Kitana

Kitana (or Princess Kitana by title) is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series.

About Kitana
Princess Kitana is over 10,000 years old, although she appears only to be in her mid teens to early twenties and thirties. Through the years, she has risen to great importance, first as the loyal stepdaughter of Shao Kahn; then his enemy, tearing herself away from his grasp and freeing her home realm of Edenia; and then leading an army into Outworld to combat any chance of Shao Kahn rising to power again. Kitana is a strong combination of discipline, intelligence, love and perseverance. She shared a subtle love interest with Earthrealm champion Liu Kang, until he was murdered by the Deadly Alliance. She has aligned herself on the good side, despite her loyalty to Shao Kahn for most of her life until learning the truth about her past and real family.

Storyline
Kitana's first appearance, in the second Mortal Kombat tournament, was mysterious. She was introduced as Shao Kahn's personal assassin and daughter, but it was hard to guess her true feelings or alignment, which were revealed to the Earthrealm warriors during the tournament. She was not the daughter of Shao Kahn, but in fact his stepdaughter, adopted by Kahn after he seized the realm of Edenia. To strengthen Kahn's claims to the Edenian throne, he killed its king, Jerrod, and married Jerrod's wife, Queen Sindel, who was Kitana's mother. Suspecting she would someday learn the truth, however, Kahn instructed Shang Tsung to create a twin for Kitana, a monstrous person named Mileena, who was actually a grotesque and evil clone.



Kitana grew up dutifully loyal to Shao Kahn, whom she believed was her real father. She grew up to be one of Shao Kahn's personal assassins, alongside her "sister" Mileena, and her good friend Jade. At some point in Kitana's life, she finally discovered the truth about her real father, Mileena's origins, and how Shao Kahn conquered her realm through constant visions in her dreams.

Appalled, disgusted, and devastated that her whole life had been a lie, Kitana vowed to do all in her power to overthrow Shao Kahn and restore Edenia to its former beauty. And also perhaps by doing so, redeem herself for all the evil she committed while she served Shao Kahn. At first Kitana continued to feign loyalty to Kahn, planning and waiting for the right time to turn against him openly.

Kitana's chance finally came during Mortal Kombat II, when Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung lured Earth's heroes into Outworld. Kitana entered the tournament, but secretly began to contact one of Earth's heroes (most likely Liu Kang) trying to help them defeat Kahn. However, Kitana's efforts were discovered by her clone Mileena. Mileena attacked her traitorous "sister", forcing Kitana to defend herself. She defeated and killed Mileena but this act revealed that she was no longer loyal to Shao Kahn.

The Earthrealm warriors escaped from Outworld, but Kitana was imprisoned and sentenced to death for killing Mileena. However, after Sindel's resurrection and Shao Kahn's subsequent invasion of Earthrealm, she managed to escape and rejoin her friends from Earth. Her only purpose was to convert the resurrected Sindel and remove the evil taint in her soul.

Kitana also had to contend with her friend Jade, who was sent by Kahn to capture her. But Kitana managed to convince her to turn against Kahn and join the forces of good. Jade then helped the Princess defeat Reptile, another assassin sent by Kahn to capture Kitana. Eventually, Kitana pushed through to her mother and freed her from Kahn's grasp. Shao Kahn's reign over Earthrealm was short-lived, as he and his elite forces were ultimately defeated. In the wake of these events, Kitana and Sindel freed Edenia as well. Before leaving Earthrealm, Kitana thanked Liu Kang for all he had done.

Earthrealm had barely recovered from its violent merger with Outworld, however, as a new threat presented itself in the form of Shinnok. He and his grand vizier Quan Chi invaded Edenia from the forbidden Netherealm and imprisoned its legitimate rulers.

Still not a novice at escaping from prisons, the Princess broke loose once more, only to encounter a resurrected Mileena, now in the service of Shinnok. However, soon the forces of darkness were defeated by Raiden and his comrades, and Edenia was free once more.

It is after these events that Kitana finally proposed to Liu Kang and offered to rule Edenia together as King and Queen. Liu Kang reluctantly rejected her, saying his place was as Champion of Earth.

After Shinnok's defeat, Kitana learned that Shao Kahn had survived his defeat on Earthrealm and was trying to regain his strength in Outworld.

Realizing the vulnerable position of her realm, however, Kitana hastily formed an alliance with the Shokan, a powerful and ancient race that had fallen in disgrace with the weakened Emperor, and possibly with the equally powerful and disgraced Centaur race as well, having mediated a peace accord between the two mortal enemies after Shinnok's defeat.

The combined armies, led by Prince Goro and Kitana herself, marched against Outworld's armies a few years later, with much success at first.

However, in the decisive moments, Goro was mortally wounded by the mysterious Noob Saibot, ending the battle with a draw.

Shortly thereafter, Kitana learned that Shao Kahn had been slain by unknown assassins. Thinking her fight was finally over, Kitana began to journey back to Edenia, hoping she could finally live in peace. However, she then encountered her old ally Kung Lao and he told her of a new threat: the "Deadly Alliance" of Quan Chi and Shang Tsung. Kung Lao told Kitana of the Deadly Alliance's plans to revive the Undead Army of the legendary Dragon King and how they had already managed to kill Shao Kahn and Liu Kang.

Despite Kitana's grief upon learning of Liu Kang's death at the hands of the Deadly Alliance, she joined with her old Earthrealm allies against the new threat. Unfortunately, the Deadly Alliance was victorious, defeating the heroes with Kitana herself (despite her new and improved skills gained from training with Bo' Rai Cho) killed in a one on one battle with Quan Chi. However, shortly after, Kitana and her allies were resurrected by Onaga, the legendary Dragon King himself. Onaga then put a powerful spell on them, turning them into his loyal servants. Now loyal to the Dragon King, Kitana assisted in Onaga's invasion of her own realm of Edenia.

Onaga used Kitana to imprison her mother Sindel, knowing the queen would not fight her daughter. However, Sindel was freed by Jade, and together they fled to Outworld where they attempted to find a way to defeat Onaga and free Kitana from his evil influence. Unknown to Kitana, Liu Kang's spirit returned from beyond death and had found himself a new ally and friend Ermac, and the two as well embarked on a mission to save their allies.

True to Ermac's Deception ending, which shows him and Liu Kang's spirit being successful in rescuing the slaved Earthrealm warriors, Kitana is released from Onaga's control. At that time, while she made her way back to Edenia, she encountered Blaze, who told her of a coming new danger that will threaten all the realms and that she must gather her forces to face it. Weary of constant battle, Kitana felt disheartened, wondering if the fighting would ever end. However, Blaze assured her that the wars would soon be over. Following this warning, Kitana returns in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, fighting alongside Edenia.

In her Armageddon ending, Kitana defeats Blaze and becomes the champion of the Elder Gods. She goes on to form an all-female fighting force consisting of herself, Sindel,Jade, Sonya and Li Mei. They set out to defeat the forces of Darkness and trap them in the Netherrealm forever.

Signature moves

 * Fan Toss / Ground Fan: Kitana throws one of her fans to her opponent. Because the move could be executed both on the ground and in mid-air, it was a great way to finish off a combo, making Kitana a deadly character in Mortal Kombat II. In Deadly Alliance, Kitana also has the option to throw her steel fan, but there's a catch. If the thrown fan connects, it would impale the enemy; if it missed or was blocked, it was gone entirely.  Whether it connected or missed, Kitana was only able to throw her fans once per round. This has been altered in Armageddon, as she can use multiple fan tosses in a single round, and the thrown fan only cuts the enemy and falls away, as her original fan projectile from Mortal Kombat II did. (MKII, UMK3, MKG, MK:DA, MK:U, MK:SM, MK:A)
 * Square Wave Punch: Kitana jumps into the air and attacks incoming foes with a flying punch. This attack is borrowed from Sonya during her absence in Mortal Kombat II, however, in later games that they have both appeared, both of them kept this attack. (with the exception of Deadly Alliance, in which neither of them had this attack) Interestingly, Sonya has this attack with a name change, "Face Planter", in Armageddon, while Kitana still has this attack with its original name. (MKII, UMK3, MKG, MK:SM, MK:A)
 * Fan Lift: Kitana uses her fans to make the enemy levitate helplessly in the air. This attack is served as both an anti-air attack and a set-up for juggle combos, and the effectiveness of the move has decreased significantly in each game since Mortal Kombat II. In Deadly Alliance and Armageddon, performing this move while in an unarmed fighting style will automatically switch the player into Fan style. (MKII, UMK3, MKG, MK:DA, MK:U, MK:SM, MK:A)
 * Fan Swipe: Kitana swipes at her enemy with her razor sharp fan. (MKII, MKG)
 * Pretty Kick: Kitana flies toward her opponent with multiple kicks. (MK:DA, MK:U, MK:A)
 * Pixie Dust Teleport: Kitana disappears in a violet cloud and reappears behind her opponent. This move is borrowed from Jade. (MK:A)

Recurring fatalities

 * Kiss of Doom: Kitana removes her mask and kisses her opponent, who expands like a huge balloon before exploding into pieces. In UMK3/Trilogy, the opponent stretches to enormous size before exploding to pieces. In Deadly Alliance, the victim inflated several times (vomiting blood in between) before exploding. In Shaolin Monks, the opponent explodes without inflating. (MKII, UMK3, MKT, MKG, MK:DA, MK:U, MK:SM)
 * Head Chop: Kitana decapitates her opponent with a fan. (MKII, UMK3, MKT, MKG, MK:SM)

Film
Kitana appeared in the first Mortal Kombat movie (unmasked and played by Talisa Soto) as an unwanted companion of Shang Tsung and his warriors. Kitana, as opposed to the games, is said to come from Outworld in both movies. Kitana eventually imparted to Liu Kang the essential knowledge he needed to defeat his greatest adversaries.

In the second movie, she faced and converted her mother, Sindel, in the final battles. She wore the same outfit from the first movie, and finally used her war fans in battle (shown as undulating blades linked by blue fabric). Although she (and her mother in some scenes) was believed to be a key to close Shao Kahn's portals to Earth in the second film, it was all a trick to steal time from the warriors.

Kitanas role in both films has been minor when compared to her fellow comrades protagonists Liu Kang, Sonya Blade, Jax and Johnny Cage; in the first film acting more like a secondary character, and in the second being absent for the most part of the film for being captured.

Unlike the games, Kitana apparently always knew Shao Kahn had killed her mother and father and conquered Edenia. The movies give no indication that Kitana was ever loyal to Shao Kahn, though she does feign loyalty in the first movie to convince Shang Tsung of his follies. The movies also neglect to address any connection Kitana shares with either Mileena, Jade, or Rain (although in the second movie, Sonya, upon seeing Mileena, thinks she is in fact Kitana). In addition, her appearance is much different from the games; she is unmasked, her hair is braided rather than held in a bun, and wears a black sleeveless leather top and pants rather than a leotard.

Television
Kitana also makes three appearances in the live-action TV series Mortal Kombat: Conquest, played firstly by Dara Tomanovich and subsequently by Audie England. Her dress is nearly exactly that of Talisa Soto's character, and she wields identical fans. Kitana is fully aware of her Edenian past and the deaths of her parents at Shao Kahn's hands, and works covertly to prevent the Emperor from conquering realms while feigning her allegiance to him. She first employed Kung Lao to protect the last mystical essence of Edenia from Outworld's grasp. In a later episode, Shao Kahn disguised the warrior Mileena with Kitana's likeness and sent her to murder Kung Lao. While Mileena seduced Kung Lao, Kahn also sent Kitana's Edenian friend turned traitor Rain to attack him. Kitana was forced to deter attacks from both fighters and convince Kung Lao that she was the true princess. She was finally murdered by Shao Kahn's Shadow Priests in the series finale. The Emperor was most reluctant and indeed bitter at killing his stepdaughter, but cited her plots against him as justification.

Kitana is one of the lead character in the 1996 animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, her voice provided by Cree Summer. She has an important role during Episode 4 Skin Deep, where Rain appears as an old friend of hers, and during Episode 10 Swords of Ilkan. Similar to her portrayal in the movies, Kitana is never shown to have even been loyal to Shao Kahn at any time in her life.

Comic books
Kitana appears as a secondary character during the Malibu Comics series. Her story is slighty altered: she is still princess of Edenia and daughter of Jerrod and Sindel, though she was already grown up when Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung killed Jerrod and seized the realm. Kitana is also under a spell induced by Shao Kahn that makes her forget her past life and believe she's Shao Kahn's daughter. She first appeared during the Goro: Prince of Pain miniseries, leading a group comprised of Mileena, Baraka, and Reptile and is ordered by Shang Tsung to seek Goro in Outworld after his mysterious disappearance.

During the Battlewave series, Kitana starts to rebel against Shao Kahn (though if she has restored her true memories is never stated) and forms an alliance with Kung Lao, Baraka and Sub-Zero to do so. Most of her appearance during the first issues have her making plans to foil Shao Kahn's new army of undead warriors led by Scorpion.

Unlike the games, Kitana has no interactions with Liu Kang in any issue. Instead, she has a closer relation with Kung Lao, a fact Shang Tsung exploits without success in Kung Lao's one-shot issue. Jade's relation with Kitana is also never brought up, and there's nothing indicating they are even friends in the comic's continuity.

Character development
Kitana's original costume for filming of MKII was blue, but game footage was shot with a red outfit for Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

Katalin Zamiar played Kitana for MKII, and her mask had to be attached to her nose with double-sided tape while her boots were held in place with rubber bands in order to keep them from falling down during filming.

Kitana's signature "Kiss of Doom" fatality was, according to Ed Boon in a webchat interview, inspired by the demise of the villain in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die.

In Mortal Kombat: Deception, Ed Boon described Kitana and Mileena as the female equivalents of Scorpion and Sub-Zero, because just like the male ninjas, both female ninjas were created from the exact same models, pallet-swap creations due to the lack of memory. Also because Kitana and Mileena have come to be the female icons of Mortal Kombat, just as Sub-Zero and Scorpion have become icons of the series.

Game information
Kitana was one of the most popular characters in Mortal Kombat II, and was the character that many fans used because of her combos that they could use (which always ended with a fan throw in mid air). During the early production runs of Mortal Kombat II, Kitana became notorious as an unbeatable character, as her "fan lift" move could be done in such a way as to completely immobilize the opponent in the corner of the screen, allowing the player using Kitana to defeat the opponent with a series of uncontested punches. Ed Boon claimed in the trading card for Kitana that it was amazing seeing people doing combos with her that even he hadn't thought of. Changes were made in later versions of the game to eliminate this, as it tended to unbalance the game.

Kitana was supposed to be in Mortal Kombat 4 (along with Noob Saibot and Kano), but was taken out in favor for new character Tanya. She was not, however, completely removed from the game: her rendering was still used in Liu Kang's ending, and players could fight as her in the Nintendo 64 and PC versions via a cheat device.

Kitana was also supposed to be featured in Mortal Kombat: Deception. However, it was decided that the storyline would change and have her dead in favor of the reappearance of Jade, who has not been featured in many Mortal Kombat games, though Kitana will be playable in Mortal Kombat: Unchained.

Trivia

 * In MKG, Kitana's face model resembles the actress Talisa Soto, who played Kitana in the first two Mortal Kombat movies.
 * Like many of the story elements of Shaolin Monks, Kitana's presence and depiction was the cause of some controversy. Some fans were upset over the inclusion of Kitana being under a spell, feeling it weakened her overall storyline. Other complaints were over the fact that not only Kitana is never shown killing Mileena, she in actuality appears to be defeated by her, and later needs to be rescued by Liu Kang and Kung Lao.