| “ | All realms will tremble before me! Outworld will again be conquerors, never the conquered!
— Shao Kahn
|
” |
Shao Kahn is the main antagonist in the original timeline of the Mortal Kombat series. A powerful and cunning combatant and ruler of Outworld, Shao Kahn is one of the greatest threats to peace.
Long ago, Shao served as the advisor to Onaga, the Dragon King, before assassinating him and assuming his throne. Now the Kahn of Outworld, Shao continued Onaga's plans for conquest by invading the neighboring realms through direct conquest or by right of Mortal Kombat, a series of tournaments in which Shao Kahn’s champions compete with the defenders. His greatest milestone in this series of conquests was the realm of Edenia, whose queen and crown princess, Sindel and Kitana, he took as his wife and daughter respectively.
Shao Kahn's gaze would eventually fall on Earthrealm, which he nearly conquered through Mortal Kombat, only for his greatest champions, Goro and Shang Tsung, to be defeated at the hands of Earthrealm's champion, Liu Kang. After this failure, Shao Kahn forced Earthrealm to partake in a second tournament, only to be defeated by Liu Kang.
Out of desperation, Shao Kahn bypassed the Mortal Kombat tournament and invaded Earthrealm outright. Armed with the knowledge of the future, Raiden, Earthrealm's protector deity, simply surrendered the realm to him. Although this granted Shao Kahn control over Earthrealm, it also violated the rules set by the Elder Gods, who empowered Raiden, granting him the power to kill the conqueror.
Years after Shao Kahn’s death, the Titan Kronika caused a Timquacke that brought past versions of various warriors into the present, including Shao Kahn. The conqueror sided with Kronika in her mission to create a New Era and was quick to reestablish his control over the Outworld. Shao Kahn's reign did not continue for long, as Kitana, who switched sides to the Earthrealm warriors, united the races of the realm against him and killed him in combat, becoming the new kahn.
Battle vs. Nightmare (by JWarrior89)[]
At the top of the Tower of Remembrance, Shao Kahn stands triumphantly, Wrath Hammer slung over his shoulder. His defeated opponent drops to his knees, Soul Calibur clanging to the floor. Bruised and bloody, Siegfried looks up at Shao Kahn, a look of despair on his face.
"What... are you?" he asks.
"I am Shao Kahn, Konqueror of Worlds!" Kahn says, raising his hammer, "Your time has passed. Now is the dawn of my rule!"
With that, Kahn brings his hammer down, crushing Siefried's head, killing him instantly. As Siegfried's lifeless body slumps to the ground, Kahn turns around and walks to the edge of the Tower. Looking out across the landscape, he grins as he sees countless Tarkatans, Centaurs, and other Outworld forces as far as the eye could see. He was amused to see some warriors still fighting desperately against them: Mitsurugi decapitates a Tarkatan warrior with his katana, and turns to block a sneak attack from Baraka. Mileena bares her sharp teeth as she avoids a whip strike from Ivy, leaping at her with her sai aimed at her throat. Sophitia and Cassandra desperately try to fight back against Gorro, and Astaroth swings his axe in an attempt to strike Motaro. Their struggle was in vain, however; his forces were too numerous, and more were pouring in every second through his portals from Outworld. There was no one to save them this time; he had won Mortal Kombat, and Earthrealm was now rightfully his to conquer.
"At long last, after ages of being denied, Earthrealm is mine!" Kahn yells.
"Do not delude yourself, wretched fool!" a voice calls out from behind him. Kahn turns to see a warrior clad in demonic-looking blue armor, wielding an enormous red sword.
"Fool!? You dare mock me!? Do you know who I am!?" Kahn roars, tightening his grip on his Wrath Hammer.
"You are my final sacrifice!" Nightmare shouts. Raising Soul Edge, he charges at Shao Kahn, who in turn charges toward him. With a yell, Nightmare swings Soul Edge at Kahn, who ducks under the blade and uses Charging Spikes, slamming into Nightmare with his spiked shoulder-blades. Nightmare crashes to the ground, and Kahn leaps forward, swinging his hammer downward. Nightmare quickly rolls out of the way, Kahn's Wrath Hammer smashing a hole in the floor.
Nightmare leaps to his feet; with a yell, he thrusts Soul Edge forward, attempting to impale Kahn, who effortlessly steps to the side to avoid it.
"Is that your best!?" Kahn laughs, throwing his hammer at Nightmare, who raises Soul Edge in front of himself. Kahn's hammer collides with the cursed sword and is deflected, although Nightmare does stumble back a few feet.
"That's the best you can do?" Nightmare says, "How weak!" He charges at Shao Kahn, swinging Soul Edge. Moments before the blade connects, Kahn's hammer rematerializes in his hand. Blade and hammer collide with a ear-splitting clang. Both warriors continue to swing their weapons mercilessly, neither warrior managing to break through the other's defenses. With a yell, Kahn swings his hammer at Nightmare's legs, but Nightmare leaps back and uses Soul Wave; a short energy burst erupts around Nightmare, knocking Shao Kahn back. Nightmare then strikes out with Critical Edge; Kahn yells in pain as Soul Edge cleaves a large bloody gash down his chest.
"This is it!" Nightmare yells, raising Soul Edge. Before he can deliver the finishing blow, however, Kahn leaps forward, bringing his hammer down on Nightmare's head and knocking him to the ground. He then proceeds to grab Nightmare's arm and stomp on his head. He lifts Nightmare up by the arm, and headbutts him with such force that his helmet cracks. Nightmare is thrown to the ground, and lies motionless.
"Pathetic..." Kahn says, looking down at his opponent, "Is that all you got?"
Nightmare does not move.
Shao Kahn throws his head back, laughing.
"It's official..." he says, "You suck!"
A sudden noise makes him look down; Shao Kahn barely has time to register Nightmare back on his feet before he is struck with a vertical slash from Soul Edge, launching him into the air. Kahn yells in fear and shock as he flies over the edge of the tower; he continues to scream all the way down, before smashing into the ground below and exploding into a bloody pulp.
Several of the fighters below stop dead at the sight of Kahn's remains. They slowly look up toward the top of the tower, where Nightmare stands triumphantly.
"At last, the time has come!" He yells, raising Soul Edge towards the sky. The evil sword begins to glow red, illuminating everything around him. "This is the end!"
With a roar, demonic flames erupt from Soul Edge, spreading out in every direction, cascading down the sides of the tower. Upon reaching the ground below, they continue to spread, engulfing everything and everyone in their path. As the flames continue toward the horizon, Nightmare begins to laugh.
It was the end of all things...
Winner: Nightmare.
Expert's Opinion[]
Please consider a contribution by writing an expert's opinion as to why nightmare won.
To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.
Battle vs Shang-Chi (MCU) (by BattleGames1)[]
"Shang!" Xialing cried out to her brother as he rushed out of Wong's portal and into the devastated landscape. Seeing his sister in danger as a hammer was being swung down at her, Shang instinctively charged up his rings and thrust them forward like a whip, slapping the brute holding the hammer and making him miss his target. Without hesitation, Xialing rolled aside and tried to scramble to her feet.
Shao Khan recovered his stance, his hammer grip still held tight, and looked to see what had struck him. He heard someone cry out a name and after digging his hammer out of the ditch, he saw the face. To him, it was a tiny man dressed in red... like Liu Kang but dressed more decently and cut more cleanly. He was running towards his intended target. Eyes furled towards the lady that got away, Shao let the hammer in his hands transform into a spear before he threw the spear at her.
Shang saw the spear incoming and with a cry, he clasped his sister tight and swung her away from the projectile which landed just shy of his right foot. "Xialing, run. Go help the others" he cried out to his sister before sending her on her way. Hearing the annoyed grunt of the brute that tried to kill his family, Shang Chi mustered up his courage and stood firm to face his enemy.
"You meddling monk..." Shao growled before charging like a bull at his foe. By the time he got to him and started swinging, the 'monk' was quick to react, dodging every single swing even if it meant he flopped to the ground. Suddenly, Shao felt a hand slap on his bulky bicep. It was the 'monk' trying to clasp onto his arm. Grinning with delight at the false move, Shao swung his arm and threw his opponent a few good feet away.
Shang tried to catch his breath as he clutched the chest area. Lucky for him, his armour absorbed most of that blow. He scrambled to his feet as the big brute that tossed him began to taunt. "This world will soon bow down to Kronika. And it will soon become a part of Outworld" the brute pointed all around him and puffed his bare chest out. Shang retorted "I don't who you are or who this Kronika or Outworld nonsense is about... but you're messing with the wrong person today, pal" and with that, he charged again this time powering up his rings. With the flicks of his arm, Shang tossed them into the air to act like steps reaching to a height that should hopefully make him tower over this invader.
Shao saw the rings glow and form a stairway in his direction. Cunningly, he charged forward himself with his hammer again ready for the swing. This time, the swing wasn't aiming for the tiny man above him - oh no, that was gonna be dealt with when his mistimes his jump - but for the ring staircase. The hammer collided with the rings and soon they stopped glowing... for a while, that is. To Shao's view, this might have been it but as he turned around, the hammer was only within a hair's distance from the tumbling man and by that point, he lost the momentum. As he steadied himself, Shao felt several pangs rub past his torso. It was the rings flying back towards the man. Getting really annoyed, he taunted again "Those toys of yours will not save you!"
Letting his Earthly jive get the better of him, Shang puffed his own chest out and said "You mad bro?" before gasping as soon as the brute summoned a green aura around him and once again ran in for the kill, spiked shoulder-piece aimed directly at his skull. Thinking fast, Shang tumbled sideways and landed on his feet again. When his opponent ceased his charged, Shang's rings glowed up. Now it was his turn to go on the offense. With his 5 left arm rings at the ready, Shang did some flips before unleashing the rings in a whip-like fashion, striking full force at the behemoth before he could ready himself up.
Recoiling after that strike, Shao powered up with his godly aura but this time, imbued it upon the hammer itself. "Pathetic mortal. Fear my wrath!" Shao cried out as he threw the hammer at the pipsqueak who hurt him badly. Thinking this would really land a solid hit, Shao was enraged when the man threw his rings at the hammer... and caught it dead short of his face. Shao could clearly see that there was a bit of a struggle as green and gold magic clashed. "Your magic is of no use..." the warlord sneered.
Shang feared the worst as he felt his grip on the rings become overpowered by the hammer. What happened next however gave him an idea. He heard the warlord charge towards him again so... "You wanna play that way, huh? Return to sender!" and with an almighty grunt, Shang pushed the hammer back toward its owner. The struggle cost him so much energy though that his send back was not as powerful as he thought it would be. Far from it, the hammer only slammed into his opponent on it's side which might have caused a setback but not much damage.
Both combatants lay on the ground struggling to get back up. Shang got to his knees and did some slow breathing while keeping a close eye on the bigger baddy on the ground who soon got on one knee. Shang soon stood up and stared down his opponent still clutching his hammer tight. 'OK big fella. You got a long stick thing... so let us even the playing field and with that thought, Shang ran to grab the closest staff he could see. Picking it up, he flourished it in front of the baddie, who just laughed.
"You and that stick? Hah! You're weak and you know it" Shao started once again to swing his hammer and to his astonishment and chagrin, every power swing he did was blocked by the tips of the staff. And with every swing of the staff, the tiny man soon started moving faster and faster.
Shang could now feel the rhythm of his movement getting more and more energetic. Soon he found himself being able to strike at his opponent from all angles faster than he can react. At least, until the brute suddenly let his hammer disappear and his now free hands to grasp around, eventually a claw tapping into his arm and causing him to drop the staff. Feeling the claw dig deep into his arm, Shang struggled and started kicking with his right foot but to no avail. As the warlord stared into Shang's eyes, Shang sensed an opening. As the warlord was ready to speechify, Shang charged up his rings on his free arm and thrust it at the chest.
"Kronika sends her-" was all Shao could puff out before he was sent flying back with a powerful punch. So powerful that he ended up grinding and sliding on the ground until he collided with a stone wall. Panting and starting to feel his body ache, Shao slowly raised himself up before seeing his opponent confidently stride towards him, the glowy rings really lighting up. "How dare you do this to me, fool!" Shao brought his hammer back into his hands and, for the umpteenth time, infused it and himself with green magic.
"Man what is it with you and this green stuff?" Shang sighed as he got his rings powered up again. And again, both warriors speed towards each other like raging bulls. This time, Shang used at least 3 of the 10 rings to push himself up into the air, using the remaining 7 to brace his legs as he went for a head kick swipe.
Lucky for Shao, the hammer swing blocked his head from getting kicked in. Unfortunately, the collision didn't do anything to cause his puny fighter to falter. Instead, the man flipped back and landed on his feet. What happened next was something that Shao could not believe. Using all 10 rings, the man flourished before sending all of them in a chain like formation... and wrapping it tightly around Shao's neck and body.
With the rings right where he wants them, Shang looked around at the devastation around him and the lizard-like warriors who didn't take notice for they were too busy dealing with the other Ta Lo residents fighting back. Staring down at the warlord, Shang used his mental concentration to overload the rings with their magic. With one final push sending the opponent towards the largest group of creeps he could see, Shang screamed as he waved his arms around some more and gave one final move to finish the job.
And like that with a blinding radiance, Shao Kahn was nothing more than pieces scattered over the ground. The rings lay on the ground intact, however, so Shang recalled them to his possession, just as the Tarkatans reacted violently to their leader's demise.
Kronika, having been worn down by the Great Protector in their fight, looked down from the clouds and saw what had occurred in that last moment. She was shocked as Shang looked up intuitively at the sky... and locked eyes with her. For that brief moment, Shang's look of determination said it all - leave or get wrecked. The gaze then soon broke as Tarkatans tried to ambush Shang only for him to look their way and fight back, powered on by the Ten Rings; while the Great Protector continued to wrap herself around the so-called goddess of time and resume their melee.
Winner: Shang-Chi
Expert's Opinion[]
The experts mainly agreed that while Shao Kahn was the superior combatant on paper over Shang Chi, the Outworlder's fighting style of brutal bludgeoning and hammering could not compete with Shang's own especially when that fluid expertise in martial arts was combined with the busted power of the Ten Rings.
If you think this battle is unfair in any way, shape or form, please feel free to ask me for permission to rematch this.