Shao Kahn was once the adviser of the former ruler of Outworld, Onaga, the invincible Dragon King. He however poisoned Onaga and took the throne. He then sought out to conquer other realms. Because of his immense power and the force of his armies, the Elder Gods decreed that the other realms must be given a chance to defend themselves and created the tournament, Mortal Kombat. The rules of the tournament are simple, once a generation, Shao Kahn's greatest warriors and the challenged realm's greatest warriors will fight. The champion will be gifted with immortality so that he/she could continue to fight for their realm until he or she loses. If Shao Kahn wins 10 tournaments in a row, he's allowed claim to that realm. However if the challenged realm wins 10, Shao Kahn must leave that realm alone.

Then comes the current Mortal Kombat tournament. Shao Kahn's warriors had won 9 in a row, but Shang Tsung lost to Liu Kang. Shang Tsung begged for Shao Kahn to give him another chance and had a plan, so Shao Kahn restored Shang Tsung's youth and gave Shang Tsung his second chance. Shang Tsung's plan was to bypass the Elder God's decree. While Shang Tsung did this, Shao Kahn, being a former champion, challenged Liu Kang. However since Shao Kahn isn't allowed to enter Earthrealm, the Earth warriors had to venture to Outworld. However this was a trick and Shang Tsung's plan worked, Shng Tsung made it so that Shao Kahn's deceased wife would be brought back on Earth, allowing Shao Kahn to cross over to claim her. In doing so, he began his assault on Earth, starting by stealing everyone's souls and having his extermination squads eliminate anyone who escaped Shao Kahn's magic. He was ultimately defeated and forced to retreat back to Outworld where Edenians, Shokans, and Centaurians began their rebellion against him.

In these assaults, a weakened Shao Kahn ordered Noob Saibot to assassinate Goro, and he struck Goro down on the battlefield. Though Goro was gravely wounded, he was not dead. Shang Tsung and his ally Quan Chi came asking for a meeting with the emperor, then they attacked and killed him. However this was just a magical duplicate the emperor created of himself while he gathered his strength, but he wouldn't have time as Shang Tsung and Quan Chi unintentionally revived the Dragon King. Shao Kahn fled to avoid the wrath of the Dragon King while he continued to regain his strength, in doing so he came across Goro. He made Goro a bargain and healed the dying Shokan. Together they would planned to defeat Onaga.