I wouldn't say sexy, but I would say sexualized. To me sexy is how the character model actually looks, not what they wear. The female character models in MK2011 are practically charicatures of the "sexy" magazine models. They're extremely thin and big-breasted to the point of ridiculousness. Maybe the designers were trying (maybe a little too hard) to make them sexy, but as far as the models go, they just look silly to me.


Now there's the sexualization part. I absolutely believe that the majority of the costumes for the female characters are not just sexualized, but oversexualized. It's funny to see what they did with characters like Sonya Blade, who has had pretty modest costumes in the past (i.e Deadly Alliance and Armageddon) with only a hint of sexualization such as a belly button ring or her infamous tan lines (you know what I mean if you've played MK vs DC). In MK 2011 it looks like they decided to take her military-themed costume and turn it into a Playboy version of a military-themed costume complete with the high-heeled military boots. Come to think of it, I do find it bothersome that all the female characters except Sheeva wear high-heels in their primary costumes.


One thing I think they actually got right with the female characters is their representation and characterization in story mode. It's almost like their costumes are ignored by everyone. They're not really treated as less important than the male characters (except maybe Raiden and Liu Kang, but that's because they're the main characters, not just because they're men) and they're not just prizes for the heroes. The good guys don't "get the girls" in this story. For the most part the female characters are treated similarly to the male characters with some exceptions such as Johnny Cage/Sonya (Johnny being the tool that he is) and the apparent romance between Liu Kang and Kitana (although it didn't really get anywhere in the end). The female characters have their own personalities and their own goals.

What's upsetting is that the characters are not represented by their looks in the game. You've got a hardcore military woman with a vendetta wearing only a revealing vest. You've got an assassin wearing high heels and a two-piece. You've got a four-armed monster in a mankini. Mileena's I can cut a little bit of slack because it makes sense a little; she wears the sexy outfit to compensate for her disgusting monster face (but I still think they overdid it).


All in all, I do not think the models are too sexy (because I don't think they're sexy at all). They could be improved by looking more real (and diversified, so they each look physically different). I do think the outfits are too sexy. They can be improved by being seriously toned down. Give them more fabric and ditch the high heels. Make it look like something you could actually move in, and maybe throw in a tiny bit of extra spice for some characters where it works. I don't think people should just shut up and accept it. It's distracting and it takes away from the characters and the game as a whole. Good luck with your essay.

The standard for each character changes. Mileena's overly-sexualized appearance works in my opinion, but Sonya looks absolutely ridiculous. She's almost unusable because of how bad and senseless her appearance is.

wow, thank you for your really comprehensive answer! that was great, and actually an original idea, some people have said that the clothes can be as ridiculous as they want to be, its only a fantasy game, if you want to play a realistic fighting game there are plenty out there to choose from, so why not loose yourself in the fantasy of it?

but i see your point with having more realistic costumes with a little extra something, and i quite liked the simple things like the tan lines on Sonya or the eye make-up on Kitana.

I aimed to make a point of stating that the women are not treated any differently to the men and the outfits are barely noticed (Mileena's is in the MK9 sstory mode - "friend or foe?", "foe", "dressed like THAT?", "Definitely foe".) and now i can, so thank you for helping me prove a point. i really appreciate your help

but would Mileena's look still work if she was the only sexualised character? if she was the only one wouldnt it look a little silly?

I don't think so. MK's art style is so eclectic that virtually anything fits the mold. That's why the thunder god is able to stand next to the riot cop who's standing next to the cyborg while still looking normal. Paradoxically, uniqueness allows the characters to blend in. It's the quiet colorless characters who tend to stick out and struggle to fit in. I feel that's a large reason why Shujinko was heavily rejected (I liked him, though).

Sex sells it's not going to change no matter how much people bitch. the Game is rated "M" for a reason

It's rated M for violence and gore.

If Mortal Kombat 10 came out, but it didn't have any blood, gore or fatalities, how many people would be pissed off?

Most people. That's what the series was made for.

If Mortal Kombat 10 had several female characters and all of them were fully clothed and reasonably dressed, how many people would be pissed off?

Most wouldn't give a shit. The few people who would voice their opinion over how the ladies aren't half naked would come off as perverts.

"Sex sells" doesn't work for Mortal Kombat. All of the women in this series are treated with respect when it comes to story, as all of them are valued. It's really fucking hard to take Sonya seriously as a military expert and master fighter when she's in high heeled boots.

Your last sentence contradicts your statement.

Look, to say that the women in Mortal Kombat don't fall victim to the same male dominated hyper-sexualized iteration of fantasy female women that dominate mediums like comics, video games, and action movies is ridiculous. It's a macro issue not a micro issue.

There's an argument to be made that the costumes on girls in comics either have no noticeable effect on sales, because it's an industry whose audience is only about 50,000 devotees who would buy the same books regardless of what certain characters are wearing...or that it's in fact HURTING sales because there's a base of potential female customers being chased off. Also, that's an industry where they manage to exploit the female form even while they're wearing cloth head-to-toe because everything's skin-tight. Just look at Spider-Woman.

Anyway, sex probably sells a LOT less than it used to now that the internet makes it easy to get porn for free.

No. It doesn't.

The story takes them seriously. They are valued characters who have connections to the plot. Other characters take them seriously, even if Johnny DOES flirt with them. The STORY takes them seriously. Their character design makes it hard to take them seriously.

Sex does sell, so where's my big dicked leather fetish muscle man that rubs his nipples after he eats someone's face?

It's not sex that sells. It's tits that sell. But wait, it's not tits that sell, because of all the hundreds of games out there that don't have a single exposed or even partly exposed tit that are not only doing just as well, but even better than Mortal Kombat. It's just fan service, nothing more. It has no effect on the sales or success of any legitimate series, and games that are based entirely around selling sex and fan service historically have not been hugely successful.

I personally have no problem with fan service and sexuality in video games, but I do have a problem with developers acting like horny teenage boys and thinking something like Flesh Pits Mileena or those laughable fishnet panties she wears in her alternate are anything but hurting their reputation in the modern gaming world. Not a single person bought this game to look at Mileena's tits. Not only can you look at real tits on the internet, you can look at Mileena's tits on the internet... So why bother?

I suppose so, so are you saying that the representation of the female characters as sexy eye candy is ok because really, they arent JUST that, and the other characters are so ridiculous that it balances the gender divide out?




With the 'where's my big dicked....' do you think if that was made as prominent as the anatomy of female characters that the existing or even new fan base would be interested? would homophobia replace the feminism? If the costumes have nothing to do with sales ultimately then why have the costumes gotten skimpier as the decades have gone by?




So what happens if the men become skimpy and fetishised? will that kind of sex still sell? and the M is not for the sexual content




But with the costumes becoming more intricate and albeit skimpier after decades, what would happen if they did cover the women? People DO get excited about outfits and alternates to see what the new design will look like, and as graphics have become better, there is more opportunity to see things we previously couldn't, IE Baracka's teeth, Sheeva's marking on her skin. If the women were suddenly modest on their dress, then wouldnt people complain regardless of how it made them sound? Would the message boards not still be filled? What do you think would be the reaction from feminists?




Could you explain your point further?




But as a player, playing as someone inside the MK universe, do we not take them seriously vicariously through our chosen player?

All good with me. I don't treat Mileena as I would treat a real woman. I do find gore, competitive gameplay and hot girls to be a rather blood boiling concoction.

It's a tired subject. Real women are subjected to far worse for entertainment in other forms of media. Can we get over the virtual ones that half the time, aren't even human?

I get what you're saying and I know there are other threads, but I have to conduct my own research as well as look at existing research.

It really depends on the character. Mileena shouldn't be covered all the much, because that's her character. She's a seductress. Sheeva is from a race of warriors who don't wear much clothing to begin with, so I don't hold much issue there. Those two, I understand. Skarlet, I'm a bit okay with as well.

Kitana and Jade are a bit much, but I can understand them showing some skin. The high heels are ridiculous, though.

One of the biggest issues is Sonya. A military agent wearing a vest that barely controls her breasts and high heeled boots. There is no reason for her to be wearing that, outside the obvious.

Soul Cailibur is a serious that has two characters in the form of Ivy and Hilde. Ivy is a half naked woman in high heels. Hilde is a woman in battle armor with flat footed armored boots. Both characters are beloved! Granted, Soul Calibur allows you to undress the woman in costume customization, but you can do the same thing to the men there.

I don't want the women to all be dressed up like nuns. Fan service with various characters is fine. But when the entire roster of women are wearing high heels and in skimpy outfits, regardless of who they are? It stops seeming like fan service and more like sexism.

Consider the fact that all (ALL) of the women have 90% of their ass showing after taking battle damage, yet exactly 2 men have 10% of their ass showing after battle damage.

Again, sexy outfits are fine. But this is a bit much.



I play Stryker, Cyber Sub-Zero, Kitana, Sonya, and Mileena. I've played Sonya and Kitana for a long time in the series, actually. I love all those characters to death.

Admittedly, Mileena and Kitana don't bother me all that much. However, I wind up choosing Sonya's second outfit, where she is wearing a small shirt and boots. And that costume doesn't bother me until I take too much battle damage, where her boobs are practically falling out of her shirt.

How do you mean sexism? Can it really be sexism if it is user-driven demand? Or within the story section, the males take the females seriously regardless of what they wear? The battle damage surely makes things more realistic?

Well, 'ridiculous' isn't the right word. It's the opposite actually. Although the characters may be ridiculous in other in other settings, Tobias created a world and context where these things not only make sense, but are artistically effective.

However, not all the designs abide by the rules of this artistic setup. That's why Sonya, in fact, DOES look ridiculous. Her current design is bad even in the context of MK. That's why I said the standard changes from character to character: every design will have different levels of dramatic justification. Mileena is a good example where the sex appeal works. I could say more, but Insider covered the issue for the most part.

But if you're asking me if this makes the overly-sexual designs MORALLY okay, then that's a different question. Everything I've said prior is for the artistic side of the debate (as in: do female designs in MK have high/low aesthetic value). If you wanna break into the ethics, that's another can of worms. To even begin, you'll need a theory regarding how sex affects human psychology, a theory of value regarding the human body, and a theory on how the designs affect the real-world treatment of women in society.

Those are three very difficult issues to wrestle with, and each requires a different expert (a psychologist for the first; a philosopher for the second; a sociologist for the third). Whatever the answer is, it's not obvious.

Replace those stupid heels with army boots & put a short sleeve shirt under that vest & I'm good.

Sure but I would think that it's rather obvious. What do you want me to expand on? The hyper-sexualized portrayal of women in fictional mediums with large male demographics as a general broad phenomenon (and the double standard therein) is what I meant by a macro issue. In essence, the depiction of women in Mortal Kombat is just an extension of that sort of fantasy character design. Also, if you need interview data I'd be happy to help.

but are these standards becoming harmful? or would feminists find something to complain about regardless of what women wore in the games, or the number of women present? Do you think their portrayal overall in the franchise poses a real life threat to the representation of real life women and how they are expected to look or be treated?

and thank you for offering the interview, i will definitely take you up on this offer.

Well for starters this isn't really a "new" issue persay as women have been sexually objectified for as long as men have desired women. So "becoming harmful" is a misnomer. The "why" of this objectification is up to debate (some cite genetic hardcoded male brain chemistry, others cite lopsided mysgonistic cultural values and power differentials). Ultimately though, art is a reflection ( a mirror if you will) of culture regardless of the medium so to ask if Mortal Kombat poses a real life threat to the representation of real life women I'd say of course not. At least, it poses no threat directly but does steer into murky ethical waters with the idea of condoning objectification for monetary purposes (I.E Men like boobs) while also becoming yet another example of objectification.

Another factor that hasn't been mentioned yet is the impact this sort of character design approach has on the video game medium itself. A lot of the criticisms proclaiming "video games cannot be art" implicates things like the rampant sexual objectification of women in favor of appealing to the young male demographic as well as how that sort of design alienates would-be women gamers. It's seen as cartoonish, childish, and "not to be taken seriously" which undermines the growth of the industry in terms of variations in gaming experiences.

If you ask me, just because it's been going on for a long time in other games and media, doesn't mean Mortal Kombat needs to do it. And yes, I know MK has done it before, but not to the level seen in MK9.

Is it harmful? Well, I think it could alienate potential female players (and women who are already fans of the series). I think it's safe say that a player can relate to characters at least a little bit better when the character is the same gender as the player. So how would a female gamer like the game seeing that all the female characters are dressed like strippers?

Do I think feminists will find something to complain about regardless? Yeah. I would assume that feminists are upset about this, and while I don't agree with every feminist statement, I do more or less agree with this one. But I think that when and if this issue is ever resolved, they'd still find something wrong with it.

Does this pose a threat to the real life representation of women? I really don't think so. I certainly HOPE not. Would anyone really look at the MK9 women and say "You know, she looks really good. I wish women really looked like that." I highly doubt it. And I think that goes for most games. That's why you hear people say "Sad" or "No life" when someone talks about how hot a videogame character is.

All in all, Mortal Kombat is a fantasy game. It's a fantasy game because it's got a modern, mostly realistic world colliding with a magic ancient-Asian inspired world. It's got traffic cops and Shaolin monks fighting monsters and ninjas. Give the female characters more unique outfits that better represent their characters, and you still have a great fantasy world. So what if more men than women play the game? Obviously there are still plenty of women who play it too. Shouldn't it strive to appeal to both genders regardless? I don't think too many men would mind if the female characters have less revealing costumes. Heck, I think it would make it a lot better.

But it can affect the other side of the spectrum. The male might not say "this is what normal women should aspire to look like," but the female might say, "this is what men want to see, and therefore I should aspire to look like this."

And I feel that's exactly what's happening. Just take a look at fashion trends. Skirts are getting shorter; jeans are getting tighter.

To be honest, I wouldn't really accuse videogames, especially Mortal Kombat for that happening. Most women, at least I think, would have the common sense to know that no one wants women to look or dress like Mileena or Sonya as seen in MK9.

I think the fashion trends come from more main-stream media; things like magazines and commercials that show real women wearing tight jeans and mini-skirts, which pretty much screams out "this is what women should wear!" What these fictional characters are wearing, although they're not helping much, aren't really marketing themselves as something that should actually be worn (unless you count those halloween costumes).

I maintain that the fact that MK is a fantasy game isn't an excuse to dress the female characters in unnecessarily over the top costumes. But at the same time, I would expect people to realize that this is a fantasy game and nobody should let it influence their real lives.