—Quan Chi to Shang Tsung about his miserable life and their benefactor. |
Biography
- Mortal Kombat 1: "Quan Chi was born into hard labor in an Outworld mine. He had no future, just the guarantee of certain death in its dark tunnels. To curry favor with the mine’s owner, Quan Chi informed on fellow workers who were planning a strike. It was broken and many strikers killed. The survivors were not going to forgive and forget. They plotted to kill Quan Chi. Quan Chi’s life was saved by a mysterious benefactor. In exchange for his service, she offered to free him from the mines and train him in dark magic. Quan Chi eagerly accepted. Now a master of the Netherrealm's most vile sorcery, Quan Chi plots with Shang Tsung to conquer the realms. He will not be denied."
Storyline
Mortal Kombat 1
By resetting the timeline, Liu Kang wanted to ensure that the realms did not fall into the same conflicts he had experienced, so he forged the fates of many past villains so that they would not be a threat. In the case of Quan Chi, Liu Kang stripped him of his demonic origin and the powers provided by the Netherrealm, turning him into an ordinary miner born in Outworld with a miserable life.
At one point, Quan Chi wanted to gain the favor of the owner of the mine where he worked, so he betrayed his companions, who planned a strike that ended with many deaths and those who survived planned to kill him. To his good fortune, a mysterious benefactor appeared to him who took him out of the mines and in exchange for his servitude, he would grant him the knowledge of dark magic. Now, with his new powers, Quan Chi was able to travel to the Netherrealm and subdue the demons of the realm to found the Brotherhood of Shadows as he did his previous incarnations.
At some point in the past, Quan Chi returned to Outworld with a prophecy for Empress Sindel which claimed that Liu Kang and his Earthrealm minions would betray Outworld and seek to conquer it. Unlike King Jerrod before her, Empress Sindel was more wary of Liu Kang, but chose not to act on this prophecy unless she saw sufficient proof of its validity. At the same time, Quan Chi worked with his fellow sorcerer Shang Tsung, alongside General Shao, to do Damashi's bidding and force the two realms into open war. At some point, he also struck bargains with Nitara of Vaeternus, providing aid to her starving race of vampires by giving her the ability to endure sunlight. He also struck deals with Havik and Darrius of Orderrealm.
When an trio of Earthrealm warriors mistakenly interrupted Shang Tsung's treatment for Princess Mileena's Tarkat disease, Quan Chi and his co-conspirators manage to spin the events into the "proof" the Empress needed. With war now almost assured, Quan Chi next traveled to the Living Forest to power up his soul stealer devices alongside Nitara, Darrius and Havik. The Earthrealmers, alongside Baraka, Syzoth, and Ashrah, interrupted the activation of the soul stealer, but not before Quan Chi extracted the souls of the Living Forest into a new minion: Ermac.
Despite the efforts of Quan Chi's forces, they were defeated and Quan Chi was knocked out when the souls he'd stolen attacked him. The Earthrealmers and their allies took the unconscious Quan Chi with them, escaping into a festival in Sun Do while disguising themselves and pretending Quan Chi was a drunken colleague. Their escape attempt was interrupted by the appearance of the Umgadi, Sun Do Constabulary and General Shao's forces, and Quan Chi awakened during the battle, briefly being knocked unconscious again. However, the Earthrealmers and their allies were forced to flee without him, escaping back to Earthrealm.
Some time later, Quan Chi himself travelled to Earthrealm to oversee the construction of more soul stealers at Ying Fortress. The Lin Kuei invade the fortress, intending to destroy the soul stealers and capture Quan Chi, but they were captured and Shang Tsung persuaded Bi-Han to join the Deadly Alliance. Scorpion and Smoke turn against their Grandmaster and escaped, but the Deadly Alliance was now able to activate the soul stealers and empower the Dragon Army as Damashi wished.
Shortly thereafter, a combined force of Earthrealmers and Outworlders infiltrated Ying Fortress, and Mileena briefly distracted them by pretending to defect their side. Using this distraction, the forces of Earthrealm and Outworld surrounded the Deadly Alliance and Liu Kang demanded to know who pulled their strings. Shang Tsung introduced his enemies to "Damashi", but the person who appeared instead was another Shang Tsung. This Shang Tsung revealed that he was a Titan of Time who had fought Liu Kang for the Hourglass, only for their battle to split time into two timelines with different outcomes. Titan Shang Tsung further reveals that he never intended to reward the Deadly Alliance for their service; they were merely pawns in his gambit to wipe out all life in this timeline and merge it with his own.
Betrayed, the Deadly Alliance turn against Titan Shang Tsung and his minions, reluctantly battling alongside their enemies to save their timeline. However, Empress Sindel is killed during the battle and the allied forces are forced to flee as the Army awakens. Retreating into the hills, the allies formulate a strategy. Heeding Shang Tsung's theory that there may be more than two timelines, Liu Kang and Geras travel back to the Hourglass to retrieve Liu Kang's Titan power and search for more allies. In the meantime, the other allies attack the Army and Shang Tsung's forces. The Deadly Alliance, alongside Raiden, are tasked with destroying the portals the Army needs to move between realms. The trio battle against several Dark enemies before realizing Dark Shao's life force is what keeps the portals active. They kill him and close the portals for good before joining the others in fighting the Army itself.
Determined to put an end to Titan Shang Tsung's invasion, Liu Kang formed the Forces of Light to confront him in his timeline, the army was composed of various warriors from all timelines, including many benevolent versions of Quan Chi. Titan Shang Tsung would also have formed his own army called the Order of Darkness composed of evil versions of the multiverse, including a Titan Quan Chi who accompanies Titan Shang Tsung at the top of the pyramid while other versions and fusions of Quan Chi fight in the pyramid. Some versions of Quan Chi are: A benevolent Quan Chi who died trying to defeat his Titan version and Shang Shung, a fusion with Mileena called Jawspell, a fusion with Liu Kang called Kang Quan, one with Li Mei called Quan Li and one with Geras called Quantum-Chi. The Battle of Armageddon concluded with the defeat of Titan Shang Tsung and Titan Quan Chi at the hands of Liu Kang's ally and their possible annihilation by the God of Fire. Afterwards, all versions of the warriors from different timelines returned to their respective timelines.
After the defeat of Titan Shang Tsung in Armageddon, Shang Tsung, Quan Chi and General Shao were imprisoned in Lei Chin Prison under Mileena's rule and later escaped.
Ending
- Mortal Kombat 1 (Canonical): "Though Ermac had freed me from my Lei Chin cell, I found myself no less imprisoned. I had no allies, no benefactor, and no obvious path back to power. And power is what I crave. But why should I settle for the scant abilities of someone who is an underling sorcerer? I should be the one who controls history, who bends people and events to my whim. I should control the Hourglass and wield it as the Keeper of Time. While I search the realms for the Hourglass, I further master the dark magic needed to destroy Liu Kang. My quest may take a lifetime, but it will be worth it. For when I succeed... I will achieve omnipotence."