This article, Kotal Kahn's poor storytelling, is property of Damon Redwood. |
This here are listed all of mistakes of Kotal Kahn's character writing and therefore: why he sucks.
Losing against ordinary humans[]
For a Rodian half-God, presumed God of War, Sun and Blood and half brother to the much younger Shao Kahn, Kotal lost many of his fights to average Joe's from Earth that no one really knows or cares about.
- During the events of Tekken 3 Kotal lost to Paul Phoenix, a human Judo and Kick-box fighter from Earth. To make all of the matters worse, Paul is a goofy guy with a rather low IQ and he left the Mexican Temple before Ko'atal could even get up and get a second chance to beat his s. How did a supposed Aztec God like Kotal lose to some Judo goofball from America? It is indeed mind-babbling.
- After Paul leaves the temple and Kotal gets up to re-power himself up with his Sun powers, Jin Kazama quickly steps in and fights Kotal only to beat him as easily as Paul did. While Jin may be a fallen angel from Heavens infused with the Devil Gene, he is a lot more human than Kotal is and how did Kahn manage to get beat up by some emo angel? Well, a good excuse would be that Kazama is way more powerful than Paul thanks to the said Devil Gene, but the thing is that he didn't even use it during his battle against Kotal, making Kotal a complete jobber.
- During the events of Mortal Kombat X, a human Black Dragon Clan member, Kano, is paid by Mileena, false empress of Outworld and Kotal's niece, to assassinate Ko'atal while they are ridding in a carriage through Gand. Kano is known for being quite a jobber but does Kotal Kahn just brush his would-be hitman off like nothing? No. Kotal Kahn actually has quite a hard time defending himself from Kano, a guy who lost to a lot of folks and has no super powers other than having Terminator's eye. Hell, Kano even used his eye to harm the Kahn's wrist a little and you would think that a powerful god like Kotal would beat Kano in seconds but nope, it took him a little less than a minute to fend off freaking Kano.
- When the Special Forces teens led by Cassie Cage arrived on North Outworld to speak with Kotal, a certain Kung Jin freed a child molester from execution and Kotal stepped in. Kotal, however, got his green as washed by Kung Jin. After coming to, Kotal was on his knees in front of the Kombat Kids, telling Kung to end his miserable life already, but Kung showed mercy and instead asked Kotal to help them in getting Shinnok's Amulet from Mileena. A little 21 years or something old boy mopped the floor with the Emperor of Outworld on his own freaking planet and left him on his knees, begging for mercy! So much for being a half-god of Sun.
Failing to kill four teens[]
- When Kotal and his militia invades the Earth in order to wrest back Shinnok's amulet from Raiden, they encounter the Kombat Kids again in a forest and Kotal sends his boys plus Ferra & Torr after them. The teens, however, escape their clutches and hide in the forest for a while. The entire Kotal's Army, plus his inner circle consisting of Ermac, Red Harlow, Reptile and Ferra surplus Torr fail to capture the four little teens. When Kotal and his militia plus the circle finally surround them after around fifteen minutes of failing to do jack crap and after waiting around half a minute, Sub-Zero and his outdated Lin Kuei Clan arrives to save the day and pushes Kotal and his group back to Outworld, empty-handed and all defeated. How can half of Outworld's army plus Kotal himself plus his group of most loyal henchmen fail to capture and kill four freaking teens! Is Kotal really worthy of being a half-god he claims to be?
Failing to protect his Throne[]
- During the New Era events, Shao Kahn and his loyal group of followers attempt to retake the Outworld throne from Ko'atal and they succeed when Shao snaps his half-bro's back like a twig.
- Afterwards, Ko'atal's as gets saved by Jade and she covers him and takes him back to his castle where they plan an attack on the Tarkatan hordes and their base but at the same bleedin' time, the Emperor Shao Kahn and his new allies attack the Tarkata scum as well. There Shao and his boys get the upper hoof and take Kotal to the middle of Shao's coliseum for immediate execution, eh! However, before they have a chance to cut off his green head, Princess Kitana, leading a band of ponies and a couple of other outworlders, storms into the 'seum and proceeds to save Kotal but the merry band does not succeed in dethroning Shao.
Conclusion[]
Kotal is once again defeated and imprisoned, now in the Dark Prison of Queen Anne's Revenge.
Final thoughts[]
We can already see in Tekken III that Kotal gets his green as whooped by Paul Phoenix, hard and then by the emo angle Jin Kazama, leaving him almost lifeless on the floor. He is then attacked by Heihachi Mishima and his army who is after his blood tissue but resists him and Heihachi escapes. Kotal is later responsible for the disappearance of Jun Kazama, as if he had the power to actually kill anyone, given his fodder status. His appearance in future Tekken games are just cameos.
Now in MK, it seems like Ko'atal's character arch is that of a complete failure. Kotal was represented pretty badass at first, being able to cut off two of Goro's arms, crippling him and humiliating him greatly, being powered by the sun. He would then hire some Black Dragons to capture him some Special Forces, but would lose his crap with the Red Dragon Clan nearby who were also hunting for Cass and Jacqui. He would fight the bastards and gain the upperhand, then he would even be able to stand his own against Reiko, a soon-to-be Blood God, like Kahn. He would eventually lose however and das where it all started to go downhill.
He is then seen in the game, having a very tough time beating Kano and in later chapter gets his butt handed to him by freaking Kung Jin! Altho he did manage to beat Rain and Mileena's ases earlier.
Lastly, he fails to kill 4 teens while on Earth with his army and inner circle and is forced to flee back to Outworld by the Lin Kuei.
In the New Era events he gets whooped twice by his "inferior" half-bro & is now suffering in prisen.