Upon entering the Earth realm, Shinnok was faced with a young god who was appointed to defend the realm - Raiden, god of thunder. Many destructive battles raged between Shinnok and Raiden, plunging the planet into centuries of darkness. Having emerged victorious with the help of the true elder gods, Raiden banished Shinnok into the Netherealm. When the fallen elder god arrived in the Netherealm, Lucifer was ruling it. The dregs of hell tortured and tormented Shinnok for thousands of years.

After the great darkness on Earth was lifted, humans were called together to create a massive temple in the Himalaya Mountains to house the sacred amulet, to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. Raiden appointed four guards to protect the amulet, each representing one of the four elements: earth, water, fire, and air. As long as the amulet remained in the Earth realm, Shinnok would be trapped in the Netherealm.

Over the centuries, the stories and legends that were passed on orally from generation to generation eventually died. These events were undocumented except for the creation of a single map, the sacred Map of Elements. This map told of the great battles between Shinnok and Raiden and showed the way to the massive temple in the Himalayas.

The Fall of Edenia
A civilized realm known as Edenia was once a living planet similar to Earth, ruled by King Jerrod and Queen Sindel. Edenia's rulers used a fighting tournament to defend the planet against invaders in the past, but the dark emperor known as Shao Kahn managed to successfully invade Edenia and take the life of King Jerrod, shortly after the birth of Princess Kitana. Kahn then sapped the realm's energies, causing Edenia to become a vast wasteland known as the Outworld. He then took Sindel as his queen and Kitana as his step-daughter. The realm remained in this condition until the end of Kahn's reign.

The thought of serving Shao Kahn eventually drove Queen Sindel to madness. She committed suicide at a young age. Enraged by Sindel's suicide, Kahn withheld her soul from moving on to a higher existence. He used it as a token of his victory over King Jerrod and a constant reminder of his power over Princess Kitana.

In the service of Shao Khan, Princess Kitana was trained as a personal assassin, working alongside her friend Jade. Another of the many assassins trained to serve Shao Kahn was Rain. Rain was the son of a general in Edenia's army who was killed by Kahn during Kahn's invasion. These assassins were trained for Shao Kahn's next target, the realm of Earth.
 

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