Fatality (Mortal Kombat)

Fatality is a gameplay feature in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series, in which the victor of the match inflicts a brutally murderous finishing move onto their defeated opponent.

[1] In the Japanese shōnen manga and anime series Fist of the North Star, the protagonist Kenshiro performs gory fatalities in the form of finishing moves which consist of attacking pressure points that cause heads and bodies to explode.

[2] The Japanese seinen manga and anime series Riki-Oh (1988 debut), along with its Hong Kong martial arts film adaptation Story of Ricky (1991), featured gory fatalities in the form of finishing moves similar to those that later appeared in Mortal Kombat.

[3][4] The nature of graphic violence depicted in Fatalities from the original Mortal Kombat was considered highly controversial and contributed to the formation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), a regulatory system for video game content.

[6] While creating Mortal Kombat, Ed Boon and John Tobias started with the idea of a Street Fighter II-style system and retained many of its conventions but tweaked others.

Among those from the Mortal Kombat series from least to highest ranking were Liu Kang's "Death by Arcade Machine" (MK3), The Flash's "Tornado Slam" (MK vs. DCU), Jax's "Amazing Growing Man" (MK3), Scorpion's and Rain's Animalities (UMK3/MKT), Sindel's "Killer Hair" (MK3), Kano's "Stomach Pounce" (MK vs. DCU), and the censored Super NES version of his "Heart Rip" Fatality from the original Mortal Kombat.

Confusing Fatalities: Johnny Cage's "Three Head Punch", Liu Kang's "Arcade Machine", Jax's "Giant Stomp", Cyrax's "Self-Destruct", Kano's "Skeleton Pull", and Smoke's "Blow Up The World" (all six from MK3), and Darrius' "Rearranger" (MKD).

[26] In February 2011, UGO Entertainment's K. Thor Jensen ranked the top 50 "Most Gruesome Finishing Moves Ever" in video games, with several Mortal Kombat Fatalities making the list.

The order from top 10 to top 1 included Baraka's "Lifting Stab" (MKII), Noob Saibot's "Make a Wish" (MK9), Kitana's "Kiss of Death" (MKII), Johnny Cage's "Nut Buster" (MKSM), Ermac's "Mind Over Splatter" (MK9), the "Pit" Fatality, Dairou's "Eye Stab" (MKD), Kung Lao's "Blade Drag" (MK9), Kano's "Heart Rip" and Sub-Zero's "Beheading, Complete with Spine" (MK 1992).