Make no mistake that Shao Kahn is probably my top favorite Mortal Kombat villain. However, I belong to what might be a cult following for Shinnok the Fallen Elder God. I can imagine that if I existed as a villain in the Mortal Kombat universe -- I may have become a member of the Brotherhood of the Shadow instead! I bought Mortal Kombat 11 for one good reason -- I was excited to play as the villainous Shao Kahn! I even bought PS credits for the reason that I wanted to play as Shang Tsung portrayed by Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa! However, I'd like to stress that Shao Kahn may have become the Emperor of Fanservice in Mortal Kombat.
Shao Kahn would be in the list of iconic characters such as Heihachi Mishima in Tekken, the Dictator in the Street Fighter series (introduced in the second game too), Geese Howard in Fatal Fury, and there can be a lot more. Shao Kahn was already a household name especially when he was first introduced.
Mortal Kombat II makes it known through the introduction scene. Shang Tsung just got a demotion (but he's still OP as F*** due to the morph move) like Heihachi did in the Tekken series. Shao Kahn is introduced that the combatants may meet certain death at SHAO KAHN himself. One would've probably wasted several quarters trying to figure out how to defeat him. It doesn't help that Mortal Kombat II has a dangerously intense AI. It was to discourage rentals of the console games in exchange for sales. The arcade was meant to drain one's quarters. Heck, I even remember getting punished for wasting my allowance at the arcade! Just when one thought that Kintaro was a tough boss -- Shao Kahn can still pose a challenge. However, one can cheese their way to victory using well-timed jump kicks on Kintaro and well-timed uppercuts on Shao Kahn.
Mortal Kombat Trilogy got even douchier. Shao Kahn even got more annoying with that HAMMER MOVE. However, there were already hints that someone far more powerful than Shao Kahn was moving the scenes. Shinnok was introduced as a mysterious fallen Elder God -- one who resurrected Mileena and sent Noob Saibot (actually Bi Han but that wasn't revealed until 2006) to spy on the events. Shinnok was a threat to my comfort zone. I was so used to Shao Kahn being the Big Bad. Shinnok was introduced as someone who was potentially more powerful than Shao Kahn. However, I feel that Shao Kahn was somehow still going to bounce back anyway!
Shao Kahn took a back seat after Mortal Kombat Trilogy. Shao Kahn was supposedly killed off in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. Yes, that game that got infamous for killing off Liu Kang! Man, I hated that game! It was a junk game but I'll give it credit for testing new ideas. The Dragon King lore was slowly built up. Mortal Kombat: Deception came and it's not just Liu Kang who returned. The Gamecube version retconned Goro's death and Shao Kahn's death. It was revealed that Shao Kahn used a decoy to fool Quan Chi and Shang Tsung. I welcomed that change! Sadly, Shao Kahn would become a dumbass in the Netherrealm's reboot for most of it! Onaga was Shao Kahn's former master too. It means that not only Shinnok but also Onaga existed as a more powerful threat! Both characters could've taken care of Shao Kahn at a whim. Sadly, neither character was given the respect I thought they deserved!
Shinnok was potentially a bigger threat. Chinese mythology would equate him to the Fallen Elder God known as Tongtian Jiaozhu. The Jie Sect of Taoism devotes itself to the worship of the fallen Elder God. Sadly, Shinnok's boss fight in Mortal Kombat 4/Gold was just anti-climatic -- not especially after Goro returns as fanservice! Mortal Kombat X could'dve done a lot with Shinnok. Come on, Shinnok was the very cause of the events of Mortal Kombat (2011) from BTS! Quan Chi manipulated Shao Kahn and it was SHINNOK'S PLAN. Instead, Mortal Kombat X chose to really put Shinnok in a position like Loki. Shinnok getting beaten by Johnny Cage and his daughter Cassandra Cage is just as STRANGE as Loki getting clobbered by THE HULK. Shinnok's brutal fate was depicted in Mortal Kombat 11 -- an event that happened before the prologue of Mortal Kombat X. I feel it was meant to add insult to injury. Shinnok becomes a disembodied head. Shao Kahn may not be the final boss but he's back! Shao Kahn's intro dialogue with Cassie further insults Shinnok. Shinnok may be a villain but I feel sorry for him. It's because Netherrealm never developed Shinnok as a character. Sparse time in Story Mode and getting kicked by Johnny at the beginning and Cassie at the end? The gameplay is great but the Story Mode rushes things!
Shao Kahn's outcome in Mortal Kombat Armageddon becomes the true ending. We just saw Onaga supposedly defeat Shao Kahn. How Shao Kahn broke free of Onaga was never explained. The OG ending for Mortal Kombat Armageddon was that Taven's victory created a third unexpected outcome. My only assumption was that Shao Kahn was the last one to survive the third unexpected outcome. Instead, it's confirmed that Shao Kahn was the one who defeated Blaze over Taven. Like WUT? Wouldn't it be better if Shao Kahn emerged victorious after the THIRD UNFORESEEN OUTCOME instead of being the one who defeated Blaze? That's just me though!
This reminds me how Onaga was another wasted potential. I wonder what Netherrealm was thinking with him. Come on, Onaga is supposedly the previous emperor of Outworld who just REFUSES TO DIE. Instead, Shao Kahn and Goro return and get their deaths retconned, and for what -- for more fanservice to ADULT PLAYERS? Onaga orchestrated a series of complicated events and nearly DAMNED ALL THE REALMS at once. Onaga was so great a threat that Shujinko had to absorb all the powers of the other kombatants to defeat the former! However, Onaga has NEVER made any debut as a boss. I wanted him to be the final boss of Mortal Kombat 11. Instead, Kronika was introduced and I feel she was another badly-implemented character. Onaga gets mentioned but ends up becoming underdeveloped. Onaga became nothing more than a PLOT DEVICE to tell us how badass Shao Kahn can be. The same went for the Red Dragon. I even feel Hsu Hao's lame existence was probably made on purpose -- just to prove the Black Dragon is the superior renegade group! The Mortal Kombat X comic goes as far as to make Onaga the Red Dragon's true master. Sadly, the comic book series was canceled after that! Was that done on purpose to simply look down on him in favor of... SHAO KAHN?! Shao Kahn's "NOT ANYMORE! line in Mortal Kombat Armageddon was most likely done to dirty-finger Onaga for the nth time. Instead, we have another Ogre tribute in Kotal Kahn. Onaga was a True Ogre tribute. However, Kotal probably overshadowed Onaga not once but TWICE!
Mortal Kombat 11 has Shao Kahn return. The highway robbery known as Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath was probably because, "Well Shao Kahn's gotta have more things to do!" Shao Kahn was supposedly killed by Kitana but was written off as just "blinded". I even wonder if the badly-received Sindel retcon was meant to glorify Shao Kahn. I feel Sindel's retcon contradicted the whole plot that was introduced throughout. It was possibly done so Sindel can be like, "My husband Jerrod sucks! Shao Kahn's the better lover!" plot. It was probably meant to empower Shao Kahn that he could even make a wife abandon her husband FOR HIM. The interactions between Shao Kahn and Sindel can become UNINTENTIONALLY FUNNY. They've become so lovey-dovey stupid but so what? I guess having Shao Kahn and Sindel chew almost everyone out in Aftermath was all that. It was giving Shao Kahn fanservice if he was brutalizing Geras and other characters. Seeing Shao Kahn give Past Liu Kang a compound fracture was a truly painful sight. I'd hate to be on Shao Kahn's bad side. I
I feel even a lot of decisions outside the main continuity are focused on Shao Kahn. The Midway days created its famous adventure game Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks loosely based on Mortal Kombat II. Shao Kahn was the final boss of that game! Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe has Shao Kahn with Darkseid as the sub-boss characters. Shao Kahn would influence way more than one thinks. Shao Kahn would be later reincarnated as General Shao in Fire God Liu Kang's new era. But like in many timelines -- Shao would still somehow revert back to his scoundrel ways too.
My opinion is that Mortal Kombat seems to rely on Shao Kahn too much. Shao Kahn has become the possible comfort zone for both the players and the developers. The developers had every chance to develop newer, better villains. Instead, they have wasted potential characters like Shinnok and Onaga -- just so Shao Kahn could remain as the emperor of fanservice!
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