This is hard, becuase at what point does a character's time in Mortal Kombat end? Plus we have the age old thing of dead/retired characters coming back for another go later on, but here are a few of my ideas.

Kung Lao- Becomes Mortal Kombat's new champion. Still part of the Shaolin, he takes Raiden's role and acts as mentor for a new generation of Earthrealm/Edenian fighters against future invasion threats.

Kitana- Succeeds her mother Sindel and becomes the Queen of the fully liberated Edenia. She can't be a Princess all her life, and I think Kitana fills the role of Edenia's leader much better.

Quan Chi- Escapes from battle beaten and barely alive. Secretly, he gathers what's left of the evil forces under his leadership, ready to resurface for the next generation's Mortal Kombat tournament.

Li Mei- Using Ashrah's Kriss blade, she finally manages to drive out the evil put inside her by the Deadly Alliance. After the final battle, she will work to rebuild her old village, this time as it's leader and guardian.

Johnny Cage- Retires from the movie industry, after a successful last film based on his final MK battle. Johnny then sets up his own martial arts academy to finally show the world he's for real, and pass on his skills to young fighters. The Johnny/Sonya matchup really doesn't work imo.

Reptile- Reptile survives the defeat of the evil forces, and decides to finally quit serving anyone. He meets up with Khameleon, and together they work to slowly recreate the Zatterran race.

Given Kung Lao's pacifist attitude, I don't think he'd want to be Mortal Kombat's champion.

Kung Lao is not really much of a pacifist these days, if he ever really was. The Shaolin fighters are some of the less violent characters, it's true, but to me, he always had more of a harder edge than goody two shoes Liu Kang. Like many of the good guys, he is simply doing what he has to to protect Earthrealm and his friends. He may not have always liked it, but as one of Earth's biggest hopes, he doesn't have a lot of choice in the matter, and has accepted his life of combat. Besides, how would he ever get the chance to live any sort of a peaceful life if Earth is invaded by Kahn or whoever?

Why would he not want to be Mortal Kombat champion? Kung Lao entered MK fighting to protect Earth, and also honour and avenge his ancestor, the original Kung Lao. Before the Earthrealm invasion, he and Liu are training younger fighters for the Shaolin. Kung Lao does try to retire after barely surviving his battle against Kahn (originally meant to be his death scene). But he returns to fight against Shinnok's invasion. Then after Liu's MKDA death, Kung Lao puts aside any pacifist views and enters with revenge in his mind, plus knowing that with Liu gone, Earth needs him and the others more than ever.

I wouldn't go as far as to say Kung Lao is/was a pacifist, but I always saw him as reluctant to be the Mortal Kombat champion. Like he originally DIDN'T enter the tournament. He only took part in MK2 because the Shaolin Temple was attacked. After MK3 he lets everyone think he's dead and retires and only returns when Shinnok emerges.
Course, this was before Shaolin Monks, which depicts Kung Lao as eager to be the champ and resentful of Liu Kang, etc.
So take it for what it's worth.


Back on topic:
Liu Kang- Does one final heroic deed before his soul finally moves on to the Heavens where he can rest in peace.

Johnny Cage/Sonya Blade- Cage and Sonya retire from fighting and get married. They have a daughter who joins the Special Forces.

Jax- Does not recover from being corrupted by Onaga. Turns evil and is eventually killed by Sonya.

Sub-Zero- Sub-Zero will settle into the Grandmaster role of the Lin Kuei and retire from fighting. He'll eventually pass the Sub-Zero name onto a successor.

Goro- Goro will be killed by Kitana and/or Kung Lao.

Kitana- Kitana restores Edenia and becomes Queen, finally able to live in peace.

Mileena- Mileena slowly and painfully manages to let go of her hatred for Kitana. She then moves on to form a new life for herself in Outworld. Possibly gets her face fixed at some point.

Jade- As Kitana becomes Queen of Edenia, Jade becomes an Elite Guard, the highest rank in the Edenian Army.

Sindel- Will die heroically to save Edenia. She will move on to the afterlife where she will be rejoined with Jerrod and rest in peace.

Rain- Will reform and fall in love with Kitana. Becomes King of Edenia by her side.

Ermac- Ermac will become Outworld's defender, ensuring the realm is never threatened or becomes a threat again.

Cyrax- Killed by Sektor.

Sektor- Destroyed by Sub-Zero along with the Tekunin.

Sareena- Regains her soul and becomes human. Lives rest of her life in peace.

Reiko- Sacrifices himself to save Sareena's life. (I wish)

Scorpion- My idea for Scorpion involves Quan Chi corrupting the soul of Scorpion's wife in some way. He has a chance to move onto the Heavens and rest in peace, but instead chooses to save his wife's soul. She moves on, and Scorpion the rest of his existence as the Elder Gods' Champion.

That's all I can think of for now.

Liu Kang - Liu Kang faces off in an official Mortal Kombat tournament against a warrior of the future, Liu Kang relizing that he must pass that honor on to another generation allows himself to loose the battle and pass on the title of Mortal Kombat champion. Liu Kang gives words of advice to the future warriors of Earthrealm and then goes out to what he wanted to do for a long time. Liu Kang returns to Edenia and conveys his love for Kitana. They marry and Liu Kang becomes King Of Edenia.

Kung Lao - Kung Lao stays on and remains in the Shaolin Temples. Kung Lao reforms the White Lotus society and trains future warriors for the threats that may be. Kung Lao has a new warrior shrine that has statues of all the warriors that have defended Earthrealm from grave danger.

Johnny Cage - Johnny Cage satisfied with defending Earthrealm decides to stop making movies and decide to make warriors just as awsome as him. Johnny Cage decides that people in America should be able to defend Earthrealm aswell and knows that the legacy of Johnny Cage has to live on through his students. Johnny Cage still has his contacts with the Shaolin and the Special Forces.

More to come..

Not to be off-topic, but I felt this was the best place to say it.

Considering how much Shaolin Monks fucks the storyline up, they really should just end it, ya know? I mean, as they go on, and the storyline becomes longer and filled with more detail, little by little the creators will start to forget things and eventually just make mistakes all over the place in FUTURE future games.

I dunno, just one of the many reasons why MK should just end (yes, I know, it won't happen - cause of money).....because the creators are just going to mess up over and over again as they forget more and more things because they keep adding more and more things.