I think in the original timeline his ultimate goal was to go to the heavens and confront the elder gods. I could be wrong though

Shinnok doesn't do what Shinnok does for Shinnok. Shinnok does what Shinnok does because he is Shinnok

Shinnok wants to destroy all that exists !

I believe you're right, and since he mentions using Earthrealm as the perfect staging ground for that a few times in story mode, I'm assuming the case is the same here.

Any intros or endings that come of otherwise, I'm assuming are just non canon flair and bluster to make him come of more evil.

I don't know what he wants, I don't think he even know what he wants, he was a dumbass in this game.

That amulet was stated to be a dangerous weapon, I believe even when being wielded by Mileena she was just poofing people away with it, but she would pass out when she used it. Now Shinnok should be able to wield it like no other, and he cant die so it wont take some of his life every time he uses it.

My point? Well when he was freed during the middle of the story, he had the amulet in his hands. He knew damn well there were people there that wanted to stop him, if he really wanted to achieve his goal, he would have killed them all right then and there, possibly with that handy dandy amulet in his hands?

Then he looks over at Johnny and says "There will be no surprises from you, Mr. Cage" ... hey Shinnok, if you don't want Johnny Cage to surprise you, don't let him live and take him to where you plan on carrying out your plans, just kill him there, then no surprises from him. One less person you have to worry about.

Then there was the moment when Raiden was surrounded by the revenants and Shinnok says he will have Raiden be imprisoned like he was and leaves...Really? You're just going to leave him there? Raiden of all people? *Sigh* He knew Raiden was someone that would attempt to stop him, so why not take care of him right there when he had the chance? Screw making him go through what you did just FINISH HIM!!! Or at least imprison him right then and there.

He still would have had to deal with green Cassie, especially if he did kill Cage like he should have back at the camp, but still, I feel like he made a few mistakes lol

Now his ending...What? So he awoke the One Being and it ended reality. Sweet, but he is part of that reality so that means he should no longer exist as well. What a dumbass lol

I still like Shinnok but man, I feel like he wasn't even trying or something lol

Shinnok > Quan Chi > Fujin > Raiden > Shao Kahn

Despite what mkx told of shinnok ik damn well he's more powerful. He's had plenty of time in the netherrealm to be one of the most sadistic and devious mfers in all of villains.

Maybe it's just my inner fanboy but if he and raiden battled for milena and gone to stalemates....exactly why the cassie thing is absurd.

If I remember correctly Shinnok made a coup attempt to gain complete control of the Pantheon of Elder Gods. He failed and was banished to the Netherrealm, so he raised an army from the Netherrealm and attacked Earthrealm, which seems to be the prized possession of the Elder Gods. This drew Raiden directly into the conflict, and he had to raise an earthrealm army to fight back. The casualties on both sides were enormous, but were felt much harder on Earthrealm.

According to the original timeline he is NOT influenced by the One Being, and his rule over the Pantheon would not be equivalent to the One Being. He simply would be the one Elder God with the others subservient to him, ruling over all realms, rather than uniting them into a single realm.

It's the good ol' "villain wants to make the good guys suffer" trope.

Shinnok's endgame is revenge against the Elder Gods. The "Serve me" stuff is just him saying "Help me or I'll kill you".

It's been a while since I re-read the MK4 comic book, but as I recall, Shinnok's plan basically consists of:

1. Breaking out of the Netherrealm.

Plan A involved getting the Amulet back. Bi-Han manages to steal it back from Shinnok at the end of Mythologies, but unbeknownst to either of them, Quan Chi had apparently somehow replaced with it with an "exact duplicate" while secretly keeping the original for himself, and how the fuck did he ever manage to do that is a separate issue all by itself. So as far as everyone else is concerned, Plan A was a failure.

As far as I can tell, Plan B involved finding someone dumb enough to actually let Shinnok into their realm. When Tanya tricks Sindel into accepting some magical orb doohickey under the pretense of it being a gift from a friendly realm, it allows Shinnok to cross the inter-realm barriers into Edenia/Outworld (at that point in the story, Edenia wasn't a separate realm, but just the old name for Outworld before Kahn took over).

Shinnok's Edenia becomes his base of operations from which he wages war on other realms.

2. This:



3. In the comic, Kuai travels to the Temple of the Elements to try to make peace with the gods on behalf of his brother.



He is surprised to find the temple empty and unguarded.

The reason for that is when the Elder Gods' Eternal Palace got attacked by Shinnok's hordes, they apparently had to bring in minor deities from other realms as reinforcements, including, of course, the elemental gods of Earthrealm.

As we find out shortly, Raiden and Fujin are the only ones left. Everyone else is dead.

4. Considering that Raiden played a key role in Shinnok's downfall, Shinnok is still understandably butthurt about it. As his MK4 bio tells us, getting revenge on Raiden is definitely a part of his motivation.

5. In several of the endings where Shinnok is victorious, he is referred to as the Ruler Supreme of All Reality. I guess he decided to step up the ante, because originally, he only had designs for Earthrealm.

That about sums it up.


Yeah, I wouldn't take that at face value.

Quan Chi was really the only nihilistic edgelord among the cast, and the whole "end all of existence and rule over the void" was always more of his thing. I think not even Havik wants the universe to be this utterly fucked. Baraka actually calls him out on this in his MKGold ending.


Kahn is a warlord and conqueror. His goal is to keep conquering the realms so he could expand his empire. It's heavily implied that the influence of the One Being compels him to do this, but that's all it is - a subtle push. As Kahn himself perceives it, he isn't motivated by bringing the One Being back, he is simply expanding his empire because he seems to revel in the very process of konquest.

And when he kills Blaze and ascends into straight-up (Elder?) godhood, that's exactly what he does - he expands his empire to encompass all of existence. The fact that this results in the restoration of the One Being and ultimately ends all reality as we know it is more of an unintended side effect.


I'll have to take a look at his arcade ending when I get to it, but considering everything I just told you, I don't think it'd make sense for him as a character to either be trying to merge the realms or bring the One Being back. Hell, since he's a former Elder God himself, he must have personally participated in the destruction of the One Being and the creation of the realms. He should be aware of the threat of the unified non-existence more than anyone.


Remember, Shinnok did what he did because wasn't happy to be a neutral observer, a timeless overseer with one obligation - not to intervene. He wanted to rule.


So if I had to sum up the characters in one word, Kahn would be the Conqueror.

Shinnok would be the Overlord.


That's exactly right. He was just another Elder God. That's why Taven is so respectful and trusting towards him.

I like that scene because it serves to show that Kahn has been a bad guy for a lot longer than Shinnok has.


He's my favorite.

I'm fucking sick of Kahn.


Also, threadly reminder:






Y'know, for a dumb edgy fighting game..?

That's pretty fucking deep.

And as much as I like MKX, I've yet to see anything in the NT that even approaches this.

I never understood characters that just want to destroy everything.
Wouldn't they be bored as hell after?

So many good and elaborated replies. Thanks guys. ^_^


That’s what I figured. I was thrown off in this game because it seems they’re trying to do something extra.



As for Shinnok not knowing what he wants himself, that’s why I was wondering if he was possessed. Nothing he does in Mkx makes much sense.

I agree he should have killed Johnny right away, but I can understand him wanting to make Raiden suffer. If I was evil and someone locked me away, I would totally want to get the most out of it. Not the smartest move, but understandable.

What really makes Shinny look not so smart is the fact that he makes the same mistake he made with Cassie Cage. According to what he said about Earthrealm forces in the Netherealm, Shinnok seems to retain at least some of his omniscience, so he should have known about Johnny and Cassie’s ancestor’s and what triggers their power.

Also, I’m almost certain that the gods are separate from reality, but if One Being awakens he’s going to start feeding off them again.



I agree.



I’ve been wanting to get my hands on those comics for the longest time. Are they canon like the Mkx ones?

That awesome work you posted of Tobias. Was that one of Shinnok’s endings or was it a snippet from the strategy guides?

These three are:




Written by Tobias himself. The MK4 one is a bit rushed compared to the other two, and the art is not the greatest, because he didn't personally draw it, but still.


It's from the old Mythologies website.

I did a side-by-side comparison a little while ago, so I'd say about 80% of this lore is included in the manual that comes with the game, but there's just so much of it that the editor obviously had to make some sacrifices. As a result, some of the juicier bits (like the stuff about Scorpion and Sub-Zero's families and civilian lives before they got into the assassin business) never made it in.

If there is a strategy guide that actually has all of this information, I really want to find it because it needs to be preserved.

2D classics forum has stickies of compiled stuff, and old lore info.



Ka-Tra

Shinnok was an Elder God; specifically, one of the original Elder Gods who defeated the One Being in the first place, and made the Realms from the One Being's remains. It makes perfect sense that he would still remain after resurrecting the One Being, even in his weakened state. He exists within the reality, but he isn't a product of said reality.