Sareena

Sareena is a fictional character from the Mortal Kombat fighting game series.

About Sareena
Sareena is a demon who first appeared 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 Netherealm and a former 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 Netherealm, 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.

Storyline
The demon Sareena first appeared in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero as one of Quan Chi's personal assassins. She and her two partners, Kia and Jataaka, were ordered to kill Sub-Zero before he reached Quan Chi. They were defeated, but Sub-Zero strangely spared Sareena's life. Later, as Sub-Zero battled Quan Chi, Sareena suddenly appeared and helped him to defeat the sorcerer. After expressing her desire to escape the Netherealm with him, she is shot in the back with a bolt of energy by Shinnok. She collapses into an enraged Sub-Zero's arms and appears to die.

It is later revealed in Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition, that Sareena was not killed by Shinnok's attack, but rather, her human form was destroyed. Her essence was then banished to the 5th Plane of the Netherealm as punishment for her betrayal, where she would suffer for years. After years of being trapped, Sareena discovered the portal Quan Chi and Scorpion used to escape the Netherealm shortly before Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. She went through the portal and is transported to Outworld where she later discovered a way to restore her human form without Quan Chi's magic by absorbing the energy of the realm.

Shortly after regaining her human form, Sareena encountered the younger brother of the Sub-Zero she met years before. Feeling that he owed her for helping his brother, Sub-Zero granted her sanctuary with the Lin Kuei back on Earthrealm. In gratitude, Sareena pledged her loyalty to the clan, swearing to help defend it from its enemies.

In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, it is revealed that Sareena followed Sub-Zero into the Netherealm, saving him from being killed by Noob Saibot and Smoke. She and Sub-Zero were victorious, but after the battle, Sareena lost control of her human form and returned to her true demon self. Thinking her to be a threat, Sub-Zero attacked and she fled, not wanting to harm him. However, she was later attacked by Noob Saibot, Smoke, and her former master Quan Chi, who demanded she provide them information about the Lin Kuei. At first Sareena refused, determined to remain loyal to Sub-Zero. But Quan Chi then cast his dark sorcery upon her, returning her to her human form and then convincing her that she can never be good and that she is simply a pure evil demon. Swayed by Quan Chi's corruption, she agreed to serve him once again.

In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon's Konquest mode, Taven encounters Sareena still serving Quan Chi alongside Kia and Jataaka in the Red Dragon's lair. They battle, but ultimately all three are beaten by Taven. Presumably, after the battle, Sareena escapes Quan Chi's hold over her as, in her Armageddon ending, she defeats Blaze, causing his power to flow into her. She is left unconscious until Sub-Zero reaches the top of the pyramid and revives her. When she awakens, she realizes that she had gained the ability to freeze. She then confronts Quan Chi and freezes him in a block of ice. Sareena and Sub-Zero place the sorcerer in the Lin Kuei temple, where he will remain frozen forever.

Signature moves

 * Fire Skull: Sareena fires a skull engulfed in flames. This attack is borrowed from Quan Chi. (MK:TE)
 * Split Kick: Sareena does a forward flip, kicking the opponent in the process. (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 fall back.(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 throws a large knife at her opponent. According to Ed Boon, this is possibly the fastest projectile in Mortal Kombat. (MK:A)

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, it was vaguely hinted that Reiko was going to share some sort of connection or relationship with Sareena. However, this connection was never developed and later forgotten.

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 "shotoclone" 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 more revealing clothes than any female Mortal Kombat character had at that time. 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 similar to what she wears in Mythologies, and she wears her Tournament Edition outfit for 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 only can gain the appearance makeover, Sareena's face had been completely remodeled, much like Li Mei. She had no longer little black eyes, instead she had bigger and blue eyes. Her lips are also no longer black, they are peach-colored.

Trivia

 * In Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, there was a briefly hinted love interest between Sareena and the elder Sub-Zero.
 * Although Sareena has, until Armageddon, only appeared in side-games, she has amassed a surprisingly strong fan-base.
 * Sareena makes a brief cameo appearance in Deception's Konquest mode. For a side mission, Shujinko is ordered by the Brotherhood of Shadow to find the traitor Sareena. However when Shujinko finds her, she pays him not to tell the Brotherhood where she is.
 * In Armageddon's online play community, Sareena is considered to be one of the more powerful characters, largely due to her Throwing Knives. The knives have the fastest performance rate of all projectiles, fast enough to be used in juggle combos.