0-4-1. Edenia, under the rule of King Jerrod and Queen Sindel, used a fighting
tournament to defend the planet against potential invaders.
0-4-2. Shortly after the birth of Princess Kitana, the dark emperor known as
Shao Kahn successfully invaded Edenia and took the life of King Jerrod. Shao
Kahn then sapped the realm's energies, causing Edenia to become the vast
wasteland called Outworld. Shao Kahn took Sindel as his queen and Princess
Kitana as his step-daughter.
0-4-2a. The thought of serving Kahn eventually drove Queen Sindel to madness,
she committed suicide at a young age. Enraged by Sindel's suicide, Kahn
withheld her soul from moving on to a higher existence. He then used it as a
token of his victory over King Jerrod and a constant reminder of his power over
Princess Kitana.
0-4-2b. In the service of Shao Kahn, Princess Kitana was trained as a personal
assassin, working alongside her friend Jade. Another of the many assassins
trained to serve Shao Kahn was Rain. Rain was the son of a general in Edenia's
army who was killed by Kahn during the invasion. He participated toward the end
of Kahn's invasion effort on Earth realm.
0-5-1. For centuries, in the northeastern parts of China, a clan of assassins
and thieves known as the Lin Kuei have operated in secrecy. Its warriors are
humans who possess special skills and abilities, chosen at birth to be raised
apart from the workings of day-to-day civilization. These warriors were
stripped of their former lives, and only the clan knew of their existence.
Their abilities were passed on from generation to generation and honed through
life experiences.
0-5-1a. A fourth-generation Lin Kuei warrior by the name of Sub-Zero (father of
'Classic' Sub-Zero) made himself a life in America as a cover for his true
identity and purpose as an assassin. He had a wife, two sons, and a daughter.
His wife wanted a normal life for her sons, so she tried in vain to hide her
sons from their father. Eventually, the two sons were found, and their father
returned with them to China. Their mother and sister were never seen or heard
from again. The older son soon inherited the name of Sub-Zero (aka. 'Classic'
Sub-Zero).
0-5-1b. Many centuries later, the original Lin Kuei clan's history came to an
end upon the victory of the Earth warriors over Shao Kahn (3-3-3). A new
reformed Lin Kuei clan, however, was then formed by the fifth Sub-Zero (younger
brother of 'Classic Sub-Zero') who also serves as the new grandmaster. The new
Lin Kuei is not a clan of assassins and thieves, but defenders of Earth realm
who fight alongside the thunder god Raiden (0-1-2b).
0-5-2. During Japan's feudal period, a renegade Japanese-born Lin Kuei warrior
named Takeda returned to his homeland and offered his services to various lords
and generals. Many of his skills and techniques were copied and learned
throughout Japan, eventually evolving into the art of Ninjitsu.
0-5-2a. Unlike the techniques of the Lin Kuei (0-5-1), Ninjitsu can be mastered
by any human with enough practice.
0-5-2b. Ninja warriors didn't exist as a single collective clan. They worked as
a loosely-connected spy network made up of several smaller clans. The first
Ninja clan was the Shirai Ryu, founded by Takeda. The Shirai Ryu soon became
foes of the Lin Kuei (0-5-1), and Takeda became a target for assassination by
the Lin Kuei. Despite repeated attempts, however, Takeda managed to elude
assassination until his elder years, when poison was slipped into his tea.
0-5-2c. One modern member of the Shirai Ryu Ninja clan was named Hanzo Hasashi,
code name Scorpion.
0-5-3. The Red Dragon is a secretive criminal organization that has existed for
centuries. Their members are highly skilled and disciplined warriors who live
by a strict code of conduct. It was because of this code that some of their
more reckless members broke away to form the newer Black Dragon, almost a
century ago. Their number one priority, for the past century, has been to track
down every last member of the Black Dragon. Due to their more strategic nature,
they are not constantly being pursued by law enforcement agencies as the much
younger Black Dragon organization is.
0-5-4. The Black Dragon is an organization of feared and respected men in the
inner circles of crime on Earth. It was formed when a group of the more
reckless members of the long-established Red Dragon (0-5-3) became dissatisfied
with the restraints placed on them by the Code of the Red Dragon. Among the
crimes for which they are wanted are terrorism, smuggling, extortion, and
murder. The Special Forces have spent many years tracking down members of the
Black Dragon. In contrast to the Red Dragon, they are known to use primarily
brute force and intimidation tactics, which makes them a far bigger target for
law enforcement agencies. Additionally, they are not only being tracked by the
law, but also the Red Dragon organization, who have aimed to eradicate them for
the past century.
0-5-4a. The Black Dragon member Kano is believed by both the rival Red Dragon
and the U.S. Special Forces to be the last surviving member of this
organization. Some of its past members include: an explosives expert known as
No Face, a female ninja master named Tasia, a close ally of Kano's named Jarek
(3-3-3d). Many of these members are now believed to be dead. Kabal, a man who
fought for the Earth warriors in the war against Shao Kahn (3-1-3b), was also
once a member of the Black Dragon many years ago.
0-5-5. The Special Forces, from the United States government in Earth realm,
have been in pursuit of the Black Dragon (0-5-4) for many years. It is for this
reason that some of their members had inadvertently gotten involved with the
inter-realm conflicts surrounding the Mortal Kombat tournament (1-1-1d).
0-5-5a. The Outerworld Investigation Agency was formed by Lt. Sonya Blade and
Major Jackson "Jax" Briggs, some time after Shao Kahn's invasion of
the Earth realm (3-1-2). They operate from an underground facility on Earth
realm, with man-made inter-realm portal technology. Occasionally, they send
agents into other realms.
0-6-1. An order of Earth realm's wisest men, in the Far East, received visions
of Shao Kahn and his takeover of Edenia that transformed it into the Outworld
(0-4-2). To defend Earth realm against such an invasion, these wise men created
their own tournament, called Mortal Kombat. It was similar to the fighting
tournaments once held by Edenia (0-4-1), and was to be hosted by the Shaolin
temples. Once every generation, warriors from around the world were invited to
compete in Mortal Kombat. Only if Outworld's warriors could win ten of these
tournaments in a row, would Shao Kahn be allowed to enter Earth realm to do
with it as he pleased.
0-6-2. Little over 500 years ago, Shang Tsung (an Earth-born servant of Shao
Kahn) eventually won the Mortal Kombat tournament. To please Kahn, Shang Tsung
not only took the lives of his opponents, but he took their souls as well.
Doing so also has personal benefits to Tsung, as he retains the thoughts and
memories of his victims. Additionally, the more souls he takes, the more
effectively he can retain a youthful appearance, despite having existed for
centuries. However, after repeated victories in the tournaments that followed,
Tsung became overconfident. Before he could claim ten victories for his emporer
(0-6-1), Tsung's overconfidence proved to be his undoing, for (the first) Kung
Lao, fighting as a representative of the Shaolin temples, defeated him in
Mortal Kombat and ended the streak.
0-6-2a. For his failure to attain the ten victories (0-6-1), Tsung was punished
by Shao Kahn: he would since be imprisoned in the depths of Kahn's fortress,
periodically released only to perform specific tasks for Kahn, until he could
regain Kahn's favor.
0-6-3. Soon after (the first) Kung Lao's victory (0-6-2), came the mysterious
death of one of the three Mortal Kombat tournament masters. Shang Tsung then
returned to Earth realm, and brought with him a half-human dragon named Goro,
Shokan prince (0-1-4a). In a brutal battle, Goro defeated (the first) Kung Lao
to take the Mortal Kombat championship. At this point, Shang Tsung took control
of the Mortal Kombat tournament itself. It was the beginning of an era that
alienated the Shaolin from their own tournament (0-6-1).
0-6-3a. Shang Tsung took the soul of (the first) Kung Lao, and as a result,
gained his thoughts and memories (0-6-2). This also meant that Tsung had gained
the knowledge of the the sacred Map of Elements (0-2-4). With the sorcerer
named Quan Chi was still making many repeated failing efforts at finding this
map (0-3-1a), it was not long before Tsung became aware of the value of the
knowledge he had acquired.
0-6-4. Goro retained the Mortal Kombat championship for nine generations,
leaving Earth one last opportunity to defend itself against a potential
Outworld invasion by Shao Kahn (0-6-1). All that was needed was one Earth
warrior who could defeat Goro to break the Outworld's streak. Shang Tsung then
devised a backup plan. In case Goro were to fail, he wanted to insure that an
Outworld invasion would still be possible. With only ten years remaining before
the start of the next tournament, Shang Tsung struck a deal with Quan Chi: if
Tsung would provide the location of the Map of Elements (0-6-3a), Quan Chi's
master Shinnok would take Sindel's soul, taint it with evil, and reincarnate it
on the Earth realm. This would mean that Shao Kahn could enter the Earth realm,
since he would have to be allowed entrance for the purpose of reclaiming his
queen. Of course, Kahn would actually use this opportunity to overtake Earth,
and in the process, even bar Raiden and the elder gods from intervening. For
devising this backup plan, Shao Kahn made Shang Tsung a free-roaming sorcerer
(0-1-2a).
0-6-4a. What Shang Tsung failed to tell Quan Chi was that the four Elemental
Gods were guarding the sacred amulet (0-2-3a). The mere existence of these
guards made it impossible for Quan Chi to enter the temple where the amulet
rested even if and when he acquired the map. Aware of the abilities to harness
the elements that are possessed by Lin Kuei warriors (0-5-1), Quan Chi retained
the services of the fifth Sub-Zero (aka. 'Classic Sub-Zero', the older of the
fourth one's two sons.) As backup, however, Quan Chi also sent the Ninja
warrior Hanzo Hasashi (Scorpion), a modern member of the Japanese Shirai Ryu
Ninja clan, rivals to the Lin Kuei (0-5-2b).
0-6-4b. (Classic) Sub-Zero and Scorpion both arrived at the Shaolin temples on
their missions for the Map of Elements. (Classic) Sub-Zero won the battle that
ensued upon their meeting, and returned to Lin Kuei headquarters, having
successfully acquired the Map of Elements. (Classic) Sub-Zero became suspicious
of Quan Chi for having also retained the services of a Shirai Ryu member, but
Quan Chi quickly provided the Lin Kuei with the skeleton of Takeda (0-5-2b),
which instantly pleased the Lin Kuei clan's grandmasters. (Classic) Sub-Zero
was then sent out on a follow-up mission to attain the sacred amulet itself.
When he succeeded, this was the closest that Shinnok and Quan Chi had come to
achieving their longtime goal (0-3-1a). Raiden, as a defender of Earth realm,
urgently approached (Classic) Sub-Zero to inform him of the potential danger he
had just put the entire Earth into (0-2-4). Realizing this, (Classic) Sub-Zero
embarked on another mission, this time for Raiden, into the Netherealm itself
to get the amulet back before Shinnok could use it. (Classic) Sub-Zero
succeeded, and prevented a 2nd Raiden-Shinnok war from happening...for the time
being. Arriving back in Lin Kuei headquarters, Sub-Zero was assigned to compete
in Mortal Kombat, likely to assassinate Shang Tsung. He boarded the boat to
Shang Tsung's uncharted island to enter the tournament.
0-6-4c. Meanwhile, the Ninja warrior Hanzo "Scorpion" Hasashi, having
been killed by (Classic) Sub-Zero (0-6-4b), was given a chance to return to
life on Earth in order to avenge his own death. However, in doing so, he would
lose his memory of his wife and child forever. He chose to return, bent on
revenge against (Classic) Sub-Zero. Now in the form of a reincarnated specter
who has literally been to hell and back, and from this point forward to be
known only by his codename, Scorpion, he soon learned of (Classic) Sub-Zero's
journey to the Mortal Kombat tournament on Shang Tsung's island (0-6-4b), and
followed (Classic) Sub-Zero onto the boat in hopes of exacting revenge.
