Overview
Tanya is a yellow-and-black clad warrior in the Mortal Kombat series, introduced in Mortal Kombat 4 as the game's "female ninja" role. She was introduced as an Edenian who, despite her initial innocent appearance, was quickly revealed to be an aide for the fallen Elder God Shinnok, later aiding other antagonists in the series (including Quan Chi and Onaga). While her true intentions were unknown in the original timeline, she fights in the alternate timeline for Edenia's independence from Outworld rule. Her backstory was later reworked in the New Era timeline, where she is part of a group of Outworldian warrior priestesses known as the "Umgadi" and guards the royal family dutifully.
Her weapons throughout the series include a boomerang (initial appearance), a pair of kama known as "Kobu Jutsu" (in later appearances), and a three-section staff (in the New Era timeline). In Mortal Kombat: Deception, she also fights with the kung fu styles of yue jia quan and zi ran men, the former of which she also uses in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.
Story
Original Timeline
In the original timeline, during the events of Mortal Kombat 4, Tanya is introduced as the daughter of an Edenian ambassador. Under the guise of bringing in a group of refugees to Edenia from another realm, it is revealed that the realm in question is the Netherrealm and these "refugees" are disguised forms of the banished Elder God Shinnok, sorcerer Quan Chi, and their army of darkness.
Although she appeared to fight on Raiden's side in Shinnok's invasion, it is quickly revealed that she is a devout follower of Shinnok and that her "accident" in letting his forces through was intentional. Following Shinnok's defeat, Tanya escapes to Outworld as a wanted traitor, continuing to serve Quan Chi as one of his enforcers.
During the events of Mortal Kombat: Deception, Tanya was left leaderless after Quan Chi's death. She encounters Baraka, who offers her the opportunity to serve the risen Dragon King Onaga. One of her tasks was infiltrating her homeworld in order to search for the ancient texts that described the process on fusing the Kamidogu together into a powerful weapon. She later died among countless others in the Battle of Armageddon.
Alternate Timeline
In the timeline with Raiden's intervention, Tanya is introduced in Mortal Kombat X after Kotal Kahn's coup against the Outworld ruler Mileena. Believing that Mileena could bring forth Edenia's independence from Outworldian rule, Tanya helps the fellow Edenian Rain in freeing Mileena and together they attempt to assassinate Kotal. After the failed assassination and Mileena's execution, Tanya is imprisoned by the Kahn and, in exchange for leniency, betrays Rain by informing of his whereabouts.
New Era Timeline
In the timeline forged by Liu Kang, Tanya is not the daughter of an Edenian ambassador but instead raised by Outworldian warrior priestesses known as the "Umgadi", who are sworn to protect Outworld's royal house. Following the resignation of the disgraced Umgadi Li Mei, Tanya was appointed in her place. While guarding the royal house dutifully during the attempted coup by General Shao, she formed a forbidden bond with Princess Mileena.
She later learns that Li Mei was a scapegoat by the Umgadi's Matrons Superior, who blamed her for the poor decisions leading to the murder of King Jerrod. After learning of this, Empress Mileena put Tanya in charge of the Umgadi.
Endings (non-canon)
Together with Liu Kang in an underground tunnel, Tanya tries to make small talk by mentioning the relationship between him and Kitana. Liu Kang, however, is worried about his allies. A trap door closes, and Tanya steps back, revealing the trap as Shinnok and Quan Chi enter. Shinnok tells Liu Kang that all of his allies are dead. The elder god then kills Liu Kang when he tries to attack.
Tanya locates the Edenian texts that detail the process of fusing the Kamidogu together. Onaga uses this information to create the One Kamidogu. However, while Onaga was distracted in the joy of his victory, Tanya steals the artifact for herself. She uses its power to kill Onaga and become the ultimate overlord of the realms.
Upon defeating Blaze, Tanya is transformed into a Dragon Caller. Able to summon dragon spirits to her side with a mere thought, she goes on to conquer the realms.
Trivia
- While Tanya was introduced in Mortal Kombat 4, which was the first game in the series not to use digitized graphics, Tanya's character model was still based upon a real person. That person was Lia Montelongo.
- Tanya is also the name of one of Ed Boon's sisters. He used his other sister's name in the original game; Sonya.
- Tanya has a cameo appearance in the 2011 Mortal Kombat as one of several characters that will randomly appear chained up in the background of Shao Khan's Coliseum.
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