Not sure why this is happening, but when I made the link its turning the text about my signature as the clicky so just click that lol http://www.gamesradar.com/sonya-blade-finally-feels-real-character-mortal-kombat-x/

Clickable

I have to admit, I thought it was quite brave of them to age a female character and add her to the roster. That doesn't happened often in games, let alone fighting games.

When other FG made a jump in time they either got rid of the aged females (Tekken with Michelle Chang and Jun Kazama, Soul Calibur with Seung Mina, Taki, and so on)
Or just kept them the same, through various magical or SF methods (Nina and Anna Williams or Ivy Valentine)

Things are changing. It's a new, wonderful era for women in gaming...Claire Redfield and Sonya Blade are testimony to that :)

I feel like the article sorta takes away from Sonya being more focused on her job than her husband and daughter but good article nonetheless.

But she didn't physically age. She's supposed to be 40 and she looks exactly the same as she did 20 years ago. Johnny looks 40, Sonya don't.

She looks about mid to late 30's to me, she doesn't look old old but I can tell she has aged a bit lol

Okay I've read the article in full(Which is a real surprise) and here is why it's stupid and wrong.

First of all the title says "Sonya Blade finally feels like a real character" And that's the most stupid thing I have ever heard. What do they actually mean with "real" character? Wasn't she a real character since MK1? Are they talking about her being a mom? That's what made her a real character?

Do they mean that it's because she is dressed decently and is no longer wearing revealing things? Because if that's what makes a character real then they can go fuck themselves.

She is still fighting sorcerers and having drones come out of nowhere, she gets blasted by an amulet that is supposed to fuck any normal human up and yet she survives, she was in a helicopter crash and didn't get a scratch... Yeah, VERY real.

"Yet MKX's depictions of strong women, particularly Sonya Blade, Cassie Cage, and Jacqui Briggs, are some of the most grounded, believable"

Sonya Blade is a strong female and that's what she has always been, MKX didn't change a single thing.

Cassie Cage is Johnny Cage with boobs, I have never met/seen any girl that would normaly speak like Cassie Cage, she is not strong or real in any way shape or form.

Jacqui Briggs is a walking talking stereotype saying things like "I saw you looking at my ass" or "Oh yeah it's on". It's not funny and feels forced.

"But 2011's Mortal Kombat (which I'll henceforth refer to as MK9) bucks that trend by delivering an exceptionally engrossing narrative"

This dumbass obviously doesn't know that MK9 was the SECOND time they told a story that way, MKvsDC is the first time they did it. Sure MK9's story was better but that wasn't his point, so he obviously is talking out of his ass.

"Sonya is just as important to the plot of MK9 as her primarily male counterparts"

Not sure if he means she is important or not but if he does then he obviously didn't play the story.

Sonya blade is as important as the slave which crawls to Shao Kahn's leg after he wins, I'm being serious. She has one chapter with stupid fights and after that she tells Sub-zero that Scorpion killed his brother leading to us only seeing her when all the heroes are together again so they can get ready for the Sindel massacre. She then gets blasted by Shao Kahn, so I don't understand how is she important to the story?

"Sonya actually has wrinkles on her face, because that's what happens to people when they age"

Ummm.... I'm going to assume this guy is really talking out of his ass and he hasn't even seen Sonya in MKX. Wrinkles on her face? Yeah all one of them.

Sonya is supposed to be at least 50 or late 40s yet she looks like she is early 30s and even 20s. So here goes your argument buddy, she doesn't feel like a "real" character.

"MKX gives you the chance to actually take in Sonya's personality"

Yep, a dumbass who is trying to get Earth into a war with Outworld by refusing to help Kotal and every chance she gets she shits on him.

As for the game... They must be fucking joking, how and when did we get to "take in Sonya's personality". She has one chapter which was only there so we can see how Jax,Scorpion and Subby came back to life and after that we only see her getting her ass kicked. Never once did I see her personality but from what she says when she fights you, I don't think I even want to get to take in her personality. "GTFO" Seriously, Sonya?

"turning the women who further the story into one-dimensional, dehumanized motivators or completely ineffectual extras to be rescued"

.... Seriously? Sonya is all about her job, they even emphasis this in the game with Cassie, she doesn't like her mother because she is always serious about her job and makes it her Number 1 most important thing in life.

So yes, she is still one-dimensional. They don't even let us see much of her love relationship with Johnny Cage outside the "He is mine" line when she is fighting Quan Chi. Just stupid.

I'm not going to even respond to the rest of his stupid shit, this is obviously stupid and done with ZERO research.

Sonya Blade for me has always been a really good character in terms of story and design, they don't have to make her dress up nicely to be "real".

His whole argument boils down to "I saw her dressing up like a military person therefore I believe she is a real character and an important one"

People love Batman,Superman and many other superheroes who are not "real". Sonya Blade can be sexy and powerful, it doesn't have to be one or the other. In MK9 she wasn't shallow in terms of design, the people who saw her as a "Barbie-like template" were the shallow people.

People that are pervs will stay pervs no matter the design.

I will wait a few years for them to do an article about Batman not being "real" because he is wearing a sexy Batsuit.

Just fucking dumb. I feel like I lost a few brain cells reading that shit.

Sonya Blade is a kickass character and she was always real for some, changing her outfit didn't change anything.

It's just game journalists trying too hard to praise anything that's a little different.

Sonya's primary in MK9 sucked because it was bland, not because it was revealing.

And while the females in MKX are a bit more conservative they're not exactly any less cliched than anyone else in MK. They're not bad characters though.

People are just dumb these days and for some reason demand "realism" from their fantasy because anything that pretends to be realistic is seen as less childish and more mature.

Insecure people trying to justify a hobby that is seen as childish by others. But the problem is "realism" can't be quantified and everyone has their own dumb, definition of it. Like saying that Superheroes like Batman or Green Arrow are more realistic because they have no superpowers, yet nothing they do could ever be done by anyone to begin with.

If it's not taking place in real life, I don't care for "realism."

What you keep on saying Jacqui is a walking stereotype? Are you saying black girls are always telling men to not look at their asses??

Yeah I don't get the part where that's a stereotype somehow, though women would obviously be correct by assuming that men are staring at their asses. We just do. Great way to pass the time.

LOL

Nope. She is a stereotype of what they think teen girls are like. Have you ever watched one of those horrible B horror movies or even sometimes action movies that are supposed to make females look powerful and sound like cool guys. They always throw terms like "I saw you staring at my ass" or "I saw you staring at my boobs" Or this and that.

Yup, she totally looks the same...
And someone should learn how to count wrinkles...just saying.
But I agree with the rest...as ridiculous as her outfits were sometimes, she didn't feel less "real" than she does now. She was always a badass.

Oh I see

Oh I stand corrected. She has some slight crows feet.

But come on. For as old as she's supposed to be, she should be much more aged. Like where's the grey hair? You telling me that having a super stressful job doesn't age you?

Good genes? Good anti wrinkle Q10 cream? Special Forces lifting discount? Raiden working his magic?
Let's not exaggerate, they didn't need to turn her into Blanche. The little details were enough so we get that time did passed and she aged.

And grey hair? Hair dye, hello! My grandma is using too...not a single grey hair. (so I can vouch lol)

Sonya doesn't really strike me as someone who would use anti-aging cream or hair dye. That's more in Johnny Cage's territory.

@sharefrock

Sonya's character in the old timeline was "generic good guy military commander." In the new timeline she actually has character traits. I do know people who act like Jacqui and Cassie all the time, they are quite realistic. You say people don't mind unrealistic super heroes like Batman and Superman, but the burst in popularity in super heroes is due to the realistic Nolan Batman and the Robert Downy Jr. portrayal of Ironman (who acts a lot like RDJ does in real life). Some women look like they are in their 30s when they are in their 50s. It's unreasonable to imagine everyone aging the same. Kung Lao's old version looks 50 years older, but some people in their 50s do look that old. I can't argue her importance in the story, but when has she ever done more than represent the Earthrealm military?

Girl had her thong (and later the tan lines from it) sticking out of her pants. I wouldn't be so surprised xD

The people saying Sonya looks in her 30's are delusional. Women in their 30's don't have that many wrinkles. Sonya looks at least 40. Ya'll want her with grey hair.

That burst in popularity has nothing to do with "realism", it's that those movies were hyped to hell and back with several installments and were halfway decent writing wise. They're still unrealistic as hell.

I don't really see any wrinkles besides under her eyes, and I have seen women in their late thirties with crows feet before, her face doesn't look really old besides those, imo :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOeoZ1glqyU

Did they mention that she looks like Samantha Fox?

"Movin' like you're forty" might've been more fitting than first though.

It's amazing how many people are trying to read this article as if it's a negative - harping on about the personal opinions of the author (like thinking Sonya is at last a 'real character') rather than embracing the massive compliments for this game and franchise throughout.


By the nature of fighting games, NONE of the MK characters had real 'personality' until recently. We had our favourites, and they fared better than Street Fighter or Tekken characters when it came to actual characterization, but they were still wordless sprites on a 2D plane.

MK9 and MKX have really let the true aspects of these characters out, and MKX has been tremendous.


Let's all focus on what this article's actually saying, rather than focusing on details that are a matter of opinion.

MKX was great for female characters. In a field where portrayals of women are often (not always) spotty, MK has really committed to making good characters who happen to be women, satisfying both the 'feminazis' and the whiners who don't want 'gurl power' shoved down our throats.

Sonya and Cassie in particular I think were awesome. Motivated, emotive, powerful in themselves and never relegated to nonsense (even including Sonya's constant beatdowns in Johnny's chapter).

Couldn't be happier with the issues this article raised.