Quan Chi

In video games

In the events of both Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat 4 (1997), nefarious free-roaming sorcerer and necromancer Quan Chi assists disgraced former Elder God Shinnok—who had been banished to the Netherealm by Raiden after centuries of warring—in defeating the realm's then-ruler Lucifer in exchange for power and the opportunity to co-rule the realm at Shinnok's side. Shang Tsung reveals to Quan Chi the location of Shinnok's long-lost amulet, but Quan Chi is unable to retrieve it himself due to the presence of four elemental guards who protect it, and he therefore proposes a deal with the Lin Kuei clan of assassins: he would destroy their rivals, the Shirai Ryu, in exchange for the assistance of one of their warriors, Sub-Zero. Quan Chi convinces Sub-Zero to find a map leading to the location of the amulet, while having sent Hanzo Hasashi (Scorpion) on the same quest in the hopes that the two would meet in combat. Indeed, Sub-Zero kills Scorpion during the course of his mission. When Sub-Zero delivers the map, Quan Chi, true to his word, wipes out the Shirai Ryu, then sends Sub-Zero on another mission to find the amulet itself. Mythologies featured a trio of new characters in Sareena, Kia, and Jataaka, members of the cult known as the Brotherhood of the Shadow who served as Quan Chi's personal assassins. Once Sub-Zero claimed the amulet, he returned it to Shinnok, who was unaware that it was a meaningless duplicate while the sorcerer kept the genuine article for himself. Sub-Zero defeats Quan Chi with the aid of Sareena, sending the sorcerer into exile, and steals the (fake) amulet from Shinnok. In addition to his role in the overall Mortal Kombat storyline providing the plot twist in the Scorpion/Sub-Zero rivalry, Quan Chi appeared in the endings of four characters in Mortal Kombat 4, while his own noncanonical conclusion therein simply shows him turning against Shinnok and destroying him with the amulet.

Quan Chi is one of the two title characters of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (2002). He escapes from his torture at the hands of Scorpion in the Netherealm, with the assistance of the Oni Drahmin and Moloch, but he swiftly ditches his rescuers and flees through a portal into Outworld, where he comes across a mummified army of the dormant Dragon King Onaga. Quan Chi brokers a deal with Shang Tsung for his assistance in reviving Onaga's army in exchange for a supply of souls that would preserve Shang Tsung's youth, then eliminate evil Outworld emperor Shao Kahn and the perennial Mortal Kombat champion Liu Kang. Together with the assistance of Onaga's soldiers, the Deadly Alliance kills Raiden's chosen defenders—Johnny Cage, Jax, Sonya Blade, Kitana, and Kung Lao—and then defeats an overpowered Raiden. The partnership dissolves when Shang Tsung tries to steal the amulet and control Onaga's army himself, but is stopped by Quan Chi. The reborn Onaga wants the amulet himself to control all realms, resulting in Quan Chi rejoining Shang Tsung (and Raiden) to fight the Dragon King, but all three are killed in a blast instigated by Raiden in his vain attempt to eliminate Onaga, who emerges with the amulet.

Quan Chi did not appear in 2004's Mortal Kombat: Deception, but returned in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006) with the entire playable series roster. He was among multiple characters therein not given an official biography, though he was mentioned by name in six of the seventeen completed biographies. His outcome from Deadly Alliance was altered to his having teleported right before Raiden's fatal blast, and regaining the amulet; he wishes to acquire the ultimate godlike power granted from defeating the elemental Blaze, the game's final boss character. He therefore forms an uneasy and distrustful alliance with fellow villains Onaga, Shang Tsung, and Shao Kahn, while informing Edenian traitor Rain that he is the son of Edenian protector god Argus, in addition to the half-brother of the game's main protagonist Taven and his brother Daegon. In Armageddon's Konquest mode, Quan Chi suggests that Onaga, Shang Tsung, and Shao Kahn team up to defeat the forces of good, while secretly working under Shinnok's orders to lead the other villains to the Pyramid of Argus. During the battle royal among the combatants in the game's opening cinematic sequence, Quan Chi engages Kenshi in a sword fight on the steps of the Pyramid of Argus, but after he stabs Kenshi, Shang Tsung (disguised as Ermac) throws him off the pyramid.

Though Quan Chi was not part of the first generation of Mortal Kombat fighting games, he was the only playable character from the three-dimensional era included in both the storyline and immediate roster of Mortal Kombat (2011), the reboot of the continuity of the first three titles. In the game's story mode, he first appears at the start of the Shaolin Tournament with the resurrected Scorpion serving as his personal assassin. Scorpion has entered the tournament to seek revenge against Sub-Zero, whom he believes slaughtered his family and clan. Raiden, in his effort to prevent Armageddon (as seen in the game's opening sequence), convinces Scorpion not to kill Sub-Zero after defeating him in combat in the Netherealm, but it goes for naught after Quan Chi manipulates Scorpion into the deed by showing a graphic vision of the Lin Kuei's murder of Scorpion's clan and then his wife and child. He and Scorpion join forces in the tournament to face Liu Kang, but both are defeated. During the second tournament in Shao Kahn's arena in Outworld, Quan Chi refers to himself and Shang Tsung as a "deadly alliance" when they team up to battle Kung Lao (and are beaten). In the retold events of Mortal Kombat 3, he revives the deceased Queen Sindel in order to enable Kahn to invade Earthrealm, in addition to having resurrected Sub-Zero as Noob Saibot, who assists him in his plans. With Quan Chi entrenched as Kahn's second-in-command, Kahn eliminates Shang Tsung and transfers his powers to Sindel, while Quan Chi constructs a Soulnado (a magical twister built from souls trapped in limbo between Earthrealm and Outworld) in a graveyard with the objective of taking every soul on Earth. However, Nightwolf defeats Quan Chi in battle and kicks Noob Saibot into the Soulnado, destroying it, but Quan Chi escapes. After Sindel massacres the Earth warriors who had assembled to stop Kahn's takeover, Raiden seeks cooperation between Earth and the Netherealm and offers Quan Chi their souls as compensation, but Quan Chi has already acquired them, which Raiden then combats and defeats in succession. Quan Chi then inadvertently causes Raiden to have an epiphany when he scoffs at Raiden's claim that the Elder Gods are obligated to prohibit Shao Kahn from taking over Earthrealm; Raiden then realizes that Kahn must merge Earth and Outworld in order to prevent Armageddon, which would in turn force Kahn to face judgment for doing so without victory in Mortal Kombat. When Kahn is finally killed by Raiden in a brutal fight, Earthrealm lies in ruins, and Quan Chi appears at the conclusion with Shinnok, disdainfully picking up the remains of Kahn's helmet while declaring that Shinnok's plan "worked to perfection", which involves Shinnok and Quan Chi spearheading the Netherealm's impending invasion of the weakened Earth and Outworld.

In Mortal Kombat X (2015), Quan Chi has built an army of revenants from the fallen Earthrealm warriors to aid him in retrieving Shinnok's amulet. Told through the story's flashbacks, Quan Chi and Shinnok were defeated in their initial invasion by Raiden and Johnny Cage, with Quan Chi escaping to the Netherrealm and Shinnok captured by Raiden and imprisoned within his own amulet. By the main story's time, he has lost control over Jax, Sub-Zero and Scorpion. He is the main antagonist prior to Shinnok's return, orchestrating most of the events, including having Kano steal Shinnok's amulet. However, he is greatly weakened without Shinnok's presence, and thus does not use his powers or fight in battles. In an attempt to return to his fortress, he is captured by Jax and taken to Sonya Blade's military base, who plans to force him to release the other revenants from their undead state. Upon hearing of Quan Chi's capture, Scorpion and the Shirai Ryu attack the military base, incapacitating all of the present Earthrealm heroes and soldiers. Scorpion then personally defeats Quan Chi in battle, ready to execute to Quan Chi for his role in slaughtering the last incarnation of the Shirai Ryu, which he had been a part of. Concurrently, D'Vorah arrives after having secured Shinnok's amulet after Outworld's civil war and Mileena's death. As Scorpion's blade descends towards Quan Chi's neck, he recites the spell required to return Shinnok to life, and is fully decapitated immediately after its conclusion.

Quan Chi made a brief appearance in the 2005 beat 'em up spinoff title Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, as well as the story mode of the 2008 crossover Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe in addition to featuring therein in Raiden's and Lex Luthor's endings. He is also mentioned many times as an unseen character by the Mortal Kombat cast in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, directing the "evil" characters. He is not playable in either game; Midway had planned to add Quan Chi into MKvsDC as downloadable content but he was axed late in the process due to Midway's financial issues, despite Boon's announcement at the time that the character was "almost done."

Character development

Quan Chi became an instantly ubiquitous presence in the franchise following his 1997 debut. Mortal Kombat co-creator and programmer Ed Boon described Mortal Kombat 4 as "the Quan Chi show." He was played in Mortal Kombat Mythologies by actor and martial artist Richard Divizio (Kano, Baraka, and Kabal in the two-dimensional titles), who additionally provided motion capture and voice work for the character in MK4. Divizio called Quan Chi "definitely" his favorite of all the characters he had portrayed in the series, and found acting in the cutscenes for Mythologies "exciting." Quan Chi was the centerpiece of print-media advertising for Mythologies that included the tagline "Meet the root of our evil", while Divizio was prominently featured with Mortal Kombat 3 actress Lia Montelongo (Sareena) in a blooper reel that was included among the game's bonus materials. Quan Chi would additionally become the symbol of the first Mortal Kombat fighting title that ushered in the three-dimensional era of the series; Midway character artist Herman Sanchez explained in 2006 that the MK4 cabinet design would serve to reintroduce the series to fans while enabling the machine to stand out in arcades, and therefore a "big old Quan Chi face"—a shot of Divizio in costume superimposed against a wall of fire—was displayed on both sides of the cabinet: "No one could miss it, and that's what ended up happening."

The character first appeared in the Defenders of the Realm cartoon and Mythologies as a tall, bald figure wearing an teal-colored bodysuit under a black tabard adorned with ornamental spikes on the shoulders, accented by a yin-yang symbol on the sternum. Designed by Mortal Kombat co-creator John Tobias, this style was carried over into Mortal Kombat 4, but for Deadly Alliance, the first release following Tobias' 2000 departure from Midway, Quan Chi's design was minimized with him going shirtless and revealing a well-built physique with only a black bandolier across his chest, in addition to simple black trousers and knee-high boots, with Shinnok's amulet usually attached to his belt; this has remained his primary template in all his MK appearances thereafter, while his first design returned as an alternate costume in several games. In conceptual sketches by Deadly Alliance character designer Allen Ditzig, Quan Chi was seen brandishing a "mysterious living weapon"—a staff topped with a grotesque head capable of spewing green mist and flies from its mouth. Though the staff was cut from the game, its concept was used in the creation of Drahmin, one of whose offensive moves involved shooting flies at his opponent. The one element of Quan Chi's design that has remained unchanged is his albino skin tone, with simple parallel black stripes extending upward from his eyelids and extending over the top of his head in his first appearances, then enhanced in Deadly Alliance and onward with an extensive collection of red tattoo-like markings on his head, back and arms, in addition to an elliptical red gem planted in the center of his forehead.

For Mortal Kombat X, he was designed by NetherRealm Studios character artist Solomon Gaitan, who initially referenced actor Yul Brynner when digitally sculpting Quan Chi's facial features. His final head render was described by Gaitan as "reminiscent of his old look with a new flair", while series art director Steve Beran "wanted me to merge Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff’s features" during the design process, in addition to researching vultures: "I wanted him to feel like he was in a permanent state of lurking and stalking; waiting for death to happen."

Gameplay

Quan Chi's signature special move since his MK4 debut has been his "Skull Ball", a glowing, green skull-shaped blast of energy that he shoots at his opponents; it was waist-high and impossible to duck in MK4, but reduced to life-sized in future installments. Alex Vo of GameSpy considered his specials in Armageddon to be "decent", but his Escrima fighting style could lead into "lengthy attacks which ... can take out more than 20% of a life bar." Quan Chi was unlockable in MK2011 after completing the story mode; Mitchell Saltzman of GameFront described Quan Chi therein as capable of "frustrating players with his long, drawn out, and damaging combos", while his "Teleport Stomp" maneuver—present in every game except Deadly Alliance and renamed "Sky Drop" in the reboot—was best used against opposing players who overused projectile attacks. In Quan Chi's "X-Ray" attack in Mortal Kombat 9, his opponents injure themselves, starting with smashing their own head with a hard skull-shaped object he tosses at them, followed by a self-inflicted neckbreaker. His X-Ray attack in Mortal Kombat X is a similar skull-shaped object thrown as a projectile, which stuns the enemy long enough for Quan Chi to enter a portal behind himself leading in front of his victim, crushing his victim's skull with two more skull-shaped objects, kicking the victim through a portal behind them, which reopens above their original position, forcing them to fall to the ground and allowing Quan Chi to finish his brutal assault by jumping atop his victim's neck and crushing their cervical vertebrae. According to Prima Games, Quan Chi was one of the weakest characters in MK9, with at least half of their test matches with him won against just three other characters, for a poor 38% overall victory rate. Bryan Dawson of Prima Games listed Quan Chi in his 2014 selection of the "cheapest" Mortal Kombat characters, as he had "80-percent-damage combos if [players] land a hit and have enough meter to burn."

In Mortal Kombat 9 and Mortal Kombat X, Quan Chi is a zoning character that enjoys keeping his enemies at full screen. His ground blast, which has been nicknamed and universally recognized as a "rune" in the community is his primary offensive ability, striking his foes with magic at certain ranges from Quan himself. The EX version of the rune breaks block in MK9 and is used twice in MKX (which can be delayed). These lead to a combo called the Rune Trap, an unavoidable combo in the corner with high amounts of chip damage. His second special move is his Skull Ball, which is for all intents and purposes, a normal projectile. He also has a move called trance, a magical spell that stuns his enemy and forces them to slowly walk towards Quan Chi, setting them up for a combo. His final special move is called Sky Drop, a teleport that puts Quan Chi above his opponent, stomping on their head, or landing beside them. In MKX, his three variations are called Summoner, Sorcerer and Warlock. The Summoner variation allows Quan Chi to summon a Netherrealm bat, which has multiple special moves, among them a low dive striking the legs, a fireball spit, a grab and a simple combo extender in the form of a projectile. The Sorcerer variation allows Quan Chi to create three distinct magical fields. His greenish armor field gives Quan Chi one tick of armor as long as he stays within the field, his purple meter drain field changes all of Quan Chi's special abilities to drain his opponents meter on hit as long as the ability was used inside of the field, and his orange curse field makes his opponent take more chip damage. His Warlock variation allows Quan Chi more combos with portals, giving him bizarre melee moves with full-screen range. Quan Chi's strengths are made apparent in his zoning, which a proficient player can use to never lose pressure. However, his weaknesses are apparent in his long starting frames, making his melee game fairly weak.

Like his in-game offense, Quan Chi's Fatalities vary from the use of magic to outright brutality. His first in MK4 enabled him to mimic opposing players' finishers, but his second involved tearing off his opponent's leg at the hip and then savagely beating them nonstop with the still-bleeding limb as the screen faded to black for the next match, making it the one neverending Fatality in the series. It was carried over into the 2011 reboot (enhanced with the explosion of the opponent's head in the process), while his other Fatality saw him summoning a sword composed of green energy that he used to dismember and decapitate his opponent, similar to Scorpion's "Split Decision" finisher in the same game. However, his Fatality from Deadly Alliance, the "Neck Stretch"—in which Quan Chi leaps onto his beaten opponent's shoulders and pulls on their head to stretch their neck to an impossible length—became one of the most infamous Fatalities in the series due to its cartoonish appearance and lack of blood or gore. It proved the least popular Fatality among many of the Midway staff; lead storyteller John Vogel revealed that the finisher was "a funny idea" that was instantly disliked after its addition, but the developers were forced to leave it in due to time constraints. Sound designer Dan Forden cited it as an example of the team at the time "getting a little low on creativity", and programmer Nick Shin declared that it "totally didn't make sense." Boon deemed the "Neck Stretch" his least-liked Fatality, but also called the "Leg Beatdown" his all-time favorite.

Television and film

One year before the release of Mythologies, Quan Chi made a single-episode appearance in the 1996 animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm. He is an independent sorcerer who has an allegiance to no one, and is first seen watching a future vision of the Earthrealm defenders battling Shao Kahn's cybernetic soldiers. When this event actually occurs, he teleports himself uninterrupted to the realm of Zaterra, where he enters a cave and steals a glowing red crystal called the gem of Tetsurri. He then passes through a portal into Earthrealm in the guise of a youth (simply a smaller, thinner version of himself with a head of black hair) seeking sanctuary from Outworld. As part of his ruse, Quan Chi exposes the Earth defenders to the gem when he offers it as a gift. Kitana prevents the team from accepting it, but it nonetheless triggers acute personality changes that cause increased hostility among the heroes. According to Raiden, the gem contains powers that darken the human soul, and its effects will only get worse over time. The Earthrealmers travel to Zaterra amidst much infighting to find and destroy the gem. As Nightwolf was the only one not exposed to the gem, he is able to overcome Quan Chi's black magic and smash the object to pieces, thus breaking the spell over the Earthrealmers. Aghast at the foiling of his plans, Quan Chi disappears and the heroes escape the cave as he collapses it. He was voiced by Nick Chinlund, and his name was hyphenated in the episode title ("The Secret of Quan-Chi").

Quan Chi was to make a cameo at the end of the 1997 film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation alongside Shinnok in the Netherealm, to where Shinnok had been previously banished for attempting to interfere in the final match between Liu Kang and Shao Kahn at the film's climax. They appeared together on the final page of the 1996 first draft of the script, with the only line of dialogue coming from Shinnok ("Together, Quan Chi, we will be unstoppable"). Quan Chi was portrayed by a Thai extra who did not speak English, and the scene was actually shot, with an on-set photograph additionally published in the December 1997 issue of Sci-Fi Entertainment, but the producers were unable to get the footage added to the final print in time. Quan Chi nonetheless appeared on the packaging of the Russian, Chinese, and Italian DVD releases of the film.

In the 1999 television series Mortal Kombat: Konquest, Quan Chi guest-starred in four of the show's 22 episodes, and was played by Adoni Maropis. In the ninth episode ("Quan Chi"), similar to his DotR storyline, he crafts a potion that magnifies the flaws of the lead characters (Kung Lao, Siro and Taja), while subsequent appearances featured Quan Chi joining forces with Shang Tsung to defeat Kung Lao in exchange for Shang Tsung's instruction in stealing souls (episode ten, "Unholy Alliance"); his building an army under the guise of a traveling circus (episode fourteen, "Festival of Death"); and Shang Tsung morphing into Quan Chi in his plot to assassinate Shao Kahn (episode nineteen, "Flawed Victory"). In a 2006 interview with Konquest fan page MKC Site, Maropis explained that he "honestly wasn't into the whole Mortal Kombat video game thing", but he "just felt this character" once his makeup was applied, a process that took two hours. Maropis added that he had to fight to use the vocal tone he had created for the character and had used in his first appearance ("I would begin with a simple 'aaaahhhh… perhaps' ") because the Konquest producers wanted him to lower the character's onscreen intensity, but they eventually relented and allowed Maropis to rerecord his dialogue as he preferred in his second episode appearance: "They let me be and let it all hang out."

Literature

Quan Chi was a featured character in a special-edition tie-in comic book that was included with the 1998 PC home release of Mortal Kombat 4, where he cons his way into the otherworldly realm of Edenia by posing as a refugee from a realm that, he claims, was annexed by an evil ruler. He offers Queen Sindel a mysterious orb that she accepts, but the orb opens a portal through which Shinnok and his Netherealm denizens (including Reiko and Scorpion) emerge, and they capture Edenia. Quan Chi's machination had been set up in advance with the assistance of the traitorous Edenian Tanya, which in turn established her storyline in the game. He is then seen on the last page awaiting the Earthrealm combatants emerging from a portal into the realm that was opened by Sonya.

Other media

Quan Chi made a brief appearance in the eighth episode of the 2011 web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy, at the climax of a two-parter featuring Sub-Zero and Scorpion. Bi-Han (Sub-Zero) has fatally stabbed Hanzo Hasashi (Scorpion) just as Hanzo discovers that his family has been slain by whom he believes are the Lin Kuei, but Bi-Han is actually Quan Chi, who changes back to his original form and resurrects Hanzo as an undead specter, promising him revenge against Sub-Zero in exchange for his services. Quan Chi was played by Michael Rogers, who had originally auditioned for Kabal but was brought back for the part of Quan Chi after plans for including Kabal in the series were scrapped. Rogers enthused in a 2011 interview that he "absolutely loved the role" despite not having played the games, but once he got the part he avoided any kind of MK media aside from the 2010 short film Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, because he "did not want any influences and wanted to come in with a fresh perspective" on the character.

Merchandise

Quan Chi was included with Scorpion, Kabal, and Shao Kahn in a collection of 2.5" super deformed figures released by Jazwares in 2012, and despite his absence from Deception, he appeared on several common "attack" cards in the 2005 Epic Battles collectible card game that starred the game's roster, but he was not given his own character card. A placeholder for a planned 3.75" action figure was displayed by Jazwares at the 2012 American International Toy Fair, but the figure never came to fruition. Mezco Toyz featured a six-inch Quan Chi figure at the 2015 Toy Fair as part of their upcoming Mortal Kombat X-based line.

Characterization and gameplay

Quan Chi was ranked fourteenth in UGO Networks' 2012 list of the top fifty Mortal Kombat characters, for his role as one of the "prime villains" of the series. Ben Richardson of GameFront said of the character in 2011, "He’s Scorpion’s boss—pretty much the ultimate badass credential." Jon Hamlin of The Game Scouts, in 2013, named him the number-one character in the series for similar reasons. "[He] is the evilest of the evil and one of the more intriguing characters in the roster ... he also manages to put a leash on Scorpion at some point." Complex named Quan Chi second behind only Shang Tsung as the series' most brutal character: "He's MK's root of all evil, having a hand in just about every villain's scheme." Den of Geek rated Quan Chi 26th in their 2015 ranking of the franchise's 73 playable characters, calling him "the true evil mastermind of the MK universe" who "suffers from the writers trying to make him a little too slick and smart for his own good." In 2010, Game Informer named Quan Chi as a character they wanted for the reboot: "Many of the characters introduced post-MK3 were forgettable, but Quan Chi stood out as one of the more interesting." However, Nic Rowen of Destructoid gave a harsher opinion of the character: "Quan Chi is a dark sorcerer shitbag that nobody likes, both in the fandom and in the series' narrative [for] unsuccessfully scheming behind the back of whatever master he is currently serving like an incompetent, bald Starscream." Fans ranked Quan Chi as the 29th-best character in a 2013 online poll held by Dorkly that rated the entire Mortal Kombat roster, and eliminated him in the lower rounds in the annual "Supreme Mortal Kombat Champion" polls hosted by Mortal Kombat Online, losing to Sub-Zero, Scorpion, and Jade, respectively.

His noncanonical Deadly Alliance ending, in which he kills Kano and Liu Kang's soul enters Kano's body shortly thereafter, was ranked at #181 in 4thletter's 2013 selection of the top 200 fighting game endings, and his MK2011 ending came in at #90, where his undead army, including Shao Kahn, defeats Shinnok, who had turned against Quan Chi beforehand in attempt to eliminate any threat to his rule. "That’s when we realize what an idiot Shinnok really is."

Finishing moves

While Quan Chi was generally well received by critics, the reaction to his Fatalities has been more polarized. His "Leg Beatdown" Fatality from MK4 was rated ninth in ScrewAttack's 2010 ranking of the top ten series Fatalities, with the site commenting, "Quan Chi, you may be evil, but you the man." GamesRadar considered it one of their "ten greatest things about Mortal Kombat" in a 2007 feature. Richardson ranked it as the sixth-best finishing move in the series, though he described it as "blue-collar and non-magical." Game Rant rated it fifth among their top ten Fatalities. "[H]ow humiliating would it be to get beaten to death with your own leg?" WatchMojo rated it third in their 2013 list of the ten best series finishers, calling it "the ultimate form of brutal humiliation." WhatCulture placed the finisher seventh in their 2014 selection of the series' twenty "stomach-churning" Fatalities, and further exemplified it as an "awesome example of outrageous overkill in gaming": "It’s one of the more mundane fatalities, but it’s in its ridiculously [over-the-top] repetition that its perverse beauty lies." Gameranx ranked it last in their 2012 rating of MK's top ten most gruesome Fatalities, simply stating, "He rips off your leg and beats you to death with it. Classy." Prima Games included the "Leg Beatdown" at #43 in their 2014 list of the series' top fifty Fatalities. "The guy clearly has some issues to work out, but we sure aren't going to tell him to his face." Bloody Disgusting's Bill Frye ranked the "no-nonsense" finisher seventh in his list of the top ten series Fatalities, and Luke Brown of Arcade Sushi rated it sixth in his 2014 selection of the series' ten "gnarliest" Fatalities. Cameron Koch of TechTimes ranked it ninth out of the "10 Best Finishers in the Franchise's History" in 2015. "This shouldn't be funny, but it's a fatality that makes me laugh every time."

On the other hand, the "Neck Stretch" from Deadly Alliance was included in Game Rant's selection of the series' worst Fatalities. "First off, no blood. Second, why even bother?" David Saldana of 1UP.com ranked it the number-one worst Fatality, describing it as "the most evil of evils in the MK universe simply resign[ing] himself to making you look like an ostrich." Hardcore Gaming 101 commented, "One highlight [of the game] in particular is Quan Chi's Fatality, but only because of how incredibly stupid it is." Brian Nelms of GameSkinny opined that for Quan Chi being "literally the big bad guy" in Deadly Alliance, the finisher was "a polygon-bending display of lame." WhatCulture said, "[T]he only stomach-churning aspect about [it] was that it actually got off the drawing board", while Quan Chi had "redeemed" himself with the "Leg Beatdown." James Deaux of Earth-2.net deemed it the "lamest" finisher ever: "In a series where people have their heads blown up, ripped off, sliced in half, torched, melted, and even eaten whole, the producers of the games felt that Quan Chi should one-down them by ... stretching their neck out an extra three feet." ScrewAttack ranked the finisher sixth on their 2011 list of the series' ten worst Fatalities (titling it "Quan Chi Makes You a Giraffe"), citing its lack of blood.

Other reception

Topless Robot called the inclusion of Quan Chi in Defenders of the Realm as "the only contribution to [the] franchise that this series made." However, Nathan Adams of Film School Rejects said in his review of the eighth episode of Legacy, "It’s not clear by watching this episode who Quan Chi is; they don’t even mention his name", while adding that he "had to do some digging around ... so that I could understand what was happening" in regards to the plot. Quan Chi has gained attention for his physical resemblance to God of War character Kratos, who was added to the PlayStation 3 version of MK2011 as a guest character. Brett Elston of GamesRadar remarked, "[A]shy white skin, red markings, shoulder guards...and Quan Chi's got about eight years on Kratos." Nerd Reactor quipped about MK2011's then-newly revealed character-select screen, "We get to see ... Sub-Zero and Kratos, I mean Quan Chi, featured [in] the screenshot."