Fueled by rage and anguish over the death of his family, the warrior known as Scorpion has been vengeance incarnate since the debut of the very first Mortal Kombat game. But in the 2015 Mortal Kombat X comic series by Shawn Kittelsen, Dexter Soy, Daniel Sampere and Ivan Vitorino, Scorpion was finally able to defeat the fiery demon within him and regain control of his soul.
Hanzo Hasashi was a member of the Shirai Ryu, an elite clan of ninjas. Hanzo possessed indomitable strength, a deep sense of honor as a warrior and an undying love for his family. It was this love that fueled the fire that was to consume Hanzo's body and soul. The Lin Kuei, a secretive organization of elite assassins, razed Hanzo's village and slaughtered every living person there. Among those killed was Hanzo's wife and child. Their still bodies were the last thing Hanzo saw before he too was killed.
Hanzo isoon opened his eyes to find himself in a burning hellscape with a cruel priest standing before him. The necromancer Quan-Chi gave Hanzo the ability to harness the hate, regret and pain that boiled within him and channel it into raw power. At that moment, Hanzo Hasashi died and Scorpion was born.
As a revenant from Netherrealm, Scorpion became one of the most lethal forces across the realms. Quan-Chi directed him towards the Lin Kuei warrior responsible for killing his family: Sub-Zero. In an act that should have brought peace to the enraged specter, Scorpion's killing of Sub-Zero did little to quell the fire inside of him. Scorpion learned that he was nothing more than a pawn to Quan-Chi and that the necromancer had orchestrated the destruction of Scorpion's village.
Scorpion was eventually able to regain his mortal life and return to what was left of the Shirai Ryu. In the Mortal Kombat X comic, however, death returns to Scorpion's village. The dread power of the Kamidogu, magical artifacts of immense power, throw Scorpion back into battle against the forces of darkness. Coinciding with his battles against the agents of Havik is the battle Scorpion fights within himself.
After being ambushed by Havik and beaten into submission, Scorpion confronts the spirit of hatred burning within him. Hanzo Hasashi battles the spirit of Scorpion for total control over not just his body, but for his very soul. Scorpion scorns Hanzo for creating excuses so as not to harness the raw power within him. Hanzo argues that his family was avenged and that using their memory as a weapon was an injustice. As Scorpion stands over Hanzo and dismisses him as a weak coward, Hanzo realizes with absolute certainty that he would no longer live his life through the lens of guilt, but by the force of a clear conscience and his own heart. He defeats the spirit of Scorpion and reclaims both his body and soul.
Hanzo returns to the world of the living and defeats Havik with virtually no effort. Despite conquering Scorpion, Hanzo still retains all of his revenant powers and abilities, including fire projection and manipulation, teleportation, enhanced strength and stamina, and inter-dimensional travel. Hanzo was already a formidable fighter as a mortal, but being able to harness the full power of Scorpion without the revenant threatening to consume him elevates Hanzo to a dizzying height of power.
Scorpion was once nothing more than a raging weapon used at the whim of an arrogant necromancer. Now, with dominance over his spirit and power, Scorpion is a free soul capable of doing true good across the realms. The champions of Earthrealm should celebrate knowing they have such a warrior on their side. If the day were ever to come that Scorpion should lose control of his humanity, there would be very little that could save them from the wrathful revenant.
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