Every good fighting game franchise needs its fair share of compelling antagonists, and thankfully, the Mortal Kombat series has no shortage of them. Over the last 30 years, the Mortal Kombat franchise has built itself quite the impressive rogue's gallery, featuring Elder Gods, bloodthirsty monsters, mind-controlled soldiers, warmongering emperors, and a lot more. But while Mortal Kombat 1 brings a lot of these iconic antagonists back, there's one that stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Set in another rebooted timeline, Mortal Kombat 1 gives some iconic and beloved characters a fresh new spin. While this fresh spin changes the character's backstory and role in Mortal Kombat 1's story, it doesn't completely change who they are, at least for the most part. But in the case of Shang Tsung, one of Mortal Kombat 1's primary antagonists, there are virtually no changes at all to his character, but everything's been dialed all the way up to 11, and it's so fun to see.

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Mortal Kombat 1's Shang Tsung Strikes a Perfect Balance

Shang Tsung has been one of Mortal Kombat's most iconic and beloved villains since the very beginning. Making his debut in the very first 1992 Mortal Kombat, Shang Tsung takes on the role of the game's final boss. Though his visual design isn't overly impressive, Shang Tsung's shape-shifting powers and green magic attacks set him apart nicely from the rest of Mortal Kombat's original roster, but due to the lack of any real dialogue or proper narrative, he wasn't really given much of a personality in that original game.

Though Shang Tsung would continue to appear as a primary antagonist in both Mortal Kombat 2 and 3, he wouldn't receive his now-trademark persona until the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie. Played expertly by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, the Mortal Kombat movie's version of Shang Tsung quickly became the definitive iteration of the villain, not afraid to deliver countless cheesy one-liners, but still having an intimidating demeanor. Though the Mortal Kombat movie's tone is a bit all over the place, Tagawa's Shang Tsung strikes the perfect balance of campy and dangerous, which is unfortunately something the series wouldn't go back to for quite some time.

In Mortal Kombat's more disappointing 3D era, Shang Tsung - along with the rest of the cast - got a lot more serious. Along with his visual design being given a much more gothic look, Shang Tsung's fighting style lost a lot of his more dramatic moves, and his personality was toned right down to match the era's more dark and brooding tone. Unfortunately, this only ended up making Shang Tsung feel too generic, and though NetherReam's rebooted timeline would make the character a little less serious, it wasn't until Mortal Kombat 11's Aftermath DLC, where Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa returned, that Shang Tsung became his fun and campy self again.

Though Tagawa doesn't return for Mortal Kombat 1, that same campy persona is carried through to the new reboot, and the character's new voice actor Alan Lee even turns things up a notch. Mortal Kombat 1's version of Shang Tsung is practically perfect and should be the definitive version of the villain moving forward. Every line delivery, every smirk or sneer, and even just the way Shang Tsung walks in Mortal Kombat 1 is incredibly entertaining to watch. While Quan Chi and General Shao are great villains in Mortal Kombat 1, Shang Tsung steals the spotlight time and time again, being utterly ruthless, but so endearing and charming at the same time.

Mortal Kombat 1 is available now for PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox Series X/S.

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