10 Video Game Hero Transformations You Didn't See Coming
8. Liu Kang - Mortal Kombat: Deception
Mortal Kombat is such a fundamentally ridiculous franchise that there's very little fans wouldn't at least try to accept, but that doesn't make Zombie Liu Kang any less weird.
Liu Kang is of course the series' de facto protagonist - a badass martial artist whose design has been near enough set in stone since the beat 'em up franchise's inception.
But that all changed when Kang had his neck snapped by Shang Tsung at the start of 2002's Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, making this the first game in the series where he wasn't a playable character.
Kang naturally didn't stay dead for long, though, and in follow-up Mortal Kombat: Deception he was resurrected as a murderous zombie, complete with deathly grey skin, decaying wounds, and chains around his wrists.
Amusingly Zombie Liu Kang is also a playable character, though his soul eventually regains control of his body in the next game, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, effectively restoring the status quo.
Given how sacrosanct a character Kang is among Mortal Kombat fans, it was pretty bold to give him an undead makeover - albeit only a temporary one.