Elder Gods (Mortal Kombat)

  Elder Gods

 Raiden, a former Elder God

The Elder Gods are the silent guardians of all reality in the Mortal Kombat video game series.

History
Before the realms of Mortal Kombat came into existence, there was the One Being, a being that comprised all of known reality and by whose presence nothing else could live. The Elder Gods waged war and created the kamidogu, powerful weapons that shattered the One Being. The Elder Gods then created the realms from its body, with Earthrealm as apparent magical centerpiece or power node.

Even though the One Being was shattered, its divided mind kept working through exceptionally powerful individuals. One of these was the Elder God Shinnok, who went on a rampage to take the universe for himself. Eventually he was defeated by the young thunder god Raiden in a battle over Earthrealm, and banished to the Netherealm. The special amulet that granted the power Shinnok once wielded, was hidden.

The Elder Gods are not infallible, and neither have their decisions gone by without criticism. The Elder Gods' rule of non-interference in mortal affairs that do not threaten their existence was evident when Shao Kahn, Emperor of Outworld, merged Earthrealm with Outworld to reclaim Queen Sindel, in direct violation of the sacred rules of Mortal Kombat. Raiden begged the Elder Gods to stop Kahn, who was required by the sacred laws to win ten consecutive Mortal Kombat tournaments before he could take Earthrealm, but the Elder Gods did nothing.

Their non-intervention nearly cost them their existence when Shinnok escaped the Netherrealm and attacked them directly. Millennia earlier, they had cursed Shang Tsung to consume the souls of other mortals to maintain his existence, either not knowing or not caring that his need to devour mortal souls would lead to him learning the location of Shinnok's amulet. Eventually that knowledge would reach Quan Chi, who used it to free Shinnok and take the amulet for himself. Thanks to the intervention of Raiden, Fujin and the champions of Earthrealm, Shinnok was stopped. For this, Raiden was rewarded by being made an Elder God himself.

Soon Raiden abandoned this status when the Deadly Alliance arose as a threat to Earth. This time, his strategies of leading his mortal friends into direct combat was not as successful, and all of them were killed, distracted or severly wounded. The Deadly Alliance became moot, however, when Onaga reappeared at the battle scene between Raiden and the two sorcerers. For millennia Onaga had lain in wait from beyond death to be resurrected and complete his endless conquest of the realms. Raiden, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi were unable to stop him. It drove Raiden further into extremes, and he realised that he could neither trust the Elder Gods, nor his mortal comrades. Most of all, he felt anger with Shujinko for allowing the Dragon King to return.

Ironically, this time the Elder Gods did interfere. Now aware of a direct threat to their existence, because Onaga had acquired all kamidogu and the amulet, the Elder Gods summoned Scorpion to act as their champion and destroy Onaga.