Because she's not a ninja. She has never been a ninja.

Yes...but in MKA, Khameleon shoots a fireball at her opponent. This move is taken from Tanya (Yellow Surge).

Well, I think it's fair to consider her the fourth woman ninja.

While she has never wore a mask, she is a modified Kitana and her MK4 and MKD Alternate costumes are very reminiscent of the 2D era ninja costumes. She also follows the trend of female ninjas having a trademark weapon. And with Kitana and Mileena both dropping their masks for a MKX variation...

It's fine if you don't consider her one, but it's also ok if you do. Both sides have solid cases.

I see why Tanya is not a true kunoichi because her face is not concealed. Howbeit, if she had the lawful morals of the ninja code then there is always a possibility.

No.



In that image, she looks like a character from one of Schumacher's Batman films, an expensive prostitute, and Egyptian royalty. But not a ninja.

Not everything needs to = ninja. Having a distinct color scheme =/= ninja.

It'd be like calling Reiko a ninja. Why not just appreciate the characters for what they are?



In Khameleon's bio video, nobody actually drops the word "ninja". Boon just said she borrows moves from "the more powerful female characters". So I wouldn't look too much into that.

FFS..........

Real Japanese spies/ninja (while still being offenders) didn't accept nor affiliate themselves with cult syndicates that deal with supernatural necromancy. Tanya did.

Wearing a mask =/= ninja. Not saying she is a ninja, but Tanya never wearing a mask is not the reason for it.

I'll always consider Tanya to be the fourth female "ninja". She shares too many attributes with the rest of them, not having a mask is no big deal, cause she came in a time after the pallet swaps, and by now we have seen all of them unmasked anywas (save Skarlet, but even if Skarlet didn't have a mask, she would still be the fifth one)

The real question is.... Is Sareena one of them?

Sareena isn't at all. What makes you think she could be one?

She isnt a ninja. She is one of the palette swap ninjas. The female ninjas are

Kitana
Mileena
Jade
Tanya
Khameleon
Skarlet


Would Sareena be considered the black one? Or Li Mei the purple one? Probably not.

If Tanya is somehow a ninja, then so is Sindel because their outfits are basically the same shit, and clearly that's the one defining feature of a ninja!



"Ninja" is quite possibly the most meaningless term in the history of Mortal Kombat.

No need to act like that. Obviously you know what they mean by "ninja". Ermac it's a floating jumbled mess of souls that use telekinetic powers but he's a "ninja" anyway.

Tanya follows the pattern of female ninjas that Kitana, Jade and Mileena set and was also used by Skarlet. Is it because she was originally designed to be Kitana? Maybe, but she can still be considered part of the group.

I think the confussion is

But then again calling any of them Ninja is not entirely accurate. Mileena and Kitana are assassins. Jade is a royal guard and Tanya is essentially a sorceress like Quan Chi and Shang Tsung. Really the "female ninja" outfit is an Edenian outfit. Which Tanya definitely is.

If OP's question is "Doesn't Tanya deserve a klassic ninja (really, edenian) outfit?" Yes. Her MK4 and Deception outfits resemble the classic female ninja (edenian) outfit. I'd love to see her in a klassic outfit.

No one is saying she is an actual ninja, but she gets grouped with Kitana, Mileena, and Jade often, as "the yellow one" so even though she obviously isn't a ninja and doesn't look like one, she gets grouped with the "female ninjas" of the series, that's all.

Kitana and especially Mileena aren't ninjas.

There is a reason I use MkNinjas to describe the Ninjas of MK. Tanya, Mileena, Kitana and Jade are female MkNinjas. Same with All of the Lin Kuei, Reptile and Ermac, and Shirai Ryu are MKNinja.


Kenshi is an MkRonin. Yes I am using ninja and Ronin loosely.

Yes, I am aware of that. I think most people know they don't fit the textbook definition of kunoichi, but since MK2 they have often been referred to as "The female ninjas" regardless of if its accurate or not.

Like I said, we know they aren't actual ninjas, but they more often than not are referred to as such, that's all I was trying to say.

Jade, Kitana, Mileena, Tanya, Khameleon, and Skarlet are the palette swap ninjas. Frost is a ninja too.


Tanya's primary in Deception was based on the MK3 ninja look.

MK4 Tanya looks best!

Tanya and Skarlet have unique designs. They are not palette swaps of anything and never have been. It's bad enough that ninja has lost all meaning, do we have to destroy the definition of palette swap as well?

Actually, Skarlet has MK2 and MK3 skins. If Tanya had been in MK2 or 3 she would be like that too.

Guess I forgot about Skarlet's classic skins. And yep, you're probably right about Tanya.

I consider her one of the ninjas/assassins based on her technically being a palette swap but like Reiko its a little murky. They're swaps and based off preexisting characters but out of the gate they were more unique than the previous palette swaps.

But also like Ermac I think she's different enough now that the distinction of being a ninja doesn't really apply to her.