Video Games
Mortal Kombat - Kung Lao
Kung Lao is the most valuable friend, fellow Shaolin Monk, and sparring partner of Liu Kang. His martial arts base consists purely of Shaolin martial arts, which are the Mantis, Shaolin Fist, Chinese Kempo and Shaolin White Lotus styles. His hat is one of his signature accessories as he uses the sharp brim as a razor-like weapon to slice opponents. He is the current predecessor of the Great Kung Lao before him, but in comparison, Kung Lao does not wish to lead a life of violence. Kung Lao is a pacifist who stands for righteousness and is very protective of the Earth Realm as well as his friends and the Shaolin temple. Such qualities of peace are vital principles for the philosophy of Taoism, which is one of two philosophies of the Shaolin culture.
Of the Mortal Kombat series, Kung Lao is a vital factor of the Shaolin temples in the Earthrealm as he protects them and trains the generations of warriors for the oncoming future. When the temple is invaded and destroyed by Outworld invaders, he and Liu Kang gain vengeance in the name of the temple and seek to rebuild it.
Mortal Kombat - Liu Kang
Liu Kang is the strongest, fighting Shaolin monk, sparring partner and best friend of Kung Lao, protector of the Earthrealm, and reigning champion of the Mortal Kombat series. Of his martial arts styles, Pao Chui, Choy Lay Fut, Monkey Fist, and Dragon all derive from the arts taught by the Shaolin temples. His other two styles, Jeet Kune Do and Jun Fan, have foundations of martial arts backgrounds. His signature appearance consists of long black hair, a red headband that's tied around his head, spiked wrist gauntlets and red and black pants with a dragon print on the side.
The death of his character later in the series isn't truly symbolic or defining, but it does have relation to one of The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, which is suffering, in this case, death. After his death, the Earthrealm was severely weakened and the God of Thunder, Raiden, had to release all of his power in order to triumph in the resistance against the Outworld. His power lead to mental corruption and he resurrected Liu Kang as a zombie, who destroyed a large amount of Shaolin monks in his relative temple. Afterward, Liu Kang sought after retaining his controlled state of mind as well as combining his body and spirit.
Street Fighter - Gen
Gen is a wandering fighter who owns a restaurant and seeks combat for the essence of fighting. Of the other Street Fighter participants, Gen had a history with the father of Chun-Li and assisted her in training. In his first entry for the Street Fighter tournament; he was not capable of finding opponents who were capable of presenting him with a challenge. Later in his life, he was cursed with Leukemia and decided his fate was not to be decided by a disease, but by a fight to the death. He made another return to the tournament discovering the legendary, strong demon, Akuma, who he sought after to receive the fight of his life.
Gen's martial arts style consists of a set of arts for his "Ansatsuken," or variety of martial arts for the purpose of the assassination. The styles he does use are that of Kung fu, including the animal styles of the Crane, Bear, Tiger and Mantis, which derive from the Shaolin temple. During the fight, he is able to switch styles to diversify his move-set and apply the correct technique for the specific situation or opponent. Also, he was capable of teaching two children of his friend “Lee,” “Yang” and “Yun” his Kung fu techniques before he passed away.
"Gen." Wikipedia. 2007. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 19 Jul 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gen>.
"Kung Lao." Wikipedia. July 5, 2007. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 11 Jul 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Lao>.
"Liu Kang." Wikipedia. June 26, 2007. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 11 Jul 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Kang>.