Top ten female Mortal Kombat characters

Mortal Kombat’s roster grows with every game, but every entry has its stand-out characters. Here are the top ten female Mortal Kombat characters of all time.

Mortal Kombat has always been a series that lets all characters shine brightly. The female fighters on each game’s roster are just as deadly as their male counterparts, and are also often key driving forces of the series’ plot. While Mortal Kombat has always been gory, silly, but creative and addictive fun, the series has matured over the years.

Female characters, despite being just as tough and important as the males on the roster, used to be depicted as stereotypical and unrealistic in many ways – something not uncommon in other games in years gone by. Each was given the PS1 Lara Croft treatment in terms of design. But today, the characters feel more genuine and believable, making them even more iconic.

Here’s our ranking of the best female Mortal Kombat characters of all time.

10. Sheeva

Despite Sheeva looking like a female version of Goro, most of the storylines she’s involved in usually end up with her being outsmarted, betrayed, and murdered by more devious characters. But Sheeva is still an original character of the early Mortal Kombat trilogy and deserves her place on this list.

The four-armed Shokan queen was instrumental in the battle against Kronika in Mortal Kombat 11. Let’s hope NetherRealm Studios continue to explore the character’s potential in future games.

9. Nitara

We’ve not seen that much of the vampire Nitara since her debut in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. In that game, she worked together with Cyrax so both characters could free their realms from the control of bad guy Shao Khan.

Since then, she’s cropped up in cameos in the MK games and movies – but hasn’t returned as an active roster member. We include Nitara in this list due to her memorability. It would be nice to see what the character and her fellow vampires are up to in future Mortal Kombat installments.

8. D’Vorah

D’Vorah is a living hive of insects. She has made quite an impression on the Mortal Kombat fanbase since her debut in MKX, becoming a firm favorite. The character only cares about one thing – the survival of the hive. To achieve this end, she will side with whoever is likely to win any given conflict. Regardless if they are good or evil.

As D’Vorah has mostly sided with villains in the two games she’s appeared in, it’s easy to write her off as one herself. But there’s clearly a lot more to this character than plain old villainy. D’Vorah’s obsession with the hive’s survival comes from somewhere – so we may be just scratching the surface when it to comes to this character.

7. Tanya

Like D’Vorah, Tanya is a survivor, but despite the former being a living hive of insects, it’s Tanya who most accurately imitates a cockroach. Although a black widow and praying mantis also work. Tanya was quite a boring character when she debuted in Mortal Kombat 4, but since then she has backstabbed and plotted her way into fan’s hearts.

There is absolutely nobody Tanya won’t betray and murder to further her own agenda. It’s not enough for Tanya to just survive, she also wants to prosper – and at any cost.

She once betrayed her own realm, Edenia, allowing it to be invaded and subjugated by Shao Khan and later Shinnok. In her Mortal Kombat 11 ending, she even murders her lover Rain once he’s outlived his usefulness – which is ice cold.

6. Jade

Jade started out as just a green palette swap of Kitana in Mortal Kombat Trilogy, but since then she’s gone on to become so much more. In the game’s story, Jade is Kitana’s bodyguard, but her true aim is to build alliances between all the races and realms against threats like Shao Khan and Shinnok.

Her most recent appearance was in Mortal Kombat 11 where the character developed further than ever. Jade’s on-off romance with the brutal, but not irredeemable, Kotal Khan was a highlight of MK11 – and left fans rooting for both characters to survive the story. Of course, they do, but at a bittersweet cost. As an Edenian, Jade also loathes Tanya.

5. Kronika

Kronika was Mortal Kombat’s first female big bad and pushed the characters further than Shao Khan, Shinnok, Onaga, or the Deadly Alliance ever did in MK11. As the Elder God of time and Shinnok’s mother, Kronika has had enough of Raiden interfering in the affairs of mortals.

After discovering the head of her blue-eyed boy Shinnok (who is basically Mortal Kombat’s version of Satan), Kronika decides to erase Raiden from time itself. Although, this brings her into conflict with Mortal Kombat’s heroes – and a good portion of its villains too.

4. Sindel

Sindel is an original Mortal Kombat trilogy character and is essential to the series’ overall plot. Once the queen of Edenia and the mother of Kitana, Sindel’s land was conquered by Shao Khan and she was forced to marry him against her will. She killed herself to be rid of him, but this was a mistake.

Through an unholy pact with Shinnok, Khan was able to resurrect Sindel from the underworld – but on Earth. This allowed him to cheat at Mortal Kombat and invade Earth to reclaim his queen. Sindel has also had her memory erased and joins Khan freely, slaughtering many of Earth’s MK warriors once she does.

3. Kitana

Kitana is Sindel’s daughter, Shao Khan’s step-daughter, and the love interest of now five-time Mortal Kombat champion Liu Kang. Kitana’s story stretches all the way back to Mortal Kombat 2, where she’s forced to become an assassin for Shao Khan, despite hating his guts.

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She eventually betrays him and helps the warriors of Earth, Outworld, and Edenia defeat him in Mortal Kombat. Since helping to overthrow him, Kitana has battled Shao Khan to make sure he doesn’t return to power. At the end of Mortal Kombat 11, a now crippled Kotal Khan abdicates and passes the crown of Outworld to Kitana.

2. Mileena

The only reason Mileena is ahead of Kitana in this list is that by being so fantastically evil, Mileena manages to be even more interesting. Mileena is a mutant clone of Kitana, created by Shao Khan to be his replacement daughter. Because of this, she both loves and hates her ‘twin’, obsessing over her and living her life as a walking identity crisis.

Mileena is sympathetic in many ways, she was brought into the world confused and angry, and given a purpose she did not choose. However once Shao Khan is defeated and Kitana is busy fighting Shinnok, Mileena comes into her own as a character. She follows her own agenda and pursues the throne of Outworld in a bloody war against Kotal Khan.

1. Sonya Blade

Nobody deserves the top spot more than Sonya Blade. Like Raiden, Johnny Cage, Kano, Liu Kang, Scorpion, and Sub-Zero, Sonya is one of the original Mortal Kombat fighters and the first female character to enter the tournament. Sonya has kicked every ass that was ever put in front of her, even taking the fight to gods and monsters on their own turf without fear.

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Like Liu Kang, Sonya was chosen by the Elder Gods to represent Earth in Mortal Kombat and hasn’t backed down from a single tournament – despite never winning. This means she’s appeared in every major Mortal Kombat game, and her character becomes more layered and important as time goes on.

The character shares a close sisterly relationship with Jax, a bitter rivalry with Kano, and a quiet respect for characters like Liu Kang, Raiden, Scorpion, and Sub-Zero. Despite initially considering him a moron, Sonya falls for and eventually marries Johnny Cage. While they do separate in MKX, they rekindle their connection by the game’s end, helping their daughter Cassie overcome Shinnok – and win Mortal Kombat.