 Upon his death in Deadly Alliance , IGN 's Jeremy Dunham noted that Liu Kang was killed as the series needed " ' starting over ' mentality " , as he regarded Liu Kang as the series ' strongest character . Complex remarked that the Mortal Kombat developers " finally found their groove again with Deadly Alliance , which began by snapping Liu Kang 's neck . " Game Informer listed his death in their article about " characters that died under our watch " calling it a " shock " as Liu Kang was stated to be one of the " most loved " characters from the series . 
