In the last year or so, I think I've finally come to understand what specifically I hate
about Quan Chi being the master manipulator Netherrealm purports him to be in their games.
Of course, the fact that that was never a role he took on in the Midway games is part
of it. As is the sheer lunacy of the extremes to which this idea has been stretched. But
it's also that Quan Chi was a colossal fuck-up in the Midway games. Let's go back and view
his schemes one-by-one to expose just how much of a stupid arsehole this pasty motherfucker
truly was.
Once he tricked Sub-Zero into getting him Shinnok's amulet, he taunted him about how
he got bamboozled and then pissed off home, not realising that he'd given Sub-Zero adequate
reason to come after him; especially since Raiden would likely send a mortal in his place
to another realm, and the guy who kicked the arses of four other gods and who can probably
be guilted into a redemption quest would presumably be at the top of Raiden's list. And there's
no reason to assume Quan Chi planned all this with the intention of waiting multiple years
for Shinnok to make his move with the fake amulet.
Then, we jump forward to those multiple years later, after Sub-Zero foiled Quan Chi's half-baked
scheme. Quan Chi tricked Scorpion into thinking the younger Sub-Zero had killed his family
to get the spectre on his side, since the sorcerer assumed the younger brother of the
guy who kicked his arse before would be on roughly equal footing with him, so the guy
who killed him would be his best insurance policy. Not a bad plan. But then, Quan Chi
did what Quan Chi did best.
"You killed my family."
"Who, me?
"Yes, you."
"Couldn't be."
"Then, who?"
"I'm the best there is at what I do. And what I do isn't very smart."
All Scorpion learned here is that Sub-Zero didn't do it. And Sub-Zero passed out, so
he couldn't exactly identify Quan Chi as the perpetrator as Quan Chi stepped out of the
shadows. And then, completely unprompted, he just openly admitted to everything like
he was 2011 Shao Kahn.
"Uh, hey, guy who basically runs on vengeance like it was Monster Energy? In this instance,
pertaining to the murder of your family and clan? A crime of which you have no clues as
to the identity of the true perpetrator? Guess what. I'm the one who did it. It's me, Austin.
It was always me."
What exactly did he think was going to happen here? Assuming his plan to send Scorpion back
the Netherrealm worked, you have to keep in mind that Quan Chi is a demon. Based out of
the Netherrealm. Where did he plan to go? Even if Scorpion, somehow, had absolutely
no way to get back out of the Netherrealm (which he never had a problem with before),
Quan Chi could never go back there. Scorpion's vengeance is legendary. With no one stated
to have turned him into a spectre originally, he presumably just told death to piss off
and walked out the door of hell, through his intense desire for vengeance alone. And Quan
Chi painted a target on himself for basically no reason. So, his entire plan, whatever the
fuck it was even supposed to be, completely backfired.
Joker: "You get what you fucking deserve!"
I guess Scorpion's Revenge got that right, if nothing else.
And yes, Quan Chi's fake amulet managed to fool everyone, but my boy Yusuke also has
the power of perfect replication and no one calls him a master manipulator, so I don't
think Quan Chi deserves that title either, especially in light of how badly he bungled
the other part of his scheme.
Then, we move to Deadly Alliance. After fooling the two oni to hold off Scorpion, he escaped
the Netherrealm and formed an alliance with Shang Tsung, which he intended to eventually
break off. While they managed to defeat Raiden and his champions, they weren't enough to
defeat Onaga, who survived Raiden's suicidal blast, which took out the sorcerers. Some
people believe that Quan Chi survived via teleportation. I personally don't see the
teleportation in this 480P footage (fucking remaster the game already, Netherrealm), but
Shang Tsung theorises Quan Chi survived in his Armageddon bio, so let's go with it. If
we assume that Quan Chi really did teleport out at the last minute, then I must ask, how
the fuck did he drop the amulet? Was this part of a scheme of some kind? Nothing to
his benefit ever came of it, so we have to assume not. So then, he dropped it on his
way out? Even though he didn't move from the spot, and the thing was clipped to his fucking
belt! How can you be so incompetent that you drop something that is bolted onto your person?
He had no major misses in MK vs DCU, but 2011 tried to make him out to be the kind of genius
strategist you visit three times to get him to join you. But he only seems that way because
he's stealing everyone else's ideas and brainpower, and you know what they say about the kingdom
of the blind. MKX returned him to the way he used to be, constantly fucking things up
and getting his shit pushed in, but some people thought he was done dirty by this... more
accurate portrayal, leading to MK11 making some truly absurd assertions about him plotting
out Sindel's original death 10,000 years ago.
Michael Jordan: "Stop it. Get some help."
So, yeah. In summary, Quan Chi is the Stupidest Asshole ever. This fucking idiot has been
around for seven games, and is the dumbest person in the Galaxy.
If you liked this video, why not subscribe and support me on Patreon like these fine
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with you.
Today's recommended video is Mortal Kombat 9 - All Fatalities & X-Rays on Quan Chi Costume
2 4K Ultra HD Gameplay Mods by arcadegamesfreak, because that's where I stole the Shang Tsung
finisher footage because I couldn't be arsed setting up the PS3 just for tha- uh, I mean,
because that video is therapeutic.