My Writing Hell

I post my fanfic from ao3 here. Snow or Butterfly they/them. 22 years old she/her Aro/Ace

[ao3snowbutterfly]

Welcome!

I’m Snowbutterfly (You can call me Snow or Butterfly, I don’t have a preference), my pronouns are they/them. I’m going to use this account to post my various fanfics that I write from ao3 (Username: Snowbutterfly) <3

[n3rdv10l3nc3]

I thought Mileena would be my fave, not... Electric Jesus and Boyfailure Prime.

[ao3snowbutterfly]

🤣🤣

[ghosterain]

I’m having way too much fun w this ship

[tampire]

#Kano keeping it real

[daftpatience]

trying to be an active mutual feels like this some of times

[soy-noobs]

⚡️

[ao3snowbutterfly]

Max Huang's latest insta story with his back covered in stickers with his niece (?) sticking on more is freaking adorable

But it's made me think of Kung Lao with his little nephew/cousin Kung Jin.

Like Kung Lao is visiting his family and little Kung Jin is trying to show off how sneaky he is to his cool warrior uncle/cousin and keeps sticking stickers to his back. Kung Lao pretends not to notice and tells him that he's the sneakiest and he's so skilled already, much to Kung Jin's delight.

[eldritch-blaest]

Dating Sonya Blade call her a Baeblade

[agvarina]

Uncle and nephew summer Time bonding time

[a-driftamongopenstars]

the horror of being "god's favourite princess". literally one of my favourite horror themes. the god loves you and it's so scary.

it will always choose you. you cannot die. you'll always come back because it loves you so much. you are its right and left hand, its eternal weapon. it will drown you in its light. light as horror. darkness as horror. what if it thinks you are its best friend.

you are god's favourite princess and it's terrifying.

[n3rdv10l3nc3]

Your talk of pre new-era/klassic Loaden/railao has intrigued me >:3 and I wanna know more

Maybe some headcanons about them or their relationship? Or a bit of info about the fics you're writing?

Share as much or as little as you want! I'll be happy with anything lol

Thank you!

🫪 I have waited so long for someone to ask me about the truth and the light my OTP. Please, bear with me as I infodump; just today a friend asked me a single question about a single plot point in my fic and I replied by spending two hours writing what I can only assume was a couple thousand words on the topic. Buckle up, we're going on a journey.

First and foremost, one of the things which fascinates me the most about the pairing is that, to be blunt, Raiden is Kung Lao's God. He's not just 'a' god -- he's the patron deity of the religious order to which Kung Lao belongs. Kung Lao worships him as a deity, that's why he calls him Lord. Raiden is God, and Kung Lao is his monk in religious service to him, and that's at best gray and at worst potentially very dark and fraught -- have you ever seen the post about being God's Favorite Princess? -- and I think that's interesting and fun to explore. I think that even as loving and protective and merciful and kind as Raiden usually is, he'd have a very, very distinct lack of romantically intimate experiences which would result in missteps and even unintentional harm or abuse.

Of course, that really applies to any Raiden x Mortal ship, so why Kung Lao? I mean Liu Kang is RIGHT THERE, if we're pairing Raiden with one of his monks, why not, you know... the chosen one, who (unlike Kung Lao) has saved the world at least once, and ascended to godhood at least once? That surely seems like the more likely of the two monks, if that's the path we're going down, right?

Well... setting aside the fact that Liu Kang is so aggressively monogamous with Kitana in canon that I legitimately cannot imagine him with anyone else, there's also the simple fact that Kung Lao is more interesting than Liu Kang.

Yes, I said what I said! I can hardly believe it myself -- I didn't expect for Kung Lao to be my precious baby boy when I first started getting into MK -- but he is, as far as I am concerned, the deeper and more interesting of Raiden's acolytes.

See, Kung Lao is choked by his insecurities and sense of inadequacy. He is a disciple to greatness (Raiden), he is a close friend to greatness (Liu Kang), he is descended from greatness (Great Kung Lao), and he is an enemy to greatness (Shao, Shang, Shinnok, etc).

But Kung Lao isn't great. Normies like you and I might stand back and say that being the second greatest in the entire order of the White Lotuses and the Wu Shi Academy is still some hardcore shit and he should be proud, but from where he's standing, Kung Lao is wildly mediocre compared to the people he's surrounded by. And he knows it. He knows he has very little to his name to be proud of; that's why he introduces himself relative to his ancestor. The best he can say for himself is that he's the descendant of the Great Kung Lao.

Kung Lao wants to be great. He wants to live up to all these things "expected" of him. He wants to matter. He wants to be irreplaceable. Uniquely beloved and respected. In a lot of ways he shares the same pitfalls as Shang Tsung, and I could see him being equally as power-seeking and immoral under certain circumstances, but usually he is grounded by his position as a White Lotus and his faith and servitude to Raiden, and this keeps him on the straight and narrow. Perhaps he isn't GREAT, but he is still a part of something collectively great, and that something -- the unit that is his patron deity and his best friend/foster brother -- values him. And so King Lao goes through life pushing back the darkness of his insecurities. This is very interesting (and relatable) to me.

It also, I think, makes for one of the best versions of God's Favorite Princess that MK can even offer, because I think Kung Lao would welcome a lot of the aspects of a relationship with God that other people would find... off-putting, in part because of his devout faith and in part because of his insecurities.

Being with God is... codependent, albeit in subtle ways. Even before they became romantically involved, Raiden would have been very nearly Kung Lao's whole world, because Kung Lao is a monk in a temple monastery that worships Raiden. Raiden has the same role in Kung Lao's life that Yahweh (Christian God) would have in the life of a Catholic priest, except Raiden can be seen and touched and talked to so... even more present and encompassing. And that's BEFORE any romantic entanglement; once Raiden is his God AND his lover, that relationship becomes all-consuming.

And I think that Kung Lao would LIKE to be all-consumed by God, and he would also like to be the one to consume God's thoughts. He would like nothing more than to be uniquely treasured by God. If God is smitten with him, enraptured by him, dare I say in love with him, then he is ALSO a Chosen One. Different, perhaps, than the type of Chosen One (heir) that Liu Kang is and the Great Kung Lao was, but nonetheless Chosen.

Many of my headcanons vary depending on the timeline thread (God I love the infinite multiverse M1K created for us) BUT I do have plenty that are pretty consistent across all (Klassic/non-M1K patterned) timelines, including but not limited to:

1. Kung Lao is the romantically/sexually dominant one, due to their combined hang ups. Raiden is generally acutely aware of the power imbalance between them, even if he doesn't FULLY understand it -- he's never been a human with a religious covenant to a higher power and so he can't say for sure how it feels but he can certainly extrapolate and assume enough to know he COULD in THEORY coerce Kung Lao -- and so he is reluctant to initiate anything. And while I don't think he consciously wants to dominate Raiden -- on paper he's quite happy to simply be Chosen -- I do think that he finds an IMMENSE amount of satisfaction in being the God Tamer. He likes having the ability to make God fold, even if he has no intention to use it beyond acts of affection. And so, between these two things -- Raiden's fear of becoming a coercive god and Kung Lao's desire to be uniquely powerful -- it generally is the case that Kung Lao is by far the dominant one. This is also exacerbated by the fact that...

2. Raiden is, for lack of a better word, shy. More accurately, he doesn't at all like the attention that comes from descending from his holy pedestal to take a consort, and it's not (just) because it borders in the sacrilegious. (Technically, as God, he IS the religion, so in theory nothing he does could be sacrilegious, but at the end of the day he's violating an edict of chastity that the entire monastery is bound by.) No, the real issue that, well... he's a God, worshipped by mortals. His relationship isn't just his relationship -- it's a holy example from on high. He is not simply navigating his own feelings and those of his lover; he has an audience observing him, and everything he does "must" be appropriate. He does not have the space to mess up or struggle or be in the way most of us do in our relationships... which is extra problematic because I think in most continuities, Raiden does not have relationship experience of this kind. Because of this, even once they've technically gone public, Raiden doesn't generally... engage in PDA, or really act like a lover at all, unless they are alone. It is only when they're alone together that Raiden becomes intimate and vulnerable.

3. Because this shyness limits the amount of affection they share, I think both of them are a little... feral?... when they have time together. Kung Lao moreso than Raiden -- Raiden is still a creature of immense self-control -- but like... I think when they get together away from the prying eyes of the world, and Kung Lao is in Raiden's arms, it's palpable, tangible, he can FEEL the way that Raiden is stopping himself from squeezing him tighter. Sometimes, when the occasion is particularly special, Raiden might even get a little bold when they're all alone. Initiate a kiss instead of just reciprocating it. Drop the L bomb instead of just reply to it. Kung Lao has far fewer trepidations -- while he starts most encounters off with a healthy amount of god-fearing behavior, I think once well-established romantically, it becomes pretty easy for him to cast aside religious respect in favor of unrestrained intimate desire, and behave in a way that is absolutely sacrilegious (but welcomed).

4. If Kung Lao ever ascended to godhood, he'd be the god of traversing three dimensional space, which sounds incomprehensible, so let me explain. Kung Lao's whole thing is, basically, violating physics. That's his power. He and his hat both absolutely move through 3D space in ways they absolutely should not be able to. Sometimes the hat at least pretends to follow the laws of physics, behaving similarly to a chakram, but oftentimes that thing shamelessly defies the laws of motion, guided purely by Kung Lao's willpower and spiritual energy. And he himself is Teleportation Boy; he is capable of opening portals and teleporting through them in ways that for the most part only highly skilled gods and sorcerers can achieve. And admittedly, as a mortal, he can only go a couple dozen feet, but considering the only other portal generators are typically folks like Raiden and Shang... Kung Lao has a unique skill to move himself and others through three dimensional space. (One of his Kameo moves in M1K is to teleport the player character, which in my case is generally Raiden, lol.) So if he ever ascended to godhood, that's what he'd end up deity over: three dimensional space and its traversal. Movement. That's his bag.

5. Okay, this one is a little out of left field, but it is my headcanon that in many timelines, Raiden has a womb (& the corresponding external anatomy). I am making a very specific choice to describe it that way instead of just saying 'trans' -- I do not think any variation of God!Raiden is trans, because that implies starting off one way and becoming different and I think any version of Raiden that has a womb started off that way. The Titans, Elder Gods, and (demi) Gods reproduce; Shinnok and Cetrion are Kronika's children in at least one canon (probably most canons) and Raiden is Shinnok's son in at least one. The gods are limited in number, beyond mortal comprehension, and presumably sexually reproduce. So it makes sense to me that, especially given how the majority of the deities are outwardly male, that some overall male deities are equipped for the other half of the reproductive equation, like... by default. I think that a fair few Raidens across timelines were "born" as a man with a womb. None of this "AFAB" shit, and no qualifiers or adjectives to differentiate him. This headcanon is brought to you by the combined efforts of my love of MPREG and my own status as a trans man. (Mortal Raiden also frequently has a womb, but I'm more willing to call his narrative a trans one. If he has a womb, it probably WAS because he was born wholly female and had to transition. But God Raiden? He's never changed a day in his life. He just... is, and he was never anything except what he is.)

Okay, so... is there even enough space left after all that, for me to share info on my fic? So you even want to know about my fic after hearing my opinions on Raiden's reproductive anatomy? I hope so cuz the fic also includes some MPREG.

If you're still reading, let me try my best to summarize the fic I'm working on. It's a multiverse fic, so there's multiple timelines with multiple Raidens and multiple Kung Laos.

The primary antagonist -- and I guess the closest thing to a main character -- is a Kung Lao who was scorned by his Raiden. After three years together as an official consort, on the anniversary of their adjoining, they share a deeply intimate night together in which a lot of things happen. Not only does Raiden gift him a blessed amulet which boosts his power of traversal, but he also makes it clear that it's not simply an anniversary gift; he is giving it to him as a token of the fact he has decided to make their consortship more... official, from a human perspective. It's a token of betrothal, the functional equivalent of an engagement ring, a promise of love that has been certified on every level. Then -- while caught up in the romance and desire and feelings -- Raiden expresses his desire to spend eternity together, in a way that strongly suggests Kung Lao could ascend to godhood. (Just like Liu Kang recently did, within the fic.) The sentiment and desire is sincere; however, in the aftermath (and post nut clarity) Raiden becomes consumed with the fact he technically overstepped his own boundaries; the elder gods make such decisions, not him, and while he technically has the power to do such things as ascend a mortal, he doesn't have the authority.

Shamed by his own accidental lie -- the SENTIMENT was certainly sincere -- Raiden spirals down a path of extreme guilt. (Remember -- he doesn't have the space to fuck up this badly, including in his own head, because he is God and he is looked to on high.) And his management of this guilt is... deeply flawed. The extent to which he sees himself as having violated one or more covenants pushes him to abandon the relationship suddenly and entirely... the day after he promised Kung Lao eternity.

It isn't because it's what he wants to do; he absolutely doesn't want to. But it seems to him like the most appropriate thing for a patron deity to do: put a stop to this "problem" he's created. And not even with an intimate discussion as lovers; it is a godly edict.

You deserve better than what I have given you. You have been robbed of the chance to find a proper (mortal) lover. I believe it would benefit you to have a change of pace; I am sending you to the Wu Shi academy for a while. Away from me.

Expressed aloofly, with no sign of remorse. Inside, his heart is breaking, but he's a creature of supreme self control, and it was the expression of his emotions that got him in this fucked up place to begin with, so he doesn't fucking say that he DOES love him, that he DOES want to be with him, that he WILL help him to ascend so that they can spend eternity together because he DOES have faith in Kung Lao, he just... spoke beyond his authority, and he's sorry.

No, none of that. Just a detached-seeming statement that he deserves better (than God?!), the implication that he ought to find a mortal, and the information that he's being reassigned from the temple. And he doesn't handle it well; overnight he's gone from being valued, beloved, chosen to being dismissed, discarded, unwanted. Everything he knew and feared about himself was true, and every ounce of hope he ever possessed -- his God, his everything -- has escaped him.

Instead of travelling to the Wu Shi Academy, he seeks out one of the White Lotus's greatest enemies: Shang Tsung (and his buddy Quan Chi) and, in his grief and anger and resentment, barters a deal to form a sort of Trio version of the Deadly Alliance, and he helps Shang Tsung finally kill Raiden, on the conditions that (a) Raiden's soul isn't consumed and instead goes to Netherrealm to be tortured & (b) Kung Lao gets to claim his godhood -- kinda like how they steal his godly power in the MKII movie -- for himself. He can get them close enough to Raiden in exchange for those two things, and ultimately he does. He kills Raiden, takes his godhood, and then -- with the combined powers of the amulet and his newfound godhood -- he starts travelling from timeline to timeline, invoking Mortal Kombat in any timeline where the resident Raiden and Kung Lao are together, because he sees himself as having been used by Raiden and he extends this feeling to every Raiden and Lao pair he sees, convincing himself that any Raiden whom engages intimately with a Kung Lao is a villain deserving of death. And he successfully murders several Raidens, and steals their Godhood as well. (And let's his buddy Shang Tsung take one [01], as a treat, because this is also a multiversal Shang/Quan fic, teehee, and they e got their own multiverse drama going on.)

Eventually he's accumulated so many Raidens worth of power that he decides to start taking on multiple timelines at once, to expedite his mission of Raiden murder, and that's where the fic actually starts (all this was just back story for the prologue and first couple chapters): with four-ish different timelines of Raiden/Lao all coming together in a single mass tournament.

The other timelines, who are defending against murderous Kung Lao and his Deadly Alliance Trio, are:

- A Titan Raiden, who met murderous Kung Lao early on in his mission of death. Murderous Kung Lao is not his responsibility to stop, but he's also doing things that Titan Raiden can't condone and really kinda wants to stop; as a result, his "compromise" to try to protect other timelines without actually interfering in other timelines is to host the tournaments himself, in his timeline, so that he can at least keep murderous Kung Lao adhering to a handful of fucking rules. Murderous Kung Lao hates Titan Raiden more than any other Raiden (except his own) because Titan Raiden represents Kung Lao's inescapable mediocrity under Raiden's shadow: Kung Lao might have accumulated enough stolen godhood to border on Elder God type shit, and yet even then, there's a Raiden more powerful than him. Titan Raiden hates murderous Kung Lao because murderous Kung Lao took away Titan Raiden's Kung Lao -- who basically was his Keeper in the way Geras was Kronika's Keeper -- in a way that can't be fixed without winding back the hourglass. (Think about in MK11, when Dark Raiden trapped Geras in the bottomless sea of blood to drown forever; something like that, where he's not DEAD, but functionally gone in a way worse than death.) Titan Raiden can't justify winding back the lives of every person across every realm just for the sake of him and Kung Lao, so he lives knowing that somewhere out there, Kung Lao is suffering, and he can totally fix it... but only if he's selfish in a way that he cannot allow himself to be. Every day he has to make the choice to let his Kung Lao suffer, and he loathes murderous Lao for it, but he's also the most morally ascended of all the Raidens in the story, so he shows murderous Kung Lao a tense mercy through most of the story, until he finally crosses one too many lines.

- A Raiden and Kung Lao who have only recently become official consorts, after running around in secret for a couple months. Until murderous Kung Lao comes for them, their biggest impasse is Liu Kang, who finds the concept of God engaging intimately with their disciple to be immoral and abusive. His own faith shaken, viewing Raiden as coercing and using Kung Lao, he tries to stop the relationship up to and including with violence towards Raiden, and for a time is recruited by murderous Kung Lao to fight against his Raiden, though he does eventually realize his anger is misplaced and that his Kung Lao, from his timeline, is happy with Raiden.

- A Dark Raiden whose Kung Lao, Liu Kang, and Fujin all ended up dead and revenant'd. To this day they continue to follow and torment him, even though the Shang Tsung and Quan Chi of his timeline, who orchestrated it, have largely been taken out of commission. Aimless except for orders from long ago, the revenants' only real goal is to torment their Raiden, and they do a pretty good job of it; he's tried nearly everything short of (re)killing them or killing himself in order to escape it, and at some point settled for alcoholism. (Think MK Legacy Liu Kang alcoholism, not Bo Rai Cho alcoholism.) I'm pretty sure (demi) Gods can still get drunk but I do imagine it takes significantly more booze than a mortal to do so. Murderous Kung Lao takes advantage by recruiting the revenants to his own purpose, with help from his own Shang and Quan Chi.

- A mortal (M1K adjacent) Raiden and Kung Lao who are childhood sweethearts and newly betrothed; they're on the younger end, 18 (Lao) and 17 (Raiden), and like a significant portion of my graduating class, they have themselves an unplanned teen pregnancy. It's a little bit of a problem just cuz, like, teen pregnancy, but overall it's a joyous occasion... until murderous Kung Lao shows up to drag them into a tournament. They -- Kung Lao, especially -- insist that Raiden might be a Kombatant but the unborn child(ren) in his womb sure as shit aren't, so the tournament has to be postponed until he gives birth, which incenses murderous Kung Lao so much that he has his twinky doppelganger killed and rev'd out of sheer spite, which is the first of many lines he crosses that eventually gets Titan Raiden to actually DO something, and not just try to mediate.

There's technically one more timeline with a Raiden and a Kung Lao but that one is just a jobber who dies really early on in order to set the stakes of the tournament -- they don't really have their own story, at this point.

The actual fic covers the mass tournament -- the timelines coming together, the tournament being postponed due to mortal Raiden, all the interpersonal drama from the various timelines, the tournament itself, and Titan Raiden finally taking action. There's also subplots for Shang Tsung x Quan Chi in most of the timelines in the fic, and the Titans for two of the timelines are a Shinnok and Cetrion pair who used to share a timeline as Elder Gods, before they revolted against their mother. Just like how at the end of MK11 Aftermath the timeline splits into two based on the possibility of either Shang Tsung or Liu Kang winning, their timeline split into two based on whether Shinnok or Cetrion ended up taking over the Hourglass. Now they exist in different timelines, but they collaborate. (I wanted at least one good ending Shinnok, and I'm also a sucker for, uh, twincest. Not gonna lie. We're living our truth out here.)

There's definitely more I could prattle on about, but honestly I'll be shocked if you even read everything that's already here, cuz goddamn have I info dumped. I'm afraid to even find out what my word count for this answer is. 🫪 This is what you get when you ask a man about his religion. I am very normal and well adjusted when it comes to my blorbos, can't you tell?

[ao3snowbutterfly]

I”M EATTTING EVERY WORD OF THIS YESSS

Lemme gather my disjointed reactions and thoughts lol

Firstly, yes, Kung Lao is the more interesting monk, I agree lmao. I’ve only recently gotten into the mk fandom after watching the 2021 movie, where I fell in love with Lao. A love that has only grown lol. There’s just so much to him and so much under the surface. I wanna put him in a petri dish to study. And adding a thunder god that his existence has practically been crafted around to the mix? Yes yes pleaseeee

Kung Lao being the dominant one is actually perfect. He is the kinda guy to take any opportunity he gets with both hands, and banging a god is no different. He would be relentless in wearing Raiden down to get him to give in, to accept his affections, and that’s just wonderful <3.

Kung Lao being a god of traversing 3d space is not a thing I have ever considered, but I’m so glad you’ve shown me. The only mk game I’ve played is mk11, and Kung Lao is my main, and the fun of him is teleporting and diving from the sky and shit to fuck everyone else up lol. To add onto your point about his willpower and energy I’ve also noticed that, when he’s defeated in that game, his hat will fall to the ground like it’s any other object, like once his will and concentration is broken it loses its powers, which is kinda crazy to think about the amount of control and ability really factoring in there.

I’ll have you know that you have NOT turned me any type of away with Raiden having a womb. Give me all the mpreg *insert ‘jokes on you I’m into that shit’ meme* (Is it too forward of me to also say that the fact that Raiden is fucking huge makes the mpreg even better? Like in mk11 when he and Lao are in a round he just towers over Lao and it makes me insane)

Onto the fic thoughts and omg

Raiden fucking himself over and inadvertently creating evil Lao is honestly so perfect for him. (Also, the parallel between this Raiden’s soul getting tormented in the nether realm and Titan Raiden’s Kung Lao being tortured and incapacitated is peak, both technically able to stop said torment but not doing so bc they don’t want to (lao) or are prevented (T. Raiden)) 

(I can’t help but imagine Evil Lao just tossing a random Raiden at Shang like how one would toss a scrap of chicken onto the floor for a dog and being like ‘here. Have this I guess’ and it cracks me tf up lol)

That poor mortal pair omg they are so out of their depth in every possible way, but they’re stuck in it anyway and with BABIES AAA

I’m trying to think of a way to say that I would like this directly injected into my veins without coming off as completely desperate but idk man

Man, if you are the pastor preaching his sermon, I am the humble believer in the first row of pews

[momopooh]

[escaedge]

He’s just eating ice cream.

[ao3snowbutterfly]

I'm not ignoring ur ask I'm just slow uwu 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 you can ignore this ask, I just wanted to let you know it's in my queue 👉🏼👈🏼

Hello! :D

Don't worry, I totally get it lol. Please don't feel the need to rush or anything. Tho I do appreciate the update!

[goodboykang]

god i love them…

[lizzienoodles]

guy who's having gauzy idealized wife flashbacks for the whole adventure but it turns out she isn't dead or anything he just really misses her and wants to get home

[n3rdv10l3nc3]

[pierrot-parables]

MK2021 Kung Lao: Characterization Notes/Interpretations

A/N: As promised here are my complete notes on Kung Lao from the first movie, for writing purposes. As the legend foretold, I spent 6 hours breaking down his half of the movie to write this lol. If there's any questions, comments, or interpretations you would like to share, I would love to discuss either on this post or in the askbox! I hope this helps any fellow fic writers out there WC: 2200+

Identity: Kung Lao, Descendant of The Great Kung Lao

Unlike Liu Kang who introduces himself in affiliation with the Shaolin order of Light, Kung Lao introduces himself in affiliation with his ancestor The Great Kung Lao (TGKL), despite most likely being part of the Order of Light himself. It wouldn't be a crazy assumption that Kung Lao would be burdened by the legacy of his ancestor and would see himself as an extension of TGKL.

An interesting detail in the movie to take note of is the FIRST IMAGE we see entering Raiden's Temple, where the Living History of Mortal Kombat is stored, is The Great Kung Lao's victory over Shang Tsung 500+ years earlier. This was the tournament that made TGKL the "Grand Champion of the Order of Light"; but where this gets disturbing is soon after we see the image of Prince Goro TEARING Kung Lao's ancestor IN HALF. I'm serious, if you look at the image, the man being ripped in half is wearing the same spiked armbands as TGKL in the first image in the sequence!

Can you imagine what that must be like for Kung Lao? Seeing the great man, you are named after and must live up to, the one heralded almost as a SAINT for saving Earthrealm from being consumed over 500 years ago, is forever displayed at the entrance of your home: first with his Greatest Victory and next with his GRUESOME DEMISE. Wouldn't that fuck you up?

It's no wonder why in Kung Lao's introduction he's seen teleporting inside the temple lol

In the interview with entertainmentie, Kung Lao's actor, Max Huang, notes that Kung Lao doesn't give everything away and act's like he's hiding something— on the outside: Kung Lao is tough, "but on the inside he's very vulnerable." Unfortunately, we don't have a scene where Kung Lao opens up to anyone or gives an insight to how he views the situation or the world our characters are in, so in order to learn more about him, you have to watch him closely and pay attention to what people say around him.

If we keep in mind what Max says about Kung Lao, in regard to projecting the image of strength while being vulnerable internally, the characterization of Kung Lao becomes richer when you pay attention to how Liu refers to him VS what Kung Lao says to others.

As I mentioned in Liu Kang's post analyzing his Identity, he see Kung Lao as THE Chosen One from his birth. This isn't without reason, Lao's introduction shows why he would be the Ace of the Champions. Before fully teleporting into the temple he manages to hit Subzero with his hat to save Liu from being killed. Liu is visibly frightened is unable to compose himself until Kung Lao puts his game face on, and Liu follows suit. When Liu describes his origin to Cole, he throws in a comment about how Kung Lao was the one with the lineage, while he was the stray. When Kung Lao is killed Liu is shown to firmly believed Kung Lao was the key to Earthrealm's fate and without him, Outworld will win before the tournament starts.

Now we don't hear about Kung Lao's past or self-image directly from him, but Lao says a few interesting things to others that can give us an idea:

"In Mortal Kombat, talent will only get you so far" he says to Cole after winning their second match. My interpretation: Kung Lao wasn't born with great talent himself, but since he would've been born with the mark, he would've been training from a young age. Kung Lao therefore attributes his abilities to hard work. When you look at the way he fights, it's further proven by the insane level of precision needed to wield his hat.

When he insults Kano at the dinner table, Kung Lao's most direct insults are "Terrible fighter, No Skill" and straight-up throwing in "You Failure" (completely unprompted) when Liu tries to take over the confrontation. From a psychology standpoint, people will most often insult someone over things they have value in. As stated before, Kung Lao takes pride in his abilities since he would've had to work hard for it; but by throwing in "You Failure", when Kano has made no indication of being afraid of being seen as one before, it shows "Failure" is the worst insult Kung Lao thinks someone can be called. Considering how much expectations Kung Lao has placed on him, it makes perfect sense that not living up to them would be what he's afraid of most.

Personality and Behaviors

Defining Trait: Patience

Something I noticed while paying close attention to Kung Lao for these notes is how extraordinarily patient he is in canon.

Typically he is seen as the more brash between him and Liu, but in this movie it's the opposite. Liu will throw a fireball at you just for coming at him, no hesitation or question about it. Kung Lao on the other hand tends to wait for his opponent to act first, then he strikes. He's more calculated in battle with Subzero, Shang Tsung, Nitara, and even in how he trains with Cole for the first time. Cole was the one going to strike first, not Lao.

His tendency to stand back and observe also shows with Newcomers after Raiden sent Shang Tsung and Co away. Kung Lao doesn't try to introduce himself or speak at all until prompted. Then when they all go to the fight pit for the first time, he stands back and lets Cole, Kano, and Liu step down first, only speaking up to stop Sonya entering the fight pit herself (more on that later). Afterward, he stands above them, watching (menacingly) as Sonya leaves.

Another aspect of him showing patience is in his interactions with Kano.

As iconic as the dinner scene is, what's typically not brought up is how the tension had been brewing on Lao's end the whole day. This is why I say, Lao is extraordinarily patient, especially when his number one pet peeve is shown to be insolence. Something Kano has in spades.

His first instance of showing annoyance with Kano's brazen demeanor is when he makes fun of Sonya for not being able to train with them and then tries to rush into training. Kung Lao's irritation is shown when he tells Kano to "Be Still and Listen", when he had previously left the information sharing to Liu. (I know Lao is looking at Kano and thinking ‘You would’ve had your ass beat at the academy for being this rude").

Later, when Kano makes fun of Cole for being beaten by Kung Lao gives him a dirty look, but says nothing— instead chosing to shift the attention to Liu and Cole about the work needed to get Cole ready for the tournament. Lao delivers it in a way that's supposed to make light of the situation. When Liu is training with Kano afterward, and decides to try to humble Kano as well by spamming the leg sweep, Lao is not amused by the joke, most likely because he already clocked that Kano WOULD NOT learn his lesson in a nonexplict and humiliating way, which is proven to be the case when Kano slaps Liu's hand away afterward. Despite this, Lao still holds off on telling off Kano.

That doesn't happen until dinner.

When the scene starts, Kung Lao, Liu, and Kano are at the table. Jax, Sonya, and Cole have just arrived. Kung Lao has broken his pattern of observing his surroundings because he is already chowing down on his food, he's not looking up for NO ONE. Eyes on the prize.

Something funny to note in this scene, is that Kung Lao and Kano are as far apart as possible at this table. I bet Kung Lao waited for Kano to sit down first and went to the far side on purpose! This adds to why Kung Lao finally got angry enough to deal with Kano. ANYONE else could've passed him food, and Kano STILL chose to bother Lao! My man was entranced with his food and peaceful thoughts, and was ripped out of it the moment Kano said “Kung”. He was ready to deal with Kano for bothering him, period, Kano getting Lao’s name wrong and lacking manners was the cherry on top.

From here we see Lao at his most fed up. He gets his moment of pettiness out of the way, and then jumps into insults. (Two of which he brings animal analogies while making it clear as to why he picked those specific ones.) He challenges Kano's fighting abilities with 4 insults. When Kano threatens Lao with violence, Lao isn't intimidated in the slightest, and let's Liu intercede. The breaking point for Lao was when Kano, insults both him and Liu. Lao throws his chopsticks down and stands up to fight. He let's Liu get some words in, but at this point, Kung Lao 's patience has worn thin. He's choosing violence and psychological damage, aka "You Failure".

Other Personality Notes:

Kung Lao is protective. He enters the movie protecting Liu from Subzero, and dies after protecting Cole over himself. I wish we were able to have a shot of Lao's face before jumping down to help so I can better determine if he thought this would be something quick before escaping with Cole, or if he registered the possibility that he could die and chose to save Cole anyway.

Kung Lao does NOT show his fear as easily as the others. This is seen when Kano first gets his Arcana. Everyone is startled for sure. Kung Lao has a brief moment of shock seen after blocking the laser with his hat, but he's also the first to bounce back from it, especially compared to Liu Kang who still looks worried after. Despite this Kung Lao puts his hat on afterward. He most likely put it on incase Kano decides he's angry again and still wants to fight. The only other time when Lao is seen scared was when he's getting killed by Shang Tsung and he called for Liu.

He does not flinch at the idea of being covered in blood at all. He seems kinds into it honestly

When Kung Lao is impressed, he smiles and grabs his chin.

His smugness has its moments of coming out, but it's very subdued. This Lao values humility more than other variations

Despite being the more stoic of the two, Kung Lao tends to smile so he doesn't come off as harsh. First being when he has to stop Sonya from entering the fight pit, then with Cole after beating him. He makes a joke that they have their work cut out for them in regard for training.

Speaking of Sonya:

While quick to block her path, Kung Lao is doing his best to be polite about not letting Sonya join training, calling her Miss Blade, and even stating outright she can stay and watch. Based on what Liu says after, I genuinely think that “Chosen One’s Only” is a legit rule (it seems like a rule Raiden would have and Raiden IS their master). When Cole says Sonya is “one of us” Kung Lao audibly sighs. After Liu confirms the rule, Kung Lao stays in his spot and watches her leave. To me, it seems like Kung Lao REALLY doesn't want to be the bearer of bad news. (This can also be why he jokes and smiles while saying they have their work cut out for themselves in regard to training Cole and Kano. Cole was already beaten down and Kano made fun of him, so he wanted to make light of it while calling attention to it to Liu.) I genuinely wonder if the writers wanted a conflict between Sonya and Kung Lao. In a deleted scene, Kung Lao recommended to send Sonya home— after expressing his and Liu’s concern about the other champions not unlocking their Arcanas in time. He doesn’t seem to do it out of malice or condescension. My interpretation is that he wanted to keep her from the crossfire, since she can't just get a mark. Nonetheless, Sonya is allowed in the Fight Pit after Cole left. My guess: Liu and Kung Lao let her train with them since they would be down a fighter and/or Jax said he wouldn’t train with them if Sonya wasn’t allowed. Considering how dire it is to be down one chosen one and Jax hasn't trained in the pit before, Kung Lao and Liu Kang must've seem it as necessary to give into his request despite what Raiden's rules may be.

Cole tells Raiden he’s the ONLY champion to be born with a marking. I’m going to guess this is HIS assumption because WE don’t know how else Lao would’ve gotten one. (Kung Lao and Cole haven’t had a direct on-screen conversation where Lao can tell him about his history.) Raiden quickly answers that Cole got his mark from his Lineage AFTER. Reading between the lines, and sticking with the Rule of 2 for Characterization, I’m claiming Kung Lao was born with the mark as well since it makes the most sense with what we're given in canon. Additionally, it's wild that he's the only character that we NEVER see the mark for. My headcanon is it being in the same place as Cole. Sonya and Kano get theirs on the shoulder, Jax and Liu get it on the right side of their torso, so to keep up with the pattern— Cole and Lao should have it in the same spot, near their collar bone. We can't see Lao's since his collar is high and he never takes his shirt off.