Kitana.
Mortal Kombat mainstay. Icon of the franchise. General fan-favorite.
One of the more developed characters story-wise, and one of the few to undergo an actual arc through the series.
And, for some reason, a character adaptations of Mortal Kombat just can’t get right.
The story has been adapted to outside media quite a few times now—movies, comics, TV, animation—and has even been rebooted/re-imagined in the games themselves. Kitana, as would be expected for a popular and iconic character, has been featured in most if not all of them.
But, for some reason, we’ve yet to see a great interpretation of her. For all the times she’s appeared in MK films, animation, etc., few (if any) have managed to truly nail her. Have they come close? Sure. Is she the only character who’s been done dirty by adaptations? Absolutely not. Has she gotten it worse than others? Not really.
Most would point out—not incorrectly—that Mortal Kombat is just a video game. Not exactly Shakespeare. For all the lore present, when you get down to it, it’s a collection of familiar archetypes, stock characters, and cliches. Should any of these characters, including Kitana, really be that hard to translate to film, television, comics, etc.?
So how and why—despite multiple goes and despite being one of the franchise’s most popular and iconic characters—do so many miss the mark?
