Jade

Jade is a character from the Mortal Kombat video game series. Originally appearing as a secret boss in Mortal Kombat II, she has since come into her own as a regular playable kombatant. She is an Edenian warrior and a close friend of Kitana. Formerly a member of Shao Kahn's court, she turned against the emperor along with Kitana, helping her friend to liberate Edenia from Outworld.

Original Timeline
Millennia ago, Jade's family were members of Edenian nobility with close ties to the royal family. When Edenia was conquered by Shao Kahn, Jade's parents gave their daughter up to the emperor in tribute. She would spend many years enduring rigorous training in the art of kombat, developing a nimble and stealthy fighting style. Eventually, Shao Kahn appointed Jade as bodyguard for Princess Kitana, whom the emperor had adopted as his own daughter.

Serving as the Kahn's elite assassins, Jade and Kitana formed a sisterly bond, trusting one another with their lives. However, this bond was shaken when Outworld hosted its own Mortal Kombat tournament following Shang Tsung's defeat to Liu Kang in the last Earthrealm tournament. Jade did not actively participate in the contest, but she would spy on the Earthrealm kombatants from the shadows. During this time, she noticed Kitana meeting with Liu Kang and was shocked to overhear the princess discussing betraying the emperor.

After Outworld lost the tournament, Shao Kahn enacted a plan to resurrect Queen Sindel and invade Earthrealm. When the invasion began, Jade and Mileena were tasked by the emperor to find and capture Kitana. They succeeded in taking the princess back and Jade was posted as Kitana's guard. Kitana was able to appeal to Jade through their friendship and convinced her to set her free and join forces with the heroes of Earthrealm. Together, the two Edenians met with Liu Kang and his allies as they confronted Sindel. Kitana was able to break the enchantment over her mother and free her from Shao Kahn's control. After Shao Kahn was defeated and the merger of Earth and Outworld was reversed, Jade left along with Kitana and Sindel, intent on helping them restore Edenia.

Several years later, Raiden summoned his chosen warriors to battle against the rising threat of the Deadly Alliance in Outworld. While Kitana left along with Raiden, Jade stayed behind to rally the Edenian Knights to reinforce the princess and her companions in the battle to come. However, by the time Jade and the Knights arrived in Outworld to support Raiden's warriors, the battle had already been lost. Most of Raiden's warriors had been slain, only to then be revived by the Dragon King Onaga and enslaved to his will.

Jade returned to Edenia to inform Queen Sindel of Kitana's fate, only to find that Onaga's forces had gotten there first and had imprisoned the queen. With Kitana guarding her mother's cell, Jade was forced to fight against her friend and incapacitate her before she could free Sindel. Queen and knight then fled as the brainwashed Kitana called for guards to stop them. As they fled, Jade and Sindel noticed the treacherous Tanya standing beside Onaga, realising that she had assisted the Dragon King in his takeover.

Together, Sindel and Jade sought information about Onaga, learning that the Dragon King's spirit was inhabiting a host vessel. Travelling to Outworld, the two Edenians made their way to the Dragon King's tomb where Onaga's original body had been laid to rest. Opening the Dragon King's sarcophagus, they found Onaga's still-beating heart within his decayed chest. Just as Kitana arrived to stop them, Sindel plunged the blade of her naginata into the heart, destroying it. At the same time, the Earthrealm warrior Shujinko was fighting Onaga in his temple and had defeated him, forcing the Dragon King's spirit to depart from Reptile's body. With his heart destroyed, the Dragon King's soul had nowhere else to go and his control over those he had resurrected, including Kitana, was broken.

Some time later, Jade would accompany Kitana and Sindel as they joined the Forces of Light in the Battle of Armageddon. During this epic battle, Jade would fight against her hated rival Tanya. How their fight played out is unknown, but ultimately they both perished as the battle raged on.

Current Timeline
Much like in the original timeline, Jade and Kitana grew up together and were trained by Shao Kahn as elite assassins. They had formed a sisterly bond with each other in that time and trusted one another wholeheartedly. Also, at some point, Jade had become romantically involved with Ko'atal, an Osh-Tekk warrior and one of Shao Kahn's generals.

When Outworld hosted its own tournament, Kitana began to question her loyalty to the emperor. After taking advice from Raiden, Kitana made her way to Shang Tsung's Flesh Pits, a place where she, despite being heir to Outworld's throne, was forbidden to tread. Jade tried to stop her, but Kitana fought her and knocked her out.

After Kitana was imprisoned, Jade, too, began to question where her loyalty lay. Was it with the emperor that had conquered her homeworld or to her long-time friend? Ultimately, she chose the latter and helped Liu Kang and Kung Lao in rescuing Kitana. After Liu Kang struck down Shao Kahn in the final battle of the tournament, Jade and Kitana followed Raiden and his chosen warriors back to Earthrealm where they hoped to build a new life for themselves.

However, Shao Kahn was not yet done with Earthrealm. Thanks to Quan Chi resurrecting Sindel on Earth, the emperor was able to breach the dimensional barriers and send his armies to invade. In one such terrible engagement, Jade and many of the other Earthrealm heroes were slaughtered by an empowered Sindel. Due to an arcane pact that Shao Kahn had made with Quan Chi, the souls of the fallen heroes were cast into the Netherrealm where Quan Chi would use them to fashion a horde of revenant warriors to do his bidding. While Shao Kahn's invasion was thwarted at the eleventh hour, the damage caused to the fabric of the realms allowed Shinnok to escape from the Netherrealm and resume his ancient war against the Heavens. Jade and the other revenants would participate in the following Netherrealm War, though Earthrealm would emerge victorious in this conflict as well.

Over two decades later, the Titan Kronika attempted to craft a new timeline and erase Raiden from history. Her restructuring of time resulted in a merger of the past and present, restoring several warriors from the past, including Jade. Jade would side with the past incarnations of Raiden and Kitana in order to thwart Kronika. However, her revenant self had sided with the Keeper of Time and was working to defend the Hourglass.

Having been reunited with her lover Kotal, who was now Kahn of Outworld, Jade and Kotal attempted to infiltrate a Tarkatan war camp that the time-displaced Shao Kahn was using as his base of operations. However, she and Kotal are captured and Jade is drained of blood by Skarlet. Skarlet's feeding was interrupted by the arrival of Kitana, held prisoner by two of Kotal's soldiers who wished to offer her to Shao Kahn. Liu Kang and Kung Lao rescued Jade, who then sadly informed how she and Kotal were captured, but the four were then confronted by Baraka and his squad of Tarkata. After being convinced, Baraka stated that he would prefer to be Kotal's trusted ally than the slave of Shao Kahn, in order to reconcile their future relations with Kotal. With the support of both Sheeva and Baraka, Jade, Kitana and their allies stormed the Koliseum to save Kotal from execution. The battle ended with Shao Kahn being crippled by Kitana, but Kotal had also been grievously wounded and abdicated the throne to Kitana, naming her Kahn of Outworld. Jade was proud of Kotal for his decision and helped him to the Soul Chamber where he could be healed.

Towards the end of the temporal konflict, the revenant Jade and her allies were defeated by Liu Kang, who had achieved the status of Fire God. After Liu Kang destroyed Kronika, the Hourglass became his to control and he set about creating the New Era. What becomes of Jade in this New Era remains unknown.

Powers and Abilities

 * Longevity - As an Edenian, Jade has an extraordinarily long lifespan. She is over 10,000 years old by the time of the last Mortal Kombat tournament.
 * Martial Arts - Jade has learned many fighting styles over the course of her life. Her favoured styles are Kuo Shou and Fan Zi.
 * Enchanted Weapons - Jade's signature weapons are a glowing bo staff and a tri-blade that is thrown like a boomerang. The staff can be magically extended and the tri-blade's flight path can be controlled telepathically.
 * Blazing Nitro Kick - A kicking attack wherein Jade magically accelerates towards her opponent with her heel extended to deliver a powerful blow to send the enemy hurtling backwards.
 * Shadow Flash - With this magical technique, Jade can deflect any projectile attacks for a short time.

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
Despite her portrayal as a "good" character in the games, Jade appears in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (portrayed by Siberian supermodel Irina Pantaeva) as a character who remains loyal to Shao Kahn until her death. After failing to seduce Liu Kang and leading the other warriors to an ambush (not before testing Liu Kang and leading him to the Temple of the Elder Gods), Kahn himself has her eaten and swallowed by a living gargoyle in his palace due to her alleged failure at keeping the Earth Warriors from escaping. There is also little to no indication in the movie that Jade and Kitana know each other from the past. Instead, Kitana glares at Jade when she betrays the group during a later part of the film.

Mortal Kombat Legends
Jade makes a minor appearance in the second film, Battle of the Realms. She first appears during the Outworlders' assault on the White Lotus temple when Johnny Cage approaches their camp and suggests that the invaders surrender. Jade suggests that Johnny is mentally unwell. Later, she is shown fighting in the Outworld Tournament where she is defeated by Liu Kang.