First of all, XiahouDun84 great analysis and next-gen theories. I'm not a very big fan of Jade but she is an intriguing character. I suspect that this lack of information about her is also due her mysterious character. I personally hate Tanya big-time so seeing jade eliminate her once and for all would surely bring a big tarkatan smile upon my face. I hope Jade will survive MKA and as everyone said it is obvious that she has plenty of potential, I wish her assassin nature would be developed further, if Kitana is likely to become the queen of Edenia than Jade should probably become her head assassin and hopefully rain will be her general, I think these two should be the ones that carry on the Edenian legacy. Even though the entire Tanya enslaving her theory is very interesting and intriguing I really hope Jade kills her because I see no use to such a character. Jade has always been the helping friend I think it's time for her to liberate herself of this role and become an independent lethal warrior.

I don't like the idea of Jade being evil. I think she should just be loyal and stay with Kitana and kill Tanya. Maybe she could get romantically involved with someone like Rain. Then again, I like her the way she is. She's strong, beautiful and clever. I know she has the ability to survive. She can hold her own.

Well, it's my turn to talk about another character.

Smoke

Smoke was one of the Lin Kuei's finest warrior assassins. He was the younger Sub-Zero's best friend and ally. The two friends traveled to Outworld and Sub-Zero competed in Shao Kahn's tournament. It is unknown if Smoke also took part in the tournament. Perhaps he went to Outworld, unknown to Sub-Zero, as a means of keeping an eye on him.

Either way, Sub-Zero was unsuccessful in assassinating Shang Tsung and the two returned to the Lin Kuei headquarters in Earthrealm only to find out that the Lin Kuei had begun to automate their warriors into cyborgs. Both Sub-Zero and Smoke refused to be automated, and they tried to escape. However, while Sub-Zero was successful, Smoke was not. He was captured by the other Lin Kuei and automated into a cyborg, given the command to find and terminate his friend, Sub-Zero. His memories were stripped from him, and his human form would only exist as a memory.

Sometime during Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm, Smoke, along with Sektor and Cyrax, finds and fights Sub-Zero. However, Sub-Zero eventually helps Smoke regain his memories and two defeat Sektor and Cyrax. Unfortunately, at some point, Smoke was captured by Shao Kahn's minions and he was taken to Shao Kahn's dungeon as a war trophy.

Smoke deactivated himself and had lain there for years until Noob Saibot reactivated Smoke's nanotechnology which reshaped and repaired his body. Smoke's overall body changed, becoming more ethereal. Noob Saibot programmed Smoke to obey only him and Smoke is part of Noob's plan to create an army of cyborg demons.
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I kind of like Smoke though he has always been a minor character. There is very little we know about his past other than being Sub-Zero's friend and a Lin Kuei warrior assassin. I see Smoke's storyline mainly just involving characters like Sub-Zero and Noob Saibot in it. I have a feeling that Smoke won't make it to the next-gen MK games, especially since he's one of the tragic characters of the series. Perhaps what will happen is that Smoke will regain his senses and try to save Sub-Zero from getting killed by Noob Saibot, only to get killed in the process.

If he does somehow survive and continue on to the next-gen MK games, he could be part of the new Lin Kuei or maybe he'd do some soul searching like in Kai's MK4 ending, trying to find his place in life.

Either way, I would like to perhaps see an MK game that expands on the background story for Smoke. I'd like to know where he was from, how he got his powers, how his friendship with Sub-Zero began, his relationship with other Lin Kuei warriors, etc.

Short but sweet summary, Sub-Zero7th.

Anyway, as for Smoke, I really don't see him surviving this game. I agree that the only end I can see for him is to die a tragic, but heroic death against Noob Saibot. However, I would like to see Smoke free of Noob's control for at least a little bit before that happens. I've often thought that Sareena could presuade him into teaming up with her by promising him his humanity. (Telling him that she was able to gain a human form, so why couldn't he?)

I'd like to know why Sektor is listed as one of his enemies, it'd be interesting to see Smoke get involved in that plotline, but I imagine it'd be hard to do. Well, we'll see what happens..

Perhaps that during their days as humans, Smoke and Sektor did not get along very well. I think that when Sub-Zero and Smoke fought Cyrax and Sektor in MK3, Sub-Zero fought Cyrax while Smoke fought Sektor.

Great stuff there Sub-Zero_7th.

Not much to say about Smoke. He is a tragic character. I don't see him surviving for next gen either. I too would like to see more of him rather than a friend of Sub-Zero and a Lin Kuei warrior. In the game, he would sacrifice his life to save Sub-Zero during the battle between him and Noob Saibot.

Though the chance is slim, if Smoke returns in next gen as Sub-Zero_7th stated, he would join the new Lin Kuei and try to find his place in life.

I was quite curious at the thought of Sektor listed as one of his enemies, too.

I think Smoke needs to break free from the shackles of tragedy and develop a new character for himself. Smoke has so much potential to be a great character, so I think he should survive and move on to next-gen. Since a lot of loose ends will be tied up, this will give more time to develop Smoke's character.

Please Midway, don't kill Smoke...

Think about it this way:

What if Smoke survives and Sub-Zero retires.

Smoke sees Sub-Zero fighting against Noob Saibot and realizes that his true friend is in danger. Smoke helps Sub-Zero defeat and kill Noob, though Sub-Zero is badly wounded.

Smoke takes Sub-Zero to where he had buried Frost, and nurses him back to health. Sub-Zero discovers that his old friend had returned to his side after so many years of separation, and asks to hear of Smoke's endeavors. Smoke tells of his travels with Noob in the Netherrealm and how he was severely weakened in there.

Sub-Zero helps Smoke regain his human traits and soul in exchange for his honrable acts and bravery, but Smoke is still trapped in his cyborg body. Later on, they return to the Lin Kuei Temple, where Sub-Zero shows Smoke what it has become since he had been gone. Smoke sees the new apprentices, their abilities, and how hard they work. Sub-Zero introduces Smoke to them and has him speak to the new fighters about his travels and experiences.

Eventually, Sub-Zero passes his name off to his best apprentice, and Smoke becomes Grand Master of the Lin Kuei (cue Sektor and Frost fights for MK8). Smoke continues to lead the clan from where Sub-Zero left off and continues to form them as a force of good. However, because he has seen and heard of Sektor's Tekunin, he speaks to the clan about them and states that these are their enemies (more preparation for MK8)

... That's my idea for Smoke.

Eh, I think it'd be a waste for Sub-Zero like that, because he hasn't been Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei for that long.

Yes, but Sub-Zero isn't an ageless wonder like the Edenians. The man has to retire sometime. Maybe not after MKA, but sometime soon is likely.

He may not be ageless, but he seems to becoming more like Mr. Freeze.

Hi!

I've always liked Smoke since the days of MK2, although it kind of sucked to me when they turned him into a cyborg.

I was thinking that since probably both Noob and Sektor are involved in Smoke's story, and both of them have or will have some sort of cyborg army at their command, then maybe Smoke will gain control of those cyborgs after Noob and Sektor are killed of defeated (beaten by Sub-zero and Smoke and in that order). Then, with the power of a cyborg army of his own Smoke could become a force to be considered... either for good (most likely) or for evil.

In any case, I'd like to see him return in next-gen games... I think there are a lot of good characters that haven't been developed enough, and if you ask me, It seems like a waste to just kill them in MKA.

Smoke is indeed a typical tragic character but this is the exact reason that I want him to break out of this stereotype and not sacrifice himself for Sub-Zero. Even though it is very likely he will sacrifice himself in some great act of heroism and friendship, I would rather see him just succeed in escaping Noob Saibot’s grip but without killing him himself and afterwards he should find a more unlikely ally to spice up his story.

Ermac could be a good option, impressed by Smoke’s desire, willpower and enduring soul he decides to help him find a way to become human again. How they are going to do this is pretty much a great guessing game maybe if they were to defeat Shang Tsung Ermac could harvest some of his power and ensure Smoke’s rebirth into humanity.

I just consider it would truly be a waste for the MK series to loose a character with such great potential and I really hope he will stay away from a cliché and predictable finale.

Smoke could have been a more interesting character if they wouldnt have made him a cyborg and theres never been a game where he could use his smoke as a real attack (except for one move in MKD)

So i would like to see him kill Noob and somehow become human again.

There's nothing that says that Smoke ever even saw Sub-Zero after he was automated. Although we know that Sub-Zero did fight and reprogram Cyrax, there's nothing that says that Sektor and Smoke were present.
Anyway, I want to see Smoke come back; I do have my doubts as to his return, but I would like to see him in the next set of games, preferably as a Smoke Elemental... I don't know why but I would like to see him escape his body via his smoke abilities and just be a solid mass of smoke (as impossible as that sounds). Anyway, story potential, I think it's about time he and Subby team up and lead the Lin Kuei to glory on Earth.

Err..yeah, I did make a wee bit of a mess there, but then again, it's not entirely unlikely.

I always liked Smoke, from the very first time I saw him - Scorpion's powers, but a less brutal (well, less evil. Maybe) backgound.

The other thing about Smoke is that he allows us to draw conclusions about other characters.

Smoke (the cyborg) can throw spears, teleport and perform aerial throws, presumably because he could as a Lin Kuei ninja as well. Therefore, we can assume that Cyrax and Sektor had various powers & abilities as well, pre-cyborg (teleportation, summoning of nets, etc.). Which is of little value but cool nonetheless.

The one thing is, Smoke is now kind of inconsistant with Sub-Zero's background - if Sub-Zer only has cryogenic powers because he was descended from Outworlder CryoMancers... then one has to question how the Lin Kuei could train Smoke (and arguably Sektor & Cyrax) in "superhuman" abilities, but not Sub-Zero?

Scorpion isn't evil.

I think the word he was going for was demonic

In fairness, the more games that have been released, the more we've learned about Scorpion - and the more sympathetic he's become.

But it wasn't until I saw his MK2 ending, that I'd say he came across as anything but a "bad guy".

Okay... enough about Scorpion... with MK:A not too far out, I figured we'd better start moving the discussions along quicker. Anyway, here comes the big bad of Mortal Kombat. (Well, at least for MK2 and MK3) Shao Kahn...

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Not much is known about Shao Kahn’s background, all that’s known is many thousands of years ago, he served as the advisor to Onaga, the Dragon King, who was then the Emperor of Outworld. Shao Kahn must’ve obviously secretly desired Onaga’s throne for himself, so one night, he poisoned the Dragon King, and subsequently declared himself the Emperor of Outworld. Curiously, Damashi refers to Shao Kahn as once being “similar to what Raiden is to Earthrealm.”

Under the influence of the One Being, Shao Kahn proceeded to conquer many realms through either 10 Mortal Kombat tournaments or direct conquest. One of these included Zaterra, whose people he forced into slavery, and the realm of Edenia. Upon invading Edenia, Shao Kahn personally fought with King Jerrod in Mortal Kombat, Kahn slew Jerrod and took his wife Sindel as his own as well as Jerrod’s infant daughter, Kitana as his stepdaughter, who was raised to become one of Shao Kahn’s personal assassins.

Sometime during her tenure as Shao Kahn’s wife, Sindel committed suicide. After this, Shao Kahn devoured Sindel’s soul, stopping her transition to the afterlife. Some time after this, Shao Kahn would devise to return his queen to life.

Throughout the years, Shao Kahn went on to add many more realms to Outworld, eventually turning his attention to Earth, due to the mystic properties that protected Earth, Shao Kahn’s warriors would have to win 10 Mortal Kombat Tournaments before taking the realm for himself. Because he was forbidden to travel to Earth, Shao Kahn used the sorcerer Shang Tsung and the Shokan Warrior, Goro to win the tournaments for him.

After 9 victories, Goro and Shang Tsung would both be defeated at the hands of a Shaolin Monk named Liu Kang. Furious at Shang Tsung’s failure, he was ready to execute the sorcerer, who pleaded for a second chance. Shang Tsung told him of a plan to lure Earth’s warriors to Outworld to draw them into a new tournament. (though actually a diversion while the plan to resurrect Sindel was enacted) Shao Kahn approved the plan and restored Shang Tsung’s youth, thereby making him more powerful.

Due to the betrayal of Kitana, who at some point, had learned of her true heritage. She informed the Earthrealm warriors of the tournament’s true nature. Some say that nobody fought Shao Kahn at the conclusion of the Outworld Tournament, as the Earthrealm warriors simply fled back to Earth, while other say that Liu Kang fought the Emperor, defeating him, and Shao Kahn’s armies chased Earth’s warriors out of Outworld.

Shang Tsung then led the Shadow Priests in resurrecting Sindel on Earthrealm, (with the help of Shinnok and Quan Chi) which allowed Shao Kahn to step through the dimension gates to Earth to reclaim his queen. Outworld was merged with most of Earth, and Shao Kahn took every inhabitant’s soul, save for a few. Shao Kahn knew that there would be souls that Raiden would have protected, so he sent out the Outworld Extermination Squads led by Motaro and the Centaurs.

In the culminating events of the war between the Earthrealm Warriors and Outworld’s forces, Shao Kahn was known to have fought with Kung Lao, whom he defeated and presumably killed. This enraged Kung Lao’s best friend, Liu Kang. While never officially confirmed, it’s been speculated that Raiden fought Shao Kahn, with Kahn ultimately becoming the victor.

In the final battle for Earthrealm, Liu Kang defeated Shao Kahn and sent the weakened Emperor back to Outworld, freeing Earthrealm from its merger. To make matters worse for the Emperor, Kitana had freed her mother from his control and they had separated the realm of Edenia from Outworld. Shao Kahn punished Shang Tsung for his repeated failures by imprisoning him.

Shao Kahn spent the next few years trying to salvage his rule, despite his weakened state. Unfortunately for him, Kitana had led the Edenian army against his own army in a preemptive strike, thanks to Shao Kahn’s new general, Kano and the swift attack on Goro by Noob Saibot that the war ended in a draw.

Shao Kahn sent Reptile to give Shang Tsung a message to assist him, but when the sorcerer arrived, he brought with him, Quan Chi. In a false show of allegiance, the two attacked the Emperor. Shao Kahn fought back and put up a great fight, but the combined might of the two sorcerers proved too much for the Emperor to handle. Shao Kahn was killed... his skull-faced crown fell to the ground, covered in blood...

Or DID he? For it’s been revealed that Shao Kahn knew that it was only a matter of time before the Edenian-Shokan armies would storm his palace, thus he created a clone of himself to draw his enemies attention away while he escaped into the wild until he regained his strength. He witnessed Noob Saibot’s fatal attack on Goro and he approached the near-dead Shokan prince, and used what power he had left to bring him back to full health. Shao Kahn offered to exile the Centaurs from Outworld in exchange for Goro’s help, who accepted. When we last left him, Shao Kahn was plotting to once again kill his former master, Onaga, who had recently returned to life. (As well as eliminating the Tarkatan for siding with the Dragon King)

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Well, we don't much about Shao Kahn's background. What race is he? How did he become Onaga's advisor? So many questions and so little answers.

Anyway, I expect Shao Kahn's primary concern in Armageddon will be to regain Outworld's throne from Onaga, thus setting forth a war between the two tyrants. I'm thinking that when news that Shao Kahn's alive gets out, the other baddies in Outworld will be divided over who to serve, some will take Shao Kahn's side and others will take Onaga's side.

There's so many contenders to kill Shao Kahn and it's been discussed plenty of times so I'm not going to bother. But I think that if Shao Kahn were to somehow survive, it would be cool if he were to take a rest for a few games and then at the culminating point of the next-generation storyline, Shao Kahn returns even stronger than ever and the new generation of MK warriors have to prove themselves by facing up to him.

Just my opinion though, we'll see what happens.

Well, here's my little thing about Shao Kahn, and how I'd like it to go:

SHAO KAHN

Origin: Outworld
Alignment: Evil
Stances: Tai Tzu, Wrath Hammer
Allies: Goro, Kintaro, Sheeva, Havik, Reptile
Enemies: Liu Kang and his allies, Onaga, Baraka, Deadly Alliance, Motaro

Bio: My throne had been taken from me. The Deadly Alliance had tried to defeat me with cowardice, but I was too smart for them. All they did was kill some meaningless clone while I was regaining my strength. After I had met up with Goro, he pledged his services along with the help of his people to me. Together we will make Onaga pay for being in possession of something that is not his. And Baraka, that fool, has allied the Tarkatan hordes with the so-called "Dragon King." Does he really think he can defeat me? The Shaolin monk, Liu Kang, is of no importance now. I must take back what is mine. They will all fall to Shao Kahn.

Possible Endings:

- Shao Kahn is killed by Raiden, Onaga, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, anybody.

- Shao Kahn is successful in his conquest and regains the Outworld throne (not the ending I'd like to see)

- Shao Kahn allies himself with the good guys to defeat the bigger threat, Blaze, and is killed in battle or disappears.

- Shao Kahn hangs back in the shadows while the heroes fight the bad guys and/or Blaze, and then picks off most of the survivors in taking Outworld back.

Hi!

Wow, Shao Kahn... I've got to say it, As for Me, He is the best boss in the series... I still remember when he stumped my behind over and over in MK2...

Sadly, I think this could be the last game for Kahn, with the whole idea of a next gen storyline... but even if that happens I'd like MKA to shed some light about Kahn's past.

Since it's been said that Kahn was to outworld as Raiden is to earthrealm, I think it would be cool if Kahn had been a semi-god-guardian of outworld until he got fed up with the foolishness and corruption of mortals (much like Raiden now) and then turned to the dark side...

Just Imagine a confrontation between Kahn and Raiden, with Kahn saying:
"Now, you finally see the truth, You finally see that I've been right all these centuries... Look closely at your future Raiden, I may have been everything you once hated, but now I'm everything you will become..."

Hope he doesn't die in this game, or a least have a grandious death, He's a far to "good" villain to go out without a blast....

Ah, yes! Shao Kahn is definitely one of my top favorite characters in MK. He has this badass persona to him, and I like how he's more than just the very brutish, tyrannical leader. Aside from those things, he's quite a cunning tactician with his plan to resurrect Sindel as well as him creating that clone as a diversion while he regains his strength. In addition, he seems to have a soft spot for Sindel and Kitana, which is quite interesting. According to queve, Shao Kahn actually loves Sindel and was devastated by her death. As for Kitana, I'm going to go with XiahouDun84's views on the matter in which Shao Kahn cares for her instead of raising her just to insult Jerrod's name or anything like that.

To me, he has a lot of nostalgic factor to him and has the "boss" quality to his look and attitude and all that. I see him as being like the Darkseid of MK.

I have the same questions as well regarding his origins. We know he's from Outworld, but we don't know what race he is. He has a humanoid type body and is large and muscular, but his head and face are more on the demonic side. Some speculate that he may be some kind of Tarkatan or maybe a hybrid of two or more races. I too would like to know how he became Onaga's advisor. One thing I'd really like to know is how his love for Sindel began and things like that.

For MKA, yeah, I too see him trying to take back the throne from Onaga as well as punishing Baraka and the other Tarkatan warriors. I feel that he is one of the many characters that will suffer in this game due to the compacting of the storyline to wrap things up for this generation. So since that's the case, I think he should be defeated and killed once and for all.

I would love to see an MKM game focused around him, delving into his character and his origins and things like that. It could be a hell of a game if done right.

Overall, Shao Kahn is an awesome character with great potential for his own side game.

Shao Khan is definitely an MK Legend and will forever be remembered as THE MK BOSS in most people’s minds. I don't really see him surviving Armageddon due the outstanding number of enemies that he has and the fact that his story has always been centre stage during the first 3 MKs, however his unknown origins still leave plenty of possibilities for his future storyline, also having such a great number of characters against him might also be a way out.

Possible endings in my opinion:

- I’m going to start with his possible killers. Kitana, Sindel and Mileena are a group of characters that might ally to kill him, Kitana and Sindel being the two that have something really personal with him and Mileena finally realizing that all her tragic destiny is due to Shao Khan.

- Rain is also a contender however his long absence in the MK games leaves us guessing what his intentions are now; he might have decided to abandon a revenge plot

- Liu Kang is the only person that defeated Shao Khan in the tournament however I think Liu Kang should go after Shang Tsung and in a very ironical way may even end up allied with Shao Khan to eliminate the sorcerer, Shao Khan may decide to bring him to life if he softens up

- Raiden is a possible killer to but however I have a different theory here and I’m going to leave it for last, but if Raiden doesn't turn evil entirely he might want to kill khan even though Shinnok is probably the main target for him

-Onaga might also want to kill him but I doubt he is that interested in Shao Khan even though such a big boss battle would be quite interesting

- Baraka has killed Shao Khan in his MK2 ending that obviously didn’t happen and his ragged nature and very servile approach to his current leader may put him in confrontation with his former master

- There are probably other people that might want him out but I think these are the most important, now for the shock and unlikely theory, after all the events that have unfolded and the approach of the Armageddon, Shao Khan has a powerful flashback of his life before he was the ruler of Outworld, he was once the protector, just like Raiden, here is the connection with what Damashi said, of a Edenian race that was destroyed by Onaga and instead of being killed by the Dragon King he was taken as an advisor.

Under the influence of the One Being that offered him endless power he took the throne of Outworld and merged all those worlds. Now in the dawn of Armageddon he sees what is happening to Raiden how he is turning evil and how the One Being’s plan is starting to unfold and accepts his former nature, he struggles to prevent the Armageddon and is ultimately faced by Raiden, Shao Khan tries to explain the situation to him, but the thunder god does not listen considering it only a futile attempt to save his own life and brutally kills Khan and as the Emperor’s helmet sits on the ground Raiden picks it up and places it on his head and the glow of his red, possessed eyes radiate from it.

Tell me what you think about this shock theory.