Alot of characters in this game lack reliable safe mid strings and overheads etc. People just don't know how to make a character work for them, all they want is free pressure constantly or stupid 50/50s.
Shao Khan has great range with decent speed on his normals relative for their range for good footsy based play. Maybe if people who play NRS games knew how to space well.
Cons:
Almost all of his strings have gaps.
He is -f at everything, normals and specials.
His down pokes hit adv suck compared to the majority of the cast.
His "best" string (f3, 4, 1+3) is a lot of -f on block on each part. f3 is -8f on block which means he cannot stagger to either throws or down pokes.
The second hit after f3 (4) is -7f on block which means he cannot do the above i wrote, PLUS , it can be fblocked to a full combo punish.
His third hit of f3,4 is -16f on block. You get the jist. If f3 didnt have a 10f startup, it would literally be the worst string in the game probably.
His buffs cannot be activated safely at all. Only way to apply the dark priest buff is by hitting the opponent completely fullscreen and even then its not reliable.
His "second best" normal, f2 is a 21f high. Enough said.
His mixups are gimmicky as hell, and even then the reward is useless, plus they can be punished or interrupted with a full combo punish.
The only solid mid attack he has is b2 which is a one hitting normal into specials (Luke Skywalker jedi skills there) and on block is -7f.
The requirements for his KB are ridiculous, probably second to JC's KB.
Both of his variations are fucked up in terms of dividing his skill set.
These are the cons that come to mind atm, there could be a couple more.
Pros:
Really good s1.
Godlike hop 2.
Godlike d2.
Godlike b4.
Thats Shao Kahn. 3 universal normals. Now take what i wrote you into account and compare him to the rest of the cast.