With the franchise spanning over numerous mainline entries and spinoffs, Mortal Kombat has seen its fair share of antagonists over the years. From Shang Tsung and Shinnok to Quan Chi and Mortal Kombat 11 antagonist Kronika, there are several substantially evil villainous faces occupying the franchise's universe.
Perhaps the most notorious of the bunch is none other than Shao Kahn, with the brutish emperor long remaining a core staple of the series due to his reputation as an absolutely savage final boss that would give any player a run for their money. While the character took a back seat for the main body of Mortal Kombat 11's campaign, he did return in the recent Aftermath DLC, with an early scene showing the character depowered and beaten senseless by goons.
In this moment, Shao Kahn's helmet is removed, highlighting that the character is far more lizard-like than many players realized. However, perhaps more interestingly, Solomon Caitan - one of the main character artists over at NetherRealm - has unveiled a more revealing image of the Emperor of the Outworld on ArtStation, showing that it's not just the character's head that appears to sport almost dragon-like scales. The image, which shows the menacing antagonist stood in his underwear, reveals that he actually resembles something of a half-man, half-lizard, with scaly skin and grooves spreading from the back of his head down to the bottom of his back.
Many have been quick to note that the character's appearance is somewhat surprising, especially as different forms of Shao Kahn over the years have looked vastly different. Some have even presented the formidable antagonist as incredibly human-like, with many not realizing his appearance would be so animalistic.
Some have even proposed that this could be for a distinct reason, with a theory spreading around the web that Shao Kahn merged with Onaga the Dragon King from Mortal Kombat: Deception. It would definitely explain his scaly appearance and dragon-like features, even more so if his character design has changed so drastically over time.
Alongside a bigger role for Shao Kahn, a number of other characters made their presence known in Mortal Kombat 11 through the game's Aftermath DLC, including Sheeva and Fujin. Perhaps craziest of all was the addition of RoboCop, who was added to the game as a guest character alongside the story-focused DLC. Not only does his move set incorporate some of the character's most notorious elements, but one of his fatalities even sees him use the iconic enforcement droid from the films.
Mortal Kombat 11Â is out now on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Google Stadia.
Source: ArtStation
