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The Deadly Alliance was a partnership between the sorcerers Quan Chi and Shang Tsung that was formed during Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, serving as the main antagonists and the final bosses of the game, with their Titan counterparts served as the overarching antagonists of Mortal Kombat 1.

About the Deadly Alliance[]

The Deadly Alliance was a temporary alliance between two powerful sorcerers: Shang Tsung, advisor to Emperor Shao Kahn and host of the last Mortal Kombat tournament in Earthrealm, and Quan Chi, a free-roaming sorcerer and former ally of the fallen Elder God Shinnok. Their eventual goal was to conquer Earthrealm by using the Dragon King's undefeatable army. In Lex Luthor's Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe ending, he allied with Quan Chi and resurrected the Deadly Alliance. However Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe is non-canon.

Mortal Kombat 1 ultimately reveals that Shang Tsung and Quan Chi's destined formation of the Deadly Alliance was forged by Kronika.

History[]

Original Timeline[]

Quan Chi's discovery[]

At the end of the events of Mortal Kombat 4, Quan Chi was transported to the Netherrealm, along with his ally turned nemesis, Scorpion. In the Netherrealm, Scorpion relentlessly tormented the necromancer whenever he could. Quan Chi eventually met the two Oni, Moloch and Drahmin, and bargained a deal with them: in return for their protection, he would free them from the Netherrealm. Shortly thereafter, Quan Chi found the ruins of an ancient portal, and while examining the artifacts, Scorpion attacked. The two Oni sprang into action and Quan Chi used this time to finish his examination and use Shinnok's Amulet to open the portal. He was transported to Outworld and found himself in the lost tomb of the mummified, undefeatable army of the long forgotten Dragon King. He surmised that with such an army at his disposal, he could conquer the realms and defeat the Elder Gods, becoming ruler of all creation.

Partnership with Shang Tsung[]

Because the army was mummified, Quan Chi needed someone who could reanimate their bodies. That person happened to be the shapeshifter Shang Tsung, who also lived in Outworld. Quan Chi told him about his discovery and his plot, and they came to an agreement in which Quan Chi would gain military power and Shang Tsung would gain eternal life. First, they needed to remove the two most important obstacles that stood in their way. It is unclear at what time after the events of Mortal Kombat 4 all of this took place, but the final stages of their plans likely happened around the same time as the main body of the game Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. Their first possible threat was Shao Kahn. Shang Tsung presented Quan Chi before him and after a token display of loyalty, the two attacked, slaying the emperor. It was later revealed, however, that they had killed only a clone of Shao Kahn, as the real Kahn had fled the palace when he sensed treachery in his weakened state. When the emperor's clone lay dead on the floor, Kahn's general Kano stepped out of the shadows and offered his loyalty to the sorcerers. At the same time, Noob Saibot attacked and mortally wounded Prince Goro at a command of Quan Chi, during an important battle between the armies of Edenia and Outworld. Due to Goro's demise, the forces of Edenia were forced to retreat. The two sorcerers then traveled to Earthrealm, through use of a hidden mystical portal, where they ambushed Liu Kang, Earthrealm's champion. Shang Tsung disguised himself as Kung Lao, and ambushed him. Thanks to Quan Chi's intervention in that battle, the sorcerers were able to win, and Shang Tsung snapped Liu Kang's neck and took his soul.

The Deadly Alliance's victory[]

With their enemies out of the way, Quan Chi used his amulet to open the Soulnado, a portal to the Heavens through which Shang Tsung summoned the souls of countless warriors to animate the army of the Dragon King. They planned to invade Earthrealm with the army, and their ally Mavado, the leader of the Red Dragon, offered his loyalty in exchange for the Red Dragon's safety. Mavado had found out that they employed Kano, one of the last Black Dragon members, and expressed his desire to kill him. The Alliance would give him a fight to the death with Kano if Mavado found and eliminated Kenshi. He succeeded, however, it is unknown if he faced Kano, and Mavado was attacked by Kabal. Raiden's Earthrealm champions then traveled to Outworld to stop the Deadly Alliance from bringing all of their plans to fruition.

However, their attack against both sorcerers failed. Jax Briggs, Johnny Cage, Kung Lao, Sonya Blade and the Edenian princess Kitana were all killed. Kenshi was badly wounded and Sub-Zero was betrayed by his own disciple, Frost, although this wasn't the doing of the Deadly Alliance. With all heroes from Earth caught up, wounded or dead, Raiden took on the Deadly Alliance himself. Ultimately, he was defeated as well.

The Desperate Alliance[]

Both sorcerers had little time to relish in their victory and, unfortunately, quickly turned on each other. After a brief and vicious fight, Quan Chi stood victorious. He then turned his attention to a tall, massive intruder: Onaga, the Dragon King, who had returned from beyond death. It became obvious soon that Quan Chi could not stop the Dragon King. Even when Shang Tsung and Raiden regained consciousness and joined the fight against their common foe, Onaga was unstoppable. In a last ditch effort, Raiden released his godly essence in a terrible explosion which destroyed the palace, the Soulnado, the Deadly Alliance and Onaga's army, but not Onaga himself, who had now gained control of the Amulet of Shinnok. This marked the end of the Deadly Alliance.

Alternate Timeline[]

Second Tournament[]

After Shang Tsung's defeat, Shao Kahn had him executed although Shang Tsung proposed holding a single tournament in Outworld, which he accepted. During the tournament, Raiden sends Kung Lao to win the tournament but at the same time tries to prevent the events that would lead to Armageddon, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi team up to face him but end up being defeated.

Outworld Invasion[]

Both Shang Tsung and Quan Chi provided aid to Shao Kahn during the invasion of Earthrealm. Secretly, Quan Chi managed to convince Shao Kahn to invade Earth by tricking him into telling him that if he resurrected Sindel, the protection that the Old Gods provided to Earth would disappear under the pretext that it was Sindel who gave it to him. With Sindel resurrected and Motaro dead, Shao Kahn decided to send Sindel to kill Raiden and his champion, but first gave her the thousands of souls that Shang Tsung possessed, killing him in the process.

With the death of Shang Tsung, the Deadly Alliance has not been seen in the alternate timeline.

Current Timeline[]

New Era[]

In Liu Kang's New Age, the fate of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi were written to prevent them from being a potential threat as they are now ordinary inhabitants of Outworld. However, Damashi contacted them and gave them knowledge about witchcraft to once again turn him into a threat to the kingdoms. Shang Tsung and Quan Chi gathered allies from different kingdoms taking advantage of their needs such as General Shao and Rain for their need for power, Nitara for her kingdom's need for food, and Havik and Darrius to cause chaos in the Orderrealm.

Soul Stealer Project[]

Quan Chi was tasked with creating devices capable of stealing souls to power his Dragon Army. Although they achieved their goal, it is revealed that their benefactor Damashi was actually a Titan version of Shang Tsung, the same Earthrealmer Shang Tsung whom Liu Kang knew in previous timeline and fought for the Hourglass, causing the timeline to divide and ending with both of them winning in their respective timelines. Titan Shang Tsung betrayed Shang Tsung and Quan Chi and they were put aside so he could take over Liu Kang's timeline.

Second Battle of Armageddon[]

After the revelation of Titan Shang Tsung, Quan Chi and Shang Tsung temporarily joined forces with Liu Kang and his allies. While their temporary allies distracted the Dragon's army, Shang Tsung, Quan Chi and Raiden would try to destroy the portals that the army were setting up in addition to fighting dark versions that the Titan Shang Tsung brought from his timeline. Shang Tsung and Quan Chi discovered that the Dark Shao Kahn is what keeps the portals active so they killed him by absorbing his soul.

Determined to end the invasion of the Titan Shang Tsung, Liu Kang formed the Forces of Light to confront him in his timeline, the army was composed of several warriors from all timelines while the Titan Shang Tsung did the same by creating the Order of Darkness and with him a Titan version of Quan Chi that accompanies him on top of the pyramid forming a Titan version of the Deadly Alliance. Despite attempts to emerge victorious from Armageddon, Titan Shang Tsung and Titan Quan Chi end up being defeated by Liu Kang's ally and erased from existence by Liu Kang, hopefully never to be seen again.

Trivia[]

  • In Mortal Kombat (2011), Quan Chi and Shang Tsung are teamed up against the Shaolin Monk, Kung Lao. Quan Chi states that "no Earthrealm boy can stop this Deadly Alliance." 
    • Also, in Sub-Zero's arcade ending, after discovering what really happened to his and Scorpion's families, he offers Scorpion to join him in his quest for vengeance. Sub-Zero and Scorpion then form a partnership, only referred to as a "Deadly Alliance".
  • In Mortal Kombat: Armaggedon, when Taven encounters Raiden in the room where Onaga, Shao Kahn, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi are planning to kill both the brothers to claim the prize, Taven says: 'We can't let them win, we can't stand idly by, we must stop this...' just before Raiden interrupts him. Those same words are said by Raiden in the opening cutscene of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.
  • There is an achievement/trophy in MK vs DCU called Deadly Alliance.
Preceded by Emperors of Outworld Succeeded by
Shao Kahn 10 AMK (2002) Onaga

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