New Mortal Kombat game confirms fan favourite is canonically queer, ending years of speculation
Mileena returns in Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate. (Warner Bros)
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate confirms Mileena is queer, more than 25 years after the character was first introduced.
Mileena, a mutant hybrid clone of the Edenian princess Kitana mixed with the blood of the savage, demonic Tarkata, was first introduced in Mortal Kombat II (1993).
Having originally been omitted from Mortal Kombat 11 after being killed off in a previous game – provoking fury from fans – she returns as part of the new Ultimate edition with a new outlook.
Previously, Mileena has been intent on death and destruction, and to show up her sister Kitana. In the new game, Mileena returns from the past and finally gets her revenge in an unexpected, and super-queer way.
Warning – spoilers for Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate follow.
After beating Kronia, the keeper of time, Mileena rewrites history and becomes the perfect daughter to Emperor Shao Kahn and Queen Sindel, producing an heir with her lover Tanya.
The heartwarming (kinda) scene shows the pair cradling an infant, feeding it strips of human flesh as a corpse hangs upside down, like a twisted baby mobile.
Fans have speculated that Mileena and Tanya shared more than just a thirst for blood since the latter returned in Mortal Kombat X and was called “Mileena’s concubine”, and their relationship being made canon thrilled many.
https://twitter.com/LOSTyGIRL/status/1328826385998213123
Mileena’s tower ending’s final image being her and Tanya feeding human flesh to Mileena’s child is strangely adorable.
— Kurt Bullman (@KJbullman) November 23, 2020
https://twitter.com/mottinevart/status/1330651701800546304
Mortal Kombat introduced its first LGBT+ character in 2015’s Mortal Kombat X.
A flashback scene saw the monk archer Kung Jin explain why he couldn’t join the Shaolin monks telling Raiden: “I can’t… they won’t accept.”
Raiden responds: “They care only of what is in your heart, not whom your heart desires.”
The game’s cinematic director Dominic Ciancialo later confirmed on Twitter that Kung Jin is gay, adding: “I see people are picking up on the subtle exposition contained in Kung Jin’s flashback… glad we have observant fans!”
Fans had hoped Kung Jin would return for Mortal Kombat 11, urging game makers to give him a boyfriend.
Though that didn’t transpire – and the original release was devoid of LGBT+ characters – the new Ultimate edition (and the Kombat Pack 2 download, for those who already have the original 11) has finally given the community some much-needed representation, in the form of a half-demon clone, her evil lover and their flesh-eating child.
