Who lied?
K.

ed boon said that youd be able to customize shujinko after completing konquest mode.
they also referred to him being customizable so that when you are using him online, and if your oppenent is too, they would be different from each other, not just swaps.

I don't think anyone at Midway lied....
It's perhaps all the rumors OTHER people made (from bad interpretations) that were the lies.
However, I'd say having over 10 special moves, including such favorites as freezeball, Scorpion spear (which, when unlocked, shows up on the character model), Kang's Bicycle kick and Raiden torpedo.
He has two fighting styles + weapon, and the fighting styles I think are both Kung Lao's from DA

im almost positive i heard boon or read about boon saying his appearance was customizable. that is one the things i was looking forward to after completing konquest, so i could make him my own.

Boon specificly said it's not a create a character and that at the end your character would be the same but you could have a slightly different one than someone else depending on if they unlocked all the same stuff.

No he didn't. I remember Boon clearly stating that appearance and stuff wasn't customizable, however moves and styles were so no two people would have the same Shujinko. He never said anything that he'd differ depending on what was unlocked, atleast to my recollection.

oh well thats fucking gay.
whatver, i just need his moves now then.

As far as I know - the customization feature for Shujinko refers to the ability to add moves and fatalities. He has two fatalities to add, one hari kiri, and four special hits (including sub zero's blast, and Rayden's Torpedo). There are other customization. Remember you can also get an alternative robe. These are all cool!