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Sindel General Discussion Thread

HeavyNorse

#BlackLivesMatter
It's nice to ignore all the facts, just to try and make yourself look right, huh?







Sindel's TRUE past was that she was a benelovent queen of Edenia, and Shao Kahn used her for his own benefit. That's the lore they went with. So I don't believe for a second that bullshit about her being evil all along.
 
Stay mad if you want but, I'm SO GLAD that Sindel is her own person and made all her evil decisions by her OWN free will and not brainwashed by a man. This is 2019, bad bitch energy only. No more stupid outdated damsel in distress, or a man making the decisions for a powerful queen when shes more than capable to make decisions on her own.
 
When people can only see stereotypes...
You mean archetypes, that fighting games are built around. These are games about russian wrestlers who train by wrestling bears, or Hollywood actors who wander into a martial arts tournament, or ninjas who come back from death as spirits of vengeance. And the character's visual design is a huge part of that persona, it and their animations need to convey who they are.

When all of Sindel's design said 'evil 80s banshee', the later footnote that 'actually she's a kind mother and wants peace to the world' is meaningless, because nothing in the games sells it. It just makes the character weaker, because then you never see anything of their true self in actual gameplay, and whatever you see is not real, just a mindless slave-wife. How would that ever be better than her having her own agency, which follows her actual character design?
 

HeavyNorse

#BlackLivesMatter
You mean archetypes
No, I meant stereotypes.

the later retcon
Wasn't a retcon, it was mentioned in the actual same game she was introduced in. MK3.

the later footnote
Oh, nice quick edit there.

It just makes the character weaker
I disagree. I like these kind of things, that characters aren't just what they appear to be. That they can evolve and grow out of their stereotypes. That Scorpion found a way to break free of his rage, settled down and reformed his clan. That Kitana learned that there is more to life than just being an assassin serving some evil warlord, and instead turned to free her realm and people from said warlord. That Johnny found out that being the ego-driven douchebag moviestar didn't bring him happiness, but being there for his daughter and maturing as a man and father would.

Sindel's story in the old games still explained her appearance and powers. She was brought back to life after having been dead for millennia, so her undead banshee bride theme fit her character well. Doesn't mean she had to stay that way, and always had to be just that. That's just such an incredibly narrow-minded mentality, to think that a character HAS to be a certain way because of their looks. That's exactly what a stereotype is!

Sindel broke that conventional mindset. Yet the writers of MK11 went back on that... "She looks evil, so she has to be evil"... so disappointing, imo.
 
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Kinda off topic but did y'all know that Queen Sindel is inspired by the film The Bride with White Hair?16283 which was later remade in 2014 called The Witch with White Hair and that Sindel takes inspiration from DC Comics Silver Banshee's hair and powers? 16284

Always thought that was kinda interesting :)
 
Well I did already mention above that they changed her in this game because her moves, attire and attitude didn't fit the lore of UMK3 & deception. Stephanie even said her dark gothic looks didn't fit with this benevolent, kind-hearted queen she was shown to be in the 3d era. Honestly, that seems to be the lore that is out of place. In MK3 she was introduced as evil "her evil intent is every match for Shao Khan's tyranny" so it seems they are going back to her OG biography.

Sooooooo technically they fixed what someone else changed for her. She was always supposed to be an evil queen type.
Her being kind hearted and benevolent while also, being gothic and dark was so unique and cool to me. Went Against the grain in a good way.
 
Her heel turn still doesn't make sense considering the whole "Shao Kahn can't invade Earthrealm because of Sindel's suicide spell"
And even with the explanation, it's a fucking meme at this point for them to just go "Oh yeah, Quan Chi did it in the background thousands of years ago"
Not necessarily, to your first point. Quan Chi murdered her, but that means Quan Chi may have also created the spell that protected Earthrealm from Shao Khan. Which changes the dynamic of MK3 quite a bit, particularly in the new timeline from MK9. Not only did the war between Earthrealm and Outworld weaken both, opening the door for Shinnok's invasion, but in the new timeline it also created an army of elite revenants for Shinnok to use in that invasion. And it guaranteed removing Shao Khan from the board. Khan is either defeated by Earthrealm, or destroyed by the Elder Gods when he unifies the realms in violation of the rules. Either way, Netherrealm wins huge.

As to your second point, yeah, it's another "Quan Chi did it." But as I happen to love Quan Chi, I just laugh maniacally every time he turns out to have masterminded yet another piece of MK lore. No wonder Kronika won't bring him back! He's just too dangerous.
 
Can we all just agree this is one of the most disgusting fatalities ever created? We already know that having a single hair on your tongue is uncomfortable and can make you gag, but this just takes the cake as down right unsettling and highest gross factor. I love it so much.
 

Samsara

Resident Cynic
The idea that a female character cant be strong because she was originally a victim of unfortunate circumstances is such a shallow, trite, and honestly boring 'woke' approach that holds characters back.

Her character made perfect sense (as much as MK lore can be) and her actions made plenty of waves regardless of her not having any "agency."

If Stephanie's problem was that Sindels design conflicted with her past as shown in the lore, than perhaps lean into that more. Perhaps she became that gothic banshee as a result of the unfortunate control from Shao Kahn.

No one would complain about never seeing that side if Sindel if YOU ACTUALLY BOTHERED TO FUCKING SHOW IT.

But no. You u spent the last two MK games jacking off the special forces characters and pretending edenia and outworld are just realms all the jobbers come from.

Maybe center a MK game on the fall of edenia. Design a Sindel before the takeover with the same supersonic scream and crazy hair WITHOUT all the bad. Or maybe grow some fucking courage and continue a story featuring Sindels redemption?

Didnt you go through the trouble to redeem some of the Revanants? Why not give Sindel the same treatment? Laziness. Just retcon it so we can do the 'bad girl's thing because that's easy and marketable and the ppl will eat it up.

I dont know. But maybe instead of retconning a good character to line up with her appearance, maybe consider adding more dimensions to her and change her design a bit. I dont know... let her GROW???

Mk11 story was so disappointing because Kronika was just a plot device that literally just resets everything. You too scared to take the story anywhere and your writers arent talented enough to push MK into a fun future. NRS are some serious one trick ponies when it comes to MK.

You just turn her into a "Yes Queen Bad Bitch Femdom Icon" which is honestly just a sexist and conventional as the supposed 'damsel in distress' she was before. Plenty of high heeled maneaters clad in leather and lace in gaming and media. No need to act like you made Sindel woke by just reframing her.

She's so fucking shallow now none of her previous actions line up with the retcon. It's so fucking shit.
 
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haketh

Noob
Stay mad if you want but, I'm SO GLAD that Sindel is her own person and made all her evil decisions by her OWN free will and not brainwashed by a man. This is 2019, bad bitch energy only. No more stupid outdated damsel in distress, or a man making the decisions for a powerful queen when shes more than capable to make decisions on her own.
This is why despite being a Sindel fan for a long time I’m down with this. Get that good Outworld dick Queen.
 
I just want a female character that's proper bitchy to everyone, as there is NONE currently. You'd think Skarlet would have you covered there, but nope, it's very demure vampire cosplay she's pulling off in the corner. And Frost may be angry at everyone, but she's too needy and worried she's not good enough to verbally put anyone down.

Sindel is the one that most looks the part, and delivers.
 

Jynks

some heroes are born, some made, some wondrous
Why does everyone care so much about the story in fighting games anyway. Especially in MK where even death doesn't mean anything. Story matters for like the first 10h. For the rest 4000h or whatever, is all gameplay.
hardly anyone cares.. a tiny teenie fraction of the playerbase dose.. everyone else couldn't give a shit.

A the great Carmark said "Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important."
 
Why does everyone care so much about the story in fighting games anyway. Especially in MK where even death doesn't mean anything. Story matters for like the first 10h. For the rest 4000h or whatever, is all gameplay.
THIS. Plus MK11 story made it clear that nothing really matters anymore. ALL TIMELINES were erased from existence. There is technically no more lore to MK as of right now. MK12, (if there is one) will be an entirely clean slate.