin does a cartwheel powerful enough to obliterate his opponent's upper body. (MKX)
 * Brutality #3 - Where'd You Go?: Jin grabs his opponent and blinds them with fire from his staff bow, then whacks the opponent with the ornament with enough force to break their neck 180 degrees. (MKX)
 * Brutality #4 - Bullseye: Jin jumps and fires an arrow into his opponent's head. Upon landing, he fires three more arrows into their head, two in the eyes, and one in the mouth. Ancestral variation (MKX)
 * Brutality #5 - Burnt Out: Jin fires a high fireball that skeletonizes the opponent on contact. Bojutsu variation (MKX)
 * Brutality #6 - Decapitator: Jin throws his chakram at the opponent's shin, slicing it off. (If aimed at the head, the chakram decapitates the opponent.) Shaolin variation (MKX)

Trivia

 * Unlike the rest of his team, Kung Jin is the only member of the new defenders of Earthrealm to not be a son or daughter of a previous defender of Earthrealm; instead he's the cousin of Kung Lao.
 * A discourse between Kung Jin and Raiden, and a half-confirmation on the speculation of fans by one of the game's writers has led a strong implication in Kung Jin being Mortal Kombat's first homosexual character. Later, via Twitter, creator Dominic Cianciolo confirmed that Kung Jin is indeed homosexual.undefined