Takeda Takahashi

"The Shirai Ryu don't run from a fight. Right, Grandmaster?"

- Takeda in Mortal Kombat X (Comic Series)

Takeda Takahashi (高橋武田) is a student of Shirai Ryu leader Hanzo Hasashi and son to Kenshi. He made his first appearance in the comic series and makes his game debut in Mortal Kombat X.

About Takeda
Takeda lived a normal life in Thailand with his mother, Suchin, despite his father not knowing of his existence until he was a child. After his mother was killed by the Red Dragon, he was entrusted to Hanzo when his father left to avenge her death. Although he is taught the ways of a warrior, Takeda originally had a timid nature and didn't take fighting seriously. However, after the newest iteration of the Shirai Ryu are eradicated, he becomes more serious and continues to help his master, both in missions and preventing him from giving in to his wraith persona.

Takeda is shown to take his battles seriously, but does make wise cracks during so. He expresses great loyalty to the Shirai Ryu, as he continues to wear a yellow headband to show his connection to the clan and will fight any who threatens his clan. Despite not trusting Hanzo at first because he was a wraith, Takeda becomes immensely loyal to his master over the years and sees Hanzo as a father-figure. While Kenshi is his father, Takeda originally didn't trust him and prefers not to speak about him.

He is also romantically linked with Jacqui Briggs.

Appearance
Takeda originates from Thailand and is of Asian descent, having black hair and brown eyes. In his youth as depicted in the comic, Takeda wore typical clothing as a child. At the time of apprenticeship, Takeda has shaggy hair and wears ninja garb with a yellow headband. However, his uniform is different from the Shirai Ryu, as he wears a blue shirt instead, and has bandages wrapped around his forearms.

In the game, Takeda wears an armored body suit, primarily a metallic blue in color with streaks of yellow along the legs. He still keeps his headband to represent his connection to the Shirai Ryu, along with a neck warmer. On his arms, he bears modified gauntlets designed to fire his spear tipped, bladed whips in battle. Takeda's alternate costume depicts him in a Shirai Ryu style uniform, similar to Scorpion's own costume, and bearing the clan's yellow color.

Combat Characteristics
Takeda is a trained warrior, the apprentice of Scorpion himself, and has shown great skill with using bladed whips and plasma empowered swords in combat, referencing both his teacher Scorpion and his father Kenshi. His serrated edged whips are concealed in his gauntlets, and are launched at high powered speed for maximum striking power. He has also shown the power to teleport in a similar manner to his master, Scorpion. Like his father, Kenshi, Takeda has shown some telekinetic abilities by being able to move his plasma swords with his mind, and possesses some telepathic power as well, able to read minds and overload senses with enough concentration.

Signature Moves

 * Kunai: Takeda throws an explosive kunai between his opponent's feet. (MKX)
 * The enhanced version is called Tri Kunai and has Takeda throw three kunai that explode in a rising arc.
 * Tornado Strike: Takeda jumps into the air in a rapid spin and delivers a dropkick to his opponent if he connects with them. (MKX)
 * The enhanced version is called Tornado Kick and launches faster, doing more damage.
 * Fist Flurry: Takeda charges his opponent and unleashes a rapid flurry of punches into their abdomen. (MKX)
 * The enhanced version is called Fist Whirlwind and does more damage.
 * Quick Phase: Takeda crouches and teleports, reappearing behind his enemy and punching them. Shirai Ryu Variation (MKX)
 * The enhanced version is called Shirai Ryu Phase and adds a second teleport with Takeda trip kicking his opponent into the air.
 * Air Teleport: Takeda teleports in the air and reappears behind his opponent, striking them. Shirai Ryu Variation (MKX)
 * The enhanced version is called Air Shirai Ryu Port and has Takeda follow up with a downward kick after knocking his opponent out of the air.
 * Spear Ryu: Takeda launches one of his whip spears into his opponent, drags them over with a spin tug and punches them across the face. Shirai Ryu Variation (MKX)
 * The enhanced version is called Double Spear Ryu and has Takeda impale his opponent with both spears before whipping them over his head and across the arena.
 * Air Spear: Takeda launches one of his spears downwards at his opponent and follows up with a divekick. Shirai Ryu Variation (MKX)
 * The enhanced version is called Air Spike and has Takeda drop down with a reversed flip kick, knocking his opponent into the air.
 * Whip Strike: Takeda swings his blade tipped whips down in an arch. Lasher Variation (MKX)
 * The enhanced version is called Whip Thrash and does more damage.
 * Whip Assault: Takeda strikes his enemy with his bladed whips and follows up with a rapid flurry of whips strikes. Lasher Variation (MKX) Note: This attack replaces Fist Flurry while Takeda is in Lasher Variation.
 * The enhanced version is called Whip Flurry and does more damage while finishing with an overhead strike.
 * Whip Trip: Takeda lashes out with his whips at a low angle, snatching his opponent's ankles and tripping them. Lasher Variation (MKX)
 * The enhanced version is called Whip Flip, doing more damage while leaving the opponent in the air.
 * Blade Drop: Takeda throws the hilt of one of his plasma swords under his opponent and can follow up with:
 * Blade Kall where he telekinetically calls the spinning plasma blade back to him while knocking his enemy into the air. Ronin Variation (MKX)
 * The enhanced version is called Blade Summon and does more damage while driving the opponent higher into the air.
 * Quick Kall where Takeda calls the hilt back. Ronin Variation (MKX) Note: Blade Drop replaces Kunai in Ronin Variation.
 * Piercing Spark: Takeda clashes his plasma blades and releases a projectile beam at his opponent. Ronin Variation (MKX)
 * The enhanced version is called Piercing Beam and turns the projectile into a long beam.
 * Shirai Ryu Reflect: Takeda swings both of his plasma swords, reflecting an opponent's projectile. Ronin Variation (MKX)
 * The enhanced version is called Shirai Ryu Absorb and has Takeda completely block any projectile.
 * Shirai Ryu Kan: Takeda swings both of his plasma swords in a rising arch, knocking his opponent into the air. Ronin Variation (MKX)
 * The enhanced version is called Double Shirai Ryu Can and has Takeda start the attack with a double swing with both plasma swords before following up with the rising strike.
 * X-Ray Move - Air Whiplash: Descending down from the air and stunning his enemy with a whip strike, Takeda launches one of his whips through his opponent's mouth, the tip breaking through the back of their skull, then reels himself over by retracting his whip, dashes behind them while wrapping his whip around their neck before kneeing their spine, shattering it and their rib cage, dropping them onto their back. He then delivers an axe kick to their face, caving in the majority of their skull. (MKX)

Other Moves

 * Throw: Takeda knees his opponent in their stomach twice, flips himself over and behind them while grabbing their left arm and breaking it, then kicks them away. (MKX)

Fatalities

 * Whip It Good - Takeda draws his whips, cracks them twice at his opponent, cutting off their arms, then impales them through the mouth with his whip. With a grin, he activates the serrated edges of his whips, hooking his opponent's spine and then drags it out through his opponent's mouth. The opponent's body then collapses on the ground, blood foaming from their mouth. (MKX)
 * Head Cage - Takeda impales his opponent with two spears. He then proceeds to extend the spear blades and draws them back, ripping the rib cage/spine out of the opponent and into Takeda's hands. He then proceeds by violently smashing the dismembered vertebrae into the opponent's mouth as they fall over into a bloody mess. (MKX)

Other Finishers

 * Brutality #1 - Armless: Takeda grabs his opponent, knees them twice, armlocks them and rips it off. (MKX)
 * Brutality #2 - Kool Whip: Takeda whips his opponent several times before slicing off their shins. (MKX)
 * Brutality #3 - Whip it Out: Takeda punches a hole in the opponent's abdomen, phases behind them and destroys their shins. Shirai Ryu variation (MKX)
 * Brutality #4 - Two-Sided: Takeda lashes the opponent multiple times before cutting their arms off. Lasher variation (MKX)
 * Brutality #5 - Force Slice: Takeda calls his boobytrapped plasma sword which slices the opponent in half. Ronin variation (MKX)

Quotes

 * "Shall we try that again?" (after performing a Brutality)
 * "That's unfortunate." (after performing a Brutality)
 * "Not prepared?" (after performing a Brutality)
 * "You kinda sucked, dude!" (after performing a Brutality)
 * "Wow, that hurt to watch!" (after successfully performing his X-Ray Move)

Trivia

 * Interestingly enough, he shares his name with the first Shirai Ryu Clan founder, with Hanzo being the founder of the newest iteration of the clan.
 * Takeda is currently the youngest Earthrealm character to kill another individual, being a teenager when he killed Fox.
 * Takeda is the second Shirai Ryu character to be playable in the franchise. Scorpion, who appeared twenty-three years prior, being the first.
 * One of Takeda's combos, White Well, is an English translation of the Shirai Ryu.