science

Mileena

Mileena is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mileena rather than just read about it. In short: Mileena ( mə-LEE-nə) is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise by Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios. Introduced in Mortal Kombat II (1993), Mileena was initially depicted as a clone of the Edenian princess Kitana, created by Shang Tsung with the blood of the fictional Tarkatan species.

Key takeaways

Mileena belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mileena to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mileena from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Mileena ( mə-LEE-nə) is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise by Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios. Introduced in Mortal Kombat II (1993), Mileena was initially depicted as a clone of the Edenian princess Kitana, created by Shang Tsung with the blood of the fictional Tarkatan species. In the reboot entry Mortal Kombat (2011), Mileena's background as a clone of Kitana remains the same. Mortal Kombat X (2015) depicts Mileena's attempts to regain the throne as the empress of Outworld, following her removal by Kotal Kahn. In the series' second reboot Mortal Kombat 1 (2023), significant changes were made to Mileena's character and background. Rather than a clone, Mileena is a daughter of Sindel and the older twin sister of Kitana, making her heir to the throne. However, she was infected with the Tarkat disease, developing the deformed facial features of the Tarkatan race, which she suppresses with a drug. Mileena is also dating Tanya, a member of the Royal family guard, the Umgadi. Mileena is featured as a prominent villain throughout the series and uses a pair of sai as her primary weapons. Despite some criticism for her revealing character designs, she has received a positive reception for her unique appearance and personality. She has been featured in various media outside of the games.

Development

Design Mortal Kombat co-creator and producer Ed Boon described Mileena and Kitana as the "female version of Scorpion and Sub-Zero", two ninja characters from the 1992 original game. Mileena was created for the 1993 sequel Mortal Kombat II as a palette-swapped complement to Kitana in order to preserve memory. She was physically identical to Kitana save for her pink outfit and large gnashing teeth, which were created to tie in with fellow debut character Baraka in symbolizing evil in the game. The teeth were digitally added to Mileena's face for one of her Fatalities (finishing moves that execute defeated opponents) in which she consumes her defeated opponent and spits out their bones. Character designer John Tobias chose the name "Mileena" as he felt "it had a pleasant sound to it, which either helped hide her grotesque appearance or exposed a hidden inner beauty", while her and Kitana's storylines in Mortal Kombat II were borne from "the conflicts of sibling rivalry and rebelling against authority". Her signature weapon is a pair of sai, along with recurring teleport-kick and ground-roll-attack moves, for which she was considered one of the top characters of Mortal Kombat II. Kitana was originally given the sai until they were transferred to Mileena after her creation, with Kitana instead receiving war fans. Mileena was omitted from Mortal Kombat 3 due to what Tobias considered an excessive amount of ninja characters used in MKII, but she and the ninjas returned for the upgrade Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, in which she was a hidden unlockable character. For the series' three-dimensional titles beginning with Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Mileena and the previously palette-swapped characters were given distinct redesigns by Steve Beran, the series' lead character designer and art director. Beran explained that his objective of remaking old characters was to give them a fresh look from their previous incarnations while retaining elements that still made them recognizable to players. Her alternate costume in the 2011 series reboot was composed of bandages wrapped around her otherwise nude form. For Mortal Kombat X, Mileena's facial appearance was redesigned with a humanlike mouth and her deformities relocated to her cheeks. This change was reverted to her original mouth design for her next appearance in Mortal Kombat 11. Mileena and the other playable female characters in MK11 were intentionally designed by Beran and lead character designer Brendan George to downplay their sexuality. Beran commented, "I think it's just what the game is about: You're going in to fight for your life, and you're not going to be wearing such scantily clad items.” George designed the characters overall to emphasize brighter palettes that would stand out against the game's dark backgrounds while highlighting their individual strengths. Mileena's MK11 design was finalized by artists Manuel Robles and Julian Wolf. In the second reboot Mortal Kombat 1, Mileena received an increased amount of teeth inspired by her concept art of Mortal Kombat X.

Live-action and voice portrayals Mileena was played by martial artist Katalin Zamiar in Mortal Kombat II (1993), but she and several other actors from the digitized Mortal Kombat games later filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against Midway over unpaid royalties from the home versions of the game and the unauthorized use of their likenesses. Zamiar was replaced by Becky Gable for Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (1995). Her motion capture actor for the three-dimensional games Mortal Kombat: Deception (2004) and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006) was Midway graphics artist Carlos Pesina, but she was played by a female actor for the reboot game Mortal Kombat (2011). The character's battle cries were voiced by Peg Burr for the digitized Mortal Kombat games. For the series' three-dimensional releases, Mileena was voiced by Rosalind Dugas (Mortal Kombat Gold), and Johanna Añonuevo (Mortal Kombat: Deception and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon). Lita Lopez voiced Mileena in the 2005 spinoff beat-'em-up game Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. For the NetherRealm Studios MK releases, Karen Strassman voiced Mileena in the 2011 reboot and Mortal Kombat X, and Kari Wahlgren has voiced Mileena since Mortal Kombat 11.

Appearances

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Mileena: Dana Hee as Mileena in Mortal Kombat Annihilation (1997) — Dana Hee as Mileena in Mortal Kombat Annihilation (1997)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mileena

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mileena claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mileena before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mileena ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mileena

In research: Mileena appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mileena in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mileena is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Adoptee characters in video games, Bisexual women characters in video games, Clone characters in video games, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mileena outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Mileena in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mileena means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mileena out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mileena in simple terms?

Why does Mileena matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mileena?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mileena.