Mileena

Series	Mortal Kombat series
First game	Mortal Kombat II (1993)
Voiced by	Lita Lopez (MK:SM)
Live action actor(s)	Katalin Zamiar (MKII) Becky Gable (UMK3, MKT) Dana Hee (second film) Jennifer DeCosta (Live Tour) Megan Brown, Audie England (MK: Conquest)
Information
Origin	Outworld
Fighting styles	Ying Yeung (MK:D) Mian Chuan (MK:D, MK:A)
Weapons	Sai (MKII, UMK3, MKT, MKG, MK:D, MK:SM, MK:A) Long sword (MKG)

Mileena is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series.

[edit] Overview

Mileena was brought to life by Shang Tsung using Tarkatan race's physiology to be a clone of Edenian Princess Kitana for the evil Emperor Shao Kahn. Mileena looks just like Kitana when her mask is on (especially since Kitana often also wears a mask), but when it is off, her true, flawed visage is exposed. She despises Kitana, and feels that it is her own right to rule Edenia as princess in her place. Her fondest wish is to kill her "sister", and claim her existence for her own. Something of an opportunist, Mileena will make use of any chance to seize power that comes within her grasp.

[edit] Storyline

[edit] Origins

After Shao Kahn conquered the realm of Edenia and merged it with Outworld, he decided he would keep the former king's young daughter Kitana alive and raise her as his own. Although Kitana grew up loyal to the emperor, Kahn feared if she should ever discover the truth about her past, she'd turn against him. Kahn then ordered Shang Tsung to create an evil clone of Kitana who would take her place and Tsung combined Kitana's essence with a Tarkatan's to achieve this purpose. However, complications arose with the clone's creation and her face deformed into a hideous Tarkatan mouth. Rather than disposing of her, she was given the name Mileena and introduced as Kitana's lost twin sister. Instead of replacing Kitana as originally planned, Mileena would be used to watch Kitana and make sure she remained loyal to Kahn. The "sisters" thus grew up together as Shao Kahn's personal assassins, even though Mileena secretly harbored a growing bitterness and jealousy towards her "twin", who Kahn favored over others. Also at some time during her life, Mileena became the secret ally of Tarkatan warrior named Baraka.

[edit] Mortal Kombat II

As Kahn feared, Kitana did finally discover the truth about her past and family. Although she continued to feign loyalty to Shao Kahn, she secretly plotted and waited for the right time to overthrow him. Shao Kahn begins to grow suspicious of Kitana and Mileena was ordered to watch over her sister. After finding out Kitana was indeed conspiring with the Earthrealm warriors during the events of Mortal Kombat II. Mileena fought against Liu Kang and Kung Lao, but was defeated and fled (as told in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks). She was later confronted by Kitana, who proved to be the superior fighter and killed her. Mileena's essence descended into the Netherealm, giving her even more reason to hate her sister.

[edit] Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3

Damned to the Netherealm, Mileena found herself recruited by Shinnok. During Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Shao Kahn made an attempt to resurrect Mileena, and Shinnok saw this as an opportunity to spy on the events unfolding in Earthrealm, thus allowing Mileena to be brought back from the dead and granted the ability to read Kitana's thoughts. After Kahn was defeated, Mileena was summoned back to the Netherealm.

[edit] Mortal Kombat Gold

During Mortal Kombat Gold, Mileena assisted in Shinnok's invasion of Edenia. Seeing this as a chance to finally prove she is superior to Kitana, Mileena allowed her "sister" to escape Shinnok's dungeons. However, Mileena would again be denied. After Shinnok's defeat, she was again bested by Kitana and secretly locked away in an Edenian prison, perhaps in the hope that she would one day reform.

[edit] Mortal Kombat: Deception

Mileena remained imprisoned for many years, until the Dragon King, Onaga, returned during Mortal Kombat: Deception and began his own invasion of Edenia. Mileena was freed from her prison by Baraka. She joined Onaga, and was ordered to pose as Kitana in order to mislead the princess' armies while Onaga gathered his strength. Mileena accepted, seeing this as a chance to gain some amount of revenge against Kitana. However, as Mileena began her titular deception, she also began to consider taking control of the armies for herself.

[edit] Mortal Kombat: Armageddon

In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Mileena had seized Shao Kahn's fortress using the Edenian forces, all in the name of "peace". Though she did this still under the guise of Kitana, she had decided to continue her charade until the Edenian armies were corrupted enough to follow her under her true identity. Though at first confident that Outworld was hers to rule, Mileena soon discovered that Shao Kahn had mounted an offensive against the fortress to re-instate Kahn's rule over Outworld. Revealing her identity to Kahn, Mileena eventually surrendered to him. Shao Kahn then commanded her to capture Shujinko, who would be used as a bargaining chip in gaining Onaga as an ally, and Shujinko was quickly imprisoned after being defeated by Mileena personally. However, having tasted power for herself, she was no longer content with being a minion. Deciding that she is destined for greater things, and with Outworld out of her reach, Mileena sets her sights on ruling Edenia instead.

In Mileena's ending in Armageddon, she defeats Blaze, causing herself and her "twin" Kitana to psychically fuse together for a moment. When they separate, Mileena finds that she has taken Kitana's features and become beautiful, while Kitana has been cursed with Mileena's Tarkatan teeth. Mileena is now able to take her rightful place as princess of Edenia. She rules in Kitana's place and locks her "sister" in the Edenian palace dungeon, where Kitana eventually goes insane.^[1]

[edit] Appearances in other media

Dana Hee as Mileena in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation

Mileena appeared briefly in the film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, where she was played by Dana Hee and was only featured and defeated in a fight scene with Sonya Blade. Though she was never mentioned by name in the film, Mileena's name appears in the end credits.

Mileena appeared in one episode of the television series Mortal Kombat: Conquest, in which she had no initial relation to Kitana and was here depicted as a repulsive-looking Outworld assassin sent by Shao Kahn to assassinate Kung Lao (whom she developes feelings for), with a magic spell placed over her to give her Kitana's beautiful face, which she loved (for a second, he also called her his "new daughter"). As punishment for her taking too much time in her mission, Kahn allows her to keep her beauty with the exception of making her teeth more exaggerated and pointy and making her voice sound like that of an old woman. As giving her the face with fangs makes her ugliness more appalling, she starts to wear her signature mask, which Kahn gives her before banishing her from his sight. She was portrayed by Megan Brown in both forms, and by Audie England in the form of Kitana.^[2]

Mileena's unmasked face in the never released MK: Deception comic book

Mileena appeared as a minor reccuring character in Malibu's Mortal Kombat comic books, first in the Goro: Prince of Pain mini-series as part of a team lead by Kitana with orders to find the missing Goro in Outworld. She is shown having reservation as of Kitana's true loyalty, though she never speaks about it to anyone. In the comics Mileena twice fights against Sonya Blade, losing both times. She was also featured in a one-shot special with Kitana entitled Kitana and Mileena: Sister Act, which explained their past: Mileena is shown there as a creation ordered by Shao Kahn, though he revealed that he would never let her replace Kitana.

Mileena was also mentioned in a special edition of Playboy that spotlighted provocative video game characters (besides her, there were also Kurenai from Red Ninja, Nina Williams from Tekken and Tala from Darkwatch, among others). A promotional render of her, commonly known among fans as "Sexy Mileena", was an edited version of her alternative outfit concept art. She was depicted with a great deal of both her breasts exposed, with only her sai covering her nipples from view. However, the image did not actually appear in Playboy, and only a fairly common render of her in her primary Mortal Kombat: Deception attire was published instead (it was however unlockable for viewing in the gallery mode of Deception).

[edit] Character development

Mileena was the first evil female character to appear in the series. In Deception, she boasted an alternate outfit that covers less skin than any Mortal Kombat outfit to date. In Kitana's character card video for Deception, Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon has described Kitana and Mileena as the female equivalents of Scorpion and Sub-Zero.

Mileena was played by Katalin Zamiar in Mortal Kombat II, and the original costume used for filming was blue (it was later altered digitally). Becky Gable took over the part for Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, for which motion capture footage was shot with a red outfit. In the later games no actors were used. In UMK3/MKT and MKG Mileena had white eyes with no pupils and irises, but in the later games she has brown eyes.

The character Li Mei, introduced in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, shares many similarities with Mileena (who was not featured in this game), such as her use of sai, coloring, and even the similar-sounding name, but those two characters are unrelated otherwise.

[edit] Reception

UGO.com ranked Mileena number five on their "Top 11 Mortal Kombat Characters" article, citing her presence as an evil female player character as a rarity, as they were a taboo in video games at that time, while her revealing outfits and slutty attitude made her a fan favorite.^[3] She ranked #45 on IGN's list of "Top 50 Chicks Behaving Badly", stating her hidden appearance did little to "diminish her wicked demeanor and actions."^[4] In the book Interacting With Video, Mileena was held as an example of a "dragon lady" of video games, her original "man-eater" fatality described as "a high powered kiss that evokes vagina dentata."^[5]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Mileena's Isle fansite