Mortal Kombat 11 really redeemed Liu Kang (spoilers)

[Uzumaki Goku]

I mean not just literally. But before this, people said "He's boring." "He sucks!" "Sucky sucky McBlandpuss" and they made him "evil" to make him more interesting. But honestly a hero doesn't have to be made "evil" to be made interesting. It's why I love Optimus Prime, Superman and Captain America because of the ideals they bring and with this game, they finally got this with Liu Kang. He's portrayed as a humble warrior who does not boast of his skill. (mostly) His relationships with Kung Lao and Kitana are both shown very well. It's even shown in some of his dialogue such as with Scorpion.

(I don't remember exactly)
Liu Kang: You lost so much.
Scorpion: I lost my family and clan.
Liu Kang: I observe. I do not judge.

He does not boast of his claim as champion. Instead, he helps others and is willing to believe in the good for people. After so many years where Netherrealm basically struggled to replace him as protagonist (Shujinko, Taven , Cassie for example) Netherrealm finally decided to give the original hero back his claim. The lore of MK is really about him and his journey to becoming a hero. He's basically the Luke Skywalker of MK (which Boon even said). I won't give away the ending but it felt really good to see MK's original hero finally get the respect he deserves.

Spoiler: spoiler

And finally get his happy ending with Kitana

 

[StreamedHams]

MK is a franchise built about our own shortcomings and a willingness to overcome them. Forgiveness and compassion are part of that.

Everyone should get another chance.

Except Quan Chi, fuck that guy.

 

[Deleted member 23893]

Agreed. He was always the boring of the boring as far as MK goes (arcade cabinet fatalities aside). Now? One of my faves (both Netherrealm Emperor, and human versions).

Shout out to 9 and X tho for setting it all up. Not sure if redemption would have been as sweet without seeing him get dragged thru the mud a bit first.

 

[Uzumaki Goku]

MK is a franchise built about our own shortcomings and a willingness to overcome them. Forgiveness and compassion are part of that.

Everyone should get another chance.

Except Quan Chi, fuck that guy.

Click to shrink...

Honestly, seeing Liu Kang and Kitana together. Made my heart melt.

 

[Khanimus]

There was a long history of them clearly not knowing wtf to do with Liu Kang. Around MK vs. DC and MK9, they really latched onto this visual of Liu Kang vs. Raiden, and there was some merit to it, but in the way that seeing Batman fight Superman is cool once, but if you repeat that beat, you clearly are missing the point. MK11's story thankfully came back around to making him a solid character.

 

[Stopdoor]

Mortal Kombat 11 nailed pretty much all their characters, really. They know what they're doing. It's just a shame they can only do so much with them in the context of the games and now everyone has to be a bit cautious in excitement thinking about how they might reset it in the next game.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

Lui Kang was my main in UMK3. His juggles in that game were devastating, I would wreck people with him, especially since so many people played with distance characters. He was great at upclose fighting. So I've always had a soft spot for him in the lore. After he was basically a non-factor in MKX, it was really cool to see him come back and finally be the hero again in a major MK game.

 

[NinjaDBL]

So... is he no longer a homophobe?

 

[Uzumaki Goku]

So... is he no longer a homophobe?

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No. There's dialogue of Liu Kang and Kung Lao that show that they like Kung Jin just fine.

 

[The Vathlonian]

Yes! i was so happy!

 

[Deleted member 9100]

Story in the new game is really good. I'm not a fighting game fan and still enjoyed playing through it.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

So... is he no longer a homophobe?

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I always thought that was some stupid edgelord shit they were trying to drive the point home that he was evil.

 

[Professor Beef]

Raiden was the real hero, lbr

 

[Arthoneceron]

It's sad to think that the series fucked Liu Kang so much that turned him into a zombie, for some reason. Also it's even more stupid to think that giving the protagonism of the series for someone else the people will easy accept it.

And I also find funny that the game where there's two protagonists, Liu Kang and Kung Lao, which is completely different for the others, it's generally well remembered by the fans in the dark ages of the PS2.

 

[Uzumaki Goku]

I always thought that was some stupid edgelord shit they were trying to drive the point home that he was evil.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I was so happy they did away with "evil" Liu Kang in this game.

 

[Aine]

Raiden was the real hero, lbr

Click to shrink...

Everyone kept getting forced to clean up that asshat's messes.

 

[Deleted member 32679]

His final form was so fucking hype

 

[NinjaDBL]

No. There's dialogue of Liu Kang and Kung Lao that show that they like Kung Jin just fine.

Click to shrink...

Thank god. Liu Kang was my favorite character form MK. After seeing what they turned him into in X, it really bummed me out. I'm glad they redeem him in 11.

 

[Riversands]

I mean not just literally. But before this, people said "He's boring." "He sucks!" "Sucky sucky McBlandpuss" and they made him "evil" to make him more interesting. But honestly a hero doesn't have to be made "evil" to be made interesting. It's why I love Optimus Prime, Superman and Captain America because of the ideals they bring and with this game, they finally got this with Liu Kang. He's portrayed as a humble warrior who does not boast of his skill. (mostly) His relationships with Kung Lao and Kitana are both shown very well. It's even shown in some of his dialogue such as with Scorpion.

(I don't remember exactly)
Liu Kang: You lost so much.
Scorpion: I lost my family and clan.
Liu Kang: I observe. I do not judge.

He does not boast of his claim as champion. Instead, he helps others and is willing to believe in the good for people. After so many years where Netherrealm basically struggled to replace him as protagonist (Shujinko, Taven , Cassie for example) Netherrealm finally decided to give the original hero back his claim. The lore of MK is really about him and his journey to becoming a hero. He's basically the Luke Skywalker of MK (which Boon even said). I won't give away the ending but it felt really good to see MK's original hero finally get the respect he deserves.

Spoiler: spoiler

And finally get his happy ending with Kitana

Click to shrink...

I never played MK so i didnt know about him that much. But from your explanation, he reminds me of Ned stark. If liu kang were in game of thrones, he would get killed very early

 

[Uzumaki Goku]

Thank god. Liu Kang was my favorite character form MK. After seeing what they turned him into in X, it really bummed me out. I'm glad they redeem him in 11.

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Personally out of the 4 Kombat Kids, I would've preferred either Kung Jin or Takeda come back over Jacqui. (I understand why they kept Cassie)

 

[Kuro]

edit: on second thought, kinda racist

 

[Deleted member 12790]

I never played MK so i didnt know about him that much. But from your explanation, he reminds me of Ned stark. If liu kang were in game of thrones, he would get killed very early

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In the early Mortal Kombat games, Liu Kang is played up as a legendary hero. He's basically the Goku of the early series, but with the personality of Superman. There's a moment in MK9's retelling of MK1, where Raiden, the god of thunder, bows to Liu Kang as the mortal kombat champion.

The way Liu Kang is in the MK movie is pretty much a 1:1 copy of who he is in the games, except in the games he never left the temple.

 

[Uzumaki Goku]

In the early Mortal Kombat games, Liu Kang is played up as a legendary hero. He's basically the Goku of the early series, but with the personality of Superman. There's a moment in MK9's retelling of MK1, where Raiden, the god of thunder, bows to Liu Kang as the mortal kombat champion.

The way Liu Kang is in the MK movie is pretty much a 1:1 copy of who he is in the games, except in the games he never left the temple.

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I think Tobias always had the "dead brother" part of his backstory in mind but never got around to it.

 

[Shadoken]

Yea i really liked Liu Kang in MK11. The entire modern trilogy was building up to this redemption arc for him.

 

[boontobias]

They realized, despite hating him for years, that generic nice guy is a character people actually enjoy seeing. How quaint.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

The best part of MK11 was Fire and Ice, though.

Waited decades to see Sub-Zero and Scorpion finally team up.

 

[Protoman200X]

I really need to play Injustice II and MK11.

 

[lucablight]

I thought it was incredibly disappointing how Liu Kang has the same moveset in the final battle

Spoiler

considering he was now a god.

 

[Nakadai]

His transformation and the aftermath, as a MK fan, was one of the top ten moments of this gen for me. So glad they finally respected Liu.

 

[Uzumaki Goku]

His transformation and the aftermath, as a MK fan, was one of the top ten moments of this gen for me. So glad they finally respected Liu.

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For sure!

 

[Deleted member 12790]

One thing that's kind of a bummer is that MK11's ending is, for all intent and purposes, the end of the classic storyline. It ends with what should be a soft reboot. Even when MK9 was a "reboot" it still kept the original story in mind. I'm really excited to see where MK12 goes, but kinda sad to see the old story finally come to an end.

I like that they concluded Cyrax's arc from the original games, but it kinda sucked that Smoke basically disappeared from the series after becoming a revenant in MK9, considering how big a part of the original timeline's story he was.

 

[Uzumaki Goku]

One thing that's kind of a bummer is that MK11's ending is, for all intent and purposes, the end of the classic storyline. It ends with what should be a soft reboot. Even when MK9 was a "reboot" it still kept the original story in mind. I'm really excited to see where MK12 goes, but kinda sad to see the old story finally come to an end.

I like that they concluded Cyrax's arc from the original games, but it kinda sucked that Smoke basically disappeared from the series after becoming a revenant in MK9, considering how big a part of the original timeline's story he was.

Click to shrink...

Personally, I was never a fan of the "revenant" twist for that reason. I'm glad this game brought back the classic versions of those characters we knew and loved.

 

[Gundam]

Yeah, Liu Kang is fucking cool in this game. Outside of that, I only ever liked him in the movie.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

Yeah, Liu Kang is fucking cool in this game. Outside of that, I only ever liked him in the movie.

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I feel as far as "chosen one" tropes go, Liu Kang is pretty awesome. Modeled after bruce lee, ancestor to the last "chosen one," the great kung lao. He's bog standard, but he's a great example of that standard.

One of my favorite moments in MK9 is the end of the MK1 arc, when everyone is standing around waiting to see who won the fight between Liu Kang and Goro, and the shock in Shang Tsung's face when Liu Kang returns. Then the money-shot line: "Shang Tsung, face me in Mortal Kombat!" Only way that moment could have been better is if the MK immortals song started playing at that moment. Dripping in MK theatrics played completely straight, that's MK at it's most awesome cheesiness.

 

[Silky]

Liu Kang is cool

 

[Uzumaki Goku]

I feel as far as "chosen one" tropes go, Liu Kang is pretty awesome. Modeled after bruce lee, ancestor to the last "chosen one," the great kung lao. He's bog standard, but he's a great example of that standard.

One of my favorite moments in MK9 is the end of the MK1 arc, when everyone is standing around waiting to see who won the fight between Liu Kang and Goro, and the shock in Shang Tsung's face when Liu Kang returns. Then the money-shot line: "Shang Tsung, face me in Mortal Kombat!" Only way that moment could have been better is if the MK immortals song started playing at that moment. Dripping in MK theatrics played completely straight, that's MK at it's most awesome cheesiness.

Click to shrink...

Pretty sure Kung Lao is the last descendant, not Liu Kang.

 

[sibarraz]

Boy his final form was the most Sonic OC shit donut steal that I had ever seen in a game, and I loved every second of it, since it felt like they finally did some justice to what was their original hero

 

[Deleted member 12790]

Pretty sure Kung Lao is the last descendant, not Liu Kang.

Click to shrink...

 

[Weiss]

I'm not saying I don't like what was done with Liu Kang in this game as he is by far the most interesting he has ever been, but I wish that didn't come at the expense of what MK9 and MKX were building up to. MKX was about moving on and embracing a new future for the series, and Liu Kang's fall to evil was part of that when before there was absolutely nothing to his character.

 

[PucePikmin]

Yeah, them making up for some of the shitty stuff they've done to poor Liu Kang was one of my favorite aspects of the game.

 

[Toxi]

There was a long history of them clearly not knowing wtf to do with Liu Kang. Around MK vs. DC and MK9, they really latched onto this visual of Liu Kang vs. Raiden, and there was some merit to it, but in the way that seeing Batman fight Superman is cool once, but if you repeat that beat, you clearly are missing the point. MK11's story thankfully came back around to making him a solid character.

Click to shrink...

I love how MK11's story actually references this obsession with Liu Kang vs Raiden by making it the one timeline constant.

 

[Sign My Guestbook!]

I love how MK11's story actually references this obsession with Liu Kang vs Raiden by making it the one timeline constant.

Click to shrink...

That was my favorite part of MK11. Like, it made almost no sense how he suddenly found out, but damn if it wasn't cool as shit anyway. I actually got chills. Who thought MK could ever do that?

 

[Remember]

Raiden was the real hero, lbr

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I swear there was an anime where someone did the same thing Raiden did in MK11 during the peak moment.

 

[Evilisk]

Nah Liu Kang is still boring. And I get more and more disappointed when I think about how little of Dark Raiden there is in MK11.

Spoiler: MK11 spoilers

Well, at least God Kang was kinda hype

Raiden was the real hero, lbr

Click to shrink...

For sure

MK11's plot is basically about how butthurt Kronika is that Nu-Raiden is too good at his job

Everyone kept getting forced to clean up that asshat's messes.

Click to shrink...

If OG Liu Kang hadn't spared Shao Kahn, Quan Chi and Shang Tsung in the OG timeline, there'd be no Deadly Alliance stomping his ass, no Shao Kahn winning Armageddon and no Raiden sending stupidly cryptic messages to his past self

So basically what I'm saying is, it's actually all OG Liu Kang's fault.

Yea i really liked Liu Kang in MK11. The entire modern trilogy was building up to this redemption arc for him.

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I honestly don't see how MK9-11 was supposed to be a Liu Kang redemption arc

In MK9, he barely did anything wrong (aside from trying to take out Raiden near the end). And I really don't think the Revenants can be blamed for their actions. It seems like some mind control is at play here because in MK11:

Spoiler: MK11 Spoilers

as soon as Liu Kang becomes God Kang and fights the other Revenants, they immediately turn on him running the same excuses they did against Raiden (i.e. "it's all your fault I'm a Revenant, Raiden Liu Kang!").

 

[Uzumaki Goku]

That was my favorite part of MK11. Like, it made almost no sense how he suddenly found out, but damn if it wasn't cool as shit anyway. I actually got chills. Who thought MK could ever do that?

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I noticed each background was from a different game that they were both in (Liu Kang and Raiden)

 

[Omegasquash]

The best part of MK11 was Fire and Ice, though.

Waited decades to see Sub-Zero and Scorpion finally team up.

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You and I need to be friends IRL, because I'm with you 100%.

Spoiler

Seeing Hanzo get killed later in the game really bothered me.

 

[Deleted member 8468]

I agree except the stuff about his relationship with Kitana. Maybe they went into it in other games and it carried over, but all I remember were the silly 'she's out of your league' jokes with Kung Lao. Then they get together in the end because reasons. I don't even remember them having a direct conversation.

 

[RecRoulette]

Mortal Kombat 11's story is so good.

 

[chaobreaker]

Mortal Kombat 11 nailed pretty much all their characters, really. They know what they're doing. It's just a shame they can only do so much with them in the context of the games and now everyone has to be a bit cautious in excitement thinking about how they might reset it in the next game.

Click to shrink...

I have very strong words with how they handled Scorpion and Jacqui but I would have to agree. I liked how they handled every character. Even that last vestige of the crappy early 3d MK era Frost.

 

[Uzumaki Goku]

I have very strong words with what they did to Scorpion and Jacqui but I would have to agree.

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It's weird... Undead Scorpion is too iconic to get rid of... but they decided to have him kinda inherit the alive Scorpion's story and redemption?