In the Mortal Kombat series, Fatalities are far from the only way players can FINISH HIM at the end of a fight. Throughout the series, Friendships, Babalities, Animalities, and many, many more finishers have been available as alternative finishing moves. Though these other finishers aren't in Mortal Kombat 1 (yet), Brutalities shipped with the launch of the game.
Brutalities are different from Fatalities because they aren't performed after the FINISH HIM screen pops up. Instead, to perform a Brutality in MK1, players need to use a specific ability as the very last hit of the final round of combat – before the FINISH HIM screen ever pops up.
How To Unlock Brutalities in MK1
By default, almost every character in Mortal Kombat 1 has the same Brutality available from the beginning of the game. This is "The Klassic," which sees the player decapitate their opponent with an uppercut at the end of a match. However, each also has a handful of other unique unlockable Character Brutalities in MK1.
Though characters can perform Fatalities that they haven't technically unlocked (with the right manual inputs), Brutalities can't be performed until they are unlocked.
Each character has its own Character Mastery track, which grants rewards as that character levels up in Invasions, Towers, and online versus. Though the rewards are different, the types of rewards remain the same across all playable characters at each level.
At levels 3, 5, 7, 10, and 15, characters gain access to new Brutalities. Focus on one character in Invasions, Towers, and especially online matches to quickly level them up and unlock all Brutalities
How To Perform Brutalities In MK1
Each character's Brutalities require different inputs, and are typically tied to special abilities and unique moves. To see the inputs required for a Brutality, head to the Move List menu, and scroll over to the Finishers tab. In the release version of Mortal Kombat 1, the correct inputs for Brutalities aren't listed – in the meantime, WB Games has published a full list of the true inputs for each Brutality.
To perform a Brutality in MK1, refer to WB Games Support's Brutalities inputs list, perform the initial special move or grab, do the follow-up inputs after the hit has landed (if listed), then hold down the last input. The game currently does not currently display these controls in the Brutalities inputs screen, only the initial special move inputs.
Pay close attention to the opponent's HP, and only go for a Brutality when certain that the very first hit will bring them to 0. For instance, a Brutality initiated by a grab must reduce them to 0 on the very initial, extremely weak hit.
For instance, to perform Raiden's Overload Brutality, players must press DB,3 and then hold Up as the attack hits. To perform Kung Lao's Spin Cycle brutality, players must grab their opponent as the final hit of a match and then press F, D, B, U as the animation plays out.
Mortal Kombat 1 is available for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.