NetherRealm Studios is facing massive backlash from fans over Tanya’s redesign in Mortal Kombat 1.
In a new trailer for Mortal Kombat 1, NetherRealm Studios unveiled a handful of characters including fan favorites Quan Chi, Ermac, Takeda, Li Mei, Tanya, and Baraka, as well as guest characters Omni-Man, Homelander, and Peacemaker.
While there is excitement for the announcement, some fans of the series noticed that Tanya looks different from her latest appearance in Mortal Kombat X, taking to social media to vent their frustration over the studio’s decision to redesign her.
“Why is Tanya so ugly why man,” @WavesDX proclaimed, sharing an image of the character’s render from Mortal Kombat X. “Everything else looking awesome but this gotta be the worst downgrade ive ever seen mkx Tanya went so hard.”
“Tanya is my favorite MK character, but I’m honestly not feeling her new design at all,” @Kanzuki proclaimed. “I thought y’all would learn after MKX with the eye thing. Apparently not tho.”
“They took away all her signature looks. The white eyes, the bob hair, and her otherworldly vibe,” @A_Fatal_Bon_Bon wrote, retweeting an image that compared Tanya’s Mortal Kombat 1 and Mortal Kombat X‘s designs.
The user added, “She looks generic and nothing like Tanya. You can make her different but that’s a whole other woman using her name. Just change her name and I’d be ok with it.”
Others like @DaryusP compared Tanya to her presumed, albeit unconfirmed, face model Sydney Cross. ” They gotta redo Tanya’s face in Mortal Kombat 1. Shawty is way to beautiful to be looking like this in game.”
Fans including @Intentse_XEnergy and @Black_D_Gamer1 see NetherRealm Studios Mortal Kombat 1 redesign for Tanya as another example of a woke Western video game developer deliberately making female characters ugly in the name of diversity and inclusion.
“This is Tanya…who is & has always been Black or dark skin,” @Intentse_XEnergy tweeted alongside images of every incarnation of Tanya. “They completely changed up her look & she looks awful just because people said she didn’t look Black enough.”
“Now, they gave her this physical appearance, which doesn’t seem right to me when I look at all the other female characters’ physical enhancements,” the user added. “They made her look Black alright & old just to shut people up & look what we got…a mess!”
“Look at what they did to Tanya,” @Black_D_Gamer1 noted. “Why are western game developers so hellbent on making female characters, as ugly, as humanly possible? Are you that jealous, of a fictional character looking better than you, that you have to hide behind the “realism” excuse?!”
Mortal Kombat 1 is slated to release for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Switch, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store on September 19th.
NEXT: EA Doubles Down On Integrating Co-Ed Soccer Teams In ‘FC 24’: “Ultimate Mode Is A Fantasy Mode”