Growing Pains: Mortal Kombat's Mileena

I’ve written quite a bit about Mortal Kombat’s Kitana. There was her five-part Retrospective, a look at MK11 and how she just can’t win, and most recently, a look at how she’s been adapted in various media.
Naturally, though, one can’t talk about Kitana without sooner or later bringing up her counterpart, rival, and dark half: Mileena. 

Like her "twin sister," Mileena has come to be a very popular, beloved and iconic character in the franchise. Also like Kitana, a big reason for that is her developed storyline and character in addition to memorable gameplay and designs—to say nothing of her trademark grin, which is memorable to say the least.

Look at that smile...

I thought I'd prattle on a bit about her. What drives and motivates her. What made her what she is, and what stands in the way of her becoming more. And explore whether her hated sister really is the source of her woes after all, and what she could do about it.

 

Ugly Duckling

As said, Mileena is notable within Mortal Kombat’s cast for having a pretty developed backstory and, from that, a defined motivation. I’m speaking, of course, about her original incarnation from the pre-MK9 timeline—more on that later.

The story goes … after Shao Kahn conquered Edenia, he took the infant Princess Kitana as his own daughter. She would grow up believing he was her true father and become one of his elite assassins, serving him loyally for much of her 10,000 year life.

However, as loyal as she was, Kahn always feared she might turn against him if she learned the truth about her family and realm. Because of this, he had Shang Tsung create a clone of Kitana that would be unquestionably loyal to him to take her place. Mixing her DNA with Tarkatan, Tsung created what would become Mileena.
Though the clone was indeed more loyal and, thanks to the Tarakan in her, more vicious than Kitana, there was an unforeseen side-effect. She was an identical clone save for her mouth, which deformed into that of a Tarkatan complete with monstrous choppers. Her violent temper and occasional bloodthirst likely came from this, too.

Rather than dispose of her, Kahn passed her off as Kitana’s twin sister and effectively used her as a watchdog to make sure the Princess remained loyal. Naturally, over time Mileena came to develop an intense jealousy against her "sister" which would grow in an obsessive belief if she could defeat her in battle, her father would love her best. This obsession would be her driving goal for much of the games’ story and served as the basis of their long-standing rivalry.

As an aside, though Mileena’s backstory is among the more developed, there are still unanswered specifics that are left to one’s head-canon. Such as how did anyone believe she was Kitana’s twin? Did Mileena ever believe herself and was in denial about what she is? Was she ever seen without the mask, or did she really keep it on at all times? Was there ever a time Mileena and Kitana might’ve gotten along, or did the two hate each other from that start? 

A common misconception about Mileena is that she's as old as Kitana and that they were children together. But the story does specify that she was created by Shang Tsung, who is canonically only a little over 1,000 years old. Meaning, therefore, she could only have been introduced into Kitana's life when she was over 9,000 years old at the earliest.

Personally, my own head-canon is Kahn cooked up a story that Mileena was a "long lost" sister believed dead for much of Kitana’s life and that she did indeed keep her mask on all the time to hide her deformity with Kahn saying it’s just a scar she’s ashamed of.
However, I also believe Kitana didn’t entirely buy it, and that it was Mileena’s introduction that ultimately led to her discovering the truth about her past.

Anyway, where a lot of Mortal Kombat’s cast tend to have pretty basic, A to B backstories and motives, Mileena has a clear, defined and distinct internal drive: she wants to prove her worth, and everything she does, in some way, is in service to that goal. Whether it’s defeating Kitana in battle, or taking her place, or ruling Outworld, everything Mileena does is that need to prove she matters.
And this traces back to Shao Kahn looking down on her and the sense of inferiority it created. She was born for a specific purpose and effectively thrown aside because of her physical deformity, which leaves her insecure, bitter, and desperate to prove her worth. Combined with her Tarkatan side, we have a volatile and unstable individual.

As I mentioned back in the Kitana Retrospective, this is all pretty stock stuff seen in dozens of other movies, books, and shows. The jealous ugly sister, the evil clone, the second-best who wants to prove they’re better, etc. We’ve all seen it before and since. But it’s done well with Mileena and helps her stand out within Mortal Kombat as one of their more fleshed out characters. 

Another thing that makes Mileena stand out is she is one of the few villains in the franchise to be even somewhat sympathetic. Where many of the bad guys are just that—bad guys who are evil just 'cause—there is tragedy to character.

As explained, she was created for a specific purpose only to spend her life in the shadow of the person she was supposed to replace, and no matter how hard she tries, can never seem to win the approval she craves or escape her sister's shadow. And because she was created for loyalty, she can’t hate the man really responsible for her woes—instead turning her anger toward Kitana, who has her own heavy baggage to contend with.

There is a rich dynamic between her and Kitana and their "father." Kitana, who had been favored by Shao Kahn, turns against him. Mileena, who is even more loyal, is overlooked. Kitana, who was once evil, turns good but is always hounded by a living, physical embodiment of her past loyalty to Shao Kahn. Mileena should turn herself around and escape Kahn's influence, but won't and hates the one person who might understand her.

Mileena is very much to Kitana what Carl Jung would call "The Shadow." They are two sides of the same coin, and it’s a big reason why their rivalry is one of the best and most iconic of Mortal Kombat.

Arrested Development

Now, as developed and fleshed out as Mileena is … as defined as her motives and potential conflicts are … a fair criticism is the series hasn't done as much with her as they could. Her detractors will point out that her obsessive hatred of Kitana can be pretty myopic, and in almost thirty years, she's done little in the story aside from stalk/attack her. Further, some would say it's not much of a rivalry when Kitana's won pretty much every time they've clashed.

There is some truth to that. In MKII, when Mileena discovers Kitana has turned against Kahn, she sees her chance to prove she's best and is ultimately defeated and killed. She's revived in the Netherealm by Shinnok and used as a spy in MKIII, but otherwise doesn't do much. We pick up on her in Mortal Kombat Gold, still stuck in Shinnok's service, but she secretly allows Kitana to escape the dungeons in order to get a chance at a rematch.

By the by, even though this is just an extension of their rivalry, it does reveal an interesting wrinkle to Mileena's character. Gold demonstrates she doesn't just want to kill her sister. She wants to fight her and defeat her in a fair match. If she merely wanted Kitana dead, she could’ve easily killed her in her cell or in her sleep. But she wants a true, one-on-one duel. As psychotic as Mileena is, there is a twisted sense of honor in her. 

After Gold, she's imprisoned by Kitana—presumably in the hope she can be reformed—and stays there until freed by Baraka in Deception. She then masquerades as her sister to deceive the Edenian army and briefly considers just keeping them for herself, though that ultimately doesn't go anywhere once Shao Kahn returns.

As developed as she and her animosity with Kitana is, it wasn't really used to its full potential in the old generation. We'd get hints of something more, or a suggestion something might happen, but it would usually just revert back to "Kitana and Mileena hate each other and fight."
Then came Armageddon, and finally the MK9 reboot, which—like so many others—made a total mess of her character and story.

In Mileena’s case, they changed it so she was only just born during MKII, thus removing any history she had with her sister and "father." Therefore, any jealousy or need to prove herself is completely erased.
Made even worse when, in this game’s version of events, Shao Kahn declares her the daughter he always wanted and gives no indication whatsoever he ever wanted or needed Kitana around.

Can we even call Mileena and Kitana rivals in MK9’s continuity when they have effectively no relationship or history? They fight exactly once and never interact again.
Kitana is understandably appalled upon meeting her, though that’s owing more to the idea Kahn wants to replace her. And Mileena just babbles nonsense about being a family, and I’m honestly not sure if it's meant to be genuine or teasing.

That, combined with Mileena’s childish behavior in the game, has given rise to a notion among some that she was innocent and only became evil because Kitana wasn't nice to her, which is a blatant misinterpretation of the story and characters. Although Mileena is a somewhat sympathetic villain with elements of tragedy to her, she is still a villain and not a wounded puppy that just needs a hug. Killing Kitana would not make her life better, and Kahn accepting her from the start invalidates the whole thing anyway.

Things improved in Mortal Kombat X where Mileena is struggling to rule Outworld and finds herself being used and betrayed by everyone around her. She forms relationships/grudges with characters other than her sister. She’s less of the babbling child MK9 turned her into, and we see elements of the old inferiority complex emerge with her resentment fellow Outworlders like Kotal Kahn deem her an unworthy ruler and cast her down.
Kitana, meanwhile, is rotting in the Netherealm and has no interaction with her.

Some welcomed the change of pace … Mileena getting to do things on her own and not obsessing over Kitana … but I think it was a severe loss to burn down and retcon away any and all history between the two. In the old continuity, there was conflict and reflection and the potential for all parties to grow or reveal interesting facets of themselves. In the new continuity, there’s … nothing even though the marketing would have us believe there still is.

Letting Go

As of MK11, it seems we're back to square one. Another big problem with, not just Kitana and Mileena's rivalry, but the overall story, is we'll never see any meaningful progress with anyone as long as they keep reverting back to circa MK1-MK3.
Kitana and Mileena should be over each other by now. or at least taking another step in their relationship. And ideally in a natural and organic way, not via retcons.

The most important question is how much longer can their animosity go on.
Although its handling in MK9 was pretty disastrous, it did at least open the door for her to develop some ambitions and relationships outside of Kitana. I know some believe she should finally get one over her sister, as she tends to always come up short when they face off. Some even believe—mistakenly in my opinion—she should finally prevail over her sister.

But I'm going to say something I'm almost certain a lot of Mileena fans might not like to hear:
Mileena should lose to Kitana.

I understand the desire to have her defeat her at some point. Thus making it more of an even-sided rivalry and Kitana beating her more of an earned victory than just an obstacle. But I think it serves them better for Kitana to come consistently out on top.

For Kitana, there's symbolic value that ties to her arc. It's fitting that in MK2, when she's finally turning against Shao Kahn openly, her first obstacle is her evil self in Mileena. And in MK4, when she's fully grown into a more heroic & selfless person, she keeps Mileena alive rather than kill her again. The fact is, Mileena is only an obstacle for her. Kitana's "big bad" is and always has been Shao Kahn.

As for Mileena, since her character is about proving her worth & forming her identity, it actually makes sense she—until she's ready to truly grow—is forever behind her sister. If she ever defeats Kitana as she currently is, then that's it. She's validated & has nowhere to go.
It's like with Vegeta and Goku in Dragon Ball. Yeah, most fans want Vegeta to come out on top at some point, but it's his inferiority to Goku that drives him. Without that, he's just sitting around gloating. It was his need to surpass Goku that led him to grow.
Mileena needs that with Kitana. At least at first.

What Mileena needs to realize … the heart of her internal conflict, the thing that keeps her from growing … is that Shao Kahn, not Kitana, is the source of her problems. She needs to accept he doesn't care about her, he never did, and that she can be more than Kitana's replacement.

They had an opportunity to put her down that road in Armageddon. After Deception, Mileena's taken over Outworld and found she enjoyed having power for herself … then Kahn rolled in and said "Okay, hand it over." She obeyed and went after Edenia instead, not realizing even if she succeeded, Kahn would just expect her to hand that over, too.

However, it's a development Mileena should come to on her own. Sort of like how Kitana needs to turn against Kahn herself and not because Liu Kang "inspires" her to.
Kitana can play a part in Mileena's turn—and probably should, given how connected they are—but it does have to be her own initiative and not just her sister telling her to.

If the story of Mileena's "redemption"—even though I can't see her turning fully good; maybe mellowing into an anti-hero at best—is her freeing herself from Kahn's influence/abuse and Kitana's shadow, it should be something she achieves independently.

There is the question of whether Kitana even believes she can be redeemed at all. Canon evidence in the actual games is a bit hazy. She kept Mileena alive after MK Gold rather than executing her—which would imply she hopes she can be reformed. Pre-fight dialogue in MK11 actually has Jade outright state Kitana believes Mileena can change for the better.
But … when one watches the actual Gold endings, we see Kitana berate Mileena rather viciously. Other pre-fight dialogues have them pretty antagonistic toward one another.

It makes sense Kitana would believe it possible. As twisted as Mileena is, there is a part of her that is Kitana. I imagine Kitana, who’s had to earn her own redemption, would hope that part of her could turn good as well.

My own personal head-canon: Kitana does genuinely believe Mileena can be reformed and hopes that she does. But at the same time, Mileena just really gets under her skin and makes her lose her temper very easily.

Anyway, in my opinion, Mileena should only ever defeat Kitana after she's "redeemed" to signify her growth. Only when she's escaped Shao Kahn's influence and forged her own identity can she be Kitana's equal or even surpass her.
And maybe Kitana will be happy for her when she does?

If Mileena were to finally reach that point, maybe she could take Outworld's throne and really hold onto it this time. She was undone in MKX because even her allies didn't like her and she just wanted things to continue as Shao Kahn had them.
But a Mileena who's made peace with herself & Kitana and forged her own identity could maybe be someone who garners genuine loyalty and offer the realm something better, while also retaining the needed savagery to stay ahead of Outworld's more treacherous elements.

It could make for a compelling story to see her finally emerge as the ruler Outworld needs after all. But, who's to say she would succeed in her journey? Mileena escaping her father, forming peace with her sister, and making something better out of herself would be a pretty ideal, happy ending. And Mortal Kombat doesn't seem to be big on happy endings.

At any rate, I think Kitana and Mileena should be taking these steps. Both have been used and abused by people they trusted. Both tried to be Kahn of Outworld only to be betrayed and renounced by their allies. Both have been cruelly screwed over too many times.
I feel like we've reached a point where they should finally put aside their differences.

I'd like to see them in a situation in the future where they have to work together and see what happens. According to Carl Jung, a person doesn't destroy or defeat their "Shadow." They make peace with it by accepting it's a part of them and that there's even good/value in it.