Bleach Kombat Round 7: Kung Lao vs. Uryu Ishida (Jackie Chan vs. Legolas)

VS.

Welcome back to another installment of BK (no, NOT Burger King) where 23 characters from Bleach & Mortal Kombat are matched up to see whose the better fighter. As of July 16th, Bleach leads 4-2 against MK. So today's Matchup is between Bleach's Uryu Ishida & MK's Kung Lao ~ Jackie Chan vs. Legolas, Hats vs. Arrows, and Shaolin Monks vs. Archers. Let's get this show on the road and end the week right. As always, MechG's written parts are on Kung Lao and mine are on Uryu Ishida. The Verdict is decided by MechG (for today, Monday, & Wednesday's Matchups).

Backstory/Role in Story (Uryu Ishida)

Uryu Ishida is/was considered the title "The Last Quincy" for being a rare breed, an enemy of the Shinigami. This dates back to his father, who was fond of loathing Shinigami (EX: Isshin) as well as his Grandfather, Soken, who was killed by hollows and dissected by Mayuri Kurotsuchi because the reinforcements from the Shinigami came too later (under orders from Mayuri). Since then, Uryu has harbored a specific hatred for Shinigami and wants to prove that the Quincy are a superior race unbeknownst to him of the origins of the Shinigami & Quincy (later would be told). Uryu attends the same school as Ichigo and since learning of his Shinigami powers (from Rukia), Uryu treats him coldly and believes he is a nuisance, disgrace, and a mockery of Shinigami. It wouldn't be long before Uryu befriends Ichigo, but still they bicker over disputes amongst each kind. Uryu's hatred for Shinigami is personified in his merciless killing of hollows, but later - Uryu warms up to the Shinigami as not all are bad. He soon joins Ichigo alongside Chad, Orihime, Rukia, & Renji in fighting off various enemies (EX: Jirobo, Mayuri, Cirucci, & Tsukishima) before embarking on his own, alongside Yhwach, in eliminating the Shinigami for unclear purposes. Apart from being part of Team Ichigo, Uryu is notable as being the 2nd strongest member of their team and as a Quincy, is knowledgable and calculative when it comes to fighting his opponents. 

Backstory/Role in Story (Kung Lao)

Trained by the Order of Light, Kung Lao is known to be one of the last descendants of the Great Kung Lao, a great champion in Mortal Kombat who lost to Goro 500 years prior to the first MK. Both Kung Lao and Liu Kang were best of friends as they were members of the White Lotus Society. When the time was ripe to finally dethrone Outworld’s streak of winning 9 straight MK tournaments, Kung Lao was originally selected to compete in the tournament on Shang Tsung’s island, but he respectfully declined, knowing the consequences of being the Mortal Kombat champion. Liu Kang was selected in his stead and eventually became champion.

An attack by Baraka and the Tarkatan horde on the Shaolin temples galvanized Liu Kang and Kung Lao to travel to Outworld to compete in the false MK tournament. Liu Kang defeated the Emperor, Shao Kahn and the two traveled back to Earthrealm to train the young, future Shaolin warriors. When Shao Kahn invaded Earthrealm in MK3, Kung Lao scrapped his plans to reform the White Lotus and challenged the Emperor, but he was severely injured when Kahn unleashed a powerful spell, angering Liu Kang, thinking Kahn killed Kung Lao. With Kahn’s invasion put to a halt, Kung Lao decided to heal up and instead of returning to the Shaolin temples, he would be somewhat “under the radar” to live a peaceful life; however the Fallen Elder God Shinnok threatened to invade Earthrealm and prompted Kung Lao to rejoin the Forces of Light. Hearing that Goro was still alive after thwarting Shinnok’s invasion, Kung Lao swore revenge for his ancestor, but considering Goro just signed a treaty for Shokans and Centaurs mediated by Kitana, Kung Lao instead didn’t kill Goro, but gave him a blow of vengeance and the two buried the hatchet. In Deadly Alliance, Kung Lao was the first to discover the tragic death of Liu Kang at the hands of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi after being informed by Raiden. While burying his friend deep within the Shaolin temples, Kung Lao abandoned his pacifist beliefs and sought out to find Liu Kang’s Outworld master, Bo’ Rai Cho to strengthen his martial arts skills in order to defeat Shang Tsung. Kung Lao battled Shang Tsung, but eventually faltered to the sorcerer and most of the Earthrealm warriors faltered to the combined might Tsung and Quan Chi. Kung Lao and the rest of the Earthrealm warriors were resurrected by the Dragon King, Onaga and served under his control, but he was eventually freed by Liu Kang’s spirit. In Armageddon, he joined forces with the wind god, Fujin to restore sanity to a corrupt Raiden and Liu Kang and was last seen battling Baraka during the all-out war between good and evil, outlasting him before being killed by a clone of Shinnok.

Powers/Abilities (Uryu Ishida)

Uryu, when it comes to his bow and arrows, is precise, much like a marksman. He is able to stand on par with Captain class Shinigami Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Espada Yammy, and Bount Yoshi. Next to Ichigo, Uryu is the 2nd strongest member of Ichigo's group. What makes Uryu such a formidable opponent is his ability to discern, much like Kurama, opponent's strengths and weaknesses. Prime examples was figuring on former Espada Cirucci Sanderwicci's attack patterns when in her Resurreccion, Bount Yoshi's abilities in her Doll, or planning ahead a booby trap for Espada Yammy. Uryu was at his strongest when he fought Mayuri, but since then, he's grown stronger, mastering Reishi absorption, Hirenkyaku (speed), Ginto (similar to Kido), and is versatile in the utilization of his bows and arrows. Uryu, however, has had his fair share of losses - Kaname Tosen & the 4th Espada, Ulquiorra. As a proud Quincy, Uryu prides himself in his abilities and it clearly showcases that he isn't someone to underestimate, considering he holds the highest title in the Sternritter. 

Powers/Abilities (Kung Lao)

Though Kung Lao has adequate strength, agility, and knowledge in martial arts, knowledge in teleportation, and is somewhat proficient with a broadsword, Kung Lao’s most famous ability is the utilization of his razor-edge hat. Kung Lao’s hat is used to implant fatal or amputating blows to their opponent, mainly for decapitation, hence why his fatalities are mostly emphasized on using his hat, most notably the Body Slice, putting his hat in close range to his opponent and slicing their body vertically, the Hat Decapitation, where Kung Lao throws his hat and it slices an opponent’s head off, and the Hat Boomerang, basically a rehash of the Hat Decapitation except in comes back and slices the opponent’s the body in half. The hat also contains supernatural abilities so if Kung Lao were to throw it as far as he can, the hat will always come back to his head like a boomerang.

Verdict (By MechG)

And the winner is...

Boy this is a tough verdict to evaluate because I see a lot of similarities between Uryu and Kung Lao. Both take a back seat to the main protagonists of both respective franchises and they are good friends and both didn’t offer too much to the storyline overall and they are indeed good marksmen with Uryu with a bow and Kung Lao with his renowned razor-edge hat. So for a tiebreaker, I look at the way these characters develop and I see that Uryu has the edge and that is why I’m giving it to him in this matchup overall. If it weren’t for that flashy hat, I think Kung Lao would’ve been the least playable MK character. I just find his storyline to be that boring and not to mention he got his @$$ kicked so hard by notable villains such as Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung. It’s safe to say that Kung Lao is one of the softest characters in terms of his personality, story, and the way he just doesn’t want to show up to defend Earthrealm from the forces of evil unless Liu Kang is provoked. He’s a sorry excuse of a person who descended from a great Mortal Kombat champion, mainly due to the fact that he is really passive in accordance to his beliefs. In terms of powers/abilities, Uryu has that drive to get stronger hence why I can see that he’s the 2^nd strongest member in Ichigo’s group, not to mention, he is able to match wits with a captain level Shinigami like Mayuri and since fighting Mayuri his powers and abilities grew. Also, I think Uryu’s intelligence and cunning tactics would prove to be too much for Kung Lao because clearly Uryu would use Kung Lao’s lack of aggression against him and Kung Lao would have a hard time to outsmart Uryu’s brilliance. Take it like this, if we were under attack by aliens per se and we had to choose between a person with high intelligence and a person who emphasizes on living the peaceful life, for sure we would choose the person with high intelligence because we want somebody who’s smart enough to strategize battle plans to fight back. That’s how I felt when evaluating this matchup. URYU WINS.

So who do you think won this match? Uryu Ishida from Bleach or Kung Lao from MK? Comment below and let us know. Look forward to BK Rounds every Monday, Wednesday, & Friday (July 4th-August 25th). As of Today (July 18), Bleach leads 5-2 against MK. Until then, you all stay classy.

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