Skarlet (Mortal Kombat)

Skarlet is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series, serving as one of Shao Kahn's deadliest enforcers and adopted daughter alongside Kitanaand Mileena.
Skarlet made her debut in Mortal Kombat (2011) as a Downloadable Character (DLC). Before that, however, she was a subject of fan speculation that began with rumors of a glitch in Mortal Kombat II.
Skarlet returns in Mortal Kombat 11 as a playable character.
== Biography ==
* Mortal Kombat (2011): "Shao Kahn has many warriors under his command, but his trust lies solely in the fighters of his own creation. Warrior blood gathered from countless battlefields, fused with sorcery, produced his most effective enforcer yet: Skarlet. An expert tracker, she preys on those deemed enemies of the empire. During kombat, Skarlet gains strength from her opponent's blood, absorbing it through her skin. Shao Kahn has a new mission for this formidable kombatant: discover Quan Chi's true intentions and kill him if he plots betrayal of the emperor."
* Mortal Kombat 11: "Blood mage and Imperial Bodyguard. Skarlet was a starving wretch before Shao Kahn anointed her in blood. Reborn by his sorcery with an insatiable bloodlust and the power to feed it, her crimson cravings are rivaled by her desire for Shao Kahn's praise. She is his deadliest, most faithful creation."
== Storyline ==
=== Mortal Kombat 9 ===
The woman that would be eventually known as Skarlet was once a street urchin who was adopted by Shao Kahn. Using Blood Magik, the Outworld emperor infused Skarlet with blood collected from countless warriors. A literally bloodthirsty warrior, Skarlet gained strength from the blood of her opponents, which meant that she was only released by her master as a last resort. As such, she is typically kept chained until he had a need of her services.
=== Mortal Kombat X (Comic Series) ===
Reiko recruited Skarlet to his side sometime before or during the Outworld civil war, though her involvement has remained a secret to the opposition.
During the Shokan siege on Z'unkahrah, Skarlet infiltrated the city and stole Kotal Kahn's Kamidogu from its pedestal. She gave the dagger to Havik, who was impressed by her boldness in stealing it. Skarlet requested to learn Blood Magik from the chaos cleric, who led her to Cassie Cage's cell, explaining the girl's ancestry and that in order to extract the power from her, she must fight.
Skarlet later fights Jacqui while Cassie is forced to watch, unable to help her friend due to being chained to the floor, as Havik watches on. Skarlet easily dominates Jacqui and knocks the girl out with a single blow to the jaw. Afterwards, Skarlet chains Jacqui's unconscious body to the wall and witnesses Reiko return with Earthrealm's Kamidogu to give to Havik.
As Reiko prepares for Kotal Kahn, Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage's arrival, he orders Skarlet to cut him with both Earthrealm and Outworld's Kamidogu daggers. Skarlet complies and Reiko declares that together they will shed enough blood to gain the power to kill the Elder Gods themselves. As Reiko basks in Blood Magik, Skarlet absorbs some of the excess power he is emitting and clings to Reiko as she is overwhelmed by it.
Empowered with Blood Magik, Skarlet cuts Jacqui with one of the Kamidogu, enslaving her to the Blood Code, and has her hold Cassie. Skarlet tells Cassie that important guests, her parents, will be arriving soon, and that Cassie will give them a "Proper bloody welcome" before stabbing her with the Kamidogu, enslaving Cassie to the Blood Code as well.
Skarlet joins with Reiko and Red Dragon mercenaries in confronting Kotal Kahn, Johnny Cage, and Sonya Blade. After Reiko makes his intentions for conquest clear, Skarlet reveals the girls in their corrupted state by the Blood Code to their rescuers.
Skarlet stays by Reiko's side as the battle between their forces and Kotal Kahn's began. After Kotal and D'Vorah make short work of the Red Dragon troops between them, Skarlet claps in mock respect as the four of them face down, with Skarlet drawing her blades to duel with D'Vorah. When the Kytinn is distracted by Kotal's battle with Reiko, Skarlet takes the initiative and stabs D'Vorah in the shoulder.
This backfires on her however, as D'Vorah uses her highly toxic blood to weaken Skarlet. Recovering somewhat, Skarlet tries to come to Reiko's aid as he battles Kotal Kahn when she calls to her general in panic, witnessing Mileena's arrival alongside her Tarkata hordes.
Skarlet blocks Mileena's path to Reiko and Kotal Kahn, mockingly calling the situation awkward as she tells the deposed empress that after Reiko lost faith in her he turned to Skarlet. Though Mileena tries to convince Skarlet that Reiko will betray her, Skarlet laughs this off, calling her jealous before throwing a Blood Ball at Mileena, revealing Reiko to have empowered her with the Blood Code. When several Tarkata rush Skarlet, she summoned tentacles of blood to impale them.
Mileena strikes Skarlet with her sai, impaling her chest, but Skarlet rips the blades free and charges Mileena, declaring herself to be a daughter of Shao Kahn as well, but as she rants about sharing the throne with Reiko as immortals bound in the Blood Code, Skarlet suddenly finds herself telekinectically bound in place by her other 'sibling', Ermac. Mileena uses the opportunity to destroy Skarlet's legs with a Brutality, but a weakened Skarlet chokes out that the attack won't kill her. Mileena doesn't care, telling Skarlet she will torture her instead before kicking Skarlet's face into the ground, knocking her unconscious and, she is not seen again.
=== Mortal Kombat 11 ===
When the Keeper of Time, Kronika, begins preparing to undo history to create a New Era, Skarlet is one of the many time displaced warriors to arrive in the present from the past, specifically during the Outworld Tournament, alongside her master, Shao Kahn, Black Dragons Kano and Erron Black, and Tarkata war chief Baraka, all of them summoned in a swirling sandstorm into the present era Outworld Coliseum, along with past versions of the thunder god Raiden, his champions Liu Kang and Kung Lao, and the traitor Edenians, Kitana and Jade.
When Shao Kahn duels Kotal Kahn for the throne of Outworld, erupting the koliseum into chaos as all sides battle for one Kahn or the other, Skarlet uses the blood of a guards corpse to pull Kotal Kahn into the lower catacombs of the koliseum, and though she knows Kotal's people, the Osh-Tekk, practice Blood Magik, she proclaims herself its master, and battles the Kahn, but is defeated, escaping between Kotal's reunion with Jade and the past Erron Black's arrival to attempt slaying the emperor.
Skarlet is among Shao Kahn's warriors who are saved by the Kytinn D'Vorah's arrival, and is present with her master as he learns of his own death at Raiden and the Elder Gods hands, and D'Vorah's own slaying of his heir Mileena, when Kronika arrives, offering the deposed emperor a greater empire in her New Era if he will reclaim Outworld and use its armies to protect her as she prepares to undo history.
Skarlet remains by Shao Kahn's side as he moves his loyalists to the Tarkatan Kamp on the edges of Outworld's Wastelands, and after a failed attempt by Kotal and Jade to sneak into the kamp for a preemptive strike, resulting in their capture, convinces Shao Kahn to spare Jade so she may feed off her blood, calling Edenian blood "sweet" and a "rare commodity".
As Skarlet painfully drains Jade of her blood, her feeding is interrupted by the arrival of Kitana, held prisoner by two of Kotal's soldiers who wish to offer her to Shao Kahn. Though amused to see the Kahn's high and mighty daughter seemingly brought in by lowly soldiers, Skarlet sees through the ruse easily, identifying the soldiers as Liu Kang and Kung Lao, after they refuse to let her feed on Kitana and demand to see Baraka. Skarlet orders the Tarkata warriors to attack them while the Blood Mage herself moves in for Kitana, but is repelled by the princess's superior skills, forcing her to flee the tent, but is unable to escape Kitana.
When Skarlet snarls that the princess has betrayed her father, Kitana retorts that she was only Shao Kahn's daughter by conquest, the Kahn having stolen her from Edenia and the true father she never knew. To that, Skarlet calls the Edenian people and Kitana's own bloodline weak, before engaging the princess in battle, only to be defeated. After this defeat, Skarlet vanishes, and her fate remains unknown.
== Endings ==
* Mortal Kombat (2011) (Non-Canonical): "Controlled by Quan Chi's sorcery, Skarlet attacked and destroyed Shao Kahn. As Quan Chi's magic subsided, she realized her unwitting role in his plot to bring ruin to Outworld. With Shao Kahn's blood splattered across her body, Skarlet absorbed his immense strength. She used this newfound power against Quan Chi. Brotherhood of Shadow warriors raced to defend the sorcerer, but their blood only served to make Skarlet invincible. In a battle between sorcery and gore-fueled fighting power, she avenged her fallen master. Having served her purpose, Skarlet disappeared into the shadows, awaiting Shao Kahn's rebirth."
* Mortal Kombat 11 (Non-Canonical): "All of his daughters, Shao Kahn made me deadliest. He pulled me from the gutter. Bound me to the Blood Code. Made me fight for recognition. Perhaps he will commend me...when I bind the Blood Code to the Sands of Time. Now a Blood God, I demand more than Shao Kahn's recognition. I demand worship. I'll have temples, ministers, acolytes, prayers...And sacrifices. Rivers of blood, shed in my name, purging heretics who dare reject me. How proud Shao Kahn is now. How proud...and obedient. For the only thing better than my Master's recognition, is to make him beg for mine. All will worship me...or there will be blood."
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