Despite being Mortal Combat's first lady, Sonya Blade is only a Kameo Fighter in Mortal Kombat 1. She has missed out on games before, but she had appeared in each series entry for the past decade or more. Still, some mainstays had to go to set the new timeline apart from the old one. Plus, she’ll likely be back for the sequel or another reboot!
While Sonya Blade doesn’t tend to be as popular as Kitana or Mileena, she has actually been one of the Mortal Kombat series’ strongest characters. When other characters were playing around with fire and ice, she was winning bouts with military tech and fisticuffs. If anyone fancies seeing her at her strongest, there are plenty of entries to choose from.
6 Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe
This attempt to give players an alternative to Marvel vs. Capcom didn’t quite work out. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe’s gameplay was an odd mix of the prior PS2 trilogy with the future MK9 style and odd gimmicks like Freefall Combat and Close Combat. Its bugs could’ve been ironed out, but then its original publisher Midway Games fell. The MK Team got to live on as Netherrealm Studios, though any support for MK vs. DC was shut down.
Still, Sonya stood up fairly well in the game, just managing to become one of its 10 best characters. Her infinite combo isn’t quite as airtight as OP characters like The Flash, thanks to counters like the Rage mechanic. But her speed and strength are enough to put up a good fight, particularly if she can work in her Deadly Kiss, which can stun opponents long enough for a triple kick, Bicycle Kick, or a klassic MK-style uppercut.
5 Mortal Kombat 11
Here’s where the MK Community splits a bit. Some consider Mortal Kombat 11’s Sonya to be low tier, standing just above DLC characters like Sheeva and John Rambo, while Eventhubs, one of the top websites for fighting game fans, puts her as the game’s 9th best character, just behind Jade at 8th and Rain at 6th. So, why is there a divide?
At first, Sonya was dangerous enough to require video guide tips on how to get the advantage over her, but then she received some significant nerfs. She’s still fast, working best when she’s in the opponent’s face and trapping them in mix-up combos. However, she has trouble getting past projectiles, making her more vulnerable to zoners like Rain and Noob Saibot.
4 Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
After Mortal Kombat 4 got a less-than-stellar reception, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance felt like a return to form. The roster was smaller, and everyone only had one fatality each, but the new style-switching gameplay was fast, fun, and rather intuitive for the time. Still, it hasn’t aged as well as Mortal Kombat: Deception or MK9. It also made Sonya the strongest woman on the roster.
She reached 5th on tier lists, standing way above future MK1 returnees Li Mei and Nitara. Her attacks did more damage, with her chains and juggles setting opponents up for her hefty Flying Kick or her Kiss of Death stun attack. It’s enough to send Hsu Hao back into obscurity, though not quite enough to overcome players who knew how to get the most out of Reptile's goofy Crab Stance.
3 Mortal Kombat X
Characters in Mortal Kombat X can find themselves racing up and down the tier list depending on which Variation they selected. Each gave the character different moves and perks they could use to their advantage, like Covert Ops giving Sonya parries and counter moves and Special Forces giving her drones to back up her mix-ups. The Covert Ops variation was the most popular of her Variations for its defensive tactics.
But by Mortal Kombat X's final release, MKXL, her Demolition variation made her the game’s 4th strongest character. It gave her frag and stun grenades to switch between, strengthening her zoning game by stunning her opponents for a combo or outright blasting them. Players only had 3 grenades at a time to use before having to reload, but with tactical use, they could be enough to close the distance on her foes.
2 Mortal Kombat 2011
Mortal Kombat 2011, or Mortal Kombat 9 (MK9), was the series’ first reboot, bringing back the klassic kast, only to twist their prior story threads around. Anyone who didn’t care for the Revenant stuff in MKX and MK11 has this game to blame for starting it. Sonya's fans were happy though, as their girl avoided all that by being one of its few survivors. That and she was very good gameplay-wise, too.
In fact, many people dreaded fighting against her, Kenshi, Kabal, and Cyrax for their OP moves and tactics. In Sonya’s case, her Arch Kick could lunge over projectiles to strike defenseless opponents, with her Dive Kick opening them up for combos, which could then link into her high-damage X-Ray move. Whatever her opponents did, she could effectively bully them into submission.
1 Mortal Kombat
If only the FGC as people know it now was around in 1992. Sonya was reduced to a background cameo in Mortal Kombat 2 because she was one of the least-played characters in the original Mortal Kombat. An army lady in gym wear just wasn’t as intriguing as an ice ninja, fire ninja, or the God of Thunder. However, when people went back to play the first MK, they noticed Sonya was the strongest character in the game.
Her roundhouse kick was fast and had much better range than either Sub-Zero or Scorpion, and she could chain her Leg Grab move twice after certain combos. As simple as that seems, it really racked up the damage, making Flawless Victories as guaranteed as her Fatalities. Only Johnny Cage and Liu Kang provide a challenge, with their own kicks and sweeps, but they can’t stop Sonya from being the game's true champion.