One of Mortal Kombat 11’s newest mechanics, fatal blows, are basically just slightly less violent fatalities. And just like fatalities, they must be immortalized in a list. Reveling in the violent splendor of it all is one thing, this is Mortal Kombat after all, but breaking each fatal blow down is quite the interesting challenge. Unlike fatalities, they aren’t strictly finishers, even though the injuries they cause will surely lead to death.
This list will look at each fatal blow’s visual flavor, logical progression of events, utilization of character abilities and other details to decide which ones are the 10 best of the bunch.
10 10. Erron Black – Ghost Koins
MK’s resident cowboy, Erron Black, has the kind of flair you expect from a cowboy character in his fatal blow. He throws two coins (koins?) in the air before he fans the hammer at his opponent. He then throws his gun at his opponent for some reason that magically rebounds off their face. He finishes the move off with a couple shots that ricochet off the koins and nails his opponent in the eyes.
The biggest problem with this fatal blow is the gun toss. It’s just silly. It feels forced and it doesn’t really make any sense logically, but more importantly, it doesn’t make a lot of sense with Erron’s character. Why would he throw his gun at his opponent, especially when it still has ammo? It looks cool but it’s just dumb.
9 9. Geras – Stasis Assault
One of the new editions to the MK roster, Geras’s fatal blow puts his time gimmick to pretty good use. He gives his opponent a mean uppercut before reversing time and stopping it, giving his opponent a few brutal slashes, a bop on the head before a punch to the chest, knocking them away.
The visuals of this fatal blow are pretty on point. The unrealistic amounts of blood are time-stopped just like the character, allowing you to admire the work Geras is creating a little more than other fatal blows. It’s also a nice touch that Geras makes the machete he uses out of sand, giving the prop plausible reason for being there, which is more than you can say for other fatal blow props.
8 8. D’Vorah – Buggin’ Out
For as bad of a character as she is, D’Vorah, admittedly, has a pretty alright fatal blow. She stabs her opponent in the leg and head with a stinger-like appendage from her palm. She then does some kind of super backflip kick that launches her opponent. She flies up to meet her opponent in the air and stabs them in the torso with two of her ovipositors while dedicating the other two to the head before kicking them back to the ground.
Everything in this fatal blow follows a nice amount of logical events except for the first head stab. It seems unneeded considering D’Vorah stabs her opponent in the head again later with much more impact. It’s nothing that breaks the move, it just feels oddly placed.
7 7. Sub-Zero – Chill Out
It’s not exactly the flashiest fatal blow, but it’s a solid amount of brutal moves that take advantage of the character’s abilities. A couple of ice axes to the waist followed up by a larger one to the head, do the electric slide and finish it off with a big slam to confirm the damage.
It follows a logical progression of events within the means of the character’s abilities. It looks like it hurts enough to make you wince a bit without being overly cartoony with its violence. It’s just a solid fatal blow that doesn’t try to do too much and doesn’t overstay its welcome. Sometimes that’s all you really need.
6 6. Cassie Cage – Pissed AF
Considering Cassie’s parentage, it’s amazing her fatal blow is this solid. Cassie hits her opponent with a few hooks before she switches to a pistol-whipping. She then kneecaps her opponent with both guns before she confirms the damage with a few shots to the gut.
Cassie’s fatal blow is pretty much a no-nonsense butt-whooping. It incorporates a little bit of subtle flair with the way Cassie spins her guns before smacking them against her opponent’s head. But overall, it’s a no-frills and aggressive fatal blow that satisfyingly works its way up to the brutal gut shots, making those last couple shots feel really impactful.
5 5. Raiden – Thunder Take You
The thunder god Raiden has a pretty visually impressive fatal blow. After giving his opponent a few whacks with his power pole, Raiden teleports into the air and tosses the staff into his opponent’s head that makes them rebound ridiculously off the ground. He then shoves the stick into their stomach.
As visually pleasing as the fatal blow is, it does lose some points for the forced rebound the opponent does in order to finish the move. If Raiden really needed to launch his opponent, he could’ve just done a launcher with the staff, toss the staff as a follow-up through his opponent’s stomach and then teleport catch it in the air, or something like that.
4 4. Skarlet – Bloody Fun
Skarlet has a case for being one of the most creative characters to hit the MK universe considering what the franchise is. Her fatal blow consists of a couple quick stabs to the torso before a deep slice up the sternum. She uses the ensuing blood gush, forming it into a scythe that she uses to impale her opponent through the stomach. She lastly forms a blood spear, tossing it right into her opponent’s mouth.
The move is docked some points for forcing the opponent to float in the air in order to finish it. It could’ve easily been choreographed so that the opponent is flung up from the scythe more significantly after the impaling. Other than that, it’s a pretty flashy fatal blow that utilizes Skarlet’s abilities well.
3 3. Noob Saibot – Together Again
Let’s get edgy. Noob’s got a pretty slick fatal blow. He commands his shadow clone to football tackle his opponent from behind. Noob himself then rushes in for a dropkick to the face before he falls through one of his portals. The clone slams the opponent on the ground as Noob flies down from an overhead portal to stomp the opponent’s head in. The stomp is apparently so powerful it sends his opponent rebounding off the ground for a sickle to the chin.
Outside of the nonsensical rebound after the stomp, Noob probably has one of the most visually pleasing fatal blows that follow a satisfying string of events. It puts his abilities to good use and finishes with a big and impactful move.
2 2. Sindel – Edenian Royal Decree
The Queen of Edenia’s fatal blow is quite the spectacle. She whips her hair at her opponent to reel them in by the neck. She then rails them through the stomach with her polearm. Afterward, she flies up and abruptly stops, giving her opponent a really bad case of whiplash with her hair. With the sudden change in momentum, she slams her opponent to the ground, tosses her polearm through their mouth and then spears her heels through their eyes.
The visual flair throughout this fatal blow is fitting for a Queen. It makes great use of her abilities, and while the implementation of her hair could’ve possibly been executed differently in a more satisfying manner, the whiplash is a nice touch.
1 1. Liu Kang – Enter the Dragon
Liu Kang’s fatal blow is so on-character, it probably hurts about as much as it looks. After a solid flurry of nunchaku strikes, he summons his trademark dragon to engulf his opponent in flames before finishing off with what might as well be a one-inch punch. But that went to his fatality.
Either way, the fatal blow is pretty great. It takes advantage of Liu Kang’s character respectably enough without being cartoonishly violent. It’s solid and the dragon is flashy enough while also being reasonable after the heavy stagger from the nunchaku flurry.
NEXT: Street Fighter: The 10 Most Powerful Characters, Ranked
