I'm horrified and yet I can't look away.

@ Garlador:

Yeah I agree, Mileena's big dramatic reveal should've centered around some sort of mouth reveal. I think they tried to build some suspense by showing all of the flesh-pit creations gradually and then have one suddenly open it's eyes. Except...it felt pretty flat. There's some pretty questionable scene direction throughout story mode (Sindel's pwnurface scene comes to mind).

@Queve: I really think, as you, Mileena is more popular than Kitana. In fact, I think, today and thanks to this entry, is the most popular female (I think I said!!!!). But, at this point, it doesn ́t matter to me if Mileena is more popular than Mileena, or Kitana more popular than Kitana. I think the real achievmente of Mileena (and her fans) is to transform a secondary character in a new icon. I mean: until MKDA, the relevant sister was Kitana. Since MKD, not anymore. Yes, Kitana is incredible popular, maybe more popular than any other female. But, who cares? Kitana could not find "herself", her personality, her history, her portrayals... are so-so in comparion to Mileena, Sonya and even Jade!!! Sure, her fans says "It ́s her best portrayal in the all franchise". At the same time, if Mileena and Sonya got a mixed reception (their outfits, their complicate gameplay- this don ́t mean bottom tier, in fact Mileena is pretty high tier and Sonya have some ridicously high damage combo-, etc), Kitana got a negative reception, since her outfits (UGH!), her personality, her rol in story mode (She have a chapter, and what? This not make her "completely deep" and developed). As long as Mileena retain the same treatment she have since MKD, i will be happy. She could be the least popular character in the entire game, but if she got her extremely and beautiful (and creepy, as usual) aesthetics, her phenomenal personality and charisma, and her rol in the story is developed, to me, the character worth it.

About the "bitter-jeleaous" of Mileena about Kitana in MKD, I got two things to said. First, is totally true. I mean, in her primary bio she related how sick is her hate towards Kitana. But to me, that primitive and irrational hate revolve around two major failures in Mileena ́s life:

- Her death in hands of Kitana at the end of MK2.
- Her stopover in the dungeons of Edenian ́s Castle.

Her thirst of revenge, in my own point of view and interpretation of Mileena, must be find in this two events and not in all the past about her "tragic" past, the favor of Kahn towards Kitana over Mileena and other tragic interpretations about her. I mean, there is not even a little clue, besides Malibu and Legacy -awesome but non-cannon-, about the most "traditional" and commonly accepted "interpretation". The "tragic Mileena" is maybe one of the greatest myths about the characters in MK. It is appealing? Indeed, a lot of fans love Mileena beacause her "tragic past". But not true, or at least not necessarily true.

Well, tHow I see the future of Mileena? Pretty good. Maybe she will be the Queen Mileena. I really want a new feud between her and... Sonya!! Gasp, this feud will be AMAZING. Malibu comics give us a few fights between the two chicks, Sonya alwaaaays win. Then, we have Annihilation: in this case, Mileena shoud have win, she attack first and she dominated almost all the match. Is time to make real (LOL) (or at least cannon xD) her rivality! pd: Garlador, Can I take a few of your (funny) pics in your first message and post it in Mileena ́s facebook? Thanks in advice!

Sure, go right ahead.

So obviously, I like Mileena. Thing is? I picked her out before I'd even picked up a controller. This is the first MK game I've played, and my bf in his exceitement for a new game got me into it as well, I took the time to look over the stories for each character, read through things, look through images, video, and I decided Mileena was my girl.

That said, her part in this story made me a little sad, Yes her deranged behavior is part of the charm that drew me to her, it wasn't all, and I agree in wishing that she was given her cunning side here ( crazy, cunning, temptress, what more could you want?) through the plotline.

I don't care that she's not got much on...I accept it as part of her character ( if you got to cover the face, desperate times call for desperate measures) and I would be in love with the alternate outfit...except for that damn pony tail....frickin hate that ponytail, I can't do it.

All in all, I don't really are what they did to her character in this game because I'm going to keep thinking of her and playing with her with her old motives and story in mind. Thats Mileena to me...game writers be damned

Wow. Not liking Havik or Chaosrealm has absolutely no bearing on whether it'd "work" or not. That's just personal taste.




Really? What if (through proper characterization) Kitana finds sympathy for Mileena as being yet another selfish creation of Shao Kahn and finds herself conflicted in combating her. Kitana begins to see Mileena as symbolic of Kitana's dark past, and through compassion towards her "twin" Kitana ultimately begins to forgive herself. Perhaps a situation presents itself where Mileena and Kitana find themselves situationally allied for self-preservation against a common enemy (like Quan Chi/Shinnok fucking the both of them over) and we get a glimpse of some sort of fleeting affinity from Mileena to Kitana. Mileena true to form though, does something underhanded and violent to quickly severe the tenuous truce but still...we see the glimpse of an interesting connection between the two.


Besides, how can you rule out potential anyway? All you're really saying is that "I was really attached to the idea I had involving Kitana and Mileena and didn't want them to change it." That's certainly fine however, to use your preference as justification to rule out the general concept of potential is just flawed logic.




I mean you basically say "I didn't want them to change anything" (which again is fine) but you're using that rationalize that "new changes cannot and won't be better than the original. Case closed. Retcon-Mileena is garbage."


What you (and others) struggle with in all of this "reading in-between-the-lines" regarding Mileena's feelings of inadequacy and internal struggle when in-game, it's always been portrayed as pretty two dimensional. You're attached to this idea of the potential. Granted that this idea has been propagated by non-canon mediums like the comics and tv series, it still boils down to "reading in-between the lines".

Also for the record samhuai, I'm not trying to single you out as these posts could be directed at anyone who expresses extreme dislike for Mileena's retcon and the surrounding implications.

You know, you're right. a more developed story with Mileena and Kitana, with emotions between them would have potential.

But that's assuming that the people writing the story have any consistency or coherency when it comes to storytelling. They don't. In a perfect world, there's potential. But when it's these people?
God no.

Call me cynical, but I do not trust these people with the story anymore.


"established a backstory in MK9 explaining Mileena's (new) creation as well as a first-encounter that explains the link between the two"

I had to single this out.

It's established an abortive, hasty backstory, with no depth... with a generic concept and a beyond poorly thought out "first encounter". There is no emotion, there is no history. It was rushed, it was pointless.
It removed one of the few moments of potential characterization Shao Kahn had in this game, and turned Kitana and Mileena's epic rivalry into... what? A fight with a naked chick and one reference later (the admittedly cool "she's going away" line).

I can accept changes to the timeline. I can deal with it. Note that I didn't care that Mileena wasn't killed in the MK2 section, that she wasn't resurrected from the netherrealm. That's okay! I'm not even raging that Kitana was killed or any of that.

What I'm furious (well... as furious as you can be over a video game haha) about is that they've for LAZY reasons decided to chuck out established canon and replace it with something crap.

Why did they change Mileena's origin? Was it to tell a deeper story? ... No. Was it to allow new opportunities that weren't present before?... No! Everything that Mileena did do, or COULD do would have worked just fine with the old iteration.
The only reason I can think they did this, is because they couldn't be bothered writing a story that delved into history going further back than MK1. No flashbacks, no detailed dialogue, no references. They wanted to make it easy, and just have Kitana rock up and find Mileena. And it didn't work.

As has been said, they've been trying to have it both ways.... psycho new Mileena, but still make concessions to the old canon... "Oh, they look the same!"...
No... they don't.
Either go with the new canon entirely, and make it clear... or stick with the old. Because this muddle did not work.

I do think that they look like each other
http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/8965/53471383.png




Ermmm, Old Mileena was stuck in a cicle as long as Kitana existed. She would keep getting defeated/dying and If she did get power she would lose it. This way can be better for her, but we will have to wait because the other Mileena had like 10 years of games

No, she wasn't. NO character is ever "stuck" in something. Sonya is not "stuck" in a fight with Kano constantly, Scorp and Sub aren't "stuck" in a feud.

The writers were just lazy back then too.

And further, if old mileena WAS "stuck" in a cycle, and they wanted to get her out of it... why the hell did they do a half arsed attempt at a "rivalry" with kitana in this game?

Edit:NVM

I fully support and agree with everything that samuhai has posted in this thread, particularly his annoyance and observations as to how "ret-con" Mileena really didn't providing any kind of "deep or positive development" and that **it seemed** more like an excuse to make the story easier and faster to tell...

Both Mileena and Kitana got shafted and severely kicked in the balls....yeah, I said balls.

Nah...their boobs are Ok

Wuv you too quevey

I was actually thinking about how the rivalry could be re-worked into the story.

As it stands, Kitana and Sindel are both in the Netherrealm. Mileena is the sole heir of both Outworld and Edenia since both realms are now combined.

What if Mileena was to rule over both realms, driving them even further into Chaos. As a mad, sadistic and mentally unstable Queen she'd be similar to the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland, torturing her people for her own amusement. Under her rule Outworld becomes even more volatile and dangerous as she quickly surpasses Khan's reputation for being a brutal, sadistic overlord.

Due to Raiden's actions in the upcoming battle, Kitana and Sindel both eventually break free from Quan Chi's control and realise their people and their former world are in the hands of an insane abomination of Kitana's image. Kitana's then goal is to take the Edenian throne back and free her people from Mileena's tyranical rule, whilst Sindel joins Raiden's allies with Jade and focuses on fighting against Shinnok's army. The coin could easily flip to have it that it's Kitana who vies to overthrow Mileena as opposed to the past canon when it was the other way around.

There's still potential for them to DEVELOP a rivalry, it's just that the rivalry they did have is gone now.

"Hello hello!"

Well, I'm glad that the thread stayed polite, I guess that warning of yours really did its job! Well done!






Obviously, a misunderstanding happened. When you said that Mileena's popularity exceeded Kitana's by far I thought you were talking about the fan base and it sounded like you were stating a fact. I agree that Mileena's "popular presentation" has exceeded Kitana's (any by far) though.




Mileena's MKA bio was really cool and it's probably my favorite Mileena depiction so far. As for MKA bios in general, well, those were a real failure. They should have had them in the game and for every character, but I guess the 60+ character roster was just too much and in the end many iconic characters got shafted regarding those bios (including Kitana). Of course, all the "non-iconic" character deserved them just as much.

As for the MKA Konquest Mode, I agree. Mileena's entrance was awesome. That short piece of animation/performance and voice acting did so much good for Mileena as a character.

Kitana's exclusion from the Konquest really pissed me off. There I was starting the final level, Edenia, and was really looking forward to not just run into Kitana, but Tanya and Sindel as well. Who do we get instead? Fucking Scorpion! I was pissed! What the hell is he doing in Edenia, while the very Queen of the realm (Sindel) is no where to be seen. It would have been logical to have Tanya there as well since she's an evil character from Edenia. But no, we get stupid Scorpion showed down our throats once again (MKSM was an even bigger insult). So yes, Kitana's exclusion from the Konquest was "unfair" so to say, especially since there was a level in Edenia and she's been carrying the flag for that realm more than anyone else (especially in MKDA). She was playable in the game, that's most important, but yes, her exclusion from the Konquest was stupid.




I agree, however, they could have still made Mileena playable, like they did Baraka, especially given the fact that the retcons they introduced decreased Kitana's importance and increased Mileena's.

As for Mileena's MKvsDC exclusion, well I would have picked Mileena over Kano or Baraka any day, but I guess they went for two females on each side and they felt that Sonya and Kitana made more sense. I would have also chosen Johnny Cage over Jax, but it is what it is...




Like in MKSM, fair or unfair to compare, the truth is that it is Kitana who got more love in the end. That's all I'm saying. I too would have loved to see more from the villains. I'm especially disappointed they didn't even show the creation of Ermac and even Sindel's resurrection could have been made much more memorable and exciting.




I agree with everything you said here. That's the beauty of MK fans, they stay loyal to their favorite characters through the good times and the bad times.

Despite her gameplay being a bit tougher to get a grip on in MK2011, Mileena will remain very popular, no question about that. Same with Kitana in MKDA, even though her gameplay was bad, I would have never turned my back on her.

My point was actually more aimed towards new casual players. This game has been a massive success and has attracted many new players. Many of these are probably playing MK for the first time and they don't have a favorite character yet. It is here that Mileena suffers a bit compared to Kitana, in attracting new fans (that don't have a fave character yet), because her gameplay is not as easy and fun on a casual level as Kitana's is.

For instance, when I first picked up SoulCalibur 3 (my first game in that series), I approached it as a casual fan who didn't know anything about the characters. So I played the game and my instant favorite character became Kilik because his gameplay was very friendly towards new players and I had most fun with him. As I played more, I got better with other characters too, but Kilik remained my favorite because he was that first character that I had fun and success with, so he still holds a special place in my heart when it comes to the SoulCalibur series. When you pick up a game that you're not really hardcore about, you mostly just want to have fun and that's where an "easy to pick up" gameplay really helps certain characters (it's been one of Scorpion's gimmicks too, that bastard lol).




As I said, a misunderstanding happened. It's all cool, I hope this post helps. I really appreciate your careful and nicely organized reply! I still have so much catching up to do all around the forums and all the tourney footage I have planned to watch, lol, I'm all over the place. Glad to see you're still around on a daily basis (I've noticed some "big posters" have unfortunately been missing for a while now) and congrats on your promotion through the MKO ranks!



*Clicks the "Post Message" button and prays nothing is messed up with the quotes lol!

This is a long ass thread so I don't really have time to read it all yet but the way I see it, Mileena got the best thing she could've in this game. Liberation from Kitana. The old Mileena was obsessed with Kitana. That was of course very interesting and made for some interesting revelations here and there but that plotline had an expiration date. Mileena couldn't spend all eternity trying to outdo Kitana, one would have to kill the other. And I doubt Mileena would've been the victor unfortunately. But in this new timeline, Mileena is not only seemingly happy with who she is herself but doesn't seem to give a fuck about Kitana. The two can finally co-exist. Well, assuming Kitana is risen from the dead.

I think it's a little silly to pit Mileena's quite small role in MK9 against over a decade worth of bios and endings. Of course the previous incarnation was more developed, they'd had 14 years to do it. This is the beginning of a new, better Mileena to develop in this new timeline who can be everything the old Mileena was (twisted, flirtatious, calculating) without being shackled to Kitana. Mileena's one of the few characters that has buckets of potential just waiting to be explored, if any of their characters was deserving of a fresh start, I think it's her.

@Keith: Couldn't agree more. One thing though...if you just skimmed through the thread you owe it to yourself to read Garlador's OP.

Oh I definitely read Garladors original post. I love these threads. I love individual character discussions. I just haven't gotten around to reading all the replies yet.

Except for this one;



That was hard to miss.

NoobSaibot5 your avatar is FANTASTIC!!!

I wish I could be as positive as Keith when it comes to Mileena's and Kitana's retcon.

For now, I remain bitter and annoyed and insulted. Maybe the next game will manage to make the hate go away...



The bios themselves were not a failure. They were actually some of the best in any MK game. The GAME itself is what failed.

There's just absolutely NO excuse for the lack of bios in MKA.

They KNOW how fans feel about the story. They KNOW how the fans feel about MK and the characters.

Not having the bios was offensive, insulting, lazy, mediocre, a slap on the face, a kick on the falls, a pinch on the boobs, and utter bullshit topped with vomit and Bush's face.

It was just ridiculous.

And it feels even worse knowing they were "trying" to get them all out yet they failed to do so....and still, all the ones we got were absolutely amazing and sparked soooo much discussion and fun interest among the fans. Such a shame.

MKA will forever be the MK game that made me hate NRS and MK for a long long time.



I know, right? They just have to shove him down our throats no matter what, even if it makes absolutely no sense when placed in comparison to what would have made sense...ugh, well, at least his fight was awesome! I loved that boss fight.



Hmmm, I'm honestly not so sure Kitana got much "more love in the end", when it comes to MK9. Looking back, it isn't exactly her best ride nor the one she deserved to have. this is, of course, my opinion. I do think Mileena got more screwed because of the story-retcon, I think because its about her own story that it feels more personal, but, Kitana is really not that far behind. They were both screwed.



Lol! It worked! And thanks.

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I was thinking about something today which as far as I'm aware, wasn't discussed in this thread.

In Mileena'sbio it's stated she's prone to fits of savagery and madness. In her ending, it's stated she went insane and murdered Shao Kahn in a fit of rage. From that logic, it's safe to say she's pretty mentally unstable, and this is recognised by the friends and generally accepted.

However, it's also stated in her ending that during her creation Shang Tsung had imbued Mileena with dark magic, which made Shao Kahn vulnerable. She's able to use this magic in her ending to absorb Shang Tsung's life and amplify her own power.

Now I know endings are generally not considered to be canon, but this game has provided insights into various characters which have generally been accepted as insights into the character's general backstory. From Smoke's ending, we learned he's an Enenra as a result of a sacrifice. From Ermac's, we learned he's got Jerrod's soul in his mystical fabric. Some are even happy to accept Sonya's father appearing as a ghost in her own ending.

But is it accepted among Mileena fans that during her creation she was imbued with dark magic from Shang Tsung? Or is it overlooked as just a non-canon ending? How do you think it would effect her story if this change was made permanent?

I actually support this theory for a variety of reasons. I believe Mileena should become Queen of Outworld and I think her acquiring Shao Kahn's magic can be used as an explanation for her also acquring his cunning intellect and aging her mind to what Mileena was in the old canon to go along with her savagry, that would make her a legit ruler if she's not only crazy, but intelligent too.

Not to mention, Shao Kahn's dark magic combined with her power would make for one deadly Queen Mileena, truly helping her regain her serious, cold and calculating character.

There are too few female boss characters. It would be a nice change for MK10, and with Unknown in TTT2, and likely Sophmare in SC5, they won't be falling behind on the trend.

Well, I'm glad this thread was bumped up so that I can share my thoughts. The bottom line is that in this game, not counting the gameplay, Mileena is an absolute wreck. I think I've come to the realization that she more or less represents how backwards the series is going in terms of how to handle the characters and stories.

Her character and story, although horrible, are not the only problems with Mileena. I hate her look and her voice as well. It's not simply an issue of being too scantily clad. The costumes themselves are just fucking stupid, and it's even worse when you have someone mistake her for Kitana when they dress a lot differently. I think I had read a comment in this thread about something along the lines of her voice being reminiscent of the Joker. I have to say that I pretty much agree if we're talking about the MK vs. DC version of the character, which I still loathe.

I'm not against Mileena being psychotic or even using sexuality to her advantage. However, retconning Mileena into an overly pretentious, narcissistic, childish, obnoxious, and annoying clown created during MK2's timeline is taking her completely backwards. I still think back to her portrayal in MK: Legacy and just how spot-on it was in capturing the character. THAT is how Mileena should be in the games, not the joke we have now. But yeah, I think I've given my 2 cents.

The characters can dress diferently, y'know, they dont wear the same always

Also people seem to forget old timeline Mileena Had like 10 years of development. This one has only a game


Either way the retcon freed Mileena from her kill Kitana cycle. Sacrifices had to be made, but IMO is for the best

Not the best for Kitana. Hi-yo!