If you spent any time in a smoky arcade back in '93, you remember the sound of those steel fans opening. It was a distinctive shink that usually meant you were about to lose half your health bar. Mortal Kombat 2 Kitana wasn't just another palette-swapped ninja; she was a legitimate powerhouse that changed how people played fighting games. While Scorpion and Sub-Zero were the poster boys, Kitana was the one winning the local tournaments and making people throw their controllers in frustration.
She’s ten thousand years old, but she looks like she’s in her twenties. That’s the Edenian DNA for you. Honestly, her backstory is way darker than most people realize. She spent centuries thinking she was the daughter of the tyrant Shao Kahn, only to find out he murdered her real father, King Jerrod, and forced her mother, Queen Sindel, into a marriage that eventually led to her suicide. That's a lot for anyone to process, let alone a royal assassin.
The Moves That Made Everyone Mad
Kitana in Mortal Kombat 2 was basically the queen of the corner trap. If you got stuck against the edge of the screen, it was game over. Her Fan Lift (Back, Back, Back, High Punch) was the stuff of nightmares. It didn't just hit you; it hovered you in the air, completely helpless, leaving you wide open for a jump-in kick or a Fan Throw.
Speaking of the fans, they were the fastest projectiles in the game. You could throw them in mid-air, which was a massive deal at the time. Most characters had to be planted on the ground to fire off a special move, but Kitana could just rain steel from the sky. It made her incredibly hard to approach.
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The Square Wave Punch (Down, Back, High Punch) was her other "get out of jail free" card. She’d basically fly across the screen leading with her rear end. It sounds ridiculous, but the priority on that move was insane. It would beat out almost any other aerial attack.
Finishing Moves and the Kiss of Death
We have to talk about the Fatalities. Kitana had two of the most iconic finishers in the series. The "Kiss of Death" was uniquely twisted. She’d lean in, plant a kiss on her opponent’s cheek, and their entire body would bloat up like a balloon until they exploded. It was gross, weird, and perfectly Mortal Kombat.
Then there was the Fan Decapitation. Simple. Effective. She’d just slice your head off with a single swipe of her fan.
- Kiss of Death: Hold Low Kick, Forward, Forward, Down, Forward (Release LK)
- Fan Decapitation: Block, Block, Block, High Kick (at close range)
- Babality: Down, Down, Down, Low Kick
- Friendship: Down, Down, Down, Up, Low Kick
The Friendship move was always a personal favorite. She’d just stand there blowing bubbles. After the sheer gore of the Fatalities, seeing this 10,000-year-old assassin acting like a kid was the ultimate disrespect to your opponent.
Katalin Zamiar: The Face Behind the Mask
A lot of people don’t know that Kitana, Mileena, and Jade were all played by the same person: Katalin Zamiar. She was a real-life martial artist from Chicago with black belts in multiple disciplines. This wasn't just some actor doing poses; she actually knew how to move.
The filming process was kind of a mess, though. They used a blue swimsuit-style costume that was constantly slipping during the motion capture sessions. They actually had to use rubber bands to keep the outfit in place and tape the mask to her nose so it wouldn't fly off during jump kicks. The fans she used in the game were actually her own personal training fans, covered in reflective paper to make them look like steel on the old digitized sprites.
There was actually some drama later on. Zamiar and several other actors sued Midway over royalties for the home console ports. It’s the reason she didn't come back for Mortal Kombat 3, which is why Kitana was missing from the original release of that game and only returned later in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 played by Becky Gable.
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The Mileena Rivalry: Not Actually Twins
The biggest misconception about Mortal Kombat 2 Kitana is that Mileena is her actual sister. They aren't. Not in the original 1993 lore, anyway. Mileena is a "failed" clone created by the sorcerer Shang Tsung in the Flesh Pits. He mixed Kitana’s Edenian DNA with Tarkatan blood—the same stuff Baraka is made of.
That’s why Mileena wears the mask. Underneath, she’s got a mouth full of razor-sharp fangs. Shao Kahn wanted a "daughter" who was actually loyal to him, because he knew Kitana was starting to suspect the truth about her past. In MK2, Kitana is secretly working with the Earthrealm warriors, specifically Liu Kang, to bring Kahn down from the inside.
Why She Still Matters in 2026
Even decades later, the MK2 version of Kitana is often cited as the gold standard for the character. She wasn't just "the girl ninja." She was a high-tier competitive pick with a move set that rewarded precision. If you knew the timing for her corner combos, you were untouchable.
She paved the way for every other female fighter in the series. Before Kitana and Mileena, it was just Sonya Blade. Kitana brought a sense of "royalty" and grace to the violence, which created a cool contrast that the developers have tried to replicate ever since.
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If you’re looking to go back and play the classic arcade version or the Arcade Kollection, you need to master the Fan Lift timing. It’s slower than you think. You have to wait for the opponent to be at the peak of their jump to catch them consistently. Once you nail that, the game basically opens up. You can follow a Fan Lift with a jump-in HP, then another Fan Throw while they’re still in the air. It’s cheap, sure, but in the world of Outworld, "cheap" is just another word for winning.
The best way to appreciate the character today is to dive into the higher-level combo videos on YouTube or try to clear the ladder on "Very Hard" difficulty. The AI in MK2 is notorious for cheating, but Kitana is one of the few characters who has the tools to actually cheese the computer right back. Use the air fan to bait the AI into jumping, and then punish them with the Square Wave. It works almost every time.
Focus on mastering the spacing of her fans first. Once you control the distance, you control the match.
Next Steps for Players:
Start by practicing the "Fan Lift" to "Air Fan" combo in training mode. The timing is about a half-second delay after the lift connects. Once you have that down, move on to learning the "Kiss of Death" input, as the "Hold Low Kick" mechanic can be tricky for players used to modern, simpler inputs. If you're interested in the history of the actors, look up the 1994 "The Making of Mortal Kombat 2" behind-the-scenes footage—it shows Katalin Zamiar performing the actual moves you see in the game.</p