Ooh, me, me, me, me. I'm in the middle!
Her MKX design was cool, her voice acting was great, and she actually did shit that mattered in the story, so those are all big pluses. But I really didn't like how little we learned about her. The plot twist erased basically all of her previous characterization. And then from that point on we never learn anything about what motivated her and why she's loyal to Shinnok in the first place.
The really annoying thing is that when Raiden fights her during Shaolin Monks, she has no reason to keep pretending to be loyal to Shao Kahn in front of him since no one else is watching them. She could have easily said something like "This one would never follow a god as weak as you Raiden," which would at least tell us SOMETHING about her, and suggest that she MIGHT follow a god who she thinks is stronger. But instead she just lies through her teeth for no reason and says "This one worships no gods." Which is obviously just 100% a lie, and really lazy from NRS, so... we're back to blank slate.
So I think she's potentially cool, but she's basically gonna have to be a brand new character now because we're gonna have to learn what actually motivates her. And whether I like her now will depend on what that motivation is moving forward.
If you take the comics and her arcade ending into account, it forms a more complete view of her character. The leader's of her people were so busy arguing how to deal with the impending outworld invasion, that they didn't even mount a defense. So when everyone else was running away, she walks right up to Shao Kahn and swears fealty out of necessity. As a result, she is the only Kytinn not enslaved. This scene, which is barely touched on, seems to be extremely important, as it is the cause of her disdain towards leadership in general.
After Shao Kahn, she briefly swore to Mileena, who immediately made her grovel and abused her, but then joined with Kotal once she saw how devoted his followers tended to be, even claiming that Kotal was the only leader she has ever respected. It's easy to discount this as a lie given later events, but I don't think it was, if only because it makes for a better story if her betrayal here is in some way conflicting.
At some point, she must have been approached by Quan Chi and learns of Shinnok. This is a ridiculous opportunity for her. A completely immortal Elder God that provably can be contained and defeated by mortals could serve as a permanent host that empowers her drones due to his very nature. This would make her the progenitor of a terrifying god-eating swarm that nothing could stand against. It's ambitious, but that is what her arcade ending says is her ultimate goal. It's even in her in game dialogue when fighting Shinnok. "From Elder God to incubator."
To me, there's a clear progression of character here. She loathes how ineffectual her own people's leadership were, and is forced to swear servitude to a brutal Emperor or be killed or completely enslaved. She served Shao Kahn and watched as he was manipulated and destroyed by his own lust for power. She grew used to servitude and ended up with a lunatic who enjoyed humiliating and abusing her. Then she swore to Kotal and things were finally good. She was with someone who understood her worth and respected her, whom she respected in turn. But those core beliefs of disdain for leadership are still there, so when presented with a goal that could change everything for her and her offspring, D'vorah uses deception and guile to get what she wants. No Gods, no masters, no leaders, except her.
So that's how I see D'vorah.
