Over the years, the Mortal Kombat games have delivered their fair share of carnage, whether you were bloodily uppercutting someone into a ceiling of spikes or throwing them into an acid pit where they eventually melted away to their demise. That’s not to mention the even gorier fatalities that didn’t involve pits.
We’ve already begun counting down the top 50 greatest fatalities last week, going from numbers 50-31. Now, our countdown continues with some more grisly favorites, numbering 30-21!
The Best Mortal Kombat Fatalities of All Time
30. Johnny Cage’s award (Mortal Kombat)
We always knew that Johnny Cage’s ego got the better of him, but this is ridiculous. For his second fatality, he splits his opponent’s head open with a well-timed karate chop, then pulls out a Man of the Year award and places it right firmly on the two head pieces. One thing’s for sure – with this move, a lot of those award shows would definitely be more interesting.
29. Kratos’ Splitter (Mortal Kombat)
Kratos is one bad mother in the Mortal Kombat games, and all you need to see for proof of that is his debut fatality. He simply impales someone with his powerful sword, only to lift it straight up and split their upper body in half as a result. There’s no amount of aspirin that can cure that splitting headache, we assure you.
28. Raiden’s Kidd Thunder Friendship (Mortal Kombat II)
Raiden could easily fry his opponents with a nice bolt of lightning from his hands. Instead, though, players can opt to execute his friendship move, where he summons his child Kidd Thunder for all the world to see. For good measure, the high-pitched summoning noise of “KIDD THUNDERRRR!” can be heard with his appearance. Cool.
27. Kung Lao’s hat trick (Mortal Kombat II)
Kung Lao doesn’t just wear a razor-tipped hat for show – he puts it to good use throughout the match with both a spinning attack and a projectile move. However, with his fatality, he really puts on a show with it, as he uses it to slice his opponent right down the middle into two halves. Let’s see a baseball cap do that!
26. Darrius’ Rearranger (Mortal Kombat: Deception)
Though Darrius may not be the most memorable Mortal Kombat character out there, his main fatality in Deception is one for the ages. He slaps around his opponent’s body parts on their torso, then takes a moment to admire his insane work before kicking them away to their demise. Jeez, some art critics are just tough, aren’t they?
25. Kabal’s Head Inflation (Mortal Kombat III)
Kabal’s second fatality – simply showing off his face to scare the daylights out of his opponent – isn’t that great. However, his first one is, as he inflates his opponent’s head, forcing them to float to the top of the stage, where they explode into a thousand pieces. Comical? Yep. Effective? You bet.
24. Pit Ceiling Fatality (Mortal Kombat II)
Mortal Kombat II provided an excellent opportunity to expand on pit fatalities, not only bringing back the original pit from MK I, but also an acid pit where an opponent would melt away. Our favorite, though, is the ceiling of spikes, which an opponent can be uppercutted into. For good measure, the player could hold down the joystick to slowly drag them off the spikes. Ouch.
23. Catching the Subway Train (Mortal Kombat)
One of our favorite pit fatalities actually takes place in the subway, and it’s a doozy. Your character drags the opponent over to an oncoming train and grinds their face along the moving cars and then, for good measure, throws their injured body right into the path of a train across the way. So much for public transportation being safe. Oof.
22. Johnny Cage’s Triple Decapitation (Mortal Kombat II)
An uppercut fatality would be humiliating enough for your opponent…but how about three? There was an interesting glitch in Mortal Kombat II that would allow Johnny Cage to perform his secondary fatality not once, not twice, but three times on someone, knocking off triple the amount of heads as a result. It’s a bit confusing, but, regardless, triple the fun.
21. Liu Kang’s Dragon Snack (Mortal Kombat II)
Many fighting fans agreed that Liu Kang’s original fatality in Mortal Kombat, a cartwheel flip leading into an uppercut, wasn’t that fantastic. So the developers gave him an even more vicious move in Mortal Kombat II, where he transforms into a dragon and bites off the upper half of his opponent. The new fatality was quite successful, and, as you can see, stuck around in many MK sequels to come.
