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Essays 17 November 2021, 11:00

12. Shang Tsung. Mortal Kombat Characters Ranked

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First appearance: Mortal Kombat (as an unplayable opponent)

Last appearance: Mortal Kombat 11

We have to be honest – Shang Tsung owes high position in our ranking primarily to the first movie, in which he was brilliantly performed by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. The character was portrayed not as typical, powerful antagonist, but rather a cunning, manipulative sorcerer, mainly trusting his wits, rather than muscles. It was such a successful creation that it influenced the perception of the character in games over time. The culmination of this was Mortal Kombat 11, where Shang Tsung was voiced and portrayed by no other than Tagawa.

But Shang Tsung's success is not due to the talented actor alone. As the ultimate villain of the series, the sorcerer has the unique ability to morph into other characters whose souls he has stolen. Duels with him can be very unpredictable and engaging, and his set of attacks can get under your skin. Even in his weakened, playable form, Shang Tsung is a formidable opponent.

11. Sonya Blade

First appearance: Mortal Kombat

Last appearance: Mortal Kombat 11

Mortal Kombat is predominantly constituted by male fighters – there are very few ladies here, and even fewer that are actually memorable. Sonya Blade belongs to this small club since the first part of the series (in which she was the only woman) consistently working on her opinion of a dangerous gal that you should not mess with. In the new timeline, she additionally made herself known as the mother of her daughter Cassie, who inherited Sonya's talent for combat.

Interestingly enough, the former spec-op almost didn't make it into the game. Originally, Mortal Kombat was to offer six playable fighters – and Sonya was not among them. The decision to add the seventh character came at the end of development, when the devs were given an extra six weeks to polish the production (imagine that). They originally thought about adding Jax or Stryker, but ultimately decided on a female character. It was definitely the right decision – today Sonya is one of the iconic female warriors in video games.

Michael Grygorcewicz

Michael Grygorcewicz

He first worked as a co-worker at GRYOnline.pl. In 2023 he became the head of the Paid Products department. He has been creating articles about games for over twenty years. He started with amateur websites, which he coded himself in HTML, then he moved on to increasingly larger portals. A computer engineer, but he was always more drawn to writing than programming, and he decided to tie his future with the former. In games, he primarily looks for stories, emotions, and immersion that no other medium can provide - hence, among his favorite titles, are games focusing on narration. Believes that NieR: Automata is the best game ever made.

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Mortal Kombat X

Mortal Kombat X

Mortal Kombat 11

Mortal Kombat 11

Why are fighting games no longer popular?
Why are fighting games no longer popular?

Fighting games have reclaimed some of their long-lost fame lately, but they’re still balancing between mainstream and niche. What’s preventing the genre that used to be so popular from getting back into the limelight? There are several reasons for that.

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