Sonya Blade
Encyclopedia
Sonya Blade is a player character
from the Mortal Kombat series. She is portrayed in the games as an officer of the United States Special Forces.
Sonya Blade is one of the main heroes of the MK series. She is a second-generation United States Special Forces officer who formerly served under her own father, Major Herman Blade. (Other family members include Sonya's mother, Erica, and twin brother, Daniel.) More recently, she has joined the Outer World Investigation Agency. Her impulsiveness is catalyzed by her superior and good friend Major Jackson "Jax" Briggs. Sonya represents a very emancipated
and headstrong woman, but for all her stubbornness and pride, she deeply cares about the lives of her friends and comrades. She has a long-standing enmity with the thug Kano, who stands for everything Sonya despises.
In the original Mortal Kombat
, Sonya and her team were in hot pursuit of Kano, the leader of the Black Dragon international crime
organization. After he jumped onto a ship, they followed him to a remote island where Shang Tsung
's Mortal Kombat tournament was being held. Upon arrival, they were ambushed by Tsung's personal guard. To keep her team safe, she agreed to compete in the tournament. Shang Tsung, however, had no intention of fulfilling his end of the bargain and had her unit killed. After Shang Tsung was defeated by Liu Kang
in the final battle, Sonya teamed up with Johnny Cage
and Kano, ignoring her personal feelings for the sake of survival, to fight Goro on the bridge high above the pit. During the battle, the island started to crumble and both she and Kano were taken prisoner to Outworld by Shang Tsung to appease the Outworld emperor, Shao Kahn
. Sonya was able to send a signal to her superior Jax from Outworld and, during the events of Mortal Kombat II
, he traveled there to find her. Jax made contact with the other Earthrealm warriors, and together they learned of Kahn's scheme to invade Earth. It is known that before being captured, Sonya and Kano were forced to put their differences aside and work together to survive in Outworld. She was later freed by Jax who arrested Kano, but as soon as they had passed through the portal to Earth, Kano escaped and ran back into Outworld.
Sonya was one of a few selected Earthrealm warriors whose souls were not taken following Kahn's invasion of Earth in Mortal Kombat 3
. She encountered Kano on top of a skyscraper near his fortress and, after a fight, hurled him off the roof to his apparent death. In Mortal Kombat 4
, after her journey into Outworld and Shao Kahn's near destruction of Earth, Sonya became a member of Earth's own Outworld Investigation Agency (OIA). The Black Dragon kept crossing her path, however, and its last known member, Jarek, had fled to Edenia while Sonya was chasing him. This led Sonya and Jax to team up with Raiden
and Liu Kang to free that realm from the Fallen Elder God Shinnok's grasp, and to prevent him from coming to Earth. After Shinnok's defeat, in which Jarek had reluctantly participated to save himself, Jarek tried to kill Sonya, but Jax interfered, dropping him off a cliff. After returning to Earthrealm, Jax and Sonya found Cyrax malfunctioning in a desert. The two brought the cyborg back to the OIA headquarters, where they were able to restore Cyrax's humanity. In return, Cyrax joined the agency.
In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
, while on an assignment in the East, Sonya received a distressing message from Jax that the OIA had been destroyed by an accomplice of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. She was then visited by the God of Thunder, Raiden, who asked for her aid against the Deadly Alliance and instructed her to meet with the other heroes on Shang Tsung's abandoned island, where she developed a small rivalry with Frost. To earn the right to pass into Outworld, each warrior had to defeat a representation of his or her adversary - to her surprise, it was a stranger with an image of a red dragon on his back. Sonya was unable to find the two missing OIA agents, Cyrax and Kenshi and was killed along with Jax and Cage in battle with the Deadly Alliance's Tarkatan forces. The Deadly Alliance's victory was short-lived, as Onaga reclaimed Outworld, as well as the amulet. With his ability to raise the dead at will, he resurrected and enslaved Sonya and her fallen comrades. (As Sonya and her comrades appear normal in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
, it is likely that Ermac and the spirit of Liu Kang had freed them from Onaga's control.) In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
, Sonya returns to Earth after Onaga's defeat, with the intention of continuing her assault on both the Red and Black Dragon clans, only to be forced to focus on the newly-established threat. In her absence, the Tekunin had grown large enough to disrupt Earth civilization and had violated law by engaging in illegal inter-realm alliances with unknown parties. Sonya succeeds in downing the Tekunin's flagship, helmed by their Grandmaster Sektor himself. She then sends a team led by her partner Jax in to hunt for survivors, but they mysteriously vanish and Sonya fears the possibility of Jax's death. She tracks the signal of a homing beacon placed on Taven (escaped thanks to her intervention) and eventually confronts him in Arktika to get information out of him, but is beaten.
In the non-canonical crossover game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
, Sonya appears as one of the warriors representing the Mortal Kombat Universe. In the story mode, Sonya is investigating the dimensional imbalance. After defeating Catwoman
, Baraka and Captain Marvel
and Green Lantern
, Sonya and Jax return to their base to use their own teleportation machine to try to get to the other dimension, freeing the captive Sub-Zero
along the way. When she finds Jax at the hands of Green Lantern, Sonya once again challenged him but is defeated and imprisoned, but then both of them manage to escape together. When the Earthrealm's heroes and Outworld's villains join forces against the invaders from the other universe, Sonya reluctantly teams up with Kano to track a foreign energy signal, but they confronted and defeated by the Joker
and Deathstroke
. When both sides finally decide to meet for one last battle, Sonya once again fights Catwoman. In the end, she is knocked unconscious while Raiden and Superman
proceed to fight Dark Kahn. After Dark Kahn’s defeat and the separation of the universes, Sonya stands alongside her allies and enemies to see a powerless Darkseid
left behind in Shao Kahn’s palace.
In Mortal Kombat (2011), Sonya is one of only two survivors from the Defenders of Earthrealm (the other being Johnny Cage).
There were originally no plans for Sonya's inclusion in Mortal Kombat, which was supposed to feature only six characters, and she was added only when the president of Williams gave the development team an additional six weeks (adding to its already ten months of production) and told them to polish the game. At first, the additional character was actually Jax; when the developers decided they need a female character, Sonya was created and his story was applied to her. She was named after one of Ed Boon
's sisters, as confirmed in Tanya's biography card in the special edition of Deception. According to John Tobias
, Sonya and Kano were the least popular characters of the first game and they decided to replace them, saving image space and time for the new characters. The two were promptly dropped for the sequel and appear in MKII only in one of the backgrounds, chained in Kahn's Arena (producers also said Sonya was "chucked out" from the game in favour of Kitana and Mileena as part of revamping the game, so it would better compete against Street Fighter II
).
According to Nintendo Power
, Sonya could be a "Juggling demon" in Mortal Kombat Trilogy
when in hands of an experienced player. Mortal Kombat: Special Forces
was to have both Jax and Sonya as playable characters, but Sonya's part was dropped again due to deadline issues exacerbated by Tobias's sudden departure from the company.
Sonya was one of the main characters in Malibu's
Mortal Kombat comic book
adaptations. She first appeared in the Blood & Thunder miniseries in hot pursuit of Kano alongside her partner, who was later killed by Kano in one of only two organized fights that commenced in the entire series; she succeeded in capturing Kano at the conclusion of Blood & Thunder, but he was later freed by his Black Dragon cohorts. In the second series, Battlewave, Sonya investigated a brutal attack on Jax. Convinced that only someone from Outworld could inflict such injury, she ventured into Shang Tsung's island only to be ambushed and captured by Kintaro; she was brainwashed by Reptile
into marrying Kahn, but the Earth warriors intervened during the ceremony and Sonya was able to break free from the trance by herself. The comics suggested a love interest between Sonya and Johnny Cage and a recurring rivalry against Mileena.
In Jeff Rovin's 1995 non-canon Mortal Kombat novel, Sonya traveled along with Kano and the rest of the Black Dragon, disguised as a criminal named Gilda Stahl. Her mission was to ensure that the Black Dragon didn't kill anyone, although she had a personal interest in getting Kano, as he had murdered her fiancee. Her cover was eventually blown by Shang Tsung.
Sonya was a primary character in both Mortal Kombat films. Bridgette Wilson
was cast in the first movie
after the filmmakers' first choice, Cameron Diaz
, suffered a broken wrist during martial arts training prior to shooting. During production, Wilson was given the nickname "RoboBabe" by director Paul Anderson. Sonya's personality and storyline are faithful to the games in keeping with her vendetta against Kano for murdering her partner. During the tournament, she fights Kano and ultimately kills him. Later in the film, she is captured by Shang Tsung and taken to the Emperor's castle in the wastelands of Outworld where she is challenged by Shang Tsung to final combat. The arrivals of Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Kitana
prevent this, and Sonya is subsequently freed from her chains by Cage, with whom she shares a mutual attraction. Taking Sonya's place, Liu Kang goes on to defeat Shang Tsung and win the tournament. (In the novelization of the first movie, there was an additional scene in the beginning showing Sonya discovering the mutilated body of her partner, Lieutenant Bill van Hoven, who was killed by Kano.)
Sandra Hess
took over the role of Sonya in the sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
. Sonya is devastated by the death of Johnny Cage, who was killed by Shao Kahn after saving her life, and struggles to cope with her grief. After rescuing her old partner Jax from an extermination squad led by Cyrax on Shao Kahn's orders, she reunites with Liu Kang and Kitana in hopes of stopping Kahn from bringing the Earth to ruin.
Sonya was one of the main protagonists in the animated film Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins, voiced by Jennifer Hale
.
She was also a lead character in the animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm
, and was voiced by Olivia d'Abo
. Her vendetta against Kano was explained and was explored further in two separate episodes, in which Kano was shown to have killed her partner, named Wexler.
Jeri Ryan
played the role of Sonya Blade, an officer in the Deacon City Police Department in a short film Mortal Kombat: Rebirth
, a reboot pitch for Warner Bros, and reprised her in Mortal Kombat: Legacy
.
s of Sonya were released by Hasbro
(1994), Toy Island (1996), Infinite Concepts (1999), and Palisades Toys
(2000).
ing as Sonya, along with those dressed as Mileena and Kitana, was featured in her a live-action trailer "Sonya Blade Kasting" and an official photo session; they also attended The Gadget Show
.
In 2008, GamesRadar
chose Sonya as one the iconic video game babes of the early 90s era. GameDaily
had her featured in the series "The Next Wave of Video Game Babes" in 2008 and showcased her as one of the hottest blondes in the video game world in 2009. In 2010, UGO
rated her fight with Kano in the first film as the #19 best cinematic fight scene. Sonya also shared #8 with Kitana and Mileena on the list of "The 50 Hottest Women In Video Games" by Complex. Game Rant ranked Sonya on their "10 Most Awesome Mortal Kombat Characters" list, commenting "While not nearly as unique as some of the other kombatants on the list, Sonya Blade is integral to some of the more interesting story-threads in the Mortal Kombat universe", citing her pursuit for Kano.
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
from the Mortal Kombat series. She is portrayed in the games as an officer of the United States Special Forces.
In video games
LieutenantLieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Sonya Blade is one of the main heroes of the MK series. She is a second-generation United States Special Forces officer who formerly served under her own father, Major Herman Blade. (Other family members include Sonya's mother, Erica, and twin brother, Daniel.) More recently, she has joined the Outer World Investigation Agency. Her impulsiveness is catalyzed by her superior and good friend Major Jackson "Jax" Briggs. Sonya represents a very emancipated
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
and headstrong woman, but for all her stubbornness and pride, she deeply cares about the lives of her friends and comrades. She has a long-standing enmity with the thug Kano, who stands for everything Sonya despises.
In the original Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat (video game)
Mortal Kombat is a 1992 fighting-game developed and published by Midway for arcades. In 1993, home versions were released by Acclaim Entertainment. Released in the Fall of 1994, the Microsoft Windows 3.1x version was released by Activision Interactive. It is the first title in the Mortal Kombat...
, Sonya and her team were in hot pursuit of Kano, the leader of the Black Dragon international crime
International crime
International crime may refer to:*Crime against international law*Crime against humanity*Crime against peace*War crime*International criminal lawor it may refer to transnational crimes...
organization. After he jumped onto a ship, they followed him to a remote island where Shang Tsung
Shang Tsung
Shang Tsung is a boss and player character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. A powerful and deadly sorcerer and a primary antagonist in the Mortal Kombat series, Shang Tsung is a shapeshifter who absorbs the souls of those he slays in order to maintain his youth and power...
's Mortal Kombat tournament was being held. Upon arrival, they were ambushed by Tsung's personal guard. To keep her team safe, she agreed to compete in the tournament. Shang Tsung, however, had no intention of fulfilling his end of the bargain and had her unit killed. After Shang Tsung was defeated by Liu Kang
Liu Kang
Liu Kang is a video game character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. First appearing in the series' first title, Liu Kang is portrayed as a Shaolin monk who enters the Mortal Kombat tournament to save his world, Earthrealm, from being destroyed due to having lost nine consecutive...
in the final battle, Sonya teamed up with Johnny Cage
Johnny Cage
Johnny Cage, whose real name is John Carlton, is a video game character from the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. Cage is portrayed as a film actor who enters the game's tournament, and provides the comic relief of the franchise....
and Kano, ignoring her personal feelings for the sake of survival, to fight Goro on the bridge high above the pit. During the battle, the island started to crumble and both she and Kano were taken prisoner to Outworld by Shang Tsung to appease the Outworld emperor, Shao Kahn
Shao Kahn
Shao Kahn is a boss, announcer and recurring playable character from the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. The main antagonist in the Mortal Kombat series, Shao Kahn is the Emperor of Outworld known for his godlike strength, extreme brutality and knowledge of black magic...
. Sonya was able to send a signal to her superior Jax from Outworld and, during the events of Mortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat II is a competitive fighting game originally produced by Midway Games for the arcades in . It is the second game in the Mortal Kombat series. Like its predecessor, various home versions were produced...
, he traveled there to find her. Jax made contact with the other Earthrealm warriors, and together they learned of Kahn's scheme to invade Earth. It is known that before being captured, Sonya and Kano were forced to put their differences aside and work together to survive in Outworld. She was later freed by Jax who arrested Kano, but as soon as they had passed through the portal to Earth, Kano escaped and ran back into Outworld.
Sonya was one of a few selected Earthrealm warriors whose souls were not taken following Kahn's invasion of Earth in Mortal Kombat 3
Mortal Kombat 3
Mortal Kombat 3 is a fighting game developed by Midway and released in 1995, first as an arcade game. It is the third game in the Mortal Kombat series...
. She encountered Kano on top of a skyscraper near his fortress and, after a fight, hurled him off the roof to his apparent death. In Mortal Kombat 4
Mortal Kombat 4
Mortal Kombat 4 is the fourth main game in the Mortal Kombat series of fighting video games developed by Midway Games. Released to arcades in 1997, Mortal Kombat 4 is the first title from the series to use 3D computer graphics as well as one of the first games that Midway made in 3D. Eurocom later...
, after her journey into Outworld and Shao Kahn's near destruction of Earth, Sonya became a member of Earth's own Outworld Investigation Agency (OIA). The Black Dragon kept crossing her path, however, and its last known member, Jarek, had fled to Edenia while Sonya was chasing him. This led Sonya and Jax to team up with Raiden
Raiden (Mortal Kombat)
Raiden is a player character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. Raiden, also known as Lord Raiden, is a thunder god of the Mortal Kombat universe and protector of Earthrealm. He commands many supernatural abilities such as the ability to teleport, control over lightning, and flight...
and Liu Kang to free that realm from the Fallen Elder God Shinnok's grasp, and to prevent him from coming to Earth. After Shinnok's defeat, in which Jarek had reluctantly participated to save himself, Jarek tried to kill Sonya, but Jax interfered, dropping him off a cliff. After returning to Earthrealm, Jax and Sonya found Cyrax malfunctioning in a desert. The two brought the cyborg back to the OIA headquarters, where they were able to restore Cyrax's humanity. In return, Cyrax joined the agency.
In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, originally known as Mortal Kombat V: Vengeance or simply Mortal Kombat 5, is a fighting game developed and published by Midway for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo GameCube, and Game Boy Advance...
, while on an assignment in the East, Sonya received a distressing message from Jax that the OIA had been destroyed by an accomplice of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. She was then visited by the God of Thunder, Raiden, who asked for her aid against the Deadly Alliance and instructed her to meet with the other heroes on Shang Tsung's abandoned island, where she developed a small rivalry with Frost. To earn the right to pass into Outworld, each warrior had to defeat a representation of his or her adversary - to her surprise, it was a stranger with an image of a red dragon on his back. Sonya was unable to find the two missing OIA agents, Cyrax and Kenshi and was killed along with Jax and Cage in battle with the Deadly Alliance's Tarkatan forces. The Deadly Alliance's victory was short-lived, as Onaga reclaimed Outworld, as well as the amulet. With his ability to raise the dead at will, he resurrected and enslaved Sonya and her fallen comrades. (As Sonya and her comrades appear normal in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon is the seventh game in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. The PlayStation 2 version was released in stores on October 11, 2006 while the Xbox version was released on the October 16, with a Wii version released on May 29, 2007 in North America.The game was not released...
, it is likely that Ermac and the spirit of Liu Kang had freed them from Onaga's control.) In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon is the seventh game in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. The PlayStation 2 version was released in stores on October 11, 2006 while the Xbox version was released on the October 16, with a Wii version released on May 29, 2007 in North America.The game was not released...
, Sonya returns to Earth after Onaga's defeat, with the intention of continuing her assault on both the Red and Black Dragon clans, only to be forced to focus on the newly-established threat. In her absence, the Tekunin had grown large enough to disrupt Earth civilization and had violated law by engaging in illegal inter-realm alliances with unknown parties. Sonya succeeds in downing the Tekunin's flagship, helmed by their Grandmaster Sektor himself. She then sends a team led by her partner Jax in to hunt for survivors, but they mysteriously vanish and Sonya fears the possibility of Jax's death. She tracks the signal of a homing beacon placed on Taven (escaped thanks to her intervention) and eventually confronts him in Arktika to get information out of him, but is beaten.
In the non-canonical crossover game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is a crossover fighting game from Midway Games and Warner Bros. Games. The eighth game in the Mortal Kombat series, MK vs. DC was released on November 16, . MK vs. DC contains characters from both the Mortal Kombat franchise and the DC Universe...
, Sonya appears as one of the warriors representing the Mortal Kombat Universe. In the story mode, Sonya is investigating the dimensional imbalance. After defeating Catwoman
Catwoman
Catwoman is a fictional character associated with DC Comics' Batman franchise. Historically a supervillain, the character was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, partially inspired by Kane's cousin, Ruth Steel...
, Baraka and Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
and Green Lantern
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...
, Sonya and Jax return to their base to use their own teleportation machine to try to get to the other dimension, freeing the captive Sub-Zero
Sub-Zero (Mortal Kombat)
Sub-Zero is the name given to two video game characters from the Mortal Kombat series. The older Sub-Zero first appeared in the first Mortal Kombat game, being replaced by his younger brother in Mortal Kombat II and the subsequent games...
along the way. When she finds Jax at the hands of Green Lantern, Sonya once again challenged him but is defeated and imprisoned, but then both of them manage to escape together. When the Earthrealm's heroes and Outworld's villains join forces against the invaders from the other universe, Sonya reluctantly teams up with Kano to track a foreign energy signal, but they confronted and defeated by the Joker
Joker (comics)
The Joker is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics. He is the archenemy of Batman, having been directly responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including the paralysis of Barbara Gordon and the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin...
and Deathstroke
Deathstroke
Deathstroke the Terminator , originally simply the Terminator, and known by the Teen Titans as Slade, is a fictional character, a supervillain and sometimes antihero in the DC Comics Universe. He is a mercenary and assassin who first appeared in The New Teen Titans #2...
. When both sides finally decide to meet for one last battle, Sonya once again fights Catwoman. In the end, she is knocked unconscious while Raiden and Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
proceed to fight Dark Kahn. After Dark Kahn’s defeat and the separation of the universes, Sonya stands alongside her allies and enemies to see a powerless Darkseid
Darkseid
Darkseid is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134 and was created by writer-artist Jack Kirby....
left behind in Shao Kahn’s palace.
In Mortal Kombat (2011), Sonya is one of only two survivors from the Defenders of Earthrealm (the other being Johnny Cage).
Conception and design
There were originally no plans for Sonya's inclusion in Mortal Kombat, which was supposed to feature only six characters, and she was added only when the president of Williams gave the development team an additional six weeks (adding to its already ten months of production) and told them to polish the game. At first, the additional character was actually Jax; when the developers decided they need a female character, Sonya was created and his story was applied to her. She was named after one of Ed Boon
Ed Boon
Edward J. Boon is an American video game programmer who had been employed for over 15 years at Midway. He now works for Warner Bros...
's sisters, as confirmed in Tanya's biography card in the special edition of Deception. According to John Tobias
John Tobias
John Tobias is an American comic book artist, graphic designer and video game designer. Along with Ed Boon he is one of the creators of the groundbreaking Mortal Kombat fighting game series....
, Sonya and Kano were the least popular characters of the first game and they decided to replace them, saving image space and time for the new characters. The two were promptly dropped for the sequel and appear in MKII only in one of the backgrounds, chained in Kahn's Arena (producers also said Sonya was "chucked out" from the game in favour of Kitana and Mileena as part of revamping the game, so it would better compete against Street Fighter II
Street Fighter II
is a competitive fighting game originally released for the arcades in . It is the arcade sequel to the original Street Fighter released in and was Capcom's fourteenth title that ran on the CP System arcade hardware...
).
Gameplay
According to Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
, Sonya could be a "Juggling demon" in Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Mortal Kombat Trilogy is a fighting game developed and published by Midway in 1996. It is a compilation of content from the previous Mortal Kombat titles, based primarily upon the gameplay mechanics of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3...
when in hands of an experienced player. Mortal Kombat: Special Forces
Mortal Kombat: Special Forces
Mortal Kombat: Special Forces is a 3D action game for the PlayStation. It was released in North America on July 30, 2000, and in Europe on September 29, 2000...
was to have both Jax and Sonya as playable characters, but Sonya's part was dropped again due to deadline issues exacerbated by Tobias's sudden departure from the company.
In other media
Malibu Comics
Malibu Comics was an American comic book publisher active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, best known for its Ultraverse line of superhero titles. The company's headquarters was in Calabasas, California. Malibu imprints included Aircel Comics and Eternity Comics...
Mortal Kombat comic book
Mortal Kombat comic books
The Mortal Kombat comic books series included the official comics by Midway and a licensed adaptation series by Malibu Comics, published between October 1994 and August 1995...
adaptations. She first appeared in the Blood & Thunder miniseries in hot pursuit of Kano alongside her partner, who was later killed by Kano in one of only two organized fights that commenced in the entire series; she succeeded in capturing Kano at the conclusion of Blood & Thunder, but he was later freed by his Black Dragon cohorts. In the second series, Battlewave, Sonya investigated a brutal attack on Jax. Convinced that only someone from Outworld could inflict such injury, she ventured into Shang Tsung's island only to be ambushed and captured by Kintaro; she was brainwashed by Reptile
Reptile (Mortal Kombat)
Reptile is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat series of video games. Created for Midway Games by John Tobias and Ed Boon, Reptile debuted in Mortal Kombat as a hidden boss and appeared in subsequent titles as a playable character. The character has also appeared on various merchandise,...
into marrying Kahn, but the Earth warriors intervened during the ceremony and Sonya was able to break free from the trance by herself. The comics suggested a love interest between Sonya and Johnny Cage and a recurring rivalry against Mileena.
In Jeff Rovin's 1995 non-canon Mortal Kombat novel, Sonya traveled along with Kano and the rest of the Black Dragon, disguised as a criminal named Gilda Stahl. Her mission was to ensure that the Black Dragon didn't kill anyone, although she had a personal interest in getting Kano, as he had murdered her fiancee. Her cover was eventually blown by Shang Tsung.
Sonya was a primary character in both Mortal Kombat films. Bridgette Wilson
Bridgette Wilson
Bridgette Leann Wilson-Sampras is an American actress, singer and model. A Miss Teen USA in 1990, Wilson holds several acting roles in television and movies, including the role of Veronica Vaughn in the movie Billy Madison, the role of Elsa Shivers in the movie I Know What You Did Last Summer, and...
was cast in the first movie
Mortal Kombat (film)
Mortal Kombat is a 1995 American action and adventure film directed by Paul Anderson. Based on the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games, the film was the first part of the Mortal Kombat film series...
after the filmmakers' first choice, Cameron Diaz
Cameron Diaz
Cameron Michelle Diaz is an American actress and former model. She became famous during the 1990s with roles in the movies The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding, and There's Something About Mary. Other high-profile credits include the two Charlie's Angels films, voicing the character Princess Fiona...
, suffered a broken wrist during martial arts training prior to shooting. During production, Wilson was given the nickname "RoboBabe" by director Paul Anderson. Sonya's personality and storyline are faithful to the games in keeping with her vendetta against Kano for murdering her partner. During the tournament, she fights Kano and ultimately kills him. Later in the film, she is captured by Shang Tsung and taken to the Emperor's castle in the wastelands of Outworld where she is challenged by Shang Tsung to final combat. The arrivals of Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Kitana
Kitana (Mortal Kombat)
Kitana is a recurring player and a one-time boss character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. One of the lead characters of the Mortal Kombat saga, Kitana is the princess of the otherdimensional realm of Edenia and the daughter of Queen Sindel...
prevent this, and Sonya is subsequently freed from her chains by Cage, with whom she shares a mutual attraction. Taking Sonya's place, Liu Kang goes on to defeat Shang Tsung and win the tournament. (In the novelization of the first movie, there was an additional scene in the beginning showing Sonya discovering the mutilated body of her partner, Lieutenant Bill van Hoven, who was killed by Kano.)
Sandra Hess
Sandra Hess
Sandra Hess is an actress best known for her role as Sonya Blade in the film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.-Biography:Hess began modeling and working on television commercials when she was 15...
took over the role of Sonya in the sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is a 1997 American martial arts action film that was the sequel to 1995's Mortal Kombat, and was directed by John R. Leonetti, who had served as the cinematographer for the previous film...
. Sonya is devastated by the death of Johnny Cage, who was killed by Shao Kahn after saving her life, and struggles to cope with her grief. After rescuing her old partner Jax from an extermination squad led by Cyrax on Shao Kahn's orders, she reunites with Liu Kang and Kitana in hopes of stopping Kahn from bringing the Earth to ruin.
Sonya was one of the main protagonists in the animated film Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins, voiced by Jennifer Hale
Jennifer Hale
Jennifer Hale is a Canadian-born American actress and singer best known for her voice over work in video games like Grandia II, the Mass Effect trilogy, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Tales of Symphonia, the Metroid Prime trilogy, the Metal Gear Solid games, Brütal Legend, and Disney's...
.
She was also a lead character in the animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm
Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm
Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, also known as Mortal Kombat: The Animated Series, is a cartoon series based on the popular Mortal Kombat video game series...
, and was voiced by Olivia d'Abo
Olivia d'Abo
Olivia d'Abo is an English actress and singer-songwriter, best known for portraying Karen Arnold in The Wonder Years and Nicole Wallace, the recurring villain in Law & Order: Criminal Intent.-Acting career:...
. Her vendetta against Kano was explained and was explored further in two separate episodes, in which Kano was shown to have killed her partner, named Wexler.
Jeri Ryan
Jeri Ryan
Jeri Lynn Zimmermann Ryan is an American actress best known for her roles as the liberated Borg, Seven of Nine, on Star Trek: Voyager; Tara Cole on Leverage; and Veronica "Ronnie" Cooke on Boston Public. She was also a regular on the science fiction show Dark Skies and the legal drama series...
played the role of Sonya Blade, an officer in the Deacon City Police Department in a short film Mortal Kombat: Rebirth
Mortal Kombat: Rebirth
Mortal Kombat: Rebirth is a 2010 action short film directed by Kevin Tancharoen with fight choreography by Larnell Stovall who also choreographed Undisputed III: Redemption. Based on the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games, the short-film "actually was made by the director to sell Warner Bros...
, a reboot pitch for Warner Bros, and reprised her in Mortal Kombat: Legacy
Mortal Kombat: Legacy
Mortal Kombat: Legacy is an American web series anthology that debuted on Machinima.com's YouTube channel on April 11, 2011. The show is an adaptation of the fictional universe of the Mortal Kombat video game franchise...
.
Merchandising
Action figureAction figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
s of Sonya were released by Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
(1994), Toy Island (1996), Infinite Concepts (1999), and Palisades Toys
Palisades Toys
Palisades Entertainment, LLC, better known as Palisades Toys, was a manufacturing and distributing toy & collectibles company geared toward the adult collector market...
(2000).
Promotion and reception
In April 2011, a model cosplayCosplay
, short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and science fiction...
ing as Sonya, along with those dressed as Mileena and Kitana, was featured in her a live-action trailer "Sonya Blade Kasting" and an official photo session; they also attended The Gadget Show
The Gadget Show
The Gadget Show is a British television series focusing on technology and is broadcast on Channel 5. Originally a thirty minute show, it was extended to forty-five minutes, then later to fifty five minutes. Repeats have also aired on the digital channels 5*, Dave and Channel 5's Internet on-demand...
.
In 2008, GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
chose Sonya as one the iconic video game babes of the early 90s era. GameDaily
GameDaily
GameDaily was a video game journalism website based in the United States. Launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads, The site changed its business model from a flat fee per download CDN distributed service network to an...
had her featured in the series "The Next Wave of Video Game Babes" in 2008 and showcased her as one of the hottest blondes in the video game world in 2009. In 2010, UGO
UGO
UGO Entertainment, Inc. is a website providing coverage of online media in entertainment targeting males age 18–34. The company is currently based in New York, New York, United States. On July 24, 2007 it was announced that Hearst Corporation would acquire UGO Entertainment...
rated her fight with Kano in the first film as the #19 best cinematic fight scene. Sonya also shared #8 with Kitana and Mileena on the list of "The 50 Hottest Women In Video Games" by Complex. Game Rant ranked Sonya on their "10 Most Awesome Mortal Kombat Characters" list, commenting "While not nearly as unique as some of the other kombatants on the list, Sonya Blade is integral to some of the more interesting story-threads in the Mortal Kombat universe", citing her pursuit for Kano.
External links
- Sonya Blade - The Mortal Kombat Wiki
- IGN: Sonya Blade
- Sonya Blade at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...