Fatalities

The finishing move that defines Mortal Kombat.

A Fatality is the Mortal Kombat finishing move in which the winner of a match kills the defeated opponent in a brutal way. When the announcer says 'Finish Him' or 'Finish Her', the player has a short time to enter a specific command from a specific distance, which triggers a cutscene of the kill; each character has their own.

Lore & Background

The idea has been traced to violent Asian martial arts media such as Sonny Chiba's x-ray finishers in The Street Fighter (1974), Fist of the North Star and Riki-Oh. The graphic violence of the first game's Fatalities was highly controversial and helped lead to the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). Later games added variants: the Babality (from Mortal Kombat II) turns the loser into a baby, the Friendship ends a match kindly, the Animality turns the winner into an animal, and Stage Fatalities use the arena, such as a pit of spikes.