Onaga


 * "It is said that there is only one true ruler of Outworld... and that ruler had returned."
 * Mortal Kombat: Deception intro.

Onaga, the Dragon King, is a character in the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games.

About Onaga
Onaga was introduced in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance under the cryptic name of the "Dragon King", the long-dead ruler of Outworld, even before Shao Kahn. Not much was known about him, save for the fact that his army was deemed undefeatable but, at his untimely death, allowed itself to be mummified and kept in a tomb that was not uncovered until the necromancer Quan Chi stumbled upon it. Onaga is one of the series' characters through which the One Being is rumored to work. His most important powers include superhuman strength and resistance to all forms of magic, and the innate power to raise the dead.

Storyline
Millennia ago, Onaga, also known as the Dragon King, was a ruler of Outworld. Hoping to gain eternal life, he ordered the last known dragon egg to be kept, hoping that the blood of an infant dragon would grant him immortality. However, he died before this could be fulfilled. Shao Kahn, one of his chief advisors, had him poisoned and took over his rule of Outworld. His army, however, was kept in a mummified state. This army was considered undefeatable because Onaga possessed the innate power to raise the dead. By means of constant resurrection during battles, his army truly was undefeatable. During the millennia that followed, Onaga was apparently forgotten.

Quite some time before Liu Kang's victory over Goro and Shang Tsung at the Shaolin Mortal Kombat tournament, Onaga communicated through death to Shujinko through an avatar named Damashi. He persuaded Shujinko to embark on a quest to unite the Kamidogu, claiming he was carrying out the will of the Elder Gods, as well as granting him the power to learn the fighting techniques of warriors he encountered. Shujinko readily embarked on his quest, beginning to set in motion events that Onaga hoped would lead to his eventual return to power. Additionally, a sect of holy men still dedicated to him had been guarding the egg of the last great dragon in a chamber of molten lava. During the events of Mortal Kombat II, they captured the Outworld elemental Blaze, who was forced to guard the egg until it was ready to hatch and revive the king.

A few years later, Quan Chi and Shang Tsung, the Deadly Alliance, used their powers to resurrect Onaga's army. Their plan was to use this army to conquer Outworld and eventually, all other realms as well. Raiden embarked on a mission with the Earthrealm warriors to Outworld to stop their plans, but his attempt ultimately failed. His comrades were slain and he himself was defeated by the Deadly Alliance in person. However, their victory was short-lived. The vampiress Nitara convinced Reptile to help her access the chamber of the last dragon egg. The chamber also held an orb that would separate Outworld from the vampire realm. After she destroyed the orb, Nitara left, but Reptile, feeling betrayed, arrived almost as soon as she transported herself to her native realm. At that moment, the egg hatched and sent its energy into Reptile, which fulfilled the prophecy of Onaga's return. The Dragon King, as such, used the transformed body of Reptile as a host, after he had gained the ability to rise himself from the dead through Shujinko's actions.

Just as the army stood ready to receive commands from Quan Chi, who had emerged victorious in a battle with his former ally Shang Tsung, Onaga returned. Even the combined might of Shang Tsung, Quan Chi and Raiden was not sufficient to defeat him. Raiden's desperate last measure was to use a self-destruct magic that released his godly essence, but that only succeeded in destroying Onaga's army and, presumably, the two sorcerers. Onaga was unaffected and was now in possession of the amulet Quan Chi previously held.

It was at this time in which Shujinko, finally realizing he had been duped, took action. He traveled through the realms in order to find recruits to fight Onaga. All of these warriors came from extremely diverse origins but Shujinko planned to unite them to fight this enormous threat, who was now in possession of the six Kamidogu (found in the Temple background) and attempting to unite all of them into one.

Possible future
Currently, there is no canonical ending to Mortal Kombat: Deception, as the "true" ending of each Mortal Kombat game is not decided until the next chronological one (in this case, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon). However, the game endings for Sindel, Scorpion, Tanya, Nightwolf, and Shujinko all suggest that they succeed in killing Onaga, as does the ending for Shao Kahn on the Nintendo GameCube version. However, within Deception's Krypt, there are panels describing a possible ending for Onaga, had he become a playable character: The ending confirms speculation that the Dragon King is under the influence of the One Being, as in it, Onaga not only fuses all realms into one but - unsatisfied - further fuses the new realm into himself, becoming the vessel of the One Being's return.

In Onaga's Armageddon Ending,the forces of Darkness defeated Blaze, and the Dragon King seized the prize for himself, attaining ultimate power. He immediately focused his wrath upon the one being he despised most: Shao Kahn. Long ago, Shao Kahn had stolen Outworld from him. Now Onaga would repay that treachery. Shao Kahn was beaten to the point of death, but Onaga would not see him die so quickly. He ordered Quan Chi and Shang Tsung to deal with the former emperor. While Onaga reclaimed his throne, Shao Kahn remained a captive in his own dungeon, tortured by those who had once pledged to him their allegiance.

Combat characteristics
Onaga appears to be one of the strongest beings in the entire Mortal Kombat series. His own power is ambiguous overall, but since Shao Kahn preferred poisoning Onaga as opposed to fighting him, he can be presumed to posses enough power that Shao Kahn feared facing him. When Onaga had the Kamidogu's, he became nearly unstoppable and any that direct confrontation with him was nigh impossible. This is displayed when the two strongest sorcerers, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, combined with the power of Earth's Thunder God, Raiden, tried to stop him. The blasts from all three only pushed him away as he advanced towards the three. Not even a self-destruct blast from Raiden was sufficient in destroying him, only doing little, if visible damage. Being a dragon, Onaga can breath fire, able to exhale flames in a concentrated ball of fire or a stream of fire, similar to a flamethrower. In Deception, Onage was able fly, but doesn't use this ability when fighting in Armegeddon. He also possesses a degree of magic as he was able to spread his influence in the form of a spiritual avatar named Damashi, whom he used to manipulate Shujinko for many years to gain what he needed, also displaying his cunning and tactics.

Trivia

 * While Onaga is unplayable in Deception outside of third-party cheat devices, there is evidence that he was meant to be an unlockable character; the above-mentioned ending found in the game's Krypt, as well as Puzzle Kombat models for the character.
 * As a playable character, Onaga only has one fighting style (Dragon, which is his own style and not to be confused with the actual Dragon Kung Fu that other characters in the game have used) that cycles repeatedly when the Change Style button is pressed. Also, in the on-screen move list, only one of his special moves is listed, and one (non-working) combo is listed under his fighting style.
 * Reportedly, playing as Onaga in Puzzle Kombat is very difficult, as the character model's wings obscure a good part of the player's screen, and his special builds up very slowly. Likewise, playing against him is also hard, as his wings conceal what he is going to do next.
 * Onaga is the second boss in the series to be immune to projectile attacks, the first being Motaro. Unlike Motaro, however, Onaga does not reflect the projectile back at the opponent.


 * Onaga is the first endboss of the series with a bestial appearance as opposed to the more human-like bosses of past games such as Shao Kahn and Shinnok.