Scorpion was once manipulated by Quan Chi, who promised him life in exchange for his impressive combat abilities in order to defeat Sub-Zero. Despite such actions, Scorpion is not entirely merciless, as he once spared the life of Sub-Zero's younger brother. As Scorpion is a spectre, sorcery and supernatural anomalies have previously proven slightly more successful in vanquishing Scorpion in combat. Despite this, none have ever succeeded in destroying him in an absolute sense. When masked, Scorpion appears human, although this is merely an illusion. When revealing his true self, only Scorpion's skull remains, which sometimes appears on fire.