Since its shockingly bloody debut in 1992, Mortal Kombat has entertained fighting game fans with its crazy combos and gleefully gory finishers. The franchise’s penchant for gore and violence has only gotten zanier over the past three decades (we love it), and most would agree that the increasingly convoluted storyline is just as bonkers. Characters die, they come back to life, they time travel, they float and fly, fall in love, and swear red vengeance. The nuttiest plot twists belong to Liu Kang though, the default protagonist of the Mortal Kombat series and Earthrealm’s most tireless defender. (Well, that title might go to Raiden, but let’s not argue semantics—things are confusing enough as it is.)

The premise of Mortal Kombat has always been over-the-top, but Liu Kang’s arc seems to truly push the boundaries of credulity. He’s been an affable Bruce Lee clone, a chain-dragging zombie, an embittered and corrupt ruler of the Netherrealm, and now—in the upcoming Mortal Kombat 1—a time-traveling Elder God with the ability to protect Earth with his dual powers of fire and lightning.

As goofy as his latest storyline is (he’s a zombie, a past version of himself, and a fire/thunder god all at once?), it’s hard not to be impressed by Liu Kang’s recent apotheosis. If only our real Earthrealm had such an impressive deity!

Well, as it turns out, we do. And like Liu Kang, this deity’s transformation from a mild-mannered scholar to a vengeful ghost to a powerful thunder god (and later a god of wisdom) is full of wild twists and turns. Enter Sugawara no Michizane, a real historical figure and one of Japan’s three great spirits of vengeance.

 

The rise and fall of Sugawara no Michizane

Sugawara no Michizane was born in 845 AD, during Japan’s Heian Period (794-1185). According to legend, he was a child prodigy, and by the age of five he was able to recite eloquent poems, a cherished skill amongst aristocrats. After acing his civil service exam as a young adult, this budding Confucian scholar went on to receive a minor court position in 870 AD. After intervening in a power struggle between Emperor Uda and the powerful Fujiwara clan in the 890s, Michizane’s star began to rise, and the emperor eventually made him the Minister of the Right, one of the most powerful positions at court.

Michizane’s swift ascent—and the marriage of his daughter to the emperor’s son—was resented by the Fujiwara, who clearly saw him as a threat to their own ambitions. After Emperor Uda retired and his son Daigo assumed the throne in 897, Fujiwara no Tokihira (the leader of the Fujiwara) hatched a plan to get rid of his rival. He convinced the young Daigo that the Minister of the Right was planning to oust him as emperor and raise Michizane’s son-in-law to the throne, a treasonous act.

Taken in by this ruse, Emperor Daigo demoted Michizane and exiled the former minister to Dazaifu province on the island of Kyushu. Heartbroken, Michizane passed away in 903, just two years after being banished from court. That should have been the end of the story, but it’s at this point where things go terribly, terribly, terribly wrong.

Just six years after Michizane’s passing, Tokihira died suddenly of an illness. Uneasy about his death, the Fujiwara clan dedicated a Buddhist temple to Michizane’s unhappy spirit in the hopes of appeasing it. Unfortunately for them, it didn’t work. Instead, this was just the start of a series of ominous disasters that would rock the capital of Kyoto for nearly half a century.

 

Disaster after disaster

One of the first incidents to unequivocally be blamed on Michizane’s vengeful ghost occurred in 923, when Emperor Daigo’s son fell sick and died. Shaken by his sudden passing and certain it was caused by Michizane’s angry spirit—which was already rumored to be responsible for a string of illnesses and freak accidents starting as early as 908—Emperor Daigo issued an edict posthumously pardoning Michizane and restoring his rank as Minister of the Right.

This did nothing to appease the troubled soul, however. The court continued to be visited by a string of calamities, including violent storms, droughts, earthquakes, and even plague.

The most hair-raising incident occurred in 930 AD, when the imperial palace was struck by lightning, killing some courtiers instantly. Others died in the fire that followed. Many of the victims were associated with the Fujiwara, the family responsible for Michizane’s exile. Even more ominously, Emperor Daigo died three months later from illness (perhaps caused by shock). By now the entire court was hysterical with fear, and shortly after the lightning strike multiple people claimed to have seen visions of a vengeful Michizane in the form of Raijin (Raiden), Japan’s much-feared and respected god of thunder, thus forever linking the two.

 

Deification

Convinced they had a generational curse on their hands and desperate to placate the disgruntled ghost, the court cast about for a solution. Their prayers were finally answered when a female shaman named Taijihi no Ayako discovered the best way to mollify Michizane’s unhappy ghost was to deify him as a Shinto god. Thus in 947 a shrine was built in his honor—the famous Kitano Tenmangu Shrine in Kyoto—and Michizane was officially deified as Karai Tenjin, which translates to Fire Thunder Heavenly Deity.

Even after this, the court continued to fear his powers. In 987 AD, eighty-five years after Michizane’s death, Emperor Ichijo officially bestowed the scholar with the title Tenman Dai Jizai Tenjin. (Tenjin are heavenly beings that may have been worshiped since very ancient times.)

Along with Taira no Masakado and Emperor Sutoku, Sugawara no Michizane would become one of Japan’s three great vengeful spirits. The Japanese love telling stories about Michizane in particular, and he can be found in everything from kabuki plays to anime series.

Despite his terrifying powers as a fiery thunder god, Michizane quickly shed his more fearsome aspects and was soon regarded as a benevolent deity who aided scholars and performed miracles for those who prayed at one of his many shrines. As early as the 10th century, academics left poems for him as ritual offerings. He was even patronized by Zen Monks, who admired his scholarly attributes. (Up until the Meiji Period, Shinto and Buddhist beliefs often intermingled.)

Today Sugawara no Michizane is the undisputed god of wisdom, and every year thousands of Japanese students descend on one of his many shrines (the number varies, but there may be over 10,000 of them) to ask for his aid in passing their school exams.

Sugawara no Michizane’s story is a fascinating and important one, particularly because of its association with tangled court politics and a string of natural disasters. When comparing this strange amalgam of history and folklore to Liu Kang’s bizarre journey to and from the realms beyond Earth, the latter seems far less inconceivable. It’s true what they say—fact is stranger than fiction.

If you want to check out the Mortal Kombat version of the powerful Elder God Liu Kang, you can pick up Mortal Kombat 1 on the Epic Games Store.