Kill 'Em All: The Mortal Kombat Fatality Extravaganza


      As I sat around thinking about what I could possibly write about this week, I realized that the site isn't anywhere near as violent as it could be. As a result, this article is full of gratuitous gore. Bloodier than a slaughterhouse floor! Bloodier than The Passion of the Christ! Bloodier than all the used tampons in the girls' bathroom! It's the Mortal Kombat Fatality Extravaganza! Get ready to experience all the fun of fatalities, animalities, babalities, friendships, and level fatalities found in the Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 arcade games. In addition to my commentary and an excessive amount of screenshots, each finishing move will also be rated on a scale of 1 to 5. Hell, I'll even tell you how to do them all. Please note, however, that these are the button combinations for the arcade versions; I cannot guarantee that they will work on the the shitty home console ports. I am not EVER going to cover the home versions, so if you want to see the brutalities, that's just too fucking bad. Remember, you can't do any of these moves until the words FINISH HIM! (or HER!) flash on the screen. But if you didn't already know that, then you're probably not reading this. Let's go!

KEY
F = Forward
D = Down
B = Back
U = Up
LP, HP = Low Punch, High Punch
LK, HK = Low Kick, High Kick
BLK = Block

 


FATALITIES.

Johnny Cage

      Johnny Cage has always been one of my favorite MK characters, mostly because his Shadow Kick looks badass. I think the sunglasses were a deciding factor too. Hey, I was twelve when I first played this game, OK? The seven MK1 characters have one fatality each. Johnny's is a super uppercut that knocks his opponent's head clean off, thus spraying blood everywhere. This move is fairly generic compared to fatalities in the later games, but there was nothing else like Mortal Kombat at the time, so it was pretty fucking cool. Johnny's fatality also picks up points for being the easiest fatality in the game to pull off.

Execution: F, F, F, HP (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 4

Raiden

      With his Superman dive and and various lightning-based moves, The God of Thunder has always been a fan favorite. In keeping with his motif, Raiden's fatality involves him channeling electricity into his opponent's head until it explodes. It's kind of like Scanners, but not really. Head explosions kick far more ass than mere decapitations, so Raiden gets a 4.5.

Execution: F, B, B, B, HP (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 4.5

Sonya

      Sonya is my all-time favorite MK character. Aside from the "I just beat you with a girl appeal" that Sonya has, she also had some great moves. Her leg scissors throw for instance did sick damage AND it was unblockable if you did it at just the right distance. The only thing that really sucked about Sonya was her substandard fatalities. In this game, she blows a kiss at her opponent which burns him alive in a matter of seconds. Boooooooring. The worst part is that she's the only female character in the game, so you can't even use it as a sexy lesbian fatality.

Execution: F, F, B, B, BLK (anywhere)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 2

Kano

      Kano is the only character from the original Mortal Kombat that I never really liked. I don't know why, but I never thought he had quite as much personality as the other characters. As much as I hate the bastard, I have to give credit where credit is due. Kano has the absolute best fatality in the game. Kano must have watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom just one too many times because he rips your still-beating heart out right out of your chest. But just like Mola Ram's deadly hand was the only memorable thing about Indy's second adventure, it's also Kano's only really cool trait.

Execution: While holding BLK press B, D, F, LP (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 5

Sub-Zero

      Who doesn't love Sub-Zero? Seriously, I want names. I'll hunt them all down like wounded rabbits. With his easily exploited freeze ability, Sub-Zero was always prone to having sick damage combos. In later games, Sub-Zero had ice-related fatalities, but here he just rips out his opponent's spinal cord. It may be somewhat uncharacteristic, but it's still good old-fashioned fun.

Execution: F, D, F, HP (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 4.2

Scorpion

      With two exciting action phrases ("Come here!" being the second one), Scorpion is the most quotable fighter in MK franchise history. With his uncanny ability to throw spears and yell "Get over here!", Scorpion has won himself a distinguished spot in video game history. He has also been blacklisted by most strip clubs. In his fatality, Scorpion removes his mask, revealing that he has no face. His grinning skull then proceeds to breath fire, thus turning his opponent into a toasty corpse. Truth be told, Scorpion's fatality isn't all that much different from Sonya's. In fact, it used the exact same immolation animation. But come on, he's still fucking Scorpion.

Execution: While holding BLK press U, U (jumping distance)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 3.5

Liu Kang

      Every legitimate fighting franchise has a Bruce Lee clone. Street Fighter has Fei Long, Tekken has Martial Law & Forest Law, and MK has Liu Kang. Liu Kang can be really fun to play as, but he also has the shittiest fatality in MK1. It sucks so much that the screen doesn't even go dark like it does with the other six fatalities.... it's like the programmers KNEW his fatality sucked. Liu Kang's fatality is this: he does a spinning kick followed by an uppercut that briefly sends his opponent offscreen. His opponent then lands in one piece. You could accomplish the same general effect with a basic uppercut. Fucking weak.

Execution: While holding BLK press F, D, B, U (anywhere, but it will miss if you're too far away)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 1

The Pit

      When Mortal Kombat came out in 1992, the internet didn't exist. OK, technically it was there. However it was slow as fuck and the vast majority of people didn't have it. The point is that Mortal Kombat came out in the days before any random person could walk in off the street and start a website or a home page. Fatalities were a closely guarded secret. Unless you knew someone willing to share knowledge with you or you got your hands on the issue of EGM that said how to do them all, you were fucked. Well, almost. There was one fatality that everyone knew how to do: The Pit Fatality. If you were fighting in The Pit and you wanted to finish your match with some flare, you could uppercut your opponent and send him (or Sonya) careening towards the spikes below. While it's not a true fatality, it's still damn cool.

Execution: D + LP or D + HP (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 4.5

 


FATALITIES.

Reptile

      The infamous secret opponent from the original Mortal Kombat returned in MK2 as a fully playable character with a unique moveset. He looked like he was just a palette swap of Scorpion and Sub-Zero, but Reptile held a deadly secret: he was just as inhuman as his name implied. In this fatality, Reptile removes his mask to reveal a hideous lizard face. Then, he lashes out his tongue and eats his opponent's head. Good times.

Execution: B, B, D, LP (jumping distance)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 3.8

 

      Mortal Kombat 2 was all about giving players more of what they wanted: more characters, more moves, and more finishing moves. This time around, every character has at least 2 fatalities. Reptile's second fatality requires him to be invisible when the round ends. See, one of Reptile's more interesting special moves in this game allows him to turn invisible and stay that way until he gets hit. It's a great move for crushing noobs and experts alike, since invisible combos are nigh impossible to block. If I had the power to turn invisible, I can think of about a dozen things I would do. Slicing my enemies in half isn't in the Top 5, but it's definitely on the list. This fatality isn't particularly amazing looking, but it gets some extra points because of the skill required to get it off. To successfully do it, you either need to be invisible when the round ends or have the world's fastest fingers. I'm not entirely convinced that it's actually possible to pull off both invisibility and the fatality after the game encourages you to FINISH HIM! Most good players can see Reptile's invisibility coming a mile away, so pulling this fatality off against them can be quite satisfying.

Invisibility: Hold BLK and press U, U, D, HP
Execution: While invisible press F, F, D, HK (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 4.1

Johnny Cage

      Johnny Cage returned in MK2 with all his classic moves and several news ones, such as the Shadow Uppercut. One of the moves that Johnny retained in Mortal Kombat II was his uppercut fatality. Only now, it's better. There was a glitch in MK1 that allowed you to do Johnny Cage and Liu Kang's fatalities twice in a row if you were fast enough. The result was that Johnny could knock off a phantom second head. As a tribute to that glitch, Johnny was given the ability to convert his uppercut fatality into a TRIPLE uppercut. That's three times the amount of decapitation that is physically possible. Forcing your opponent to watch the same cheesy animation three times in a row is both spiteful and stylish. I like it!

Execution: Press F, F, D, U to start the single uppercut. Once it starts, immediately press and hold D, LP, LK, and BLK. (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 4.2

 

      In Johnny's other fatality, he rips his opponent in half with his bare hands. Now that's manly. This fatality would have made a good commercial for Brawny before they changed the guy on the packaging to make him all sensitive and shit. The commercial would start with some mean-looking guy in a shirt that said "Tough Spill" on it. Then the Brawny Man would come out of nowhere and rip off his upper torso and you'd be hit with the tagline: BRAWNY IS TOUGH ON TOUGH SPILLS. Paper towels are badass.

Execution: D, D, F, F, LP (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 4.2

Sub-Zero

      Sub-Zero's spine-ripping fatality did not make it into MK2. This time around, the blue ninja has fatalities that tie-in to the magical ice powers of his Lin Kuei clan. One of Sub-Zero's new fatalities allows him to lob an ice grenade at his opponent from afar. Not one of my favorites, but not terrible.

Execution: Hold LP, press B, B, D, F, release LP (far)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating:: 3

 

      Sub's second fatality is a two part move. First you have to freeze your opponent using a special freeze command that only works on the FINISH HIM screen. This part of the move is rather pointless; Sub-Zero has a basic freeze move that would have accomplished the same goddam thing. After the opponent is frozen, Sub-Zero does a super uppercut that shatters the top half of the opponent's body. It's not quite as cool as when Stallone kills Snipes in Demolition Man, but it's still quite good.

Execution: Step back from your opponent and press F, F, D, HK. Once the opponent is frozen, quickly move in close and hit F, D, F, F, HP
Arbitrary Coolness Rating:: 4

Jax

      One of the new characters in MK2 was Jax, Sonya's commanding officer. According to the story line, he entered the tournament to track down Sonya and the criminal Kano, both of whom were thought to have been kidnapped by the evil Shao Kahn. Most of Jax's special moves highlight his massive upper body strength, so it should come as no surprise that one of his fatalities involves him ripping off his opponent's arms. I don't know if this really counts as a fatality. Sure, there's some mild dismemberment involved, but your opponent could survive. In a world where kombatants lose at least a pint or two of blood from every basic punch they take, I find it hard to believe that people actually bleed to death.

Execution: BLK, BLK, BLK, BLK, LP (from a few steps back)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating:: 2.5

 

      In this fatality, Jax crushes your head. As a Kids in the Hall fan, I have no choice but to give this fatality a perfect five. Well, free will exists, so I actually do have a choice. However, I am waiving it at this moment in time.

Execution: Hold LP, press F, F, F, release LP (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 5

Liu Kang

      The Worst Fatality Ever is back in MK2! Thanks a lot, Midway. Since the screen actually darkens when you perform it in this game, it gets an extra tenth of a point than its MK1 counterpart.

Execution: While holding BLK hit B, D, F, U (anywhere)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 1.1

 

      As I mentioned before, Liu Kang is based on Bruce Lee. Specifically, Liu Kang is based on Bruce Lee's character in Enter The Dragon where the martial arts legend played a Shaolin monk who enters a deadly tournament. Just like Lee's character, Liu Kang is able to transform into an enormous green dragon and eat his opponents. All right, I made that last part up. Lying aside, dragons rule and this fatality is infinitely better than Liu Kang's other one.

Execution: D, F, B, B, HK (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 5

Kitana

      There were no less than 5 playable ninjas in MK2: Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Reptile, Kitana, and Mileena. This is because Mortal Kombat creators Ed Boon and John Tobias wanted to have at least 12 playable characters in the game and palette swaps save space. The three hidden enemies you could fight in the game were also palette swaps: Smoke and Noob Saibot, who were gray and black Scorpion clones, and Jade, who was a green Kitana clone. Kitana is damn cool... she was my absolute favorite character in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. Unfortunately, her decapitate-you-with-her-steel-fan fatality isn't all that great. There's a bunch of fatalities that remove the opponent's head and this one doesn't offer anything special that makes it stand out. When you stack this Kitana fatality up against the one where Reptile EATS HIS OPPONENT'S HEAD, ordinary decapitation suddenly seems quaint.

Execution: BLK, BLK, BLK, HK (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 3

 

      Kitana's second fatality is premature ejaculation. The hot ninja chick leans over and kisses her opponent, who becomes extremely excited, swells to gigantic proportions, and then explodes in his/her pants. The opponent is thoroughly embarrassed and doesn't get to bang Kitana. Also, the opponent is dead. This fatality is weird.

Execution: Hold LK, press F, F, D, F, release LK (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 3.6

Raiden

      Newer than the Wes Craven movie but older than the infamous three fingers, this Raiden fatality is my favorite shocker. In this move, Raiden lifts up his opponents and fries them until they explode. This is exactly the type of fatality that respectable Gods of Thunder should have. You achieve a similar effect at home by cooking a hotdog for too long in the microwave. This is untested, but it is believed you can also achieve this effect by tying someone to a metal bedframe and then hooking up jumper cables to both the frame and a Mack truck*.

*Helpful hint: If you try this, you'll get in shitloads of trouble. Don't fucking do it.

Execution: Hold LK for 3 seconds and release, then mash LK and BLK repeatedly (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 4.2

 

      Someone on the MK2 design team must have really liked uppercut fatalities, because Raiden's got one. It's better than Liu Kang's uppercut fatality, because the opponent actually dies, but it's not as good as the ones that Sub-Zero and Johnny Cage have. When you have the deadly power of lightning at your command, why the hell would you need a super uppercut? Raiden should have retained his MK1 fatality instead of having this crap.

Execution: Starting holding HP at least 10 seconds before you beat your opponent. When FINISH HIM appears, move in and release HP (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 2

Scorpion

     Scorpion's MK1 fatality is back! This time around it's animated better and you can do it from any range. Sweet.

Execution 1: Hold BLK, press U, U, release BLK, HP (jumping distance)
Execution 2: Hold BLK, press D, D, U, U, release BLK, HP (anywhere)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 3.9

 

      In Scorpion's second fatality, he uses his trademark spear to slit his opponent's throat and then slice that person in half. He doesn't really need to do both; just one of those blows is enough to kill anyone. But hey, this is Mortal Kombat, the franchise is built on excessive violence.

Execution: Hold HP, press D, F, F, F, release HP
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 4

Kung Lao

      Kung Lao is a Shaolin monk as well a descendant of the original Kung Lao who won the original Mortal Kombat tournament, a tournament which took place 500 years before the one in MK1. Much like the evil henchman Oddjob from Goldfinger, Kung Lao throws his steel-rimmed hat at opponents with deadly effect. Unlike Oddjob, Kung Lao never has to retrieve his hat; it magically reappears on his head without further explanation. In this fatality, Mr. Lao slices his opponent in half with his hat. It's simple, brutal, and easy to execute. A good overall fatality.

Execution: F, F, F, LK (from a step or two away)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 3.9

 

      Kung Lao's second fatality is the only fatality in the game that you can miss with. In theory, Kung Lao throws his hat at his opponent and decapitates them. In order to actually pull this off, you'll need to hit up or down once or twice depending on how far away you are when you start the move. If you manage to successfully execute the move, it's rather impressive. If you don't, you end up doing a glorified version of his basic hat throw.

Execution: Hold LP, press B, B, F, release LP, U (far)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 5

Baraka

      Baraka holds the rather obscure distinction of being the first playable Mortal Kombat character who is blatantly nonhuman. Yes, Scorpion and Reptile were both in MK1, but they conceal their inhumanity with ninja masks. And while Goro was definitely not human, he was also not playable. Baraka is best known for having giant wristblades and being one ugly motherfucker. Coincidentally, Predator is also known for these two things. I smell a crossover! In this fatality, Baraka picks up his opponent with his blades and watches as the opponent slowly slides down the blades. This a very deadly and reasonably enthralling move.

Execution: B, F, D, F, LP (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 3.5

 

      Another decapitation move? Sweet! Or not. This is a particularly vicious looking decapitation move, but there's still too many of them in the game. With his deformed features and marked propensity for slashing things, Baraka seems more than a little bit like Freddy Krueger. All he really needs is a hat and he'll be there. Maybe he should steal Kung Lao's.

Execution: Hold BLK, press B, B, B, B, release BLK, HP (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 3

Mileena

      According to the storyline, Mileena is a vicious mutant clone of Kitana created by the evil emperor Shao Kahn. Don't question it. The reason she is not a perfect clone is that she was made with Tarkatan blood. In this fatality, she removes her mask to reveal that she shares some of Baraka's Tarkatan features. She then swallows her opponent whole and spits out the bones. Baraka totally should have had some variant of this.

Execution: Hold HK for 2 seconds and release (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 4.1

 

      In Fatality #2, Mileena stabs the hell out of her opponent with her sai. I do enjoy a good stabbing, but this isn't even close to being one of the best fatalities in the game.

Execution: F, B, F, LP (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 2.5

Shang Tsung

      Unlike other MK2 characters, Shang Tsung doesn't get two fatalities. Instead, he gets three. All three of them are pretty amazing, too. In his first fatality, Shang Tsung jumps into his opponent's body via an ear and causes the body to expand and explode. Yes, it's the same animation as Kitana's kiss fatality, but the overall concept is much cooler.

Execution: Hold HK for 4 seconds and release (from a step or two away)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 4.8

 

      Ever notice that Shang Tsung was an old man when he was the end boss in MK1? Of course you did. Well, he was able to regenerate his body by stealing the souls of his victims and that is exactly what he does in this fatality. Taking other people's souls is one of the most rewarding things you can ever do, even when it's vicariously through a video game villain. This fatality would get a perfect 5 if Shang's final fatality wasn't even better...

Execution: Hold BLK, press U, D, U, release BLK, LK (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 4.9

 

      This fatality is the king of all MK2 fatalities. Shang Tsung transforms into the evil Shokan warrior and MK2 sub-boss Kintaro and knocks his opponent's torso clean off with one powerful punch. This fatality spawned rumors that Shang Tsung could turn into Kintaro during regular kombat. Sadly, these rumors turned out to be untrue. But with this fatality, you can still be Kintaro for one brief shining moment. That is, if you can execute it. This is the hardest fatality in the game to pull off. As soon as the second round (or third, if it comes to that) starts, you need to press and hold low punch. While holding it, try and beat your opponent. Good luck with that. Unless you're playing against patients at your local ICU ward, this move is damn near impossible to execute. Three seconds after the round ends, release the LP button to go Shokan all over your opponent's ass. Pulling off this fatality is the ultimate MK bitchslap.

Execution: As soon as the round starts, press and hold LP. Release it three seconds after "FINISH HIM" appears. (from a step or two away)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 5

FRIENDSHIP

     Mortal Kombat 2 saw the addition of friendships to the mix. Instead of beating the crap out of an opponent, you could give that person the video game equivalent of a hug. It was kind of gay, but it was also kind of funny; friendship moves were the perfect response to Joe Lieberman and all those other assholes who insisted that the original game was too violent. Friendship moves also offered gamers a new challenge: in order to be allowed to do one, you have to get your second match win without using LP or HP. The good news is that friendships can be executed from anywhere.

Reptile

      For his friendship move, Reptile reaches into his outfit and pulls out his little friend. No, not his dick. He whips a Reptile doll that I estimate to be about 16" in height. I would pay good money for a toy like that. The MK toylines that have been released have sucked. Hasbro's MK line was particularly weak: the figures were the size of G.I. Joes. The thing is, since Scorpion and Raiden don't ride around in tanks and helicopters, 3 and 3/4 inches is way too fucking small. Toy Island's Mortal Kombat Trilogy line was somewhat better, but it was still crap. Out of all the major toy companies out there, I believe that only McFarlane Toy has the skills necessary to capture the true essence of Mortal Kombat in action figure form. Still, I'd prefer a Mattel-style doll with removable clothes because Barbie has said several times that she'd go out with Raiden if he'd take off that goddam hat. Also, it'd be fun to have Johnny Cage and Sonya fight Talking Bill Clinton and Top Gun George W. Bush.

Execution: B, B, D, LK
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 3

Johnny Cage

      Long before Capcom's joke character Dan Hibiki started throwing around autographed pictures of himself in Marvel Super Heroes VS. Street Fighter, Johnny Cage had a friendship move where he gave his victim a glossy 8" x 10" headshot of himself. This once again proves my theory that everything is better when Johnny Cage does it. Here's another example: Johnny Cage died in MK3 but was later resurrected. There was some other guy with the initials J.C. who also came back from the dead, but he didn't have a cool shadow kick.

Execution: D, D, D, D, HK
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 4.2

Sub-Zero & Scorpion

      The MK team were either bored or lazy when they did the friendships: Scorpion, Reptile, and Sub-Zero all have the same damn one. Scorp and Sub execute their ones with high kick instead of low kick, but that's just a minor difference. I'm giving the two playable ninjas from MK1 a higher rating for their mutual friendship because they're both cooler than Reptile.

Execution: B, B, D, HK
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 3.2

Jax

      The smile on Jax's face is priceless. Still, one has to wonder where he got the scissors to cut up those paper dolls and why didn't throw them at his opponent during the match.

Execution: Hold BLK, D, D, U, U, release BLK, LK
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 3.6

Liu Kang

      Out of character dancing = funny. Disco ball = funny. End of story.

Execution: F, B, B, B, LK
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 5

Kitana

      Kitana whips out a birthday cake. I wonder if she does party favors cuz I'd like to get inside her goodie bag. As terrible as that last line was, it should have filled my pun quota for the month. Let's put this behind us and take a look at the next friendship.

Execution: Hold BLK, D, D, D, D, U, release BLK, LK
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 3.7

Raiden

      What the fuck is this? Seriously, I want to know. "Here Liu Kang, have a kid. Instead of killing you, I'm going to give you a large financial burden. Isn't that nice of me? You're gonna have to find a real job too, because competing in death tournaments won't set a good example for your new son." There's nothing friendly about this at all. Fuck you, Raiden.

Execution: D, B, F, HK
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 1.6

Kung Lao

      Instead of using his hat to make death like he usually does, Kung Lao finally uses it to make life. This profound transition from Kung Lao The Killer to Kung Lao The Creator moves me to tears if I think about it too long. Oh wait, he's performing a magic trick. Nevermind.

Execution: B, B, B, D, HK
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 4.4

Baraka

      Baraka offers his opponent a neatly wrapped present. Free gifts are never really bad because hey, they're free. However, if any of Baraka's would-be friends have ever seen UHF, they probably won't go for what's inside the box. Also, Baraka is a hideous mutant. Remember your scary old great aunt who you never wanted to hug even when she brought you presents? That's Baraka. Also, didn't those presents usually suck anyway?

Execution: Hold BLK, U, U, release BLK, F, F, HK
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 2.95

Mileena

      Look at this: Mileena and Kitana don't have the same friendship move. So, uh, why the hell do Scorpion, Reptile, and Sub-Zero? As unspectacular as Mileena's flower friendship is, it's better than seeing the cake again. Mileena gets a four.

Execution: Hold BLK, D, D, D, U, release BLK, HK
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 4

Shang Tsung

      A little known fact about Shang Tsung is that he's good friends with Levar Burton. When Levar asked Shang to promote Reading Rainbow in MK2, he was more than willing to comply. Shang Tsung's affinity for rainbows suggests that he might like to suck something else in addition to souls.

Execution: B, B, D, F, HK
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 4.9

BABALITIES.

      Babalities were also introduced in MK2. If murdering your opponents or baking cakes for them bores you, you can turn them into a baby. The problem with babalities is that a lot of the characters just aren't that funny as babies. Baby Johnny Cage and Baby Raiden are cool, but Baby Scorpion, Baby Kitana, and their respective palette swaps all look pretty fucking lame. Much like friendships, babalities can only be performed if you win your second round without using LP or LK. They can also be performed from any distance. Sorry, but you're not getting screenshots of every babality. There's already enough fucking pictures on this page.

Reptile: D, B, B, LK
Johnny Cage: B, B, B, HK
Sub-Zero: D, B, B, HK
Jax: Hold BLK, D, U, D, U, release BLK, LK
Liu Kang: D, D, F, B, LK
Kitana: D, D, D, LK
Raiden: Hold BLK, D, D, U, release BLK, HK
Scorpion: D, B, B, HK
Kung Lao: B, B, F, F, HK
Baraka: F, F, F, HK
Mileena: D, D, D, HK
Shang Tsung: B, F, D, HK

Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 3.5

LEVEL FATALITIES.

Pit II and Kombat Tomb

      Mortal Kombat II took the Pit fatality from the original game and split into two different level fatalities: a falling fatality in Pit II and a spike fatality in Kombat Tomb. Each of these new level fatalities is OK, but they both lack the overall fun of the original Pit fatality. To its credit, the Pit II fatality is very well animated. Unfortunately, watching your opponent land on plain concrete is nowhere near as cool as watching him or her land on spikes. The Kombat Tomb fatality is rather mediocre, especially when you could be doing one of your character's regular fatalities instead. In MK2, level fatalities can't be executed with a basic uppercut. Instead, you need yet another set of codes to execute them. For Pit II and Kombat Tomb each character has their own code to do the level fatality. The characters each use the same code for both levels, but they really aren't worth memorizing. Anyway, here they are:

Reptile: D, F, F, BLK
Johnny Cage: B, B, B, HK
Sub-Zero: D, F, F, BLK
Jax: Hold BLK, U, U, release BLK, D, LK
Liu Kang: D, B, F, F, LK
Kitana: F, D, F, HK
Raiden: Hold BLK, U, U, release BLK
Scorpion: D, B, B, HK
Kung Lao: F, F, F, HP
Baraka: F, F, D, HK
Mileena: F, D, F, LK
Shang Tsung: D, D, U, D + BLK

Arbitrary Coolness Rating for Pit II: 3
Arbitrary Coolness Rating for Kombat Tomb: 3

Dead Pool

      The third and final level fatality in MK2 takes place on the Dead Pool stage. You can send your opponents flying into the acid in the background by uppercutting them while holding LP and LK. The code is the same for everyone and acid is always fun. This is easily the best of the three level fatalities. I still don't think it's quite as good as the regular character fatalities though. On the plus side, there is a universal code for this fatality and it's really easy to do.

Execution: While holding LP and LK, press D + HP (close range)
Arbitrary Coolness Rating: 3.5

NOTE: Dirty Harry is immune to the Dead Pool fatality.


      Thus ends Part I of the Mortal Kombat Fatality Extravaganza. Don't be sad though, because this celebration of graphic violence is just getting started. Part II, which focuses solely on Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is coming up next. In it, you'll find more fatalities, more friendships, animalities, and maybe even nudalities. OK, there are no nudalities. Please read Part II anyway.

 

Post by: Syd Lexia
04/09/05

 

 

CONTINUE TO PART II!!!