'Rest in Peace. Your Soul Is Eternal' — Tributes for Mortal Kombat Actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Who Has Died Aged 75

Actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, who played Shang Tsung in the original Mortal Kombat film as well as the video game Mortal Kombat 11, has died at the age of 75.

The star of “The Last Emperor,” “Memoirs of a Geisha” and “The Man in the High Castle” died Thursday in Santa Barbara due to complications from a stroke. Deadline reported.

Tagawa famously played the evil sorcerer Shang Tsung in the 1995 video game adaptation of Mortal Kombat, becoming an instantly recognizable face to legions of fans. In the film, Shang Tsung points at a helpless Liu Kang holding his brother Chan hostage and declares, “Your brother's soul belongs to me!” Tagawa continued to say, “Your soul belongs to me!” It is an iconic part of Shang Tsung's lore and has survived for 30 years since then. Since the original Mortal Kombat film, Tagawa has played Shang Tsung several times, including in 2019's Mortal Kombat 11, which used his voice and physical likeness – much to the delight of fans.

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa and Christopher Lambert at the Mortal Kombat premiere in Los Angeles, August 1995. Photo by Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images.

Other film roles include Kwan in the James Bond film License to Kill, Commander Minoru Genda in Pearl Harbor and Heihachi Mishima in the 2009 film Tekken and its 2014 sequel Tekken 2: Kazuya's Revenge.

Tagawa's last major role came in 2015, when he played one of the main characters in Amazon's The Man in the High Castle. His most recent role was voicing Eiji the Swordsman in the first season of the well-received Netflix animated series Blue Eye Samurai.

Ed Boon, head of development at Mortal Kombat studio NetherRealm, paid tribute to Tagawa in a post on social media. “We lost a legend today,” he said. “We had the honor of playing him in the first MK movie and as an incredible voice actor in Mortal Kombat 11. Carey was one of a kind. He combined danger, swagger and athleticism in his roles, and will always be remembered as the man who first brought Shang Tsung to life in film. Rest in peace. Your soul is eternal.”

Todd Garner, producer of the 2021 film Mortal Kombat as well as its upcoming sequel, also went to social networkssaying: “Sad news. Great man. Great actor. He will be missed.”

Today we lost a legend. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa @CHTOOfficial played Shang Tsung in the 1995 film Mortal Kombat and sadly passed away at the age of 75. We had the honor of playing him in the first MK movie and as an amazing voice actor in Mortal Kombat 11.

Carey was one of… pic.twitter.com/iAnTc0odGH

— Ed Boon (@noobde) December 5, 2025