General Sonya Blade is a fictional character from the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. She is a soldier and a member of Earthrealm’s special forces unit, called the Outer World Investigation Agency. She is one of the original Mortal Kombat characters and the first female character of the series, debuting in the first Mortal Kombat arcade game in 1992.
Background
The character is from Austin, Texas, and is an officer with US Special Forces, walking in the footsteps of Major Herman Blade, her father. Sonya also has a long-term dispute with Kano. In the original Mortal Kombat from 1992, she searches for Kano, the leader of an international crime organization called Black Dragon.
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Storyline
In Mortal Kombat II, from 1993, Jax travels to the outworld to find Sonya. Meanwhile, Sonya and Kano had to forget their differences and help each other survive in the Outworld. Later, Kano is arrested by Jax but manages to escape.
Sonya remains one of the few warriors left after Shao Khan invaded Earth in Mortal Kombat 3, 1995. She again meets Kano on the top of a building, where he dies. Sonya joins the Outer World Investigation Agency of the US government in Mortal Kombat 4. However, she still clashes with the black dragon after its member, Jarek, escapes her chase.
In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Sonya learns that OIA was destroyed by someone from Shang Tsung and Quan Chi’s alliance. Soon, Raiden tells her to meet with other warriors on an island to fight against this alliance. To go to the outworld, everyone has to defeat their opponent’s representation. She is defeated in the battle, but soon, Dragon King Onaga reclaims the Outworld from that alliance.
In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Sonya returns to Earth intending to assault black and red dragon clans but gets introduced to a new threat. She finds out that the Tekunin cyber ninja clan has started to disturb the civilization of the earth and violated Mortal Kombat’s law by making illegal alliances with unknown parties. Sonya and her friends fight but face casualties.
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
She also appears as one of the warriors in the crossover game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. Sonya and Jax defeat Captain Marvel, Catwoman, and Green Lantern and use a teleportation machine to reach the DC universe. She again challenges Green Lantern and gets defeated with imprisonment. She manages to escape but is confronted by the Joker and the Deathstroke. At last, Raiden and Superman defeat Dark Kahn, while Sonya is unconscious after losing to Catwoman.
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Mortal Kombat 11
In Mortal Kombat 11, from 2019, Sonya led a special forces strike team along with Cassie and Jax’s daughter Jacqui against Netherrealm before they could attack Earthrealm. Sonya sacrifices herself for the mission. When Kronika, the timekeeper, causes abnormalities in the plot, Sonya and Johnny’s younger versions appear in the present. She finds out what happened to her older self and gets angry for having a child with Johnny and that Cassie abandoned her. However, she learns that her older self told Cassie to do that, and she is caught by the different versions of Kano. She kills Kano’s younger self and erases him from his existence at present.
Critics Response
The character of Sonya Blade has received a positive response from critics. People have termed her one of the best female partners till now, and she gives competition to most of the male fighting characters. Many magazines included her among the top female video game characters of all time. There was also a minor controversy regarding the feedback of men on how they did not want to hit a girl.
