WARNING: This article contains graphic images.
Of all the games within the fighting genre,Mortal Kombatis synonymous with brutality, gore, and a lot of controversies. Since 1992, the folks over at NetherRealm Studios - formerly Midway - keep creating new and bloodier fatalities to perform on opponents. For our list, we will be evaluating, and ranking fatalities based on factors including level of creativity, and popularity.
Fatalities also do not have to showcase a character’s unique ability like Scorpion’s ability to breathe fire, or Reptile’s ability to melt his opponents’ insides into liquid via his acid. Since there are so many to choose from there will also be no limit on how many entries a game can have.
1010/10 Johnny Cage’s Triple Decapitation Uppercut
They say two heads are better than one, but what about three heads? InMortal Kombat 2, Johnny Cage could turn any opponent into a decapitated hydra by uppercutting them three times. The reason for this fatality being on our list is because of the sheer absurdity of it.
Johnny has had many creative and hilarious fatalities, including his ‘Here’s Johnny’ fatality in Mortal Kombat X where he rips his opponents' chest open and creates his own version of the famous scene from The Shining. But during an era where most of the fatalities were simple, Johnny’s triple head uppercut stands out.
99/10 Ermac’s Inner Workings Fatality
The version of Ermac in Mortal Kombat X contains his best fatality in the entire franchise. His ‘Inner Workings’ fatality consists of him using his powers to lift his opponent in the air, breaking their bodies and bones by twisting them like a soda cap and using his telekinesis to pull out their intestines through their mouth. Ermac then crushes their intestines with his telekinesis and splatters them onto the ground.
This fatality really showcases Ermac’s powers the best, especially at the end when the camera shows him still levitating his opponent who now lays in the air lifeless and part of their intestines still hanging from their mouth. It’s one of those fatalities where it’s so horrifying you just can’t look away.
88/10 Noob Saibot’s Make A Wish Fatality
Pulling a wishbone should be a moment of joy. You and another person pull it apart and whoever gets the bigger piece their wish comes true. Well, imagine being a human wishbone and being torn from the groin up. Noob Saibot’s ‘Make A Wish’ fatality in Mortal Kombat 9 is one of the most painful fatalities to watch - especially if you’re a guy.
He and his spirit form each take a leg of an opponent and as their pull lengthens, the body of his opponent begins to rip down the middle ending with their head being ripped vertically in half.
77/10 Kung-Lao’s Buzzsaw Fatality (Mortal Kombat 9)
Kung Lao has used his hat many times to decapitate his enemies and cut them into pieces. His fatality in Mortal Kombat 9 is his best. He throws his hat into the ground turning it into a buzzsaw, he then grabs the legs of his opponent and pulls them towards the hat as they struggle. Then like a fashionable knife through butter, Kung Lao’s hat cuts through his opponent from the crotch to their top and he holds them in the air like two slabs of meat.
While it’s fair to say that every fatality in each game is painful for the losing fighter to endure, there’s just something about the ones where they’re trying to stop it from happening that makes fatalities like this one more cringe-worthy - in a good way.
66/10 Liu Kang’s Dragon Fatality (Mortal Kombat 2)
Liu Kang’s dragon fatality from Mortal Kombat 2 is one of the most iconic fatalities in the entire franchise. While he had this fatality in other games like Mortal Kombat 4, and Mortal Kombat 9, the first iteration makes the list due to its initial shock value as it was the first fatality of its kind.
He bites his opponents in half - as he does in Mortal Kombat 9 - whereas in the fourth game he bites them, lifts them in the air, and shakes them in his mouth like a dog with a new chew toy but they’re still intact at the end. The reason why it’s not in the top five is that though it is iconic, it’s pretty simple in design.
55/10 Kenshi’s Tele-Copter
What’s worse than getting stabbed by a sword? Watching and feeling yourself inch towards death by floating into one that is rotating telekinetically by a blind ninja. Kenshi’s Tele-Copter fatality in Mortal Kombat X involves Kenshi using his sword like a human meat slicer. Using his telekinesis he throws his sword in the air and spins it clockwise, he then lifts his opponent in the air and pulls them towards his sword. Not only do you see their emotion-filled face get cut off like a slice of deli meat, but the rest of their body also gets turned into tiny pieces of meat that spray over Kenshi.
What’s so great about this fatality is as your opponent glides towards and into the sword, you can see their body struggling to combat Kenshi’s telekinesis, adding an extra layer and human element to the end of the fight.
44/10 Smoke’s Smoked Out Fatality
Yeah, Smoke has the famous fatality where he literally blows up the world in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 by shooting out a bunch of bombs from his chest, but his ‘Smoked Out’ fatality in Mortal Kombat 9 is so much better.
He takes his fingers, inserts them into your skull, and shoots your body full of smoke, causing your body heat to rise. He basically turns you into your own smoker as your skin and muscles melt and burn away.
33/10 Sindel’s Scream Queen Fatality (Mortal Kombat 11)
Queen Sindel, a characters whose screams can literally kill her enemies. While there have been multiple variations of this fatality, the version from Mortal Kombat 11 goes that extra step and combines past ones together. Sindel uses her famous hair to grab her opponent and yank them close to her. While her opponent is bound, Sindel uses a scream so powerful it hits them like a strong wind that blows away their lower half, and shreds away their skin.
They become a bloody and fleshy sheet that was hung outside, but wait there’s more! After the person’s skin and lower half of their body are gone, she decapitates them with another scream except this one is shorter and is more of a projectile.
22/10 Rain’s Eye-Solated Fatality
Rain’s fatalities in Mortal Kombat 11 really show off his water powers, but it’s his ‘Eye-solated’ fatality that more than deserves the number two spot on our list. Rain constructs a giant saw blade out of water that he throws at his enemy cutting them in half.
As the blade spins under their torso, it shoots an upward surge of water ripping away their skin and blowing their eyes out of their head and their torso in the air. Then just their torso falls, Rain takes the saw blade and cuts them vertically into pieces. It comically ends with him constructing a water orb and catching their eyes in it as a trophy.
11/10 Sub Zero’s Spine Rip (Mortal Kombat 1)
It had to be number one, it alone is the reason why the ESRB was created. Sub-Zero’s spine rip from the original Mortal Kombat is the most iconic and best fatality in the entire franchise. While later versions incorporate his ice powers, the original was shocking, and decapitating your opponent in 1992 was the ultimate ‘I win’ move at your local arcade.
It might not be as flashy as others on this list, but the concept of having enough strength to just rip a person’s spine and head from their body with your bare hands is just jaw-dropping - and it makes you feel like a god. This fatality is top on our list in large part because it caused the video game to self-regulate itself to avoid government interference, and played a big role in shaping both the industry and the conversation about violent video games in the 90s.
