WHO: Her biography. Subjective. Biased. Adheres to the mutant theory.
WHY: Some personal. Some universal. Some just plain weird. All reasons Mileena rules.
FANDOM Etc.: Links. Links. And more links. FEEL the excitement.
RANTS: Seriously biased. Rants on Mileena. And mutants in general. And just about everyone else in the cast.
ABOUT: Technical crap. Disclaimer crap. Inside joke crap. Also how to use anchor tags.
FANLIST: I made a fanlist. Whee!
MISC.: Just weird crap.
See, that wasn't so complicated, now was it?
Rants by list:
Shadows in the mirror--The case for mutant Mileena. New and improved. I'm so evil that way. (rants_leenascase)
Never Gonna Come Back Down--Mileena and Baraka (rants_XD)
Rush Rush Panic!--The developers ruin Mileena. Also tearing up the team in general. (rants_leenasdev)
Pocket Monsters--Mileena in the Threshold Universe (rants_leenasthreshold)
Yes, We Have No Sub-Zero--Better known as "Death To The Lin Kuei!" (rants_ninjaotaku)
How Threshold Ruined Kitana--I'm Serious (rants_kitsthreshold)
The Better Traitor--Giving Tanya Her Due (rants_tanyasredemption)
"My new daughter." Shao Kahn (Jeff Meek), Mortal Kombat Conquest
"Exactly how long were her front teeth?"--Rayden (Jeff Meek), Mortal Kombat Conquest
"You wish."--Mileena (Dana Hee), Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
Who
"Stand and face the true daughter of Shao Kahn!"--Mileena, Battlewave #1
Cloned from the Princess Kitana, Mileena was designed to be everything that the Princess was not: an unquestioning loyalist with supernatural speed, strength, and ruthlessness. She was also expected to be a polite, cultured, and beautiful woman with every bit as much charm as her "sister". To both ends, Shang Tsung's technicians combined the genetics of a mutant warrior with those of the Princess.
A number of things went wrong with the process, producing a flawed copy. Strong and loyal, she most definitely was. She was also hideous, bearing the twisted grin and long metal fangs that came with her mutant genes. Mileena found daily life with her flawless "sister" unbearable, and took to wearing a ninja-stlye mask to hide her features.
Despite initial concerns for Kitana's safety, the girls were raised together. Kitana, hurt by Mileena's constant rejection, befriended Tanya, daughter of Outworld's ambassador. Tanya was cruel to them, especially to her supposed "best friend"--she was bitterly jealous of Kitana's greater beauty and kind heart. Mileena eventually ousted Tanya, reportedly saying: "Kitana's mine, and no one treats her like that!"
Neither of them could have guessed that their truce wouldn't last, or that Tanya would eventually return and convince Kitana to reach out to "refugees" by the names of Quan Chi and Shinnok--a pair of villains that gave even Shao Kahn a run for his money and ushered in the fourth Mortal Kombat tournament.
In later years, Kitana and Mileena became assassins for the Emperor, and were counted among his greatest warriors. They were chosen, amongst others, to participate in the second, third, and fourth Mortal Kombat tournaments. (MK II, MK Trilogy, and MK Gold, ignoring the minor editions in-between.)
At numerous points, Kitana was seen with the Earth Realm's Chosen One, Liu Kang. Mileena was ordered to watch for her twin's suspected dissension and put a stop to it at any cost. And so she did--gaining the interest of General Baraka along the way. (Ironically enough, Baraka and Liu Kang were bitter enemies--Baraka had been in charge of the slaughter campaigns against Liu's home, the Temple of Light.) Such was the beginning (or culmination?) of bad blood between the sisters.
The twins' rivalry escalated throughout the course of the contests, and soon they were hell-bent on killing each other. (Most of Mileena's later storylines consist of "hopes to avenge her death at Kitana's hands.")
As it stands now, Mileena is not officially recognized as a fighter in the Deadly Alliance tournament. There's the slim possibility of her existence as a hidden character, but frankly, I doubt it. *Doesn't hold her breath*...
Wherever two or more are gathered in the name of Mortal Kombat, the inevitable question pops up: "Who's your favorite?"
At which point you raise your chin, look them dead in the eyes and say her name:
"Mileena."
Or maybe you clear your throat and sort of shuffle your feet a little and say it quietly, so as not to be overheard.
Or, if you're anything like the usual brand of ninja fan, you bounce in place and instant text-message something like "D00d miLeEnA RulEz0r!", at which point you are slapped by any and all self-respecting fans present.
The question is answered. But wait, we're not through yet. Next comes its dreaded partner:
"Why her?"
Well, why her, indeed?
For me, it actually all started with Kitana. The shapely brunette psuedo-ninja with razorblade fans of death. All it took was the decapitation fatality, and I was in love. No, not love. Worship. For the next year and a half I obssessed. I played only Mortal Kombat II, and then only as Kitana. I made an ass of myself quoting the comics (this was before the movie.) I bought anything I could afford bearing her likeness. I read up on tessen--her weapons. I bought a blue headband and never got up the courage to wear it with anything. My next three swimsuits were dark navy blue.
One thing led to another, and it was 1995.
The End of Everything: Mileena and Baraka
Doubt will be the fire of your delight
And you're never gonna come back down
No, wait, don't run away screaming just yet. I've got reasons for shipping these two. Some of them might even be good reasons.
I think she's murderously sly
But you're never gonna come back down
My strongest argument comes directly from the games themselves: specifically, Mileena's MKII ending.
For those of you squinting at your monitors, it says, and I quote, "Together with [sic] her secret companion Baraka they rule the world as king and queen."
A marriage of convenience? Allow me to break into Rayden mode for a second here: "I don't think so."
For one thing, Mileena had already gone to some lengths to keep the issue of her mutant heritage quiet. For another, she's intensely selfish--she'd keep all the power for her own unless she had some overwhelming reason to give it away. (In fact, in Mortal Kombat Gold, she declares, "And I will take this Realm for myself!") And lastly, Baraka could whup her ass in a fight. I hate saying that, but we all know he could :^p And then he could rule solo--unless, of course, he cared about her.
Strangely, Baraka's endings have a curiously Mileena-less outlook. She's not mentioned anywhere.
One can come up with lots of explanations for this. Fans have generally accepted that the MK II endings were all "what if" scenarios. Presumably, one of the reason's Mileena isn't around in Baraka's endings is that she's dead, and that his "unpredictable actions and wild fits of anger" (quoted from another panel, not shown) are the mutant equivalent of going on a lovelorn bender.
(A bender, for the slang-challenged, is a drinking binge. Always glad to be of help ;^) )
Neither of them are accepted by society. Mileena learned early that no one wanted her for herself, and the closest she'd ever felt to love was her sister's pity. Baraka was shunned by his own people for the atrocities he committed at the Temple of Light--for obeying orders he could not refuse.
Both of them were guilty as sin for crimes that weren't even theirs. They knew their politics--she, the shadowy intrigues of palace life (Kitana's plots with Liu among them), and he, the savage scramble for short-lived glory in Kahn's military. They were both underestimated by their fellow competitors. In each other, they found a common soul and a shared conspiracy that eventually became much more.
Fate drew them together.
May nothing keep them apart.
Monster In Her Closet: Mileena In The Threshold Continuity
"Will the real Mileena please stand up?"
Okay. We now enter into the realm of the realm of the misguided, the realm of the moronic, the realm of the mysogynist:
Welcome to the World of Threshold.
(Or, more specifically, the world of Mortal Kombat:Annihilation and Mortal Kombat Conquest.)
In this strange parallel world, bouncing boobs matter more than plot, characterization, dialogue, or even fight scenes and special effects. Cleavage reigns supreme. (Strangely, only Taja is immune to this mysterious obsession with mammary tissue--real or otherwise.)
A few of the more absurd points of this nonsensical, sillicone-laden world:
Kitana is fully aware of her true parentage from the get-go. (Directly conflicts with MKII.)
Shang Tsung has never met, nor even heard of, Mileena before.
Kitana seems to know who Mileena is, even though her own creator (see above) does not.
Mileena is a mutant from the outset, with a noticeable lack of arm-blades (maybe she's from a subspecies?)
Mileena is a free agent, with no ties to the royal family whatsoever, working independently for Shao Kahn.
Vorpax laughs at Mileena, and lives. (The real Mileena would've drop-kicked that skanky ho!)
One of the nicer points of her only Conquest appearance, "Shadow of a Doubt", is her relationship (or, rather, lack of one) with Kung Lao.
If we're going to honor the continuity at all, I prefer to think of this as the best part ;^) It's not every day a girl is hired to seduce their generation's Chosen One. Of course, she WAS supposed to kill him. But hey, can you blame her? Rowr!
It was also nice to get a look at Mileena's party-animal side: she orders half the local tavern's menu and flirts unmercifully with the somewhat ratty extras. The fact that she's wearing someone else's face--Kitana's, of course--adds to the irony, making it one of those laugh-'cause-it-hurts moments. It's the same way with her and Kung Lao.
In fact, coming from a Mileena-centric perspective (is there really any other kind?) "Shadow of a Doubt" reads something like a Cinderella story: the lesser sister has it all, for all too brief a time, before things go back to the way they were--only Mileena is her own evil stepsister, and Prince Charming never shows up. Hey, what do you know? She's Cinderella all grown up, with fangs.
The episode is, however, ruined by the lame attempt at a humorous ending, which consists mostly of wisecracks about her appearance. Fans of the series have already done those to death (myself included) and with much more competence than the scriptwriters displayed here.
That aside, the jokes do give Mileena grounds for bad blood with Rayden--perhaps that's the reason she endorses Baraka's slaughter campaigns at the Temple of Light, years later and an entire continuity away.
At any rate, those were good times for her, but they didn't last--by Annihilation Mileena is reduced to a gymnast in a PINK suit. For the last time, folks, that outfit is purple. She's mopped up in short order by a stuntwoman pretending to be Sandra Hess. Excuse me? Mileena, princess of Outworld, sister to Kitana herself, weaker than the bimbo from Pensacola: Wings Of Gold? I do not think so. >^P
Then again, Threshold is not known for sticking to the MK games' storyline. (Which, if we follow the Threshold continuity, was already readily apparent. Thought: Shao Kahn must really be a loser. His adoptee got the drop on him and Liu Kang--Liu Kang!--was able to beat his ass. Just how lame WAS this guy?)
Resourceness:
FANFICTION:
+=DISCLAIMER:=+
I am not responsible for the viewpoints of these stories and/or their authors, and if you have problems with their work, take it to THEM, since there's not a darn thing I can do about it. Have a nice day ;^)
"
Stating the Obvious: About
A scrap of webspace dedicated to Mileena of Mortal Kombat. Designed with Windows defaults (at +1 text size), 800 x 600. It ought to run on Macs and/or with Netscape, seeing as it's nothing fancy.
Cited: Fanfiction references are from "A Lady of Her Own" by Alexei Roditchev, "The Blood On My Hands" by Victar, "Bondage" by Nyohah, and "To The Top of The Mountain" by Sapfhara.
Their works can be found, HERE HERE HERE and HERE, respectively.
The line in the title bar is from the Buffy The Vampire Slayer episode "The Zeppo".
"This Year's Girl" is the BEST Faith-inclusive Buffy episode ever, and also highly reminds me of Mileena. *^_^*
"The End of Everything" is a Powerman 5000 song, off the album "Anyone For Doomsday". Lyrics in that section are from BT's "Never Gonna Come Back Down". That pretty much covers all the flavor text and in-jokes...
Grrr, I want to work some silver into the layout and I don't think it will...
Addtl Font colors: #CC00FF (strong violet) and # CCCCCC (light grey).
In later years, Kitana and Mileena became assassins for the Emperor, and were counted among his greatest warriors. They were chosen, amongst others, to participate in the second, third, and fourth Mortal Kombat tournaments. (MK II, MK Trilogy, and MK Gold, ignoring the minor editions in-between.)
At numerous points, Kitana was seen with the Earth Realm's Chosen One, Liu Kang. Mileena was ordered to watch for her twin's suspected dissension and put a stop to it at any cost. And so she did--gaining the interest of General Baraka along the way. (Ironically enough, Baraka and Liu Kang were bitter enemies--Baraka had been in charge of the slaughter campaigns against Liu's home, the Temple of Light.) Such was the beginning (or culmination?) of bad blood between the sisters.
Doubt will be the fire of your delight
My strongest argument comes directly from the games themselves: specifically, Mileena's MKII ending.
Strangely, Baraka's endings have a curiously Mileena-less outlook. She's not mentioned anywhere.
Okay. We now enter into the realm of the realm of the misguided, the realm of the moronic, the realm of the mysogynist:
One of the nicer points of her only Conquest appearance, "Shadow of a Doubt", is her relationship (or, rather, lack of one) with Kung Lao.
