Meanwhile, in ‘Mortal Kombat X,’ Kung Lao Has Appeared

Damn, Kung Lao. You look like hell. The years haven't been kind.

Veteran Mortal Kombat-ers will remember this guy, the most badass hat-decapitator since Oddjob. He's been getting his deadly Chinese martial arts on since 1993‘s Mortal Kombat II, and has become integral to the series' ensemble cast.

Our ol' buddy Lao didn't have a great time in the last game. What with, y'know, being mangled into a bloody smear on the sidewalk by Shao Kahn and everything (kinda; the story was a bit of a grab bag of scenarios after all). But hey, fighting games don't usually give many effs about that sort of thing. Characters return from the dead more often than the cat from Itchy and Scratchy ‘round these parts.

So here he is again, freshly confirmed to be returning in X. Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Raiden and Quan Chi are already here, as is Kano. Their latest familiar playmate fits right in, for the most part. The game's set 25 years after the events of the last, so we'll excuse him looking a lil' decrepit.

As with his buddies, Kung Lao will have three different fighting styles for players to choose from: Tempest, Hat Trick and Buzz Saw. Apparently, the differences betwixt them are the biggest yet. Testyourmight's report, translated from a Finnish gaming magazine, sounds rather sexy:


‘With Tempest Kung Lao uses more spinning attacks and has the ability to set his hat to spin around him as a shield of sorts. In his Buzz Saw variation his hat is sharpened with razor blade edges and allows the player to control his hat throws more. Hat Trick is the most experimental of the three, because you can throw and call back your hat at any point you want. This keeps the opponent on their toes, because the hat can extend combos.'

The question is, is he as much of an ass as he was in 2011?

Image: @AeroGrunt, via Testyourmight.