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Mortal Kombat 1 Fatalities list – how to unlock and perform

Every single one of the MK1 fatalities we've found so far, how to unlock them, and how to perform them to finish the fight in the most gruesome way possible.

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Mortal Kombat 1 

How do you unlock and perform Mortal Kombat 1 fatalities? Unfortunately, each character only has access to one of their fatalities by default. To get the rest of the MK1 fatalities, you must level up that fighter to a specified Fighter Mastery rank, at which point you can equip them in customize mode.

So, yes, if you want to perform the most disgusting finishing moves in Mortal Kombat 1, you’d better get farming that XP. When you get them all, you can view them via the Mortal Kombat 1 gear system, or you can just read on to find out all the fatality codes. If you’re looking for all the Mortal Kombat 1 Brutalities, they’re on a separate list, as there are so many of them to find. So here is how you unlock all Mortal Kombat 1 fatalities and the inputs to perform them.

Kung Lao has been knocked off his feet by Reptile, who's just been instructed by big lettered shouty words to "Finish Him" by executing a MK1 fatality.

All MK1 fatalities

Here is the full list of each character’s MK1 fatalities and their inputs:

Kitana

  • Royal Blender (default) – Down, Forward, Down, Back Kick
  • Fatality #2 – Down, Down, Back, Back Kick (Close)

Mileena

  • Appetizer (default) – Back, Forward, Back, Front Punch (Close)
  • Fatality #2 – Down, Forward, Back, Front Kick (Close)

Tanya

  • Helping Hands (default) – Down, Back, Down, Front Kick (Close)
  • Fatality #2 – Back, Forward, Down, Back Punch (Mid)

Rain

  • The Red Sea (default) – Down, Down, Back, Back Kick (Close)
  • Fatality #2 – Down, Forward, Back, Front Punch (Mid)

Smoke

  • Hazed And Infused (default) – Back, Forward, Down, Front Punch (Any)
  • Fatality #2 – Down, Forward, Back, Front Kick (Close)

Scorpion

  • Eye-Palling Victory (default) – Down, Forward, Back, Block (Mid)
  • Fatality #2 – Back, Forward, Back, Back Punch (Mid)

Sub-Zero

  • Hairline Fracture (default) – Forward, Down, Down, Back Punch (Any)
  • Fatality #2 – Forward, Back, Down, Front Kick (Close)

Reptile

  • Indigestion (default) – Down, Back, Forward, Back Kick (Mid)
  • Fatality #2 – Down, Forward, Back, Front Punch (Close)

Li Mei

  • Roman Candle (default) – Forward, Back, Forward, Front Kick (Close)
  • Fatality #2 – Back, Forward, Down, Back Kick (Close)

Kenshi

  • Blended (default) – Forward, Down, Down, Back Punch (Close)
  • Fatality #2 – Back, Down, Back, Front Punch (Mid)

Baraka

  • Split Decision (default) – Back, Forward, Down, Front Punch (Close)
  • Fatality #2 – Forward, Back, Down, Back Kick (Close)

Geras

  • Sand Storm (default) – Forward, Down, Down, Back Kick (Mid)
  • Fatality #2 – Forward, Back, Down, Back Kick (Close)

Shang Tsung

  • Side Effects (default) – Back, Down, Down, Back Kick (Close)
  • Fatality #2 – Forward,  Down, Back, Back Punch (Mid)

General Shao

  • Spin Cycle (default) – Back, Forward, Down, Front Punch (Mid)
  • Fatality #2 – Down, Forward, Back, Front Punch (Mid)

Sindel

  • Hair Comes Trouble (default) – Down, Back, Down, Front Punch (Mid)
  • Fatality #2 – Back, Forward, Back, Back Kick (Mid)

Reiko

  • The Impaler (default) – Down, Down, Back, Back Punch (Mid)
  • Fatality #2 – Back, Forward, Back, Back Kick (Close)

Raiden

  • The Storm’s Arrival (default) – Back, Forward, Back, Back Punch (Close)
  • Fatality #2 – Down, Forward, Back, Front Punch (Close)

Liu Kang

  • Double Dragon (default) – Down, Forward, Back, Back Kick (Close)
  • Fatality #2 – Back, Forward, Back, Front Kick (Close)

Johnny Cage

  • Hollywood Walk of Pain (default) – Forward, Back, Down, Back Punch (Close)
  • Fatality #2 – Forward, Down, Back, Back Kick (Mid)

Kung Lao

  • Lao’d And Clear (default) – Back, Forward, Back, Back Kick (Mid)
  • Fatality #2 – Back, Down, Down, Front Kick (Close)

Ashrah

  • Heavenly Light (default) – Down, Forward, Down, Back Punch (Mid)
  • Fatality #2 – Down, Down, Back, Back Kick (Mid)

Nitara

  • Vaeternus Kombat (default) – Down, Down, Back, Front Punch (Mid)
  • Fatality #2 – Back, Down, Back, Back Punch (Mid)

Havik

  • Atomic Heart (default) – Down, Forward, Down, Back Kick (Close)
  • Fatality #2 – Forward, Back, Down, Back Punch (Close)

The Kameo fights also have MK1 fatalities, with Sektor using a crusher which emerges from his torso that's about to flatten Li Mei. She is screaming in fear.

All MK1 Kameo fatalities

Yes, even your companion characters can take over and finish the job if you input their fatality commands. There’s only one fatality per character, and you can practice them in the fatality practice mode without needing the prompt.

Here are all the Kameo MK1 fatalities and their inputs:

  • Darrius: Armed & Dangerous – Down, Back, Forward, Kameo (Mid)
  • Sareena: Inner Demon – Back, Down, Down, Kameo (Mid)
  • Cyrax: Annihilation – Forward, Back, Forward, Kameo (Mid)
  • Kano: Heart-Ripper – Back, Down, Forward, Kameo (Mid)
  • Sonya Blade: Kiss – Back, Forward, Down, Kameo (Mid)
  • Sektor: Kompactor – Back, Forward, Back, Kameo (Mid)
  • Frost: Breaking Point – Back, Down, Back, Kameo (Mid)
  • Jax: Big Boot – Down, Forward, Down, Kameo (Far)
  • Stryker: Safety Vest – Forward, Down, Forward, Kameo (Mid)
  • Classic Scorpion: Toasty!!! – Down, Forward, Down, Kameo (Mid)
  • Classic Sub-Zero: Spine Rip – Forward, Down, Forward, Kameo (Mid)
  • Classic Kung Lao: Klean Kut – Forward, Back, Forward, Kameo (Mid)
  • Shujinko: Five Point Strike – Down, Back, Down, Kameo (Mid)
  • Motaro: Brain Blast – Forward, Down, Down, Kameo (Mid)
  • Goro: Prince of Pain – Back, Forward, Down, Kameo (Close)

One of the MK1 fatalities sees Kenshi dangling in the air with a sword above him being held by psychic energy.

How to input MK1 fatalities

You might have noticed all MK1 fatality inputs above contain a combination of directional arrow and actions. This is because the acction button varies for keyboard and controller, so we’ve listed the default corresponding buttons for each here:

  • Front Punch: J (Keyboard), Square (PlayStation), X (Xbox)
  • Back Punch: I (Keyboard), Triangle (PlayStation), Y (Xbox)
  • Front Kick: K (Keyboard), Cross (PlayStation), A (Xbox)
  • Back Kick: L (Keyboard), Circle (PlayStation), B (Xbox)
  • Block: O (Keyboard), R1 (PlayStation), RB (Xbox)
  • Kameo: ; (Keyboard), R2 (PlayStation), RT (Xbox)

The directional buttons assume that your character is facing to the right, so swap the directions if your character is facing left. There are also set distances that you need to stand in, which you can get a glossary of how far from your opponent you need to be below:

  • Close: at least one step back from your opponent to around three steps.
  • Mid: at least three steps back from your opponent to six steps.
  • Far: at least six steps back from your opponent.

Do you need to unlock Fatalities to perform them?

Actually, no, you don’t have to unlock the fatality to use it. While unlocking an MK1 fatality gives you the input in game, if you’ve obtained the input elsewhere (cough, cough), you can perform it regardless. When instructed by the announcer to “Finish Him/Her”, just enter the codes, and if you’re standing in the correct place, you’ll execute the fatality.

How to unlock MK1 Fatalities

In order to unlock the Mortal Kombat 1 Fatalities in-game, you must level each individual character up to a specific Fighter Mastery level for that character. Doing so will then unlock that character’s second Fatality.

There are plenty of other things to uncover throughout the fighting game’s modes, so if you want to know how to unlock Havik in Mortal Kombat 1 or even get some of the missing Mortal Kombat 1 Kameo characters, we have the answers in the guides above. We also have the Mortal Kombat 1 system settings guide to help you see the gore in as high a resolution as possible.

Dave is a Guides Writer at PCGamesN. He's partial to a good Soulslike and is always up for a hunt in Monster Hunter Rise. If he's not playing fighting games like Street Fighter 6, you'll find him bashing badniks in Sonic games or demolishing demons in Diablo 4. Outside of guides, Dave also attends preview events, including Dragon's Dogma 2 and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, writing features about GTA 6 and the best Steam indies, and reviewing games, most recently WWE 2K24 and Mortal Kombat 1. Before PCGN, Dave wrote for Rock, Paper, Shotgun, and TheSixthAxis. Just don’t talk to him about old games, board games, pro wrestling, or birdwatching; he won’t shut up about any of them!