I know! Why does everyone hate him? Cuz he cant throw a hat? Or freeze people?

He's not bad but...


VS.


lol...

Anyway. I think Kang is a little overused it terms of being Raiden's to go to fighter. I feel Kung Lao is out shined in most of the series. Granted Liu Kang has the better special moves, Kung Lao fights with more Finesse and Honor. I kinda hope that Kung Lao replaces Liu in the series as Poster boy. But doubt it since he's pretty much staying there...

Though I think his status as poster boy for MK is overdue. I for one don't hate Liu. Not at all. I think his design is cool. And he is fun to play no doubt.

The main problems I have with Liu Kang are his blandness and underdevelopment. What went on with him in the first two or three games could have been expanded to make him more interesting. Then again, the stories were a bit more simplistic back then. However, when you have a game like MK: Shaolin Monks, it could have made him more interesting. Instead, they portrayed him as an overly naive moron. Not only was he underdeveloped, he was the main hero for the first four MKs.

Overall, he's definitely not the worst character, but he lacks qualities that could make him more interesting, especially if he's going to be the main hero of the story. I don't really care to see him again, and I think his return in MK: Deception was a mistake.

I'm sort of the opposite. I like Liu Kang and hate Scorpion. I agree with everyone else that Kang is bland. I like him mainly for the fun gameplay and sounds he brings to MK. Other than that, he is devoid of personality and depth which is a shame. As the hero he should be one of the most established and well developed characters but they've neglected him in these areas. He needs a new niche or some new plot element(s) to make him interesting. Some drama in his life would give him an edge too. Maybe he could lose for once. Maybe he could could go the romance route with Kitana but I'd personally not go that route. I find that one dull. The MK Team just need to find something decent for him other than 'Liu Kang saves the day' over and over. Pehaps he could die! Oh wait...

I couldn't imagine this MK coming out without Liu Kang's flying and bicycle kick screams.

Y'know, I've been thinking...if one of the main things that bothers people with Liu is that he's always the winner...there are other ways to look at it...or perhaps retcon it, if they weren't already completely changing history with this time travel stuff.

First there's the fact that MK2 was a sham tournament, just intended to distract the heroes while Sindel was being resurrected. The Shao Kahn he fought might not even be the real dude, they could say it was just a decoy like a statue brought to life or something, and that's why he turns to stone and breaks when you beat him. Does being bamboozled count as a win?

Second, Liu didn't beat Kahn alone in MK3. He and Kung Lao fought Kahn together. Kung Lao got gravely wounded and Liu landed the last blow, sure, but technically they're both the heroes. I like them as a team, I think Liu would be a lot more interesting if his friendship with Kung Lao had been better written and not a bunch of childish nagging in Shaolin Monks.

And as for MK4...well that just plain shouldn't have been Liu's fight. Shinnok was Raiden's arch-nemesis, Raiden should have won that game. And since the only thing in the games that says Liu was the guy who won MK4 is because there are four gold medals in his tomb stage, that's extremely easy to ignore or retcon out. It's certainly a lot easier to go "who cares about how an arena looked" than it is to have Johnny say "I never died, that's a lie!" and yet they did that.

I think that there should have been initial tension between Liu Kang and Kung Lao as depicted in the MK2 comic book. Their friendship could have developed out of a growing respect for one another, especially when they have to look at the bigger picture and take down Shao Kahn and his forces.

That's sort of the direction Shaolin Monks was going for, I think. They just botched it by giving them such poor, childish dialogue and pushing that dumb "Shang disguises himself as Raiden and tries to turn them against each other" plot all game long.

Liu Kang is Mortal Kombat, as far as I'm concerned. I do think the dev team needs to give him more compelling stories, though. He had one in MK1, avenging his brother, but all the other games he's basically just there. They need to develope his back story alot more.

That was only in the movie.

It was likely borrowed from the MK1 manual, however. Though it's never really stated as such, Liu does have a brother whose whereabouts are unknown.

It wasn't just the poor dialogue and story direction that botched it. It was also how Kung Lao was portrayed. It would have shown a more interesting (at least in my opinion) contrast to keep Kung Lao as the reluctant hero.

About Shang Tsung disguising himself as Raiden, what really ticks me off is the part where Liu Kang and Kung Lao are sparring in the forest, and "Raiden" asks them if they trust him, only for them to briefly look at each other and nod like a couple of morons. But anyway, I don't want to get into a long rant about how much MK: Shaolin Monks' storytelling and characterization suck.

Back to Liu Kang, what would have made him more interesting early on is to have his story really focus a lot on the consequences of being the Mortal Kombat Champion. That's especially what they should have done in MK: Shaolin Monks.

Liu's MK movie character had more depth to him than Liu from all the games. Thats pretty much it.

and the whole Bruce Lee thing is getting old.

Ugh...I hated that whole "didn't believe in the legends of Outworld and left the monastery to live in America" thing. All the heroes being less experienced/enlightened to the mystical side of the franchise and having no ki powers to make the story more relatable to the general audience or whatever is my least favorite thing about the film.

I didnt really dig him until MK 2 and 3, watching those black and red pants fly while listening to a whoooooooooa, I think he may be really good in this game if they just give him some beautiful combos and give him his classic war cries.

and yes I agree he is the John Cena of MK, for those who dont get what that means its simply the character that management chose to be the one that overcomes the odds and represent the good guys whether people like him or not.

Oh, I get it now.

I think Liu Kang is cool and aways thought he made a great Hero. The reason why Liu Kang died and was hated was because of the story tellers direction... Gave the Hero Spot light to Liu Kang on all 4 games..

Like in Mortal Kombat 2 why couldn't Liu Kang go on small retreat and relax after a hard eventful battle with Shang Tsung and Goro... why couldn't Kung Lao be development into a Hero for Mortal Kombat 2?

I honestly i believe that the story teller needs learn how to balance the character developement as well as stories

Characters don't have to die to be absent...

Why do you think the story was not up to pair in MKA.. Because they were making a game that had ever character ever in it which is very time consuming.

So basicly!
If Mortal Kombat followed this route.. i think it would have made more since and alot of people happy

1. MK1 - Liu Kang
2. MK2 - Kung Lao
3. MK3 - Kitana
4. MK4 - Raiden

Peace

I don't think I could ever buy the idea of Kitana winning a fight against Shao Kahn.

I mean I know the story has never written in stone how powerful the characters are supposed to be, but Kahn is on the level of the gods. And the whole reason Liu Kang rose to where he did and was able to beat him is he's "the chosen one" and whatnot. He's tapping into something above and beyond where everyone else's powers rate, maybe even some gift from the Elder Gods.

I think Kahn would absolutely slaughter all the other characters in MK3 except Raiden of course, and perhaps Kung Lao since he has the potential to be as spiritually enlightened as Liu is, being a Shaolin monk too and because of his ancestor and everything. Nightwolf's shaman magic might stand a chance too. But that's pretty much the whole list. Everybody else gets crumpled up like paper.

Liu Kang is one of my most favourite characters in the series. Not once did I ever dislike him. He has always been (to me) a kick arse guy, and he is basically unmatched in terms of fighting skill. I mean, he's beaten Shang Tsung 3 and a half times (the half is the opening to Deadly Alliance), kicked Goro's, Kintaro's and Motaro's asses, whupped Shao Kahn twice and sent Shinnok back to hell.

Just like tgrant, I also have always liked Liu and disliked Scorpion. Now, I completely understand why many have a hatred for Kang. I admit, winning four games in a row is a little overkill, and, as much as it pains me to say it, his death was shocking and a little refreshing. His resurrection, however, gave me mixed feelings. On one hand, Kang was back and his story was different for a change, on the other, the zombie appearance, while admittedly surprising, was pretty farfetched. But I was glad he was back to normal in MK vs DCU.

Again I admit, part of why I am a fan of Liu Kang is because I'm a long time Bruce Lee fan. But unlike many other Lee tribute fighters, Liu Kang (starting from MK2) has his own unique look, leaving his actual fighting style the only link to Bruce. And over the years, Kang became a character in his own right, no longer needing the Lee title to carry him.

He may be (mostly) loathed in the MK community, but he is a recognizable face and a Mortal Kombat idol to the non-hardcore base. Why, just the other night, I flicked through the channels and Beverley Hills Ninja was on. A few minutes later, Robin Shou's character appeared and immediately my mum said "it's Liu Kang!"

Whether you like it or not, Kang is a poster boy to the franchise just like Scorp, Sub and Raiden. I for one am glad he is still around after all these years and look forward to many more.

Well I never did say I liked the film's story better, but the fact it seemed better written is a testament to why the game liu has been on a downward spiral with the fans.

I like Liu, he just needs a serious rewrite. with this installment Raiden may well end up the most fleshed out character in the games.

I want to watch Liu and Kitana have sex.

rule number 34, google it, its there somewhere.

I don't hate Liu so much as I'm disappointed in him, especially from a design standpoint. Kung Lao has looked fantastic throughout the series; I see no reason why Kang had to look boring in all of his incarnations.

He's not as bad as Kano, though.

Meh, I never really enjoyed protagonists.

I'm more into side-stories, Mysterious characters, Characters that don't necessarily "Shine".

If that makes sense?

Am I really gonna be the first to say it?

He's a noob character. He's so easy to play as. Basically mashing F,F, *attack* and some thing happens.

Hell, in MKvsDC he's almost as cheap as using the Flash. Spamming his cartwheel kick does so much wonders.