Nitara

Overview

Nitara is a vampire in the Mortal Kombat series, introduced in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. She is part of a race of winged vampires from the forgotten realm of Vaeternus. Like most depictions of vampires on media, she survives by feeding on the blood of others and uses manipulation, deception, and exploitation to achieve her goals. She is a neutral force, focusing solely on the restoration of her homeworld.

Along with blood-based attacks and a kama, she fights with the Bào Quán ("Leopard Fist") kung fu style. In Deadly Alliance, she also fights with the Hǔ Zhǎo ("Tiger Claw") style.

It was later revealed by Ed Boon that a male vampire counterpart to Nitara was under development for Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, but was scrapped due to time constraints.

Although she does not appear in the series' alternate timeline, she later appears as a playable combatant in Mortal Kombat 1 with a new appearance and backstory. In that game, she is voiced by renowned actress Megan Fox.

Story

Original Timeline

Prior to the events of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Nitara's realm of Vaeternus became bound to Outworld by the tyrant Shao Kahn through a powerful magic orb. Seeking to liberate her realm, she finds that the orb is hidden in a place that is surrounded by molten magma that she herself cannot cross. However, she comes across the cyborg Cyrax in Outworld and believes his lava-resistant cybernetic exterior can reach it for her.

In order to manipulate Cyrax, she must first goad the devolved and increasingly feral Reptile into attacking him. To do so, she first gains his trust by revealing information about the Zaterran civilization (giving him his civilization's Kirehashi blade as proof) and revealing the location of Princess Kitana's forces. However, the goodwill was a distraction from the assassination of Reptile's master, Shao Kahn, and the purposeless Saurian declares his loyalty to Nitara in their next encounter. She instructs him to attack Cyrax and damage the transporter on the cyborg's arm. Reptile does as told, but is subsequently driven off by Cyrax. A short time later, she offers the cyborg a deal: recover the orb for her, and she would use the powers of her magical gemstone to send him to Earthrealm.

Although hesitant to trust her, Cyrax accepted and together they traveled to the orb's location: an underground chamber in a hollow volcano that also housed the egg of the Dragon King. Cyrax then submerges into the magma to recover the orb and Nitara, making good on her promise, opens a portal to send the cyborg to Earthrealm. She then shatters the orb and falls unconscious, later awakening in her freed realm. Her manipulation also accidentally releases the Dragon King as Reptile, upset at her betrayal, was following her and through the egg's energy, his body became the Dragon King's host.

Although she was revered for the liberation of her realm, Nitara later discovers that several vampires in the realm have been slain by a new wielder of the cursed blade Datusha, which was responsible for the genocide of the realm's ancient Moroi Empire. She encounters the killer, known as the repentant demon Ashrah, and lures her away from her realm to Edenia, as researching ancient texts foretell of a force of great concealted power she can use against the demon.

It is unknown whether or not she finds this power, or whether or not her conflict with Ashrah is resolved, and she ends up in the Battle of Armageddon on the side of Darkness. Like most of the others, she is believed to have been slain in the battle.

New Era Timeline

In the timeline brought by Liu Kang's ascension to godhood, starting with the events of Mortal Kombat 1, Nitara scouts the other realms in order to seek the survival of her race, as their thirst for blood has run most of her realm's species into extinction.

Endings (non-canon)

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon

Upon defeating Blaze and taking the prized power, Nitara is transformed into a blood god. Starting with Shao Kahn, she uses her powers to transform all of the other warriors into her vampire servants and uses her forces to conquer the realms.