Now you might remember when Sindel was one of the very first confirmed dlc characters for Mortal Kombat 11 and when she had her bio released, there was already the idea that she was ruined and altered from what she was in the 3D era of Mortal Kombat and even her story in MK9. At the time, this was well before we would end up finding out that she would end up in the storyline courtesy of MK 11 Aftermath, a massive story addition that takes place directly after the original storyline of the base game and adds DLC characters (Sindel, Nightwolf, Shang Tsung and Fujin being the particular additions). I had made a previous video covering this but have decided that with aftermath now having been released and seen (and with talks of a new Kombat Pack on the way), it was a great time to go back and redo it both with a more fleshed out observation as well as now taking into consideration how she was in the story.
Having watched the main story (as opposed to playing because along with MK X, MK 11 is remains to be the only mainline MK game I don't have), I've gotten a far better picture of Sindel as a character and if I'm honest, I feel they fixed Sindel. Why would I say that? Because when you remove the rose tinted spectacles or the blind fanboyism as well as the stereotypical bitterness that everyone thinks fixes everything overnight (Spoil alert: It never does), one needs to look at two particular details:
- The original game that she debuted in: Mortal Kombat 3.
Right there, its plainly obvious what Sindel actually was: Evil. "She once ruled the outworld at Shao Kahn's side as his queen. Now 10,000 years after her untimely death, she is reborn on earth. Her evil intent is every match for Shao Kahn's tyranny" Now before I get a response mentioning her ending, one needs to remember a very important detail that applies to all fighting games: The endings are not guaranteed canon and if they are, those usually are the ones most involved with the main antagonists and protagonists. The fact that we never got Sindel until two full games later (With little to no clue that even relates to her turning sides canonically) easily displays the idea that what has actually happened her is that she was retconned for two purposes: To expand on the lore of Edenia (Notice how Edenia is only mentioned in her ending and not in her bio) and to basically act as purely a support for Kitana's character development. This falls right into the second detail:
- The retcon in the 3D Era.
It is this interpretation of Sindel that many claim to be her "Redemption arc", just because she suddenly returns as a good character. However, the overwhelming negative contention with this demonstrates that, along with the word "Sandbag" (Looking at you, F1 fans), that people are simply using a term as a strong cynical and negative reaction to something that they don't like while ignoring facts that also do not cater to what they like (Again, refer to the MK3 bio). Frankly, this is not a redemption arc. How? Here's an interesting comparison: Johnny Cage from MK9 to MK11. We see him go from this absolutely cocky and stuck up Hollywood stereotype (which is sadly all too true if Jennifer Lawrence is anything to go by as of late) to now being this great father and husband figure, even at one point standing up to Sonya. That is an example of both a character arc and an actual example of a redemption arc and we visibly see it through the story in all of the games. We don't get that at all with Sindel, she is a villain in one game, disappears for two whole games with little to no mention and suddenly shows up as a hero. She doesn't even get significant screen time to even justify her appearance (something that Johnny Cage gets in all three games, better showcasing his transformation and is even displayed more visibly when he meets his younger self). Even in MK9, her screen time is once again not significantly enough as its literally three times: Once when she is resurrected (as happened in the previous era of MK), when Shao Kahn gives her Shang Tsung's power and when she shows up and lays waste to most of the protagonists (with Nightwolf having to literally sacrifice himself just to kill her). With Aftermath, there's far more screen time with Sindel then what she has ever had in any previous game and its significant enough where we see her playing up the hero and the Villain. If anything, this is single handily the most character development she has ever had in Mortal Kombat and it has made her an interesting character then just being a barely shown villain or a barely utilised hero that barely did anything beyond the typical damsel in distress trope (that when you really think about it, that's what she was depicted as). I even love that fact that She plays off that trope as well only to completely pull the rug from under everyone. So was Sindel "ruined" as so many claim? Frankly, no. Its hard to ruin something that hardly had anything going to begin with other then a brief description and that was what Sindel was for so long: Queen of that realm that always gets invaded and mother of that Princess people fawned over. They've completely brought her back and actually stuck to what she originally was and then actually fleshed that out (Making her the very queen who's "Evil intent is every match to Shao Kahn's Tyranny". If anything, they dramatically improved her and actually gave her something that made her an actual character and not just a side card for another character. Now in no way do I say that throwing in multiple suggestive lines makes for a interesting Female character as apparently that's a problem for people (Newsflash: she isn't the first), but this a character that has actually been developed properly (a problem so many characters from the 3d Era had). When you again remove the rose tinted spectacles of Idealism and actually look at this in the unfiltered and uncensored vision of Realism, Sindel is now an actual character. Not a ruined character, a finally realized character that she should have been from the start.
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