In Video Games
According to the first Mortal Kombat comic, Shang Tsung was cursed by his gods to steal souls, or he would age rapidly and die prematurely. However, stealing souls allowed to him absorb his victims' knowledge as well. He entered the Mortal Kombat tournament, overcoming all competition and becoming Grand Champion. After his defeat, he became the tournament's coordinator, unfairly tipping the scales in Outworld's favor for nine tournaments so that Shao Kahn could conquer Earth. He and his protege and champion Goro are defeated by the Shaolin Monk Liu Kang in the tenth tournament.
In Mortal Kombat II, Shao Kahn restores Shang Tsung's youth and tries to lure Earth's warriors into Outworld to give the emperor the advantage. While Shang Tsung and his master are defeated, this plot is merely a distraction while Shang Tsung ressurrects Shao Kahn's wife Sindel in Earthrealm. Kahn crosses the dimensional boundaries to claim her, which merges Earthrealm with Outworld and kills millions of people. Shang Tsung is assigned to hunt down survivors, but is defeated by Liu Kang again.
In Deadly Alliance, Shang Tsung joins forces with fellow sorceror Quan Chi in a bid to conquer the realms by resurrecting the Dragon King's invincible army. Their plan goes awry when the Dragon King himself returns from the dead, reclaiming his army. When Raiden releases his godly essence in a last-ditch effort to defeat the Dragon King, Shang Tsung dies as well, but he is revived in Mortal Kombat Armageddon before the final battle between good and evil.
He is also featured as a playable character in Mortal Kombat (2011). As the game is a reboot of the first three titles in the series, his role is mostly consistent with these; however, near the story's end, Shao Kahn steals his soul and uses it to empower Sindel before sending her to kill the Earthrealm defenders.
Read more about this topic: Shang Tsung
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