Top 10 Worst Mortal Kombat X Fatalities (with VIDEO)

Straight on the heels of the Top 10 MKX Fatalities comes the 10 Worst Fatalities of MKX. So what makes a fatality bad? It’s those that make you say, “huh?” or “that’s it…?” or “I don’t get it…” or maybe even the worst of them all, “eh.” Mortal Kombat has built its brand on fatalities. They should stick with us, or at least elicit some sort of reaction when we first see them, like, “oooh gross!” or “holy shit!” They can’t all be winners though. Some of them just don’t stand out for one reason or another. Maybe they’re too mundane, too impractical, or needlessly elaborate. Sometimes they’re just goofy, and not in a good way.

Mortal Kombat X may be the finest game yet in the series, but it does have a few duds when it comes to fatalities. Fortunately these don’t even begin to sink to the level of ridiculousness found in UMK3 and MK Trilogy, though I am surprised that with all the awesome fatalities MKX has to offer, these clunkers fell through the cracks.

Check out the video below to see exactly what I’m talking about, and then continue with the article below! Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel while you’re at it!

10. Kotal Kahn – Tight Squeeze

PS4: (Close) – Forward, Back, Forward, Back, Triangle

Despite the fact that this finisher actually looks pretty cool, the idea is something straight out of a cartoon. I enjoy the tribal direction taken with Kotal’s character and supplements like his “totem” special moves; he’s also the emperor of all of Outworld, which is pretty amazing too. You’d think the guys at NetherRealm Studios would’ve saved some fantastic fatalities for him, but instead we get Tight Squeeze.

A bear hug that squishes out the innards…it’s a bit like a cross between crushing a tomato and popping a pimple. It just doesn’t compute. Everything flies out like a violent sneeze, and despite being crushed so hard and so quickly, the corpse remains relatively intact. Shouldn’t we have a wrinkled body on our hands? Like a deflated balloon?

9. Jason – Sleeping Bag Killer

PS4: (Mid) – Down, Back, Forward, Circle + R2

When I first saw this fatality, I wasn’t nearly so harsh. I almost kind of liked it. But the more I saw it, the more ridiculous it began to look. Maybe that’s the point; maybe it’s supposed to be stupid and campy like a B-grade horror flick, but the physics of it just don’t add up. I know I know, a lot of the physical feats performed in Mortal Kombat defy reality, but this is one of those I can’t help but criticize.

I get the idea behind the kill – slamming a sleeping bag (with camper!) around until death and gore ensues – though something is definitely missing when the sleeping bag is removed from the equation. Jason drags the opponent around until body parts fall off…huh?

8. Jacqui – Fist Pump

PS4: (Close) – Forward, Down, Back, Circle

Although Fist Pump looks sort of cool, there isn’t enough to it. It’s the perfect example of the, “that’s it…?” reaction. I’m not even sure how it connects with Jacqui either. I guess it has something to do with her weaponized gauntlets, though that’s never made clear in the finishing move itself. A hole through the head just seems a little too mundane.

To top it off, she single-handedly snaps her opponent’s neck beforehand. Why? If she’s going to a put a hole the size of a basketball through their head, what’s with the mercy? On the flip side, why bother with such a demanding feat of strength if she’s content snapping their neck? It’s an interesting case of a fatality that’s both uninspired and confusing.

7. Johnny Cage – Little Improv

PS4: (Mid) – Forward, Back, Forward, Forward

This is one of the goriest fatalities on this “worst of” list. The problem is that it ventures into straight-up slapstick territory. The rapid-fire of Johnny’s hand movements are over the top. Besides, how original is it to bash someone’s head against something until they’re dead? Even though we got a nice snippet of gore out of it, it’s way too “blah” compared to the other deaths in MKX.

6. Liu Kang – Sore Throat

PS4: (Close) – Down, Down, Back, Forward, Forward

Stolen straight out of Roadhouse, Liu rather inexplicably decides to tear our his opponent’s throat…and feed it to them. A perfect case of “huh?” if ever there was one. Couldn’t we get something cool with a fireball or a dragon? Or maybe a ridiculously fancy martial arts sequence?

Tearing the throat out could conceivably be the beginning of something more ambitious, but proceeding to shove the throat back down the victim’s throat mkes no sense at all. And Liu doesn’t even just cram it in their mouth, he punches a freakin’ hole in the opponent’s face where the mouth should be.

5. Shinnok – Flick Trick

PS4: (Mid) – Down, Up, Down, Up, R2

Being the ruler of hell should afford you plenty of tortuous means of disposal. Demons, fire, earth, ice, magic…Shinnok should be able to effortlessly execute deaths more grotesque and shocking than anything from our worst nightmare. But what does NetherRealm Studios do instead? They fall back on those giant, goofy, skeletal hands from back in MK4. Whoever though those were cool in the first place?

Admittedly, Shinnok’s other fatality isn’t so bad, but it still involved giant disembodied skeletal hands. It’s a silly prop anyway you slice it, and with the hands doing a motion akin to popping a Mentos or a Lifesaver, this fatality loses all credibility with me.

4. Kitana – Splitting Hairs

PS4: (Mid) – Back, Forward, Down, Down

There’s nothing really wrong with Splitting Hairs, it just falls a little on the forgettable side of things. You’d think those bladed fans would hold more potential than an uneventful trisection of the head.

3. Jax – Jax the Ribber

PS4: (Close) – Down, Back, Forward, Forward

Here’s another fatality where the developers tried to be creative yet the end result comes across as pointless and weird. There’s a cool idea in here somewhere – killing an opponent with his own body part – but this was not the way to go.

Why does Jax go so far as to tear out a few rib for want of a weapon? How does he shove it all the way through 2 layers of skull? And why bother when your arm strength is such that it can damn near rip someone’s head from their very shoulders?

2. Kitana – Dark Fan-Tasy

PS4: (Mid) – Down, Forward, Back, Forward, Triangle

Poor Kitana, the only kombatant to end up on this list twice. Those razor fans just can’t live up to their reputation. After a few clever cuts via the expanding blades, a whirlwind whisks most of the body away.

This is one of the strangest fatalities in the game. I can’t decide if it feels incomplete or maybe just rushed, but I can’t imagine that this is the fatality that was intended. What is the point of Dark Fan-Tasy?

1. Reptile – Bad Breath

PS4: (Close) – Down, Forward, Down, Forward, Circle

And the worst fatality goes to…Reptile! You’d think a raptor-like creature with caustic acid for saliva would be capable of some fun fatalities, but I guess the developers fell asleep when it came to Reptile. Though his other finisher is a marginally better throwback to the character’s older days, Bad Breath has to be one of the most generic fatalities ever.

It starts off well enough, with Reptile’s signature saliva melting away the opponent’s face, but then, rather hastily, Reptile goes for an inane demonstration of his brute strength…and rips the head in half, straight down the middle. Why? Where does it connect with the acid? Why would Reptile randomly pull a head in half? It defies explanation. And it isn’t very exciting either.

There we have it, the 10 Worst Fatalities from MKX. Luckily Mortal Kombat X is a fine enough game that these less than stellar efforts aren’t worth dwelling on. If you haven’t already done so, now take a look the Top 10 MKX Fatalities, also with an accompanying video! And stay tuned for our Top 10 Brutalities coming soon!

Which fatalities from Mortal Kombat X do you think are the worst? Agree or disagree with my list? Let us know in the comments!

Be sure to check out Nerd Bacon’s other articles related to Mortal Kombat X:

Written, played, and edited by The Cubist

Written by The Cubist

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Find out what these ratings mean and how I rate video games.

I collect as much video gaming paraphernalia as I can get my hands on, especially when it comes to hardware. With over 40 systems including oldies like the ColecoVision and Intellivision, obscurities like the CD-i and 3DO, and the latest and greatest including the Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, and PS Vita, I get easily overwhelmed. Most of the time you can find me firmly nestled sometime between 1985 and 1995 when it comes to my games of choice, but I’m also having a great time seeing what the 8th generation has to offer.

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