Skarlet (Mortal Kombat)

Skarlet is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise by Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios. She debuted in the 2011 reboot as a downloadable fighter. Possessing powers based on her control of blood, she fights for Outworld emperor Shao Kahn.
The character originated as a rumored glitch in Mortal Kombat II (1993) before officially joining the series with the rebooted timeline. Reception to Skarlet has been mixed, with criticism directed towards her lacking distinguishing features from other fighters, although her Fatality finishing moves are considered among the franchise's most gruesome.
Appearances
Mortal Kombat games
In her Mortal Kombat bio, Skarlet is a warrior created by Shao Kahn using sorcery and the blood of countless warriors, only to be released by him as a last resort. Her sole purpose is to discover Quan Chi's true reason for attending the Mortal Kombat tournament. In Mortal Kombat 11 where it furthers her background story, Skarlet started out as a poor and orphan child who was adopted by Shao Kahn to learn blood magic upon her transformation and then, an imperial bodyguard and effective assassin. Skarlet uses kodachi swords and kunai knives as well as her power to turn into, and absorb, the blood of her victims in addition to be able to manipulate her victim's blood. Skarlet can also sense her enemies' blood beneath, allowing her not to be fooled by their disguises.
Similar to the Ermac rumors in the first Mortal Kombat but received with far less fanfare, Skarlet originated as a nonexistent character in Mortal Kombat II due to false reports of a glitch nicknamed "Scarlet" by players in which the palette swaps of either Kitana or Mileena would turn red. Nearly two decades after the rumors originated, she was announced as one of the 2011 reboot Mortal Kombat game's first two downloadable content (DLC) characters, released on June 21. Skarlet later returned as a playable character in the 2019 video game, Mortal Kombat 11, furthering her origin as a regular Outworld street urchin prior her transformation into a blood magic master after Shao Kahn adopted her. Skarlet made a few very brief cameos in the 2011 reboot’s story mode.
She was defeated by Mileena, and went missing prior to her past counterpart’s appearance in Mortal Kombat 11.
Character design and gameplay
Much of Skarlet's moveset revolves around the use of blood. She uses kodachi and kunai as standard weapons in addition to crafting others out of blood in Mortal Kombat 11.
In Mortal Kombat 11, Skarlet reprises many of her signature moves. In addition, she uses her blood magic to instantly craft various weapons including daggers, scythes, and spears. These appear both in normal gameplay and cinematic finisher movies.
Other media
Skarlet, while not actually appearing in Mortal Kombat X, does appear in the based on the game, where she was recruited by Reiko for the Outworld civil war.
Reception
Skarlet received a middling critical reception upon her playable debut in MK2011. Den of Geek rated Skarlet 48th in their 2015 ranking of the Mortal Kombat franchise's 73 characters. "There’s something kind of lazy about having someone be 'Blood: The Character.'" Leon Miller of Screen Rant rated her twelfth out of the series' twenty ninja characters in 2017. "Fan service can be a bit of a double-edged sword, and so it goes with a fighter like Skarlet can’t avoid being a tad underdeveloped." Chris Isaac of Comic Book Resources rated Skarlet thirteenth in a 2017 ranking of the series' then-nineteen female characters, in that she "had kind of a cool gimmick, but was very scarce on personality." Skarlet was deemed one of the "cheapest" characters in the 2011 Mortal Kombat game by Prima Games. However, the character was well received by Game Informer.
Skarlet has been considered among the most "gruesome" series characters. That same Fatality would also be listed as the second-best Fatality in MK 2011 by Complex, for being "as gruesome and sadistic as they come." She was described by TheGamer as "one of the most unsettling characters" of the Mortal Kombat 11 roster. Josh West of exemplified the "brutality" of MK11 through one of her Fatalities, in which she repeatedly stabs her defeated opponent with a series of daggers composed of their drained blood.
Awards and nominations
* Actress Beata Pozniak received a Voice Arts Awards nomination - "Outstanding Video Game Character - Best Voiceover" voicing Skarlet in 2019.
* Beata Pozniak won the 2020 Voice Arts Award in the "Outstanding Video Game Character - Best Performance" Category for voicing Skarlet. In the almost 30 years of the Mortal Kombat franchise, Beata is the first actor to receive such a prestigious honor for voicing one of the characters.

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See Also

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