I think XiahouDun84 explained it better.

One of the things I find most interesting about her is she apparently has no reason to be evil, as far as we know. Unlike Mileena or Reptile, there is no tragedy motivating Tanya. Unlike guys like Baraka or Quan Chi who we accept as being evil "just because," Tanya hasn't lived a life in darkness. As far as we know, she's lived a reasonably easy and comfortable life. In MK4 she sells out her entire realm, people, her own father, and judging by her ending...enjoyed every moment of it. She merrily backstabs people in her own pursuit for power. She's a heartless, conniving, and opportunistic bitch in the truest sense of the word.

Now this might just be me and my own personal interpretation of the character, but unlike other backstabbers like Kano (whom she's often compared to), I do get a sense though that Tanya has some sense of pragmatism in what she does. Guys like Kano or Baraka seem to hop around from boss to boss, jumping blindly at whatever perceived opportunity appears in front of them...but Tanya actually seems to approach things from a more pragmatic, cunning perspective. Even though she didn't join Onaga by choice, she put up with it and didn't randomly jump at the first chance...she waited, and even though her ending is non-canon, wouldn't have made her move until just the right moment.

Also, she's probably the only truly irredeemably evil woman in Mortal Kombat. There really aren't that many female villains in MK. Aside from her, the only true evil woman is Mileena. But like I alluded to before, we can understand and sympathize with Mileena, while there's no tragedy to Tanya. That, in my opinion, makes Mileena the lesser of two evils. Otherwise, we've got Nitara and Sheeva who aren't necessarily villains and even if we were to consider them such, they're redeemed by their desire to do what's best for their people. Frost seeks power, but doesn't strike me as truly evil, and Kira just seems to be a ruthless cutthroat.
With Tanya though, there is no redeeming value whatsoever. She's deliberately evil, cheerfully cruel, and deserves a painful death.

I'll grant though I don't think the MK team has made the most of her...making her little more than another Kano, which I think is a shame (especially since Kano sucks balls). I think what Tanya needs is a personal opponent to play off of and be less of a henchwoman. There's the possible feud with Jade, but I'm personally most interested in seeing a rivalry with Mileena develop.

Well explained! And she's fun to use. She's just so mysterious to me. I like it, I see a lot of potential for her.

Damn, that's interesting. One of my favorite types of villains is the sort you all agree is Tanya. The way I've always looked at Tanya was as a simple instigator for no apparent reason. Not that she enjoyed doing what she was doing, more like a female version, and far less developed version of Scorpion.

I've always thought of her like a shameless ploy at providing the masses with a yellow female ninja....and I cannot stand a shameless and deliberately obvious knockoff. But hell, the way you put it makes me think of wonderful female baddies like Azula from the Avatar cartoon series, or Parker Posey from Blade Trinity.

To where, there's no real reason why they're "bad" other than they really just...like being that way. Not only that, they're usually excellent fighters, planners, tactical specialist, & analytical. A perfect actress for Tanya that I can probably solidify now, would be Bianca Lawson. She not only looks like Tanya, but her typical roles seem to be of the type you all speak of. Before, I just liked Bianca for Tanya because they look similar. Now it's a sore thumb.

Thanks for busting that down though.

Hey Pred, I finally got around to messing around with my profile here a little bit and I love Reptile so I figured it was time to swap things up a little bit. The mk2 select screen pic of Reptile has always been my fav pic of him. That is all.

As far as Tanya getting some love said it pretty good.

Tanya is evil. She strikes me as a completely amoral, manipulative character. She is out for her own best interests. She seems to be a rather intelligent villain as well unlike Baraka and Kano (who is not completely stupid but isn't winning any awards), Also like XiahouDun84 mentioned there is a little sympathy to be had from Mileena. Not so with Tanya.

Her rivalry with Jade was pretty cool as well. Who doesn't love a good catfight? Also Jade and Tanya have always been pretty good gameplay wise so to uber female fighters tearing into each other is fun.

I will cut and past some thoughts from a previous thread I had about Tanya for you.

] I think Tanya could be a valuable character in future games because she is a complete opportunist and she potentially links to 5 or six different characters which could lead to some very good future storylines. If she wants to take over Edenia let's not forget that that goal would eventually bring her into direct conflict with Mileena as well. That could be fun too. Two uber bad fem fatales going at it teeth and nails. That could be even more vicious than her rivalry with Jade.

As far as story goes I agree that at this moment her coolest thing she has got going is her rivalry with Jade. Like any classic traitor Tanya is ambitious. The fact that she has always been in game a very formidable opponent lends her an air of credibility as a villain who could potentially always be a threat to our heroes.

I imagine that Tanya wants the throne of Edenia more than anything. She was the ambassador from Edenia so you know she was very highly placed and had a great deal of personal contact with the royal family as a result of that. Her betrayal should have been a very personal one and very devastating to the royal family. That would continue to add to her rivalry with not only Jade but Kitana and Sindel as well.

It makes sense to me that if she wants the throne of Edenia,she would team up with the only other character besides Mileena who wants the Edenian throne, Rain.

I could imagine Tanya and Rain making a pact or some kind of secret alliance to set themselves up as King and Queen of Edenia by allying with Shao Kahn and conspiring to overthrown Sindel and KItana.

Rain and Tanya would be such a perfect couple. Both ambitious, pampered, consummate traitors with a very strong sense of self entitlement. Since Rain is related to Argus it makes it even better because he could actually make a somewhat legitimate case for being the ruler of Edenia. Tanya being such an opportunist would jump at the chance to ally and or manipulate Rain in a relationship to achieve her goals.

been a long time since i've posted here,

My fave Mk Girls (cause its hard to like just one) would have to be;
Sareena
Kitana
Mileena
Sindel
Khameleon

Sareena and Khameleon would have to be my top faves, aside from Kitana, i mean they have good storylines, and they both tie to iconic
characters. but i hate how much of their potential had been wasted even before MK:A.

My all-time favorite is between Sonya and Tanya. I can't choose between them. I love both of those characters so much.

3rd place would belong to Sheeva.

Predator, Bianca Lawson is a really good choice of an actress to play Tanya.

The actress/radio personality Claudia Jordan always striked me as a strong resemblance to Tanya. Check her out.

hands down Mileena!!!

my brother fears me when i use her in MKII. she's a beast!!!

Rokker, that chick is HOT!!!! i dont like tanya but if she plays her in a movie then ill gladly welcome her!!

Stryker.

...that was...epic

Tanya is an intriguing character, but alas, I cannot say she is my favourite. Can I just say that if she does return, I'd like to see her move away from the classic Edenian ninja look, and wear something a bit different. I think she's sort of hurt by being in a long line of palette swapped females. That sort of things makes potentially interesting characters like Khameleon a waste, too.

I've personally got a soft spot for Li Mei. I don't know why, but I just really like the character. The naivity of her character makes her a bit tragic, and I like the concept of an actual hero from Outworld. Her training under Bo' Rai Cho could put her on a canonical tier alongside Liu Kang, Kung Lao and Shujinko in terms of abilities, which is impressive and valuable to a future story. The darkness inside her also gives her a good internal struggle. Li Mei still has room to grow, and a lot to do for the MK series.

Kitana and Mileena are both growing on me, as well. I like the dynamic between them, and although I think that "good" and "evil" are slapped on them way too far apart on the alignment spectrum, the potential for them is immense.

I've never really cared for Jade or Sonya, to be honest.

Probably Kitana.....

Kira, Li Mei and Tanya have the looks. They were so fucking sexy in Deception, but I always hated them because they were unoriginal in some points.

Mileena was lately my favorite female, because she is so fucking beautiful, and ugly as nightmare in the same time. No other fighting game had similar female fighter and I consider her original (you’ve heard me Kitana). Plus, she is always half naked lately...

But Sonya... fuck... She is the queen. I loved her since ever, especially in MK3, MK movie and MKvsDC. I usually don’t like blonde girls, but Sonya is exception.

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