Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, the actor who performed Shang Tsung within the authentic Mortal Kombat film and the online game Mortal Kombat 11, has died on the age of 75.
The star of “The Final Emperor,” “Memoirs of a Geisha,” and “The Man within the Excessive Fortress” died Thursday in Santa Barbara of issues from a stroke, Deadline reported.
Tagawa is finest recognized for enjoying the evil sorcerer Shang Tsung within the 1995 adaptation of the online game Mortal Kombat, making him an immediately recognizable face for a lot of followers. Within the movie, Shang Tsung factors on the helpless Liu Kang, who has taken his brother Zhang hostage, and declares, “Your brother’s soul is mine!” Tagawa went on to say, “Your soul is mine!” That is in step with the symbolic a part of the Shantsung folklore, which has been handed down for the previous 30 years. After the unique Mortal Kombat film, Tagawa went on to play Shang Tsung many instances, together with his voice and look in 2019’s Mortal Kombat 11, a lot to the delight of followers.
Different movie roles embrace Kwan within the James Bond movie License to Kill, Commander Minoru Genda in Pearl Harbor, and Heihachi Mishima within the 2009 movie Tekken and its 2014 sequel Tekken 2: Kazuya’s Revenge.
Tagawa’s final starring function was in 2015, when he performed one of many primary characters in Amazon’s The Man within the Excessive Fortress. His final function was because the voice of Swordsman Eiji in season 1 of Netflix’s acclaimed anime Blue Eyed Samurai.
Ed Boon, head of growth at Mortal Kombat studio NetherRealm, paid tribute to Tagawa in a publish on social media. “At present we misplaced a legend,” he stated. “We had the privilege of taking part in him within the first MK film, however he was additionally an ideal voice actor within the Mortal Kombat 11 recreation. Cary was one in every of a sort. He mixed hazard, swagger, and athleticism within the function, and can ceaselessly be remembered as the person who introduced Shang Tsung to life within the first film. Relaxation in Peace. Your soul will dwell ceaselessly.”
Todd Garner, producer of the 2021 movie Mortal Kombat and its sequel, additionally tweeted on social media: “Unhappy information. Nice man. Nice actor. He can be missed.”
At present we misplaced a legend. Carrie Hiroyuki Tagawa @CHTofficial He performed Shang Tsung within the 1995 movie Mortal Kombat and sadly handed away on the age of 75. We had the privilege of taking part in him within the first MK film, however he was additionally an ideal voice actor within the Mortal Kombat 11 recreation.
Carrie was one in every of them… pic.twitter.com/iAnTc0odGH
— Ed Boone (@noobde) December 5, 2025
Man: (
RIP to Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
you’re all the time my shang tsun pic.twitter.com/bv7NwaF04I
— Justin Wong (@JWonggg) December 5, 2025
Wesley is videogameaddicted’s Director of Information. Discover me on Twitter @wyp100. Wesley might be reached at wesley_yinpoole@videogameaddicted.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.