Sonya Blade
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sonya Blade | ||||||||||||||
|
|
Sonya Blade is a video game character from the Mortal Kombat fighting games series.
Contents |
[edit] About Sonya
Debuted in the first Mortal Kombat, Lieutenant Sonya Blade is a member of a top United States Special Forces unit, the leader and founder of the Outer World Investigation Agency and the only chosen female warrior from Earthrealm ever since the first game. Her impulsiveness is catalyzed by her superior and good friend Major Jackson "Jax" Briggs. Sonya represents a very emancipated and headstrong woman, but for all her stubbornness and pride, she deeply cares about the lives of her friends and comrades. Johnny Cage, her fellow Earthrealm warrior and friend, seems to view her as a romantic interest, but there has been no indications of her feelings for him. She has a long-standing enmity with the thug Kano, who stands for everything Sonya despises.
[edit] Storyline
Sonya and her team were in hot pursuit of Kano, the leader of the Black Dragon organization. After he jumped onto a ship, they followed him to a remote island where Shang Tsung's Mortal Kombat tournament was being held. Upon arriving they were ambushed by Tsung's personal guard. To keep her team safe, she agreed to compete in the tournament. Shang Tsung, however, had no intention of fulfilling his end of the bargain. He had her unit killed and, after he was defeated by Liu Kang, took her and Kano prisoner to Outworld to appease the emperor, Shao Kahn.
Sonya was able to send a signal to her superior Jax from Outworld, however, and during the events of Mortal Kombat II he traveled there to find her. Jax made contact with the other Earthrealm warriors, and together they learned of Kahn's scheme to invade Earth. She was later freed and Kano arrested, but as soon as they had passed through the portal to Earth, Kano escaped and ran back into Outworld.
Sonya and Jax now had other things on their minds, however. They tried to warn the United States government of the impending invasion, but their claims went unheeded. As such, they began preparing by themselves for the coming invasion. When the fateful day finally came, Shao Kahn stripped Earthrealm of all human souls, with the exception of a few chosen warriors, one of which was Sonya, who would soon encounter her old nemesis Kano on top of a skyscraper near Kahn's fortress. A fierce battle was waged between the two. Kano gained the upper hand, and kicked Sonya onto a stone gargoyle. Sonya feigned defeat, but when Kano advanced to finish Sonya off, grabbing her by the hair, she performed her most infamous special move: the leg grab, and hurled Kano off the roof to his apparent death, taking a lock of her hair with him.
After her journey into Outworld and Shao Kahn's near destruction of Earth, Sonya became a member of Earth's own Outer World Investigation Agency. The Black Dragon kept crossing her path, however. Its last known member, Jarek, had fled to Edenia while Sonya was chasing him. This lead Sonya and Jax to team up with Raiden and Liu Kang to free that realm from the Fallen Elder God Shinnok's grasp, and to prevent him from coming to Earth. After Shinnok's defeat, in which Jarek had reluctantly participated to save himself. After Shinnok's defeat, Jarek tried to kill Sonya, but Jax intervened and dropped him off a cliff. It was presumed that Jarek had been killed. After returning to Earthrealm, Jax and Sonya found Cyrax malfunctioning in a desert. The two brought the cyborg back to the OIA headquarters where they were able to restore Cyrax's humanity. In return, Cyrax joined the agency.
Years later, Sonya would once again heed Raiden's call, this time to travel to Outworld after the Deadly Alliance had slain Shao Kahn and Liu Kang. For Sonya, this coincided with her search for two missing OIA agents, Cyrax and Kenshi. She was unable to find them, however, and was killed in battle with the Deadly Alliance (she Cage and Jax were overwhelmed by the Deadly Alliance's Tarkartan forces). The Deadly Alliance's victory was short-lived, as Onaga had entered the scene just moments after their victory over Raiden himself, and reclaimed Outworld, as well as the amulet. With his ability to raise the dead at will, he resurrected and enslaved Sonya and her fallen comrades. As Sonya and her comrades appear normal in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, it is likely that Ermac and the spirit of Liu Kang had freed them from Onaga's control.
In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Sonya returns to Earth after Onaga's defeat, with the intention of continuing her assault on both Red and Black Dragon clans, only to be forced to focused on the newly-established threat of the Tekunin. In her absence, the Tekunin had grown large enough to disrupt Earth civilization and had violated Earthrealm law by engaging in illegal interrealm alliances with unknown parties, a combination which forces Sonya to divert all the resources of the Special Forces against them. Early in their battle, Sonya seems to get an unexpected break when the Tekunin's flagship - helmed by their Grandmaster Sektor himself - is seen above the Botan Jungle, and succeeds in downing it. However, when she sends a team lead by her partner Jax in to hunt for survivors, they mysteriously vanish and are presumed to be captured by the Tekunin, Jax's own cybernetic bioscanners sending anomalous readings before contact is lost. With little options left to find out Sektor's plans and otherrealm connections, she tracks the signal of a homing beacon placed on Taven by Sektor before his escape, and eventually confronts him in Arktica. She tries to get information out of him about Sektor and the Tekunin, but they soon engage in battle after Taven refuses to comply. Sonya limps away after she is ultimately beaten, warning him that she'll be watching him. [1]
In her Armageddon ending, Sonya defeats Blaze, who offers her any power she chooses. When Kano arrives at the scene, she glares at him and turns him into a pile of ash. She then destroys all of the Black Dragon and Red Dragon clan members.[2]
[edit] Combat characteristics
[edit] Signature moves
- Energy Rings: Sonya would clang her wrists together and send out rings like whirlwind fireballs that would hit the opponent exploding and leaving rain-like drops of magical energy in the ground that would dissolve. (MK, MK3, UMK3, MKT)
- Leg Grab: Sonya would do a handstand and grab her opponent with her feet and slam them on the ground. (MK, MK3, UMK3, MKT, MK4, MKG)
- Square Wave Punch / Face Planter: She would take off into the air and fly across the screen with a punch to anyone who was in the air. This attack was given to Kitana also in the later games.(MK, MK3, UMK3, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:A)
- Inverted Bicycle Kick: She performs a great counter-air attack rising into the air with a series of vertical kicks. (MK3, UMK3, MKT, MK4, MKG)
- Air Leg Throw: Using her legs she would toss the opponent to the ground from the air. (MK4, MKG)
- Cartwheel Kick: Sonya would perform a cartwheel at her opponent kicking them on impact. (MK4, MKG)
- Kiss of Death: Sonya would blow a poisonous mystical kiss that would stun/blind the opponent temporarily. This move was translated from her Kiss of Death fatality as a move, and was given to Kira in Mortal Kombat: Deception. (MK:DA, MK:A)
- Armed Forces: Sonya crouches and shoots a purple projectile at her opponent. This attack was borrowed from Kira in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. (MK4, MKG, MK:A)
- Flying Boots: Taking a page out of Liu Kang's book, Sonya delivers a flying kick to her opponent. (MK:DA, MK:A)
[edit] Recurring fatalities
- Kiss of Death: Sonya kills her opponent by blowing them a kiss. In first and third Mortal Kombat games, her kiss takes the form of a ball of fire, burning her opponent alive. In Mortal Kombat 3, another derivation of this fatality could be seen, in which the kiss takes the form of a purple orb, crushing the opponent and leaving behind a pile of blood and bones. In Mortal Kombat 4, the kiss returned in a different fashion; the kiss takes a form of an energy ball and slices the opponent from half. In Deadly Alliance, the kiss takes the form of a purple poisonous mist, which makes her opponent choke and vomit out organs, food and blood. This fatality has been Sonya's trademark fatality ever since the first game. (MK, MK3, UMK3, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:DA)
[edit] Appearance
Unlike many other female Mortal Kombat characters, Sonya does not wear provocative clothes or dressing that reveals her body, while there are minor factors that makes up for her sex appeal. In Deadly Alliance, her lingerie can be seen outside, and in Shaolin Monks, she has a belly piercing.
She looks tough and athletic.
Sonya's hair color is blond, and she has bright/electric blue eyes.
Sonya is also one of the tallest female characters in Mortal Kombat.
Sonya has been involved in all MK games one way or the other, and is currently the MK female who has appeared the most in all of them. An interesting thing about her is that she always receives a new and different look:
- MK1: Green (also in red) outfit with white boots. Short hair and has earrings.
- MK2: Same outfit as MK1, chained in the background.
- MK3: Improved green (also in blue) outfit with black and white (aerobics style) and a gypsy belt. Long ponytail and has earrings
- MK4: New green (also in red and purple) with black outfit that no doubt resembles Bridgette Wilson from the first movie. She wears her trademark cap from the first film and has a long ponytail. She also has some strange weapon/bullet things around one of her legs. She doesn't wear her hat in her alternate purple costume.
- MKDA/MKA: She was given a military outfit that attempts to fit her tough personality, a completely new and improved look when compared to her other appearances. She wears a jacket, a tight torn shirt, tight pants, and black boots. This look is possibly a tribute for Sandra Hess, who plays Sonya in the second film. She wears an entire bright brown/white costume that covers all her body, big boots with high heels, and a military hat.
- MKSM: She received a new look that was mainly inspired of her MKDA outfit. Her jacket is more simple and dark brown, but her tight black shirt and military-like pants are completely new. She was also given a piercing. Her white-blond hair was tied in a short ponytail.
[edit] Appearance in other media
[edit] Film
Sonya appears in both Mortal Kombat movies as one of the leading characters, both times played by a different actress. In the first movie, played by Bridgette Wilson, she first defeats many of Shang Tsung's guards in a battle alongside Johnny Cage and Liu Kang. Later she defeats and kills Kano with a variation of her Leg Grab special move (noted as a variation because the Leg Grab is practically impossible to perform in real life), by grabbing his neck in a headscissors and twisting it. This is her only solo fight in the movie. Shang Tsung has a certain attraction towards Sonya during most of the film, but she uses sarcasm and rudeness to stop the sorcerer's advances. Even though she repeatedly rebuffed Johnny's advances, she later became attracted to him.
In the second movie, played by Sandra Hess, Sonya manages to fight more characters then the rest of the cast. She first faces Shao Kahn when he knocked her to the ground but was soon released after Johnny Cage tried to save her, this resulted in his death. Sonya expressed remorse for his death but seemed to forget about him at the end of the film. She later defeats a rather large group of Shao Kahn's extermination squad assassins and in the same fight she kills Cyrax with her trademark Fatality, the Kiss of Death. Later she defeats Mileena in a one on one battle and in the final battle she faces both Ermac and Noob Saibot (the latter of whom is erroneously spawned from the former). While Jax deals with Noob offscreen, she defeats Ermac with another Leg Grab variation (this time resembling a hurricanrana) and breaks his neck to finish him.
[edit] Television
Sonya is a lead character in the animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm. Her vendetta against Kano is explained (Kano killed her partner and friend), though it is stated she won a fight against him during the first Mortal Kombat. Sonya has an important role during episode 7 Fall from Grace, where due to her arrogance she ends causing Stryker to get wounded, and he dismissed her of her rank, though she later regains Stryker's trust. Its also interesting to notice that she plays important roles in almost all the episodes, Sonya was given more shinning light then the rest of the cast in the TV series. It was also revealed that Sonya had a friend named Maggie when she was a child, Maggie ended up in a wheelchair and Sonya protected her from the other kids' insults and mocks.
[edit] Comic books
Sonya is one of the main characters of Malibu Comics series. Her portrayal goes faithful with the games, and even ventures and gives its own origin to her rivalry with Kano. Sonya appeared during the Blood & Thunder series in hot pursuit of Kano alongside her partner Lance/Sparky. The pursuit led the three of them into the Mortal Kombat tournament, and they decided to participate to catch up with Kano. Lance would be the first to fight him, and would receive a gruesome death by Kano's heart-ripping fatality. Sonya would not contain herself and proceeds to beat down Kano in rage until Goro stops her and chains her in the dungeons of the palace. Sonya would remain the later half of the series wandering Outworld with Johnny Cage, and confronting a twisted version of herself called Aynos: a mirror image of her, but born in Outworld and the opposite in personality. At the conclusion of the series, she is able to capture Kano, though he would be freed a short time later by his superiors on the Black Dragon gang.
In the second series, Battlewave, Sonya would start an investigation after Jax was found brutally beaten. Convinced it has to be someone from Outworld to make Jax such wounds, she ventured into Shang Tsung's island only to be ambushed and captured by Kintaro. Sonya would later play an important plan in Shao Kahn's plot: she is brainwashed by Reptile into marrying the emperor, the alliance able to weaken the barriers between realms enough to allow Shao Kahn to conquer Earthrealm, with Sonya herself as his wife and queen. During the wedding ceremony, though, the Earthrealm warriors stopped the ceremony and Sonya was able to break from the trance by herself.
The comics strongly suggest a love interest between her and Johnny Cage, an idea later brought into the games itself.
[edit] Character development
Sonya was the first female character to appear in the Mortal Kombat franchise. She was partially inspired by the karate champion and movie actress Cynthia Rothrock; and was named after one of Boon's sisters, as confirmed in a video interview in the special edition of Deception.
Sonya almost didn't make it into Mortal Kombat. Originally, Kurtis Stryker, who later debuted in MK3 (although, at the time, the name was given to the character who would eventually be called Jax in MKII) used her storyline, but he was dropped and Sonya created to add a female character to an otherwise all-male cast.
MK4's model of Sonya Blade resembles the model Bridgette Wilson, who played Sonya Blade in the first MK movie. She could also have been inspired in Kerry Hoskins, who plays Sonya in MK3, UMK3, and MKT.
Originally, Mortal Kombat: Special Forces was to have both Jax and Sonya as playable characters; however, Sonya's part was dropped due to deadline issues. In early shots of Special Forces at the time when Sonya was still in the game, it listed her code name as "Panther". [1]
[edit] Game information
According to her profile in the Official Mortal Kombat comic and instruction manual, her known relatives are Major Herman Blade (father), Erica Blade (mother), and Daniel Blade (twin brother, deceased).
Sonya and Kano were the first MK3 characters to be confirmed.
In her ending in Mortal Kombat 3, there is a typo with the word "possible" being spelled "posible". [2]
[edit] Trivia
- Sonya Blade was revealed to be one of Ed Boons favorite characters during an interview around the time of Mortal Kombat 3 (published in MK3 Official Kollectors Book, by EGM Masters series in 1995); Ed Boon stated that she was not only one of the strongest, but also one of the most popular fan favorites of the game.
- According to the first Mortal Kombat film, Sonya's vendetta against Kano stems from him killing her partner. Before their match, Kano (taking out his knife) taunts Sonya and is quoted saying "This baby brings back memories now doesn't it? -- Put a big smile on your partner though, ear to ear." According to Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, that man was named Wexler, after Jonathan Wexler of Threshold Entertainment (the show's executive producer and writer) and he wasn't killed by a knife; Kano had rigged a bomb on the military base which exploded when Wexler entered the barracks (Sonya herself just barely escaped this blast). However, according to the MK Novel by Jeff Rovin, the partner's name was Cliff LoDolce, and he was shot by Kano (six times) in the back while in the dark -- it was implied that Kano's eye-plate gave him better vision in the dark. In the Malibu comics storyline, Kano kills Sonya's partner in the actual tournament by tearing his heart out - his name was Lance, A.K.A. Sparky. The name Sparky was also used in the original MK video game comic book. The games have established that Kano killed Sonya's partner but have not elaborated on any of the details as the TV shows, comics, and novels have done.
- Sonya was going to fight Jade during the first film in a secret arena, but the scene was never done.
