Highlights
- Mortal Kombat 1 aims to make the franchise more accessible by going back to the beginning with fresh twists on familiar plot beats.
- The return of Sindel in Mortal Kombat 1 suggests that she won't be subjected to any major plot twists this time around.
- While there's potential for a villainous turn for Sindel, she seems to generally be on the side of good in Mortal Kombat 1 , honoring Liu Kang's agreement with her late husband Jerrod to host a Mortal Kombat tournament.
The Mortal Kombat franchise isn't the easiest to jump into for complete newcomers. While Mortal Kombat's mechanics are perfectly suited for fighting game newbies, the series' story isn't quite as accessible, with multiple different timelines, many different characters, and more plot twists than an average soap opera. Mortal Kombat 1 is set to change that, taking the franchise all the way back to the beginning again, but this time with some fresh twists on some familiar plot beats.
At the end of Mortal Kombat 11, the newly anointed Fire God Liu Kang uses Kronika's Hourglass to reset the universe, and Mortal Kombat 1 picks right up there, dropping players at the dawn of this new age. So far, Mortal Kombat 1's trailers have confirmed that a ton of familiar faces are set to appear in the semi-reboot, all of whom have tweaked backstories and motivations. The latest Mortal Kombat 1 trailer confirmed that Sindel is returning once again, and while she has a history of plot twists in the franchise, she'll probably be one of the few safe from a villainous turn in Mortal Kombat 1, with her last twist being a particularly controversial one.
Mortal Kombat's Sindel Hasn't Had the Best History With Plot Twists
After dying at the hands of Nightwolf in 2011's Mortal Kombat, Sindel is reduced to a Revenant husk of herself for the rest of NetherRealm's continuity until Mortal Kombat 11's Aftermath DLC. After being resurrected, Sindel reunites with her daughter Kitana and tells her about her time as a slave to Shao Kahn. In the original Mortal Kombat continuity, Sindel was the wife of King Jerrod, before Shao Kahn invades Edenia, murders him, and kidnaps Sindel. Shao Kahn then uses Quan Chi's magic to mind-control Sindel, turning her into an unwilling antagonist for Earthrealm's heroes.
Throughout the original Mortal Kombat continuity, it's made consistently clear that Sindel is being mind-controlled against her will. However, towards the end of Mortal Kombat 11's Aftermath DLC, Sindel reveals that she'd actually been working with Shao Kahn willingly all along, even going as far as to reveal that she was the one who killed King Jerrod. According to Mortal Kombat 11, Sindel had never been a victim, and was always the one in control of her own evil actions.
Naturally, long-time fans hated this plot twist in Mortal Kombat 11. For a start, this twist opened up several major plot holes in NetherRealm's continuity. For example, Sindel's off-screen death at the start of Mortal Kombat 2011 was implied to be because of her sacrificing herself to protect Earthrealm, which she wouldn't have done if she was actually evil all along. This twist also felt extremely out of character for Sindel, who had retained largely the same backstory and motivations since her debut in Mortal Kombat 3 back in 1995.
It seems safe to assume that Mortal Kombat 1's Sindel won't be the subject of any major plot twists this time around. Based on the most recent Mortal Kombat 1 trailer, it seems as though Sindel will be Outworld's Empress in Liu Kang's new universe. While she's shown to have a brutal streak in the trailer, she seems to generally be on the side of good, choosing to honor Liu Kang's agreement with her late husband Jerrod to host a Mortal Kombat tournament to stave off invasions of other realms. With this universe's version of Shao Kahn as her general, there's still a potential for a villainous turn for Mortal Kombat 1's Sindel, though hopefully it makes a bit more sense this time around.
Mortal Kombat 1 releases on September 19 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
