Kung Lao - Blog Posts
FUCK you * twinkifies your god*
Kung Lao more like.... Kung Pao, ha!
Cole Young should've been Kai
I know, I know, this is just an excuse to project how much I wanna see more black characters as main characters.
I'm pretty sure the hate for Mortal Kombat 2021 has died down to some degree, as it's been a good 3 years since the movie came out, and no ones talking about it anymore. Nonetheless, I wanted to give my take on Cole Young. I heard that the reason they made Cole Young is because they wanted to pander to the audience, and how they didn't want a white main character to be the every man that introduces the audience to Mortal Kombat... So they came up with Cole Young.
If that was the case, then Kai was right there. I mean, they did bring out characters from the Midway era, so they could've brought Kai. Let me explain myself here. Kai has fire powers as well, but he doesn't even have to be a descendant of Hanzo. They could've pulled a Miles Morales, but he doesn't have to be painted as the next Scorpion or some other crap. Kai in canon is a student/mentee of Liu Kang's, and is a member of the White Lotus. What does Cole do? He trains with Liu Kang and Kung Lao. Just like Cole, Kai can be an orphan as well.
Of course, you can't trust them to write the script. I can't be trusted either, but here's my take on what could've been:
Kai is a college kid doing underground fighting to make ends meet or a side hustle. The ring is run by the Black Dragon, who are keeping some tabs on him due to how much money he's been making, so they set up Kobra to be his next contender. The start of the film shows him defeating Kobra, before heading home to count his money to make sure he has enough for rent. His bedroom has a set design that clues the audience in on what his interests are. There are Martial Arts posters, he has a collection of weapons (hints to poor spending habits), and there's a picture of him and his baseball team from high school. There's a metal baseball bat laying somewhere, implying that he still occasionally likes to play.
He later goes on to China Town, and purchases a random spear from some guy, not knowing that it used to belong to Hanzo Hasashi aka Scorpion. To his credit, the seller tells Kai that the spear is cursed and is said to drive people who use it insane, with all of them claiming to see images of Hell fire, and nightmares of a sceptre, that's why it's selling for such a low price. Kai tells him that he doesn't need to worry about marketing, and that he just wants the spear. (He's also a big fan of watching youtubers explore "haunted" abandoned buildings and ouija board stuff, so it's a win for him)
Kai gets on to his daily life, not knowing that he's being stalked by Kobra. He accidentally sets a few things on fire, quickly figuring out that he has new powers. He doesn't know how to control them, and tries to stay away from flammable objects. (I think Kai's fire should be a certain colour to differentiate him from Liu Kang and Scorpion. Either pink, blue or green. Pink just because, blue to imply that it's super hot, and green to reference the Chaosrealm as a hint to Kai's ancestry, made up on my part)
Kobra breaks into Kai's home and demands a rematch, and Kai uses the baseball bat to help defend himself. He accidentally kills Kobra after shooting a fireball at him, and his home catches fire. He doesn't know how to stop the fire, and in his panic, he grabs as many valuables as he can before leaving the scene. The spear, a family photo, some money.
He tells the police that Kobra was some random home invader who knocked him out, but Kai woke up in time to find the place on fire, and Kobra was still present and unfortunately burned to death. Stryker investigates, and suspects there's more to the story, sensing something off about Kai. At the same time, he can't help but feel bad for Kai, and offers his spare bedroom so long as Kai pays rent. (Cue Stryker accidentally becoming a father to a college kid)
In natural reporter fashion, the incident is broadcast to the world, alerting his whereabouts to Sub Zero, and other Outworld champions. Raiden appears and warns Kai of danger, and asks Kai to come with him. Stryker intervenes (because some random lightning guy appeared in his house), telling Kai to run while he keeps Raiden at bay. Kai runs off to hide at a nearby store or something, and that's when Sub Zero appears to kill him. Kai does pretty well to hold him off, but his flames are flaring up when he doesn't want them to. Raiden saves him, and once he's able to shoo Sub Zero away he explains everything to Kai.
Kai's family used to compete in the tournament, and after they died under mysterious circumstances, he's been stuck living by himself. (He never told anyone in fear of social services, but he's been alone since 17. Maybe they went on holiday and never came back, idk) It's one of the reasons he's making ends meet in underground fighting. Those white markings on his skin? Family heirloom type stuff. Kai's parents were one of the many who were slain by Sub Zero over the years. Coming into contact with a supernatural object activated Kai's abilities.
Kai agrees to go with Raiden to China, and trains with the White Lotus, where he is introduced to Liu Kang. Kai wants to know how to use his spear, but Liu Kang hands him a club. (I personally hate clubs, because the weapon looks so unclean and tacky. But in the game, Kai uses a spiked club, so I can't retcon anything.) Here, he becomes Liu Kang's student. Although he's good at using the club, he is still determined to use the spear, and practises by himself. He accidentally summons some fire, but it's not his fire, it's hell fire.
Edit: Kai finds out some other things about himself, like how his family were shamans of some kind, leading him to investigate how to summon entities. He starts to experience the effects of the spear, and tries to communicate with Scorpion, and find hints through his visions. The next time Kai gets into a fight, he is not himself, and his eyes shine a golden blaze.
He does find a way to summon Scorpion and bring him to the mortal world.
Here are some random comments I found on YouTube and TikTok. Apply them to the correct characters. The last one is a cooking tutorial. I can imagine them having a conversation. The last one screams Kombat kids though.
Shujinko is an agent of chaos rant
More crap I keep coming with. These are things I wrote in a Youtube comment section btw, I just expanded on it a bit more to post here. I recommend checking out Cynical Warlock, he's got some great videos on Mortal Kombat.
I wish we were given a story mode that not only reintroduces Shujinko, but also the kahoots he got himself involved with outside Onaga. Like lying to Hotaru about King Zeffeero, and spreading chaos in Seido for Havik in exchange for coins (it’s a tiny side quest in konquest mode where the player bumps into Havik in seido). Have Shujinko be a righteous man who has no clue he might be insane, if you count randomly punching civilians and thievery to be a part of the story arc. He’s an agent of chaos that is unaware of his chaotic side, and Seidans can smell it on him, so a lot of them stay clear of him. It could explain why he turned on Liu Kang and the others in Kung Lao’s ending. There’s a quiet evil lingering, but it doesn’t want to take things over, it just desires to cause trouble.
I hope Shujinko plays a part in the Titan Havik story, because in my opinion it'll just feel wrong if he's not there since he's the reason we know of Choasrealm, same with Hotaru. There needs to be Hotaru, he's the order to Havik's chaos, and Shujinko is the child caught between those divorced parents.
I'd like to believe that Shujinko is also a mirror to Shang Tsung in a way. He (unknowingly) does bad things in the name of good, but Shang Tsung is (cartoonishly) open about his wickedness. Both of them have the ability to copy others, and were promised some form of grandeur, only to be double crossed by the very entity that brought them up. It seems with the mk1 timeline that their stories were swapped. In the old timeline Shang Tsung was a champion for Earthrealm who decided to switch to the dark side and learn soul magic, only to betray both his masters once the opportunity came. In mk1 timeline Shujinko supposedly comes from nothing, and once he becomes powerful he has to be subdued with his memories and powers taken away. He even has the same hairstyle as Shang Tsung, they must be mirrors of some kind.
I also headcanon that Mokap is descended from Chaosrealm. He's some random motion capture guy, but seems okay with the bloodshed that's going on. In Deception's Konquest mode you'll catch him strutting around with a big smile on his face. If you punch him he won't do anything about it, he gets back up and starts strutting again like nothing happened.
MKX's Kung Lao an essay
Notes: I originally wrote this in youtube comment section and decided to post it here. Watch Cynical Warlock's Rewriting Kung Lao video, its super interesting.
Kung Lao seemed pretty badass in MKX, and I'm talking about the old man version that's not seen in the storymode. I first interpreted MKX version of Lao appeared more humble and secure, no longer needing to prove himself as Liu Kang's equal. He even gave me the impression that he could be a mentor figure, appearance wise, whereas Old Liu Kang didn't give me that same vibe. Also, Kung Lao has a special hat that he uses as a weapon... How does he not outshine Liu Kang?
We do see his hat origin in MK1, so we can assume that it's similar to the past timelines on why he uses it. With that being said, he's great at coming up with random weapons, and very effective ones too. In another timeline he might be a weapons specialist, maybe even a maker. He even has another version of the hat that looks like daggers have been glued onto it, which we see in the game (I think it was a variant), and that might have been his first hat before he made a perfected version.
I think if MKX had better writing, then Kung Lao could've been brought back from the dead (like Sub Zero, Scorpion & Jax) and become another mentor figure to the combat kids instead of just being another yes man revenant who obey's revenant Liu Kang.
Both Liu Kang and Kung Lao were playable in MKX, they could've at least brought one of them back. Since they made Liu Kang king of the Neatherrealm, it would have to be Kung Lao.
Just as Sub Zero has a sort of friendship with Johnny, Kung Lao could be the same, separating him from Liu Kang on who they keep close to them. Personality wise, he's less harsh and strict than Liu Kang, and is more friendly, so I can picture him and Johnny having a friendship.
He can teach the combat kids that weapons can be formed from anything, basically ensuring that no one becomes a copy paste of their parents (Cassie & Jacqui), and has something unique about them, like having knives in their shoes and doing capoeira to cut the opponent or something (idk).
Just like Johnny, he isn't treated or spoken to very nicely by Sonya and some others because they keep mistaking his current self to his past self. He doesn't like it when people do this (I certainly wouldn't), but he is mostly civil with cutting remarks every now and then. Think of it as visiting a toxic family you've been in low contact with, and they occasionally make jokes and jabs about you copying your golden child sibling, and how you'll never be like them or escape their shadow. Even though you stand up for yourself, you're still seen as being bitter and jealous.
Another reason why I think Johnny and Kung Lao have a shot at friendship is because Johnny doesn't mention Liu Kang once, or anything linked to the past, or even his personality. Kung Lao is also said to "smile too much" according to Ferra, meaning he has a tendency to smile when he's about to face off with an opponent. Remind you of someone we know?
Here's how he can be introduced: The combat kids have a mission, however, the combat kids cannot go with weapons, at least weapons that are seen. In this au Johnny is with the Wu Shi instead of the Special Forces (as seen in my Havik post), so he sends the combat kids (mainly Cassie and Jacqui) to meet Kung Lao. The combat kids find out that Kung Lao, while still maintaining his teachings, has left the Shaolin and works as a weapons maker in some random town or city in China, and lives in solitude (a metaphor for no longer seeking the validation of others). Instead of giving the weapons straight up, he tests every single one of them. He ends up letting them have the weapons of course, and watches them go on their day.
MK11 made him so cocky to the point he was a Johnny Cage clone, and Kung Lao never struck me as the cocky type during MK9. It was actually Liu Kang that came off as egotistical to me, and the fact that he rebels against Raiden kind of proves that. Liu Kang went against a literal god. There's even an ending that shows he will be corrupt if he replaced Raiden. Earthrealm's champion, ladies and gentlemen.
I never viewed Kung Lao as cocky, so his MK11 version was a complete 180, and the fact that NRS continued that into MK1 disappointed me. Kung Lao is impulsive, but not always. He is capable of being reserved and calculating. While Kung Lao is also quite ruthless, Liu Kang is the hot headed one that refuses to listen to reason at times.
People make all kinds of jokes about Kung Lao and him getting his neck snapped, when Shao Kahn went about it cowardly. I'll elaborate by saying Shao Kahn snuck up on him, it wasn't face to face. In the words of Kendrick Lamar, "when I catch flight, it's gon' be direct". Shao Kahn is Drake in this situation, sneak dissing. When people make fun of Kung Lao's neck snap they're technically meat riding Shao Kahn.
Just saying
Get a guy that can do both.
(He plays Kung Lao in Mortal Kombat Conquest. I couldn't find any nice gifs)
Find yourself a dazzling boyfriend who can do supportive sparkling boyfriend things while you be a girly girl and can also throw hands when the time calls for it.
Mileena: Thoughts and Opinions
These are my thoughts and opinions on Mortal Kombat that a bunch of people probably won't care about, but I thought I should post them here. Now I will be using past games as reference, even though every character's interpretation/counterpart is different, they still play part to the canon storyline.
[Warning: This post is very long. Revealing cosplay.]
I always saw Mileena as eccentric rather than crazy. The eating people thing? She's not human and is a fang faced creature, we are not to be surprised.
Appearance: Now before Mkx the female characters were sexualized for marketing purposes, but a lot of the fandom recognises Mileena to be the go to when it comes to sexualization. Even when Mkx took the designs more seriously Mileena still has that flare of... marketing. In mk11 that goes out of the window. Now mind you, I like the costumes and skins for Mileena in this game, I'm a sucker for kimonos, and that kimono still has a titty window and comes off as more revealing than Kitana's. Even when you put Mileena next to Kitana, knowing what she looks like without the mask, she's still seen as the 'hotter one' out of the two.
I think it's just the fact they babied her. And when I say they babied her I don't just mean her childish attitude that is significantly different to mk9, I'm talking about her face model. In another post I headcanoned that Kitana is 17-19 in human years because I genuinely believe she looks like she's around that age. In the previous games Kitana and Mileena both look like they are in their mid to late 20's which is how they were able to get sexualized.
Because of the redesigns I think it retconned the interactions that took place between the characters.
Ships
I find it bizarre that most of the male roster roasts the hell out of her, yet have an undertone of flirting based on interactions I've seen. Now, that's probably me being delusional and pulling at strings just to make a ship happen, but it's there.
Mileena + Kung Lao (If I'm feeling bold), Liu Kang (If I'm feeling bolder), Kuai Liang, Hanzo (childhood ship), Takeda ("You can look but you can't touch"), Stryker (watched Sonic XD's mk9 sucks video), Erron Black (I mean he did date Nitara and Skarlet), Bi Han/Noob Saibot
Out of all these ships I've listed I feel the most strongly about shipping her with Bi Han. It's mainly because of a post I saw, which was based on a meme.
Kitana: Am I ugly?
Liu Kang: No.
Mileena: Am I ugly
Bi Han/Noob Saibot: Yes.
Mileena and Bi Han are dating in this meme, btw. I think it was built on the fact that Bi Han can see her for the tarkatan she is but it doesn't disturb him. I don't think he goes out of his way to mock her, either, he's merely analytical of her. Following one of my headcanons, he takes things literal, meaning he has no intentions of harming her emotionally.
Yes, I ship him and Sereena, but I like to try new things.
"We have met before." - Mileena
"In the Netherrealm, where I consumed your soul." - Bi Han/Noob Saibot
That wasn't supposed to sound sweet, but it did. To me. There's also this video.
They both have sibling problems and were killed unfairly. Mileena's crown was snatched from her while Bi Han was made a slave alongside Scorpion. You know, the guy that killed him. They fought Kabal together.
Oh, and they can both teleport :).
It could be argued that Noob has a better chance with Skarlet since she reminds him of Sereena, but I like her interactions with Sub Zero.
I'm starting to think I should write a yandere Liu Kang/Kung Lao x Mileena (one sided), I mean Kung Lao wanted Kitana too so he could see Mileena as some kind of replacement.
Family:
I think Shao Kahn does feel some kind of fatherly attachment to her, although I headcanon that he's a narcissistic father. In Mk11 story mode he was ready to kill D'Vorah the second he found out she killed Mileena. Protective dad. I think some of it comes from the father-daughter bond he has with Kitana. While Shao Kahn did say that he kept her around just to appease Sindel, he had no need to do that after her death, so he technically adopted Kitana just because he could. And then teenage rebellion kicked in and he had her replaced by Mileena.
"Where's this boldness been hiding, Kitana? Had you shown it before, I'd have no need for Mileena." I think Shao Kahn did care for Kitana but not in a way that his mind can fully address. But he prefers Mileena, as she's the version of Kitana that won't betray him. Even though Mileena was created as a replacement he still recognised her as an heir, and his daughter.
I also think Shao Kahn can't produce children... I mean I still see Skarlet as his adopted child. Dude's straight up just picking up daughters.
Shao Kahn being a dad:
"Raiden chooses champions poorly." - Shao Kahn
"This from the man who chose Mileena?" - Liu Kang
"Do not mock my daughter!" - Shao Kahn
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"Those who betray me suffer, Black." - Shao Kahn
"Our contract died when you did." - Erron Black
"You should've served Mileena." - Shao Kahn
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"You'll pay for Mileena, D'Vorah." - Shao Kahn
"This one did Outworld a service." - D'Vorah
"And so shall I." - Shao Kahn
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"With Sindel's return our family is complete." - Shao Kahn to Mileena
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"Daughter, you have returned." - Shao Kahn
"To reclaim my place at your side from Skarlet." - Mileena
"First prove yourself her better." - Shao Kahn
Yeah, he's a narcissistic parent.
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"You didn't teach me blood magic." - Mileena
"Sorcery is Skarlet's gift, not yours." - Shao Kahn
"You'd never know, you never gave me a chance." - Mileena
That sounds like sibling jealousy, Skarlet was certainly adopted.
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"Back from the dead, I see." - Rain
"You must answer for scheming against Mileena." - Shao Kahn
"Your daughter got exactly what she deserved." - Rain
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Bonus: Kitana
Kitana is just so out of pocket. Now to be fair, she reacted in a way that is understandable. If I found out someone cloned me and I was face to face with that clone I would freak out too. But it's what happens afterwards. Kitana claimed that Mileena attacked her when it was the other way around.
Now if we follow the events of mk9 and not the events that came before it, Kitana never got to even know Mileena, so that comment was uncalled for. Not only that, but Mileena was welcoming towards Kitana upon first meeting her. While she was created to replace Kitana, that was not her priority when she woke up and saw Kitana for the first time. It's very clear that Kitana has absorbed Shao Kahn's narcissistic habits.
Now with some interactions:
"You're more my sister than Mileena." - Kitana
"So why must we fight again?" - Jade
"Where there are siblings there is rivalry." - Kitana
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"I don't suppose you have a sister." - Kung Lao
"There is only Mileena." - Kitana
"Thank you. I'll pass." - Kung Lao
I think Kitana actually carries pride over being the pretty one. I also think she took pleasure in making Kung Lao uncomfortable.
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"You will be queen of the damned." - Noob Saibot
"That honour is Mileena's" - Kitana
Out of pocket, no one said Mileena's name yet Kitana brought her up just to insult her.
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Skarlet and Mileena should've had a bond of some kind that wasn't antagonistic. I already wrote a post about this some years ago on my old Tumblr account, but I deleted it so I have to start over with this post. In Skarlet's original story (before the retcon) she was created in the flesh pits and even appears a few times during the mk9 story mode, so by that alone Mileena and Skarlet have a connection.
In the retcon Shao Kahn is the one to teach Skarlet blood magic, but I always saw sorcery as Shang Tsung's speciality since Shao Kahn has his kingly duties to fulfil so I think it would be much more fitting if Shang Tsung taught her under Shao Kahn's orders, that way her and Shang Tsung have a bond of their own being teacher and student to compliment the fact that he created her back in mk9.
Now, Kitana has Jade so it was an opportunity to have an evil doppelganger situation with Mileena and Skarlet. They both like gore, they both hate Kitana because Kitana was mean to them, and they both don't like Jade. They both also have a thing for Sub Zero, which means they have similar tastes. They should get along. And for them to not get along I think it should've been the normal sibling dynamic where they would easily get into fights and do little things that annoy the other, but deep down are fond of each other. Something that counters Kitana and Jade's you're like a sister to me that you don't see real siblings experience.
If we're gonna follow the fact that they should get along, then Skarlet could've been the cool older sister. She had a boyfriend (Erron), she is good at what she does, and she's just as feral as Mileena but is more laid back. I can picture her helping Mileena with her makeup and her training. The sister that Kitana never was and refuses to be. On Skarlet's part it could be a thing where she remembered how it felt for Kitana to belittle her and for Jade to shun her for not being Edenian, and decides that she refuses to be the same to Mileena.
I have said a bunch of times that Shao Kahn sort of adopted Skarlet or sees her as a child of his. He took her away from the streets because she showed fire, and that's how a lot of adoptions go from what I heard, there's something about the kid that sparks something in that parent. But I think because Skarlet doesn't have royal blood and is a street urchin is what doesn't make her worthy of the title of daughter in Shao Kahn's eyes even if the bond is potentially there.
As much as I would love them to get along, Skarlet is jealous of Mileena. The fact that a clone was able to be given the title 'daughter' in a blink of an eye in comparison to Skarlet who had been serving him for more than centuries. "Shao Kahn needs no more Kitana clones!" is her way of saying that she wants to be recognised, loved and appreciated. "A pity you will never be his daughter." from Shang Tsung wasn't just any statement, he can see that this street urchin orphan who will not be mourned wants a parental figure in her life, and that unfortunately became Shao Kahn. There could've been the potential that it would be Shang Tsung, but we all know what he's like, he would see her as nothing more than a student who wants something more.
Skarlet lusts for power, and I theorise it is because she's trying to fill a hole, which is common in people who lack certain things in their life such as emotional stability and parental support. Having power will give her that sense of control over her life, supposedly.
Following my headcanon that Skarlet desiring Skao Kahn is a sign of her insanity, her need for security, appreciation and love has been perverted by the very thing that gives her power. Poor Skarlet.