The Sexualization and Desexualization of Mortal Kombat’s Mileena
Recently I wrote an article about Street Fighter’s Chun Li and how she gets criticized for being oversexualized. While I don’t find Chun Li to be sexualized, there is another character in fighting games that has been sexualized for nearly her entire existence. Her sexualization has become part of her character.
During the production of Mortal Kombat II, it was decided that they needed more characters to fill the roster. They had such success with Scorpion and Sub-Zero, that they decided to add more palette swap characters. As a result, Kitana and Mileena were born. Kitana and Mileena look identical during their first few appearances, the only difference being the colors they wear (Kitana wears blue and Mileena wears purple). Mileena was originally envisioned as a Tarkatan clone of Kitana who was raised alongside her as her sister. However, Mileena’s true form is uncovered when she appears without a mask during her ending.
From that moment on, Mileena and Kitana were rivals, with Mileena being viewed as the ‘evil’ twin. The former sisters were often pitted…
