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The name was inspired by the Mongolian warlords Ghengis and Kublai Khan. And, although we never explicitly state it, much like the mongols our intention was that Kahn was a title. So, there could have been Kahn’s before Shao and there could be Kahns after (thread)... https://twitter.com/tabmok99/status/1332423683030327298
In old MK, we never explored Shao Kahn’s backstory other than his relationships with Shang, Kitana/Mileena, Sindel and any drama related to the current tournaments. I preferred keeping his origin vague because it kept the focus on his actions specific to Edenia and Earth...
Also, seeing as how yesterday was your birthday, here’s a bit of indirect Shao Kahn lore that was lost over the years...
In the original Special Forces story, a scientist/cult leader unearths the ancient tomb of a Mongolian warlord named Jaghatai who worshipped Shao Kahn as a deity...
Jaghatai attempted, but failed, to breach the dimensional gateway between Earth and Outworld expecting to release Shao Kahn’s legions upon humanity...
But, where Jaghatai’s sorcerers used failed magic, the scientist created technology to disrupt the gateway. He needed a nuclear weapon to trigger the disruption and he hires the Black Dragon to steal it - leading to their pursuit by Sonya/Jax and their Special Forces unit...
In the end, that scientist’s tech is captured by the Special Forces and later used as a part of their Outerworld Investigation Agency. A bit of trivia: they used it to travel to Outworld in the MK4 comic book...
In real world history, Jaghatai was a descendent of Ghengis Khan and ruled the khanate in northwestern Asia for a bit. Maybe a vague implication on my part that our Earthly Khans were somehow inspired by the Kahns of Outworld...
I was reminded several months ago of the Special Forces Shao Kahn connection when I rediscovered an old script for the aborted version of the game. I’m sure Shao Kahn’s origins were explored further in later MK games post me.
HBD!
