Kenshi Takahashi

Story

Kenshi was a boastful and proud warrior, fighting only to feed his own insatiable ego. His search for a worthy foe led him to cross paths with a mysterious old man named Song, who had heard tales of Kenshi's fame, but proclaimed that he needed a sword worthy of his skill. To that end, he led Kenshi to a sealed cave and told him to break it open and take the weapon within. Kenshi broke open the seal, but was overwhelmed by a wave of tortured souls and permanently blinded as Song revealed himself to be Shang Tsung and consumed all the souls that had been freed. Kenshi was left to die inside the tomb, but the sword that lay within revealed its true nature to him: it had contained the spirits of his ancestors and the tomb was their final resting place, but now those souls were in Shang Tsung's possession. Kenshi swore revenge against the treacherous sorcerer.

The blind swordsman trained to fight without the use of his eyes and eventually crossed paths with Jax and Sonya, who were recruiting for the Outworld Investigation Agency's first excursion into another dimension. Kenshi was accepted into the Agency and given his first assignment: journey to Outworld and find the missing cybernetic agent Cyrax. Though Kenshi was unable to find him, he did come across the enigmatic Ermac, who was under the control of the brutal Emperor Shao Kahn. The two warriors did battle, but the swordsman proved the superior fighter and defeated the tortured ninja, although he found himself overcome by Ermac's plight and broke Kahn's control. Out of gratitude Ermac taught Kenshi the secrets of telekinesis, as well as using his mind to replace his lost vision, making him an even more powerful force.

After the two parted ways amicably, Kenshi continued his mission and though he didn't find Cyrax, he stumbled upon a much more alarming revelation: the Deadly Alliance that had been forged by Shang Tsung and the treacherous sorcerer Quan Chi. The swordsman hastily tried to warn the Outworld Investigation Agency, but their headquarters had already been bombed into oblivion by Hsu Hao, leaving Kenshi trapped in Outworld and at the mercy of the Alliance, who sent the crimelord Mavado to deal with Kenshi. Mavado emerged victorious and Kenshi was, once again, left for dead. Only the intervention of another unlikely ally saved his life.

Sub-Zero found the dying warrior and tended to his wounds. Both of them were trapped in Outworld and so decided to form an alliance of their own to look for a way out. It was during this search that the souls of Kenshi's ancestors would return to his sword, indicating that Shang Tsung was dead and Kenshi's quest for vengeance was over. Sub-Zero and Kenshi escaped back to Earthrealm, but Kenshi decided to strike out on his own rather than become a part of Sonya and Jax's the Special Forces or Sub-Zero's Lin Kuei clan. The swordsman took the streets in the night, killing criminals and rooting out corruption in the underworld. It was during this time that he would stumble upon a coded message to Mavado revealing the Red Dragon's plan to capture the Edenian warrior Taven.

En route to their hidden base, the vigilante was approached by Johnny Cage, who was marshaling Earthrealm's warriors to battle the wicked Elder God Shinnok. Kenshi declined, as he had no real stake in the battle and didn't see the point of getting involved. However, his sword speaks to him and tells him that he can't simply sit on the sidelines while he hunts out Mavado and that the forces of Light may need him in the coming battle against the elemental Blaze. Kenshi relents, agreeing to lead the team against Outworld's forces in the final battle.

Kenshi has been officially confirmed as a DLC character in the upcoming Mortal Kombat release.

Endings

• Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance - Kenshi tracks down Shang Tsung, the man responsible for betraying and blinding him as well as consuming the souls of his ancestors, and bests him. He then raises up his sword and strikes the evil necromancer down, releasing all the souls contained within him. The souls of his ancestors returned to his blade, restoring its power and leading him back to Earthrealm.

• Mortal Kombat: Deception - Sub-Zero and Kenshi sought a way back to Earthrealm, but were ambushed by Hotaru, a maniacal follower of the Dragon King Onaga. Hotaru's initial attack blinded Sub-Zero, but Kenshi was unaffected and in the dark held a decided advantage over the zealot. As he stalked up to kill Sub-Zero, Kenshi struck unexpectedly, ending the battle prematurely,
• Mortal Kombat: Armageddon - Kenshi had vanquished Blaze, and the elemental's massive power broke the curse on his sight, restoring it and heightening his other senses to supernatural levels. The warrior, unable to bear this new sensitivity, retreated to a mountain sanctuary to live a life of simple, uninterrupted, peace.
• Mortal Kombat - Kenshi defeats Shao Kahn and with the help of Jax, is able to locate and find Shang Tsung with a portal. Kenshi plunges his sword into Shang Tsung and absorbs all the souls Shang Tsung has gathered, rendering him powerless and helpless. Rather than finish the pathetic old man, Kenshi repays his previous gesture by leaving the sorcerer to die in Outworld.
• Mortal Kombat X: "Having defeated Shinnok, Kenshi joined Takeda on his quest to avenge his mother's Suchin's murder. Their travels took them to a cave where he and Takeda freed a man, Taven, encased in a stalagmite. Kenshi told Taven that his brother, Daegon, was the founder of the Red Dragon assassin clan. Daegon had not only murdered Suchin, but his and Taven's parents as well. Together, Kenshi, Takeda and Taven laid siege to the Red Dragon base. Daegon fell victim to Kenshi's rage. Suchin's murder had been avenged."

Trivia

• Kenshi can be seen fighting in the background of the Pit II stage in Mortal Kombat (2011).
• During the story mode of Mortal Kombat (2011), after the Lin Kuei capture Sub-Zero, Shang Tsung announces that shall Kenshi fight Reiko, though neither character is seen.