Kai is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series.

About Kai

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Kai is of Chinese and African-American descent, but his exact origins are unknown. Like Liu Kang and Kung Lao, he is another Shaolin monk who is a skilled martial artist with the ability to use fire. He made his debut, and to date only appearance, in Mortal Kombat 4/Gold.

Storyline

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A former member of the White Lotus Society, Kai learned his skills from the great masters throughout Asia. He met Liu Kang who happened to be in America recruiting to train a new generation of Shaolin warriors. During the time of Mortal Kombat Gold, Kai went with Lui Kang to China to become a Shaolin warrior. This was however interupted with the invasion of Shinnok and his dark legion into Edenia. Lui Kang and Kai then join the other Earth warriors in Edenia to assist Raiden in his battle against Shinnok.

Possible future

It is unknown what precisely happened to Kai, but his ending states that after Shinnok's defeat, he lost interest in becoming a Shaolin warrior and decided that he would explore the world to search for his soul. Raiden gives Kai his lightning staff and tells him to use it well. In Deception's Konquest mode, Kai is in possession of the staff, which would lead one to believe his ending was canon. However, subsequent games have also shown Raiden to still be in possession of the staff, leaving Kai's ending as apparently non-canon. Either way, an explanation is presumed to be forthcoming, as Kai is returning in Armageddon.

Fatalities

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• Backbreaker: Kai holds the opponent up over his head, then rips him or her in half.
• Fireball: Kai levitates and throws a fireball that decapitates the opponent.

Trivia

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• After beating the game with Kai, his weapon will change. Start the game over and his weapon will change to Raiden's lightning staff. He is the only character that will change weapons upon beating the game.
• Due to a lackluster, vague storyline and mediocre move-set, Kai is considered to be a low-tier character.
• During Mortal Kombat 4's production stages, Ed Boon reported that the game's sub-boss would be an agile African-American character named Kai.
• Concept art for an updated version of Kai can be unlocked in the Krypt of Deadly Alliance.
• Kai appears in Deception in a hidden cameo in the Konquest mode. He gives the player (as Shujinko) Raiden's lightning staff, apparently having no further use for it.

Mortal Kombat main characters