Origin
Scorpion was born Hanzo Hasashi to the Shirai Ryu clan of ninjas and assassins. Hanzo’s father was a former member of the Shirai Ryu and forbade his son from joining the clan, but Hanzo saw a way to give his own family comfortable life and so he joined against his father’s wishes. Hanzo was trained and became a highly skilled killer for the clan and earned the nickname “Sasori” – Japanese for Scorpion. Scorpion had fought for the honor of the Grandmaster and the Shirai Ryu clan itself and was considered one of the clan’s best by age 32.
Hanzo’s life began to change when a necromancer named Quan Chi hired the clan to retrieve the Map of Elements from the Order of Light‘s Shaolin Temple. This map would lead the sorcerer to the Amulet of Shinnok, though Quan Chi would need a human to enter the temple where it was housed since magic prevented magicians, sorcerers, and necromancers like himself from entering. Hanzo set out to honor his family and clan by completing the mission. Unbeknownst to Hanzo, Quan Chi had gone to the Shirai Ryu’s principle rivals, the Lin Kuei, who sent an assassin named Bi-Han a.k.a. the elder Sub-Zero. During the mission, both Hanzo and Sub-Zero would run into each other and being from rival clans naturally did battle. Sub-Zero emerged victorious and Hanzo was killed.
His soul tainted by his acts as an assassin and his “association” with Quan Chi, Hanzo descended to the Netherealm where he was reborn as Scorpion, the Ninja Spectre of Vengeance and Quan Chi’s enforcer. Unknowingly, Scorpion began working for the killer of his own family and clan, as Quan Chi had murdered them as payment for the Lin Kuei’s services. When Scorpion was reborn, he was led to believe that the Lin Kuei were the ones responsible for this. Scorpion swore revenge on Sub-Zero. Scorpion would later encounter Sub-Zero, who was trying to retrieve the Amulet on Raiden‘s orders, when he was imprisoned in the Netherealm by the Brotherhood of Shadow. They battled again, and Scorpion was defeated once more. Enraged and humiliated, Scorpion would prepare to murder Sub-Zero when he would get the chance in the Mortal Kombat tournament.
Major Story Arcs
The Mortal Kombat Tournament & the Outworld Tournament
Scorpion would be summoned to the Mortal Kombat tournament by Shang Tsung, a show of cooperation between the Netherealm and Outworld, though Scorpion was only interested in defeating Sub-Zero and killing him as revenge for the death of his clan and family. It was at this tournament where Scorpion met Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Kano, Reptile, Goro, Liu Kang, and the Thunder God, Raiden. Scorpion was defeated in the tournament however and didn’t face Sub-Zero.
Liu Kang ended up defeating both Goro and Shang Tsung to win the tournament and end Outworld’s winning streak, thereby protecting Earthrealm. Scorpion would ambush Sub-Zero after the tournament, finally defeating him and burned Bi-Han to ashes. Scorpion believed he had avenged his family and clan and so returned to the Netherealm. Quan Chi would claim the soul of Sub-Zero and modify him into a wraith for the Brotherhood of Shadow named Noob Saibot.
Later Scorpion heard tales of a second tournament in Outworld. While this would normally be of no concern unless Quan Chi ordered him to attend, Scorpion heard of Sub-Zero’s participation and was clueless about how his nemesis could have survived. He began to stalk Sub-Zero during the tournament, waiting for his chance to strike, though Scorpion would allow his opponent to live after he later learned that this new Sub-Zero was in fact the younger brother of the original he had killed named Kuang Liang.
While both Sub-Zero’s were trained assassins of the Lin Kuei, the younger had honor and was defending Earthrealm from Shao Kahn‘s forces. Scorpion vowed to protect this new Sub-Zero in order to atone for taking his only family. Sub-Zero would never know of this vow though.
Mortal Kombat 3 & Mortal Kombat 4
During Shao Kahn’s invasion of Earthrealm ,Scorpion was set free from the Netherealm and walked the now barren Earth where he took no friends or personal enemies, though Shao Kahn noted his superior combat skills and powers and recruited him as a general of his army. Scorpion worked well with Shao Kahn, until Scorpion realized that Sub-Zero was one of Kahn’s targets as a chosen warrior of Raiden. Scorpion betrayed Shao Kahn and sided with the Earthrealm warriors. Liu Kang once again triumphed and defeated Shao Kahn, freeing Earthrealm’s souls. Scorpion returned to the Netherealm to regain his strength.
Sometime after the Earthrealm warriors started interfering with Shinnok and Quan Chi’s plans for Edenia, Quan Chi told Scorpion that the younger Sub-Zero was actually the one who had murdered his family; Quan Chi did this to reinvigorate Scorpion for battle. Scorpion set upon Sub-Zero and attacked, injuring the ex-Lin Kuei warrior. Just as Scorpion was about to finish him, Sub-Zero told Scorpion that he was being deceived. Suddenly, Quan Chi appeared and tried to send Scorpion back to the Netherealm and revealed he was the one who killed his family and clan. Scorpion thought quickly and ran towards Quan Chi, sending them both back to the Netherealm. Scorpion would have his revenge.
Deadly Alliance & Deception
During the years of imprisonment in the Netherealm, Scorpion played a never-ending game of cat and mouse with the new object of his vengeance, Quan Chi. The area of the Netherealm they traversed was not ruled by Shinnok, so Quan Chi’s powers were weakened while Scorpion’s were amplified. Quan Chi was forced to make a deal with two Oni best friends named Drahmin and Moloch to fight off Scorpion while he escaped and would allow the duo to leave with him. After they defeated Scorpion, Quan Chi abandoned them, leaving them trapped in the Netherealm. The two Oni were later freed by Shang Tsung, whom they allied with and would protect him if Quan Chi ever decided to pull any more menacing tricks.
Scorpion was able to use the same portal to escape the Netherealm, though he ended up at a different location in Outworld than Quan Chi. Quan Chi allied himself with Shang Tsung in order to resurrect the fallen army of the Dragon King, Onaga. Scorpion pursued the sorcerer to Shang Tsung’s palace, but Drahmin and Moloch were there too. The two best friends were far too much for Scorpion, and knowing they couldn’t devour his Hellspawn flesh, they decided to just dispose of him by tossing him into the soulnado in the palace. Scorpion would not have any confrontations with the Oni duo again after this.
Scorpion would have been torn apart, but the Elder Gods came to his rescue. From the void, Scorpion witnessed the deaths of Johnny Cage, Princess Kitana, Kung Lao, Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, Jackson Briggs, and Sonya Blade. Scorpion’s supernatural and combat powers were enhanced by the Elder Gods and he became their champion against the Dragon King. Scorpion would run into Shujinko who believed himself the champion at one time and they dueled with Shujinko emerging as the victor. Scorpion tracked Onaga through the realms, but it was ultimately Shujinko who defeated Onaga, thus making Scorpion’s quest pointless.
Armageddon
After the defeat of Onaga, Scorpion’s deal with the Elder Gods was revealed. He became their Champion in order for them to resurrect his family and clan. They fulfilled their end of the bargain by resurrecting them, but his clan were now all Hellspawns like Scorpion. Scorpion, feeling betrayed and upset, went on a quest to foil the Elder Gods plans to prevent Armageddon. Scorpion left to deal with the brothers Taven and Daegon. When the forces of Darkness and Light gathered to battle at the Pyramid of Argus, Scorpion joined the forces of Darkness as a way to get closer to Quan Chi in order to kill him. During the climatic battle Scorpion was defeated and killed in battle by Sub-Zero, shown by having Kuai Liang’s Kori Blade impaled inside of him. Raiden however would reverse all prior events by sending a message to his past self.
Mortal Kombat 2011
At the restart of the Mortal Kombat timeline, Scorpion was once again a ninja spectre entering the Mortal Kombat tournament in order to avenge his death along with the deaths of his family and clan. Quan Chi also made his presence known at the tournament. Scorpion fought on Outworld’s side as a show of cooperation between the Netherealm and Outworld. Scorpion’s first opponent was Nightwolf, who first tried to set Scorpion on a path of peace by reasoning with him and telling him of his own victimized people. Scorpion arrogantly took this as a sign that Nightwolf is unbothered of his people’s death. Scorpion defeated Nightwolf, but did not kill him. Scorpion demanded Sub-Zero and was willing to attack Shang Tsung, but Quan Chi made Scorpion calm himself. Scorpion then had to fight the newly-discovered Kung Lao and defeated him as well.
Raiden, seeing a vision of Scorpion killing Sub-Zero and the latter’s transformation into Noob Saibot, requested that Scorpion not kill him and if he did as requested that Raiden would ask the Elder Gods to resurrect the Shirai Ryu clan. Scorpion next fought both Sektor and Cyrax together at the same time and defeated them after they insulted his clan. Next was finally his long-awaited match against Sub-Zero.
Sub-Zero was unbothered of Scorpion’s suffering and responded to Scorpion’s threat with “To Hell with your clan”. Scorpion, now enraged, responds with a “No, to Hell with you!” For this match, Scorpion transported the two of them to the Netherealm. Scorpion defeated Sub-Zero and would choose not to kill him, until Quan Chi appeared and showed Scorpion a false image of the Lin Kuei slaughtering the Shirai Ryu and Sub-Zero himself killing Scorpion’s wife and child. Sub-Zero surprised by these images told Scorpion that it was not him. Not listening, Scorpion took off his mask and burned Bi-Han to ashes with his signature flame breath fatality. Scorpion teleported back to Shang Tsung’s palace with the charred skull of Sub-Zero to show to Raiden, knowing the fact that the deal was off and was deeply saddened.
Scorpion was not pleased with himself and roared in anger and sadness as he teleported back to the Netherealm. Near the end of the tournament Scorpion was summoned alongside Quan Chi to fight Liu Kang in a 2-on-1 match. The duo proved ineffective and were defeated by the Shaolin monk who would go on to defeat Goro and then Shang Tsung himself.
During the tournament of Outworld, Scorpion was only seen near the end when the younger and honorable Sub-Zero arrived in order to face his brother’s killer. Sub-Zero defeated Reptile and earned the right to face Scorpion. Sub-Zero defeated Scorpion and would have killed him, but Scorpion was saved by the timely intervention of the cyborg warriors of the Lin Kuei clan who took Sub-Zero back to the Lin Kuei temple for the automation process while pledging their loyalty to Shao Kahn.
During Shao Kahn’s invasion of Earthrealm, Scorpion is only seen when Raiden goes to the Netherealm to broker a deal of cooperation against Outworld. Raiden first sees Scorpion and when he asks to see Quan Chi, Scorpion tries to act on Quan Chi’s behalf. This leads to a fight where Scorpion loses to the Thunder God, allowing him an audience with Quan Chi, after which Scorpion is not seen again.
Mortal Kombat X
20 years after the events of Mortal Kombat 2011, Scorpion has re-established the Shirai Ryu Clan after the Netherealm War with the wandering souls and served as the clan’s Grandmaster. Scorpion was first seen a few years prior when a Red Dragon squad which was lead by Hsu Hao trespasses into Shirai Ryu territory while chasing Kenshi and his son Takeda. When his pursuers finally caught and downed Kenshi, Hsu Hao was about to finish him off, but Scorpion appears out of nowhere, throwing his spear at Hsu Hao’s robotic heart and kills him by cremating his head with a hellfire-infused punch.
Quickly demanding the remaining Red Dragon members to leave, Red Dragon prepares to face Scorpion, but they back down when they see the other Shirai Ryu members appearing out the forest while Scorpion makes a final warning to his trespassers.
Characteristics
- Height: 6’2″
- Weight: 210 lbs
- Nationality: Osaka Japan (Formerly) Netherealm (Reborn)
- Martial Art: Ninjutsu, Hapkido, Pi Gua and Moi Fah
- Alignment: Neutral
- Age: 32 (at death) (Hell-spawned Spectre)
Powers & Abilities
As a human, Hanzo Hasashi was one of the most respected members of the Shirai Ryu clan and was known for his speed and direct style of combat. His fighting stance taken from Shaolin kung-fu earned him the nickname Sasori a.k.a. Scorpion. Hanzo was skilled with swords, axes, and his kunai kinfe attached to a chain. The kunai served as a further comparison to a scorpion.
After his death to the original Sub-Zero and subsequent resurrection in the Netherealm, Scorpion was given new abilities more suiting his wraith status. Scorpion could now control hellfire, adding to his lethality. Scorpion can shoot fire, empower his weapons with fire, teleport through fire, and spit fire from his skull head. Scorpion was almost immune to death as he would just reconstitute in the Netherealm. And it also gave him a death stare, which means whomever looks in his eyes for to long (about 30 seconds) will burn from the inside out. Scorpion is a force to be reckoned with, but his powers are dependent on the Netherealm itself, and the longer Scorpion is away from the Netherealm, the weaker he would become and conversely Scorpion is empowered when inside the realm.
After the resurrection of Onaga and Scorpion’s brush with death inside the soulnado, he became the champion of the Elder Gods and they further empowered him to take down Onaga, though Scorpion didn’t get the chance.
Signature Moves
- Air Throw
- Fire Breath
- Flaming Backflip Kick
- Hellfire
- Hellfire Punch
- Leg Takedown
- Spear
- Shroud of Flames
- X-Ray Move: Scorpion Sting
Finishers
- Annihilation
- Boss Fatality
- Hand from Hell
- Hellish Dismemberment
- Lava Pool
- Nether Gates
- Scorpion Sting
- Spear Shot
- Spear Slice
- Split Decision
- Toasty!
- Welcome to the Netherealm
- Stop Ahead
- Who’s Next?
Other Media
Movies
Games
- Mortal Kombat
- Mortal Kombat ll
- Mortal Kombat 3
- Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
- Mortal Kombat Trilogy
- Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero
- Mortal Kombat 4
- Mortal Kombat Gold
- Mortal Kombat: Special Forces
- Mortal Kombat Advance
- Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
- Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition
- Mortal Kombat: Deception
- Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
- Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
- Mortal Kombat: Anthology
- Mortal Kombat: Unchained
- Ultimate Mortal Kombat
- Mortal Kombat: Puzzle Kombat
- Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
- Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition
- Injustice Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition
- Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Injustice: Gods Among Us
- Mortal Kombat X