Sheeva
Sheeva is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise by NetherRealm Studios/Midway Games. Making her first appearance in Mortal Kombat 3, she is of the multilimbed Shokan species from the otherworldly realm of Outworld, like Goro and Kintaro. She has served as the personal protector of Outworld emperor Shao Kahn's queen, Sindel, while harboring a bitter hatred for Motaro, who is of the Shokan's sworn enemies, the Centaurians. In the 2011 reboot, her role in the storyline is that of Kahn's bodyguard and jailer, holding Sonya Blade and Kitana captive on separate occasions.
Created as a stop motion-animated figurine like Goro and Kintaro, Sheeva was added into the MK series due to fan requests for a playable version of Goro. However, out of all the characters from the first generation of games, she has featured the least in the overall series continuity to date, only appearing as a playable in two additional titles after MK3 and its upgrades in addition to small roles in alternative Mortal Kombat-related media, while appearing on no official merchandise. Reception to the character has been mixed in terms of her presence in the series and her finishing moves.
Her name comes from Shiva, the four-handed Indian deity; the only difference is that Shiva is male.
Appearances
In video 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, 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 mortal 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 recalled 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 s' training mode, an illusion of Sheeva is seen in the Netherealm within a legion of demons all attempting to overthrow fallen Elder God Shinnok's rule as part of a test for Edenian demigod Taven. In Sheeva's non-canonical Armageddon ending, she defeats the elemental Blaze and is met by the Elder Gods. She becomes the Goddess of Destruction, destroying realms using a Kamidogu before recreating the realms however she saw fit.
Sheeva returns in the rebooted continuity of Mortal Kombat. In the Story Mode, she serves as Shao Kahn's bodyguard and jailer. She fights several kombatants in the game and loses to them all. In her non-canonical ending, she goes to the thunder god Raiden for help in protecting her people from Shao Kahn's followers, fearing that the Shokan will be targets after she defeated him. Raiden shows her mercy and relocates her and her people to Earthrealm, where they make the continent of Australia their new home while Sheeva becomes a ruler.
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 sorcerer Shang Tsung in retrieving Kronika's Crown of Souls so Fire God Liu Kang can restore history. After he exploits her blood oath to Sindel, Sheeva assists in reviving her so she can join them as well. After learning of Sindel's treachery however, Sheeva attempted to stop her, only to be defeated.
Design and gameplay
Sheeva, whose name was derived from Shiva, a 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. Sheeva's blood was green in MK3 through Mortal Kombat Trilogy, but was changed to red in Armageddon.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; only her corpse was found in the Netherealm in '
In other media
Sheeva has a minor role in the 1997 film , 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 , in which she harbored a long-standing animosity toward Raiden. She was voiced by Dawnn Lewis.
In the 2015 Mortal Kombat X 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 villainesses 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, and sometimes worst, 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 2011, she placed third on the lists of both the best and the worst Fatalities by GameRant. 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.