Content Warning: This article contains discussions and depictions of violence
The Mortal Kombat video game franchise is notorious for its abundance of graphically violent Fatalities. These finishing moves showcase the most abhorrent and depraved acts of murder, conjured from the minds of the game's developers. Despite being so famous, another game mechanic, known as Brutalities, has picked up steam in recent years.
Brutalities first began in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 as a rapid-fire combo attack that led to the enemy exploding on screen. Since that time, they have been repurposed as mid-match killing moves that can signal the end of a fight in spectacularly gory fashion. Mortal Kombat X and 11 have made them a staple of the series moving forward, and they certainly live up to their name, with some ranking higher than others in terms of eye-watering viciousness.
Just Passing Through (Shao Kahn / Mortal Kombat 11)
Shao Kahn's Brutalities live up to the name, but one in particular is just as lethal as it is simple. The villain tends to use his signature armor in a variety of bone-crushing ways, but he takes a different approach with this particular Brutality by diving straight through his opponent, and splitting them into two equal slices.
Thankfully, it seems like a rather quick death, albeit one nasty way to end a fight. However, it does show Shao Kahn standing victorious.
Cold As Ice (Frost / Mortal Kombat 11)
Frost is a creepy character all by herself, and she greatly expands on what Mortal Kombat fans have seen before with Sub-Zero. Her Brutalities typically center around her ice powers, and one of them is especially grisly. She forms a spiraling drill with her hand, and drives it straight through the top of the opponent's head.
It's especially hard to watch for those with a weak constitution. When it's all over, there's a lifeless corpse, with Frost striking a victory pose that looks like something straight out of Super Smash Brothers.
Bear Hug Neck Break (Jason Vorhees / Mortal Kombat X)
Mortal Kombat's guest characters are as eccentric as they are cool, and tend to pull from the best pop culture has to offer. Even Friday the 13th antagonist Jason Vorhees got in on the action, and he proved to be just as brutal an opponent as the best the Mortal Kombat franchise had to offer.
His best Brutality is pure Jason, start to finish. He grabs the opponent and crushes them with a massive bear hug before reaching up to break their neck. He then nonchalantly tosses their shattered corpse off to the side. It's a testament to Jason's frightening physical strength.
No Bones About It (Kenshi / Mortal Kombat X)
Brutalities tend to focus heavily on the guts and gore in order to keep up with the name, but some are brutal in an entirely different way. Kenshi has one of the simplest, yet most effective Brutalities in the entire game, and it involves separating the skeleton quite literally from the body.
Kenshi quickly delivers a touchless palm strike to the enemy that knocks the skeleton clear out of the body, leaving the flesh to deflate on the ground. The skeleton comes to rest on its knees, which is a symbolic end to the player's opponent who just suffered a major calcium evacuation.
Face/Off (Shinnok / Mortal Kombat X)
It's rare that a Brutality (or a Fatality, for that matter) pays fan homage to a particular movie franchise, but Shinnok seems to do just that. Clearly, he's a fan of the 1997 John Woo action film Face/Off starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, as he lifts the film's facial procedure straight out of the picture, while applying his own personal spin to it.
Shinnok uses a magical blast to grab and incapacitate his foe, while using it to take the enemy's face clear off the skull. It then floats in the air, back to Shinnok, who wears it like a second face on top of his own, for some bizarre and grotesque reason. Definitely an unusual Brutality.
I Larvae You (D'Vorah / Mortal Kombat X)
One of the creepiest characters to show up in the Mortal Kombat universe in the last few years is undoubtedly the insectoid D'Vorah. This grotesque fighter might look humanoid, but she's got quite a few disgusting tricks up her sleeve, many of them related to her parasitic nature.
This particular Brutality looks harmless enough. A few simple stabs through the chest with one of her stingers is enough to put the enemy down for good, but that's not the end of it. Seconds later, D'Vorah watches as an insect larvae bursts from the stomach and flies off to complete its life cycle.
Head & Shoulders (Triborg / Mortal Kombat X)
Cybernetic ninjas are nothing new to Mortal Kombat. They have been around in one form or another since Mortal Kombat 3 debuted years ago, but Triborg is a slightly different kind of fighter. His mind is comprised of several cyborg Lin Kuei fighters, including Sub-Zero, Sektor, Smoke, and Cyrax.
Triborg's Brutality involves him unleashing a flurry of attacks that daze the opponent, giving him a chance to pull his own head off and throw it at his foe. The resulting impact not only knocks the head clean off their shoulders, but allows Triborg's head to take control of the body and puppet it as a new form.
Slice N' Dice (Baraka / Mortal Kombat 11)
Baraka has been a staple of Mortal Kombat ever since the character was introduced way back in Mortal Kombat II. Fast forward a few decades, and he's bringing his old bag of tricks back to the MK universe, courtesy of his arm blades and an adaptation of an old Fatality.
After executing the right moves, Baraka uses his arm blades to juggle the enemy in the air, slicing them literally to ribbons. Mortal Kombat has repurposed old Fatalities into Brutalities before, and this one is a great example. It's also one of the most brutal of the bunch; both slow, methodical and grisly.
Batman & Battery (The Joker / Mortal Kombat 11)
One of the most bizarre guest characters in Mortal Kombat has to be the Joker from the DC universe. In reality, he's probably an excellent character to include on the roster, given his destructive and homicidal nature, which would make him feel right at home in the MK universe.
He proves it with one particular Brutality where he pulls out a Batman doll, and beats his opponent to death with it. After shattering their opponent's head, the Joker takes out a green magic marker and defaces the Batman doll with his signature evil smile, which is a two-for-one insult.
Make Way For Skeletor (Kano / Mortal Kombat 11)
Some Brutalities are over the top in terms of gore and violence (to put it mildly), while also being comical and goofy at the same time. That's right up Kano's alley, apparently. One particular Brutality is so silly that it's hard not to laugh at the sheer kitsch factor.
After beating his opponent down, Kano rams his hand through their lower back, grabs hold of the spine, and pulls the entire skeleton out of the body, leaving a deflated corpse on the ground. He then hoists the skeleton on high as a victory trophy for the sake of satire.