Sindel

Sindel
Mortal Kombat character
Sindel in Mortal Kombat (2011)
First game	Mortal Kombat 3 (1995)
Created by	John Tobias
Voiced by	Lani Minella (MK 2011)
Motion capture	Lia Montelongo (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
Portrayed by	Eileen Weisinger (Live Tour) Musetta Vander (Annihilation) Beatrice Ilg (Legacy)
Fictional profile
Origin	Edenia
Fighting styles	Zha Chuan (MK:D, MK:U, MK:A) Fu Jow Pai (MK:D, MK:U)
Weapon	Kwan Dao (MK:D, MK:U, MK:A)

Sindel (or Queen Sindel by title) is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. She made her debut in Mortal Kombat 3 with an outlandish move set involving her hair and levitation. Despite not being a main character of the game, Sindel plays a vital part in the development of the storyline.

Appearances

In video games

Sindel rules the realm of Edenia alongside her daughter, Princess Kitana. Her power appears to be more of an inner, ethereal nature, however, and she has a natural affinity with aerial magic, as evidenced by her ability to levitate and manipulate sonic waves. Sindel's storyline begins 10,000 years ago, when her kingdom was invaded by Shao Kahn, and she was forced to watch as her people were enslaved, her husband, King Jerrod, was killed, and their then-infant daughter Kitana adopted by Kahn and raised as his own. This proved too much for her, and soon after the invasion, she committed suicide rather than becoming Kahn's consort.

However, this would not be the end of her. Gaining aid from Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn would conspire to bring her back to life, but not in Outworld. Instead, her resurrection would take place on Earth, which would allow Shao Kahn to step through the borders separating the realms and claim her for himself, thus forcing a merger between Earth and Outworld. She would also be revived in a brainwashed state, with no knowledge of her past and having complete loyalty to Kahn. After the sorcerer Shang Tsung failed to secure Earth via the Mortal Kombat tournament, Kahn implemented this plan, and was partially successful; Sindel was reborn just as was planned, but Kahn was only able to garner a partial merger of the realms by her revival before Earth's warriors defeated him. However, Kahn didn't just lose Earth in his defeat; Kitana - realizing that her mother was alive - succeeded in procuring an audience with her and convincing her of her true past, thus turning Sindel against the emperor. As Kahn's defeat also succeeded in separating it from their homerealm of Edenia, Sindel took up her rightful place on its throne, and vowed not only to rebuild their home, but to also bring down Shao Kahn for his many crimes.

However, those plans had to wait, as one of Sindel's people, the daughter of an Edenian ambassador to the realms named Tanya, betrayed her homeland and allowed the Netherrealm forces of the fallen Elder God Shinnok to invade the palace. Though Kitana got away, Sindel herself was captured and held in her own dungeon until Shinnok's forces were defeated. Enraged at this latest invasion on her kingdom, Sindel sent Kitana to form an alliance with the Shokan armies and lead them into battle against a weakened Shao Kahn while she continued to help restore Edenia to its former beauty. Unfortunately for her, Edenia was once again invaded, this time by the Dragon King, Onaga, who had resurrected Kitana and her Earthrealm allies and placed them under his control. She was once again confined inside her own prison, this time guarded by her own daughter, but was freed by Jade. She scoured Edenia for more information on Onaga that might lead her to a way to free Kitana from his control. In Sindel's Mortal Kombat: Armageddon ending, she defeats Blaze and obtains godlike powers. With these newfound abilities, she decides to resurrect her husband King Jerrod, reaching out to the Heavens and taking his soul. She gives him flesh and bones, allowing him to live once more. Now Sindel, Jerrod, and Kitana will work together to ward off evil tyrants like Shao Kahn and to keep the realms safe and protected.^[1]

In the 2011 remake installment of the first three entries in the series, Sindel's story follows that of her first timelines. However, later in the game, her story alters. As Kahn's hold over her was never broken, she singlehandedly manages to destroy many of the Earthrealm warriors and their allies in a temple where they were rallying to plan a counterstrike at the Outworld forces. Reveling in her victory and power, she becomes overly confident and distracted as Nightwolf, one of the few characters who was not killed in her initial raid, performs a sacrificial ritual that kills himself, but also obliterates Sindel in the process. She then becomes an undead slave to Quan Chi, along with all the other warriors that were killed throughout the story mode (except for Shang Tsung, whose life force had been transferred to her by Shao Kahn, and Motaro, whom Raiden smote before he could kill Johnny Cage), including those she managed to destroy.

Design and gameplay

While Mortal Kombat 3 was in an early production, Sindel was nicknamed "The Bride" by the developers before her official name was determined; John Tobias described her as "probably one of the coolest characters."^[2] The character's original costume used for filming MK3 game footage was red and was digitally tinted purple for the game. Her "that was fun" quote from Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 was used in the second film.

Sindel is the first character in the Mortal Kombat series who used the power of levitation as both a move used in combat and as a victory pose. She uses her screams as both stun moves and for some of her Fatalities.

In Mortal Kombat (2011), Sindel sported a similar but updated look resembling her MK3 appearance. Her move sets in the 2011 game exemplify a more "flashy" and "exotic" fighting style compared to most of the other playable characters in the game. She is one of this game's most dangerous zoning characters with a diverse set of projectiles and stun attacks. Despite the absence of the use of her hair in Deception and Armageddon, Sindel uses her hair in the 2011 MK both as basic attacks and as special moves.

Other appearances

Sindel has a minor cameo appearance during Malibu Comics' Kitana/Mileena special Sister Act. The comic revealed Kitana's past, showing Sindel as her caring mother. An interesting point is that in the comic, Sindel's hair is black. Although the comic shows Jerrod's death in the hands of Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung, Sindel's fate is never shown.

Sindel appeared in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, portrayed by South African actress Musetta Vander. In addition to her backstory with Kitana, she is named Kahn's new general of his Extermination Squads following the early death of Rain.

Although Sindel is never seen or mentioned by name on the live-action TV series Mortal Kombat: Konquest, her canon biography was acknowledged when Kitana declared that her mother had killed herself following the execution of Jerrod, rather than be subservient to Kahn. A figure of Sindel by Syco Collectibles was announced in 2012.^[3]

Reception

The character was met with a mixed reception. Sindel was ranked as third goofiest Mortal Kombat character by Topless Robot in 2011,^[4] and her dialogue line "Too bad YOU…will DIE!" in Annihilation is infamous for its campyness.^[5][6] In 2012, UGO.com ranked her as the 27th top Mortal Kombat character, adding that she and her daughter Kitana should be on every "hot females in videogames" list.^[7] In 2013, she was ranked as the seventh top Mortal Kombat character by The Game Scouts for her role in the games' universe.^[8]

Sindel's Fatalities were included on several lists of the either both best or the worst finishing moves in the series by various publications. In 2008, GamePro ranked her "Killer Hair" from MK3 as the seventh lamest fatality.^[9] In 2010, Game Informer listed her "Scream" from MK3 as one of the best fatalities in the series.^[10] In 2011, 1UP.com listed her "Migraine" as one of the best fatalities in MK 2011.^[11] Her "Scream Explosion" from the same game was ranked as the third best finishing move in the series by Complex in 2013.^[12]

References

External links

• Sindel - The Mortal Kombat Wiki