Highlights
- Mortal Kombat 1 features remastered fatalities from the early games in the series, making it one of the franchise's best in terms of finishers.
- Jax Briggs' "boot" fatality and Liu Kang's second fatality are among the standout and most dastardly finishing moves in Mortal Kombat 1.
- Characters like Scorpion, Reiko, Sindel, Cyrax, Shujinko, Johnny Cage, Geras, and Baraka have unique and brutal fatalities that make Mortal Kombat 1 highly entertaining.
Mortal Kombat 1 is no reboot to the series, but rather a clever way of continuing the series while starting at the beginning of Mortal Kombat's timeline. As such, fatalities in Mortal Kombat 1 reflect those that were present in the first game, as well as other early Mortal Kombat titles like Armageddon. With these remastered fatalities, Mortal Kombat 1 has some of the best fatality finishers in the franchise.
Newer fatalities, which are much more abundant in Mortal Kombat 1, also stand out as some of the most dastardly ways to finish an opponent. It's simple enough that some fatalities stand out much more than others, whether it be due to the massive bloodbath that follows, or the intelligent way of making a crucial point when ending a fight.
10 Jax Briggs' Kameo Fatality
Since Jax's first appearance in Mortal Kombat, he has had access to one of the most illogical, yet entertaining, fatalities in the entire franchise. This would be Jax's "boot" fatality, in which Jax grows as tall as a building and stomps on his opponent.
How is Jax able to do this? No one truly knows, but it all falls down to Mortal Kombat's entertaining nature. In Mortal Kombat 1, Jax can be chosen as a Kameo character, and his Kameo fatality is this classic "boot" finisher move. It's nice to see that Mortal Kombat still holds its impossible fatalities to this day.
9 Liu Kang's Second Fatality
Liu Kang is practically a full-on god in this Mortal Kombat game. This gives The Chosen One access to a variety of unimaginable moves and fatalities that only a god could pull off. That said, Liu Kang's secret fatality proves just that.
Liu Kang's second fatality shows Liu taking the opponent by the neck and kidnapping them through a portal to outer space. While in space, Liu summons a black hole and holds the opponent in front of it while the black hold renders the opposing fighter forever dissipated.
8 Scorpion's Eye-Palling Victory
When Mortal Kombat 1 was riding its 'reveal era,' NetherRealm Studios let fans have a taste of the fatalities that they would see in the 2023 game. One of those was Scorpion's first fatality, dubbed his Eye-Palling Victory. In this fatality, Scorpion launches the enemy into the air with a large, fiery blast.
He then launches two of his kunai spears through the enemy fighter, pulls them around through the fighter's eyes, and pulls them back once again to completely rid the fighter of their head. Then, in iconic fashion, Scorpion yells "Come here!" and pulls the head back through the enemy, grabbing onto it to pose for the victory screen.
7 Reiko's For The General
Reiko is one of the fighters in Mortal Kombat 1 that hasn't seen presence in the franchise's roster in a while, as well as one of the best characters in Mortal Kombat 1 entirely. Reiko has access to some brutal moves in Mortal Kombat 1, and the same goes for his fatalities.
With Reiko's second fatality, "For the General," he brutally misshapes the opponent's body by breaking bones and lodging body parts that shouldn't be where he puts them. At the end of this disfiguration, Reiko completes a brutal masterpiece and finishes it by ripping away the enemy's spine, holding it up for the victory screen.
6 Sindel's Hair Comes Trouble
Sindel is one of the most powerful lead figures in the Mortal Kombat franchise. In Mortal Kombat 1, she is Outworld's leader, and she ensures that her enemies are aware of such a status with her "Hair Comes Trouble" fatality. When triggered, Sindel uses her forceful hair to tear off the fighter's arms.
Afterward, she forces her hair to hold up the opponent by their shoulders. With a powerful attitude, Sindel walks up to her opponent, looks at them with a smile, and asks, "Who's your queen?" Sindel then finishes her enemy off by ripping out their spine.
5 Cyrax's Annihilation Kameo Fatality
Like Jax's incredibly odd fatality, Cyrax also has a fairly illogical finisher that is one of the best in Mortal Kombat 1. When Cyrax's Kameo fatality move is triggered by players, Cyrax will walk up to the enemy and plant an innumerable amount of yellow bombs around them.
And then, fans will see the setting zoom out to reveal the entirety of planet Earth, seconds before the bombs explode and completely eradicate the planet. Though Cyrax may have taken the entire planet with him, this classic fatality is one for the books.
4 Shujinko's Five-Point Strike Kameo Fatality
Mortal Kombat is no stranger to easter eggs from various franchises, and the same goes for Mortal Kombat 1. Shujinko may not be a playable character, but players can choose him as a Kameo fighter. Shujinko's Kameo fatality is a clever easter egg with an homage to Kill Bill.
The "five-point palm exploding heart" technique is a move used by The Bride to take out Bill in Kill Bill: Vol. 2. Shujinko's fatality is just that, and at the end of the move, the opponent's heart explodes in true Mortal Kombat fashion.
3 Johnny Cage's Hollywood Walk Of Pain
Johnny Cage is known for his personality being mixed with the brutality and bloodlust that Mortal Kombat beckons. When you get an actor/celebrity mixed with the bloody battles of Mortal Kombat, you get Johnny's fatalities. Johnny Cage's "Hollywood Walk of Pain" fatality is one of the best in the game, as he embraces the opponent by the shoulder and goes live on social media.
After stating that his enemy is becoming a new Hollywood star, he lifts them by their throat and then slams them down with all of his power onto a Hollywood star tile with the respective fighter's name written on it. With a selfie-esque victory screen, Johnny Cage's fatalities never fail to disappoint.
2 Geras' Second Fatality
Geras, who serves the Keeper of Time and watches over The Hourglass, has unique time-related abilities that make his moves some of the most creatively produced in Mortal Kombat 1. Geras' second fatality showcases just how much power over time he has, as he opens up a portal of sand to what seems to be another version of the enemy he is currently fighting.
He then reaches back into the portal and takes off their head, using it to hit the enemy, and then hands it to them to get a view of their own face. Afterward, another sand portal opens up behind them and a Geras from another time finishes the fight by taking off the opponent's head.
1 Baraka's Second Fatality
In Mortal Kombat 1, Baraka is one of the greatest close-combat fighters that players can choose from. After reaching level 14 with Baraka, players will unlock his second fatality, which is his best one. When using this fatality, Baraka pulls out the enemy's entrails and then launches them up into the air with a powerful knee.
Baraka then starts a quick fire and grabs one of the enemy's flying entrails (which is now caught over the stage) and holds them over the fire, essentially roasting them like caught game. A bunch of Tarkatans fly into the scene and start feasting on the roasted fighter.
Mortal Kombat 1 is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
