The original Mortal Kombat was unleashed by Midway Games onto an unsuspecting world way back in 1992. Its shocking brutality, grisly fatalities and delicious gameplay have seen it stand the test of time to become arguably the greatest beat ’em up in history. Now 23 years old, the franchises’ latest instalment Mortal Kombat X has re-defined what we know about gore. As a tribute, here’s 10 of the greatest fatalities from the series in no particular order.
Liu Kang – The Beast Within
Everyone’s favourite Earthrelm protector Liu Kang has some pretty badass hidden powers, not least is his ability to morph into a Chinese dragon and fuck shit the fuck up. Liu Kang has had a ton of great fatalities throughout the Mortal Kombat series, but the ‘The Beast Within’ makes the list for sheer brilliance.
Johnny Cage – Heads Up!
The original is always the best. Even though his more recent ‘Here’s Johnny‘ fatality wins on the chuckle-factor, uppercutting your opponent’s head clean off always adds a touch of class to any occasion.
Sub Zero – Have An Ice Day
With more fatalities than you can shake an icicle at, Sub Zero’s nippy finishers are always guaranteed to bring the house down. Pretty much every finisher involves shattering his opponents, but there’s an art in freezing their lower body and wrenching their torso off with your bare hands. Have an ice day indeed.
Scorpion – Spear Shot
The ninja that’ll injure…ya has been a Mortal Kombat favourite since the original for good reason. He’s an absolute weapon. Symbolised by his “Get over here!” taunt, this fatality pips his other favourite ‘Toasty‘ by a hair. It’s been given a bit of a facelift since the original game, but ‘Spear Shot’ is still pretty savage.
Cassie Cage – Selfie
Cassie is the daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade, and thankfully, she inherited their penchant for fucked up fatalities. Representing all the selfie takin’, duck lippin’, oh-em-geein’ kidz from the Facebook generation, Cassie’s ‘Selfie’ fatality is pretty messed up. Johnny and Sonya must be so proud.
Jax – Arm Rip
Jax is one messed up dude. The guy had his arms painfully removed, yet spends most of his time wrenching other people’s off. Alanis Morissette rang, she wants her loose definitions of irony back. It’s a tough call between this and his ‘T-Wrex‘ fatality, but nostalgia wins the day.
Scoprion – Stop Ahead
Scorpion: so good, he’s featured twice. The man of a thousand fatalities got probably the sickest one ever in Mortal Kombat X with ‘Stop Ahead’. Turning up at somebody’s house to shoot a flaming fireball through their chest, before chopping their actual freakin’ face off is pretty impolite. He wasn’t even invited in the first place.
Mileena – Tasty Treat
The woman with the worst dentist in Outworld has a bit of a kink for eating her foes. Her ‘Tasty Treat’ fatality is particularly hard to stomach as she rips her opponent’s abdomen open before feeding on their entrails. The worst part? She doesn’t even finish it. She must be on that ‘two-fistfuls-of-spleen’ diet all the kids are doing nowadays.
Ermac – Inner Workings
This guy has the stupidest name in Mortal Kombat, and obviously has a bit of a complex about it. To compensate for being, like, the hundredth-best ninja in the series, Ermac has one of the most gruesome fatalities. First he wrings you out like a damp flannel, then uses his freaky telekinetic powers to pull your insides out through your mouth. Yeah. Nah.
Noob Saibot – Make A Wish
Scratch that about Ermac having a stupid name, Noob Saibot takes that accolade. Fortunately for Noob, he’s got at least one mate, even if it is a clone of himself. If his ‘Make A Wish’ fatality actually granted wishes, I’d wish for it to never, ever happen to anyone. Who comes up with this stuff?
Mark is the Gaming Editor for UNILAD. Having grown up a gaming addict, he’s been deeply entrenched in culture and spends time away from work playing as much as possible. Mark studied music at University and found a love for journalism through going to local gigs and writing about them for local and national publications.