Shujinko

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Shujinko made his debut in Mortal Kombat: Deception as the game’s rogue protagonist. He is an adventurer who, as a boy, dreamed of fighting Shang Tsung. He has traveled the realms and learned the kombat skills of many warriors. Without knowledge, Shujinko has done many evil deeds such as: offering Lei Chen to Hotaru, acting like a mercenary of some sort, using Bo’ Rai Cho‘s warrior medallion to gain such credibility to join the Lin Kuei, being deceived by Damashi and challenging the Elder Gods for powers. His old age has made him wise, but at a cost: he bears an immense guilt for releasing Onaga into the realms again, and now that he is discarded by the Dragon King, has vowed to make up for this mistake. A member of the White Lotus Society, he shares traits with the games’ Shaolin monk characters, such as his great receptiveness, deliberation and ability to meditate for weeks. Nevertheless, before all other things, he has always been a traveler and a student at heart.

Storyline

Decades ago, Shujinko as a young man, was approached by an ethereal spirit entity that called itself Damashi. Damashi claimed to be the agent of the Elder Gods who was tasked with finding a mortal who had the courage and potential strength to undertake a quest for the Elder Gods. Shujinko, then only a child, eagerly accepted and Damashi charged him with gathering the six Kamidogu of Earthrealm, Netherrealm, Chaosrealm, Outworld, Orderrealm, and Edenia. To aid Shujinko in the quest, Damashi mystically instilled in Shujinko an enhanced ability to observe and then wield the Kombat abilities of warriors that he came across.

It took Shujinko decades to gather the Kamidogu. But in that time, he traveled widely through the realms and his innate kombat talent grew dramatically. Shujinko faced danger and adventure at every turn. Early in the quest, he fought briefly alongside the Lin Kuei during which time he learned the clan’s cryomancery secrets.

Later, he would literally journey into the dark and hoary Netherrealm, where he would bear witness to a rivalry forming between Ashrah and Ermac.

In the Realm of Chaos, he fought alongside Havik the Cleric of Chaos, thus repelling an invasion by the Seidan Guard to control the realm’s water stores.

In Outworld, Shujinko faced off against Baraka and the Tarkatan hoard– then on the verge of slaughtering an entire city whose prefect had defied Shao Kahn. Determined to prevent an unimaginable massacre, he then journeyed to Seido, the Realm of Order.

There, after helping to quell a civil uprising instigated by Darrius and the resistance movement, Shujinko enlisted the aid of Hotaru and the Seidan Guard. They then journeyed to Outworld. The Seidan guard proved to be more than a match for the Tarkatan horde, and Shujinko thus liberated the city and its people.

His journeys would take him elsewhere still until, after helping Queen Sindel to drive back an invasion attempt into Edenia by Shao Kahn, Shujinko found the sixth Kamidogu. Shujinko then made his way back to the Nexus where he planned to present the Kamidogu, thus gathered, to the Elder Gods. However, Onaga, after revealing himself to be Damashi, confronted Shujinko and took the Kamidogu for his own.

Onaga, having acquired the Kamidogu, traveled to Outworld to re-assume his throne as the original ruler of the realm. From there, he intended to use the Kamidogu to attain ultimate power by re-making the realms in his image.

Shujinko, now fully understanding this threat to the realms, born from deception, resolved to stop Onaga. Though the heart of the quest was proven to be farce, Shujinko, having faced and triumphed over continuous dangers, had become one of the most powerful warriors in the realms. He journeyed to Outworld where he was able to gather a number of powerful warriors to one location. Then, using the mystic ability Onaga endowed him with years earlier, Shujinko reached out for the warriors’ essence, thus their combined powers supplemented his own. He then used this power to shatter the Kamidogu and brutally beat Onaga into submission, giving his former mentor Nightwolf the chance to trap Onaga’s soul in the Netherrealm.

Shujinko was then, for a time, known as the hero of Outworld. However, he still felt some degree of guilt of bringing back the Dragon King in the first place. As such, he didn’t feel worthy of their admiration. Some time later, Princess Kitana requested Shujinko to meet her at Shao Kahn’s fortress, as her Edenian forces had apparently flushed out Reiko‘s elite guard, the last remnants of the old empire.

Shujinko however came to the realization that he and Kitana parted ways after Onaga’s defeat, as she set out to help the spirit of Liu Kang. Shujinko thought either that she departed for Earthrealm for the quest and she came back sooner than expected, or that the invitation had not come from her at all. Deciding that he would not allow himself to be fooled again, he made the decision to uncover a possible plot of an unknown enemy to make himself truly worthy of the admiration Outworld has placed in him. It is revealed that the person who sent the deceptive invitation was Mileena, who he fought and allowed her to capture him at the behest of Shao Kahn. In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon‘s Konquest mode, Taven discovers Shujinko in the dungeons of Shao Kahn’s fortress. After freeing him, Shujinko explained that he allowed himself to be captured on purpose so to as to get closer to his enemies, as he plans to take on Shao Kahn, Onaga, Shang Tsung, and Quan Chi by himself. He disappears soon after in the pursuit of his mission, leaving Taven to regard him as an old fool.

Later, Shujinko joins the Forces of Light in the Battle of Armageddon, where he fights Kobra. Shortly afterwards when the Pyramid of Argus rises from the ground, Shujinko is one of the many kombatants who rushes up the pyramid. He nearly makes it to the very top, right behind Shang Tsung and Mileena, but Shang Tsung knocks Shujinko (and Mileena) off the pyramid with a single punch.

Shujinko was later one of the many warriors killed in the final battle, leaving Raiden and Shao Kahn as the only survivors.

Powers and Abilities

In his young years, Shujinko was trained by the Outworld martial artist, Bo’ Rai Cho, the same one who had trained Liu Kang and Kung Lao, proving he was quite formidable in combat. After his first encounter with Damashi, he is imbued with a supernatural ‘gift from the gods’. This gift allows Shujinko to copy the powers of anyone he fights and any super he can see or acknowledge (which can be noted as by mere thoughts or just by reading a book. In Deception‘s Konquest, he is shown turning into other fighters prior to a match). Thus far, he has absorbed the powers of the likes of Liu Kang, Sindel, the ancestor of Sub-Zero, Scorpion, etc. Due to his otherworldly experiences with other kombatants across the realms, Shujinko would undoubtedly be very powerful at this point. However, his elderly status may have indeed hindered his strength though the times he has been captured were intentional, as he does not seem to believe in violent confrontations in defense of his innocence.