As a general rule, the roster of kombatants in the Mortal Kombat games tend to be a little more physically imposing than the casts of other fighting games. It’s probably something to do with the nature of the fights: Mortal Kombat’s horrifying, spine-flaying action just has a brutality that the likes of Tekken and Street Fighter can’t touch. Nobody has to pick up their eyeballs and four of their fingers after a Street Fighter match, do they?
Next to the franchise’s cast of supernatural ninjas and hideous mutants, the iconic Sonya Blade seems almost ordinary. The former OIA General is an incredibly capable opponent, for sure, but she can’t beat everybody. Let’s see how she’d fare against some other fighting game veterans.
10 Could Beat: Chun-Li
Like Sonya Blade, Chun-Li is one of the most iconic and popular female fighting game stars around. For decades, she’s been Spinning Bird Kick-ing her opponents all over the screen, a menace at close range, and somewhat of a projectile presence, too. The question is, would she be able to handle everything that Sonya Blade brings to the table?
The Mortal Kombat heroine has projectiles of her own (thanks, Energy Rings), along with other weaponry like grenades, drones, and BUD-E. They’d be quite an even match in hand-to-hand combat alone, we feel, but Chun-Li just doesn’t have the equipment that Sonya does.
9 Can’t Beat: Juri
Following on from our point about Chun-Li, Sonya Blade is equipped with an array of military tech that probably gives her an edge over the Street Fighter icon. Juri Han, however, is a different prospect entirely. A much newer female face in the franchise, Juri has all manner of tricks up her own sleeves.
A remorseless fighter and endlessly ambitious schemer, Juri is the holder of the Feng Shui Engine, a device that replaced her injured left eye. It gives her enhanced reflexes and power, presumably allowing her to evade all of Sonya’s attacks and gadgets and quickly overpower her.
8 Could Beat: Cassie Cage
If you’re familiar with the more recent changes in the Mortal Kombat universe, you’ll know that Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade have a daughter, Cassie Cage, who certainly inherited her parents’ fighting prowess. First appearing in Mortal Kombat X, Cassie’s fighting style borrows and adapts elements from those of both her famous mother and father. She’s no mere clone, though.
Commander Cage (as of Mortal Kombat 11) also has access to some interesting weaponry, from her trademark pistols to a drone of her own. She’s also adopted a trick or two from Johnny Cage, of course, but we feel that Sonya would be wise to everything Cassie tried to pull against her.
7 Can't Beat: Morrigan Aensland
The abilities Cassie Cage inherited from her father aside, we haven’t really delved into fighters with supernatural abilities yet. Juri Han is only enhanced by the Feng Shui Engine she wields, after all. Darkstalkers’ Morrigan Aensland, however, is a different matter entirely.
With the classical, horror-based leanings of the series in mind, it’s no surprise that Morrigan is anything but your average fighter. She’s a Succubus—and a very special Aensland Succubus, at that. She can fly, teleport, clone herself, heal damage, and nullify a lot of offensive magic used against her. All in all, it looks like Morrigan is a little above Sonya Blade’s pay grade as an opponent.
6 Could Beat: Kasumi
Again, Dead or Alive is a fighting franchise that tries to keep the combat somewhat grounded. It may go overboard with certain assets of its femme fatale-dominated roster, but there are no flashy energy attacks, fireballs or the like here.
Kasumi is often regarded as the unofficial mascot of the series, a noble, honorable and caring young woman who doesn’t relish the idea of fighting at all. Being very capable when forced into action, we think she’d put up quite a match against Sonya Blade, but the latter, again, just seems to bring more to the table overall.
5 Can't Beat: Ivy Valentine
Speaking of notable fighting game characters with indomitable spirits, limitless ambition and needlessly exaggerated assets, here comes Soul Calibur’s Ivy.
Ivy is neither a heroine nor a villain. Like many characters in the series, she simply seeks the legendary sword for her own ends, suffering absolutely no fools in her pursuit of it. As most fans will tell you, she’s a super complex fighter with a lot of intricate options that can overwhelm players new to her fighting style. She has a huge amount of potential, though, and Sonya would probably be thrown for a loop by Ivy’s very unique signature weapon.
4 Could Beat: Nina Williams
With her special forces background, Sonya Blade has more than deadly gadgets to help her prevail in a battle. She’s a highly trained and incredibly talented fighter at close quarters. Our next challenger is one who also excels in this area: Tekken’s Nina Williams.
She fights as a vicious assassin, mixing the hard-hitting grabs of a grappler with some surprisingly elaborate and technical combos. We do feel that Sonya Blade would come out on top here, but it would certainly be a heck of a showdown.
3 Can't Beat: Johnny Cage
Now, here’s a controversial one. Who would win in an all-out bout, Sonya Blade, or her husband? As formidable as Sonya is, Johnny Cage just has that superhuman edge—their daughter Cassie does too, to a lesser extent, but we’ve been over that.
At first glance, Johnny seems to be nothing more than an ego-centric action movie star. As the series goes on, however, his silly side abates a little, and he steps up to the plate as a true hero and vital defender of Earthrealm. His powers, the most recent game reveals, stem from his background as a warrior race bred for special abilities. With his Shadow Kick, Force-ball and energy orbs, as well as the distinctly less supernatural ability to simply punch an opponent in the groin, Johnny Cage has incredible powers that outmatch his super-average appearance.
2 Could Beat: Guile
It's none other than Real American Hero™ G.I. J… uh... Guile. This Street Fighter veteran and consummate family man has a military background somewhat similar to Sonya’s own, and they share a composure and stoic mentality in common too.
While both have their own unique abilities and access to energy attacks, Guile is much more one-dimensional in his approach to combat. Careless Sonic Booms and Flash Kicks will only get you so far (as new Guile players soon learn), and this might be reflected in a bout between these two proud fighters.
1 Can't Beat: Parasoul
We’ve seen some iconic fighting game stars over the course of this list, but we're going to close things out with a bit more of an obscure character. Parasoul hails from Skullgirls, the stylish and beautifully animated fighter from Reverge Labs.
Parasoul, princess of the Canopy Kingdom, has access to her own military backup. In her case, it doesn’t come in the form of technology and weaponry, but in direct support from the Black Egrets, who absorb projectiles for her, mess with opponents, and the like. Her fighting style is quite different from Sonya’s, instead focusing on keeping foes away from her. Sonya does very well at range, too, but Parasoul can mix things up at a distance in a way that the Mortal Kombat veteran perhaps can’t.