Tanya

"I have been called an enforcer of the Deadly Alliance. I prefer the term "ambassador.""

- Tanya's Mortal Kombat: Deception Biography

Tanya is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. She made her debut in Mortal Kombat 4.

About Tanya
Tanya is a slender, gloomy woman 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 which also made her an ally to Shinnok's dangerous, religious cult known as the Brotherhood of Shadow, 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 female 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 the fallen Elder God 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 sinister Netherrealm forces. Thanks to Tanya's treachery, Shinnok was free to wage war against the gods especially the Elder Gods who banished him to the Netherrealm. 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.

In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Tanya was there present at the final battle within the craters of the Southlands in her own homeworld of Edenia fighting for the villains.

In her Armageddon ending, the power of Blaze after his defeat transformed Tanya into an entity known as a Dragon Caller. Through telepathy and with a mere thought, Tanya was able to summon dragon spirits from the ether into corporeal form. With an army of dragons at her command, she conquered the universe one realm at a time. Soon Shao Kahn himself would soon bow down to his 'mistress'.

Biographies

 * Mortal Kombat 4: "As the daughter of Edenia's Ambassador to new realms, Tanya invites a group of refugees fleeing their own world into the safety of Edenia. But soon after Queen Sindel allows them through the portal, she learns that one of the warriors is none other than the banished Elder God, Shinnok. The portal leads into the pits of the Netherrealm itself, and the once free realm of Edenia is now at the mercy of Shinnok."


 * Deception: "I had been called an enforcer of the Deadly Alliance. I preferred the term "ambassador". It was my duty to impose the will of Quan Chi and Shang Tsung upon the denizens of Outworld. But the sorcerers' rule was short-lived and I found myself leaderless, longing to return to my birthplace in Edenia. When Baraka caught up with me, he gave me a choice: serve his new lord of Outworld -- or die. I have lived for thousands of years because I make the right decisions. I pledged my service to the Dragon King." Onaga was aware of Shao Kahn's invasion of Edenia so many years ago. Apparently the Dragon King had been watching Shao Kahn from beyond death. Whatever the late emperor had been attempting, Onaga was determined to complete it. He was looking for lost information, ancient spells that would fuse the Elder Gods' six Kamidogu into one and therefore make it possible for him to wield their combined might. I have brought him to Edenia, where I believed that information still existed."


 * Bio Card: "Given the choice of allegiance or death, Tanya has sworn to serve the Dragon King. She has helped the Outworld lord to locate important information needed to complete his konquest of the realms."

Signature Moves

 * Human Cannon Drill: Tanya lunges forward, spinning in a cork-screw manner with her flaming feet leading towards her opponent. (MK4, MKG, MKD, MKA)
 * Surging Blast: Tanya sends a blast of fire from her hand at her opponent. (MK4, MKG, MKD, MKA)
 * Air Fire Blast: Tanya jumps into the air and sends a blast of fire at a 45 degree angle towards her opponent. (MK4, MKG, MKD, MKA)
 * Split Flip Kick: Tanya somersaults forwards with a flaming kick directed at her opponent. (MK4, MKG, MKD, MKA)
 * Find Me: Tanya surrounds herself with a flaming haze and becomes invisible. (MKD, MKA)

Other Moves

 * Throw: Tanya lifts her foe by the ankles & slams them down. (MK4)
 * Neck Break: Tanya leaps onto her foe's shoulders, wraps her thighs around their head & swings around them 180 degrees. (MK4)

Fatalities

 * Kiss of Deceit: 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. (MK4, MKG)
 * Neck Screw: Tanya performs her "breaker" move three times in quick succession. The nearly identical animation led fans to dub this move as "lazy". (MK4, MKG)
 * Torture Rack: 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)
 * Kneebone Knife: Tanya rips out the opponent's thigh bone and stabs them in the neck with it. The opponent then coughs until falling down, dead. (MKD)

Other finishers

 * Hara-Kiri: Eye Stab: Tanya rips out both of her thigh bones and stabs herself in the head through her eye sockets. (MKD)

Endings

 * Mortal Kombat 4: (Non-Canonical)
 * Tanya: Follow me, Liu Kang. Raiden asked that I lead you to him. (she starts running through a dungeon corridor, followed closely by Liu Kang)


 * Liu Kang: What about the others?


 * Tanya: He has something special planned for them. (they turn a corner, and Liu Kang finds that he has come to a dead end, as a door shuts behind him)


 * Liu Kang: Tanya! What's going on?


 * Tanya: (laughs) I don't know what Kitana saw in you! Can't you see, Liu Kang? This is a trap!


 * Liu Kang: What--?? (turns around to find Quan Chi and Shinnok behind him)


 * Quan Chi: Welcome, Shaolin warrior. Your Thunder God is beaten. Earth's warriors, destroyed. You are the last remnant of the Forces of Light. Do you wish to beg for mercy from your new master, Lord Shinnok?


 * Liu Kang: Never, sorcerer!!! WAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! (tries to attack Shinnok with a flying kick, but Shinnok kills Liu Kang effortlessly)


 * Shinnok: ...Fool! (laughs)


 * Deception: (Non-Canonical) "In Edenia, Tanya had located the ancient texts that described the process by which to fuse the Kamidogu into one. With this information, Onaga was able to create the One Kamidogu - a tool of unspeakable power. As the Dragon King was distracted, reveling in his victory, Tanya seized the opportunity to snatch the Kamidogu from him, thereby obtaining god-like power. She destroyed the Dragon King and became Ultimate Overlord of the realms."


 * Armageddon: (Non-Canonical) "The fire of Blaze transformed Tanya into a being known as a Dragon Caller. With a mere thought, she was able to summon dragon spirits from the ether into corporeal form. With an army of dragons at her command, she conquered the universe realm by realm. Soon Shao Kahn himself would call her 'master'."

Character Relationships

 * Daughter of an ambassador.
 * Arch nemesis of Jade.
 * Joined Shinnok and Quan Chi's forces.
 * Attempted to lure Liu Kang into a trap, but did not succeed.
 * Became an enforcer for Quan Chi and Shang Tsung in Deadly Alliance.
 * Defeated by Shujinko in  Deception' s Konquest mode.
 * Forced to serve Onaga by Baraka's tarkatan hordes.
 * Joined the Forces of Darkness in the last battle in Armageddon.

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 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 Deception), 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 the 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).
 * Tanya 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. She, and Khameleon are the only females to use this ability.
 * In  Mortal Kombat: Deception' s Konquest mode, Tanya is one of two characters (the other being Kabal) who will attack Shujinko if she is bumped into. Normally, the aggressive characters must be punched by Shujinko before they react by assaulting him back.
 * In Mortal Kombat: Unchained, there is (what is assumed to be) a glitch in which she is the only character that on the Character Select Screen can be sidescrolled to the next row. Pressing right on the directional pad moves the player select square to Shujinko (the first character on the bottom row).
 * Tanya, along with Quan Chi, were the only characters who debuted in Mortal Kombat 4 to appear in other sequels after it, until all the characters' appearances in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.
 * In  Mortal Kombat: Deception' s Konquest mode, with the help of Shujinko, Tanya finds a cave in Outworld that she will use to trap Liu Kang. This could be a reference to her MK4 ending. However, Shujinko can also find Liu Kang to warn him about it.
 * She was confirmed to be one of the female ninjas in Khameleon's Bio Kard.
 * Despite being a female ninja, she's the only one whose costumes never include a mask/veil.
 * Revealed in her Deception biography kard that her boomerang from the 4/Gold timeline was planned to be useable in game, but for unknown reasons it was scrapped from the final project.
 * In Mortal Kombat (2011), Kitana can be seen chained up in Shao Kahn's Coliseum. However, if the player chooses Kitana in either the Single or Tag Arcade Ladder, Tanya will be chained up in Kitana's place.
 * This may be a reference to when Tanya replaced Kitana in Mortal Kombat 4
 * In a Top 10 list hosted by Screwattack.com, Tanya's Neck Snap Fatality was placed at #10 of the worst Fatalities in the Mortal Kombat series.
 * Tanya's alternate costume from Mortal Kombat: Deception is a modified version of her Mortal Kombat 4 costume.
 * In MK: D, Tanya's weapon in Deception-Armageddon, Kobu Jutsu, was simply known as "Tonfas" in early stages of development.
 * The Kobu Jutsu will remain visible after Tanya has turned invisible. The only way to use them with the invisibility is during, or at the ending of, a combo while invisible.
 * Lia Montelongo, Tanya's portrayer in MK4, has also portrayed Sindel in MK3 and Sareena in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, who, at the time of MK3, was the youngest person to portray a Mortal Kombat character.

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