Shinnok

Shinnok is a character in the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games.

About Shinnok
Shinnok is considered one of the most evil beings in Mortal Kombat. A vengeful and powerful fallen Elder God, Shinnok appeared in Mortal Kombat 4, Mortal Kombat Gold and Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero as the main villain. He is also stated to be making an appearance in the up coming Mortal Kombat Armageddon. He is seen to be seemingly leading the side of evil.

Unlike Shao Kahn, Shinnok relies less on brute strength and fear-mongering, but more on magical powers and ancient artifacts. He is the ruler of the Netherealm, possessing millions of years' worth of knowledge and power, including the ability to impersonate other beings perfectly, as well as to transform into an immense demon.

Shinnok demands from his followers unwavering faith and loyalty and will not hesitate to kill anyone who doubts or challenges him.

Storyline
Shinnok's fall from grace was caused by his lust for power and more specifically, his desire to take Earthrealm for himself.

At the dawn of time, when the realms were created, Shinnok desired to rule Earthrealm, and thus acquire for himself immense power. However, Shinnok couldn't enter Earthrealm without the Elders being aware of his actions. To resolve this issue without directly defying the sacred rules, Shinnok created a powerful amulet, weakened the dimensional barriers, and entered Earthrealm. During the war against his fellow gods, he came into direct conflict with the thunder god Raiden.

During the final stages of this war, Raiden was forced to choose between sacrificing Earth's indigenous races, or ceding the rule of Earthrealm to Shinnok. The angered Elder gods intervened, and assisted Raiden in his struggle. Raiden defeated Shinnok, and stripped him of his amulet. Shinnok was then banished to the deepest regions of the Netherealm. However, at the expense of Shinnok's defeat, the dimensional fibers of the worlds were severely weakened, and the Saurians, Earth's indigenous life form at the time, were nearly exterminated.

In the Netherealm, Shinnok endured constant torture from the Netherealm's overlord, Lucifer. Shinnok was at his mercy until he encountered a sorcerer, Quan Chi, who could travel through the realms at will. Quan Chi would aid Shinnok in overthrowing Lucifer and taking his throne, becoming ruler of the Netherealm. As payment for Quan Chi's efforts, Shinnok endowed him with incredible powers, making him arch-sorcerer of the Netherealm.

Shinnok began building his second army of darkness, and plotted to escape the Netherealm once more. In order to do so however, he would need his lost sacred amulet. After centuries of searching, Quan Chi eventually discovered the amulet's whereabouts for him. It had been in the possession of the Lin Kuei. Using the Lin Kuei warrior Sub-Zero (the elder), Quan Chi recovered it, but unbeknownst to Shinnok, he created a flawed replica in its place which he delivered, keeping the original for himself.

His time in the Netherealm was well spent, having built a massive army, as well as a fanatical cult of demons called the Brotherhood of the Shadow, dedicated to worshipping him. Also loyal to him was Tanya. He changed the Netherealm's appearance as well, to make it look closer in appearance to Earthrealm.

During Shao Kahn's failed invasion of Earthrealm, Shinnok ordered Noob Saibot to spy on these events and eventually side with the Earthrealm warriors (Shao Kahn had also unsuccessfully attempted to invade the Netherealm, which Shinnok had seen as a sign that the Emperor was becoming too powerful).

Shinnok's first target was Edenia. After successfully posing as a group of refugees, Shinnok and his highest generals, using Tanya's Edenian connections, were allowed entrance to the peaceful realm. Immediately, he seized this opportunity to bring in a full-scale invasion force, and captured Queen Sindel and Princess Kitana.

Despite all these successes, the specter of doom arrived for Shinnok. The amulet he had was a fake, the real one in Quan Chi's hands. The sorcerer himself was captured by Scorpion and trapped in the Netherrealm. Raiden and his warriors defeated many of Shinnok's soldiers and the Elder god faced Liu Kang in kombat. Although the evil deity tried his best, he lost to the Shaolin Monk and Raiden banished Shinnok to the Netherrealm... for good.

Shinnok will reappear in MK Armageddon.

Fatalities

 * The Hand From Hell: Shinnok disappears in a puff of flame, then a portal opens on the ground near the victim. A giant skeletal hand emerges from the portal and grabs the victim, slowly squeezing until their head pops off from the pressure.  As the portal closes, the hand pulls back into the portal, taking the headless body with it, but leaving the head.  Shinnok reappears. (MK4, MKG)
 * Two Hand Clap: Shinnok levitates his victim high in the air, then disappears. A giant portal appears under the victim, and two skeletal hands emerge on either side of him/her.  The victim wails briefly before the two hands brutally clap on the victim.  They then retreat into the portal, revealing bloody messes of flesh and bone on the inside of the palms as they do so.  Shinnok reappears over the still-open portal. (MK4, MKG)

Movie appearance
According to the second Mortal Kombat movie, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Shinnok is the father of Raiden and Shao Kahn, who wishes for power not only over all realms, but over the gods as well.

He favors Shao Kahn, considering Raiden too weak and caring to be his son. Shinnok orders Shao Kahn to kill his brother while guiding him in his path to merging the parallel universes of Earth and Outworld. Shinnok is later imprisoned by the elder gods and Raiden offered his position in their ranks.

Trivia

 * If "Big Head Mode" is activated in Mortal Kombat 4, the hands in Shinnok's fatalities will roughly double in size. Oddly, in the Two Hand Clap, the hands will fail to retract entirely into the portal, offering an excellent view of the bloody gunk on them.
 * Shinnok is loosely based on Journey to the West's demon Yan Wang. Such an appearance may have inspired his incarnation in the movie.
 * Shinnok's little-known "backstory" concerning his overthrowing of the Netherealm from Lucifer's hand is mentioned in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero's instruction manual, as well as MK:Deception' s Konquest mode, where Shinnok makes a cameo (his voice here seems to be the same that he had in MK4). However there is no other information about Shinnok's battle with Lucifer.
 * So far, Shinnok is the first boss character to be playable without the aid of a cheat code or third-party cheat device upon his first appearance (every other boss character was playable either through these devices, or not at all). Since MK4 Quan Chi & Shang Tsung have also appeared as playable boss characters
 * Although seen in the Armegeddon character roster as wearing a sorcerer's robe, Shinnok is seen in the in-game screenshots as wearing a similar attire to his costume in Mortal Kombat 4.
 * In promotional pictures of Mortal Kombat 4, Shinnok is shown to have a staff on which his Amulet is housed, although he never actually uses it in the game. He does appear to use it as his weapon stance in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, though it's unclear how he regained the Amulet from Onaga...that is, if the amulet on the staff is the real thing.
 * Shinnok's MK4 face model is based on Midway developer Steve Beran.