Sindel

This article is about the Mortal Kombat character. For the Czech astronomer, see Jan Šindel.

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Sindel
Mortal Kombat series
Sindel in Mortal Kombat (2011)
First appearance	Mortal Kombat 3 (1995)
Created by	John Tobias
Voiced by (English)	Lani Minella (MK 2011)

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 Kitsune adopted by Kahn and raised as his own, now named Kitana. This proved too much for her, and soon after the invasion, where a rape by her new husband Kahn resulted in the birth of Mileena, she committed suicide.

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.

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. She manages to destroy many of the Earthrealm warriors and their allies in the "Temple" stage. Reveling in her victory and power, she becomes overly confident and distracted as Nightwolf, one of the few characters who wasn't 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 Shang Tsung and Motaro), including those she managed to destroy.

Design and gameplay

While MK3 was in production, she was nicknamed "Muchacha" and "The Bride" by the programmers before her official name was determined. In Mortal Kombat 3, the original Sindel costume used for filming game footage was red. It was digitally tinted purple for the game. Her "that was fun" quote from Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 was used in the second movie. She is the first character in the Mortal Kombat series who used the power of flight as both a move used in combat and as a victory pose. She uses a scream as both a stun move and a fatality.

In other media and merchandise

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.

Reception

Critical reception of the character was mixed. Sindel was ranked as third goofiest Mortal Kombat character by Topless Robot in 2011. 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. In 2013, she was ranked as the seventh top Mortal Kombat character by The Game Scouts for her role in the games' universe. Her Fatalities were included on several lists of the both best and the worst finishing moves in the series by various publications, including 1UP.com, Game Informer, GamePro and ScrewAttack.

External links

• Sindel - The Mortal Kombat Wiki