Li Mei

Li Mei is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. She made her debut in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.

Li Mei debuted in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance as an Outworld warrior whose village was enslaved by Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. Her people were forced to build a temple from which the Deadly Alliance would summon the Soulnado. She attempted to win her village's freedom in a tournament hosted by Shang Tsung but was betrayed. Her soul was subsequently stolen and placed in one of the Dragon King Onaga's soldiers.

Bo' Rai Cho saved her soul and trained her so that she would join the Forces of Light in the final Battle of Armageddon. Although she was killed in that battle by Hotaru's naginato, Li Mei was brought back to life (along with all of the other warriors who perished) by Raiden's resetting of the timeline. She made a brief appearance in the story mode of Mortal Kombat X, wherein Li Mei and her fellow villagers sought sanctuary in Earthrealm to escape the civil war raging between Kotal Kahn and Mileena. It was she who informed the Special Forces of Kano's return to Earthrealm, and Raiden of Mileena's use of the Amulet of Shinnok.

A new version of Li Mei returns in Mortal Kombat 1 as a playable character, marking her return to the franchise in over 16 years. In Mortal Kombat 1, Li Mei was a former leader of the Umgadi warrior priestesses who left the order after a tragic death of King Jerrod. She joins Sun Do's police force and became the First Constable.

Mortal Kombat: Vengeance[]

Li Mei was first mentioned by Bo' Rai Cho when he became a stowaway of the Dragonfly. The Kombatants onboard received the news that Bo was desperate to save her and her villagers of Sun Do after they'd been kidnapped by the Deadly Alliance, presumably as sacrifices for Onaga and his undead army. Bo became drunk after not succeeding, though the news of Liu's death sobered him. Li Mei was described as his current pupil, since he lost his purpose after Liu won the first tournament. He uttered, "What good is a teacher without his student, right?"

Li Mei was seen amongst the other hapless victims of the Sun Do villagers at the rows next to the central platform of Shang Tsung's Palace. Bo became desperate on rescuing her from the enslavement by the Deadly Alliance.

Li Mei, along with the other Sun Do villagers, were at the Alliance's mercy, especially when Quan opened up the Soulnado! She was saved as a last sacrifice for Shang in order to make the mummified army complete for Onaga! Shang was about to consume her soul, making her seal her fate forever, until he and Quan grew outraged of the Soulnado being reversed by the aeromancers, Kung Lao and Fujin. Unfortunately, she was still unconscious while Bo' saved her life.

Return of the Dragon King[]

Li Mei was first seen as she was tending to an unconscious Kung Lao for several hours. Inside her hut, she was informed by Hanzo who carried him after he passed out. By the time he saw Shujinko enter a yellow portal from the Nexus, he came to and met her..., Due to the Florence Nightengale Effect getting the best of her, Lao refused to accept her offer, as his heart belongs to Aiko instead. She was disappointed by the rejection; however, she was still willing to help as Lao was impressed that she knew him from Bo' Rai Cho, even hearing of Liu Kang. Lao knew he needed to take a portal to another realm, as he and Hanzo had hearts of the Champions to enter the Nexus. After Hanzo offered to travel to the Chaosrealm and find Havik, she offered to take them to an ancient portal, believing it'd still activate without the Kamidogu. She encouraged Lao to keep going, even when he felt disheartened that he may need to leave Li Mei behind with Onaga and his followers wreaking havoc.

She led them to the portal thru the Kuatan Jungle, thinking it'd be a desolate area where they can't be traced. However, luck wasn't on their side as the trio were ambushed by archers, along with an undead Johnny Cage! Li Mei fended them off with Hanzo, but it wasn't enough. That was until Fujin came to their aid as he blew them asunder! He escorted her and the wounded Johnny to Earthrealm, while Lao and Hanzo escaped into the Nexus.

She arrived at Earthrealm, beside the group of heroes consisting of Sindel, the Edenian knights, Kitana, Jade, Aiko, and Kenshi. She was relieved she was safe, and that the revenant Johnny'd be imprisoned at the Temple of Elements. She decided to stick with them as she'd nowhere else to go. Although, she did strike up a conversation with Aiko involving her love for Kung Lao. She admitted she heard of him as a hero, along with Liu Kang, as mentioned by her master, Bo' Rai Cho, a lot. The oaf escorted her and her people to safety from the Deadly Alliance and the Soulnado, even when he sacrificed himself assisting Lao. She and her people were about to evacuate and head to Edenia once they heard of Onaga's resurrection, till she spotted Lao carried by Hanzo. She almost caved into him until he shown the heart gem, amazingly the same one Aiko had! Li Mei grew fond of their relationship even knowing him for so long and guiding her to a better life. That was until Johnny acted up! Kenshi then asked Aiko to investigate the Wu Shi Academy after sensing an ominous force.

She was relieved to see them back well, although she was overmatched by the erratic Johnny who escaped from his prison. That was until he was incapacitated by Ashrah.

Final Kombat[]

As the last survivor of Sun Do, Li Mei was taken in as a skilled guardswoman of the Edenian Palace. She actually offered her services to the monarchs as she wanted to participate in the Battle of Armageddon, much to Sindel's dismay as it's a matter of life and death, even though it was the ideal chance to prove herself as a warrior and prodigy of Bo'.

During the soiree, she met Taven and reunited with her master! She was thrilled to see him after Bo' figured it was the Elder Gods that brought him back for the sake of Armageddon, after she reiterated Edenia's troubling predicament. She soon became hopeful if she should see Liu and Lao again before the final battle as Bo did. They still got their hands full and were gravely wounded. It's likely they'd been recuperated and spared by Liu's fire cocoon and Cetrion's tears; Li Mei may still be the proud Edenian guard even with Taven as its new protector god.

Trivia[]

Her source code description in MK1 is Redemption.

Gallery[]

WTF Is Up with Li Mei?