Mortal Kombat Characters and Chinese Naming Conventions
Can I rant for a minute? Because I really want to rant about how Chinese names are used in the Mortal Kombat games. This was partly inspired by some questions I got from people in private so I thought I'd make a post expressing my thoughts.
Now, I want to specify that I am not Chinese, and I am in no way an omnipotent source on Chinese languages, culture and customs. I have however attended a school in Shanghai in 2016 and from what I can tell is that I've spent more time in China than most people working for Netherrealm Studios (looking at you, Ed Boon). Also, I will only be focusing on MK characters from Earthrealm, so Outworlders with Chinese names won't be covered.
So I'll start with the basics. Traditionally, Chinese names are formatted as [last name] [first name]. For example, Xi Jingping, leader of the Chinese Communist Party, is known formally as Xi, or General Secretary Xi. This is the same as professionally referring to Joe Biden as President Biden or simply Biden.
So what does this mean for Chinese characters in Mortal Kombat? I'm glad you asked. I'll begin with the fact that all Chinese MK characters' names are made up of what are usually used as surnames. So in the case of Liu Kang, for instance, both 'Liu' and 'Kang' are common lastnames found in China and the Chinese speaking world. I'm assuming that this has been done because otherwise Chinese given names (or first names) can be made up of any of the +100k Mandarin characters, which is probably intimidating.
So how would you refer to a Chinese MK character by their given name? Like this:
Liu Kang becomes > 'Kang'
Kung Lao becomes > 'Lao'
Kuai Liang becomes > 'Liang'
Shang Tsung becomes > 'Tsung'
This is how I refer to these characters within my fics and why :)
But what is really interesting is the meaning these names have and why they were assigned to these characters.
'Liu' (刘) traditionally means 'to kill' or refers to a type of battle axe but is now only used as a surname. 'Kang' (康) means 'healthy/peaceful/abundant'. So Liu Kang's name (刘康) means 'Peaceful or Abundant Killing' which is kind of accurate but also might refer to the juxtaposition of a Buddhist monk who kills people
'Kung' (空) means 'empty/vacant/unoccupied'. 'Lao' (佬) best translates as 'guy' or 'man' in Taiwanese Mandarin. So poor Kung Lao's name (空佬) fucking means 'Vacant Man', which is so mean but also kind of true. Also, Lao is from Taiwan.
'Shang' (尚) means 'still/yet/to value/to esteem'. Shang is also another name for the Yin dynasty of the 2nd millennia BCE. 'Tsung' (宗) means 'purpose/model/ancestor/clan'. So all together, Shang Tsung's name (尚宗) means something along the lines of 'Esteem the Ancestor' or 'Value the Model', which is interesting, considering he is an immortal wizard
'Kuai' (奎) means 'stride'. 'Liang' (良) means 'to link/to join/to connect/in succession', so Kuai Liang's name (奎良) means 'Stride to Join' or 'Stride in Succession' which probably references Liang taking over his brother's role as Sub Zero and leader of the Lin Kuei.
Anyway, I thought some of this stuff was really interesting and I thought I would share :) also if anyone actually speaks Mandarin and wants to correct me then please do!