Tanya

Tanya is a character from the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games.

About Tanya
Tanya is a slender, gloomy female from Edenia. Originally introduced as relatively innocent, she quickly turned out to be corrupted by evil, as evidenced in her adherence to the worshipping of Shinnok and her later service to both the Deadly Alliance and Onaga. She seems to view herself as more of a survivor rather than anything else, justifying her choices as being the "right decisions". Tanya is one of the few lady henchmen from the Mortal Kombat series, and prides herself on her superior knowledge of magic and diplomacy. Because of her frequent betrayal of the Edenian cause, she has earned the rivalry and bitter hatred of Jade.

Storyline
It is unknown when Tanya fell to the lure of the dark side of existence. Possible explanations may have been her youth under the harsh regime of Shao Kahn, when Outworld and Edenia were still merged, or her attraction to the forbidden areas of magic, which led her to make contact with Shinnok. Her upbringing on Outworld may also explain her total lack of affinity with her native realm Edenia.

At any rate, Tanya first appeared on the stage during the events of Mortal Kombat 4. As the daughter of Edenia's ambassador to new realms, she invited a group of refugees fleeing their own world into the peaceful realm of Edenia. However, the refugees were in actuality a disguised Shinnok, along with Quan Chi, and their Netherealm forces. Thanks to Tanya's treachery, Shinnok was free to wage war against the gods. During this time, she attempted to lure Liu Kang into a trap, but the attempt did not succeed, and Shinnok's power base was soon destroyed. With her master gone, and herself a wanted traitor in Edenia (having earned in particular the wrath of Jade), Tanya fled to Outworld.

Years later, Tanya resurfaced in the Deadly Alliance's ranks as an enforcer (although she preferred the term "ambassador" and was not a playable character in the game). She imposed Shang Tsung and Quan Chi's will upon the denizens of Outworld. But when the Deadly Alliance crumbled, Tanya found herself alone once more, and desired to return to Edenia. She was found, however, by Baraka, who gave her the choice of serving the newly resurrected Onaga or dying. She joined the ranks of the Dragon King, who was searching for ancient incantations that would enable him to fuse the Kamidogu into one, and thus acquire incredible power. Believing that such information still existed in Edenia, Tanya brought Onaga to her native realm.

Possible future
Her Deception ending reveals that she had an ulterior motive for aiding the Dragon King: she wanted this incredible power for herself. Her ending depicts her as slaying her lord, and acquiring the fused Kamidogu, becoming ultimate overlord of all realms. In Jade's ending, however, she meets a different fate: dismemberment at the hands of Tarkatan warriors. After she delivers the required information concerning the Kamidogu to Onaga, she confronts Jade, who had allowed herself to be captured. Jade throws a glass orb filled with concentrated liquid Tarkatan essences at Tanya, ensuring that she is seen by the hordes as a rival male and torn apart. Whether either ending, or elements thereof, become part of the canon storyline remains to be seen, and will become known with Tanya's return in the upcoming Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.

Fatalities

 * Twisted Kiss – Tanya gives her enemy a kiss on the cheek, which makes their limbs, torso and head twist and contort into impossible angles, before they explode. (MKG)
 * Neck Snap – Tanya mounts her enemy's shoulders and spins around three times, breaking their neck repeatedly. (MKG)
 * Kobu Jutsu Kill – Using her Kobu Jutsu, Tanya slices her enemy's torso, slits their throat, and then stabs them in their abdomen, allowing them to bleed to death as they sink to their knees. (MKD)
 * Bone Transplant – Tanya rips out the opponent's thigh bone and stabs them in the neck with it. (MKD)

Other finishers
Hara-Kiri – Tanya rips out both of her thigh bones and stabs herself in the head through her eye sockets. (MKD)

Trivia

 * Tanya's name comes from Ed Boon's sister, Tania.
 * Her alignment as "evil" was hard to distinguish when she first debuted in Mortal Kombat 4, especially when she was innocent looking and had an innocent profile. Her ending in MK4 (which never occurred) demonstrates her alignment of evil.
 * She could be considered to be the single most untrustworthy character in the series. She has betrayed both Kitana and Queen Sindel, her own homeworld of Edenia, her MK4 ending depicts her as betraying Liu Kang, following this she betrays Quan Chi and Shinnok (evidenced by her being with Onaga in D), and her Deception ending depicts her as betraying Onaga.
 * Tanya was for a time mistaken to be a "clone" of Jade, just like Mileena is a clone of Tarkatan and Kitana. In development stage of MK4, the development team did intend Kitana to be a playable character, but the decision was made to add a new face instead (Kitana would, however, be accessible through third-party devices, and officially reappear in Mortal Kombat Gold).
 * Is one of few characters who uses the invisibility move in the Mortal Kombat series. Others include Reptile, Smoke, Chameleon, (when in Reptile's form) and Noob Saibot.
 * Tanya was originally supposed to be in Mortal Kombat II. She was most likely replaced by Kitana/Mileena.
 * Tanya will appear in Mortal Kombat III: Devestation. she will be played by Stacey Dash