Fans of Mortal Kombat will remember Shao Kahn sitting on his throne while watching Kombatants duke it out. For the Kahn, his conquest across realms would become complete once Outworld won ten consecutive Mortal Kombat Tournaments. Unfortunately, the Earthrealm warrior Liu Kang would eventually foil his plan.
However, despite his repetitive defeats, Shao Kahn would maintain a tight grip over Outworld and the realms at large. His presence alone remains a threat not just to Earthrealmers, but to all of existence. Interestingly, there's much to be seen behind Shao Kahn and his imposing image. Just what else should fans learn about the Kahn?
10 The Signature Tournament Announcer
Fans recognize Mortal Kombat not just for its gory fights, but also its iconic announcer voice. They would soon realize that it's Shao Kahn himself that served as the announcer in a lot of the games. As early as the first MK game, it's the Kahn that would scream "Excellent," and "Outstanding" throughout the fight. It's also the Kahn that commands characters to "Finish Him/Her!" right before they get the room to perform a Fatality.
Since this trend, Kahn remains a match narrator across all games except MK 4. In the latter, the sorcerer Quan Chi actually serves as the game's announcer. Meanwhile, the Kahn remains as the announcer even when players fight (and defeat) him in a match. As such, fans might wonder if Shao Kahn would reprise this role in the film.
9 The Tarkatan Connection
Interestingly, Shao Kahn's "real face" became the stuff of mystery across the franchise. Originally, MK 2 would feature the maskless Kahn as one with large teeth similar to Baraka. Back then, the idea for Outworld's denizens pointed towards pure Tarkatan, Baraka's race. However, Outworld would eventually have a society of various species aside from Tarkatans, and therefore the Kahn's face changed through the years.
In the comics, John Tobias designed the unmasked Kahn as monstrous. However, his face is almost never seen completely. The Kahn only makes his face apparent in both Shaolin Monks and MK 11. Moreover, MK 11 reveals that while the Kahn had an inhuman face, it wasn't as monstrous as people thought.
8 The Kahn Is Not A Design Exception
Fans could owe Shao Kahn's iconic design to Mark Runion, the character designer for MK 2. Shao Kahn would retain his iconic appearance throughout the games. These included his skull-themed helmet, warrior accessories (e.g., gauntlets, gloves), the prevalence of spikes, and his iconic red cape. Despite the Kahn's imposing design, he doesn't make an exception when it comes to hardware limitations.
Back in the day, the MK 2 team had to digitally resize the Kahn to make him taller. Interestingly, Kahn's actor Brian Glynn had the bodybuilder physique Midway was looking for, but even co-creator Ed Boon was taller than him. Even MK 3's Kahn didn't let him have his cape due to hardware limitations.
7 His Height Defines Power and Aggression
As the feared Emperor of Outworld, it makes sense for the Kahn to have an imposing presence. The earliest ideas of the game was to make the Kahn the tallest character in the franchise. Thus, even his height (7'6'') in MK 2 exceeded that of Kintaro and Goro of the already-tall Shokan Race. Additionally, in Shaolin Monks, Kung Lao and Liu Kang only reached his chest as the Kahn retains this monstrous height.
Additionally, in MK 2011, the Kahn appears to be around at least a head taller than most characters, although he does share this height with Kintaro and Goro. Meanwhile, in MK 11, the Kahn is closely tied with Raiden, Kotal Kahn, Geras, and Sheeva as the tallest playable characters. In terms of the DLC and guest cast, the Kahn remains as tall as RoboCop, Spawn, and The Terminator.
6 Sometimes A Character, Consistently A Boss
Originally, Shao Kahn served as MK 2's unplayable boss character. This trend of the Kahn being the main arcade boss would continue across all of his appearances. However, the Kahn would become playable as early as MK 3, albeit as an unlockable.
Interestingly, the Kahn's status as a boss does exemplify his in-game status as Outworld's cunning and vicious emperor. As such, despite being "defeatable" as a character, Shao Kahn remains an intimidating presence in the game. His moves are comprised of equally aggressive and imposing abilities. These include forceful magical projectiles, shoulder barges, and even strikes from his Wrath Hammer maul.
5 His Uncertain Age
Given the complicated timeline of Mortal Kombat and its lore, it makes sense for some fans to get confused with Shao Kahn's real age. While initially declared to be around 10,000 years old, it seems the Kahn has been around for much longer. For instance, Shao Kahn served as an infamous figure even before Daegon and Taven's sealing, prior to Shinnok's descent into a Dark Elder God.
Given Shinnok tells Raiden in MK 4 that the latter sealed him for "millions of years," that means the Kahn has been around even before the time of the dinosaurs. This implies that time passes differently depending on which realm is being inhabited. Likewise, this also means the Kahn has been desperately trying to conquer Edenia for at least 65 million years before winning recently.
4 His Attachment To Mileena
When the Kahn successfully conquered Edenia, he claimed the widowed Sindel as his own queen and Kitana as his adoptive daughter. As such, he's had Kitana trained to be his personal assassin alongside her aide Jade. Despite Kitana growing into a fine warrior, the Kahn would secretly "clone" Kitana and splice her genes with Tarkatan DNA, creating the pink-themed Mileena.
Of the two ladies, it seems Shao Kahn shows more attachment to Mileena. He's called Mileena his "daughter" multiple times, and even admitted to caring more for Mileena than Kitana. Additionally, the Kahn rejected the idea of Kitana becoming Outworld's new Kahn, as he agreed with Baraka's statement that Mileena was "an improvement over the original."
3 The Case Of Skarlet
Kitana and Mileena aren't the only adoptive daughters of Shao Kahn. In fact, Mileena isn't the only "experimental daughter" that Kahn has created. The blood sorcerer Skarlet not only served as Kahn's personal bodyguard, but also as one of his adoptive daughters. This explains why Skarlet has a similar costume design to Kitana, the same way Scorpion and Sub-Zero had similar designs.
In the original games, Skarlet became the subject of one of Kahn's genetic experiments. However, in the MK 11 retcon, Shao Kahn took Skarlet from the streets and taught her about Blood Magic. Interestingly, in an interaction between Skarlet and Sindel, it seems Skarlet actually intends to not just get close with the Kahn but become his queen as well.
2 The Kahnum Is Not Absolute
As with other ancient cultures, it seems the Kahn could be easily replaced with a rebellion and had to be maintained through alliances and fear. Throughout the games, Shao Kahn held the distinction of being Outworld's ruler for years. However, it's learned that even Shao Kahn took this title from Onaga, the Dragon King, thousands of years in the past.
Recent games showed that other people could become Kahn as well. For instance, Kotal Kahn served as one of Shao Kahn's generals who took the Khanum of Outworld for himself. Kotal chooses Kitana as his eventual successor when he grew too weak to fight for Outworld.
1 The Darkseid Equation
In MK v DCU, the mightiest heroes of DC Universe face off against the fiercest Kombatants of Mortal Kombat. The game features the most iconic heroes and villains of the two franchises, with the Kahn himself squaring off against Darkseid. Interestingly, the clash of the two powerful beings led in their joining, creating Dark Kahn.
Unlike the other characters in the game, Dark Kahn serves as the game's only original character. This being consists of pure Rage, with its moveset comprised of moves from all characters in the game.