Sareena

"I am not a being of Light. I am a demon of the Netherrealm, a servant of Quan Chi."

- Sareena's Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Biography

Sareena is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. She made her debut in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, and first became playable in Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition.

About Sareena
Sareena is a demon who made her first appearance in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero as a non-playable boss character. She was first playable in Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition for the Game Boy Advance and later in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. She is from the Netherrealm and was an assassin for Quan Chi, but turned against him. Her young and beautiful appearance hides her true form of a hideous demon. In the past, she required Quan Chi's magic to sustain her human form, but since recently escaping the Netherrealm, she has managed to find a way to remain beautiful without him. She is now a force of good with an alliance to Sub-Zero and the new Lin Kuei, however, she remains wary of her natural demonic nature.

Signature moves

 * Cartwheel: Sareena performs a cartwheel at her opponent, kicking them on impact. (MK:TE)
 * Fire Skull: Sareena fires a skull engulfed in purplish-pink flames. (MK:TE)
 * Skull Bash: Sareena thrusts forward extremely fast, smashing her opponent in the head. (MK:A)
 * 5-Star Kick: Sareena thrusts forward with her leg extended and if she makes contact, she will kick the opponent 5 times before they back flip to the ground. (MK:A)
 * Gut Buster: Sareena charges her fist, then shoots forward with a powerful punch that knocks her opponent back. (MK:A)
 * Throwing Knife: Sareena swiftly throws a large knife at her opponent. (MK:A)

Fatalities

 * Whirlwind of Doom: Sareena kicks the opponent's head multiple times then she does a backflip kick and finishes her opponent off by punching the opponent through their chest. (MK:TE)

Character development
Sareena's journey towards becoming a regular character in Mortal Kombat is perhaps one of the stranger ones. After her brief appearance in Mythologies, Sareena was meant to reappear or be mentioned in future games, but was often cut or forgotten.

Early in Mortal Kombat 4 ' s development, she was considered to be added to the roster (the MK team wanting to include another Mythologies character in addition to Quan Chi and Shinnok), but they decided to use Fujin instead. Although she was left out, shortly before and briefly after Mortal Kombat 4 was released in arcades.

She then was originally planned to be in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, but was cut from the final game. She was then added to Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition as a "mishmash" character. She got her fighting styles from the characters that didn't appear in Tournament Edition, but appeared in the GBA version of Deadly Alliance instead; she borrowed Yuan Yang from Frost, Tae Kwon Do from Sonya and Sai from Li Mei. Her projectile was also borrowed from Quan Chi.

After her appearance in Tournament Edition, it was highly expected and heavily rumored that she would be included in Mortal Kombat: Deception. However, she once again didn't make the final cut, only to be encountered in Konquest mode of the game.

Finally, in the first surfaces of Armageddon, Sareena was also anticipated as a playable character. Her appearance in the character roster render proved that she would appear in the game, and later she was first shown off at E3 show, along with other recurring characters. She is playable in  Armageddon' s final version.

Appearance
In Mythologies: Sub-Zero, Sareena, Kia and Jataaka wear clothes more revealing than any other female Mortal Kombat character had at that time, even Mileena. Their clothes were made with leather, making them even more provocative. They were designed this way probably to indicate that she was an assassin and a demon in a human appearance. In her Tournament Edition appearance, her outfit is similar to what she wears in Mythologies, and she wears her Tournament Edition outfit as her alternate outfit.

In all her appearances, Sareena is shown to have a tattoo-like design over her face and white streak on her hair, just like all members of the Brotherhood of Shadow. The white streak may also indicate that she can only gain the appearance makeover.

Trivia
In general Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero Mortal Kombat: Deception Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Mortal Kombat (2011) Mortal Kombat X
 * Sareena's beta name was Eia.
 * Her 3D model was created after the end of MK:DA´s development. It had so much acceptance from the MK Team, it was decided to be used in MK:TE for GameBoy Advance.
 * She is the second female character of the series whose alignment was changed from evil to good, the first being Sindel.
 * Also of note, she and Sindel had the same portrayer, Lia Montelongo.
 * She is the first character originating from the Netherrealm to fight for the Forces of Light.
 * She is considered to be a new character in the fighting game series, from MKM:SZ.
 * She borrowed the Tae Kwon Do fighting style from Sonya, the Yuan Yang fighting style from Frost, and the Sai weapon from Li Mei.
 * Sareena is one of two bosses who Sub-Zero can perform his Spine Rip Fatality on (the other being Scorpion's first battle).
 * If you do not finish off Sareena with Sub-Zero's Fatality, she will appear later on. During the fight with Quan Chi, taking his health down to 10% will result in Sareena appearing, as she will finish him off.
 * She is one of the characters that appears in a cage in the Dark Prison stage.
 * She is one of the characters seen running through The Krypt mode.
 * In Konquest mode, she is found in the Netherrealm asking the player not to tell the Brotherhood of Shadow where she is located and pays Koins to the player.
 * In online play, she is considered to be one of the most powerful characters, largely due to her Throwing Knives. The Throwing Knives have the fastest performance rate of all projectiles, fast enough to be used in juggle combos.
 * Curiously, she is the only character in Konquest mode that is not fought via "Mortal Kombat," but rather as a minion.
 * Borrowed the Ba Shan Fan fighting style from Hotaru.
 * In her biography, she mentions that she has a demonic appearance different from the human female form she presents herself with. Her real demon form is yet to be seen.
 * She makes a cameo appearance in the game in the Pit II's background fighting Frost, Kenshi, Daegon, or Reiko.
 * Appears in the chapter of Jax during a cut scene where she can be seen fighting Kitana.