Rewriting Kung Lao (into the Badass that He Should Be)
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- Опубликовано: 5 июл 2024
- In this video, I'll be analyzing and rewriting Kung Lao, from Mortal Kombat, into the overpowered badass character that he always had the potential of being.
More MK stuff:
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Creepy background music:
• Mortal Kombat 4 OST - ...
End song:
• NEFFEX - Fight Back [O...
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:15 Kung Lao the Underrated
02:40 How to Rewrite Kung Lao
14:02 Kung Lao = Zuko
15:06 Powers and Abilities
17:11 Been waiting to use this Hattrick pun
#mortalkombat #kunglao #rewrite #storytelling #powersystem #essay #shaolinmonks #fanfiction 
Игры
He should have been the champion of the new timeline
Instead he's stuck in the background, same as ever.
Why would Liu Kang not choose his best friend as champion but choose raiden
Agreed, they definitely cheated him
@@syki-tp1tnbecause he wanted to return the favor.
@@syki-tp1tn Absolutely. Makes no sense why Liu Kang wouldn't make his best friend into the Great Kung Lao he always aspired to be.
As someone who loves Kung Lao but hates the hand Midway and NRS has dealt him, I absolutely *love* this rewrite. Its like someone finally appreciates one of my favorite characters as much as I do
It's hard not to like this character; he has so many things going for him, from a writing perspective.
Now this... *This* was the greatest he was destined for.
The Greatest Kung Lao.
NRS should just hire this guy and give him full creative control. His concepts are amazing.
You heard him, gents.
At this rate anyone's better than who they've got
But yeah this guy is DAMN good
@@carbinecryo30716 fr fr
@CynicalWarlock keep it up brother, I'd love to see your concepts for the kombat kids. I think I've seen soon but I don't remember if they were yours. I'd love to see something about takeda in particular
@@juicethekidd5886 Haven't covered the Kombat Kids yet, but I definitely will.
As much as I personally probably wouldn't have gone there, with the plot of MKX, I think you can make the kidos a bit more interesting.
Kung Lao had been my favorite mk character for as long as I can remember. I love the cocky personality nrs gives him and I like what you've done here.
Except I have always liked that he doesn't put Liu Kang down ever. He hates being seen as weaker than Liu but that's his best friend and he's proud of him. Like in mk 11 when Sonya says she prefers Liu Kang, Lao responds by saying "We are both legends."
Lines like that are what make me love him. He is confident in himself but doesn't look down on anyone. As long as he stays like that, he'll stay my favorite.
That's exactly where he ends up, after this version of the story. I don't want to make Kung Lao petty, in the slightest, just to explore the very relatable challenges of being the slightly less strong of 2 people. "We are both legends" is exactly Kung Lao's mindset, after the Goro battle.
Ikr, he has a chip on his shoulder, but he has never turned on Liu Kang...
I enjoyed Kung Lao’s “sidekick” status however in MK1 I was disappointed they more or less swapped Raiden and Liu Kang’s role and Kung Lao didn’t get much change
The irony of rebooting everything so that everything stays the same.
@@CynicalWarlock took care of his enemies and left his boys as cabbage farmers
@@Silver_Spectre In the hopes that they'll turn vegan, one day.
@@CynicalWarlockexactly. What's the point of changing the timeline if things still played almost the same. They could've changed everything and tried new stories but they had to repeat the old stories with minor differences.
@@Silver_Spectre I actually wondered why he made raiden and Kung Lao just a simple farmers instead being demigods at the very least...
I know this video is about saving Kung Lao from contrived writing but I'm glad Goro was saved too. If anything out of all the Shokan it should be Kintaro who should be the dumb angry brute who is loyal to Shao Kahn; in MKX a Kitana/Goro intro has him refer to Kintaro as a "striped commoner"- it would make for a good parallel to the Liu/Lao duo that Kintaro never lets go of his resentment of his more praised comrade (Goro) leading him to be peak merciless and desperate for validation from others.
That's brilliant. An underdog who hasn't learned the lessons that Kung Lao has.
And it's funny cause I never thought of Kintaro much, as a character, but that's definitely the vibe and the dynamic that I get from him and Goro.
It's a very meta thing too, cause we got the male Shokan (Goro), the female shokan - both apt representatives of their species.. and then there's Kintaro, an extra Shokan, because.. uhm, because.
And cat stripes, also because.
@@CynicalWarlock
I always thought Shokan in general looked like Goro, but apparently kitty stripes are for peasants and not for royals like him.
@@LOWBORN-the-LOATHSOME Yeees. I guess it makes sense, cause Shokan are supposed to be half-dragon, whereas Kintaro's half-cat, like wtf dawg? Who's your mommy?
I wanna make this a running gag, too. Make everyone - even his own kind - wonder why he looks like that, and just never explain it.
Im DYING to see a collab between you and 4thsnake! Or, better yet, the two of you to replace the lead writers at NRS
They can't afford us.
@@CynicalWarlockLmfao! Also i wrote this comment when I was halfway through the video, but I also LOVE how you handled Goro! In the past he was always a sharpened warrior, in both strength and mind, and you reflected that well, much better than the movies…
@@Henry-iz7iv Thank you. Goro's a tricky one, cause everyone loves his brutal side, even the hardcore fans; but then they also get bummed out when he's portrayed as nothing but that, in the movies. So I basically tried to solve that problem, more or less.
Lol replace the head writers and then remaster mk9 with a new story and continue from there.
I love that you not only rewrote Kung Lao but also Goro in a subtle way that made them have more dept as characters
Well taking the abstract symbolism of wind it does represent travel, so it works for his ability to teleport.
In that sense, absolutely.
Ima be honest u should do a whole series writing ur own interpretation of the mortal kombat story i would love to see that
I suppose this is the start of it.
@@CynicalWarlock it'd be sick to get everything chronological or layed out but thats alot to expect of one person. too many layered characters that don't get good treatment, too many depthless characters that really could have depth.
@@InTheKitchenWristStirFry Well I think the game plan is to keep doing these solo character studies/reimaginings, and once I have enough of em, then I'll do what you suggest and stuff em all in the same story.
@@CynicalWarlock yer gonna need to give your back a rest with how you're carrying MK lore discourse rn
@@InTheKitchenWristStirFry So *that's* why I feel a slight stinging in my low back!
You're killin' it man! This take on Kung Lao's arc is fascinating. Also love how you altered Goro to better fit the narrative. Overall, makes his story one we can empathize with better, and teaches some valuable lessons, especially in regards to his place next to Liu Kang, and coming to terms with developing into a better version of himself rather than harboring resentment for being less talented. Very inspiring, and wish we saw more of this side in the lore these days.
Always liked Kung Lao, because he's easy to relate to. I feel like that should be the goal with these characters, to highlight not just what makes them special, but also what makes them human.
You heard of the Great Kung Lao, now we getting a glimpse of his descendant: the *Greatest* Kung Lao-or the GOAT Kung Lao.
I like how you mention ingenuity a fair bit. Would be nice to see more of his intelligence, talent and hard work coming together to do cool shit that even Liu Kang can't, or simply won't even think of.
My man definitely deserves a proper arc like this. Truly sad that he hasn't gotten one since about MK4.
Another banger video, once again. Well done. ❤
Yeah, in my mind, Kung Lao's the one who uses his wits a lot, which makes sense, considering he's the snarky one, and Liu Kang's the straight-talking prodigy.
He should have been champion in MK1 but OF COURSE they didn't go there
Naaah. Why actually surprise people?
Shaman King Flowers is currently airing now!
*They made a sequel??*
Is it any good?
brilliant writing. wish every character had a journey like that in the games
That's the trick, isn't it? Juggling such a large ensemble cast, effectively.
MKX Old Man Kung Lao is my favorite, since that's how I liked him the most
Same! That's probably my favorite Kung Lao design, and it pisses me off that much more that they didn't even use it, in the story mode.
He was my favorite hero because he was capable of being the best in both stories, and his feats prove it. Even in MK9, he beat the Deadly Alliance on his own which shows he is on par with Lui Kang despite what others think.
It's a good rewrite and has a lot of similarities with the 4th Snakes rewrite, I'm sure that was incidental though. Everyone agrees that Lao deserves better, I thought Mortal 1 Kombat would do that but sigh, it just felt like another safe reboot that hardly changed much in the end.
Yeah, I watched the 4th Snake's video, after finishing my own. FML.
Ah, the hat trick pun😂
Been waiting to use that one.
Ive never used kung lao in any game i never thought he was cool but i did want him to be stronger than his shown not just the other shaolin the fact that he trains so hard people should fear his name the way they fear liu Kangs that's the kung lao i wanted
Yeah, in my mind, Kung Lao shares a lotta similarities with Rock Lee.
And Rock Lee is a force to be reconned with.
Wasted potential
Kung Lao deserved to win in Deadly Alliance
That would've been rad. Him avenging his fellow monk.
Now im curious on your interpretation of the new era of mk1 would be like.
Since its canon that according to Liu Kang that no one has ever died in an mk tournament
Hold ma beer.
I always imagined a cool Kung Lao by expanding his mk2 comic lore: Having Liu Kang be chosen as the chosen one before Kung Lao ever got his hat and getting special training with Bo Rai Cho, leading Kung Lao to leave the Shaolin on his own personal journey, finally free from the pressure but wanted to train in a new way. After the first tournament and the Shaolin massacre, Liu Kang finds Kung Lao with his new hat, returning and now ready to help Raiden and Liu Kang, fighting on par with Liu Kang and maybe better until he is killed by Shao Kahn in a sneak attack after defeating basically every boss like in mk9, that way he could be better than Liu Kang and maybe even defeat Shao Kahn, but is surprise-killed since Shao was intimidated.
So basically MK9.
@CynicalWarlock Basically expanded on instead of just being just a guy with Liu Kang. Maybe he doesn't even get defeated by Shao and just lets Liu Kang finish the job. He would make a good successor when Liu Kang gets his neck snapped and we can expand on mkgold's Baraka's stapled together look after Kung Lao apparently chopped him in half before, let Baraka finally kill Kung Lao in vengeance for being taken from his people.
@@GamerTimeNinja As long as someone's neck gets snapped. :D
For real though, I respect the idea of working within MK9's framework, instead of just scrapping the whole thing. It's an exercise I do too, from time to time.
And you highlighted a thought I've been keeping in the back of my mind:
How the hell do you write a good part for Baraka?
@CynicalWarlock there's a couple of ideas I had for Baraka. Using game lore, they just need to make Baraka a good follower and enforcer, someone who doesn't want to be Kahn but also doesn't want an idiot on the thrown/wants to help mainly his Tarkatans, like how mk1 does it but with less whining about the pain of Tarkot. For my idea, I thought it would be cool if Baraka had his own great descendant, a tarkatan who became Outworld's only "god" near the dawn of the realms, sometime before Onaga. When Onaga eventually killed this God descendant (ill just call him Tarkot because the Great Baraka seems a little too on the nose), Tarkot's power transferred to every tarkatan, becoming less powerful the more tarkatans there are, stopping them from growing too much or else they would be easier to kill, but being nearly impossible to eliminate from Outworld. Baraka is still basically their diplomat and best fighter, trying to keep the tarkatans as prevalent as possible before kahn's death where he would have to decide which side would benefit Tarkatans the most and obviously that Kung Lao arc is showed.
@@GamerTimeNinja Tarkat, the murdered elder god.
It'd be cool if Baraka then starts murdering his own race, cause it makes him more powerful, and slowly awakens the dead god, unbeknownst to him. The culmination of his arc could be realizing that his quest is folly, and that it's not him that will get the ultimate power, but rather his god, and stopping before it's too late.
Or not.
Thinkin out loud here.
This is literally amazing and NRS needs to hire you
Alternatively, I could become a trillionaire and hire them, instead.
Sounds easier.
Excellent use of KK in a wheelchair.
Made the whole video, really.
I would very much like to see a similar video about Kabal, and how Deception and onward completely ruined his character (except the MK9, that one was good) 🙏
what was up with kabal, give me a rundown
I assume you're referring to how Kabal returned to his abusive ex, the Black Dragon clan, instead of evolving further, as a character.
Might have some ideas for him; he's always had potential.
@@CynicalWarlock thank you
Lao getting the respect he deserves, I love it.
Bout time.
I would have made him the villain of mk1 as big plot twist
Interesting decision.
I think it could work. He misses his shot at champion so is very upset and this when Damashi comes to him and reveals what happens to him in every previous timeline…..you could even play these as visions
Fight 1 against Baraka. He wins but then gets crushed by giant skeletal hands
Fight 2 against the really alliance. He wins and then gets neck snapped by Shao ….
Then just a montage of his various deaths…with Damashi saying it won’t be this way if he helps her. He can live and be a great champion
@@CynicalWarlock
@@billmcdermott9647 Nonono, why have such compelling motivations and surprise villains, when we can just have Shang Tsung be the big baddy, like we always do?
They'll never see that coming.
I think you could have got clever with it and had Shang be one of the champions ….taken in by Liu he gets to the end with Raiden. Liu kang gives Raiden the amulet and he beats Shang…..who gets angry and accuses Liu of holding him back sabotaging him…..so we 0 in on Shang but it’s Kung Lao who is turned due to seething jealousy that he has been repressing as the third wheel …..Liu uses Shang for his skill but always undermines him to prevent a relapse @@CynicalWarlock
@@billmcdermott9647 That's one of the reasons why I love MK: Conquest. You actually get to see Shang as an Earthrealm champion.
If we count the characters NRS has treated badly we'd be here for far longer. We can forgive that Kung Lao was neglected once by their Kreators but it seems most characters only get the love and attention they deserve and need from the fans.
Which is a fascinating discussion to have. NRS is definitely one of the chief reasons for this, but I alsofeel like it's a multifactorial issue.
I really like your idea of Kung Lao attaining is greatness through discipline. Those are always thrilling character arcs.
I always felt that Kung Lao should be this mythical warrior. A legend from a previous Mortal Kombat that managed to fight his way through the most powerful fighters and champions ever. Someone who is feared by denizens of Outworld, and spoken of in hushed tones. People should think that he is a made up story, a symbolic ideal.
Yes, those are the best stories. Shonen anime stuff.
Kung Lao definitely inherited that mythical quality, from his ancestor, and has to prove he's worthy of it.
that hat trick pun was Chefs Kiss!
Been waitin to use that one, for a while.
Lui Kang
In theory: give the champion of Earthrealm to Kung Lao, your best friend and most trusted ally whose destiny you unintentionally stole and is willing to sacrifice everything for his own realm.
NRS/in reality: Nah, make it Raiden. He got cool electric powers LOL
Maybe he confused them, because of the hats.
@@CynicalWarlock I doubt he would give how much history he has with both of them, unless he’s just stupid.
@@PizzaMan879 Yeah, was just joking.
I'm so glad I'm not the only that drew comparisons from Kung Lao to Zuko! I was writing a crossover story of Mortal Kombat X ATLA & was going to have the two have heavy interaction with each other. This is all brilliant!
Now *that* sounds like fun. A Zuko-Lao pairing would be amazing, if written well.
are you going to do rewrites for any other characters? This is really good.
All of em.
Oh shit general I’m late!!! And it’s a video I been waiting on
It's never too late.
They should hire you at NRS, because this in my opinion is the definitive Kung Lao. NRS had the chance to prop up Lao in Mortal Kombat 1 but messed it up all over again. Hopefully they stumble upon your channel and get in touch with you for how Kung Lao should be...GREAT!!!
At this point, I'll settle for them just stealing a few ideas, here and there. Anything to make the games a little better.
We have personal differences in personality of kung lao, which is cool to see and hear someone elses. I like the shang harvesting souls in the first game from fatalities and Liu and Lao opting for mercy instead. Goro being spared and allying with the edenians later is a huge plot point for such a overwhelming force that makes Kung lao seem stronger and contribute to the story. Oh and i imagine the characters have to seperate the balances of chi to obtain abilities, but because its life force can also DBZ character and apply it to their body, with the more you have (the mor disciplined and battle hardened you are( the stronger you can amp your physicals. Which would seperate some of the characters from others who may yes have chi but have something else in their bag that was easier to obtain and master or handed to them. Cryomancers can then be a race of people with more ki at birth and greater involvement in that.
idk i'm just spit balling, i'm some stupid teen not a story writer. It just feels like the mishandling of Kung Lao is because of the nature of the endings not being canon endings in midway, and in NRS killing off all the characters (at once for some fuggin reason) and not giving lao to do anything while dead, or when his past self comes back. i hate the whole revenant thing anyways.
I *hate* non-canon endings. I know that's par for the course in a fighting game, and that it's monumentally difficult to have everything fit together neatly, but I honestly don't see the point of non-canon endings. Everyone you choose gets to defeat the big bad - it's make-believe. Except Reptile - he gets to die in his own fucking endings.
That's a cool idea with the Yin-Yang stuff. Worth exploring, especially since MKX Liu Kang basically has a variation dedicated to that concept.
If they never did alternate timelines, just make all the games one singular timeline, have him step up as head of the Wu Shi Academy/White Lotus after Raiden turns dark and Liu Kang ascends to godhood. Also, name him the Mighty Kung Lao. Have him step out of that shadow
Solid path.
Kung Lao is like Vegeta. Like damn, dude. Despite all his training, heroics, and inner struggles, he's still forced to play second fiddle to naturally better fighter who has no great ancestors. He needs to be Earthrealm's champion. Lui Kang cheated his homeboy.
Looks like Liu Kang's the petty one, in the end.
@@CynicalWarlock And Kung Lao has to suffer for it. Raiden was already a former Elder God, Thunder God, and Earthrealm's Protector. He should've played Second Fiddle to Kung Lao. Give my boy his chance to shine.
@@alexconnor9884 I guess it was Liu Kang's way of thanking Raiden for empowering him.
At the end of the day, both Raiden and Kung Lao should've had satisfying parts to play, not just one of them.
Not really considering vegeta spent half his life as prodigy who costed on his internet abilities and status.
idk if if it was just me, but Liu as the chinese green dragon i expected him to also fight against the black dragons? Maybe i'm crazy but His close friends in the Cages and Jax are constantly against this force of characters. i guess the games don't have enough down time from the fights to have alot of these color matchups from happening. Liu's whole principles and perspective completely clashes with these dudes.
Yeah, the dragon thing probably just meant to be a coincidence. I will say that the Black and Red Dragon clans are pretty underexplored, and have a lotta potential.
They’ve just made him the Krillan of the story. And unnecessarily cocky and always the sidekick of the story
You nailed it, as always 👍👍
Thank you, mister Wayne.
Great vid!
Thank you, thank you.
I always saw Kung Lao as the protagonist of mk2. He had the interesting backstory of having a famial grudge against Goro but his order didn't chose him as their champion. Now he has the chance to be the big shot but has to work alongside the guy chosen over him. Even his backstory for mk3 was cool since he faked his death in 2 and stayed on Outworld until Kahn's invasion. He's a rejected chosen one who has to finally grow into the role. I'm really surprise he stayed on the sidelines during the DADA trilogy.
Yeah, he could've been emphasized even more, in mk2, in my opinion. MK1 is Liu's game, MK2 should be a resounding introduction to Lao.
You got a great voice for narration. You should consider audio booking or something of that nature.
Thank you. If the MK thing doesn't work out, can always do 4-hour meditation videos.
This concept is amazing, they should reset the timeline again
Here we go again, folks.
I kinda wish kung lao could’ve been the champion of the new timeline, I mean even if we couldn’t have gotten that I wish they’d done something with the small flicker of jealously we see when raiden beats him at the wu shi academy it would’ve been really interesting to see how jealously can affect a person it’s just such wasted potential to give fanservice
Practically everyone in the community wanted more for Lao, in M1K.
Must not be very well-liked, in NetherRealm offices.
This rewrite is excellent, and deserves way more attention. NRS just annoys me with their lack of creativity.
Creativity *is* a bitch..
Aaaand he's back! Back with another great episode, that is :D. Keep'em coming.
I'm back!
..ou, my back...
Omg you gon make me cry with this one 😭😭😭 what a beautiful video
Gotta bring the feels, man.
Finally some love for Kung Pao, my man!
Kung Lao has been my favorite character since the very beginning back in MKII and it was the very first MK figure I have from back in the 90's.
It was so weird that they 180º his character from humble and peaceful into cocky and mouthful because no other character was rewritten like this.
I'm happy to see that you fully understand him.
I'm so mad for not thinking of that Kung Pao pun.
I can understand the reasoning behind the change - might have been guilty of it myself, in their shoes - cause Kung Lao and Liu Kang are both the stoic honorable types, so they seem a bit redundant to each other. They went too far in the opposite, bratty direction, though; and Lao is still a Shaolin monk, at the end of the day, which is why I tried to combine the 2 versions.
Glad you like the video; definitely made it for Kung Lao fans like you.
And me.
@@CynicalWarlock I understand the reason, but, they didn't have to make him dirty like that. When he was killed in 9 I was furious. It seems to be killed every damn time. Like Krillin from Dragon Ball. Even in the movie when we finally have him on screen.
@@teknomax7883 Yeah, from Deadly Alliance onward, Kung Lao became the Sean Bean of the MK universe.
Bro make a part 2, this was everything I wanted to see from Kung Lao that NRS won't give us.
So glad you liked it.
Kung Lao is basically vegeta and Liu Kang is basically goku
I gotta say these videos have me aching for a fighting game that actually tells a good story. So, many fighting games have passable stories. Which really sucks because I know they can do more.
This, 100%. People kind of expect the story to be secondary or glossed over entirely, in a fighting game, simply because.. well because it's not an action adventure game, or a shooter, or something with one character that you inhabit for the whole affair. RTS games kinda have that same expectation, for the same reason.
Coincidentally, these are 2 of my favorite genres, and I've been planning on doing a video about how poorly understood they are, for a while.
@@CynicalWarlock that would be an amazing video to see. Something actually talking about the issue with how story is handled on the genre.
I remember watching a video by a guy named Mark Darrah (a Bioware developer) who said that different genres have different expectations. And so what you said is very true. Fighting games just aren't expected to have good stories so no developer does that. Which is a real shame. So much potential.
@@Knight1029 Even just hearing "Mark Darrah" makes me miss Dragon Age. Old Bioware writers were the best.
@@CynicalWarlock I still think DAI still has some good writing. But yeah. I do miss the fact that Dragon Age hasn't been around for a while.
@@Knight1029For sure. I mean I played DAI more than I played Origins.
this is literally so good!!! lao is my fav and you do him the justice he deserves. amazing!!!
Glad you found it, and enjoyed it.
I suppose I made this video for you.
Really loving your MK content man, definitely sticking around to see what everything else you cook up
A looooooooootta stuff.
I hate how NRS teased The Great Kung Lao in the MK11 ending only to not use that story in MK1.
Yeah, how quickly people forgot that one.
Excellent video! Really enjoyed how thorough and in depth your reasons were and why aspects should be fleshed out.
Thanks. You're nice.
@@CynicalWarlock haha I try to be
Can't wait till this series gets to explore your take on the "golden boy" of NRS, Hanzo Hasashi and, most importantly, Reptile :D.
I'm delaying those 2, as much as possible.
One because he's already popular,
the other cause I'm biased.
Someone gets it! Excellent rewrite of my favorite MK character
Fuck yes. This video's dedicated to you.
Kung Lao's and Liu Kang's stories about who deserves to win the tournament or kill Shao Khan are never thorughly explored or finished, often barely even mentioned and it's so annoying because this duo is almost if not just as compelling as Scorpion and Sub-Zero, or at least it should be. I think you could also do a very simililar story, but reversed, so Kung Lao is the gifted, but lazy one and Liu Kang is the hard-working one.
(Hear me out, It's a long one) I think this fits with most adaptations of the storyline and fits more with the element of Kung Lao, that being air, which is also a symbol of freedom. So therefore because of Kung Lao's descendant's reputation and his far above average skill in kombat, he'd be the one that's chosen by Raiden who also thought that Kung Lao is the chosen one to save Earthrealm. The whole Chi thing is quite vague in Mortal Kombat, so for the purposes of the story Kung Lao will discover his air manipulation very early in his life and because he knows Raiden chose him to fight in the tournament, he thinks he doesn't have to try, and he's right, the lessons (especially about kombat) at the Shaolin temple would bore him, and he'd prefer doing something more fun somewhere else, probably with Liu Kang as well. However Liu Kang would often reject his requests and he'd keep honing his skills, I could maybe also give him a little envy of Kung Lao's skills and his care-free atittude, because before the tournament Liu Kang doesn't have any special abilitties yet, he's on the surface a very ordinary monk, who likes to have fun with Kung Lao, but usually would prefer to keep working on his skills.
So just before the arrival at Shang Tsung's island, Kung Lao, secretly lets Liu Kang be there with him and Raiden wouldn't know about it until they finally arrived. So like you said about Liu Kang clearing most of his opponents, Kung Lao would do so now as well, he'd also probably do so with ease, goofing around with them. So Kung Lao would be like a over-confindent, and probably even a little spoiled Aang, especially book one Aang, meanwhile Liu Kang would the more Zuko/Underdog character in this timeline.
As Kung Lao makes a joke out Shang Tsung's pawns, the Sorcerer realises he has to cheat in order for Outworld to win and gets rid of Kung Lao by disqualifing him, either by making it seem like he was the one who cheated or simply beats the hell out of him, but that's not very Shang Tsung-like so I prefer the first method. Because Kung Lao didn't attend the classes, he would have a hard time with a lot stronger opponents like Bi-Han, Reptile or maybe Goro, and that's when Liu Kang would step in. Even though he doesn't have any supernatural abilities he could defeat them or more likely his fire abilities would come at the most desperate moment, (in a seemingly all hope is lost trope), in a fight against Goro or Shang Tsung. And as usual, Liu Kang is the one who becomes the champion of Mortal Kombat, and although Kung Lao is happy Earthrealm won and almost all thanks to his best friend, he silently wished he should the one who gets the praise and actually becomes the champion.
From that moment you can delve deeper into their relationship, maybe Kung Lao isn't as cheerful and is more dismissive when he's talking with or about Liu Kang, or what I'd prefer if he actually caused a lot of trouble in the future becasue he didn't talk about he really thought about that situation and just bottled it up, until Shang Tsung or Shao Khan or someone else realised that and manipulated him into causing a lot of trouble to Earthrealm, however the story would go, you also could give Kung Lao a great redemption arc, afterwards. The possibilities are endless.
If only NetherRealm made a rebooted, reimagined game, where they could do all this stuff..
Oh wait.. they did. It's called "MK1", and they did nothing with it, as far as I can tell. Completely missed the point of a reimagining, at least with respect to Kung Lao.
I love your take. Would be so much fun seeing an overpowered Lao, whose cockiness is more than justified. Basically, your version makes Liu and Lao's personalities match their power levels.
this is awesome great rewrite
Thanks. Glad you like it.
Great character revision my friend.
Many thanks.
this is fire. great work!!!
🔥
Great retelling of the character. I wish they implemented this in the games
All these reboots, for nothing.
By the 12:00 mark I was clapping!!!
Objective achieved.
It’s crazy that I watch a 20 minute video about a franchise that I’ve never interacted with - and I have an excellent time. Thanks man. Oh, and your voice sounds a little deeper in these vids...
Wrestled some sharks, beforehand. And thanks a bunch, that's quite the compliment.
I totally agree with you. They do Kung Lao dirty
"Look how they massacred my boy"
You should team up with some devs and artists and make a game
Easy.
MK1-5's story line is cooler than MK9-11. If they we're gonna hardcore remake 1-3 and 4 into 9 and x i think they shouldve stuck with a similar framework as them. The edenian storyline from 2, 3, 4 and 5 into deception was cool and sindel was cool. I'm not the biggest fan of Liu dying, i know shocking hes one of my favorites but its not actually that, It just seems like he has more that he could do with Kitana, Johnny Sonya, Kai, Lao and Raiden before, but i suppose if they had more time between the game's stories and such they could probably finish up with that. Now lemme bring it back to the topic of the video. To which in this canon's mk5 killing Liu Kang could make Kung Lao the protagonist when he trains with Bo' Rai' and learns how to use wind in a more pure form while mixing it in with his insane ingenuity and unique use of the element. Continue with Lao as the focus until you finish up his arc.
Yes, Deadly Alliance would've been the perfect time for Lao to step up, become the hero, and avenge his fallen comrade, but I guess they went full Game of Thrones with the ending of that one.
And you bring up a good point about Liu still having unfinished arcs, at the time of death. That's something both NRS and Midway have been pretty poor at: actually finishing a character arc.
It's the curse of serialized storytelling, of course, but Noob, Smoke, Sub-Zero, Kung Lao, Kitana - so many characters are constantly left dangling in the ether, it's a real bummer.
T H A N K
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Great video on kung lao hope you can make one on other shaolin monks like kai or kung jin and maybe shunjiko i guest
Also which of this three people that you think make interesting trio:
Liu kang, johnny cage and sonya blade because the three of them were on mortal kombat 1 together and also the heroesnof mortal kombat movie 1
Liu kang, kung lao and li mei because there of them is trained by bo rai cho
Or there are another mortal kombat characters that can make a trio that you think more interesting
That's a good idea - will make a Shaolin video, where I lump all of these together, and perhaps also include everyone Bo' Rai Cho trained.
The classic Liu-Johnny-Sonya trio is tried and tested, and works because of their contrasting personalities, but I'll have to pick the second option, just cause we haven't seen that yet. Would be fun to see Bo' Rai Cho's students go on a quest together and butt heads because even though they had the same teacher, they took different lessons from him. And it'd also give us an opportunity to flesh out Li Mei more. She is an Outworlder, after all, so there should be some very jarring cultural differences between her and the 2 Earthrealmers.
But since we're spitballing trio ideas, might as well go all out:
-Sektor, Sub-Zero, Rain (force those mofos to work together to survive)
-Johnny, Stryker, Kano
-Tremor, Jax, Kintaro
-Cassie, Stryker, Erron
-Shang, Kenshi, Ermac
-King Jerrod, Onaga, Shao Kahn (awkward)
Also do you interesting about making video of a mortal kombat crossover concept with another similar bloodier and gorier fighting games like killer instinct or eternal champions
@@rezaashary7180 Would have to get acquainted with those games first. Don't know much, outside of Mortal Kombat.
Do you think mk1 characters role can be replace with another characters like maybe li mei role as former umgadi being replace by jade or rain who in game being a high mage replace by tanya with pryomancer variants from mortal kombat x
@@rezaashary7180 Both good ideas. I get that they were trying new things, but Jade, as a character, was made to be a protector and bff, while Tanya's a very deceptive character, by nature - not saying she needs to be evil, but definitely wily. And I love the idea of her being the high mage. She basically already looks like a fire sorceress.
Well.. past versions of her, anyway.
Beautiful, just beautiful
Glad you liked it.
NRS and WB don't know who/what Kung Lao is nor what he's supposed to be. You nailed it, for the most part, excepting the tourney. But even I know how underappreciated/disrespected Lao truly is! I can't explain everything in my rewrite, I can only show it, in my own MK Khronology! And even my OC can develop Lao to the man he's supposed to be.
WB definitely doesn't know. Or care.
Seeing this makes me wish he was the new champion even more. Was hyped seeing him in the gameplay trailer thinking he was the new MC. Raiden is cool, but dang.
Yeah, they did Lao dirty.
Damn, this is far better than what NRS did.
No mind 🔥
@@bloodandbonezzz Yeah, shamelessly stole that from The Last Samurai, mostly just to show the type of scene I had in mind.
@@CynicalWarlock it fits so well
Kung Lao seemed pretty badass in MKX, and I'm talking about the old man (what if scenario) version that's not seen in the storymode. MKX version of Lao appeared more humble and secure, no longer needing to prove himself as Liu Kang's equal. He even gave me the impression that he could be a mentor figure, appearance wise, whereas Old Liu Kang didn't give me that same vibe. Also, Kung Lao has a special hat that he uses as a weapon... How is he NOT the main character?
I think if MKX had better writing, then Kung Lao could've been brought back from the dead (like Sub Zero, Scorpion & Jax) and become another mentor figure to the combat kids instead of just being another yes man revenant who obey's revenant Liu Kang. Just as Sub Zero has a sort of friendship with Johnny, Kung Lao could be the same, separating him from Liu Kang on who they keep close to them. He can teach the combat kids that weapons can be formed from anything, basically ensuring that no one becomes a copy paste of their parents (Cassie & Jacqui), and has something unique about them, like having knives in their shoes and doing capoeira to cut the opponent or something (idk).
MK11 made him so cocky to the point he was a Johnny Cage clone, and Kung Lao never struck me as the cocky type during MK9. It was actually Liu Kang that came off as egotistical to me, and the fact that he rebels against Raiden kind of proves that.
Exactly my thoughts. Don't remember if I rant about it in this video or another one, but going through the trouble if designing all of these cool, aged-like-fine-wine versions of these characters only to not use them in story mode is like ordering sushi and just eating the rice.
I like all the Lao ideas - considering his experiences, he would've made an interesting mentor, and his eventual inevitable duel will revenant Liu Kang would've been a cool moment of maturation, where he faces his Shaolin brother in an attempt to save him, not best him.
It should’ve bin him back in deadly alliance, then again after mk9, then again in mk1 but every chance that presented itself got BOTTLED tremendously… honestly the amount of times the creators (specifically nrs) have bullshitted my fav characters makes me question my entire loyalty to this franchise. Mk shaped my childhood yet it’s being milked to death and not expanded on by money hungry owners who are single handedly stopping it from reaching its full potential.
I think a lot of us are in that situation. It's very strange to like a series for its potential, not for what it actually does.
You should definitely write a Shaolin monks script. Compelling story. Which Kung lao version do you think was featured in the 2021 movie. He felt like he had pride and almost like he was the chosen one and Liu Kang was the less privileged
I dunno, I tried to erase that film from my memory.
He's definitely a little snarky, but him and Liu seem on the same level, in both skill and interactions. Like friends.
YESSSSSSS
What all men want to hear from their wives.
Finally someone giving Kung Lao the respect that he deserves...I didn't know that Kung Lao turned down being the "Chosen One", interesting.
Yeah, the original version of the character was very different, compared to the NRS version.
You should write for mk because your videos are fire
Thanks a bunch.
I hate the way nrs has treated him. Turning him into a jealous nobody that gets made fun of by everyone else in the cast for not being Liu kang
And then dying in every movie and tv show
The hate boner they have for Lao and Kotal perplexes me.
Imagine giving Kung Lao the lightning powers have him become a Kung Lao Raiden hybrid, and have more magic reasoning to his hat
Because they both have hats, right?
@@CynicalWarlock because i feel like the rebooted mk1 world felt a little bit safe and could've taken the characters in further directions
@@lurkinlittlesquares6691 100% agree.
@@CynicalWarlock \(･◡･)/
Kung Lao doesn't die in mortal Kombat deadly alliance, he is the one who is taking on the mantle of the chosen one for Earth realm after Liu Kang does
Did I say that? If so, my bad. I probably meant that he dies at the *end* of Deadly Alliance.
even as a bad guy Goro is all bout honor. its another thing i like bout Goro.
Yeah, wish we'd actually see that, for once.
Kung Lao has been my favorite character since his debut in 1993. Midway did mistreat him, but not as badly as NRS and WB have. I say f**k then both!
I honestly don't understand what they have against that character.
it sucks to see such a cool character being treated so badly,at this point i'm just happy cause atleast he got some cool moments in his chapter in MK9,like beating the deadly alliance and kintaro.
Yet losing to Scorpion, in the beginning. Talk about yo-yo power levels.
Kung doesn’t get a lot of love tbh. I’m a very classic mk fan. They were all perfected, until nrs fucked over majority of characters
Too much cocaine, probably.
What kind of hel would everyone have like bi-han and hanzo.Also this sounds alot like the4thsnakes rewrite.
Yeah, watched his video after making mine. FML.
Kung Lao's hell would be a world with no hats.
@@CynicalWarlockPHFBRDSBBEV.Shut up I'm not laughing.
Not every guy need to be good writed,good,works for justice,humble and able to beat everyone
Something something.
Fixing Kung Lao is easy, I want to see you fix Kronika or Kotal Kahn
Challenge accepted.
Now make this an actual hattrick of 3 Kung Lao videos-
Sigh, baack to woork.
This shit good
I got da good shit.
GOAT
Hell yeah.
While I heavily agree with the sentiment of Lao being mistreated, I don't think pushing him fowards in MK1 (the original) would be a good idea
It all depends on the path you wish to give him towards and the personality you wish to showcase with him, but giving him the tournament victory against Goro takes a lot away from Liu Kang
Liu's kit and personality from the first MK game is much better suited for the Goro encounter that you described, since he was the only canonically pacifist character in that game, whereas Lao has been killing ever since his first appearence
I feel like keeping Liu as the pacifist and having Lao be inspired by that makes both characters stronger together, instead of Liu's triumphs being given to him
I really love your ideas, and it would be very fun to see them fleshed out more!
Liu does inspire Lao, that's implied and can easily be emphasized more in the writing. And considering that Liu Kang goes on to defeat Shang Tsung, Shinnok and Shao Kahn.. repeatedly, I can't justify letting him also defeat Goro, a character he has no connection with. That victory means nothing to Kang, but it means everything to Lao. And don't get me wrong, you can totally play it out this way, but then I question what the point of Kung Lao - or even the Great Kung Lao - is. You go through the trouble of introducing this ancient character and tragic backstory, along with a present-day descendant of his, of the same name, just for... flavor? To fill out the roster?
That's the definition of a missed opportunity.
@@CynicalWarlock to be fair, most MK characters can be described as missed opportunities, so it's not something that only affects Lao
As it stands, Lao's story in the original 4 games made sense, since he wanted to stay out of the fight in 1, appeared in 2 when his home was threathened, faked his death in 3 to escape his fate, and made a symbolic victory in 4 to honour his ancestor's memory
It both allows Liu Kang to have the spotlight while also allowing Lao to make his own path, which I feel is more meaningful than having the usual heroic story
Him twisting his status as the Great KL's descendant in order to free himself to live his way is very satisfying and unique
I really like that arc as it exists, although it's somewhat brought down by DA-D-A doing nothing with him
@@dante_02 Agreed. First 4 games managed to string together a cohesive story for Lao, with a clear beginning and end. It's clear that, from DA onward, they kinda got bored of these OG characters, so they killed them off to make room for new ones, then begrudgingly brought everyone back for Armageddon, then killed everyone again, rinse and repeat with MK9,and it's been that way ever since.
@@CynicalWarlock yeah, the general lack of direction and development the characters have had for the last 20 years is absolutely insane, considering how fantastic they all are
Even guys like Hsu Hao have huge story potential, yet everyone seems to be regularly tossed aside
Bo' Rai cho or Li Mei next plz
Might lump them in the same video.
@CynicalWarlock content great btw keep up the good work talk very intelligently
I always wanted to like Kung Lao more than I did, in MK9 he existed and was somewhat visible, on MKX he was simple, but still okay, on MK11 he became a fucking narcissistic toddler, his intros were god awful to hear because it was just making him a joke or act like a jackass.
Johnny Cage without the charm.
Will you ever try to fix Shinnok or Kronika?
I kinda touched on Shinnok, in the Elder Gods video. Maybe I'll revisit him, if I think up a full plotline for a game.
As for Kronika, that's an easy fix: delete the bitch.
A bit mean @@CynicalWarlock
@@billmcdermott9647 Guilty as charged.
Kung Lao is the most scewed over fighting game character ever
Oooh, there are plenty other contenders for that title.
But he's definitely up there.