Onaga

Onaga is a character from the Mortal Kombat games.

Onaga, also known as the Dragon King, was once the emperor of Outworld. His undead army of soldiers was feared by many as being unstoppable. His rule would come to an abrupt end when he was poisoned and killed by his chief adviser Shao Kahn. For the next millennium, Shao Kahn ruled outworld and Onaga was forgotten. His chance for a return came when, posing as an ethreal essence name Damashi, he tasked Shujinko with a false quest to find the Kamidogu and grant him power. At the same time, a delirious Reptile chanced upon a dragon egg that corrupted Reptile and allowed the soul of Onaga to inhabit his body. Revived, Onaga immediately went to reclaim his army and defeated the former Deadly Alliance of Quan Chi and Shang Tsung, and Raiden. He then revived all those killed by the former sorcerers and made them his slaves, and set about reconquering the realms.

Shujinko, feeling immense guilt for the deception, gathered as many remaining kombatants as possible and defeated Onaga together, exorcising him from Reptile and locking his spirit in the Neatherrealm. Shinnok, also banished to the Neatherrealm, promised Onaga freedom and reclaiming Outworld by informing him of the power that Blaze held, and Onaga, alongside a reluctant alliance of Quan Chi, Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn, escaped from the Neatherrealm and partook in the Battle of Armageddon.

Personality
Onaga is largely characterized by his desire for ultimate power. After his resurrection, he immediately sought out to reclaim both his throne to Outworld and his Army. In Deception (hence the game's title), he displays a cunning, tactical, and manipulative side - acting as a spiritual avatar named Damashi, whom he uses to manipulate and trick Shujinko for many years into gathering all six Kamidogu.

Onaga has a deep seated animosity towards Shao Khan, since the latter was the cause of his death. This vengeful and malevolent nature in Armageddon came full circle, choosing to ignore the fire elemental Blaze's prize of godhood in favor of settling the score between them. In his non-canon Armageddon ending, he unleashes his wrath against his former chief advisor to the point of near death, but opts to leave Shao Kahn in his very own dungeon, tormented by those who once pledged their allegiance to him.

Onaga's main goal is to regain what was taken from him, to seek revenge on Emperor Shao Kahn for his betrayal. He also wishes to become the One Being in Deception and use Blaze's power to get revenge and became a god in Armageddon. Onaga wants to keep his title of emperor, as well as both his army and the entire Outworld civilization's loyalty to him, and does not want anyone to take that away from him. He also wants to become the ultimate being become greater then everyone else and have no one that can rival, defeat or challenge him.

Like many other fighters in Armageddon, Onaga wants the divine power of Blaze to rule things. Also like many others Onaga wants the power of Blaze to regain what he lost. Many wish to use the power of Blaze to become a god Onaga's goal to claim the power of Blaze is similar to many others. But while most of the kombatants want the power to become champion or the best fighter. Onaga wants more then just becoming champion he wants to be the greatest being ever. Some wishes to steal the power all the other fighters. While some wish to become a destroyer. Onaga sets quest for Blaze's power to the highest wish out of all the other kombatants.

Abilities
Onaga appears to be one of the strongest beings in the entire Mortal Kombat series. His own power is ambiguous overall, but since Shao Kahn preferred poisoning Onaga as opposed to fighting him, he can be presumed to possess enough power that even Shao Kahn feared facing him. When Onaga had the Kamidogu, he became nearly unstoppable and any direct confrontation with him was nigh impossible. This is displayed when the two strongest sorcerers, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, combined with the power of Earth's Thunder God, Raiden, tried to stop him. The blasts from all three only pushed him away as he advanced towards them. Not even a self-destruct blast from Raiden was sufficient in destroying him, only doing little, if any visible damage. Being a dragon, Onaga is able to exhale flames in a concentrated ball of fire or a stream of fire, similar to a flamethrower. In Deception, Onaga was able to fly, but doesn't use this ability when fighting in Armageddon. He also possesses a degree of magic as he was able to spread his influence in the form of a spiritual avatar named Damashi, whom he used to manipulate Shujinko for many years to gain what he needed, also displaying his cunning and tactics.

It is later revealed in the Mortal Kombat X (Comic Series) that he also possessed regenerative abilities such as being able to regrow a hand if one was cut off, an ability which Goro sought out to regrow his own arms after losing them to Kotal Kahn in kombat.

Signature Moves

 * Dragon's Fire: Onaga launches a fireball at his opponent.
 * Flame Breath: Onaga spews flames, immolating the opponent and setting them up for an additional combo.
 * Jumping Stomp: Onaga jumps up and creates a shockwave when he lands, causing damage to the opponent if they are grounded.
 * Sliding Kick: Onaga lunges forward with a foot extended, tripping the opponent if he makes contact.
 * Dirty Face: Onaga creates a small shockwave which knocks the opponent back a bit.

Other Moves

 * Super Powerbomb: After capturing his foe, Onaga flies up into the air and powerbombs the foe headfirst to the ground.

Trivia

 * Onaga's name may be derived from "Ō Nāga", which means "Great Dragon" in Japanese.
 * Onaga's throw in Deception resembles a Super Powerbomb where he flies up into the air after capturing his foe and powerbombs the foe to the ground, but it is changed into a juggernaut boss' regular throw in Armageddon.
 * When fighting Onaga in Deception, touching one of the Kamidogu results in him doubling over in pain. When combos are performed on him during this state, they actually do more damage than they normally would.
 * While Onaga is unplayable in Deception outside of third-party cheat devices, there is evidence that he was meant to be an unlockable character: an unused ending for Onaga that can be found in the Krypt, as well as Puzzle Kombat models for the character.
 * As a playable character, Onaga only has one fighting style (Dragon, which is his own style and not to be confused with the actual Dragon fighting style that other characters in the game use) that cycles repeatedly when the Change Style button is pressed. Also, in the on-screen move list, only one of his special moves is listed, and one (non-working) combo is listed under his fighting style.
 * Reportedly, playing as Onaga in Puzzle Kombat is very difficult, as the character model's wings obscure a good part of the player's screen, and his special builds up very slowly. Likewise, playing against him is also hard, as his wings conceal what he is going to do next.
 * Onaga is the second boss in the series to be immune to projectile attacks, the first being Motaro. Unlike Motaro, however, Onaga does not reflect the projectile back at the opponent.
 * Onaga is the first final boss of the series with a bestial appearance as opposed to the more human-like bosses of past games such as Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn, and Shinnok.
 * If a character was to do a low kick ending combo to Onaga in Deception, he can be heard saying "NO KICKING!" in a somewhat whiny nature.
 * Although part of the original Forces of Darkness team-up, Onaga does not appear much in the opening to Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. His only appearance shows him grabbing onto Shao Kahn and flying away.
 * Onaga is most vulnerable to Liu Kang's Bicycle Kick.
 * In Raiden's ending in Deadly Alliance, Onaga was briefly seen with an entirely different look compared to his current design.
 * Onaga makes a brief cameo during two of Raiden's visions and is mentioned in Shao Kahn's bio in Mortal Kombat (2011).
 * Onaga is the largest character in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon as his character select model blocks nearly half of the character selection screen.
 * Before the creation of Kotal Kahn, "Kahn" was never set officially as a title. However, Mortal Kombat 11confirms it as a title as Onaga was also a Kahn, even though he was never referred to as such.
 * Onaga very briefly appears as a cameo in Mortal Kombat 11, appearing in Kung Lao‘s tower ending, being sliced in half by the Shaolin.
 * An exchange between Cetrion and Liu Kang leaves a subtle hint of Liu Kang having a possible connection to Onaga by wielding his fire;
 * While Liu Kang denies being related to the Dragon King, Cetrion mocks his self-assured ignorance.
 * In an intro with Baraka, Liu Kang admits his fighting style is inspired by that of a dragon's.
 * Liu Kang also frequently summons/transforms into the series' iconic dragon symbol for his fatalities/fatal blow throughout the series, which was confirmed to be Onaga by the developers.
 * Also, in an intro between Raiden and Kitana, the thunder god says Shao Kahn wields Onaga's power;
 * This could possibly explain the design change on Shao Kahn's appearance to be draconic. As he portrays this look in a flashback before the events of Mortal Kombat 11, this appearance seems to be retconned as his.