The incredible and irreplaceable Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, known for his incredible portrayal of Shang Tsung in the original Mortal Kombat film, has passed away at 75 years old.
Reports make mention that his death was attributed to complications from a stroke.
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa Dies: 'Mortal Kombat, 'Last Emperor' & 'Man In The High Castle' Actor Was 75 https://t.co/tD4ExrbhNA
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) December 5, 2025
Of course Tagawa did a great deal more than just Mortal Kombat – with many credits across films and TV, including The Last Emperor, Memoirs of a Geisha and Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle. His career kicked off as far back as 1987 after a stint in the army lead him to living in a variety of cities after acting in high school.
In 2019, Tagawa returned to lend his voice to the Shang Tsung character in Mortal Kombat 11 – bringing a brilliant smarm to the incarnation that was unforgettable. Imagine my joy when MK11 then dropped a story expansion wholly centred around Tagawa’s amazing arsehole antics, with the Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath entry.
Reports from family speak that Tagawa passed peacefully surrounded by his children.
Rest well, you incredible human. Nobody did it quite like you did.
Shoutouts to Deadline.
Known throughout the interwebs simply as M0D3Rn, Ash is bad at video games. An old guard gamer who suffers from being generally opinionated, it comes as no surprise that he is both brutally loyal and yet, fiercely whimsical about all things electronic. On occasion will make a youtube video that actually gets views. Follow him on YouTube @Bad at Video Games
