Rate the Fighter (MK11): Liu Kang

Rate the Fighter: Mortal Kombat 11 Edition!

Welcome back to Rate the Fighter: Mortal Kombat 11 Edition. In our last post we took a look at the franchises' most well known antagonist, Shao Kahn, and went into an in depth look at his appearance, equipment, fatalities, among other things. Today, we'll be looking at the Shaolin Monk who is often portrayed as the hero of the Mortal Kombat franchise. I'm of course talking about Liu Kang, so let's begin.

Liu Kang, the Chosen One

Liu Kang as he appears in Mortal Kombat 11.

Liu Kang made his first appearance in Mortal Kombat history as one of the original seven playable characters in the very first Mortal Kombat released for arcades in 1992. Liu Kang is actually an even BIGGER deal than Shao Kahn due to the fact that, like I mentioned before, he's always been depicted as the hero of the entire franchise. Whether it be the games, the movies, or the comic book series, Liu Kang is often the one to overcome the antagonists of the franchise. Goro, Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn, Shinnok... he's overcome every single one of them. In Mortal Kombat 11, Liu Kang returns once again, both in his past human form and his future revenant form. It's up to him to stop Kronika from erasing time and save those that he loves.

Appearance

Adding to the claim that Liu Kang happens to be the main character of the Mortal Kombat franchise is the fact that he is given a total of SEVEN skins with multiple different color palettes.

• Armored Revenant Liu Kang
• Shirtless Revenant Liu Kang
• Shaolin Monk Revenant Liu Kang
• Shirtless Human Liu Kang
• Shaolin Monk Human Liu Kang
• Tattooed Human Liu Kang
• Fire God Liu Kang

The video below will link you to a full display of all of Liu Kang's skins.

I love the fact that the developers made sure to include different variations of the character depending on whether or not you chose the revenant version or human version of the character. My favorite skins for the revenant version of Liu Kang would have to be the version of him with the armored variation and his shirtless variation. I like the armored variation because I feel it blends well with the idea that this once great hero is now a shadow of his former self. I also love the shirtless variation on him because he looks like who he did as a zombie in Mortal Kombat Deception.

In terms of his human appearance, my favorite skins would have to be his shirtless variation once again, as well as his Fire God variation. The shirtless variation reminds me a lot of how he looked in the older Mortal Kombat games. His Fire God variation on the other hand, well... do I really need to say anything? He's a combination of himself and Raiden, so of course it's going to look awesome.

Overall, thanks to the variety of skins available to Liu Kang and the fact that he didn't get a drastic redesign, I'm going to have to give his appearance a full on 10/10.

Equipment

For Liu Kang, the items he can customize are his headband, nunchakus, and bracers. Just like with Shao Kahn, two of each equipment items are unlocked from the start of the game, with everything else needed to be unlocked through playing the game. Below is yet another video showcasing all of the available pieces of equipment that can be unlocked. Just like before, I will be providing a list of my favorite equipment pieces for all the three different items.

Headbands

• Kombatant Supreme
• Immortal Dragon
• Blessed of the White Lotus
• Wu Shu Master
• Pouncing Tiger

Nunchakus

• First Heaven Defenders
• Chen Jun
• Curse of Chisongzi

Bracers

• Legend of the Fist
• Growling Tiger Strike
• Taizu Long Fist
• Flower Boxer
• Liang Yi Quan
• Lion's Roar

Truthfully, Liu Kang's equipment is what I would expect from someone who happens to be a monk. Nothing showy or flashy like Shao Kahn, just a lot of things that happen to be made to get the job done. I like that more of Liu Kang's items seem to have more variety when it comes to recoloring said items, being either brighter to match with his human appearance or darker to match his undead appearance.

Overall, give the fact that Liu Kang isn't trying to show off, I'll give his equipment a 9/10 simply because it really fits his character.

Moveset

When it comes to Liu Kang's moveset, I'm happy to report that I'm actually able to pull of a few combos with him. Most of them aren't anything that impressive, just a lot of one two punches that combo into his famous bicycle kick. Still, that's more then can be said for how I play Shao Kahn. For his special moves, I absolutely LOVE his bicycle kick, something that can now be extended up to two times and result in about 20ish hits. His classic fireball also returns and a special move can be equipped that allows him to perform a low fireball. Other special moves make great use of his nunchakus, allowing him to parry moves or destroy projectiles.

So yeah, Liu Kang is tons of fun. Despite liking heavyweight characters, his swift and speedy moves are enough to win me over. Overall, I give Liu Kang's moveset a 9/10.

Fatalities and Fatal Blow

Below is a video showcasing Liu Kang's fatalities and fatal blow. They're a bit out of order, so I'll include a timestamp to each of the three spectacles.

Fatality #1, Burn Out (0:32):

• This fatality is, truthfully, not that impressive (though I'm not saying it's bad). I do love the fact that it seems that Liu Kang is weakening his opponent's body by punching four holes into them, finishing them off with a huge fiery explosion. Not bad, but not spectacular. 6/10.

Fatality #2, Belly of the Beast (0:50):

• This one I'm quite a fan of due to the fact that the beginning of it references Liu Kang's very first fatality from the very first Mortal Kombat. They take something old and make it new by adding the fiery uppercut and Liu Kang using his weapon to destroy the falling body parts. Nostalgic and kick ass, it gets a 9/10.

Fatal Blow, Enter the Dragon (0:00):

• I love this fatal blow thanks to two things: the slow motion when Liu Kang smacks his opponent across the face with his nunchakus and the giant flaming dragon. Much like Shao Kahn, this fatal blow does a great job at incorporating a bunch of different things that Liu Kang has used over the years. 9/10.

Closing Thoughts

I love Liu Kang to death in this game, so much so that he's actually the character I've spent the most time playing. He looks cool, has a major stake in the game's story mode, fun moves, and awesome fatalities.

All in all, Liu Kang scores a perfect 10 out of 10.

Who's Next?

In the next blog post, we'll be taking a look at yet another Mortal Kombat villain. He's a ruthless Black Dragon mercenary, and I'm not talking about Kano. No, the man I'm talking about wields a pair of hook swords and has the gift of super speed. I'm of course talking about Kabal.

Stay tuned for more!