Highlights
- The Mortal Kombat tournament has been a central plotline in the earlier games and still holds significance in the overall universe.
- The Outworld realm has won the tournament the most and has conquered multiple realms as a result.
- Various champions, including Shang Tsung, The Great Kung Lao, Goro, Liu Kang, Shao Kahn, Raiden, and player's choice, have emerged victorious in past tournaments.
The Mortal Kombat tournament plotline is one of the main motivators that drove the story of Mortal Kombat forward, at least, in the earlier games. While the tournament itself may have taken a backseat in later games, its impact and implications on the universe of Mortal Kombat as a whole still hold ground.
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In the world of Mortal Kombat, there have been multiple Mortal Kombat tournaments that have occurred throughout the generations. According to the universal rules of the game, a realm can declare a tournament against another realm they want to conquer. If they manage to win 10 consecutive tournaments, they then gain the right to conquer that realm. It takes a really powerful individual to win these tournaments.
Updated on October 17th, 2023 by David Heath: While the Mortal Kombat series has shifted its sights to bigger fish, like conspiracies, squabbles among royalty, and threats that could shatter realms and even timelines, they've still found a place for the tournament the whole series is named after, mostly.
Sometimes it's an incidental detail, like in Mortal Kombat 1, and other times it's still a key factor, like in Mortal Kombat 2011. Either way, this list has compiled all the winners of the Mortal Kombat Tournaments, including its latest victors in the newer games from Mortal Kombat: Armageddon up to MK1.
9 Unnamed Outworld Warriors
- When: 10,000 Years Prior to Mortal Kombat 1992.
- Classic & Alternate Timelines.
The tournament rules were created by the Elder Gods to rein in Shao Kahn's ambitions to merge every realm into Outworld. But it just meant that out of all the realms in the Mortal Kombat universe, the Outworld realm invoked this right the most and conquered the most realms in the process. The tournament's earliest records detail how Outworld won 10 consecutive tournaments against Edenia and thus merged that realm with their own.
Prior to that, Outworld had also conquered the realms of Osh-Tekk, Zaterra, Arnyek Islands, and Vaeternus. The names of the warriors who fought in the Outworld-Edenia Mortal Kombat tournament haven't been revealed. It is also unclear whether Shao Kahn himself participated in these tournaments or not. The only thing that's made clear is that Shao Kahn's warriors prevailed every single time.
8 Shang Tsung
- When: 1,000 Years Prior to Mortal Kombat 1992.
- Classic & Alternate Timelines.
After Outworld successfully conquered Edenia, Shao Kahn set his sights on Earthrealm. While not as paradisaical as pre-merge Edenia, it is universally considered the jewel of the cosmos due to it being an important universal power node. Naturally, it became a key target for Shao Kahn. In order to take it over, he entrusted his right-hand man Shang Tsung, a powerful sorcerer, to hold the tournaments on Earthrealm.
Shang Tsung first did this by interrupting and eventually gaining control of an actual Shaolin tournament. This became the first time the Mortal Kombat Tournament was invoked in Earthrealm. Shang Tsung managed to prevail against its champions and win the tournament, making him the Grand Champion. He would then continue to hold this title for nine consecutive tournaments.
7 The Great Kung Lao
- When: 500 Years Prior to Mortal Kombat 1992.
- Classic & Alternate Timelines.
When the first Mortal Kombat tournaments between Outworld and Earthrealm occurred, the powerful Shang Tsung managed to win nine tournaments for Outworld with relative ease. One more win would've given Outworld the right to finally invade Earthrealm. However, they would be eventually foiled by a man known as the Great Kung Lao. He was the ancestor to the game's razor hat-wearing counterpart, as well as Kung Jin and Liu Kang.
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The Great Kung Lao joined the tenth tournament, where he would eventually battle the reigning champion Shang Tsung. Despite Shang Tsung's experience, The Great Kung Lao managed to defeat the sorcerer, making him Earthrealm's first Grand Champion and thus saving it from Shao Kahn's ambition. Whenever a champion wins a Mortal Kombat tournament, it is customary for the winner to end the life of the fallen opponent. The Great Kung Lao, however, chose to spare Shang Tsung out of compassion.
6 Goro
- When: 450 Years Prior to Mortal Kombat 1992.
- Classic & Alternate Timelines.
The Great Kung Lao's decision to spare Shang Tsung would come back to haunt him 50 years later. After winning his first tournament, The Great Kung Lao was granted immortality in order to fight in the next tournament. Once that moment finally arrived, he was greeted by an elderly Shang Tsung and his new apprentice, the Shokan prince Goro. He proved to be too powerful for the Great Kung Lao to overcome.
Goro ended up defeating the reigning champion, returning the tides of conquest back to Outworld's favor. After the Great Kung Lao's defeat, Shang Tsung absorbed his soul, where he would stay entrapped until Raiden blew himself, Quan Chi, and Shang Tsung up to stop Onaga in Mortal Kombat: Deception. Like his master before him, Goro would hold the title of Grand Champion for nine consecutive tournaments.
5 Liu Kang
- When:Mortal Kombat 1992, Mortal Kombat 2, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.
- Classic Timeline, Alternate Timeline (MK92, MK2 only).
Prince Goro maintained the role of Grand Champion for approximately 500 years, winning nine consecutive tournaments. Just one more victory and Outworld would be given the right to conquer Earthrealm. This marks the beginning of the first Mortal Kombat game, where fighters like Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage, and Liu Kang joined the tournament.
Like his ancestor before him, Liu Kang managed to defeat Goro and Shang Tsung to become the new Grand Champion and save Earthrealm at the last hour. When Shao Kahn got involved, moving the tournament to Outworld itself, Liu Kang managed to stop his forces again, beating the Kahn himself personally. Even when Shao Kahn tried to skip the tournament and take over Earthrealm via a loophole, Liu Kang would keep it safe from conquest.
4 Shao Kahn
- When:Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Mortal Kombat 2011 (technically).
- Classic & Alternate Timelines.
The subsequent MK games after UMK3 would skip the tournament in favor of direct kombat. Liu Kang would save the day again from Shinnok in Mortal Kombat 4, but Shang Tsung and Quan Chi would destroy all comers in MK: Deadly Alliance. The survivors would try to unite against a common foe in the revived Dragon King Onaga in MK: Deception. But all this chaos would cause Blaze and his giant Pyramid to arise in Outworld for MK: Armageddon. Whoever got to the top and defeated the fire monster would attain ultimate power.
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As per Mortal Kombat 2011 (aka MK9), Shao Kahn ended up achieving this goal, but Raiden would use the last of his power to send his past self a message: "He must win." As past-Raiden tried to discover who "he" was, he created the Alternate Timeline, where Liu Kang still won the MK92 and MK2 tournaments. Once it reached UMK3, Raiden learned "he" was Shao Kahn. If he "won" via his loophole, the Elder Gods would punish him for breaking tournament rules, where they and Raiden would unite to execute him for his transgression.
3 Unnamed Earthrealm Warriors
- When: Approx. 500 years prior to Mortal Kombat 1.
- New Timeline.
The rest of the Alternate Timeline games, Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat 11 stuck to Outworld politics and timeline shenanigans over the tournament itself. Johnny and Cassie Cage saved Earthrealm from Shinnok in MKX, and then Raiden merged with Human and Revenant Liu Kang to create the newly divine Fire God Liu Kang in MK11. He'd go on to stop a revived Shang Tsung from becoming a Titan in its Aftermath DLC too.
With control of Kronika's Hourglass, Liu Kang would craft a new timeline where he hoped things would be better for everyone. The Mortal Kombat tournaments would now be more friendly, fatality-less fights between Earthrealm and a more Edenia-like Outworld to demonstrate mutual co-existence. That, and keep Outworld at bay as Earthrealm would have 9 consecutive victories, starting with the Great Kung Lao and a host of unnamed fighters after him.
2 Raiden
- When:Mortal Kombat 1.
- New Timeline.
With Liu Kang now acting as Earthrealm's demigod protector, he'd soon need a new champion, and his old friend Kung Lao needed a new mortal buddy. So, his timeline would produce a new, mortal Raiden who'd grow up with Kung Lao in Fengjian. Taught to work and fight by Madame Bo, and after being tested by Sub-Zero and Scorpion, Liu Kang would recruit both to the Wu Shi Academy to further their training.
Raiden would earn his spot as Earthrealm's champion by beating Johnny Cage, Kenshi, and Kung Lao in a series of quick bouts. Gifted the Thunder God Amulet to control lightning, and put him on par with Outworld's warriors, Raiden would overcome Kotal, Motaro, and Sheeva off-screen, then defeat Reiko and Kitana on-screen before finally taking on General Shao. After one more tricky fight, Raiden would become the winner of the 10th Mortal Kombat tournament.
1 Player's Choice
- When:Mortal Kombat 1.
- New Timeline.
MK11's Aftermath DLC had two endings: one where Fire God Liu Kang won, and another where Titan Shang Tsung won. Instead of sticking to one outcome, MK1 went with all possible outcomes as Liu Kang and the Titan equivalents of his old friends joined their realm's forces within Titan Tsung's Outworld at the Pyramid, producing another free-for-all where the fate of all possible timelines hung in the balance.
One fighter would take on a range of alternate timeline fighters. Then they'd reach the top and beat Titan Tsung and Quan Chi, where Liu Kang would finish them off and send the fighter back to the New Timeline. Who would this fighter be? That's up to the player. They can pick anyone from the main roster, from one of the heroes like Raiden or Johnny Cage to the villains like Nitara or Havik. If there is a canon choice, fans would likely have to wait until either a DLC chapter or an MK2 to find out.