Sindel is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. She made her debut in Mortal Kombat 3 with a very important role in the storyline. She can also be seen on the side of the MK3 arcade cabinet.
In spite of her gloomy, gothic appearance, Sindel is benevolent in nature. She rules the realm of Edenia alongside her daughter, Princess Kitana. Sindel's power appears to be more one of an inner, ethereal nature in more than one way. She is a distinctly older and mature character, with flowing grey hair and a regal attitude befitting of her role as Queen of Edenia. She has a natural affinity with aerial magic, as evidenced by her ability to levitate and manipulate sonic waves.
In Mortal Kombat: Deception, creator Ed Boon describes Sindel as a challenging character in more ways than one. Although Sindel is not one of the main characters in the series, she was involved in a big part of the game. This had to do with the fact that her ruling over Edenia, and how it was a target to many rulers like Shao Kahn, Shinnok, and Onaga. Sindel was one of the few evil characters to turn good in the series.
Being an Edenian, Sindel possesses an array of mystical abilities. One of her trademark abilities is her ultrasonic, super-loud screaming. The strength and its properties seem to differ on the focus. This ranges from sonic blasts to a fierce soundwave that can outright blast an opponent's skin clean off. She can tone this down to a degree to paralyze the unwary. Another of her mystical powers is her prehensile hair which can be used as both a throw and a finisher in Mortal Kombat 3, where it would grow to extremely long lengths and be able to wrap itself around the opponent. Another of Sindel's distinguishing characteristics is her ability to levitate. Apart from serving as her win pose, she can use this to evade enemy attacks and deal damage simultaneously.
Banshee Scream: One of her most well-known signature moves. She screams at super high volume, and it stuns the opponent, giving her a free hit. In MK 2011 this move is called Yell. (MK3, UMK3, MKT, MK:D, MK:A, MK 2011)
The enhanced version is named Scream. The range has been increased and the duration of the stun is extended, as well as causing a high-pitched ringing noise.
Levitate: Sindel uses her flying abilities to float in mid-air. (MK3, UMK3, MKT, MK 2011)
Star Screamer: Sindel fires a purple fireball at the opponent. She can do this while floating in the air as well. In MK 2011, she can also fire a lower version of this projectile from a crouching position. It is also named Fireball in MK 2011. (MK3, UMK3, MKT, MK:D, MK:A, MK 2011)
The enhanced version is named Power Fireball, and the enhanced lower version is named Low Fire. The fireball produced is stronger and knocks the opponent down.
Double Star Screamer: Sindel could fire two fireballs from her mouth. (MKT)
Sliding Foot Grab: Sindel slides towards the opponent. If she connects, she grabs onto the opponent's feet, causing them to wobble, then brings her own feet over to kick the opponent in the head. (MK:D, MK:A)
Hair Whip: Used as her grab move in previous incarnations, Sindel wraps her opponent in her hair and sends them flying to the other side of the arena. (MK3, UMK3, MKT, MK 2011)
The enhanced version is called Hair Toss. Sindel will slam the opponent multiple times before releasing them.
Step Up: Sindel performs a gymnastic front walkover, kicking the opponent. If the move connects, she follows it up with a backward aerial cartwheel which kicks the opponent upward. (MK 2011)
The enhanced version is called Step Over. Instead of hitting the opponent with a cartwheel, Sindel
cartwheels over the opponent and then kicks them away.
X Ray Move - Queen B: Sindel grabs her opponent's leg with her hair, then she kicks her opponent in the groin, then she brings her elbow down on their knee, breaking it and uses her Banshee Scream to send her opponent flying in front of her. (MK 2011)
Throw: Sindel grabs her opponent and levitates off the ground, taking them with her. She then spins herself and the opponent around, then tosses them back to the ground. (MK 2011)
Banshee Screech: Sindel screams with such force that her opponent's skin rips off of its body and a skeleton covered in flesh remains. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
Split Ends: Sindel wraps her opponent in her hair, then pulls it back quickly. The victim spins at an impossible speed, until bones and blood spurt out, leaving nothing behind. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
Kwan Dao Kopter: Sindel tosses her opponent in the air above her, then pulls out her Kwan Do and begins twirling it in the air. As the opponent falls onto it, they are chopped into pieces. (MK:D)
Sonic Screech: Sindel screams with such force that her opponent's body is torn to pieces. (MK:D)
Migraine: Depending on which side the fatality is performed, Sindel screams into her opponent´s ear and the opposite half of their head explodes. (MK 2011)
Mouthful: Sindel shoots a starscreamer into her hand and shoves it into her opponent´s mouth. She holds their mouth closed until their head explodes. (MK 2011)
Friendship: She kicks a field goal and says "That was fun." (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
Animality: Sindel turns into a neon purple wasp. She buzzes over to her opponent and repeatedly stings him/her in the neck until both disappear off the side of the screen. She then reappears in her human form. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
Hara-Kiri:Neckbreaker: Sindel gracefully leaps into the air and does a backflip, only to land (less gracefully) on her head, snapping her own neck, drawing blood. (MK:D)
Babality: Sindel begins to float into the air, but quickly falls down in a fit of tears and Banshee Screams. (MK 2011)
Sindel appeared in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation and is eventually turned to the forces of light by Kitana. According to legend, she is first believed to be the key to closing Shao Kahn's portals to Earth, then her daughter is believed to be the key. On her initial capture and reunion with Kitana, this legend is, confusingly, revealed to be "a lie" and Sindel escapes from the Earthrealm warriors, before later facing Kitana in final battle. She only has a limited role in the movie, and is noted for her cheesy lines of dialogue. A dialogue between Kitana and Shao Kahn reveals that Kahn drove Sindel to commit suicide, another aspect from the games that the directors got correct. When Kahn orders Sindel to mount a defense around the ruins of the Temple of Light, he threatens to "feed her rotting corpse to the worms" if she fails him. When Sindel is brought back to life after Kahn's defeat, her change in alliances occurs, and she wears a symbolic white dress (rather than her purple and black outfit) to denote this. She is portrayed by South African actress Musetta Vander.
Sindel appearing with an infant Kitana in MK Legacy
Beatrice Ilg appears as Sindel in Mortal Kombat: Legacy. In Legacy, Sindel is at first a happy queen with her husband Jerrod and infant daughter, when Shao Khan attacks, after winning ten Mortal Kombat tournaments in a row over Edenia, in order to fuse the realms. Jerrod appears to his wife and daughter and takes them into hiding when he's killed by Baraka, as he laid dying it's revealed that the Jerrod was a fake, one of his loyal minions in his guise and he is no where to be found. A now heartbroken Sindel is forced into marrying Shao Khan, who is strongly infatuated with her, though she shows nothing but contempt for him. She is repulsed when she finds that her child has been cloned into Mileena, who lays beside Kitana as if they were normal twins. Sindel sacrifices her body in a ritual so her soul can merge with her daughter, Kitana, so she may avoid being corrupted by her adoptive father. What has happened to Sindel's body remains unknown at the moment.
Sindel was one of several MK3 characters who were not officially named until the game neared completion. During production, she was nicknamed "Muchacha" and "The Bride" by the programmers.
"The Bride" is actually rather telling of kung fu cinema's impact on the Mortal Kombat franchise as a whole; one of the inspirations for Sindel's character is derived from [Bride with White Hair], a 1993 film from Hong Kong. The title character, Lian Nichang, is shown towards the later portion of the movie as transforming from black haired bride-to-be into a vicious witch with white hair.
Sindel's Star Scream Fatality was translated as a Fatality for Fujin; only Fujin uses the power of strong winds to rip apart the flesh of his opponent, not his scream.
She is the one of the two characters to snap their neck for a Hara-Kiri. The other being Scorpion.
Her "That was fun!" quote from her Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 friendship was used in the second movie.
She is the first character in the Mortal Kombat series who used the power of flight as both a move used in fights and as a win pose.
Sindel was the first dead female character to be revived.
Sindel was planned to be in Mortal Kombat 4, but was replaced by Fujin. However, she is not completely removed; she is referenced in Baraka's Mortal Kombat Gold ending where it is her throne that Quan Chi was sitting on.
Sindel was one of the characters that were sent flying off the pyramid by Shang Tsung's Flaming Skull attack in the opening of Mortal Kombat Armageddon.
In MK 2011, Sindel can be seen briefly behind (possibly) one of Quan Chi's spawned skeletons, with a sword in her chest.
In MK 2011, a broken statue of Sindel's head lies in the background of Jade's desert.
Although she has a pair of completely white eyes, in her MK3 ending, she actually has black irises.
In MK 2011, Sindel, along with Quan Chi, Jax, and Jade, is one of the few characters whose X-Ray Move does not make the opponent bleed.
In every game except MK 2011, Sindel's Yell move would cause the opponent to float in the air for a free hit. However, in MK 2011, it just stuns them.
Along with Ermac and Cyrax, Sindel is the only character who was good during the original timeline, but was evil during the alternate timeline.
In MK 2011, if Sindel performs her Mouthful Fatality on a masked character or a Cyber Ninja, a sound will be heard when she inserts her hand in the enemy's mouth. This is odd, because when she does this fatality on a unmasked character, no sound will be heard.
Lani Minella, Sindel and Sheeva's voice actress in MK 2011 also voices Ivy from the Soul Calibur III, IV and V games and Rouge the Bat in Sonic Adventure 2.
Lia Montelongo, who portrayed Sindel in MK3, Sareena in MK Mythologies: Sub-Zero, and Tanya in MK4, was the youngest actress to portray a Mortal Kombat character at the time, for she was 19 when she portrayed Sindel.
In the opening of Mortal Kombat Armageddon Sindel is seen fighting Jarek.
Sindel's hair brush relic in Mortal Kombat Armageddon is a reference to her Hair Whip powers that had been absent in the move list.
Sindel and Nitara are the only female characters to have the power of flight.