Kenshi

is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise by Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios. He makes his series debut in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (2002) as a blind swordsman and Special Forces operative. In addition to his sword skills, he possesses telekinetic abilities. Outside of the games, Kenshi has appeared in various related media, including comic books, the 2011 web series Mortal Kombat Legacy, and the 2022 animated film Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind. Reception to the character has been positive, while he is regarded as the best fighter from the series' three-dimensional era and is one of the few characters to successfully transition to the current two-dimensional series of games. Appearances Mortal Kombat games As a born fighter, Kenshi Takahashi wandered Earthrealm in search of worthy competition, defeating opponents simply to boost his pride. One day Kenshi encountered a man named Song, who led him to the supposed location of an ancient, powerful sword he claimed would befit Kenshi's power. When Kenshi opens a well inside the tomb where the sword supposedly lay, he is overwhelmed by souls trapped within and permanently blinded. Song then reveals himself as the sorcerer Shang Tsung, who then absorbs the released souls and leaves Kenshi for dead. However, the sword, named "Sento", does actually exist and it speaks telepathically to Kenshi, leading him from the tomb and revealing its origin. The weapon was passed down a long line of great swordsmen from whom Kenshi descended, while the imprisoned souls were those of his ancestors. Kenshi focused on retraining his senses thereafter, all while searching for his betrayer and the defiler of his ancestry.