This idea came to me a few nights ago, and it has haunted me ever since. This is just a giant theory based on speculation, and my own personal feelings towards the characters. This will be a long read, but I will try and break it into chapters to allow the core interesting parts to be much easier to read. Enjoy or flame, I don’t really care, but I would appreciate any feedback you can give me on this game/character theory/theories.

Prologue

The more I’ve aged with Mortal Kombat, the more I’ve come to love and respect the characters. One character that has grown on my like a fungi (which is much like what he is storyline wise), is the demon sorcerer, Shang Tsung. The original bad guy of Mortal Kombat, and in my opinion, a man that will never swallow his pride, and will never stop trying to dominate the destinies’ of others. Keep in mind I get confused by what of his story is cannon, and what is not (Is he a demon sorcerer or just a regular one? Was he born in Earthrealm, or Outworld? Do we know anything of his past?) . This is a little fabrication of my mind, of what I’ve seen, and what I hope to see. This all came to me while I was pondering on the Mortal Kombat Deception intro movie. I watched the fight with Raiden and the Deadly Alliance, and decided it was good Raiden was defeated, because it adds to the feeling of the falling of Earthrealm. Onaga (The Dragon King) was really godsend when he interfered towards the end of the video. But one thing that bothered me about that video. They spat in Shang Tsung’s face. Even after tapping into the Soulnado, Tsung was decisively defeated by Quan Chi. If Onaga hadn’t have saved the day, Tsung, Raiden and Earthrealm would be camel fodder. What bothered me about Quan defeating Tsung was why they had them end their fight? Why didn’t they go bow for blow only for The Dragon King to interrupt their fight? Quan Chi won. And I think I’ve come up with a good way to explain why he was chosen to win.

Mileena’s Ally, Baraka’s Lord

This is going to be the main core of my theory. The next two sections will pretty much be devoted to Baraka’s storyline. Sort of like what his story heading into the game could be, and sort of what it could be coming out. We see Baraka fighting Mileena like the clips we saw in the original trailer. A powerful being hides in the shadows. The only shadows I can really see are cloaking the characters that get “destroyed” in Raiden’s blast. We know Baraka is animalistic, so I wouldn’t put it past him to smell a rat. So anyway, Baraka attacks Mileena (posing as Kitana) because he knows it isn’t her. From experience we know Shang Tsung has shapeshifting abilites. Baraka beats “Mileena” and tells the sorcerer to reveal himself or it is off with his head. “Mileena” shifts back into Shang Tsung, who tells Baraka of his true original, and of the return of Onaga. Baraka is worried, but Shang Tsung tells Baraka that since his army is destroyed, The Dragon King needs new legions of soldiers. Tsung tells us of how the Tarkatan race was created by The Dragon King, in order to create the perfect warrior. Tsung states of how Baraka being the leader, will ultimately be the General of Onaga’s armies. This would give him a chance to slaughter the arrogant Dragon King. Onaga’s soul, and his Amulet would make Tsung more powerful than ever, and give him access to unlimited souls, as well as giving Baraka unlimited victims to kill as his new General.

Mileena (or “Princess Mileena” as Shang Tsung might call her) shows up alongside her newly declared “father”, Shang Tsung. He states how Shao Kahn is dead, Shinnok is dead, and soon Onaga will be dead, if Baraka joins them. Baraka agrees, and poises as the Dragon King’s loyal General, waiting for his time to strike. Tsung tells Baraka that if Onaga drinks the blood of The Last Dragon, he will gain immortality. The fates tend to lean against the side that is searching for eternal life (as Tsung knows), and this is the time when The Dragon King will be most vulnerable, just like he was when an Edenian assassain killed him (Let’s say Jade for some reason). Baraka leaves to his his work for his newly declared Emperor Shang Tsung.

Baraka’s “True” Demise

We go to a scene with Baraka standing by his “Lord”, The Dragon King. Onaga is preparing to drink the blood of The Last Dragon, Sub-Zero, who is strapped down on a sacrificial table. The Dragon King exposes his heart in a cry of thank you to The Heavens for his glorious moment, just as Baraka rushes forward and stabs the still mortal Dragon King in the heart. Baraka taunts the dying tyrant, and tells him he should have seen it coming. Shang Tsung appears on scene with Mileena, and he tells Baraka to claim the life of the defenseless Earthrealm warrior. Sub-Zero pleads as Baraka raises his blade. Sub-Zero reveals how he spared Baraka’s life in the second MK tournament held in Outworld. He asks why Baraka would slay him when he is defenseless. Tsung continues to tell Baraka not to show mercy, even if it is honourable. Baraka retracts his blades, and tells Shang Tsung that he would rather claim his victims in honourable combat. Shang Tsung shrugs as Sub-Zero states how weak the Tarkatan race Onaga created is. He breaks out of the sacrificial table’s holdings and freezes Baraka from his feet, all the way to his chest Baraka tries swinging his blades but he is unable to move. Shang Tsung and Mileena laugh as Tsung explains that mercy is not to be granted. He states how he suspected the Tarkatan’s failure to deliver, so he made an alliance with a band of great warriors, that not only respected power, but feared the death Tsung could bring if they failed. An insurance policy if you will. The Lin Kuei has joined Shang Tsung, as has the mysterious being Noob Saibot and his followers. Tsung finishes his little lecture about power with a line like “Those seeking life, shall not find it against me.”. Sub-Zero offers Shang Tsung his Dragon Medallion, as Tsung combines it with the power of Onaga’s Amulet. Tsung consumes them as he becomes an unworldly being. We see the climax of Baraka’s ending with Tsung laughing maniacally as Baraka screams in terror.

What This Accomplishes?

A lot. Shang Tsung has access to limitless souls, which grants him eternal (yet mortal) life. Tsung also gets his spot back as the most powerful being in the MK Universe. Sub-Zero, Mileena, Noob Saibot & Smoke are confirmed soldiers working for this guy in MK7. This also can be used to trace back the backbone of the MK series. One thing it does do is make Onaga look weak, as Baraka would kill him in his debut game. This however could be explained, and I shall do my best later in this post to do that.

The Elder Gods

“This threat born of Deception ”. The words spoken by Shujinko at the end of the intro. Born of Deception? Nitara deceiving Cyrax and Reptile? Maybe, but I’m learning towards the Elder Gods betraying Shujinko. Raiden stood against Quan Chi and Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat, against the wisdom of the Elder Gods. Why would they object? Their realm is in danger, and Raiden is the only guy left. It’s not like an official tournament is being held here, is it? Looking at this, one could make a conclusion that the Elder Gods wanted to see The Dragon King return. Why we ask? The only reason I can think is the classic “The Elder Gods want balance” theory. These are superior beings who don’t care if we live or die, they just want order. They might have been responsible for bringing Bo’ Rai Cho into Earthrealm to train warriors strong enough to rebalance the furies.

Another thing to look at is how Scorpion has met with the Elder Gods (gotten some new armour and abilities), and has come out with Sub-Zero as his enemy. The only likely option here is Sub-Zero’s heritage, which reveals he holds the key to stopping The Dragon King. Another whacky idea on its way here, maybe the “Orderrealm” or “Seito” is actually “The Heavens” to us? It doesn’t really matter anyway, because the whole point here is that it looks possible that The Elder Gods want The Dragon King to succeed, and have given Scorpion a deal where he might gain memory of his relatives if he terminates Sub-Zero’s life.

Shujinko’s Quest

Shujinko takes it upon himself to prevent this treachery from happening, because he was the one responsible for the Dragon King’s return. The Elder Gods sent him on a one way mission to retrieve something to keep him out of the picture while Shang Tsung would closely come closer to the knowledge of his past. Thus Tsung’s taking of Liu Kang’s and the rebirth of “The Last Dragon”. Knowing his skills were worthy enough to kill Shang Tsung along time ago, he fights against The Elder Gods, Shang Tsung, Onaga, and their new puppet, Scorpion.

The Lin Kuei

One thought to start off. Why was it only one Sub-Zero was created every generation? I mean think about it, we have one Subby every generation, nut this time we have two (maybe three if she is in fact Sub-Six’s sister). It seems Sub-IV wanted his family away from the Lin Kuei. I don’t know why, but I can see Nightwolf’s tribe having something to do with this. Anyway, Sub-Zero discovers his origin in Outworld. We know it gives him the key to destroying The Dragon King. What if the original was a High Priest of The Dragon King, or something? Maybe Shang Tsung could be the same, he’s just been stricken of the knowledge? I wouldn’t also put it past Quan Chi and/or Liu Kang’s ancestors to be included here as well. Anyway, these priests created The Amulet for Onaga, but they (or just one, probably Shang Tsung’) also forged The Dragon Medallion, which gained anyone in the Dragon Lineage to become immensely powerful, using the powers of the Priests of Onaga. The term “Dragon King” would be taken as “The King of Dragons” not “The Dragon that is King”. We’ve seen three characters in Mortal Kombat, other than Onaga, that seem to have serpents or dragons following them. Shang Tsung, Sub-Zero and Liu Kang. What if these three followed the same bloodline?

The Dragon Lineage

Let’s just say these three are related. Let’s fast forward to The Dragon King’s death. The Priests (or maybe even Gods of Outworld) gave us a prophecy that Onaga would return when The Last Dragon hatches. This could also be taken to assume Onaga needed a host body (since his was probably destroyed by an assassin, which I’m just going to speculate is Jade). The Dragon King was killed, so the priests decided to split up until Onaga returned, and they could assume their power. They created Blaze to protect the Onaga’s Egg, and the Orb to The Vampire Realm (we could just say they could have been Onaga’s biggest enemy). Anyway the priests split up, which leaves The Elder Gods thinking they can break up the slope the priests had created in their favour. They hire the Lin Kuei to take one of the priests (Sub-Zero’s ancestor’s) Dragon Medallion. Liu Kang’s ancestor flees into Earthrealm as well, and becomes a master of the martial arts, but his Amulet is taken away by the ShaolinTemples and The Elder Gods and hidden in a remote location. Shang Tsung’ lives in Outworld, but is soon stripped on the knowledge he needs.

Anyway this can be used to explain a lot of things, such as:

More to come later.