'rest in peace. “Your Soul Is Eternal” – A tribute to “Mortal Kombat” actor Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa, who passed away at the age of 75

Hiroyuki Tagawa, the actor who played Shang Tsung in the original “Mortal Kombat” movie and 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 of complications from a stroke. deadline reported.

Tagawa became an instantly recognizable face to many fans when he played the evil wizard Shang Tsung in the 1995 adaptation of the Mortal Kombat video game. In the movie, Shang Tsung points to a helpless Liu Kang holding his younger brother Jackie Chan and declares, “Your brother's soul is mine!” Tagawa went on to create his “Your soul is mine!” line that became an iconic part of Shang Tsung's lore and has stuck around for the next 30 years. Tagawa went on to play Shang Tsung multiple times after the original Mortal Kombat movie, including in 2019's Mortal Kombat 11, using his voice and physical likeness much to the delight of fans.

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

Tagawa's last major role was in 2015, when he played one of the leads in Amazon's The Man in the High Castle. His last role was as the voice of swordsmith Eiji in the first season of Netflix's critically acclaimed anime Blue Eyed Samurai.

Ed Boon, head of development at Mortal Kombat studio NetherRealm, paid tribute to Tagawa in a social media post. “We lost a legend today,” he said. “We had the privilege of playing him in the first MK movie, as well as being an incredible voice actor in the Mortal Kombat 11 game. Cary was one of a kind. He brought danger, swagger and athleticism to his role and will forever be remembered as the first to bring Shang Tsung to life in the movies. Rest in peace. Your soul is eternal.”

Todd Garner, producer of the 2021 Mortal Kombat movie and its upcoming sequel, Also on social mediasaid: “Sad news. Great man. Great actor. He will be missed.”

We lost a legend today. Tagawa Kari Hiroyuki @CHTO official He played Shang Tsung in the 1995 “Mortal Kombat” movie and sadly passed away at the age of 75. We had the pleasure of playing him in the first MK movie, as well as being a great voice actor in the Mortal Kombat 11 game.

Kari is a… pic.twitter.com/iAnTc0odGH

— Ed Boone (@noobde) December 5, 2025

man:(

Rest in peace Cary – Hiroyuki Tagawa

You will always be my Shang Tsung pic.twitter.com/bv7NwaF04I

— Justin Wong (@JWonggg) December 5, 2025

Wesley is IGN News Director. Find him on Twitter: @wyp100. You can contact Wesley at [email protected] or privately at [email protected].