The fatality is the main selling point of any Mortal Kombat game. The whole purpose of the fatality is to mock your opponent in a brutal and bloody fashion once you've beaten them to a mess on the floor. Often times they're very nasty, and even in today's somewhat desensitized media, can shock the player.

Sometimes however, the Mortal Kombat fatality chosen just doesn't work. Whether it's because it doesn't make any sense, even within the boundaries set by the game, or it just isn't that effective, some fatalities fail in their attempt to shock and amaze.

Like with the Top Ten Best Mortal Kombat Fatalities, it wasn't easy picking out ten that there really bad. We did limit ourselves to only one per character. I did however, have to break my "regular-fatalities-only" rule, because there were a couple of other "-alities" that really bothered me.

WARNING: The content in this post is bloody and contains lots of nasty stuff. If you're not old enough to legally purchase an "M" rated game, you should probably leave now. Or at least make sure no one's watching you.

10.) Cyrax's Self-Destruct Fatality (3/Ultimate 3/Trilogy)

Yes, this is a classic fatality of Cyrax. That is obvious. Doesn't stop it from being a flat out stupid one.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_8jbdVXIhY

Think about it within the context of the game. You've already beaten your opponent and just one more blow will kill them. Why bother blowing yourself up to do the job? It doesn't make any sense. It's completely unnecessary, but not in the right way for a fatality.

9.) Sub-Zero's Ice Grenade Fatality (II and Shaolin Monks)

This is another one that really doesn't make a lot of sense. From the name you can sort of guess just what happened, but even then, it really doesn't work well.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txSWPDuLI5w

How exactly does throwing that little ball of ice make an opponent's entire upper half explode? The name implies that the ball enters the opponent's body and then explodes, but even that doesn't make a lot of sense. How can a ball of ice explode? Is that part of Sub-Zero's abilities? The Shaolin Monks version had Sub-Zero freeze the opponent first, so it makes slightly more sense, but even then, you're just left scratching your head.

8.) Kitana's Kiss Of Death Fatality (II/Ultimate 3/Gold/Deadly Alliance/Shaolin Monks/Unchained/MK VS DC)

Sometimes, when it comes to fatalities, you really have to stretch your suspension of disbelief. Such is the case with Kitana's Kiss Of Death fatality. In any other medium, someone inflating like a balloon because someone kissed them on the cheek would just be stupid. In Mortal Kombat though, we go with it.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmtDatkm2ag

That's not my problem with this fatality, though. My problem is that it never goes away. Literally, in every game Kitana has appeared in, this has been one of her fatalities. What makes it even worse is that there have been very few times in which it's been changed. Except for Ultimate 3 where they stretched instead of inflating, and MK VS DC where they don't inflate at all, the move has been the same for years. It just shows unoriginality on the creator's part, and really hurts Kitana's standing in the series.

7.) Bo' Rai Cho's Hara-Kiri (Deception/Unchained)

This is one of the reason's I broke my "normal-fatalities-only" rule. The hara-kiri was introduced in Deception and was an interesting subversion on fatalities as a whole. If you got beaten by your opponent and managed to put in the right button combo before they could, you'd get to kill yourself. This would prevent your opponent from having the satisfaction of finishing you off himself, and was a nice middle finger to them in the process. Some of them however, really didn't make a lot of sense.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE4h1f-l-JI

So, Bo' Rai Cho somehow inflates like a balloon (without the help of a kiss, I might add) and explodes, without any warning. How? Well apparently, he held in a fart for too long, and the build-up of gas caused him to blow up. Now, Bo' Rai Cho's farts are supposed to be pretty lethal, but this is really pushing it.

6.) Dairou's Hara-Kiri (Deception/Unchained)

This is the other one that caused me to break my rule. Bo' Rai Cho's hara-kiri stretched the player's suspension of disbelief to its limits, but this one punched a hole right through it.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ez6pcvbDjs

Dairou's character was that of a mercenary, formerly a police officer of the realm of Order, but killed a criminal and was imprisoned for it. Nowhere in there does it say "able to bend himself backwards". How does that even work, anyway? I can accept ripping out your own heart or performing the Spine Rip on yourself, but literally bending backwards and breaking your own spine? Sorry, no can do.

5.) Motaro's Head Rip Fatality (Trilogy N64 Version)

Usually the boss characters back in the day didn't get fatalities. They were already pretty intimidating and a serious challenge to beat, so giving them fatalities just seemed unnecessary. The N64 version of Trilogy changed that, though, as the two boss characters Motaro and Shao Kahn both got a fatality. Shao Kahn's was alright, but Motaro's...

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJsp7Wjcod8

One word can be used to describe this: Lame. It doesn't even look right. Motaro kind of grabs the enemy's neck, there's a tiny spurt of blood, and then he just lifts the head off. It's just his normal winning pose, but with the head. He isn't even holding it, it's just attached to his hand! It just shows how forced this one was, in some poor attempt to make up for the fact that the N64 version was inferior to its CD counterparts.

4.) Quan Chi's Neck Stretch Fatality (Deadly Alliance)

Here's a fun fact: Did you know that Quan Chi's Leg Rip fatality from Mortal Kombat 4 is Ed Boon's favorite fatality of all? That's pretty cool. What's even more interesting is that Quan Chi also has Ed Boon's least favorite fatality, this one from Deadly Alliance.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8b24vIPcP0

First off, no blood. Second, why even bother? The supposed idea is that their overly stretched neck can't support their head, and so their windpipe collapses and they die. But, you're already on their shoulders grabbing their head, so why not save time and just rip it off? Or snap their neck? Or something else besides this?

3.) Sheeva's Jackhammer Fatality (3/Ultimate 3/Trilogy)

Interestingly enough, Sheeva is another character that has one of the best and one of the worst fatalities out there. Also interesting, her worst is on the same spot on this list as her best on the other list. Huh.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x0W_U4MAP8

Anyway, my problem with this is that, aside from the screen saying "Fatality" when you're done, there's no real way of telling that your opponent is dead. Their bodies presumably are still intact, just buried underground. And sure, if left like that, they'd eventually die of starvation, but for the time being, they could conceivably still be alive. If you can't ensure that your opponent is dead, your fatality fails.

2.) Liu Kang's Cartwheel Fatality (1 and 2 and Shaolin Monks)

Yeah, this one's a bit of a gimme, but it really is a terrible fatality. Like with Sheeva's, there really isn't a way of telling if your opponent is dead (outside of Shaolin Monks, where the opponent explodes for some reason), which is instant failure on your part.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cKnL0DPwQo

If this was any other fighting game, this move wouldn't be so bad. It looks fancy for the time, and you could accept that as a finisher somewhere else. But this is Mortal Kombat, and you expect blood. In the original, the screen doesn't even go dark for the fatality. A new player could be fooled into thinking they pulled off a regular move and not a finisher, if not for the "Fatality" on the screen. Poor choice indeed.

Continue to page 3 for the all time #1 worst Mortal Kombat Fatality!

1. Kano's Stomp Fatality (MK VS DC)

I tried really, really hard to not include any fatalities from MK VS DC, because let's face it, all of those fatalities were disappointing. If it wasn't for that T rating, these could've been loads better. This one however, is really bad, even when compared to the rest from this game.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQikY7fXpyU

Even with the censored fatalities, they at least make sense with the characters. Sub-Zero still freezes people, Sonya still shows off her acrobatic skills, Scorpion still sets people on fire, etc. But since when is Kano known for stomping on people like Mario? And like with the last few on this list, you can't even tell the opponent is dead, aside from the ground being cracked and the "Fatality" on the screen. And remember, he's fighting DC heroes in this game. I'm sure most of them could survive being stomped on the stomach from some guy with a metal plate on his face.

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Mortal Kombat is out today inNorth America for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Read our Mortal Kombat review for our thoughts!