Throughout Mortal Kombat 1, players will inevitably play as almost every Kombatant on the game's roster. Whether it is forced through the game's story or Invasion modes or simply by curiosity, fans will eventually get to try out a fighter's moves.

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Many fans will instantly notice that some fighters in Mortal Kombat 1 are more challenging to master than others, especially for beginners to the fighting game franchise. Many characters, including Reptile, aren't too complicated to learn and play, but others require much more time in Mortal Kombat 1's Practice mode before players pit them against other online gamers in ranked game modes.

7 The Destructive Havik

After making his long-awaited comeback in Mortal Kombat 1, Havik has been one of the most popular choices as a fighter in competitive gameplay. That doesn't mean that the fighter is easy to learn, just that he is fun to play when one has him down.

Havik makes use of his ability to rip apart his body and regenerate while fighting against his enemies. With such a destructive approach to fighting, various special moves, and combos, Havik is a challenge to take on to the higher arches of Mortal Kombat 1's ranked game modes.

6 Magical Queen, Sindel

Sindel has been a fan-favorite Kombatant since her debut in Mortal Kombat 3. With her magical powers to manipulate her own sound waves and utilize her hair to take down her foes, Sindel's moveset has never led anyone to believe that she'd be a bore to play as or against.

In Mortal Kombat 1, Sindel has plenty of room in her moveset that doesn't necessarily shy away from her magical powers but proves her worth as a fighter if she were left without them. She has plenty of wonderful combos, but it's said combos that are tricky to master, and the special moves are equally as challenging to figure out.

5 The Blind Swordsman, Kenshi Takahashi

Kenshi Takahashi is one of the several fighters that fans will play as in Mortal Kombat 1's story mode. It's not an uncommon feeling to feel a bit confused when first using Kenshi, as his moves are very unfamiliar to the rest of the roster.

With his sword and ancestral powers, Kenshi's moveset has the capability of overwhelming even the toughest of opponents; it's just up to the player to decide whether they want to follow a path that will require much time and practice dedicated to a single character. That said, Kenshi is one of the best Kombatants in Mortal Kombat 1, as he can dish out incredible damage, and his special moves allow for flexible approaches.

4 Kind Demon, Ashrah

Ashrah, who finally returns to the Mortal Kombat roster since Mortal Kombat: Deception, is a demon who seeks out heavenly power through acts of goodwill. Though she follows a kind-hearted path, she can use her evil demonic power in a fight when it proves necessary.

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This gives her character a unique mechanic that players will need to learn before mastering her as a fighter, as no other Kombatant has such a mechanic. Fans will also need to take time to practice her fairly difficult combos when looking to unveil decent damage that other fighters can do with much easier inputs.

3 Water Sorcerer, Rain

Mortal Kombat 1 brings a welcomed change to Rain's character that makes the competitor stand out much more than other ninjas like Sub-Zero or Reptile. Rather than being the purple ninja on the roster, Rain is a sorcerer who uses water-based magic and a neat staff to defeat his opponents.

This change makes the character play a little differently than previous titles, while still wielding the same amount of incredible potential. As a zoner and remaining synergistic with up-close combos, Rain is a practical fighter with a lot of complex gaps to encode within his fighting abilities.

2 Shape-Shifter, Shang Tsung

Shang-Tsung is the first DLC Kombatant that gamers can get their hands on in Mortal Kombat 1, assuming they hadn't already unlocked the major villain with the pre-order edition of the game. Rather than remaining simplistic to his shape-shifting abilities and zoner techniques as showcased in previous games, Shang-Tsung is a whole other beast, with reminiscences of his older adaptations.

Shang-Tsung has two different forms (three if players count the opposing fighter) that he can swap in and out of to gain different properties for his various moves. This fact alone makes him a much more complex character to grasp from other roster choices.

1 The Hourglass Guardian, Geras

Regarded as the most difficult character to learn from the game's launch, Geras has taken Mortal Kombat 1's ranked game modes by storm. Not only is Geras a highly complicated character to understand, but even fighting against Geras can prove to be extremely intricate.

Geras makes use of his time-related powers of sand to fight opposing Kombatants, which all have various techniques. He uses his moves to feint, punish, counter, and all of the above, but each move is a puzzle piece to a very convoluted game.