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Liu Kang

CHARACTER · MORTAL KOMBAT 1

Liu Kang

Appears in
Mortal Kombat 1 (2023)
Played by
Robin Shou

11 archived facts 5 topics

Liu Kang is a character in the video game Mortal Kombat 1 (2023), portrayed by Robin Shou.

11 Interesting Facts About Liu Kang

Interesting Facts (7)

  1. #001

    Ho-Sung Pak could genuinely perform the cartwheel kick Liu Kang used as his Fatality. That is presumably why Midway dropped it once Eddie Wong replaced Ho-Sung Pak in Mortal Kombat 3.

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  2. #002

    Liu Kang and Jerrod established the Mortal Kombat tournament to foster friendship between Outworld and Earthrealm. As a friendly martial arts contest, it has gone more than 10 centuries without a single maiming or death.

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  3. #003

    Liu Kang and Shang Tsung are sworn enemies, yet a single performer, Ho-Sung Pak, plays both. Scorpion, Sub-Zero and the hidden fighter Reptile share the same situation (all played by Daniel Pesina), though in their case it stems from them being palette swaps.

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  4. #004

    Reflecting his background as a Shaolin monk, Liu Kang is the only fighter in the game whose finishing move does not actually kill the opponent.

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  5. #005

    Liu Kang was originally meant to be a bald monk, but the idea was dropped when Ho-Sung Pak refused to shave his head.

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  6. #006

    Liu Kang was first conceived under the name Yoshitsune Minamoto. Sonya Blade came later, added to give the game a female fighter after the plan to include Shang Tsung's daughter Kitsune as a warrior was dropped; the team chose to turn Curtis Striker into Sonya. Striker eventually made his debut in Mortal Kombat 3 (1995).

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  7. #007

    The man unmasked in the Sub-Zero costume in Sub-Zero's ending is not Daniel Pesina but Midway employee Josh Tsui, later director of the Midway documentary Insert Coin. Tsui also served as the face model for Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat 4.

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Production Story (1)

  1. #008

    Ed Boon has said the main cast are caricatures of favorite figures from martial arts and sci-fi films: * Kano, with his infra-red eye, draws on Arnold Schwarzenegger's make-up in The Terminator (1984). * Liu Kang is plainly modeled on Bruce Lee. * Johnny Cage takes after Jean-Claude Van Damme. * Raiden, the thunder god, is based on a lightning-wielding figure from Big Trouble in Little China (1986). * Sonya was loosely inspired by martial arts star Cynthia Rothrock. * The sorcerer Shang Tsung is based on Lo-Pan, the chief villain of Big Trouble in Little China (1986). * The ninjas Reptile, Scorpion and Sub-Zero are based on the American ninjas of Enter the Ninja (1981), American Ninja (1985) and Ninja Gaiden (1988).

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Characters & Cast (1)

  1. #009

    The part of Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat (1995) was highly unusual for Robin. Asian actors rarely headlined Hollywood films as heroes at the time, and a movie with an Asian hero and an Asian villain was equally uncommon.

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Easter Eggs & References (1)

  1. #010

    Two figures modeled on Liu Kang appear on the bridge in the background of the Pit II stage. The first, who traded his red outfit for green, was long known among fans as Hornbuckle thanks to a joke buried in the Sega Genesis and SNES releases. The second went by Torch, at least until Midway, wary of a lawsuit from Marvel over the Fantastic Four's Human Torch, renamed him Blaze and promoted him to an official character beginning with MK: Deadly Alliance in 2002.

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  1. #011

    The low budget also meant the developers handled the voice acting, with Ed Boon voicing Liu Kang, Kano and Scorpion (Scorpion's famous "GET OVER HERE!" is still voiced by Boon in every game).

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