The ten Finest Feminine Mortal Kombat Characters, Ranked By Power

This publish comprises spoilers for “Mortal Kombat” lore.

When Mortal Kombat was launched in 1992, there was a sole feminine fighter among the many sport’s restricted roster: Particular Forces agent Sonya Blade, who doggedly pursued her archnemesis Kano and ended up on a quest that dragged her to the ends of the Earth and past (the Outworld, to be exact). As the mega-popular preventing sport expanded into an ever-popular franchise (together with a number of films), extra feminine combatants, each playable and non-playable, had been added to Mortal Kombat lore, which is one thing of a beast in itself.

The age-old debate about which Mortal Kombat feminine character is the strongest is difficult, since it is a online game franchise that retains releasing new titles, the very definition of energy retains shifting, and playable variations of characters endure markedly totally different energy scaling than what their lore assigns to them. As an example, somebody like Khameleon has motive to be thought-about sturdy as a consequence of her lore ties with Reptile, however as a playable character, she’s middling when in comparison with different Kameos (though nonetheless insanely cracked in hyperspecific eventualities).

For this rating, I’ll lean closely in direction of in-game lore to find out the strongest feminine Mortal Kombat characters, though it goes with out saying that energy manifests in several methods and interprets to incomparable movesets (the set of strikes a personality can carry out) for playable characters whose preventing kinds have morphed over time. Whereas some possess brute energy, others have collected immense energy with the progress of their in-game storylines — one thing which may or won’t have translated into their movesets. I’d have beloved to incorporate combatants like Frost or Skarlet, however characters on this vein are restricted both by the truth that they’re minor antagonists (therefore, lowering their narrative risk to win fights) or have negligible display screen time, which prevents us from gauging their true potential, regardless of the sport’s lore highlighting their energy in passing. And in case you’re a fan who preferred the newest characteristic movie, you’ll want to try this text of different movies it’s best to watch in case you loved 2021’s “Mortal Kombat.”

Okay, go together with me on this one. Sure, Mileena is an antagonist all through the Mortal Kombat franchise (apart from the Story Mode in Mortal Kombat 1, the place she returns as a supporting character), however she’s an extraordinarily well-liked, borderline unforgettable antagonist. My causes for together with Mileena right here have extra to do with the truth that she is a mutant hybrid clone of Kitana, created consciously to wield utter violence and brutality by mixing Tarkatan blood and Edenian physiology. Ruthless with none limitations, Mileena revels in her sadistic nature, nearly relishing the truth that she is such a twisted model of Kitana, and can go to any finish to govern occasions in her favor.

If we check out her most conventional fatalities or brutalities, Mileena makes use of her sai to stab opponents, which is usually adopted up by a deadly kick that sends them flying, like her brutality in Mortal Kombat X. Her bloodlust interprets into Man Eater and Ferocious Chew, the place variations of her tearing her opponent’s face off and regurgitating their bones add a grotesque tint to her playstyle. If we’re speaking about her playable character’s capacity to win matchups (which is player-dependent, amongst different components), she is taken into account well-rounded but mid-tier, as it would show to be difficult to go up in opposition to characters with extra versatile kits.

A Shokan, Sheeva’s franchise lore is attention-grabbing, as she breaks away from her antagonistic roots within the Mortal Kombat X comedian books and evolves right into a extra morally balanced determine in Mortal Kombat 11, the place she is a DLC playable. Shokans are identified for his or her immense energy, and Sheeva has demonstrated this genetic trait on varied events: In Mortal Kombat 9, Sheeva was in a position to effortlessly block and counter the Liu Kang earlier than being defeated, and he or she has demonstrated extra agility than others of her race, with the ability to sprint and do flips mid-fight and carry different characters like Nightwolf.

If brute energy is being counted as the one metric right here, Sheeva is among the strongest among the many feminine combatant roster, coupled with the truth that she has a excessive harm/injury tolerance and is a ferocious hand-to-hand combatant. By way of lore, there’s a lot to glean from Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (Konquest mode), the place she fights alongside the Forces of Darkness and counters Ermac and Nightwolf, though her efforts are lower quick by Taven, whom we’re speculated to root for. The explanation she’s so low on the listing is that the variety of narrative defeats she’s had is one too many (principally as a result of her standing as a former antagonist calls for that her opponent emerges victorious) and there are different characters who transcend mere bodily energy.

D’vorah is a little bit of a controversial character by way of how she’s perceived: Though her overwhelming presence in each the reboot and spin-off charts the trajectory of an intriguing, incorrigible villain, she has a observe document of killing off fan favorites with out struggling any penalties for her actions. Properly, somebody has to up the ante and introduce unspeakable evil right into a franchise that denounces conventional morality, and nobody does it higher than D’vorah. Being a Kytinn, she is among the most high-ranking members of the Outworld Empire and is dedicated to Kronika, and her affinity in direction of bugs permits her to wield them for offensive assaults. She will be able to additionally regenerate and fly for a restricted time frame.

An instance of her bug-centered talents is Bug Blast, the place she summons a pincered insect and wears it like an amulet, capturing resin at her opponent. Her fatalities may also be fairly brutal: In Mortal Kombat 11, D’Vorah executes Cannot Die, the place she blasts resin 4 instances to pin the opponent and makes use of her ovipositors to tear their head and torso off, leaving their innards uncovered. If we’re to judge her talents within the sport’s story mode, she is revealed to have killed Mileena and proceeds to nearly homicide Kotal Kahn, however comes very near dying due to Jade. She can be identified to make use of a swarm of bugs to overpower opponents in each story and gameplay modes, comparable to her Vortex Swarm of wasps in Mortal Kombat X as part of her Swarm Queen variation.

Jade has all the time been a beloved character since her secret-ish debut in Mortal Kombat II, becoming the slot of a conventional empathetic, loyal determine who’s all the time able to kick some butt when the necessity arises. Nonetheless, as considered one of Shao Kahn’s assassins and Kitana’s private bodyguard, Jade is greater than only a token supporting character, and this nuanced likability additionally bleeds into her package, which is generally versatile and enjoyable in all the iterations she options in. Jade’s signature strikes embody Razor Rang (which options in some variation throughout all of the video games she’s playable in, and was renamed Boomerang in Mortal Kombat 9), and capabilities precisely how a frisbee would, besides deadly.

An instance of her fatality is Bow Earlier than Me, the place she makes use of her workers to slice the opponent’s legs and arms, after which swiftly decapitates the top and stabs it mid-air. There’s additionally some sickening eye-gouging in Pole Dance, the place she follows it up with a very good outdated slash to the abdomen, inflicting intestines to spill out (as seen in Mortal Kombat 11). By way of storyline, a piece of non-canon titles, like Final Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, assist flesh out her arc, however her subsequent canonical storyline establishes her energy with none shadow of a doubt. Additionally, her moveset is actually dynamic throughout matchups, permitting competent gamers to go up in opposition to nearly anybody with out issues about shedding (until they’re up in opposition to good teleport-users, comparable to Skarlet or Raiden). 

A beloved OG character, Sonya’s energy is as grounded because it will get, bolstered solely by technological weapons strapped to her wrists, which may hearth and manipulate projectiles, assist her hover mid-air, and create highly effective power blasts (which represent her Power Rings, as seen in Mortal Kombat and each title after, proper as much as the confusingly named and not too long ago launched Mortal Kombat 1). There’s loads to like about Sonya, as her energy is multifaceted: She possesses each training-boosted fight prowess and the power to see any mission to its finish, it doesn’t matter what the circumstance. Her preventing fashion has advanced over time, however she typically incorporates normal navy weapons as part of her package, comparable to stun grenades that may be referred to as in through drone (as seen in Mortal Kombat X) or laser cannons and rocket launchers in different conditions.

Sonya’s energy ranges differ in accordance with her portrayal in variations or companion comics, however she is extraordinarily competent in each model and is taken into account one of the succesful combatants from Earthrealm. Sonya could be relentless when she must be, as evidenced by her X-ray — Particular Forces, by which she blinds the opponent with mud and snaps their backbone earlier than they’ll even see, snapping it once more to make it possible for the cranium and neck are completely damaged. In fact, there’s additionally her kiss number of fatalities, comparable to Hearth Kiss, her trademark, and Crush Kiss, the place she blows a purple-hued kiss which crushes the opponent and obliterates their pores and skin and flesh. Brutal.

Being the daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade has its perks, however Cassie backs up her nepotism privileges with pure expertise, wielding a mixture of educated navy talents and superhuman powers. Cassie’s energy scaling is sort of insane, as she was in a position to single-handedly defeat the fallen Elder God Shinnok, the literal embodiment of realm-spanning dying and destruction, in his corrupted kind in Mortal Kombat X. It’s arduous to neglect about this feat, as Cassie brags about it always throughout her intros in Mortal Kombat 11, proper after slinking down and popping bubblegum in fashion.

By way of her struggle fashion, Cassie employs Single Shot as her signature transfer, the place she merely shoots her opponent, typically enhanced as Akimbo, the place she fires her gun six instances. Aside from using lethal hand-to-hand fight strikes like her mom, she additionally makes use of Selfie in Mortal Kombat X, the place she makes use of her nightstick to interrupt the opponent’s jaw, takes a selfie with them in that situation, and posts it on social media. This can be a variation of her father’s transfer, who makes use of Freeze Body to chop the opponent’s head in half and shortly click on a selfie. (Karl City is at present in talks to play Johnny Cage in an upcoming “Mortal Kombat” film.) In Cassie’s case, the mix of Sonya’s steel-like dedication and Johnny’s brazen eccentricities makes her a lower above the remainder of the playable feminine roster by way of uncooked energy.

Though her species switches between Edenian and Revenant within the in-game timeline, Kitana is the embodiment of energy, given her lineage because the daughter of Sindel and the previous Kahnum of Outworld. Kitana’s recognition could be a minimum of partially attributed to her combos, that are each informal player-friendly and profitable for many who can use her mid-air strikes to their benefit. Her talents nearly elevated her to the standing of an unbeatable character when Mortal Kombat II was in manufacturing. This was clearly nerfed, however Kitana continues to be a mighty combatant and her signature Fan Throw solely will get higher with each iteration, the place she basically executes a combo-finisher mid-air and may throw her metal fan to impale the opponent in sure entries, comparable to in Lethal Alliance.

Nearly all of Kitana’s finishers are brutal, however her final Kiss is maybe probably the most lethal, as she kills her opponent in various shades of brutality after kissing them, which adjustments relying the sport she’s featured in. As an example, in Lethal Alliance, she makes the opponent inflate, vomit blood, and explode after the kiss, whereas in Mortal Kombat 1, the opponent begins violently vomiting earlier than disintegrating right into a pile of entrails and different unsavory stuff. If we glance into Kitana’s lore, she is borderline unbeatable simply by advantage of her being 10,000 years outdated and he or she is a formidable Outworld Champion within the present timeline, by which Mileena exists as her “twin” whom Kitana has defeated greater than as soon as.

Sindel’s look all through Mortal Kombat is considerably temporary; her debut was in Mortal Kombat 3, and he or she returned in Mortal Kombat 11 years later as a DLC playable and a Story Mode antagonist. Sindel has been fully reimagined in 2023’s Mortal Kombat 1, the place she takes on the function of an ally and performs strikes like Display screen Queen, the place her scream is potent sufficient to tear off opponents’ pores and skin and make them spew blood. Nonetheless, Sindel’s true potential and energy stems from her lore: She is an Edenian, the Queen of her kingdom no much less, and her powers typically border on otherworldly and tackle grotesque kinds. As an example, she will use her scream to paralyze opponents with out laying a finger on them and switch her hair into prehensile weapons meant to strike in long-ranged battles.

Though there aren’t many lore-adjacent examples, Sindel can tackle most Earthrealm combatants with none situation and could be fairly persuasive in the case of egging her enemies on. A few of her finishers are genuinely terror-inducing, comparable to her Animality #2 — Terror-antula in Mortal Kombat 1, the place she turns into an enormous arachnid and makes use of her mandible to tug the opponent up, biting their head whereas injecting the physique with spiderlings that be certain that to burst out of the sufferer’s abdomen. This sort of energy veers into pure monster territory, making Sindel unpredictable and harmful.

Cetrion may be a relatively current addition, as she debuted in Mortal Kombat 11, however there isn’t a confusion about her energy scaling, as she is the Elder Goddess of Life, Advantage, and Mild. Even when we ignore her playable movesets fully, Cetrion is among the many strongest just by present, as her core duty is to keep up a steadiness between the realms whereas she experiences immunity to temporal manipulation. As Cetrion has management over the weather, nearly each struggle will sway in her favor, even when her opponent is formidable in each bodily and magical prowess.

If we scrutinize the occasions of Mortal Kombat 1, Kronika absorbs Cetrion’s essence and is later defeated by Liu Kang, which leads us to consider that Cetrion perishes along with her, or is unable to dwell on in a discernible kind. Nonetheless, that is Mortal Kombat, and characters regarded as “useless” can return at any level, and it isn’t far-fetched to count on the return of an Elder Goddess. By way of her talents, Cetrion employs signature strikes comparable to Hell’s Wrath, the place she shoots a fireplace beam; Tendril Pull, the place she shoots out tendrils to slam opponents to the bottom; and Deadly Blow — Weeping Willow, the place she harnesses boulders and bushes to crack into skulls and limbs to incapacitate them. Additionally, she will tower over planets and trigger devastating pure disasters to the purpose of no return, so it stays to be seen what her potential return would possibly imply for the franchise.

The antagonists which can be with us for a short while typically make the deadliest impressions, and Kronika is undoubtedly considered one of the strongest beings within the franchise, as she is the mom of Elder Gods Shinnok and Cetrion. Often known as the Keeper of Time and the Architect of Future, Kronika’s talents supersede conventional and even exaggerated definitions of energy, as she will manipulate temporal stream with out triggering paradoxes and use these so-called anomalies to execute assaults. Kronika is just not all-powerful, as she requires an power supply to control her existence, however she continues to be a Titan, whose absence led to repercussions throughout realms. Though thought-about useless, Kronika would possibly nonetheless exist in some kind throughout the multiverse.

Though Kronika is just not playable, her boss fatality in Mortal Kombat 11 is her lifting the opponent into the air and bisecting them, adopted by her rewinding time solely to chop the opponent vertically. Kronika rewinds time once more to tear their pores and skin off, and this continues in a neverending loop, even after the match ends. That is solely a glimpse into her capacity to inflict unimaginable horrors upon those that don’t share her Titan standing, alongside along with her obsession to regulate time to attain a twisted notion of steadiness, which is what propels her towards her tragic destiny ultimately.