Mileena is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise by Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios. Introduced in Mortal Kombat II (1993), she is a clone of the Edenian princess Kitana, created with the blood of the fictional Tarkatan species. Her creation results in her developing the deformed facial features of the Tarkatan, which she conceals with a veil. A power-hungry, unstable villain throughout most of the series, Mileena uses a pair of sai as her primary weapons. She is also the love interest of the Tarkatan warrior Baraka or Edenian traitor Tanya. Despite some criticism for her revealing character designs, Mileena has received a positive reception for her unique appearance and personality. She has been featured in various media outside of the games and is one of the franchise's most popular characters. Appearances Mortal Kombat games After the ruler of the other-dimensional realm Outworld, Shao Kahn, conquered the realm of Edenia and merged it with his own, he decided he would keep the former king's daughter Kitana alive and raise her as his own. Though she grew up knowing nothing of her origin, the emperor nonetheless feared that one day Kitana would discover her true parentage and turn against him, so he ordered the sorcerer Shang Tsung to create a more vicious and loyal version of Kitana who can take her place if necessary using the essence of a Tarkatan warrior. However, the process was not a complete success, as the hybrid clone has a Tarkatan's hideous mouth. Instead of replacing Kitana, Mileena instead would be used to spy on her and ensure her allegiance to Shao Kahn. To facilitate this, he introduced Mileena to Kitana as her supposedly lost twin sister. While the two grew up together as his daughters and elite personal assassins, Mileena grew to harbor a great bitterness and jealousy towards Kitana, whom the Kahn favored over her. As the Kahn feared, Kitana discovers the truth about her past and Mileena is ordered to keep close watch over her rival when Kitana secretly allies with Earthrealm warriors during the events of Mortal Kombat II (1993). While Mileena is determined to stop her twin at any cost, she is murdered by Kitana, her soul descending into the Netherrealm. In the 2005 beat'em up, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, a retelling of Mortal Kombat II, Mileena fights Liu Kang and Kung Lao alongside Jade and Kitana,