Sheeva

This article is about the Mortal Kombat character. For the Hindu aspect of God, see Shiva.

Sheeva
Mortal Kombat character
File:Sheeva-removebg-preview.png Sheeva in Mortal Kombat 11 (2020)
Created by	Ed Boon John Tobias
Designed by	John Tobias (MK3) Atomhawk Design (MK9)

Search Sheeva on Amazon.

Sheeva is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise by Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios. Debuting in Mortal Kombat 3 (1995), she is a Shokan, a half-human, half-dragon race distinguished by their four arms and enormous size. She was the franchise's first playable Shokan fighter after previous Shokan characters were featured in sub-boss roles. Sheeva fights as one of Outworld's warriors, although she holds loyalty to her species above the rulers of Outworld. In the rebooted timeline, she becomes queen of the Shokan.

Outside of the games, Sheeva has appeared in various related media, including the 1997 film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Reception to the character has been mixed due to her limited presence in the series.

Appearances

Mortal Kombat games

Sheeva belongs to the ancient race of the Shokan, a subterranean people living in Outworld. Like all of her race, she possesses a tall, muscular build, red eyes, four arms with three fingers on each totaling 12 fingers, and two toes on each foot. However special to her only is the horns on her head. In Mortal Kombat 3 (1995), when the Outworld emperor Shao Kahn resurrected the Edenian queen Sindel as the first step in his invasion of Earthrealm, he appointed Sheeva to be her personal protector. She became distrustful, however, when the Kahn appointed the centaur Motaro to lead his Extermination Squads into battle. Sheeva saw this as an insult, as the Shokan and Centaurs have long been bitter enemies. She served the emperor in Earthrealm, but when she returned to Outworld, she was shocked to learn that Shao Kahn had betrayed the Shokans and had launched an offensive against them. She joined her fellow Shokans in fighting the Kahn’s warriors. The Shokans were far outnumbered, but when Shao Kahn is defeated by Earth’s warriors and recalls his troops, Sheeva takes this opportunity to get revenge on Motaro. Days later, she learned that Motaro had nursed his Earthrealm ally, Kano, back to health. Although Motaro had rescued Kano, it was merely to imprison him so he could later face the wrath of Shao Kahn for his failure to defeat the Earthrealm warrior Sonya Blade. Some time later, Sheeva attempted to kill Motaro and Shao Kahn, freeing Kano to help her with the latter after he offered his assistance. They proceeded to the palace, but Kano betrayed Sheeva, informing Shao Kahn of the attempt on his life, which leads to him killing Sheeva. In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon's training mode, an illusion of Sheeva is seen in the Netherealm within a legion of demons who were attempting to overthrow fallen Elder God Shinnok's rule as part of a test for Edenian demigod Taven.

Sheeva returns in the rebooted continuity of Mortal Kombat (2011). In the Story Mode, she serves as Shao Kahn's bodyguard and jailer. She fights several combatants in the game and loses to them all. Sheeva returns as ally in Mortal Kombat 11, initially as a non-playable character before later becoming a DLC character. She is first seen when a past iteration of Edenian princess Kitana tried to convince her to aid Kotal Kahn against the revived Shao Kahn. Sheeva, however, is hesitant to get involved unless victory is assured; stating she will join only if Baraka and his Tarkatans can be persuaded to join as well. After Kitana achieves this, Sheeva accompanies her in storming the Koliseum to prevent Kotal's execution. Later, Sheeva becomes one of Kitana's primary lieutenants after the now-crippled Kotal appoints the latter the new Kahn. Sheeva joins the alliance in the final battle against the keeper of time Kronika's army in the Netherrealm while Kitana and her allies proceed to Kronika's keep. In the DLC expansion, Aftermath, Sheeva plays a more significant role, aiding a time-traveling Shang Tsung in retrieving Kronika's Crown of Souls so Fire God Liu Kang can restore history after exploiting her blood oath to Sindel. Sheeva assists in reviving her so she can join them as well, but upon learning of Sindel's treachery, Sheeva attempted to stop her, only to be defeated.

Character design and gameplay

Sheeva, whose name was derived from Shiva, the Hindu deity of destruction, was introduced into the series due to fan requests for a playable version of Goro. She was not included among the selectable fighters in the SNES and Sega Genesis version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 due to memory constraints, though she appeared as a glitch character in the SNES version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

Until the release of MK: Armageddon, Sheeva had not appeared as a playable character since MK Trilogy, nor did she have had any substantial cameos. Her fate after MK Trilogy was revealed in the text from Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance's Konquest mode. In Armageddon's arcade mode, Sheeva sometimes appeared as a sub-boss before the final fight with Blaze. She is the only Shokan character that can perform aerial combos. While she has Goro's offensive moves, she is female so that she would be smaller in size and therefore the same height as the other fighters.

Other media

Sheeva has a minor role in the 1997 film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, and is played by Marjean Holden. In the shooting script and novelization, Sheeva is killed following an extensive fight scene with Raiden, but the scene was never filmed, with Raiden instead fighting two Raptors and Sheeva being crushed by a falling cage. Her only action sequence is a brief quarrel with Motaro, though the film acknowledges her then-current role in the games as Sindel's personal protector.

Sheeva has a small role in the animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, in which she harbored a long-standing animosity toward Raiden. She was voiced by Dawnn Lewis.

In the 2015 Mortal Kombat X: Blood Ties prequel comic miniseries produced by DC Comics, Sheeva is crowned by Kintaro as the current leader of the Shokan in a peaceful treaty with Kotal Kahn, following the death of previous rule King Gorbak. Sheeva mourns Kintaro's death after a possessed Sonya kills him in battle.

Reception

Reception of the character has been mixed. In 2011, Wirtualna Polska featured her among the top ten female villains in gaming, as "an attraction for connoisseurs of unusual beauty and even more unusual quantities of the various parts of the body." In 2012, UGO.com ranked her as the 28th top Mortal Kombat character. Game Informer in 2010 listed her as one of the characters they did not want for MK2011, stating that "despite a somewhat cool ground-pound move, she was an addition to the series that never really served a purpose or did anything particularly noteworthy."

Sheeva was featured in several lists of the best finishing moves in the Mortal Kombat series by various publications. In 1996, her "Skin Rip" move received the most votes for favorite Mortal Kombat 3 finishing move from GamePro readers. In 2010, IGN ranked her "Manly Forearms" from MK3 as the third-best Fatality. In 2012, GameFront ranked her "Stripped Down" Fatality from Mortal Kombat 2011 as the third best in the series, while her other Fatality was also ranked as the ninth best in this game by Paste.

References

fr:Sheeva pt:Sheeva

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