Over the last 31 years, the Mortal Kombat franchise has amassed quite an iconic roster of fighters. While household names and faces like Scorpion and Sub-Zero have remained the series' most memorable mascots, they're far from being the only beloved characters in the game. Raiden, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Johnny Cage, and Kenshi are all just a few of the series' most adored staples, and they're all returning in Mortal Kombat 1, right alongside the Princess of Outworld herself, Kitana.
Potentially the Mortal Kombat series' most popular female fighter, Kitana is immediately recognizable thanks to her blue attire and matching razor-sharp fans. Over the last few decades, the character of Kitana has been through a lot, including multiple betrayals, tournaments, and deaths. Mortal Kombat 1 sees Fire God Liu Kang reshape the universe to his own liking, and while Kitana and he have shared a close history, some of her most unfortunate life events might still be canon ones, regardless of the universe.
What Kitana's Canon Events Could Be In Mortal Kombat 1
Kitana was first introduced in 1993's Mortal Kombat 2, where she plays a pretty prominent role in the game's story. Believing herself to be the daughter of Queen Sindel and Emperor Shao Kahn, Kitana remains a loyal princess and assassin for the emperor, but upon learning that her real father - King Jerrod - was killed by Shao Kahn, she turns on him. Kitana soon discovers that Shao Kahn had asked Shang Tsung to create a clone of Kitana in case she ever turned sides, and that clone is the mutated Mileena. Kitana sides with Earthrealm and the team manages to defeat Shao Kahn.
In the 1999 Dreamcast-exclusive Mortal Kombat Gold - an enhanced port of Mortal Kombat 4 - Kitana once again joins with Earthrealm's defenders to defeat Shinnok. In the aftermath, Kitana becomes the leader of her home realm of Edenia, and forges an alliance with the other Outworld tribes in case Shao Kahn ever comes back. In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Kitana dies at the hands of Shao Kahn, along with the rest of the realms' defenders.
Right at the end of the same battle that killed Kitana, Raiden is on the verge of defeat, but manages to give his past self a message. This essentially creates a new timeline, which is where Mortal Kombat 2011 takes place. Following the events of the original Mortal Kombat trilogy, albeit with some twists, Mortal Kombat 2011 sees Raiden telling Kitana that her life is a lie and that her father was killed by Shao Kahn. Kitana finds Mileena in Shang Tsung's life pits and turns against her father. In the final battle against him, however, she dies once again.
After being resurrected in Mortal Kombat X by Quan Chi, the Revenant version of Kitana works alongside Kronika in Mortal Kombat 11 to create a new universe. This plan is soon foiled when past versions of Kombatants start to bleed through the timeline. Kitana's younger self goes to kill Shao Kahn, and successfully defeats him after joining together Outworld's factions once more, becoming the new Kahn of Outworld in the process.
Though Mortal Kombat 1's new timeline seems to be changing up a lot from the past two iterations of the Mortal Kombat universe, there are a few events that might remain canon regardless. In both previous universes, Kitana joined together with the forces of Outworld to defeat Shao Kahn. While Shao Kahn hasn't been confirmed for Mortal Kombat 1 just yet, fans have seen Mileena and Kitana sat together in the trailer, implying that the two are both acting as the princesses of Outworld. Mortal Kombat 1's twist on Kitana's canon event could be her joining forces with Mileena to defeat their father. Or, alternatively, Kitana's canon event in Mortal Kombat 1 could be her death, with it happening twice in past universes, though with Liu Kang at the helm, it seems unlikely that he'd let that happen to her.
Mortal Kombat 1 will be released on September 19, 2023, for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
