Shang Tsung Returns for Mortal Kombat 11 with ‘90s Film Actor

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, who portrayed the character in the 1995 film, reprises his role as Shang Tsung.

By Jay Gervais

Revealed at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) for Mortal Kombat 11 was the return of Shang Tsung as one of the first characters to be up for grabs as downloadable content. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, the actor who portrayed the character in the 1995 film adaptation by Paul W.S. Anderson, is returning to lend his likeness and voice to the character for the upcoming game.

Shang Tsung will be your personal host on his island and help guide you through a campaign-style mode known as The Krypt, where you can unlock some special items after completing a variety of challenges. Check out the character’s big reveal above.

Also revealed last week was the return of fan-favorite Noob Saibot, along with the Emperor of Outworld, Kotal Kahn, who had this reveal trailer invaded by another playable character, Jacqui Briggs.

Mortal Kombat 11 picks up immediately after the previous entry in the series, Mortal Kombat X, in which Raiden upsets the balance of history after beheading and killing Shinnok. These events prompt a new and mysterious character named Kronika, The Keeper of Time, who’s apparently been watching over everything that's happened since the first game, to bring order to the universe by any means necessary.

In case you need an overview of what has been revealed for the game thus far, we have that for you right here. Earlier this month, we were given a story trailer, which showed off more of the game’s plot and Kronika’s intentions to manipulate the series’ timeline by clashing the events of the past, present, and future with one another, along with the revealing of Cassie Cage as a playable character.

To nobody’s surprise at all, Johnny Cage was revealed late last month as being an addition to the roster of fighters. The character has appeared in every installment of the series’ main line of games, except for his infamous absence from 1995’s Mortal Kombat 3, which caused quite a stir at the time and still remains an unforgiven blunder for some fans.

Also revealed in February was Jade, whose appearance in the game was speculated on for a couple months. Needless to say, the wait was worth it and her reveal trailer packed quite the punch. In addition to that news, we also learned in February that Kabal, D’Vorah, and Kano were appearing in the game as well. However, only Kabal was worthy enough of the three to be chosen for his own reveal trailer.

January’s reveal event came packed with quite a few surprises as well, which you can look at the rundown for here. That event showed us more of what we can expect from the gameplay, demonstrating some brutal character finishers while also including the story prologue highlighting how the events of Mortal Kombat X will influence this new entry in the series. Also revealed at this event was Geras, who is a brand-new face to the series, along with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstar Ronda Rousey voicing the character of Sonya Blade, who will also be playable in this title.

Lastly, you can go back and view the announcement trailer for Mortal Kombat 11, which was unveiled last year at The Game Awards in December. It’s still a worthy watch, even if you have seen it already, but we’re still not over whoever chose that terribly mismatched song for the trailer. Hopefully somebody finished that track off with a brutal fatality when it came time to finalize the product.

Mortal Kombat 11 releases worldwide on April 23rd for all major platforms, which includes PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Stay tuned to Dead Entertainment for all the latest news on Mortal Kombat and the latest entry in the series!

About the Author

Jay Gervais

From small town to big city and back again, Jay was born and raised in Canada and has lived his whole life there. He’s always ready to cut down any misconceptions his American friends have of life in the great white north. He’s also no stranger to this kind of community, and has plenty of experience under his bed. He enjoys all kinds of horror entertainment, as long as it’s got the heart and soul to it. When he’s not doing something here, he can be found at his post at the night’s watch, or knee deep into his school studies.