Skarlet

Skarlet is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. She made her debut in Mortal Kombat (2011) as a Downloadable Character (DLC). Before that, however, she was a subject of fan speculation that began with rumors of a glitch in Mortal Kombat II.

About Skarlet
Originally, Skarlet was a character rumored to have been a secret in Mortal Kombat II, though this was speculated to be a coding glitch from Kitana, much like Ermac had supposedly been a color glitch from Scorpion.

Appearance
Skarlet has unnaturally red hair with a black stripe tied back in a low ponytail, and her clothing is primarily red and black with minimal white accents. She wears a tight ninja half-face mask from her nose to the edge of her collar bone. She has forearm and shoulder guards, and wears somewhat of a loin cloth, and a top that is similar to Jade's alternate top. She also has four kunai strapped onto her right leg, which are featured in her moveset.

Storyline
The female kombatant known as Skarlet is actually a being made by Shao Kahn himself, due to the fact that he trusted very few people. Shao Kahn created Skarlet by collecting the blood of countless warriors, and infusing them with sorcery. A literally bloodthirsty warrior, Skarlet gained strength from the blood of her opponents, which meant that she was only released by her master as a last resort. As such, she is typically kept chained until he had a need of her services. During the Mortal Kombat Tournament, he released her on a mission: to uncover Quan Chi's true intentions. Should she discover any plot to destroy her creator, she is tasked with eliminating any such threats.

Biography

 * Mortal Kombat (2011): "Shao Kahn has many warriors under his command, but his trust lies solely in the fighters of his own creation. Warrior blood gathered from countless battlefields, fused with sorcery, produced his most effective enforcer yet: Skarlet. An expert tracker, she preys on those deemed enemies of the empire. During kombat, Skarlet gains strength from her opponent's blood, absorbing it through her skin. Shao Kahn has a new mission for this formidable kombatant: discover Quan Chi's true intentions and kill him if he plots betrayal of the emperor."

Powers and abilities
Skarlet is a very ferocious opponent in battle. She utilizes a slew of blades during combat, which she can use as both projectiles and melee weapons. Being composed solely of blood, Skarlet can utilize several blood-related techniques such as throwing orb-shaped projectiles composed of blood and can even morph herself into a red-liquid state which she can mold into structures. Unlike Noob Saibot, she utilizes this state for both offensive and evasive maneuvers.

Signature moves

 * thumb|250px|rightUp Slash: Skarlet unsheathes one of her swords and slices her opponent upward, allowing a juggle. Can be performed during her Red Dash to increase its range. (MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Dual Up Slash and adds an additional hit.
 * Down Slash: Skarlet unsheathes one of her swords and slices her opponent downward, allowing a juggle. Can be performed during her Red Dash to increase its range. (MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Dual Down Slash and adds an additional hit.
 * Dagger Toss: Skarlet throws two of the kunai strapped to her leg. The second kunai can be delayed. (MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Double Daggers and allows Skarlet to throw four kunai.
 * Air Dagger: Skarlet throws a kunai in the air. This has straight and diagonal commands. (MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Tri Air Dagger and allows her to throw 3 kunais at a time. This has close and far commands.
 * Blood Ball: Skarlet stabs herself and throws a ball composed of her own blood at the opponent. This decreases some of her own health but compensates by being the most powerful non-boss projectile in the game. Its trajectory may be altered somewhat by holding down or up as it is launched. (MK 2011)
 * Blood Drop: Skarlet teleports above and behind her opponent and slashes them. This move can be performed in mid-air. This move is similar to Mileena's Sky kick.(MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Blood Stomp and makes her stab the opponent, digging her swords into their shoulder blades until they fall down, and then rolls off them. (MK 2011)
 * Red Dash: Skarlet dashes forward, leaving a blood trail behind her. This move does not hit on its own. (MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Krimson Dash and lets her dash a longer distance.
 * Red Slide: Skarlet slides on a pool of blood and attacks her enemies. This can only be done during Red Dash. (MK 2011)
 * X-Ray - Blood Bank: Skarlet flips forward, whereupon connecting, she delivers a brutal palm strike into her opponent's nose area, breaking the skull, followed by a reverse kick, piercing their eye cavity with the heel of her boot. (MK 2011)

Other moves

 * Throw: Skarlet grabs her opponent, stabs them in the shoulder with her ninja sword, forces them onto their knees, then either plants her foot on their chest and kicks them away (Forward Throw), or flips herself behind them and wrenches her ninja sword out - the force of which causes the opponent to fall to the ground (Backwards Throw). (MK 2011)

Fatalities

 * Blood Bath: Skarlet takes one of her ninja swords and stabs her opponent in through the ear. She then takes the other sword and slashes her opponent´s throat, holding them back as she lets their blood gush on her face. (MK 2011)


 * Make It Rain: Skarlet stabs herself with her sword. She then becomes a puddle of blood and moves underneath the opponent. She then creates blood pillars, which stab the hands and legs of the opponent, causing them to elevate. Skarlet appears under the opponent, slices their stomach and proceeds to bathe in the blood and chunks of flesh that pour out from their wound. (MK 2011)

Other finishers

 * Babality: Skarlet takes out a bottle of milk and starts to drink. She then spits out the milk, taking out a bottle of blood and drinks that instead. (MK 2011)

Endings
thumb|300px|right|Skarlet's Ladder Ending Mortal Kombat 2011: "Controlled by Quan Chi's sorcery, Skarlet attacked and destroyed Shao Kahn. As Quan Chi's magic subsided, she realized her unwitting role in his plot to bring ruin to Outworld. With Shao Kahn's blood splattered across her body, Skarlet absorbed his immense strength. She used this newfound power against Quan Chi. Brotherhood of Shadow warriors raced to defend the sorcerer, but their blood only served to make Skarlet invincible. In a battle between sorcery and gore-fueled fighting power, she avenged her fallen master. Having served her purpose, Skarlet disappeared into the shadows awaiting Shao Kahn's rebirth."

Character development
Skarlet is based on the (debunked) rumor of Skarlet in Mortal Kombat II. Supposedly, a red palette swap of Kitana, same as with Ermac as a red palette swap of Scorpion, little was known about her aside from that. On September 10th, 2010, Ed Boon updated his twitter with an image of the leg of an unknown, red-clad, female character. Speculation has abounded that this might be a redesign of Sareena or Kira. Boon had initially promised to release the full image should Shao Kahn win against Gears of War's General RAAM in Gamespot's "All Time Greatest Villain" Contest. However, after Shao Kahn's loss, no additional information as to the identity of this character was given for months. She has been seen since in the background of the Kahn's Arena during gameplay videos for Mortal Kombat (2011). On March 26th, 2011, Gamepro released information regarding which characters would be available as Downloadable Content (DLC) in Mortal Kombat (2011). Skarlet was revealed – although her name was not. Through hacking of the game, Skarlet was discovered, as well as having a Babality model, but the model was glitched and did not move.

Game Information
She was rumored to have appeared briefly in MKII as a red, glitched Kitana. According to NetherRealm Studios' Hans Lo, Skarlet's appearance in MKII was a "programming glitch." MK series co-creator (and MKII lead programmer) Ed Boon has publically contradicted this, initially calling it simply "not true." In a later interview Boon expanded on this remark somewhat, saying: "...there was never a glitch that turned Kitana red, that never existed. That was just an urban legend like Animalities and Ermac — a rumor that we eventually wanted to make true." This glitch could however be the result of physical damage to the hardware of the arcade cabinet, leaving the validity of the glitch still up to debate.

Character Relationships

 * Created by Shao Kahn.
 * One of Shao Kahn's most effective enforcers.
 * Sent by Shao Kahn to uncover Quan Chi's true intentions.

Trivia

 * Skarlet is the only one of the female "ninjas", that can be truly considered a kunoichi (female ninja) due to the fact that she possesses Kodachi Swords and Kunais and her fighting style is based on taijutsu.
 * She is the only hemomancer in the MK series.
 * She is the third character based on a rumor to have been made playable, the first two being Ermac and Blaze, respectively.
 * She is also the first & only rumored character to make an appearance as DLC.
 * Skarlet makes multiple appearances throughout Story Mode, appearing among the other fighters. She is also seen chained up in Kahn's Coliseum.
 * Before her release as an official character, Skarlet was known simply as "The Lady in Red."
 * She is the third blood-centric character; the others being Nitara and Meat.
 * Skarlet was rumored to be a redesign of Sareena.
 * Storywise, she is, so far, the third character created by Shao Kahn's will, the first being Mileena and the second being Ermac.
 * However, oddly, in Story Mode she is first seen more than Ermac and Mileena.
 * She is Shao Kahn's secret weapon, only to be used as a last resort, which explains why she is chained in Kahn's Coliseum.
 * In early development, Skarlet had Jade's kombat stance.
 * If Skarlet's Make It Rain Fatality is performed on Sheeva, 6 pillars will rise instead of 4. This is, so far, the only Fatality to be altered specifically for Sheeva's extra 2 arms. (Although it cannot be performed on Goro and Kintaro, however.) If it is performed on Kratos, he will attempt to break free of the pillars instead of panicking in fear.
 * Her Babality is the only one in the entire series to have blood in it.
 * Along with Shang Tsung, Johnny Cage, Kintaro, Kratos, Shao Kahn and Freddy Krueger Skarlet's babality is one which does not have her crying; she is also the only female character to not cry in her Babality.
 * When Shang Tsung's Identity Theft Fatality is performed on Skarlet, she will not yell "No!"; instead, she will grunt.
 * Skarlet's X-Ray Move does the least amount of damage out of all the other kombatants. Skarlet's X-Ray Move does 27% of damage.
 * Much like Ermac, Skarlet's voice is composed of multiple voices, which talk in unison.
 * Skarlet is the only female DLC kombatant.
 * Skarlet's Blood Ball is the most powerful projectile.
 * Also, it is the only special move in the Mortal Kombat series that drains health when used.
 * Skarlet and Khameleon are the only female ninjas that have not been unmasked.
 * However, Skarlet is unmasked in her Babality.
 * Through hacking, it was revealed that her Babality was originally going to have her mask on. However, this model is glitched and does not move.
 * Also through hacking, it was revealed that she has an alternate costume, but it is unknown if it can be unlocked. It is, however, featured on the PS Vita version of Mortal Kombat (2011).
 * As revealed in Fatality Practice mode, her favorite historical figure when she was a young girl was the 16th century Hungarian Countess and murderer Elizabeth Báthory, who was rumored to have bathed in the blood of young women to maintain her youth.
 * Excluding guest characters, Skarlet is currently one of the three characters that are only playable in one game, the other two being Taven and Daegon.
 * Skarlet received two Klassic Costumes in the PS Vita version of Mortal Kombat (2011): one is her MKII outfit, based on her speculation of being a character in that game. The other is an UMK3-styled female outfit.
 * She also received her scrapped alt from the console version. It is unlocked by beating Challenge #150 on the Challenge Tower, along with Rain and Kenshi's alts too.
 * The fact that Skarlet was a rumor in MKII is referenced in one of the new challenges in the Bonus Challenge Tower from the PS Vita version of Mortal Kombat (2011)
 * In one of the other new challenges, in a similar vein to Cyber Reptile, Skarlet is given a cyborg template. Its description reads Skarlet became part of the Cyber Initiative. Because of the cybernetic mesh, she is unable to morph her body. Interestingly, she also resembles the Mortal Kombat Legacy version of Sektor (a red colored Cyrax).
 * Besides Cyber Sub-Zero, Skarlet is the only Non-Klassic character in the series to receive two Klassic Character Skins.