The Shirai Ryu (Kanji: 白井流; lit. "White Well Style") are a clan of Japanese ninjas in the Mortal Kombat universe credited with bringing ninjutsu and other secret martial arts to Japan from China.
For years, they were bitter rivals with the Lin Kuei, from which they had originally sprung. They were eventually wiped out by the necromancer Quan Chi, who destroyed all of the members of the clan (Hanzo Hasashi, also known as Scorpion, was murdered by the elder Sub-Zero prior to this).
The Shirai Ryu was formed many years ago by a Lin Kuei warrior named Takeda. He eventually grew tired of the Lin Kuei and left the clan. However, leaving the clan is punishable by death, and Takeda was sought after by Lin Kuei assassins. He left China and returned to his homeland in Japan, where he offered his services to the lords and generals. His art gradually spread throughout Japan and developed into the art of ninjutsu. In addition to teaching his new art form, he also taught modified versions of Lin Kuei tactics, as well as revealing many of their secrets. This only further infuriated the Lin Kuei when Takeda's teachings became well-known with many followers throughout Japan. His followers became known as the Shirai Ryu.
The Shirai Ryu and the Lin Kuei became tremendous rivals. Takeda's clan mocked the Lin Kuei by dressing in similar outfits of yellow color and teaching modified versions of their own secrets. While Takeda managed to avoid many assassination attempts well into his later years, he was eventually killed by poison in his tea. It was never known if the Lin Kuei was responsible for his death. The animosity between the Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu continued after his demise, as the Shirai Ryu became more prominent.
After the Shirai Ryu were reformed by a fully resurrected Hanzo Hasashi (Scorpion), the clan now dedicates itself to protecting Earthrealm and aiding those victimized by others through recruiting them into the Shirai Ryu. Most recently, the animosity between the Shirai Ryu and the Lin Kuei has been resolved peacefully when the grand masters of both clans, Hanzo Hasashi and Kuai Liang (Sub-Zero), met to discuss their clan's history and relationship. All animosity between the clans was dispelled when Sub-Zero revealed that only a few (corrupt) Lin Kuei were involved in the first Shirai Ryu massacre as they secretly hired Quan Chi to destroy the clan in exchange for their services in the future. Sektor had allied with Quan Chi for the first Shirai Ryu’s destruction, starting the raid by igniting fires in the territories and the two would later frame Bi-Han for their crimes.
Mortal Kombat: Shinnok's Uprising[]
Scorpion escaped from the Netherrealm and helped invade Edenia under Shinnok's and Quan Chi's dominions. It wasn't until Nightwolf and Sub-Zero were ambushed by him as they found Baraka at the outskirts. The cryomancer refused to fight and the shaman presented the wraith of the intel found in Sektor's data chip! Quan Chi framed Bi-Han on killing the Shrai Ryu, when in reality, Quan massacred them as payment to the Grandmaster while Sub-Zero went to search for the Amulet. Soon after, Scorpion was on the hunt and decapitated Quan Chi, then Raiden urged him and Kuai to restore the real Amulet back to the Temple of Elements. With Shinnok's powers disabled and decimated in the Netherrealm, it was enough to bring his clan long-awaited peace. Hanzo couldn't thank Kuai enough, and for once, he retained his human form...
Mortal Kombat: Vengeance[]
The Shirai Ryu still retained their usual headquarters and Fujin unexpectedly dropped off a baby in a basket. The clan members also found an enclosed letter, and one of them translated it was in Thai! Because of his blindness, Kenshi asked an associate to implore Hanzo to take care of his son, Takeda, as it was his last resort aside from primitive Thailand nurseries or imperial Chinese ones. The clan accepted to look after the baby while Hanzo pursues the Deadly Alliance... Sadly, he never returned. And so, being that Shang was slain and Kenshi survived, the kid was returned to him while everyone honored for Hanzo's sacrifice.
Final Kombat[]
The Shirai Ryu prepare for Armageddon after Kenshi and Hanzo received word from Raiden. The two warriors were in charge on defending all of existence, but things got complicated as Bi-Han intruded them on the night before Armageddon. Luckily, Takeda's cries got their attention and Kenshi was able to talk sense into the backstabber. Hanzo promised to stay behind as Kenshi took onto arms with the Special Forces. Hanzo actually went to the Netherrealm to keep an eye on the weakened Shinnok and return the Amulet to him so he can revive Cetrion. This action did just that, in conjunction with Shinnok's darkened heart, which revived the heroes. The clan remained as strong as ever, despite Hanzo still being the ticking time bomb, and he and Kenshi soon taught Takeda the faction's ways before he joined the Special Forces!
New Era[]
In Liu Kang's New Era, the Shirai Ryu came to exist as a present-day successor of the old Lin Kuei. It all began when Sub-Zero betrayed Scorpion and Smoke by revealing he let their father die in order to become Grandmaster himself, leading the latter two to defect. Knowing full well that the current Lin Kuei (along with Cyrax & Sektor) won't follow Kuai Liang as they were loyal to Bi-Han, he and Tomas decide to create a new clan based on the Lin Kuei's original goals and honor their late father. Fleeing to Japan to escape Bi-Han & his followers, they sought refuge from a family friend: Harumi Shirai, who offers to help them upon learning of Bi-Han's betrayal. With her help, they created the Shirai Ryu to replace the Lin Kuei as Earthrealm's protectors. One of their first apprentices was a starving young man who attacked Tomas out of desperation for money & food. Similar to his own experience, Tomas decided to take him to Kuai Liang, who saw potential in him and decided to take him, revealing his name as Hanzo Hasashi.
Trivia[]
- Throughout the series, the Shirai Ryu's name is mispronounced as Shirai Rye-yu (when the correct would be Shirai Ree-oo). Also, given that "Ryu" is the Japanese suffix for "style", the name would be more properly parsed as "Shirai-ryu". Shirai Ryu means "Style/Flow of the White Well". In the 2021 Mortal Kombat film, the name is pronounced correctly by Bi-Han, though is still rendered as Shirai Ryu in the subtitles.
- Quan Chi is connected, if not responsible, for both iterations of the Shirai Ryu massacre, as he helped the Lin Kuei destroy the original iteration in exchange for Bi-Han to retrieve Shinnok's Amulet in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and in the Mortal Kombat X (Comic Series), the demon which possessed Fox to kill a majority of the second iteration did so through the Kamidogu dagger, which is connected to Quan Chi in some way. It turns out the Kamidogu daggers were keys to a ritual needed to summon Shinnok's Amulet. Quan Chi had conspired with Havik to summon Shinnok's Amulet before the latter betrayed him.
- While other factions have had a stage dedicated to them over the years, the Shirai Ryu didn't have a selectable stage belonging to them until Mortal Kombat 11 (the Shirai Ryu Fire Garden).
- While it is not 100% confirmed and may be intentional or coincidence from Midway/NetherRealm Studios, the foundation of the Shirai Ryu and recreation of the Lin Kuei art into ninjitsu seems to parallel the real-life history of the ninja. According to the Iga-Ryu Ninja Museum, there were records that suggests that the real-life Lin Kuei are plausible connections to the earliest origin of the art of ninjitsu.
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