Kenshi

Kenshi
Mortal Kombat character
Kenshi in Mortal Kombat X (2015)
First game	Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (2002)
Created by	Ed Boon
Designed by	Allen Ditzig (MK:DA) Atomhawk Design (MK2011) Lisa Tomczeszyn (Legacy)
Voiced by	Robert Keting (MK:DA) Vic Chao (MKX)
Portrayed by	Dan Southworth (Legacy)
Fictional profile
Origin	Earthrealm
Fighting styles	Tai Chi Judo Ninjutsu (Legacy)

Kenshi Takahashi, also known as Kenshi, is a player character from the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games. He is a rogue swordsman of Eurasian heritage who possesses psychokinetic powers and nurses a bitter hatred for the demon named Shang Tsung, whose deceit had resulted in Kenshi's blindness. Since debuting in 2002's Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, he has persistently featured in the series storyline by freeing Ermac from Outworld emperor Shao Kahn's control, joining the Special Forces alongside Jax and Sonya Blade, and seeking to bring down Mavado and his Red Dragon faction, in addition to associating with the likes of Sub-Zero and Johnny Cage.

Kenshi was included in the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot as a downloadable character, and appeared in the 2013 second season of the Mortal Kombat: Legacy web series. He has proven to be the best-received of the series characters introduced in the three-dimensional games, due to his design, in-game abilities and having overcome his personal handicap.

As a born fighter, Takahashi Kenshi wandered Earthrealm in search of worthy competition. He would find an opponent and defeat them just to boost his pride. One day Kenshi encountered a man named Song, who convinced Kenshi that a great warrior needed a great sword; Song then led Kenshi to the location of an ancient, powerful sword Song claimed would befit Kenshi's power. As Kenshi unsealed the well wherein the sword supposedly lay, he was overwhelmed by souls trapped within and permanently blinded. Song revealed himself to be Shang Tsung and proceeded to absorb the released souls and left Kenshi to die within the tomb. However, the sword, which actually did exist, attracted Kenshi and spoke to him, leading him from the tomb and revealing its origin. The sword originally belonged to a long line of great swordsmen from whom Kenshi descended; the well where the sword lay was also the sacred resting place of the souls of Kenshi's ancestors, souls that were stolen by Shang Tsung. Kenshi spent the next decade or so retraining his senses, all while searching for his betrayer and the defiler of his ancestry.