The legendary actor who played the iconic role of “Shang Tsung” in Mortal Kombat, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa has died due to a stroke at 75. The actor’s manager confirmed the news that he died “from complications due to a stroke”, in California, on December 4, 2025.

Tagawa made his Hollywood debut in 1987, with a movie “The Last Emperor”. With the fans he was popular for playing the deceitful sorcerer Shang Tsung, in Mortal Kombat. And I must say he did a phenomenal job of portraying this character.

Born in Tokyo, Cary-Hiroyuki came from a aristocrat family. As a kid he lived in various cities before he got settled in California. Now one may think that after settling is America, the guy must have forgotten his roots. But no, by 21 Tagawa, started learning martial arts and later moved to Japan to master the art. I think the dude was born to play Shang Tsu.

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa movies and lifestyle

Though Tagawa worked in more than 100 movies in Hollywood, here are some of his memorable performances till date.

1. Mortal Kombat (1995) – Cary Hiroyuki played the character of Shang Tsung in this epic action movie. Frankly speaking he was born to play this character, just like Hugh Jackman played wolverine. Unfortunately the movie didn’t fare well but he continued to play this role in sequels and video games.
   
2. Tekken (2010) – A movie about revenge with a backdrop of fighting tournament. I mean what more can you ask? It’s like UFC with a bit of drama in it. In this Tagawa played the role of a Villian, who is extremely ambitious and wicked.
   
3. Blue Eye Samurai (2023) – This was the last performance of Tagawa and it shall be remembered forever. In this anime series, he played the role of a wise Swordmaker who has some of the badass lines. My favorite one is ” Revenge is like gold. It does not rust. It will wait.”

Even though Tagawa studied martial arts extensively he didn’t believe in violence. He was more inclined towards the spiritual and philosophical side. In one of his interview he gave a glimpse of his life’s philosophy. “It’s not whether you fall or make a mistake, it’s what you do when you fall. And I say you stand up. You keep standing up. It’s not how many times you fall, it’s how many times you stand up.” No that’s a line that I’ll remember for a lifetime.