I don't quite get calling the character that if he ISN'T related to Shao Kahn. Especially considering that this game will feature new characters who are related to old school characters such as Cassie Cage.

Could Kahn/Khan be a TITLE in Outworld? Sort of like how Khan was actually a title, NOT a family name when it came to Ghengis Khan? He was actually Ghengis THE KHAN, not Ghengis Khan.

Seeing as how Kotal says "PRAY for the Kahn's mercy!", I'm sure "Kahn" is a title that has something to do with deities and/or other worshiped beings and creatures. Which goes with what we know about Shao Kahn's backstory.

Hmm. I seem to remember that they did flesh out Kahn's backstory some in the "3D" games but I don't know how much of that is canon anymore due to MK2011. But yeah, come to think of it, I think they did reveal Shao Kahn as being at least part god before, didn't they?

He's part of the same race of beings as Raiden and Lucifer. He was the Raiden of Outworld who advised Onaga until he got rid of him through poison and took over Outworld. All of this is brought up in Deception.

And none of Shao Kahn's backstory before he went for Edenia was changed in MK9. Read his bio in that game.

Ah ok, thanks. It's been a very long time since I've played Deception, man. I haven't had a PS2 for several years now. I still have my copies of DA and Deception but they just collect dust now. Maybe one of these days I'll find a working PS2 and play them again. It sucks that my PS3 can't play PS2 games.

I'm thinking that since Shao Kahn was destroyed, a new god took on "Kahn" as title for Outworld's new war god. Afterall, "War God" is the name of one of Kotal's variations.

I would think he is Outworld's sun god, considering what was said in the Raiden reveal trailer.

That is true, but then there's also his "Blood God" variation. In the gameplay footage seen in multiple videos, he uses his dagger to cut himself. Plus, there's also his fatality. I hope this stuff is more clearly explained in the story itself though I do think your theory is pretty spot-on.

That line just had me think perhaps Kotal Kahn is from some civilization that used to worship Shao Kahn when he was a god. *shrugs* I unno, probably definitely not so that's as much thought as I am going to put into that line.

They even misspelled "Kahn" in the Raiden match intro. Some things never change after 20+ years.

I really hope we're not retconning "Kahn' into being a title. I've become so used to it being a part of a guy's name for twenty plus years. :/

Since way back when I'd always found it odd that an Outworld emperor had a German last name.

But now I guess we're going down the Darth [insert name here] route with Kotal Kahn. Titling the name now makes Shao Kahn himself seem almost generic.

Or maybe his new name is Kotal Khan. Like Blind Kenshi becoming just Kenshi. Things change during development.

Yup, and originally Mavado's name was Malvado. They even announced the character in Game Informer with that name but it was changed later during development.

I wonder if I still have that issue of Game Informer with Scorpion on the cover somewhere. Ahh, memories. It's so weird, man. I remember when Deadly Alliance as the "new thing", and now it brings back feelings of nostalgia. I still remember when all we had to go on regarding MKV was that render of Scorpion and Jax fighting. This website was originally called MK5.org.

I feel old.

I don't know about you guys, but I heard "Pray for the GOD'S mercy."

Yeah, me too, from the very beginning. There's some bad ears on people.

I hope not. It would continue the grand tradition of fucking up grammar in MK.


And it's not like they do not know the difference: Hsu Hao's design name was KUBLAI KHAN, as in the real mongolian overlord.

KaHn is a Malaysian/southeast asian proper name. KHan is the title of the Mongolian and -for some time- Chinese overlord.

Same thing happened with Kenshi when they talked about how his name meant sword saint. Almost Boon and co., almost. The translation for that is KenSEI, not Kenshi.


Breaks my heart they do not do proper research, but cherrypick something superficial.

I've listen to that clip over and over, and he says "Pray for the Kahn's mercy"

I hear it now, my bad. Definitely says "Kahn's mercy".