Ninja bent on revenge for the death murder of his clan and loved ones. Lots of Shadow & Fire.

It is known that his father, a former member of the Shirai Ryu, forbade his son from joining the clan, as he did not wish for his son to live the life of an assassin. However, Hanzo joined in spite of his father's wishes in order to provide his wife Harumi and son Satoshi with a comfortable life.

After he and his clan are exterminated, Scorpion reappears as a hell-spawned Spectre, inexorably seeking vengeance against those responsible for the destruction of his family and clan. As a result of Quan Chi's manipulation, he initially believes Bi-Han, a ninja from the rival Lin Kuei clan and the original Sub-Zero, to be responsible for the massacre. He confronts and kills Bi-Han at the first tournament, inadvertently spawning the undead wraith Noob Saibot. He wouldn't learn until much later that it was Quan Chi, not Bi-Han, who committed the genocide, to which he responded by torturing Quan Chi in the Netherrealm in the original timeline. In the second timeline, he would get his revenge after being restored to his human form, eventually tracking Quan Chi down and executing him.