One of the things Mortal Kombat is most known for is its gruesome fatalities. As the series progresses, the fatalities become even more gruesome than the previous games. Here are the top 20 Mortal Kombat fatalities.
20. Food for Thought (Baraka, Mortal Kombat 11, 2019)
Figure 1 Baraka pulling out opponent's brain with his blade arm.
Video of Baraka’s fatality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lq5u1nVU71g
Starting off at 20th place is one of Baraka’s fatalities in Mortal Kombat 11 called “Food for Thought”. Baraka starts off by ripping the defeated opponent’s face off a couple of times before the opponent falls onto the ground. Baraka then proceeds to use his blade arms to pull out the opponent’s brain and then begins eating it.
This gruesome fatality does a good job of showing Baraka’s brutal and barbaric nature. Baraka is part of a barbaric species called Tarkatans that brutally kill and devour their enemies.
19. I Love You (Cassie Cage, Mortal Kombat 11, 2019)
Figure 2 Cassie making the symbol of a heart with her hands inside the opponent's body.
Video of Cassie’s fatality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69J4iR-cAGA
In 19th is an interesting fatality done by Cassie Cage. Cassie begins her fatality by kicking her opponent through the chest which sends their heart flying out of their body. With their chest exposed, Cassie puts her hands in the chest making a heart gesture as if she was preparing for a picture.
While this fatality isn’t as gruesome as other fatalities, this is one of those fatalities that is funny. It suggests that Cassie Cage is into using social media. In fact, in Mortal Kombat X, Cassie has a fatality that has her taking a selfie.
18. Heli-Kopter (Cyrax, Mortal Kombat 3, 1995)
Figure 3 Cyrax spinning his head around in preparation to chopping up Liu Kang.
Video of Cyrax’s fatality (Heli-Kopter starts at the 16 second mark): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdcMH2RtClI&t=21s
Next up is a fatality from an older game done by the yellow robot Cyrax. Cyrax spins his head around and then he flies up in the air. He then flies down at the opponent and slices them as he continues flying down until they are no more.
While this is an older fatality, it’s still cool and brutal to see nonetheless. The “hair” or chains on Cyrax’s head doesn’t even look sharp, so it is also kind of funny to see it used as a weapon to chop up an opponent.
17. Shake It (Jade, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, 1995)
Figure 4 Jade swinging her staff and opponent up and down.
Video of Jade’s fatality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUvqs5-Sf6g
Another fatality from the Mortal Kombat 3 era marks its spot at 17th place. Jade impales the opponent with her staff and then swings the staff (impaled into the opponent) in an upward and downward fashion. As Jade swings, the opponent’s body deteriorates until they explode.
It is a fun but silly (in a good way) fatality. It really shows how good Jade is fighting with her staff to where she can make her opponent’s body explode.
16. Hsu Hao’s Beam Attack (Hsu Hao, Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance, 2002)
Figure 5 Hsu Hao blasting away at the opponent.
Link of Hsu Hao’s fatality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urGJZhTj91E
This fatality involves Hsu Hao firing a red beam out of a machine attached to his chest. The beam cuts the opponent’s body in half. The opponent then tries to crawl away from Hsu Hao before dying of blood loss.
The PS2 Mortal Kombat games are underrated and even unpopular characters like Hsu Hao have some positives about them. Hsu Hao’s fatality is essentially Kano’s laser on steroids. Perhaps NetherRealm studios could come back to Hsu Hao and give him, and this fatality, another chance.
15. Li Mei’s Second Fatality (Li Mei, Mortal Kombat Deception, 2004)
Figure 6 Li Mei kicking Mileena's head at Mileena's headless body.
Video of Li Mei’s Fatality (starting at the 20 second mark): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao37AMHudmI
Li Mei knocks the head off the opponent thus sending the head flying upwards. When the head falls low enough, Li Mei kicks it, as if it were a soccer ball, at the headless opponent causing the opponent to explode into many pieces.
Apparently, the heads of victims can blow up their own bodies. In all seriousness, this is another gruesome but funny fatality. Mortal Kombat Deception has many great fatalities.
14. The Cyber Initiative (Frost, Mortal Kombat 11, 2019)
Figure 7 Frost giving the opponent's frozen brain to a machine.
Video of Frost’s fatality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vmWclI3Zwo
This is a fatality where the opponent doesn’t really die but still suffers a terrible fate nonetheless. Frost freezes her opponent and strikes their upper body and destroys it which leaves the spine and brain unharmed (although frozen). A machine picks up the brain and puts it inside a cyborg suggesting that the opponent is becoming a cyborg.
This is not a gory fatality, compared to others, but it’s still amazing nonetheless. Imagine if Frost did this to Liu Kang or Kitana. A Liu Kang cyborg would be interesting.
13. Head Clap (Jax, Mortal Kombat 2, 1993)
Figure 8 Jax smashing Liu Kang's head.
Video of Jax’s fatality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyY9M6ADbsg
Here is another classic fatality. Jax walks up to his defeated opponent and crushes their head into pieces with his arms. A simple, but iconic fatality.
Interestingly, Jax wouldn’t get this fatality in vanilla Mortal Kombat 3 and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 but can do it in Mortal Kombat Trilogy if his MK2 costume is chosen. This fatality was shown in the 2021 Mortal Kombat movie where Jax kills Reiko by doing that exact fatality on him.
12. Sindel’s Scream Fatality (Sindel, Mortal Kombat 11, 2019)
Figure 9 Sindel finishing off an opponent with a purple fireball.
Video of Sindel’s fatality in Mortal Kombat 11: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX1N__s4xP4
Sometimes, a fatality doesn’t exactly need physical contact for it to work. Sindel just screams at the opponent but does it so loud that it kills them by blowing their skin off their body and breaking their body apart at the same time. Sindel finishes it off by firing a purple scream fireball from her mouth.
This fatality has evolved over time. In MK3, Sindel screams, and it just blows away the opponent’s skin off their body. In Mortal Kombat Deception, her scream breaks apart the opponent’s body. In Mortal Kombat 2011, Sindel screams into the opponent’s ear which blows up their head. In Mortal Kombat 11, her scream blows away the opponent’s skin and breaks their body apart.
11. Blowing up the Earth (Smoke, Mortal Kombat 3, 1995)
Figure 10 Smoke causing global annihilation by launching bomb after bomb.
Video of Smoke’s fatality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxTBLKH4tZ4
Sometimes, you may not want to just kill your opponent, but maybe you want to cause Armageddon or just maybe prevent Outworld from attacking Earthrealm. Smoke decides to unleash bomb after bomb which causes the entire planet to blow up.
This is another funny fatality. Smoke decides to kill himself, and the opponent, and blow up the planet. Cyrax has a somewhat similar fatality where he blows himself up with the opponent, but the entire planet doesn’t blow up.
10. Maintaining Balance (Cetrion, Mortal Kombat 11, 2019)
Figure 11 Cetrion burning off the opponent's legs.
Video of Cetrion’s fatality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtwvbTSbXrs
Even if a goddess claims to come in peace, you still don’t want to piss them off. Cetrion begins by firing powerful water at the opponent’s face which destroys their skin and then she burns their legs off with fire. As the opponent tries to crawl away, Cetrion then summons large rocks, that resemble a claw, and crushes the opponent with them.
This fatality really shows off the different powers that Cetrion has. Not only she can use fire elemental powers, but also water elemental powers and earth elemental powers.
9. Tongue Lash (Reptile, Mortal Kombat 2, 1993)
Figure 12 Reptile about to eat Baraka's head.
Video of Reptile’s fatality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBuPahyCZog
Here is another iconic fatality from one of the classic Mortal Kombat games. Reptile takes off his mask which reveals his reptilian head, and he launches his tongue at the opponent. The tongue pulls off the opponent’s head and brings it to Reptile’s mouth followed by Reptile eating it.
This fatality was improved on in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 where Reptile makes his next appearance. Reptile will eat most of the opponent’s body rather than just the head.
8. Shokan Reborn (Shang Tsung, Mortal Kombat 11, 2019)
Figure 13 A Shokan (perhaps Kintaro) breaking from inside the opponent's body.
Video of Shang Tsung’s fatality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6zBWgOO3Nw
In 8th place is one of the most gruesome and horrifying fatalities ever imaginable. Shang Tsung fires a green orb (which carries a soul) into the opponent. A body begins growing from the orb into the opponent’s body as they rip the opponent apart from the inside before revealing a reborn Shokan warrior that looks like Kintaro.
Shang Tsung lives up to being an evil character when he kills his opponents in such a horrific way. In some ways, the fatality is reminiscent of the Alien films where the Alien grows inside a host’s body before bursting through their chest and killing them.
7. Kiss of Death (Sonya, Mortal Kombat 1, 1992)
Figure 14 Sonya blow-kissing a fireball at her arch nemesis Kano.
Video of Sonya’s fatality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPif184wKV0
Another iconic fatality from the games; this one is done by the original female character Sonya Blade. Sonya blow-kisses out a fireball which strikes and burns the opponent’s body completely until they are nothing but a lifeless skeleton.
This fatality would come back in Sonya’s next appearance in Mortal Kombat 3. In the 1997 movie Mortal Kombat Annihilation, Sonya and Jax fight Cyrax. At the end of the fight, Sonya does a variation of this fatality where she blows a flammable chemical at Cyrax (who is surrounded by gas) which then burns him.
6. Breath of Fire (Scorpion, Mortal Kombat 1, 1992)
Figure 15 Scorpion spitting out a fireball to burn Kano.
Video of Scorpion’s fatality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRqlwAd1QSM
Here is another iconic fatality that was introduced in the first game. Upon defeating the opponent, Scorpion takes off his mask which reveals his skull. Scorpion then spits out a fireball at the opponent which burns them completely.
In Mortal Kombat 1, the players don’t know that Scorpion is actually an undead ninja who came back to kill Sub-Zero to get revenge; they only find that out if they beat the game with Scorpion. So, imagine if you are able to do the fatality but haven’t beaten the game yet, you would be wondering what Scorpion is.
Also, Scorpion does this fatality in the movies. In the 1995 movie, Scorpion tries to kill Johnny Cage using this fatality but fails and gets killed by Johnny Cage. In the 2021 movie, Scorpion kills the original Sub-Zero using this fatality.
5. Spine Rip (Sub-Zero, Mortal Kombat 1, 1992)
Figure 16 The original Sub-Zero ripping Kano's head.
Video of Sub-Zero’s fatality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2JNxeWO_wA
Starting off on the top 5 is yet another iconic fatality introduced in the first Mortal Kombat video game. Sub-Zero goes up to the opponent and rips off their head with their spine hanging from the head (hence the name Spine Rip).
This fatality would come back in future titles such as Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat 4. However, the fatality is censored in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 where right before Sub-Zero rips the opponent’s head, the screen fades to black while the opponent screams.
4. Kitana’s Kiss of Death (Kitana, Mortal Kombat 2, 1993)
Figure 17 Baraka's body inflates like a balloon due to Kitana kissing his cheek.
Video of Kitana’s fatality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ3VZiB4JAQ
In 4th place is Kitana’s version of Kiss of Death. Instead of blowing out a fireball, Kitana kisses the opponent on the cheek. The opponent’s body begins to inflate like a balloon before their body completely explodes.
As already mentioned, this is Kitana’s Kiss of Death as opposed to Sonya’s version. Sonya wasn’t in Mortal Kombat 2 as a playable character, so it is possible that Kitana was meant to be, on some level, Sonya’s replacement in the game.
3. Head Ball Fatality (Sub-Zero, Mortal Kombat Deception, 2004)
Figure 18 Sub-Zero freezing Scorpion in preparation for his fatality.
Video of Sub-Zero’s fatality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=410q5Ojl1IM
In 3rd place is another fatality from Mortal Kombat Deception. Sub-Zero freezes the opponent’s body and then he removes the frozen head. He walks back and then throws the head at the headless frozen body which breaks it into many pieces.
This fatality seems to be an evolution of one of Sub-Zero’s fatalities in Mortal Kombat 2. One of his fatalities is him freezing an opponent and uppercutting the opponent thus breaking their bodies into pieces. In Deception, he freezes the body and then throws the frozen head at the body rather than uppercutting it.
2. You’re Next (Scorpion Mortal Kombat 11)
Figure 19 Scorpion throwing his harpoon-like kunai into Geras's mouth.
Video of Scorpion’s fatality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBdM7fWyEko
Scorpion’s brutal fatality marks its spot in 2nd place. Scorpion begins by flying, in flames, through the opponent damaging the body. Scorpion then slices off the opponent’s head and kicks it away before throwing his harpoon-like kunai through the opponent’s mouth.
This fatality was shown in the December 2018 trailer. In the trailer, Scorpion fights a corrupted Raiden. Raiden defeats Scorpion before Scorpion reappeared, in a different costume, and kills him using the fatality.
1. Frozen in Time (Sub-Zero Mortal Kombat 11)
Figure 20 Sub-Zero throwing revenant Liu Kang's head into his ice clone's spear.
Video of Sub-Zero’s fatality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXJ5LoIk1Y0&t=37s
In 1st place is the Frozen in Time fatality from Mortal Kombat 11. Sub-Zero summons an ice clone of himself pointing a spear. He then slides under his opponent causing the opponent to fly upside down into the spear. Sub-Zero then rips out the spine, with the opponent’s head attached, and hits it into the spear.
This fatality is a great evolution of the iconic and classic spine rip fatality in the older Mortal Kombat games. Sub-Zero went from just simply ripping out the opponent’s head to a fatality that has more going for it.
