Shang Tsung

"Your soul is mine!"

- Shang Tsung's Battle Cry in Mortal Kombat (2011) Shang Tsung (尚宗) is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He is one of the few original characters, debuting in the first Mortal Kombat arcade game, in which he served as the final boss.

About Shang Tsung
A powerful, deadly sorcerer and a primary villain in the Mortal Kombat series, Shang Tsung is a shapeshifter who needs to consume souls in order to sustain his health and life. In the Mortal Kombat series, he is the epitome of cunning and decadence, as symbolized by his preference for lavish parties, grand palaces, and stylish clothing. Unlike the crude Shao Kahn, this bombast is a facade, disguising Tsung's true intellectual and mental sophistication. His nemesis is Liu Kang, but throughout his unnatural lifespan, he has earned the hatred of many others, including Kung Lao and Kenshi.

Shang Tsung's early allegiance to Shao Kahn granted him the status of a free roaming sorcerer. He is able to move between realms without detection by the Elder Gods or local deities, an ability which has granted him many opportunities to commit atrocities over the centuries. Only Delia, Shinnok, Shao Kahn, and Quan Chi can match Shang Tsung's skills as a sorcerer.

Appearance
In his debut, Shang Tsung had the appearance of a decrepit old man. His skin was pale with long, balding white hair, a beard and mustache, with dangling thin fingers and long fingernails. He wore robes with shades of blue and yellow and had a katana holstered at his side at all times. Since MKII, he regains his youth, though with varying degrees. His skin returns to a natural tint and is depicted with long black hair. As with his older persona, he shares featureless white eyes. In MKII and MK3 he wore yellow and black clothes. In Deadly Alliance and beyond, he wears a heavy red uniform. Interestingly, he is depicted with pupils, having brown eyes.

Powers and abilities
As mentioned above, 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, and thus, has become one of Shang Tsung's primary objectives to find an infinite source of souls which for him to thrive on. Should Tsung go on without souls, his body will rapidly age and wither and eventually die.

However, due to his ability to absorb souls, he has also revealed an unforeseen side effect granting him the ability to shapeshift into the persons' souls he has taken. The change is more than skin deep as he has access to their memories 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, although 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 cobra of fire that easily defeated Raiden (as seen in Deception's opening cinematic). 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. In Deception, early concept sketches of Shang Tsung for Mortal Kombat II revealed that he had a hidden, demonic form, which further shrouds his origin in mystery as to whether or not he was demonic from the start.

Signature moves

 * Morphing: Shang Tsung assumes the shape of anyone in the game. In the second and third games, he couldn't morph into the bosses. (Although in Mortal Kombat II, as a fatality, he could briefly morph into Kintaro to punch the opponent in half.) In Trilogy, he could morph into anyone in the PSX, Saturn, and PC versions only. In the Amiga versions of Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II, Tsung's morph is limited to that of the character he is fighting against. In Deadly Alliance, he can morph into anyone on the Game Boy Advance ports only. In MK 2011, he uses the Soul Steal to morph into his opponent. As the sub-boss in MK 2011 ' s Arcade Ladder, Shang Tsung can morph into any character at will. (MK, MKII, MK3, UMK3, MKT, MK:DA, MK:TE, MK:SM, MK 2011)
 * Flaming Skulls: Shang Tsung sends a fiery skull at his opponent. In the first game, he could throw up to six. In the other games it is one, two, or three only. In MK 2011 this is called Fire Skull. (MK, MKII, MK3, UMK3, MKT, MK:SM, MKvsDCU, MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version of this is called Triple Skulls and fires three skulls, one after another.
 * Flaming Skull Eruption: Shang Tsung summons his fiery skulls to burst out of the ground in a series of three. In MK 2011 this is called Ground Skull and can be done from three distances: Close, Medium, and Far. (MK3, UMK3, MKT, MK:SM, MKvsDCU, MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Ground Eruption in which a Far range skull appears first, followed by a Medium range skull, and a Close range skull.
 * Shang_Tsung's_Soul_Steal.jpgSoul Steal: Shang Tsung steals a small portion of his opponent's life force. He also does this in Shaolin Monks in a manner similar to his Mortal Kombat II fatality. The special move version allows him to regain health should he take damage. In MK 2011, he morphs into his opponent after using this move and gets a damage boost by 1%. If Shang Tsung uses this move on Shao Khan in the Ladder mode, the player will not morph. (MK:DA, MK:SM, MK:A, MKvsDCU, MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Soul Capture. Shang Tsung stays as the opponent for a longer time.
 * Forward Fireball: Shang Tsung shoots a fireball at his opponent. (MK:DA, MK:A)
 * Fire Ring: Shang Tsung shoots a fireball from each hand. The two fireballs come together in a circle-like process, hitting the opponent at close or far range. (MK:DA, MK:A)
 * Mysterious Magic: Shang Tsung glows with a green aura, and runs toward the opponent, suddenly disappearing just before reaching them, and reappearing right behind them to strike with a low sliding kick. (MK:A)
 * Body Switch: With a gesture of his magic, Shang Tsung will switch sides of the screen with the opponent, which can be considered a form of teleportation. (MKvsDCU)
 * Slide Launch: Shang Tsung does a slide kick that trips the opponent. (MKvsDCU)
 * Hot Escape: He digs into the ground and erupts at his opponent as a means of teleportation. (MKvsDCU)
 * Up Skull: Shang Tsung throws a skull upwards hitting the opponent from mid-air. This can be done from three distances: Above, Behind, and In Front. This move is similar to Sektor's Up Missile. (MKvsDCU, MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Skull Storm and fires three skulls, one for each of the threethumb|250px|right distances and they all come down at the same time.
 * X-Ray Move - Your Soul Is Mine: Shang Tsung magically drains a portion of the soul out of his opponent, showing only the muscles due to the soul taken from the skin (and the ribs broken due to his hands inside the opponent's chest), then knees his/her skull causing it to break. (MK 2011)

Fatalities

 * Soultaker: Shang Tsung consumes the soul of his opponent, leaving behind a shrunken corpse. In MKII, he would simply grab his opponent, whilst in MK3, he would levitate them instead. In MK:DA, he would levitate his victim and slam them onto the ground three times before jumping on top of them, each time extracting a part of their soul. In MKvsDCU, he transforms into his victim first, picks them up by the back of the neck, consumes the soul, then throws them to the floor before reverting back to normal. In MK 2011, this move has been downgraded to a grab. (MKII, MK3, UMK3, MKT, MKDA, MKvsDCU)
 * Inner Ear: Shang Tsung enters his opponent's body. The body violently shakes until it explodes as Shang appears in the opponent's place. (MKII)
 * Kintaro Morph: Shang Tsung morphs into Kintaro and punches the upper half of the opponent's body clear across the stage. (MKII)
 * Bed of Nails: Shang Tsung makes a bed of spikes rise out of the ground and he slams his dazed opponent into them. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
 * Back Breaker: In a variation to the Soultaker Fatality, Shang Tsung grabs his opponent and consumes their soul before throwing their body to the ground. He then stomps on their back, breaking their spine. (MKvsDCU)
 * Bang Bang!: Shang Tsung morphs into a evil looking clown, takes out a gun and fires, but it is fake and instead a flag with the word 'Bang!' comes out of the gun. He drops it and starts to laugh. Then he pulls out a real gun and shoots the opponent in the head, blowing the head to pieces. This Fatality is similar to one of the Joker's in MKvsDCU. In fact, they're exactly alike, beside the opponent's head exploding. (MK 2011)
 * Identity Theft: Shang Tsung enters his opponent's body through magic and makes the opponent rip off their own head; similar to Liu Kang's Deception Fatality. (MK 2011)

Other finishers

 * Friendship #1: Shang Tsung casts out his hands and makes a rainbow. (MKII)
 * Friendship #2: Shang Tsung turns into the main character from the Joust video game and hops offscreen. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
 * Animality: Shang Tsung turns into a cobra and swallows his opponent whole. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
 * Babality: Shang Tsung turns into a baby and takes out a teddy bear followed consuming the soul and color of it. Afterwards, instead of crying like other Babalities, he sits and looks as if he has evil plans. (MK 2011)

Game information
Shang Tsung's name was hyphenated in Midway's official press release for the original MK ("Shang-Tsung"). He first appeared as an elderly man in his mid-eighties, then became a younger man in his late-twenties to early-thirties. According to GamePro magazine in 1993, the Mortal Kombat II version of Shang Tsung was nineteen years old. (In an MKII feature by the magazine that same year, included was a rough sketch of Tsung's "true form" – a twisted demon. Though it was drawn by MK co-creator John Tobias, this form has never actually appeared in canon.)

In Deadly Alliance he's roughly forty-five. Tobias wanted Shang Tsung's long hair to hang loose in Mortal Kombat 3, but potential problems with it flopping about whenever he jumped resulted in it being tied back into a ponytail. There are at least two different origin stories for Shang Tsung. On Midway's Mortal Kombat Mythologies website (long since inactive), it stated Shang Tsung was originally from Earth. This however presents a problem: namely, it was revealed Bo' Rai Cho could not fight in the Mortal Kombat tournament as his victories would be in Outworld's name, hence his training of Liu Kang. Therefore, any victories by Shang Tsung as Grand Champion would be in Earth's favor. However, his Armageddon bio makes reference to Tsung binding his soul to Shao Kahn, which may explain why his victories would count for Outworld. Shang Tsung's Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition bio states his origin as "Earthrealm/Outworld". The 2011 game reaffirms that he was originally from Earth, and willingly bound his soul to Shao Kahn's in exchange for power.

In the original Mortal Kombat, Shang Tsung seems to be hovering on the floor, like his fellow Shadow Priests. Because of this, he is completely immune to sweep attacks and Sub-Zero's Slide. He can't transform into anyone in the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox versions of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (Due to problems between switching character models). However, he did assume the form of Kung Lao and Ermac in the opening cinematics of Deadly Alliance and Armageddon, respectively. But he could actually transform into anyone in the Game Boy Advance version of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (and the second re-release called Tournament Edition). Oddly enough, he can't transform into Reptile in that game.

Shang Tsung appears in the Dead Pool arena in Mortal Kombat: Deception, watching on a balcony (in his MKII attire). He isn't normally playable in Mortal Kombat: Deception without the use of a GameShark code or Xbox mod. However, when he is used in a battle other than the fight challenges in Konquest mode, he uses the voice samples of the younger Shujinko, many of which are, otherwise, never heard in the game. For an unknown reason, Tsung's alternate outfit from Deadly Alliance is used as his character model on Deception when he is in kombat; however, in Konquest he is actually shown in his standard outfit from Deadly Alliance. Tsung's Friendship in Mortal Kombat 3 turns him into a sprite from the arcade game Joust. He also has a joke picture in Deadly Alliance that promotes a foot-odor killer.

Film
Played by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa In the first Mortal Kombat' movie, Shang Tsung serves as the primary villain.

Although a powerful warrior, Shang Tsung regularly resorted to intimidation and trickery when dealing with his enemies. He lures Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Sonya Blade to the Mortal Kombat tournament by playing on their insecurities and desires. He kills Liu Kang's younger brother Chan Kang to lure Liu Kang to the tournament. He lures Johnny Cage in by telling Cage that if he wins, no one in the world will think of him as a fake. He also hires Sonya's nemesis Kano to lure her to the tournament. Later, he betrays Kano and allows Sonya to kill him. Shang Tsung shows a particular interest in Sonya as he plans to face her in the final battle of the tournament, seeing her as easy prey.

Shang Tsung also harbored suspicions of Princess Kitana and tasked Reptile with watching her and keeping her away from Liu Kang. He expressed disappointment with Kitana after she (deliberately) failed to defeat Liu Kang in the tournament.

After the deaths of both Scorpion and Sub-Zero, Shang Tsung unleashed Goro upon the Earthrealm kombatants. He then allows Johnny Cage to challenge Goro on the condition that he may challenge anyone of his choosing, in any place. After Cage killed Goro, Shang Tsung kidnapped Sonya Blade and took her to Outworld where he intended to challenge and defeat her in the final battle of Mortal Kombat - thereby securing Outworld's victory.

After imprisoning Sonya in the Black Tower, Shang Tsung tried to trick her into fighting him. He told her that unless she accepted his challenge, Earthrealm would forfeit the tournament and lose (in truth, the rules of Mortal Kombat stated that no final battle could take place unless a challenge was accepted). Sonya defiantly declared that her friends would come for her. At that moment, Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Princess Kitana revealed themselves. Liu Kang then challenged Shang Tsung to Mortal Kombat. Shang Tsung accepted Kang's challenge and ordered his guards to leave.

During the battle with Liu Kang, Shang Tsung summoned an army of phantom warriors - the enslaved souls of those he had defeated in the past. After Liu Kang managed to defeat his minions, Shang Tsung then attempted to trick Liu Kang into letting his guard down by transforming himself into the image of his murdered brother Chan. Liu Kang was not fooled and continued the fight. During this time, the captured souls of Shang Tsung's victims rose up against him, weakening the sorcerer. Liu Kang finally used a fireball to knock Shang Tsung off a platform and into a pit of spikes. Shang Tsung was impaled on the spikes and died, his corpse rapidly decaying into a skeleton. All the captured warrior souls then escaped into the Heavens, including Liu's younger brother, Chan.

James Lew portrayed Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat: Rebirth. In the movie, Shang Tsung is the owner of an illegal underground fighting tournament. He hired Baraka and Reptile to fight for the tournament. His appearance closely resembles his attire in the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie.

Johnson Phan portrays Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat: Legacy.

He appears at the end of episode 3, stopping time in a movie studio and approaching Johnny Cage. He then offers him a chance to change his life.

Television
In the Mortal Kombat: Conquest TV series, Shang Tsung (played by Bruce Locke) was portrayed as a sorcerer eager to take revenge on the Great Kung Lao, who had defeated him in Mortal Kombat. For most of the series, he is confined to the Cobalt Mines of Shokan for his failure in the Mortal Kombat tournament, although he occasionally escapes (his powers unaffected by the cobalt in the mines, thanks to his human heritage). He keeps the Kreeyan princess Vorpax in the Cobalt Mines as his personal slave and henchwoman until she is freed by her sisters. He is later chosen by Vorpax to be her mate after she obtains Queen Kreeya's powers.

Shang Tsung also made several appearances in the animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm including its 9th episode Resurrection when after defeated by Liu Kang back in Outworld, Shao Kahn's Shadow Priests found his bones and thus used their dark magic on them, bringing him back to life. Now reborn, Shang Tsung was able to serve his emperor Shao Kahn whom he loathed the most, as well as to seek revenge on the young Shaolin monk who had killed him. He was given "The Orb" (also featured in the Street Fighter cartoon), a mystical artifact that enabled the user to manipulate the very elements of Earth and even strip Raiden of his godly powers.

Shang Tsung also appeared in the animated film Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins as the main enemy that had an army of Tarkatan minions. He had his appearance from Mortal Kombat 1.

Comic books
Shang Tsung plays his original role of main villain in the first series of the Malibu Comics, Blood & Thunder. Shang Tsung appeared in his old self, with his backstory mostly unchanged (serving Shao Kahn to open the portal through 10 consecutive Mortal Kombat wins). He and Raiden share a bitter relationship, usually ending in either verbal assaults or draw fights. While Shang Tsung hosted the tenth tournament, he secretly planned to gain the powers of the mystical book Tao The Zhan, which granted immense strength to whoever resolves its seven riddles. Unfortunately for him, Kano steals the book and later Goro vanishes in thin air, forcing him to hold the tournament endlessly, making Shao Kahn quite disgusted. During the final issue Tournament Edition, Shang Tsung and Raiden joins forces to stop Goro after he took the power of the book, since he cannot be trusted with such strength.

During the Battlewave series, it is implied that Shang Tsung resumed the tournament after his plans were foiled and lost it alongside Goro at the hands of Liu Kang. He is seen in the first pages of issue 1 being pursued and punished by Shao Kahn, Kintaro and Gorbak (Goro's father). Even though Shao Kahn supposedly punished him, he later appears in the last page of issue 5 completely rejuvenated and still under Shao Kahn's servitude. Shang Tsung would later serve as leader of Shao Kahn's team during the tournament he prepared in the last issue of the series, Tournament Edition II. Shang Tsung's last appearance is during Kung Lao's 1995 one-shot comic, in which he serves as antagonist, attempting to kill Kung Lao through deceptive tricks using his shape-shifting abilities to use Kung Lao's friends (Kitana, Baraka and Sub-Zero) and later his ancestor, the Great Kung Lao.

Trivia

 * In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance's Konquest mode, it is revealed that one of the souls he consumed during his tournaments was that of the samurai Muso Gonnosuke.
 * In Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, he's killed in a similar manner to how he killed Liu Kang in Deadly Alliance. If the player performing this fatality is controlling Liu Kang, there appears to be a perfect swap of roles.
 * Shaolin Monks, Deadly Alliance, Armageddon and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe are the only games where the Soul Steal allows Shang Tsung to regain health.
 * Shang Tsung used his Morphing and Flaming Skulls during the intro of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, but they are not present in the game.
 * In Mortal Kombat 3, occasionally, Shang Tsung appears on the Master tournament ladder twice.
 * Tsung's alternate outfit from Deadly Alliance is based from the time he was champion of Mortal Kombat before the Great Kung Lao defeated him (Mortal Kombat official comic).
 * In MK 2011, Shang Tsung has his MK outfit as his alternative costume, to note this further, his voice changes to that of an older tone.
 * Shang Tsung was also inspired by the character of "David Lo Pan" from "Big Trouble In Little China".
 * Shang Tsung is the only character who appears in all of the 2-D games that is absent from Mortal Kombat 4.
 * Shang Tsung appears on a movie poster during Johnny Cage's ending in Deadly Alliance.
 * Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe reveals that Shang is accompanied by two women, who appear to be lovers. However, the game isn't canon.
 * Minus the clown model, his "Bang Bang!" fatality in MK 2011 is identical to, and could be perhaps perceived as a parody of The Joker's "Killing Joke" fatality from Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, due to its censorship in North America. It should be noted that in the Fatality Trainer, when the fatality is introduced, it mentions Tsung having "picked up some tricks from an old foe" which seems to imply that Shang Tsung has in fact met The Joker. Officially, of course, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe remains non-canon.
 * Up until Mortal Kombat (2011), Shang Tsung's elderly form remained unplayable as it was eliminated ever since MKII.
 * In his MK 2011 ending, Shang Tsung is taught a move to defeat Liu Kang, who has become villainous. Because of this, Liu Kang is seen as the villain while Shang Tsung becomes the hero.
 * However, to some, Shang Tsung was more of an anti-hero.
 * In MK 2011's Story Mode, after Quan Chi tells Kung Lao that "no Earthrealm boy could stop this Deadly Alliance", Shang Tsung said that "on that we agree". This implies that they normally do not get along.
 * MK 2011 was the only game to mention of Shang Tsung's origin. His bio states that he is originally from Earthrealm and discovered a portal to Outworld.
 * Shang Tsung is the only character in MK 2011 whose throw move heals him.
 * In a Top 10 list hosted by Screwattack.com, Shang Tsung was placed at #7 of the bearded charecters in videogames.
 * In MK 2011, if timed correctly and if he is far enough, Shang Tsung will morph invisible if he wins a round against Noob Saibot or another Shang Tsung, if they are using their unique getting up motion.
 * Shang Tsung, along with Johnny Cage, Kintaro, Kratos, Reptile, Shao Kahn, and Skarlet, are the only characters in MK 2011 who do not cry during their Babalities.