Shujinko

Shujinko is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series.

About Shujinko
Shujinko made his debut in Mortal Kombat: Deception as the games main hero. He is an adventurer who, as a boy, dreamed of fighting Shang Tsung. He has roamed the various realms and studied with many renowned teachers. His old age has made him wise, but at a cost: he bears an immense guilt for releasing Onaga into the realms again, and now that he is discarded by the Dragon King, has vowed to make up for this mistake. Although he shares some traits with the games' Shaolin monk characters, such as his great receptiveness, deliberation and ability to meditate for weeks, he has always been a traveler and a student at heart.

Storyline
Depicted as a young teenager in Konquest mode of Mortal Kombat: Deception, Shujinko was trained by Master Bo' Rai Cho in the art of Kombat. Soon, however, Shujinko encountered Damashi, who claims to be an emissary of the elder gods, gives Shujinko the power to copy other fighter's abilities and tells Shujinko to embark on a quest. It was from this point on that Shujinko's goal is to find the Kamidogu, or relics that are hidden in each main realms (Earthrealm, Outworld, Netherrealm, Orderrealm, Chaosrealm and Edenia) and place them on an altar in the Nexus of the Elder Gods. In order to be able to do his bidding, Damashi gave Shujinko the ability to absorb fighting styles and special attack patterns of warriors he encountered with great ease.

Shujinko's mission took him more than forty years to complete. By this time, he had missed out on most major events taking place in the realms, such as Shao Kahn's invasion of Earth, Shinnok's short-lived insurrection or the formation of the Deadly Alliance, only hearing about them obliquely or being involved very loosely. Because of his mission, it is said he also missed out on the first Mortal Kombat tournament, despite winning Shang Tsung's approval to participate after a short fight. When his mission was complete, Damashi revealed himself to be none other than the Dragon King, Onaga, speaking to Shujinko from beyond death.

Onaga used to be emperor of Outworld, and secretly driven by shards, echoes and memories of the One Being, whose consciousness shattered into the six realms with the creation of the Elder Gods. The One Being's existence does not allow the existence of something else, precisely because it is just that. The kamidogu, which contain the essential keys and essences of the realms, are powerful tools to merge the realms. The last tool Onaga needed to perfect his strategy was the sacred amulet that was long in possession of Quan Chi. After defeating the Deadly Alliance and Raiden, Onaga also had the amulet. For this, Shujinko assumed full responsibility, and embarked on a desperate quest to destroy Onaga, believing himself the only person capable of doing so.

Shujinko decided to gather every warrior from all realms and, in one moment, absorbed their fighting abilities to become all powerful. he then marched boldly into Onaga's throne room and pummeled the Dragon king into submission. But before he could land the final blow, Onaga's soul was whisked away by an unknown force (which would be revealed in Nightwolf's bio as the after-effects of the Sin-Eater ritual he had performed to bind Onaga's soul to the Netherrealm.)

Shujinko was then, for a time, known as the hero of Outworld. However, he still felt some degree of guilt of bringing back the Dragon King in the first place. As such, he didn't feel worthy of their admiration. Some time later, Princess Kitana requested Shujinko to meet her at Shao Kahn's fortress, as her Edeinian forces had aparrently flushed out Reiko's elite guard, the last remnants of the old empire.

Shujinko however came to the realization that he and Kitana parted ways after Onaga's defeat, as she set out to help the spirit of Liu Kang. Shujinko thought either that she departed for Earthrealm for the quest and she came back sooner than expected-or that the invitation had not come from her at all. Deciding that he would not allow himself to fooled again, he made the decision to uncover a possible plot of an unknown enemy to make himself truly worthy of the admiration Outworld has placed in him. It is revealed that the person who sent the deceptive invitation was Mileena, who fought and defeated Shujinko at the behest of Shao Kahn. In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon's Konquest mode, Taven discovers Shujinko in the dungeons of Shao Kahn's fortress. After freeing him, Shujinko claims that he allowed himself to be captured on purpose so to as to get closer to his enemies, as he plans to take on Shao Kahn, Onaga, Shang Tsung, and Quan Chi by himself. He disappears soon after in the pursuit of his mission, leaving Taven to regard him an old fool.

In Shujinko's Armageddon ending, he defeats Blaze, allowing him to absorb the fighting strength of every kombatant. He becomes mad with power and destroys all the other fighters. He then challenges the Elder Gods for control of the realms.

Signature moves

 * Spear Throw: Sending out a rope with a tipped Kunai at the end it impales itself in its victims allowing Shujinko to pull them through the air towards him for a free hit, as well as causing a small bit of damage. Shujinko even goes as far as saying "Get over here!" when imitating Scorpion's Bloody Spear move. (MK:D, MK:A)
 * Icy Breeze: Shujinko can send a blast of ice towards the opponent to freeze them in place for a free hit. This move is borrowed from Sub-Zero. (MK:D, MK:A)
 * Flaming Fist: He dashes forward with his fist (on fire) extended forward, which knocks his opponents down. This move is borrowed from Kobra. (MK:D, MK:A)
 * Flip Scissor Kick: Shujinko flips forwards in a circular motion, bringing his feet over his head and kicking the opponent and then landing back on his feet. Supposedly learned from Bo' Rai Cho and then taught to Li Mei. (MK:D, MK:A)
 * Flying Jinko: This move is a variation of Raiden's Flying Thunder God move in which he flies toward the opponent while emitting small shockwaves from his body and shoving the opponent for a distance. If the opponent blocks the move, Shujinko is set up for a Juggling combo.  (MK:D, MK:A)
 * Bicycle Kicks: Shujinko would fly across the screen with a series of multiple kicks to the opponent's torso. This move is borrowed from Liu Kang.(MK:D, MK:A)
 * Slide: Shujinko does a facefirst slide toward the opponent. If connected, he grabs their ankles, causing them to wobble, then bends upward and kicks them with both feet in the face, knocking the opponent down. This move is borrowed from Sindel. (MK:D, MK:A)
 * Opponent Slam: Using what telekinetic powers he has at his disposal, Shujinko would lift up and slam the opponent hard on the ground with a simple motion of the hand/arm. This move is borrowed from Ermac. (MK:D, MK:A)

Character development
In Japanese, "shujinkō" (主人公) translates to "protagonist."

According to Mortal Kombat: Deception, Ed Boon labels Shujinko to be a "next generation Liu Kang."

Those who have seen Pai Mei in other films (such as Kill Bill Vol. 2) may notice that Shujinko bears a very similar look. Jokes on the Internet poke fun at Shujinko's look-stealing (first he looks like Liu Kang in early Konquest mode, then like Kung Lao and he even resembles Jarek at one point.) to move-stealing, a feature mocked by most fans. His alternate costume is at least partly inspired by the film Master of the Flying Guillotine.

Game information
While playing through Konquest Mode in Mortal Kombat: Deception, local villagers say to Shujinko "May Lord Raiden bless you!" The irony in that statement is that in Raiden's ending, he kills Shujinko as a punishment for what he had done. Other villagers would shout him "you are being deceived!" in backward speech, alluding to Onaga's deception while posing as Damashi.

During his travels in Konquest Mode, Shujinko can interact with almost every major character of the franchise, either during the Konquest' linear story, as fight challenges or as side-missions. The only characters he never met during Konquest are Chameleon and Khameleon. Additionally, he sees Cyrax, Goro, Kintaro, and Sheeva, but does not interact with them at all. Worth noting is his brief encounter with the rarely seen Mortal Kombat 4 character Meat, whose canonicity within the story was heavily debated before his inclusion in Armageddon.

The times at which Shujinko interactions takes place however, are somewhat erratic and sketchy, as Konquest Mode's timeline can be very non-linear and confusing, due in part to a mix of the player's choices as he/she plays, and bad writing on the staff's part. The many errors in Konquest mode's timeline have caused many fans to completely write it off as non-canon, but still others believe it can be considered canon, so long as one realizes that they have to take the timeline with a large grain of salt.

Shujinko's voice can be heard in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks before Liu Kang and/or Kung Lao fight Shao Kahn but he is never seen and he is not heard in any other part of the game.

After the completion of the main story of Konquest mode in Deception, Shujinko will morph into a random character when he enters a battle. A glitch in the game will sometimes have him morph into Nitara or Kung Lao (both of whom are not selectable fighters in this game), albeit, without any special moves or combos. Occasionally, he will also morph into his younger self from the beginning of Konquest mode.

In both Mortal Kombat: Deception and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Shujinko has the greatest number of specials and the longest combos. The tradeoff for this is that his defense has been greatly lowered, making him more susceptible to damage than other fighters.

Shujinko also has a close friendship with the Seidan Warrior Hotaru. However when he accidentally violates a curfew placed on the town of Lei Chen by the guardsman, he is arrested and placed in jail for many years. He eventually escapes, thanks to the intervention of Dairou, but as Shujinko plans to leave the realm of order with its Kamidogu, Hotaru stops him, believing him responsible for the deaths of the Seidan warriors that Dairou had actually slain while freeing Shujinko. The two old friends battle, with the Champion of the Elder Gods emerging victorious.

Trivia

 * In the opening video of Mortal Kombat: Deception, Shujinko states "Only I can defeat this new threat, born of deception" and believes to be the true champion of the Elder Gods. However, the Elder Gods handpicked Scorpion as their "True Champion." Ironically, it really is Shujinko and not Scorpion who stops Onaga, as revealed in Onaga's Armageddon bio.
 * As shown in Deception Konquest Mode, he joins the Lin Kuei when he was young. He has done few missions for the organization (joining only to gain Sub-Zero's knowledge of fighting) and is believed to never really have affiliated with the group in ideology.  Just the process of being affiliated and doing dishonorable deeds in their name, however, was enough to leave a taint upon his soul that would later permit him access to the Netherrealm, a place only sinful souls may enter.
 * Shujinko's character resembles to the mentor of Sun Wukong, Subhuti.