With 20 votes, Shao Kahn takes the bottom pedestal of the top characters. Shao Kahn… one of most badass final bosses of all time. Forget M. Bison, forget Heihachi, forget Inferno, Shao Kahn was what a true final boss should be like. In his first appearance in Mortal Kombat 2, he was the power behind Shang Tsung and the real threat to Earthrealm, in the end Liu Kang ended up defeating Shao Kahn, whose armies chased them out of Outworld. He appeared after the near impossible Kintaro. There was a trick to him however which not many people picked up on. You could duck his charging shoulder since it hit high. But, he was still badass. It was Mortal Kombat 3 where he really stood out more. His story here was that he resurrected Sindel in Earthrealm, which meant he could cross the realms to reclaim his queen, in doing so, he could invade Earthrealm. He was improved upon in this game, he had more taunts, his shoulder charge hit you when you ducked and then there was his hammer! That thing literally came from nowhere and stunned your opponent long enough for him to kick your ass or taunt you. He was so hard to beat that many could only beat him using cheap characters. Either way, storyline wise Shao Kahn is a threat to everyone, the Deadly Alliance targeted him first, and seemingly killed him, only for us to find it was a body double created by Kahn himself while he regained his strength. Shinnok is worried about Kahn, which was evident in Shinnok’s Armageddon bio, he was the one who originally overthrew Onaga. Kahn had many enemies on both sides, good and bad, but most know they wouldn’t stand a chance if they stood against him. In Armageddon, he took back Outworld from Mileena, who gave it willingly, he then began to plot to gain more power by allying with Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, and Onaga in order to defeat Blaze. Did he succeed? Probably not, but, some people have to fail.
Shao Kahn’s design was spot on, he looked fearsome, menacing and along with his hard hitting attacks, you can see why he is the ruler of Outworld. He was presumed dead in Mortal Kombat 4, but, it was retconned in Deadly Alliance to that he was only weakened. Then, he was presumed killed in Deadly Alliance, but, they brought him back in Deception. Upon his return, he seemed even bigger then before. Sure, he may have shrunk a little, but look at him and tell me you wouldn’t want to cross that? Shao Kahn in the 3-D games has very few combos. He is more of a heavy one hit guy, as he should be. Will Kahn be in future installments? Honestly, I don’t think so, but, he has certainly left his mark on the Mortal Kombat universe. All fear the emperor of Outworld and his hammer of doom!
Adam’s Input
Its official, you suck! The Bosses of all bosses in the Mortal Kombat series, Shao Kahn officially marks the start of the “Top 15 Mortal Kombat Characters of all time” countdown. The interdimensional badass is the supreme ruler of Outworld, but since Shao is a troubled despot, he wants to be the absolute ruler of the Earth realm. He is a brilliant leader but very cruel and merciless. He’s probably pushy and demanding too, like a J.A.P. If he ever has a son, I would imagine their dinner conversations would be something like this:
Son: Dad, I just got my B.A. in Interdimensional Despotism!
Shao Kahn: Yeah. Great. Can you pass the green beans?
Son: Dad, you never ever tell me you’re proud of me!
Shao Kahn: Why should I? Why couldn’t you have been an evil interdimensional doctor or an evil interdimensional lawyer? Where did you learn to be so damned political?
Son: From you, alright! I learned it by watching you!
Sorry, I don’t know where that came from. Next!
Grail’s Input
Say what you will about MK when compared to other fighting games, but when it comes to boss characters, no one compares to the Emperor of Outworld. He re-invented the word bad-ass and whilst he wasn’t exactly super-hard to beat (he left that to Kintaro), his demeanor and attitude left you in awe the first time you fought him. And the hammer – ouch! That thing hurt almost as much as the insults he would fling in the middle of fight. I can understand that from a continuity thing as to why he wasn’t changed at all from MK2 to 3, however lately he seems to have been pumping even more iron (if that’s possible) and is looking bigger than ever. The cape gives him a more realistic look and adds to the royal tone. He may not be present in the next MK, but his presence and cruel hand will still be felt.
Dave’s Input
If there’s one boss to make the cut, it’s the Emperor Shao Kahn. To me, Kahn represents exactly what a boss should be: powerful, big and tall, intimidating look and voice and one tough SOB to take down in a fight. Kahn is also the source of quite possibly the greatest game storyline in the series when Outworld invades Earthrealm in the MK3/UMK3/MKT era. If I had it my way, I’d vote Kahn as the greatest boss of all fighting games!