| “ | So predictable. You should be grateful I'm going to kill you and save you the pain of never ageing and of watching your friends die one by one! | „ |
| ~ Shang Tsung to Great Kung Lao |
Shang Tsung is the secondary antagonist of the 1998-99 TV series Mortal Kombat: Conquest. He is a powerful sorcerer and archenemy of the Great Kung Lao. He is the main antagonist of ''Warrior Eternal'', ''Immortal Kombat'', ''Black Dragon'', ''Undying Dream'', ''Unholy Alliance'' and ''The Master'' as well as one of the two main antagonists (alongside Shao Kahn) of ''The Essence''.
He is portrayed by Bruce Locke.
Biography[]
Shang Tsung was a highly skilled martial arts from the Earth Realm, having trained under a powerful master named Cho who taught him sorcery. He was also the lover of Omegis, another student of Master Cho. As Shang Tsung was preparing for the Mortal Kombat, he was starting to get envious of Cho's great abilities as his master was reluctant of sharing them as they would be too dangerous. Shang Tsung mostly wanted to attain eternal youth but Cho told him to achieve that by winning in Mortal Kombat. Shang fought in Mortal Kombat but faced off against a highly skilled fighter who was superior to him and pushed him back. When his opponent tried to blast him, Shang Tsung cheated by using a spectator as shield thus breaking the rules and was inprisoned by Emperor of Outworld Shao Kahn and host of the tournament. Shao Kahn was interested in Shang Tsung and tried to have him abandon Earth Realm and work for him by tempting him with his soul stealing ability. Shang accepted and later betrayed both his old master and ex-lover.
Centuries later, Shang was the defending champion of Mortal Kombat and needed one more victory in order for Shao Kahn to conquer the Earth Realm. His opponent was Kung Lao. The two seemed evenly matched intially until Kung Lao gained the upper hand and knocked Shang down. Kung Lao sparred his life, thus becoming Shang's archenemy. An enraged Shao Kahn banished Shang to the cobalt mines of Shokan for his failure. There Shang Tsung met a woman named Vorpax who offered to help him. Shang started to plan his revenge against Kung Lao in order to gain the Emperor's trust once again. He used his magic to brainwash a bodyguard working for Baron Reyland and friend of Kung Lao, named Takeda, turning him into Scorpion. His plan failed so he allied himself with an assassin organization named Lin Kuei instead. He ordered them to steal a crystal with the power to travel between realms hidden in Kung Lao's trading post in the city of Zhu Zin and also murder Kung Lao. Through Raiden's intervention this plan failed as well thus Shang decided to take things into his own hands. He used his magic to hasten Kung Lao's ageing but ended up killing a monk and ageing Kung Lao's friends Siro and Taja instead. As Siro and Taja were neart death, Shang Tsung challenged Kung Lao to fight him, thus forcing him to break the rules of the Elder Gods. Shang was beaten once again and escaped back to Outworld.
Shang continued to conspire against Kung Lao, making deals with many individuals such as the Edenian Qali, Jola of the Black Dragon and even rival sorcerer Quan Chi but his plans always failed. At one point, Shang tried to save Kung Lao's life from Mileena, as Kung Lao's death had to be done by his own hands so he could gain Shao Kahn's favor. Vorpax was used as his right-hand in most of these missions but it was later revealed that she was a spy of her mother Kreeya all along, and had Shang imprisoned in Earth Realm. Shang Tsung had to ally with his archenemy Kung Lao in order to escape from Kreeya. He later was attacked by his old master Cho but was saved by Omegis. Shang used her and betrayed her once again. Following Kreeya's death, he and Vorpax became allies once again in order to defeat Shao Kahn. However, Kahn had his Shadow Priest attack them. Shang Tsung put up a good fight but was overpowered and killed by them. It's unknown what would happen to him in the cancelled Season 2.
Powers and Abilities[]
Shang Tsung is a powerful sorcerer and highly skilled in martial arts. Even though he was bested twice by Kung Lao, Shang managed to go toe to toe with Quan Chi, overpower Reptile after a hard battle and even defeat his old master with the help of Omegis. He also put up the best fight against the Shadow Priests.
Relationships[]
Enemies[]
- Great Kung Lao
- Shao Kahn
- Quan Chi
- Master Cho
- Raiden
- Siro
- Taja
- Kreeya
- Reptile
- Kitana
Allies[]
- Vorpax
- Omegis
- Qali
- Lin Kuei Grandmaster
- Scorpion
- Jola
- Mileena
- Sub-Zero
Gallery[]
