Shao Kahn

""Don't make me laugh!""

- ~Shao Kahn

""That was pathetic!""

- ~Shao Kahn

Shao Kahn is the all-powerful emperor of Outworld, and main villain from the Mortal Kombat series. He is a boss, and owner of a frightening Evil Laugh.

Pre-Mortal Kombat
Shao Kahn originally served as an advisor to Onaga when the latter ruled Outworld as the Dragon King. Onaga's Empire had become the most powerful in the realms and so he began searching for a way to become immortal. Before his goal could be realized, Shao Kahn made his move by poisoning Onaga and taking his kingdom. Leading whatever troops that remained loyal to the Dragon King, Kahn continued many of the former emperor's plans. He continued to add lesser realms to Outworld, either through direct conquest or through Mortal Kombat.

A milestone in his military victories was the merging of Edenia with Outworld. After his warriors had won in Mortal Kombat, Kahn invaded the realm. On the battlefield, Kahn killed King Jerrod, and took Queen Sindel as his wife, raising her daughter, Princess Kitana, as his own. He had the young princess trained as his personal guard and as an assassin. Sindel took her own life in an attempt to escape subservience to the Emperor. Unwilling to be denied, Kahn held her soul in Outworld, stopping her transition to the afterlife.

Mortal Kombat I and II
Many years later, Kahn chose Earthrealm as his next conquest. He sent Shang Tsung and eventually Goro to Earthrealm to prepare it for an invasion in the event of Goro maintaining his position of champion. A turning point came when Prince Goro defeated the Great Kung Lao and started a winning streak that would last for 500 years. Shang Tsung, a shapeshifter, supervised the tournament. The tenth Mortal Kombat however, saw the defeat of both Goro and Shang Tsung by Liu Kang, ruining five hundred years of Tsung's investment. Shang Tsung begged Kahn for his life, and came up with a plan to lure Earth's chosen warriors to Outworld for a second tournament. Shao Kahn spared Tsung's life and restored his youth. Kahn concocted a plan to lure the Earthrealm champions to Outworld; if they could be killed, they would not be able to cause further damage to his plans. He captured Kano and Sonya Blade to use as bait, and enraging Liu Kang by sending Baraka and his troops to destroy the Shaolin temples, they confidently waited for the Earth warriors to fall into the trap. Despite Kahn's vast power, Liu Kang's determination saw him through, and he defeated the despot. Unwilling to accept defeat, Kahn called his armies to destroy the Earthrealm warriors. They fled back to Earthrealm, out of Kahn's clutches.

Mortal Kombat 3
By this time, Shang Tsung was able to resurrect Queen Sindel in Earthrealm, and Kahn would be able to cross the border to claim her. Kahn had Tsung proceed, and once he invaded Earthrealm, he began to merge it with his own realm of Outworld. Nearly every living being in Earthrealm had their souls ripped from their bodies by Kahn, claiming them as his own. Kahn's day finally seemed to have come. But not all hope was lost, as Lord Raiden had protected the souls of a handful of warriors (and some like the robots Sector and Cyrax had no souls to take and he also couldn't detect them) Kahn sent extermination squads to hunt them down and kill the remaining survivors. It would be these chosen warriors task to try to stop Kahn, and return Earthrealm to its normal state. In the ensuing fights, Kahn was confronted by Kung Lao, another Shaolin monk and descendant of the warrior Goro defeated to become champion of Mortal Kombat, but Kahn crushed him. It was Liu Kang who again managed to defeat Kahn. Worn down from the battle, Kahn recalled his squads and retreated back to Outworld. This stopped the merger with Outworld, and restored Earthrealm to its original status. To make matters worse for Kahn, many of his loyal soldiers had abandoned him, and Kitana had succeeded in turning Sindel to her side, restoring Edenia as an independent realm.

Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance
In Deadly Alliance, Shao Kahn was approached by Quan Chi and Shang Tsung, who pretend to offer themselves as servants. However the two attacked the weakened Shao Khan and slay him.

Mortal Kombat Deception
It was revealed that the Shao Kahn killed by Shang Tsung and Quan Chi was actually a clone and that after being weakened from his attempted takeover of Earthrealm, Kahn had created the clone to rule Outworld for him, while he recovered. Shao Kahn found his former servant, Goro, mortally wounded and healed him, regaining the allegiance of the Shokan. The two set out to overthrow Onaga, so as to let the emperor regain his control over Outworld.

Mortal Kombat Armageddon
Shao Kahn had become the ruler of Outworld again and joined forces with Quan Chi, Shang Tsung, and Onaga in an uneasy alliance so as to gain the god like powers of Blaze. In his ending, Shao Kahn defeated Blaze and claimed his powers, destroying all of his enemies. He eventually conquered all other realms and joined them with his own. However with nothing left to conquer, Shao Kahn went insane from the boredom.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
At the beginning of the game, Shao Kahn had been defeated and met in a graveyard with his secret ally, Quan Chi. He was blasted into a portal by a blast of lightning from Raiden, causing him to combine with Darkseid and transform into Dark Kahn. After his defeat, Kahn ended up in the DC universe, rendered powerless. Kahn was then imprisoned in the Phantom Zone by Superman. In his ending, Kahn escaped the Phantom Zone along with an army made up of all the others imprisoned there.

Personality
Shao Kahn is ruthless and sadistic, but posesses a strange sense of humor, laughing maniacally all the time. He desires only power and will do anything to make sure he has it, showing great paranoia at times. Kahn is also extremely arrogant and cruel and desires only to conquer other realms and add them to his own.

Powers
Shao Kahn is extremely powerful, able to utilize superhuman strength and magic. He wields the powerful Wrath Hammer, which can send opponents flying with one strike and he seems to have some knowledge in cloning, as seen in Deadly Alliance. Shao Kahn's moves include a powerful shoulder barge, a green star like fire ball that he fires from his facial area, an uppercut that both generates a shield against projectiles and knocks opponents off their feet, and a rising knee attack that generated a streak behind him.

Quotes
"Feel the wrath of Shao-Kahn!"

"Is that your best?"

"You are weak, pathetic fool!"

"You will die, mortal!"

"Don't make me laugh!"

"That was pathetic!"

"I win!"