Depicted as Earthrealm's greatest warrior and champion, he debuted in the original 1992 game as a Shaolin monk with special moves, which were intended to be the easiest for players to perform.

The character's storyline sees him win the eponymous Mortal Kombat tournament in the first and second games, saving Earthrealm from being conquered by the opposing forces of Outworld.

During both the original and rebooted timelines, Liu Kang receives a more villainous depiction by Raiden appearing as a reanimated corpse in the former and an undead revenant who rules Netherrealm in the latter.

[8] Starting with Mortal Kombat II, his outfit incorporated a red palette by way of single vertical stripes on his pants and a matching headband, in addition to black shoes and studded wrist guards; the MKII introduction cutscene shows a background fight of him in his original attire defeating old Shang Tsung while in the foreground he is shown in his updated costume.

Mortal Kombat 3 contained minor changes to the character's depiction, with longer hair and thin black leg strips wrapped above his ankles in order to give him a "sleeker" look.

[10] In a 1995 interview, lead series programmer Ed Boon, discussing the development team's immediate decision to include Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat 3, said: "It'd be like doing part three of Star Wars and not having Luke Skywalker in there.

[12] After the developers had received feedback that unlocking him in Deception had proved difficult, Liu Kang became a regular playable character in the PlayStation Portable port Unchained.

[16] Liu Kang and fellow fighter Kung Lao, according to Tobias, were meant to complement each other: one as the present-day chosen one and the other as a reflection of a failed past, with their sense of righteous purpose bonding their friendship.

[33][34] In the sequel Mortal Kombat II (1993), Liu Kang seeks revenge against Shao Kahn, emperor of the otherworldly realm of Outworld and Shang Tsung's master who had his comrades killed.

[36][37] In Mortal Kombat 4 (1997), Liu Kang fights against the disgraced Elder God Shinnok's forces to save Princess Kitana whom he is in love.

[38] Following Shinnnok's defeat Kitana then invites Liu Kang to Edenia, but he is unable to commit to a relationship due to his duty as Earthrealm's champion.

[41][42] The renanimated Liu Kang form is playable but as a secret character unlocked by players only during a specific time and date in the game's training mode.

[44] Along with Kung Lao, Liu Kang is the lead character in the 2005 spin-off action-adventure game Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, which serves as a retelling of the events leading up to Mortal Kombat II and features the two Shaolin monks traveling to Outworld to find and defeat Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn while rescuing Kitana and other allies along the way.

[46] Tobias said he wanted to see the fight between Liu Kang and Batman, as he noted their backstories are very similar because both had attempted to help their respective leaders regain their senses.

[50][51] Liu Kang returns in Mortal Kombat X as Quan Chi's undead revenant, serving Shinnok to enact revenge on Raiden and the Elder Gods.

The miniseries dirverged from the videogames in not making Liu Kang the chosen one to defeat Goro, which instead fell on twin monk brothers named Sing and Sang, two original characters created specifically for the comics.

However, he suffers constant attacks by an unknown force of ninjas and later receives help from Johnny Cage's bodyguard Bo when Goro ambushes him in an office building.

"[67] Randy Hamilton voiced Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins, a straight-to-video animated prequel released four months prior to the film.

[68] Shou stated that he felt pressure while filming to trying to find a style between American and Hong Kong artist, such as Jet Li and Steven Seagal.

[71] Brian Tee played Liu Kang in the 2013 second season of director Kevin Tancharoen's web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy.

[72] Tee was initially not fond of the character; he said that he would have preferred to portray Sub-Zero and that there were more actors who were more suited to depicte Liu Kang's Bruce Lee-like persona.

Digital Spy compared him with Street Fighter character Ryu, stating that while both are "kind of dull", they develop appealing techniques across their respective series.

Club compared Liu Kang's relationship with Kitana to the titular characters in the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), noting how the games often give them proper scenes despite the franchise being focused on violent battles.

[102] Complex remarked that the Mortal Kombat developers "finally found their groove again with Deadly Alliance, which began by snapping Liu Kang's neck".

[105][106] GamesRadar used Liu Kang as an example of a stereotype of gaming heroes who reveal an evil alter ego that ruins the character's appealing traits,[107] and considered him to be "a little like the Shaolin version of Goku, in that he's saved his world countless times and come back from the dead even more frequently".

Both Den of Geek and Hardcore Gamer also found Liu Kang's possible role in the series after the reboot to be shrouded in mystery, due to his possible revival as a villain as well as how he is not available to face Shinnok.

[115] Shacknews enjoyed the actions Liu Kang makes as a god due to the major direction the narrative takes in the DLC Aftermath as he aims to restart the generation.

[116] In a 2019 feature published on Polygon, MK11 writer Shawn Kittelsen stated that both Liu Kang and Raiden "fell from grace" in the 2000s, and that MK11 provided the last opportunity to redeem the two characters.

[117] Among new events in Mortal Kombat 1, Liu Kang was noted for his role reversal with Raiden as the Shaolin monk was now the new leader of the cast and proper relationships with characters from other worlds.