The story of Mortal Kombat – The One Being rises, Shinnok falls and Shao Kahn begins his conquest

In the beginning

The dawn of time. The Void. The One Being. An entity of limitless potential, the One Being was an antagonist who attempted to reign over all of creation by draining the power from the Elder Gods, ancient deities who had ruled over the universe for aeons. Joining forces, the Elder Gods eventually defeated the One Being, splitting its physical form across reality through the use of mystical weapons known as the Kamidogu.

The One Being’s consciousness still survived, with the Kamidogu themselves using the stolen energy of that being to form the six realms:

• Earthrealm
• Netherrealm
• Outworld
• Orderrealm
• Chaosrealm
• Edenia

Each realm’s Kamidogu contained the very essence of these planes of existence, while numerous smaller pocket realms would exist in the bleed between dimensions. For a time, reality was at peace.

The Rise of Onaga

But not for long. Outworld’s first emperor, Onaga the Dragon King, would rise to power and reunite the forces of his realm that had threatened its stability. His hunger for power grew beyond the control of a single realm however, and Onaga would soon launch a campaign of conquest that would endanger all of reality.

Thanks to the mystical energies of his heart, Onaga’s army of the undead cut through the realms without fear or mercy, taking territory and adding new soldiers to the ranks of the undying. Wishing to gain immortality, Onaga planned to transfer his soul into the last dragon egg in existence, allowing for the Emperor to be reborn as a true dragon that would live forever.

With the balance to the realms in danger, the Elder Gods chose Onaga’s advisor Shao Kahn as Outworld’s champion. Successful in his coup de tat and managing to poison Onaga, Shao Kahn’s own lust for power and greed would see him take to the throne and attempt to rule the realms in place of the Dragon King.

Conquest continues

Now the new Emperor of Outworld, Shao Kahn would continue the legacy of Onaga as he carried on with a war to control all of reality. Kahn’s army met stiff resistance in Edenia, a realm protected by the god known as Argus. Married to a sorceress, Argus and his children Taven and Daegon would continue to fight and protect Edenia, while a secret third child by the name of Rain would carve out a legacy of his own as a traitor to the realm.

Gifted with visions of the future, Argus’ wife Delia prophecised that in time all the realms would be threatened by the emergence of powerful and numerous warriors whose war for control would succeed in destroying reality in an event that would become known simply as Armageddon. The Elder Gods were wary of this destruction, and thus they charged Argus with creating a safeguard to prevent the end of all things.

Argus constructed a pyramid at the location that Delia had seen as the climax of kombat in her visions, and together they created the being known as Blaze. A sentinel whose sole task was to prevent Armageddon, Blaze was perhaps the one being that could stop the coming Mortal Kombat tournaments from raging out of control.

Shinnok rises and falls

Even Elder Gods weren’t immune to greed, and one such deity by the name of Shinnok began work on a plot that would eventually see Earthrealm under his control. Desiring the realm despite the fact that his fellow Elder Gods had appointed the thunder god Raiden to safeguard it, Shinnok’s schemes would see Edenia thrown into chaos as Argus and Delia were killed by their own son Daegon, while Blaze was imprisoned by forces that were still faithful to Onaga.

Shinnok’s ambition would soon reveal the true reason for why he sought Earthrealm: The Jinsei energy force, whose energies could grant Shinnok even greater power beyond that of even his fellow Elder Gods. Raiden stepped forth to oppose Shinnok, resulting in a war that almost destroyed Earth and was only ended when the Thunder God stripped his nemesis of the amulet that granted him great power.

The rising race of Saurians who were allied with Raiden were almost wiped out in this conflict, but the Elder Gods rewarded their loyalty by giving them the minor realm of Zaterra, where they could rebuild. Well, until Shao Kahn added that realm to is collection sometime later. With Earthrealm devastated and plunged into centuries of darkness, Shinnok was banished to the Netherrealm for all eternity, beaten and cast further into the shadows by Lucifer and the numerous souls that Shinnok himself had banished to that realm.

The NetherRealm war continues

Exiled from his position as an Elder God, Shinnok soon found himself trapped without his amulet. Desperate to escape, Shinnok eventually came across the sorcerer Quan Chi, who struck a bargain with him: Grant the Oni power and the authority to rule alongside Shinnok’s side, and Quan Chi would free him from his imprisonment.

Shinnok agreed to the terms, gave Quan Chi the power to transform into an Arch-sorcerer and together the duo waged a war in the Netherrealm that lasted for centuries. Lucifer was beaten, Shinnok ruled the Netherrealm and began plotting his revenge on those who had cast him out from heaven…

Mortal Kombat begins

Millenia had passed, and Shao Kahn had managed to achieve the impossible. Numerous smaller realms had been added to the Outworld empire, his army had grown and Edenia now faced a reborn threat at their door. This time, the Elder Gods intervened and declared that if Kahn desired Edenia, he would have to win the sacred Mortal Kombat tournament.

The rules were simple: If Kahn’s chosen champion could achieve ten victories in a row, Edenia would merge with Outworld. Each tournament would be held once every fifty years, with the champion being blessed with the prize of staying in their physical prime until the next competition. Outworld won Mortal Kombat over the 500 years that followed, and the realms were officially merged.

King Jerrod was slain, his wife Queen Sindel became Kahn’s wife and he adopted her daughter Kitana. With Edenia finally his, Kahn set his eyes next on Earthrealm. Attempting to block Khan from reaching Earthrealm, Sindel sacrificed herself to create a magical barrier that prevented Kahn from stepping foot inside of that dimension. Devastated, Kahn held Sindel’s soul in Outworld, as he began plotting once again to take Earthrealm should the traditional method of doing so fail him.

Mortal Kombat, would soon begin again…

Last Updated: April 16, 2019