Mortal Kombat: All 9 Fatalities In The 2021 Movie, Ranked By Brutality & Game Accuracy

Mortal Kombat had a number of gruesome fatalities lifted straight out of the games, with some outdoing others in terms of faithfulness to the original series and sheer bloody spectacle. Despite being the third of the live-action Mortal Kombat film adaptations to ever be made, 2021’s Mortal Kombat was actually the first to secure an “R” rating. As such, the scope and intensity of the classic fatality finish moves from the infamous series were finally allowed to be explored on the big screen.

The gory finishing moves of Mortal Kombat vary in their creativity, originality, and brutality. Some are faithfully re-created almost shot-for-shot from the game series, while others are more original creations. Whatever the case, the fights of Mortal Kombat always end with a visceral show of force that pays homage to the series’ violent roots on living room TV screens and arcade cabinets across the world.

9 Kano Gets A Gnome To The Dome

One of the more creative uses of environmental damage

In the final confrontation between the despicable Australian villain Kano and the stalwart Sonya Blade, the two engage in a nasty tear-down brawl through an idyllic suburban home. Outclassed by Kano’s awakened Arcana, giving him a deadly laser eye, Sonya is forced to get creative, using hit-and-run tactics while turning everything she can get her hands on into a weapon, from knives to curtains and even glass bottles. Just as it seems like she’s been overpowered, she manages to impale Kano’s eye with the accessory of a cute lawn gnome.

While environmental fatalities have been around in the Mortal Kombat series, none of them have ever involved a lawn gnome statue. While creative, this particular fatality isn’t terribly faithful to the games or even especially gory in its own right, being right at home in one of the previous PG-13 Mortal Kombat entries. It’s possible that Kano even survived the encounter, allowing him to return in Mortal Kombat 2 with his classic cybernetic eye and face plate.

8 Cole Young Eviscerates Goro

One of Outworld’s most fearsome fighters gets a brutal end

Goro is one of the most feared fighters in all of the many realms of the Mortal Kombat series. Being a massive musclebound creature with four powerful arms, Goro is often hailed as the undisputed champion of Outworld, putting many unfortunate Earthrealmers in the ground with his overwhelming might. Unluckily for him, in 2021’s Mortal Kombat, he goes up against newcomer Cole Young, ending up slashed through the abdomen and stabbed through the eye in his defeat.

Being an original character created for the movie, Cole Young has no basis in any of the Mortal Kombat games. As such, he doesn’t have any iconic moves to rely on or reference in his fights, forcing the writers and choreographers of 2021’s Mortal Kombat to get creative. While Goro’s eye wound is certainly gorier than Kano’s, and his eviscerated organs freed from his abdomen thanks to Cole Young’s tonfas are a ghastly sight, the finishing move isn’t all that creative.

7 Shang Tsung Swallows Kung Lao’s Soul

A more esoteric fatality

The sorcerer Shang Tsung is one of the most reviled villains in the entire Mortal Kombat franchise, in both the movies and video games. Though technically a human, Shang Tsung has managed to survive for centuries, collecting twisted arcane knowledge of many forbidden arts, including the theft of souls. In 2021’s Mortal Kombat, Shang Tsung shows off his horrifying ability to steal the very life force of other combatants, draining Kung Lao’s soul out through his mouth.

Shang Tsung is known to employ a similar move in the Mortal Kombat games, though it isn’t a fatality. When Shang Tsung steals an opponent’s soul and kills them with the move in the game, however, it is able to trigger a brutality, essentially a quicker fatality that plays out the second the finishing blow of a match ends. In Mortal Kombat 11, Shang Tsung can indeed jump straight to the victory screen by swallowing the soul of an opponent much like he does to poor Kung Lao in the movie, making the scene somewhat accurate, if a tad underwhelming.

6 Jax Claps Reiko

Those mechanical arms aren’t just for show

Just like in the games, Jax’s origin as a soldier who gets his arms torn out of their sockets is depicted in 2021’s Mortal Kombat. While his cybernetic arms are initially frail, the activation of his arcana ability grants him a massive upgrade, increasing his strength to a superhuman degree. Sure enough, these cybernetic arms come in handy during his rematch with the bloodthirsty soldier Reiko, who gets his head turned into a fine red mist by a single powerful clap of Jax’s new hands.

Much like Shang Tsung’s soul steal, Jax’s mighty head clap is a move from the games, though not a fatality. Once again, the clap can be used as a brutality to instantly end the match if Jax catches an opponent at their end of their health bar with it, pulverizing their head just like Reiko in the movie. Jax’s head clap is tough to beat in terms of brutal satisfaction, scattering his opponent’s brains like confetti. Even if it isn’t technically a fatality, the move is both faithful to games and spectacular to watch.

5 Sonya Blade Rings Mileena Out

Sonya gets good use out of her awakened ability

In the Mortal Kombat games, Sonya is known for her purple ring projectiles, explained in the game universe as being the work of advanced weaponry worn on Sonya’s wrists. In the 2021 movie, these rings of white-hot energy are instead worked into the arcana power system, earned by Sonya after she defeats Kano. It’s not long before Sonya is putting her new power to good use, tearing a neat circle through Mileena’s abdomen, leaving only her spine untouched by the scorching hot plasma.

The trick of exposing a spine though a donut-like hole in the chest is frequently used by many Mortal Kombat games as a fatality. That being said, Sonya herself has never had the chance to use such a technique, with the 2021 movie being the first to give her the honor. While the fatality undeniably fits her character’s abilities, and has a crowd-pleasing level of gore, it can’t strictly be said that it’s 100% accurate to the games, which have instead given Sonya an inexplicable ability to light enemies on fire with a blown kiss.

4 Kano Rips Out Reptile’s Heart

As classic as a finishing move as the series has

Thanks to his non-human blood and guts, Reptile often gets the unfortunate distinction as being a fatality testing dummy, his green blood being less of a censorship issue. 2021’s Mortal Kombat film upholds this traditions by having one of the most iconic fatalities from the original games be performed on Reptile courtesy of Kano, following their fight. Using his massive Bowie knife to gouge out Reptile’s chest, Kano rips his still-beating heart from his body, gleefully announcing “Kano wins! You ****ing beauty!“, admiring his newfound trophy.

Known as the “Heart Ripper”, Kano’s finishing move is one of the most famous fatalities in the entire series, performed by none other than Kano himself as early as the very first Mortal Kombat game. Since then, Kano and many other characters have returned to perform some variation of the move in subsequent games, with characters like Nightwolf, Kotal Kahn, and even the infamous Cobra Kai knockoff Kobra getting a turn. It might not be the fanciest fatality in the world, but it’s hard to argue with the value of a verified classic.

3 Kung Lao Slices Nitara In Half

The flying vampire fiend never stood a chance

Another non-human character, Nitara is a little-known vampire-like villain from the Mortal Kombat series quizzically brought to life in the 2021 movie. Played by Megan Fox in her most recent appearance in Mortal Kombat 1, Nitara doesn’t last long before meeting a nasty end at the edge of Kung Lao’s signature razor-blade hat. Setting the hat up on the ground like a spinning buzzsaw on a carpentry table, Kung Lao takes Nitara down from the air, riding her like a surfboard face-first into the whining blade.

The sheer style of this particular fatality gives it high marks on its own, but it deserves even further commendation for its faithfulness to the games. Almost a one-to-one re-creation of his “Face Grind” fatality from Mortal Kombat X, the climax of Kung Lao and Nitara’s fight proved that the fight choreographers of Mortal Kombat did their homework. Topped off with Kung Lao’s smug look as he puts his now blood-soaked hat back on his head, this spectacularly brutal moment is hard to beat.

2 Liu Kang Unleashes The Dragon

The true protagonist of Mortal Kombat proves why he’s Earthrealm’s chosen

Making original character Cole Young the protagonist over Mortal Kombat‘s historic hero Liu Kang was a controversial move for the 2021 film. Luckily, Liu Kang still gets plenty of moments to shine, especially when he unleashes his fire arcana in the shape of the series’ logo. Following his fight with the gas mask-wearing speedster Kabal, Liu Kang releases a massive fiery projection of a dragon, oddly reminiscent of the Mortal Kombat logo, which chows down on his stunned opponent.

Liu Kang’s dragon fatality has usually been present in some form or another ever since his appearance in the first game in 1992. Sometimes, Liu Kang himself morphs into the dragon, whereas other times he merely summons it, just like in the 2021 movie. Either way, this finisher is incredibly vicious and lore-accurate, its inclusion being a true love letter to fans of the franchise.

1 Scorpion Uses His Classic Fatality On Sub-Zero

Hanzo knows how to keep things toasty

Even if Liu Kang is the Mortal Kombat series’ unquestionable hero, Scorpion and Sub-Zero are still undeniably the face of the series. Their final confrontation in the 2021 film will be tough for Mortal Kombat 2 to beat, featuring perhaps the single most iconic fatality from the entire franchise. After emerging victorious in the hard-fought battle, Scorpion undoes his mask, revealing his ghastly revenant visage, before belching hellfire at his helpless opponent, slowly burning the icy assassin to embers.

Known simply as “Fire Breath”, Scorpion’s original fatality is one of the most iconic in the series for a good reason. Existing in many forms throughout the years, the 2021 live-action re-creation of the move managed to bring the somewhat tame finisher up to the standard of modern sensibilities, making each lick of Scorpion’s flames feel all the more painful. The choice to limit Scorpion’s skeletal transformation to his lower jaw, rather than suddenly turning his entire head into a Halloween decoration, was one of the smartest decisions of Mortal Kombat.