is a character from the '' Mortal Kombat '' series.
Shujinko, making his debut in '' unto the realms again, and now that he is discarded by the Dragon King, has vowed to make up for this mistake. Although he shares some traits with the games' Shaolin monk characters, such as his great receptiveness, deliberation and ability to meditate for hours, he has always been a traveler and a student at heart.
Depicted as a young teenager in Konquest mode of ''Mortal Kombat: Deception'', Shujinko was trained by Master Bo' Rai Cho in the art of Kombat. Soon, however, Shujinko encountered Damashi , the emissary of the Elder Gods. It was from this point on that Shujinko's goal is to find the Kamidogu , or relics that are hidden in each realm of ''Mortal Kombat'' ( Earthrealm , Outworld , Netherealm , Orderrealm , Chaosrealm and Edenia ) and place them on an altar in the nexus of the Elder Gods. In order to be able to do his bidding, Damashi gave Shujinko the ability to absorb fighting styles and special attack patterns of warriors he encountered with great ease.
Shujinko's mission took him more than forty years to complete. By this time, he had missed out on most major events taking place in the realms, such as Shao Kahn 's invasion of Earth, Shinnok 's short-lived insurrection or the formation of the Deadly Alliance , only hearing about them obliquely or being involved very loosely. Because of his mission, it is said he also missed out on the first ''Mortal Kombat'' tournament, despite being an initial choice of the White Lotus Society as their chosen champion (Liu Kang was chosen in his stead). At any rate, when his mission was complete, Damashi revealed himself to be none other than the Dragon King, Onaga , speaking to Shujinko from beyond death.
Onaga used to be emperor of Outworld, and secretly driven by shards, echoes and memories of the One Being , whose consciousness shattered into the six realms with the creation of the Elder Gods . The One Being's existence does not allow the existence of something else, precisely because it is just that. The kamidogu, which contain the essential keys and essences of the realms, are powerful tools to merge the realms. The last tool Onaga needed to perfect his strategy was the sacred amulet that was long in possession of Quan Chi . After defeating the Deadly Alliance and Raiden, Onaga also had the amulet. For this, Shujinko assumed full responsibility, and embarked on a desperate quest to destroy Onaga, believing himself the only person capable of doing so.
Shujinko's ending depicts him as absorbing the abilities of all the present ''MK'' warriors, and using them to destroy the Kamidogu, and Onaga.
Raiden's ending, however, continues this on an unexpected note; the now-vengeful thunder god slays Shujinko for endangering Earthrealm.
Whether Shujinko defeated Onaga, and whether he faced Raiden's wrath, will be revealed in the upcoming '''', in which he will appear.
- Those who have seen Pai Mei in other films (such as '' Kill Bill Vol. 2 '') may notice that Shujinko bears a very similar look. Jokes on the Internet poke fun at Shujinko's look-stealing (first he looks like Liu Kang in early Konquest mode, then like Kung Lao ) to move-stealing, a feature mocked by most fans.
- In general, it seems he is not that well liked by fans as a replacement for the games' general hero, more than likely because of the nature of "Konquest" mode itself, as the story line often diverged into other character's storys' in what some fans thought seemed like a thoughtless effort to include him into game "canon". As well as the fact that the entire Deception story arc was caused by him, er go most did not find his situation sympathetic.
- According to ''Mortal Kombat: Deception'', Ed Boon labels Shujinko to be a "next generation Liu Kang."
- Shujinko is much of a character in Journey to the West aside from Bo Rai Cho.
- Many fans lampooned Shujinko due to the fact that despite being the game's primary hero, it becomes abundantly clear throughout the course of gameplay that he is very, very, ''very'' naive, and at times, downright stupid.
- While playing through Konquest Mode in ''Mortal Kombat: Deception'', local villagers say to Shujinko "May Lord Raiden bless you!" The irony in that statement is that in Raiden's ending, he kills Shujinko as a punishment for what he had done.
- In the opening video of , Shujinko states "Only I can defeat this new threat, borne of deception" and believes to be the true champion of the Elder Gods. However, the Elder Gods hand picked Scorpion as their "True Champion."
- In Japanese, "shujinkō" (主人公) translates to "protagonist."
- Joined the Lin Kuei as a young man. He has done few missions for the organization (joining only to gain Sub-Zero's knowledge of fighting) and is believed to never really have affiliated with the group in ideology. Just the process of being affiliated and doing dishonorable deeds in their name, however, was enough to leave a taint upon his soul that would later permit him access to the Netherealm, a place only sinful souls may enter.
- Shujinko is one of the only Mortal Kombat characters to have interacted with or have had some tie with almost every other major character in the series, as seen throughout his travels in Konquest Mode. The times at which these interactions took place however, are somewhat erratic and sketchy, as Konquest Mode's timeline can be very non-linear and confusing, due in part to a mix of the player's choices as he/she plays, and bad writing on the staff's part. The many errors in Konquest mode's timeline have caused many fans to completely write it off as non-canon, but still others believe it can all be considered canon, so long as one realizes that they have to take the timeline with a large grain of salt.
- The only fighters from MK's history whom Shujinko does not see or talk to in any form whatsoever in his travels are Chameleon and Khameleon . Additionaly, he sees Cyrax , Goro , Kintaro , and Sheeva in his travels, but does not interact with them at all. It should be noted however, that Shujinko does have a brief encounter with the rarely seen MK4 character Meat , whom some believed beforehand not to be a real character within canon.
- Shujinko starts his journey before the first Mortal Kombat. He ends his journey at the time of ''''.
- You can hear Shujinko's voice in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks before Liu Kang and/or Kung Lao fight Shao Kahn but you never see or hear of him anywhere else in the game.
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