If somehow this new demon corrupted Shujinko on his quest, and now he's out to collect the Komidogu's to amplify his own power. Shujinko, the one being.

I prefer my idea in that Shujinko didn't get the memo about the Kamidogu having been retconned into Daggers. Poor old Jinko has spent his entire life searching for the "Pokemon Gym badge" shaped Kamidogu that Damashi told him about, not realizing they don't look like that anymore.

That would be funny except the dagger Kamidogu aren't the same as the other Kamidogu.

Shujinko was going to be freed once his trail

Shujinko will not be rid of. He will be in MKX in one way or another. NRS can do him justice....main boss status maybe? Who knows. Don't say he doesn't have what it takes to become boss, because NRS has the power to do so

I guess Raiden could just kill him, as a preventive measure, with what he now knows of the future.

He could just tell Shujinko what his quest is truly about and who Damashi truly is, so he could recruit Shujinko as an ally which he certainly needs right now, but with the way Raiden's been portrayed, he'd probably kill Shujinko instead.

He'd kill everyone BUT Shujinko. Then for MK 11, we'll just have an endless string of Shujinko mirrors, the only difference would be you could choose which moveset he stole from a certain character.

"Scorpion" Shujinko vs "Sub Zero" Shujinko would be the cover art.

Thus far, I have not been assuming the Kamidogu were merely retconned into being daggers, I've been assuming they were transformed into daggers by Raiden or someone else in some as yet unrevealed backstory that will tie up the loose ends of Shujinko and Onaga. (Which do need to be tied up if we're spanning 25 years).

They seem to quite deliberately be separated and protected in the current plot. If I were to venture a guess, Raiden probably just got wind of Damashi's plot before it could come to fruition in this canon (Future visions maybe? I dunno), put a squash on it, disguised them all as daggers then stuck them into protective custody.

Leaving Onaga an egg and Shujinko a dope. Possibly to be revisited later, possibly to be left behind forever.

Damashi: Shujinko! You have been chosen by the Elder Gods to complete a quest, and save the realms from Armageddon!

Shujinko: Nah. I'm good. I'm just gonna stay in this village and grow gain or whatevs.

Damashi: ......really?

Onaga's return didn't require the kamidogu though, just for the egg to hatch and someone near by to use as an host. But everything else you said sounds sensible.

If Raiden acted on his knowledge of the future to throw a wench in Onaga's plans, I'm sure Onaga could adjust his plans accordingly. But chances are, they'll just flat out pretend Onaga and Shujinko never existed. Remember that with this new timeline came retcons.

So in short, retcons might kill Shujinko.

Do all the Kamidogu have to look like daggers, couldn't they make different types of weapons or relics depending on the type or realm?

I don't see the reason why we should bring him back in the new timeline given his dumbass personality and his bland fatalities in Deception not to mention his power to copy other kombatants' powers is just unoriginal and stupid in my opinion. Even Taven in Armageddon Konquest points out how idiotic Shujinko is and the former is a much more likeable character! Leave this old man to rot in a nursing home and never visit him again NRS.

New timeline. Damashi chooses Apep instead of Jinko. Apep bumps into KotaL Kahn along his journey and gets his heart eaten.

The lin kuei travel to seido, free shujinko and turn him into a cyborg. (He was in their clan)

Cyber-Shujinko is born, and redeemed.

As long as him being playable. I could care less if he lives or dies if he has a good story at least. i liked playing as him in MKD.

Out of curiousity, if Shujinko did return as a playable character, what would the fanbase prefer: that he get his own moves, or that he still get those of other characters?

I think he could get both, actually. One variant or two of individual moves, and another that that is all about mimicking other characters. However, the moves Shujinko gets in that variant should always be random, and obviously never any game-breaking combinations. He should be able to use every other characters' moves, not just a few ones. I admit I'd find it funny to see him puke or shoot guns.

Like in MKD/A, any moves involving dialogue like Scorpion's spear should have Shujinko say those words with a different tone. Imagine him saying "Gotcha!", heh. Shujinko should use moves from Cyborgs like the human selves of Sektor and Cyrax in MK9 did (Missiles fired from wrist device, grenades thrown with hands, etc).

Combo attacks and his x-ray should be unique to him, though, even in the mimicking variant.

What do you think?

Shujinko is so much engraved in onagas story its like you need Onaga in there somewhere , I mean shujinko should be coming for that kamidogu in the comics any minute now , but considering raiden has it and he likes fixing the future it seems now based on the comics (maybe even addicted to knowing what happens) Shujinko may be as dead as Hsu hao . Either way if we going back in this character he definitely needs to be revamped .