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Sindel Lore thread

HeavyNorse

#BlackLivesMatter
Some fans take it too far. Being dissatisfied with how a character turned out and addressing those concerns is one thing... but harassing the devs and sending them death threats because of something like that? Unforgivable.

They tend to forget they are dealing with fucking PEOPLE! HUMAN BEINGS!!! Because they can hide behind their screens with their anonymity and pretend it is okay to act like that. And all too often do I see people go "It's just the internet, grow thicker skin, it's not real, people just overreact online"... None of those are valid excuses to completely disregard common decency, respect or empathy.

It's outright sociopathic.
I hope Kittelsen and his son are alright.
 

Parasurama

Dragon
Sindel is out in less than 24 hours, so I decided to make a thread dedicated to her lore to separate it from the gameplay threads.

And I'll start by posting this video from The4thSnake:

My personal opinion:
I am disappointed that NRS decided to make this retcon to her story in MK11. It will not stop my enjoyment of playing her in the game though, I am still getting her and will play her! All her other aspects in MK11 - her gameplay, her design, the voice acting - it all looks awesome! But I see no reason for NRS to make this odd change to her character.

However, it goes deeper than just Sindel. Thing is, my favourite storyline from the original timeline is everything that revolves around the Edenians, how Kitana fought to regain Edenia's freedom, reunited with her mother, fought Shao Kahn's forces alongside Jade, Tanya's betrayal as she brought Shinnok into the realm... All this was completely cut away and thrown aside in the new timeline. From how Kitana learns about her true origins and who Mileena really is, to Tanya making a slight comment about wanting Edenia's freedom from Outworld, and now Sindel's past having been retconned as a final nail in the coffin.

All this said though... not only does MK11's story mode ending heavily hint at another reboot of some sort, but because Sindel is nowhere in the main story mode of the game and is merely DLC, it is easy to disregard this retcon entirely as non-canon... or at least as inconsequential all things considered. As things are now, Sindel's retcon has no influence on anything canon what-so-ever. What I don't wish to happen is that they continue this retcon into MK12's main story mode. That is not who Sindel is to me. She could just as well have been another character then. But that's just my feelings and thoughts on the matter.

Feel free to discuss!
I think what could have been more interesting was that she Had the classic back story but grew to like the darkness- favoring character development and corruption.
They retconned in order to make her seem more empowered - I think.
 

Gaxkang

Banned
I feel like Sindel's original storyline packed more punch...

And the Shao Kahn who messed with her life wasn't the same Shao Kahn who was pretty easily beaten by Kitana in MK11.

Following X's storyline Sindel would still have been serving evil Liu Kang and Kitana...it could have been interesting to see the good Sindel restored and dealing with the evil Kitana, but they went the other way I guess.

Now she's kinda just like another villain I guess so...at least she has snappy intros. :p
 
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Roy Arkon

I will leave my seal on you!
That kind of behavior is unacceptable on any level. No matter what you say about Sindel, attacking the devs and threatening for that mere reason alone must be stopped. Like Shawn himself said in that thread, the people in NRS are all legit fans of MK, and just because those attackers aren't open minded to get things changed, even for twists (which once again it's what it is, and even for actual retcons) that doesn't change that fact, or excuse their actions. And what's worse is that there are people in that thread who actually try to find excuses for those attacks like saying that Shawn using his son as a human shield of sorts, all just to justify their rants and threats. These people should be ashamed, because this is unacceptable, period.

Good to see that Shawn and his son are doing fine right now, I hope he and NRS will keep doing the amazing job that they do and keep only the positive comments close to them.
 
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Cicada 5

Noob
I'm of two minds about it. On the one hand, I hate that it erases Deception Sindel completely, and that it cancels out the most important aspect of Sindel's character before the retcon -- that she sacrificed her life to protect Earthrealm from Shao Kahn. I also liked the discontinuity between her seemingly evil appearance and her actually benevolent spirit, which I get is confusing from a design perspective but in my opinion is part of what made her interesting.

On the other hand, I agree with @16 Bit's point in the Kombat Kast that it gives the character more agency. Making Sindel into a Cersei Lannister type who is seeking her own advancement over a husband she saw as weak is a much more empowered position than having her be a rape victim who then gets ripped out of her grave and mind controlled to do her rapist's bidding. But while MK3 Sindel didn't have agency, Deception Sindel was a very empowered character and I think they could have gone that route instead.

As a Sindel fan who most of all would like to see her in more games, my biggest concern is that tying her explicitly to Shao Kahn as a villain and part of his reign means that she doesn't have an obvious role in the story moving forward. The righteous Queen of Edenia had a role to play after Shao Kahn was gone, and it would have been nice to finally see her and Kitana reunited and working for the good of the realms. With this change, I feel like Sindel and Shao Kahn might just be retired after this game, you know what I mean? If Sindel has more schemes once Shao Kahn has fallen, then that would be fine! Sindel vs. Kitana in Outworld could be fun. Obviously the story is going to reboot again, so who knows where things are going ultimately for MK12.

I also think making her a traitor to Edenia sort of eats up Tanya's role, and Tanya is my second favorite character, so that's a bit of a bummer.
Why do people keep calling Sindel a rape victim? There is no indication in any of the games she was raped.
 

Lord Snotty

Lord of the Bletherrealm.
Characters in fiction are routinely revamped, reinterpreted, and redefined. Goodness, I remember Liu Kang went from being The Chosen One to a kung-fu cadaver in one installment. Basically, this is Sindel's new character and at some point it might change again. This version is hammy but has actual agency and isn't just a plot device. I like it.
 

Cicada 5

Noob
In the original timeline, Shao Kahn forced her to be his wife. The implication is pretty clear?? What do you think that means, exactly?
That doesn't mean she was raped. There is no indication that he raped her or that the writers were even implying such. This is Mortal Kombat not Game of Thrones.
 

ImperatrixSindel

Too bad YOU... will DIE!
That doesn't mean she was raped. There is no indication that he raped her or that the writers were even implying such. This is Mortal Kombat not Game of Thrones.
When a conqueror forces a slain king’s wife into marriage that’s absolutely what happens. Marriages are consummated. This is a weird hair to split. Why else would Shao Kahn keep her as spoils of war?

More to the point, if you want to be pedantic, when he resurrects her in MK3 he brainwashes her into being his loving consort.
 

Cicada 5

Noob
When a conqueror forces a slain king’s wife into marriage that’s absolutely what happens. Marriages are consummated. This is a weird hair to split. Why else would Shao Kahn keep her as spoils of war?
What real life conquerors do and what fictional ones are two different things. Again, this isn't Game of Thrones. It's not splitting hairs to say that Kahn never raped Sindel when no such thing was ever indicated in the games. It's also common to kill the children of slain kings but he kept Kitana alive.

Hell, if he planned on raping her he never would have ordered Shang Tsung to clone Kitana so he has another daughter.

More to the point, if you want to be pedantic, when he resurrects her in MK3 he brainwashes her into being his loving consort.
He resurrected her on Earth to breech the barriers between Earth and Outworld. And there is still nothing to say he raped her while she was under his control.

I could say that Johnny Cage has sexually assaulted someone because a lot of actors in Hollywood are guilty of that but until it's actually confirmed on screen, it's just my own head canon.
 

Zviko

Noob
She had a daughter with Jerrod and she hated him - Jerrod raped her. Jerrod sucks, Shao is all love.