Mirror Scorpion/TR Scorpion Bio
Born in the Shirai Ryu clan hundreds of years after the clan was put under the Edenian Regime’s control. By that time the culture of the clan and the daily life of its members had already been adapted to the Edenian ones. Hanzo in particular, as the son of a Shirai Ryu warrior, was prepared to become a good soldier from a young age.
Hanzo was instilled in the Edenian ideals of ‘peace’ and how it was the mission of the clan to contribute in preparing Earthrealm’s eventual ‘pacification’, as well as trained to be a deadly warrior. He mastered many arts of combat, such as the kunai and the shuriken, and was also able to learn magic thanks to the knowledge provided by Edenian instructors, which he took advantage of to turn pyromancy into one of his main skills.
Hanzo developed himself as quite a skillful warrior during his training and achieved the admiration from many of his fellow Shirai Ryu, there were few he could truly hold dear. It was the kind of life many Shirai Ryu warriors lived since the Edenian Regime’s culture was enforced on them. Their mission for eternal ‘peace’ was way more important than any individual and their life, so the likes of Hanzo usually preferred to focus on their duties rather than dedicating their time to connect with others. Of course, there were always exceptions, and Hanzo had a clear one.
Harumi had lived a similar life to Hanzo. Also a child of Shirai Ryu warriors, their education and skills were almost identical. During their teenage years, they were recommended by their instructors to work together during their first assigned missions due to having been some of the best students in the clan, and they accepted. This led to both of them inevitably getting to know each other better. It started with them trusting each other enough to confess little personal things, such as Harumi telling Hanzo that she had managed to get an autograph from Princess Kitana once. Then a genuine friendship, with them always trusting each other to look after them when they needed to. And finally, once they were adults, a deep love which would culminate in their marriage and the birth of their son, Satoshi.
The new responsibilities that came with having a family of their own caused different reactions in Hanzo and Harumi. On the one hand, Harumi eventually decided to give up her life as a warrior, preferring to dedicate herself fully to her new life, and trusting her allies enough to believe they would fulfill their mission of ‘peace’. On the other hand, Hanzo became even more motivated in being a warrior and contributed to their mission, in hopes he could build a ‘peaceful’ world for his son. They both respected each other’s decision.
Through the years, Hanzo became quite feared among the Shirai Ryu’s enemies, the Lin Kuei especially. Under the moniker of Scorpion, he was a dangerous opponent only the best of the best could match. Among those who could face him, there was a particular Lin Kuei warrior: Bi-Han Liang, also known as Sub-Zero. They met each other in battle enough times to consider each other enemies, though there was no real personal hatred between them. They faced each other one last time in a big clash between the Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu forces, which would end up changing both lives… after their deaths.
Hanzo could feel Bi-Han’s ice dagger piercing his heart just as much as his katana was piercing Bi-Han’s. He knew it was his end, and all he could feel in his last moment was anger. Towards his enemy for having caused this, towards himself for having failed, and towards the mere fact that he may not be able to see his family again. This anger marked his afterlife, for his soul would be sent to the Netherrealm, where he would respawn as a Spectre, a kind of undead in the Netherrealm capable of using their strong emotions to manipulate hellfire.
He didn’t even know what he could do now. He initially wandered, trying to find the followers of Lady Cetrion (the allies the Edenian Regime had in the Netherrealm), hoping they would allow him to go back to Earthrealm and his clan. Nonetheless, he discovered that he was in the first plane of the Netherrealm, one of the planes under the protection of Shinnok’s Brotherhood, far from the fifth plane and below, where Lady Cetrion and her followers inhabited. When he questioned people from there if he could get access to the fifth plane, he was answered that such a place could only be entered by the most powerful sorcerers of the Brotherhood, such as Quan Chi.
He knew no one in the Brotherhood would agree to let him enter their enemies’ territories, not that he trusted those who the Edenian Regime considered enemies in any case, so he decided to try and capture Quan Chi to force him into opening a portal to him. His stealth and abilities for espionage allowed him to discover the base of the Brotherhood in which he was, and infiltrate further than many would have achieved. Nonetheless, he was ultimately stopped and captured when he tried to attack Quan Chi.
Hanzo was taken to a jail, and would have eventually been sent to a trial (an aspect the Netherrealm society had changed enough to develop, alongside avoidance of torture, when it came when dealing with tainted souls who continued causing trouble after death), if Quan Chi hadn’t decided to discover more about him. While Hanzo wasn’t willing to give Quan Chi any answers about who he was, the genius sorcerer (so he called himself during the conversation) found his way. All he needed to do was recognize in him some speaking patterns the Edenian Regime allies had (usually counting how many times the word ‘peace’ came out of their mouths was enough), and that he had to be what was known as a ‘ninja’ from his attire, to deduce he was a Shirai Ryu (a clan he had studied alongside the Edenian Regime and other allies of Cetrion). He then proceeded to offer Hanzo a deal.
Sometimes Quan Chi decided to take his own approach when dealing with those who went to the Netherrealm but still had potential to change, especially the Edenian Regime allies, who usually were motivated by their twisted version of ‘peace’ rather than malice. He thought it might just take them living in a better environment to have a change of heart. Some in the Brotherhood thought he was too hopeful, and said he should let the rehabilitation process for the professionals. But what could he say? It was what had worked with him back in the day, he wanted to give it a try even if it didn’t always work. And so, he offered Hanzo the chance of helping them deal with the Followers of Lucifer, a group which both the Edenian Regime and its opposition considered heinous, under the excuse that his abilities as a spectre would be really useful for it. Seeing both a chance to deal with heinous torturers who opposed ‘peace’ and one to at least escape that cell and plan his next move, Hanzo accepted.
Of course, Quan Chi was hopeful but not stupid, and had Hanzo be constantly watched over by his allies in case he ever tried to attack. Hanzo himself was made aware of it, and knew he would have to wait for the right moment to act, which luckily for him and everyone else never came. In the meantime, he decided to actually collaborate with the members of the Brotherhood, if only because he had a chance to put an end to the Followers of Lucifer and unleash her new spectre wrath against them. Although the latter turned out to be impossible outside of combat, since the Brotherhood insisted on treating defeated prisoners humanely, one of the first aspects which was alien to Hanzo due to the kind of life he had lived, but most definitely not the last.
Through his tense cooperation with the Brotherhood, Hanzo was able to observe and experience the kind of life the Edenian Regime forbade. The Netherrealm society had changed enough for many of its inhabitants to live genuinely happy and peaceful lives despite the constant problems many still had to face for the conflicts of their realms. He could see children playing and spending time with their families rather than being trained to be soldiers from the start, warriors being able to form many emotional connections with others despite their job as well as being allowed to judge their superiors’ decisions without getting threatened or punished for it, those who had committed mistakes in their lives being offered a second chance rather than condemned forever, etc. Quan Chi couldn’t help but smirk every time he noticed doubt was growing in him, as much as Hanzo tried to deny it. The sorcerer knew the ninja was already going through the same process he did once, and hoped it would end well.
Perhaps what started fully turning him was discovering what Lady Cetrion’s followers truly did to others in the Netherrealm they considered ‘unvirtuous’. Her methods for ‘purification’ were just pretty words for mind control, slavery. Those affected by Cetrion’s powers (or Ashrah’s kriss by extension) were not really able to have any thoughts if the former Elder Goddess didn’t allow it. And he didn’t hear it from someone he considered ‘deserving’ of such a fate any longer, but from a young child of a member of the Brotherhood (those he had grown to consider people rather than just enemies), who was crying about how their parent had never been the same since Cetrion’s forces took them. That was an activity the Edenian Regime supported…
In the end, even if it had taken some time, Hanzo finally saw it. The Edenian Regime, and by extension his clan, wronged countless lives across the realms. He took the most difficult decision of his life when he decided to not just renounce everything he had believed in for all his life, but to actively oppose it. Quan Chi couldn’t help but be glad upon hearing it, as well as seeing Hanzo thanking him for offering him a second chance. From then on, Hanzo became a genuine member of the Brotherhood rather than a loose ally.
Now mostly known as Scorpion still, since he thinks using the monikers most people recognized him for after his change of heart could help give people an example that change is possible, he battles to stop the Edenian Regime and its allies as a way to redeem himself. He also hopes that one day he can help his family see what he has realized, and finally be reunited, this time not as loyal agents of the Edenian Regime and their clan but as a free happy family. Quan Chi always tries to support him and give him hope in that matter. After all, if both of them were capable of realizing their wrongdoings, his family could too.
