Prior to the events of the game series, Shao Kahn was a warlord protecting Outworld and an advisor to the realm's ruler, Onaga. Eventually, Shao Kahn poisoned Onaga, claiming his throne and his armies. The Kahn continued to add lesser realms to Outworld, including Edenia; forcing queen Sindel and princess Kitana to become his wife and personal assassin respectively. Sindel killed herself to escape the emperor, but he kept her soul in Outworld. One of the backwards dialogues in "Deception"s Konquest Mode suggests that Shao Kahn is a god-like being like Lucifer and the thunder god Raiden.