Highlights

• Mortal Kombat has grown in popularity since its debut in 1992, with an expanding roster of characters that have contributed to the game's story.
• Characters like Shang-Tsung, Sonya Blade, and Kitana have become fan favorites and have played significant roles in the franchise.
• Characters like Scorpion and Sub-Zero are iconic and easily recognizable, with unique abilities and weapons that make them formidable fighters in the game.

Since 1992, Mortal Kombat has garnered fans worldwide with its arcade-style fighting game. Now, the series is even more popular, with in-depth titles being released on various platforms. Though the first game only had a roster of seven characters (and three unplayable fighters), its subsequent entries have developed an arsenal of Kombatants that have contributed to the game's story in many ways.

While some older characters remain as popular as ever, several newer fighters have made big names for themselves, and fans hope to see them in future releases. From the classic arcade machines and consoles to movies and books, the famous faces of Mortal Kombat are household names in the video game world.

Updated on April 11, 2024, by David Heath: Mortal Kombat has gone from strength to strength, with Mortal Kombat 1 being a particularly odd place for the series. On the one hand, its unique mix of 1-on-1 gameplay with Kameo assists can be fun, alongside its redesigned characters. On the other hand, it introduced yet another reboot for its universe, after its previous reboot in MK9, and a soft reboot in Mortal Kombat X. Plus, its bugs and unbalanced gameplay led to its predecessor, Mortal Kombat 11, getting an upsurge of players on Steam instead. However, just as people think Mortal Kombat has finally been finished, it manages to come back from the dead and strike back. After all, it's produced a range of classic characters who've remained top names for up to 30+ years now. The original list featured some of its most iconic names, but there are still many more out there. So, it's been updated with more of the best Mortal Kombat characters of all time, alongside some sprucing up here and there.

14 Shang Tsung

Sorceror Supreme

• Debut: Mortal Kombat 1992 (boss), Mortal Kombat 2 (playable).
• Highest Tier: A (Mortal Kombat 11).
• Iconic For: Being the series' original final boss, his ability to morph into other players, and his constant sly scheming.

As the franchise's very first main antagonist, Shang Tsung struck fear in the hearts of Mortal Kombat's long-time fans. Shang Tsung is a brilliant sorcerer from Outworld who was banished to Earthrealm. After taking control of the Mortal Kombat tournament, his champion, Goro, had become undefeated for the longest time. He would've opened the door for his lord, Shao Kahn, to invade if the Great Kung Lao hadn't beaten Goro and reset the count on the victories Outworld needed to merge the realms.

This set the stage for the original MK game, where Shang Tsung served as the final boss. He wasn't too difficult, but his ability to shapeshift into the rest of the cast gave players pause for thought. Even when he became playable in the sequels, he could keep them guessing over which form he'd change into next. The 3D era curtailed this, but like his plots, Shang Tsung's gameplay offers other ways to bamboozle opponents. He's the snake to Liu Kang's dragon, and every bit as sly as the comparison suggests.

13 Sonya Blade

Special Forces with Special Skills

• Debut: Mortal Kombat 1992.
• Highest Tier: S (MK'92, Mortal Kombat 9, Mortal Kombat X, Mortal Kombat 11).
• Iconic For: Being the series' first female fighter, and one of the toughest both in lore and in gameplay.

Sonya Blade was among the first Mortal Kombat fighters to be introduced to the world. Originally, she was going to be a male character called Kurtis Stryker but, with Street Fighter's Chun-Li proving to be one of their rivals' biggest hits, the developers thought the character would catch on better as a woman. Needless to say, it worked, given Sonya's status as an MK mainstay. As a Special Forces agent, she was originally on the hunt for Kano, a weapons dealer for the Black Dragon crime syndicate.

He killed her old partner, and she sought revenge, tracking him down to the MK tournament. Other than her incredible tenacity, one of Sonya's distinctive characteristics was her ability to blast energy beams. Sometimes they're technological, but other times they're as mystical as her immolating blown kisses. While she's one of the sterner characters in the series, she's shown her softer side with fellow Special Forces agent Jax, film star Johnny Cage, and her daughter Cassie.

12 Kano

Dealing With the Devil

• Debut: Mortal Kombat 1992.
• Highest Tier: S (Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat X).
• Iconic For: His cyborg eye, scummy attitude, heart-ripping fatality, and Australian accent.

That latter attribute sounds odd, yet there aren't a lot of characters from Down Under. Tekken's Craig Marduk and Virtua Fighter's Jeffry McWild are big hitters, but only Kano received the full Aussie characterization. Not that this was the plan. In MK'92, he was merely a plain underworld criminal- a weapons dealer for the Black Dragon syndicate. It wasn't until actor Trevor Goddard depicted him in the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie with an accent that he was associated with Australia (which is ironic as Goddard was going for a London accent).

Aside from that, he made for a nice, vile counterpart to the human heroes. Willing to sell out Earthrealm for a buck, let alone his 'friends', he's one of the scummiest, most untrustworthy characters in the series. Yet he delights in being a villain so much that he makes for an entertaining watch, no matter which game he appears in. He's like Shang Tsung in this way, only with worse manners, but just as satisfying to see get the business end of a Nut Punch.

11 Jax

Jax By Name, Jacked By Nature

• Debut: Mortal Kombat 2.
• Highest Tier: S (MK2, Mortal Kombat 3).
• Iconic For: His metal arms, his backbreaker throw, and his fatalities.

After Sonya Blade appeared in MK'92, Midway planned to use the 'Kurtis Stryker' character for Mortal Kombat 2 instead. They would be Sonya's commanding officer and a headband-wearing kickboxer. Fearing they looked too similar to Street Fighter's Balrog, the character was reimagined as a muscleman with a penchant for powerful dashing punches, hard ground pounds, and yelling "Gotcha!" after catching his goes in midair for a nasty backbreaker. This time, 'Stryker' became Jackson "Jax" Briggs.

Surprisingly, his most iconic appearance wouldn't come about until Mortal Kombat 3, when the character got metal arms as an upgrade. Other timelines, like in Mortal Kombat 9, would make them full prosthetics (ironic, as his MK2 fatality involved ripping off his opponent's arms). Either way, he's become famous for his proverbial guns, smashing his foes with them in a variety of ways. Not as stiff as Sonya, but more serious than Johnny Cage, he has an underrated charm that's made him a series' mainstay.

10 Kenshi

Blind Fury

• Debut: Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.
• Highest Tier: S (Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Mortal Kombat 9).
• Iconic For: His telekinesis, blindness, and sword-swinging.

The 2000s era of MK games, from Deadly Alliance to Armageddon, are often unfairly maligned. While they weren't the strongest fighting games around, they played out quite well for their time. That said, it's hard to defend their original characters. MK: DA's Hsu Hao is often the target of ire for fans and critics alike, but at least his weird Village People-esque look is memorable. Mavado, Dairou, Kira, and Hotaru were much more generic and forgettable. Yet they had their highlights too.

The brightest was Kenshi, a blind swordsman who gained telekinetic and telepathic powers via his katana, Sento. He originally sought revenge against Shang Tsung. Then, by MK9 and MKX, he was after the Red Dragon crime gang. Mortal Kombat 1 changed him again to an ex-yakuza seeking to free his family from their grasp, losing his sight to Mileena in a mission gone awry. Either way, he'd use his powers to throw his opponents around or use his sword to dice them into bite-sized chunks.

9 Kitana

Prime Princess

• Debut: Mortal Kombat 2.
• Highest Tier: S (MK2).
• Iconic For: Being the first female ninja, her sibling rivalry with Mileena, her deadly fan blades, and her more lethal kisses.

Although Kitana wasn't among MK's first fighters in Mortal Kombat, she's arguably the most iconic woman in the series. Her blue ninja outfits, sharp fan blades, and key role in the story as Liu Kang's rival-turned-lover made her a staple character. She's an Edenian, a long-lived human-like race whose world of Edenia got merged with Outworld before they set their sights on Earthrealm.

She was adopted by Shao Kahn and served him dutifully until she discovered he had murdered her father, King Jerrod, and had Shang Tsung create a more psychotic yet more loyal clone of herself. Or so it went in the original timeline. After decades of being at each other's throats, Mortal Kombat 1 reset the timeline to make the two twin sisters, who would aid each other against General Shao and other schemers in Outworld.

8 Reptile

Mean and Green

• Debut: Mortal Kombat 1992 (secret opponent), Mortal Kombat 2 (playable).
• Highest Tier: S (Mortal Kombat 4, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance).
• Iconic For: Being the first secret character in fighting games, his acid attacks, and his prehensile tongue.

Until Mortal Kombat 1 redesigned him as a rather handsome ally to the good guys, Reptile had been treated like a jobber in the series. He was a goon for one big bad or another, and often left betrayed, murdered, or possessed as a 'reward'. It was an unfortunate turn of events for the fighting game genre's first secret character. If players followed his random clues in MK'92, they'd fight him as a green uber-ninja who had both Scorpion and Sub-Zero's moves.

Once he became playable in MK2, he was given his own moves and character. He was (to his knowledge) of the reptile-like humanoid Saurian/Zaterran race, and had special abilities he'd use in combat. Like spitting acid to fight against his enemies, and the ability to turn invisible, making him more difficult to strike. Then, he'd finish his foes off by ripping off their heads with his tongue and eating them. He may have been a ninja, but he was much more animalistic prior to MK1.

7 Johnny Cage

Brutal Bravado

• Debut: Mortal Kombat 1992.
• Highest Tier: S (MK'92, Mortal Kombat 1).
• Iconic For: His shades, ego, and comic personality, his swift Shadow Kicks and Nut Punches.

Before it became a fighting game, Mortal Kombat began life as a tie-in project for the Jean-Claude Van Damme movie Universal Soldier. Once that fell through, creators Ed Boon and John Tobias commemorated their near-run with the Muscles from Brussels by creating Johnny Cage, a Hollywood star who lucked into the first MK tournament to revive his flagging career. He dressed like Van Damme's character from the movie and did some of his moves from the movie, like the infamous Nut Punch.

His smug attitude, contrasted with his heart of gold, made him a neat source of levity throughout the series. When all the gore and mutilation became too much, he'd lighten the atmosphere with a movie line or a smarmy one-liner. He'd even break the 4th wall, giving the player his autograph, or turning his old glitches into features (e.g. uppercutting his opponent's head off 3 times somehow). Without him cutting his foes down physically and verbally, MK just wouldn't feel the same.

6 Kung Lao

Shaolin In Style

• Debut: Mortal Kombat 2.
• Highest Tier: S (MK2, PS1 Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon).
• Iconic For: His razor hat, and friendly rivalry with Liu Kang.

At first, Johnny Cage seemed like the equivalent of Street Fighter's Ken to Liu Kang's proverbial Ryu. Yet the Shaolin monk and the arrogant movie star didn't have as much in common with each other as Capcom's shotos. So, Midway made a new Shaolin monk in Kung Lao. He's a descendant of the Great Kung Lao, who first stopped Outworld from taking over Earthrealm by defeating Goro. Unfortunately, Goro got his own back at the next tournament and killed him.

Kung Lao joined the White Lotus and trained alongside Liu Kang to avenge his ancestor and aid Earthrealm. He's often talked down to by his friends and enemies, and treated as a lesser monk compared to Liu Kang. Yet he doesn't hold it against his friend. Probably because he's arguably got more style than him anyway. His razor-brimmed hat made him stand out from the crowd, cutting through foes, and lopping off their heads if players threw it just right in his MK2 fatality. Few characters in MK could match his panache.

5 Liu Kang

Hero Turned Villain Turned God

• Debut: Mortal Kombat '92.
• Highest Tier: S (MK'92, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat X, Mortal Kombat 11).
• Iconic For: Being the series' original hero, his Flying Kick and Bicycle Kick, and his Dragon Animality.

Liu Kang was the original hero of MK's canon storyline, serving as Earthrealm's champion and beating Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn, Shinnok, and more. But Mortal Kombat 9 would switch things up, where he'd lose faith in Raiden, get killed, and become an evil Revenant. Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, and her daughter Cassie would step in as the new heroes. But ultimately, by MK11, it took a time imbalance to bring the good Liu Kang back to aid Raiden and co once again.

By the end of that game, he'd go on to replace his old mentor as Earth's new protector demigod in Mortal Kombat 1. Nonetheless, fans remember him best as the red headband-wearing human, serving as the original Shaolin monk of the series. He'd beat foes and woo Kitana with his Bruce Lee-style moves, acting as the straight man to his more comic rivals in Johnny Cage and Kung Lao. Him turning into a dragon and chomping on his opponents left an impression as well.

4 Raiden

Thundering Through Time and Space

• Debut: Mortal Kombat 1992.
• Highest Tier: S (Mortal Kombat 1).
• Iconic For: His electric powers, role as Earthrealm's protector, and his conical hat.

As of MK1, Raiden may as well be two different characters. He essentially swapped roles with his former champion Liu Kang, being reborn in his new universe as Earthrealm's new Shaolin monk champion, complete with friendship with Kung Lao. Nonetheless, it's the original Raiden who's most famous, where he gathered Earthrealm's finest warriors to defend it at the Mortal Kombat tournaments, often training the kombatants throughout various games.

Not that this was always the plan. His ending in MK'92 saw him inadvertently destroy the Earth after organizing a fighting tournament for all the Elder Gods ("Have a nice day"). His mentor role was established from MK2 onward, with the occasional twist in the tale. He's occasionally turned to the dark side, yet the games have preferred to keep him good, often stepping in to handle things personally when needed. As one of the strongest characters in the franchise's canon, he's a formidable force.

3 Shao Khan

Ruler of Outworld

• Debut: Mortal Kombat 2 (boss), Mortal Kombat Trilogy (playable).
• Highest Tier: A (Mortal Kombat Vs DC Universe).
• Iconic For: His armor and hammer, his taunts, sheer power, and cheapness.

In the original timeline, Shao Kahn was the Emperor of Outworld and sought to take over Earthrealm via Shang Tsung's Mortal Kombat tournament. If his Outworld forces achieved enough victories in a row, he'd be allowed by the Elder Gods to merge Outworld with Earthrealm, just as he had done with other realms. Instead, Liu Kang defeated Shang Tsung, then defeated Kahn himself twice. Not that he had an easy time of it.

Shao Kahn is infamous as one of the hardest bosses in fighting game history, let alone just in MK. With unblockable projectiles, armored attacks, and constant taunts ("You weak, pathetic fool!"), he wears the player down physically and mentally. Even after future games made him fairer, playable, and surprisingly low-tier in most of his appearances, he's the series' most iconic big bad boss. Shinnok, Kronika, Onaga, and the Deadly Alliance can't hold a candle to him.

2 Sub-Zero

Cool Under the Collar

• Debut: Mortal Kombat 1992.
• Highest Tier: S (Mortal Kombat 3, N64 Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Mortal Kombat Armageddon).
• Iconic For: Being one of the first ninjas, his ice powers, and rivalry with Scorpion.

Sub-Zero makes the new dual nature of Raiden look easy. In MK'92, he was a Lin Kuei assassin called Bi-Han who was framed for killing off Scorpion's clan. Once he passed, his younger brother Kuai Liang took his name and became the definitive Sub-Zero until Mortal Kombat 11. MK1 would give the name back to Bi-Han, as Kuai Liang would become the new Scorpion. It's convoluted, but it points out one key fact about him: his fate is forever intertwined with that of his yellow rival.

Together, the two ninjas are the most recognizable faces in the series, even over main hero Liu Kang. In Sub-Zero's case, his ice powers were enough to immobilize opponents in place for a nasty set of combos, often with weapons made of solid ice. That's not to mention his fatalities, where he'd freeze and shatter his foes into icy chunks. Whether it's Bi-Han or Kuai Liang behind the blue mask, MK has never had a game without Sub-Zero in it.

1 Scorpion

The Sharpest Sting in the Series

• Debut: Mortal Kombat 1992.
• Highest Tier: S (Mortal Kombat 4, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Mortal Kombat: Deception, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon).
• Iconic For: Being one of the first ninjas, his spear, fire powers, rivalry with Sub-Zero, and his catchphrase.

Another reason Midway and Netherrealm Studios haven't made an MK game without Sub-Zero might be because of the reaction they got when they made one without Scorpion. By MK2, Scorpion was already famous for his kunai spear and the "GET OVER HERE!" cry he'd shout when it connected. Once it connected, players could follow up with a combo. More often than not, they'd smash them with a hard-hitting uppercut instead.

His absence from Mortal Kombat 3 felt like a mistake. The original Scorpion, Hanzo Hasashi, may have had a simple story of avenging his family and clan on their killer, but an MK game without him was like a Mario game without Mario. Luckily, he was added back in via its Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 update, and he hasn't missed a game since. The closest he's come to another absence is Mortal Kombat 1, where Kuai Liang took the Scorpion name. Yet Hanzo-Scorpion still appeared via its Invasions mode.