Jade (Mortal Kombat) - in Other Media

In Other Media

In Malibu Comics' 1995 Mortal Kombat miniseries Battlewave, the comics version of Jade is an evil assassin serving Shao Kahn. Although she appears identical to Kitana save for the colour of her costume (she has no dark skin in the comic) and also uses steel fans, the characters have no ties with each other. Instead, Jade is always paired with Smoke, unsuccessfully trying to kill Jax and then Johnny Cage. Introducing herself as "Jade, storm warrior", she also attempts to redeem herself by slaying Raiden during the comic book miniseries Rayden and Kano, also appearing along with Smoke.

Jade was originally set to appear in the unfilmed scene in the first live-action Mortal Kombat movie's original screenplay. In it, Jade is described as "a diminutive woman dressed in an ornate Kabuki kimono", whose weapon is a stiletto hidden in her hair bun. Jade duels Sonya Blade and quickly loses. Jade appears on screen in the second movie, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997), portrayed by the Siberian-born model Irina Pantaeva in a role of "a beautiful refugee from Outworld". The film version of Jade secretly remains loyal to Shao Kahn and her relationship with Kitana is not explored at all. Jade appears to test Liu Kang and attempts to seduce him, later leading the other Earthrealm warriors to an ambush. When she fails to defeat his enemies, Shao Kahn has her eaten by a gargoyle in his palace.

Jade appears in the novelizations of both feature films. Her role in the 1995 Mortal Kombat novel by Martin Delrio is very minor as Jade (described as a long-haired Asian woman in a green silk dress with and covered in tigera and dragon tattoos, wielding two half-moon daggers) is killed with a single kick by Sonya Blade after being tricked into returning the bow of respect (this happens at the same time as when Liu Kang fights Kitana). Jade's role in Jerome Preisler's 1997 novelization of Annihilation is similar to this in the film, as she first tries to seduce Liu Kang and later lures the Earthrealm warriors into a trap. In it, Jade is described as "absolutely, stunningly beautiful", as "bulky animal skins in which she was wrapped only seemed to accentuate the long, seductive, length of her body", and turns out to be Kitana's former lover. In the end, she is put to death by the enraged Shao Kahn, who first strangles her and then feeds her to a living stained glass window monster.