Look, we've all been there. You just clutched a three-round sweat-fest against a zoning Reiko, the "Finish Him" screen pops up, and your mind goes completely blank. You start mashing buttons like a panicked toddler. Instead of a glorious, spine-shattering execution, you just punch them in the ribs and the match ends with a pathetic flop. It's embarrassing.
Honestly, the mortal kombat 1 fatalities list has gotten pretty beefy since the Khaos Reigns expansion and the steady trickle of DLC characters like Ghostface and Conan the Barbarian. NetherRealm didn't exactly make it easy on us either—every character has a second "hidden" fatality that stays locked in your move list until you grind out their character mastery levels. But here's the kicker: you can actually perform them right now if you know the inputs. No grinding required.
I’ve spent way too many hours in the lab (and getting bodied online) to pull together this breakdown of the inputs you actually need.
The Core Mortal Kombat 1 Fatalities List
Before we get into the nitty-gritty, let's talk about distance. If a move says "Close," you basically need to be close enough to smell their fear. "Mid" is about two back-dashes away. "Far" is the length of the screen. Getting the spacing wrong is the number one reason these fail.
Scorpion
You can't have MK without the poster boy. His first one is iconic, but the second one is where the real flair is.
- Eye-Palling Victory (Mid): Down, Forward, Back, Block (R2/RT)
- Killer Klones from Netherrealm (Mid): Back, Forward, Back, Back Punch (Triangle/Y)
Sub-Zero
Bi-Han is a jerk in this timeline, but his finishers are cold. Pun intended.
- Hairline Fracture (Mid): Forward, Down, Down, Back Punch (Triangle/Y)
- Brain Freeze (Close): Forward, Back, Down, Back Kick (Circle/B)
Liu Kang
The Fire God doesn't hold back. His "Spaghettification" fatality is probably the most "science-fiction horror" move in the game.
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- Double Dragon (Close): Down, Forward, Back, Back Kick (Circle/B)
- Spaghettification (Close): Back, Forward, Back, Front Kick (Cross/A)
Johnny Cage
Johnny is basically playing a different game. If you have the Jean-Claude Van Damme skin equipped, these feel even more ridiculous.
- Hollywood Walk of Pain (Close): Forward, Back, Down, Back Punch (Triangle/Y)
- Krash and Burn (Mid): Forward, Down, Back, Back Kick (Circle/B)
Mileena
She’s back to her cannibalistic roots, and it’s gross. Truly.
- Appetizer (Close): Back, Forward, Back, Front Punch (Square/X)
- A Little to the Left (Close): Down, Forward, Back, Front Kick (Cross/A)
Mastering the New Blood: DLC and Khaos Reigns
The roster in 2026 looks a lot different than it did at launch. We've got guest characters that honestly feel like they walked off a movie set. Performing a fatality with Ghostface feels specifically satisfying because of the meta-commentary built into the animation.
Ghostface
- Slashing the Fourth Wall (Close): Down, Forward, Down, Front Kick (Cross/A)
- Planning the Sequel (Mid): Back, Forward, Back, Back Punch (Triangle/Y)
Conan the Barbarian
- Secret Ingredient (Close): Back, Forward, Down, Front Punch (Square/X)
- Cleave of Doom (Close): Back, Down, Back, Front Kick (Cross/A)
Noob Saibot
The shadow king returns with some of the most unsettling visuals in the game.
- Shadow Play (Far): Forward, Back, Down, Back Punch (Triangle/Y)
- Evil Chiropracty (Mid): Down, Down, Forward, Back Punch (Triangle/Y)
T-1000
NetherRealm really nailed the liquid metal physics here.
- Judgement Day (Mid): Forward, Down, Back, Front Punch (Square/X)
- To Oppose and Harm (Mid): Down, Forward, Down, Back Kick (Circle/B)
Why Everyone Forgets About Kameo Fatalities
Kameos aren't just for extending combos or bailing you out of a bad read. They have their own finishers too. To do these, you use the Kameo button (R1 on PS5, RB on Xbox) instead of your standard attack buttons.
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Most of these are throwbacks to the klassic era. If you want to see Cyrax blow up the entire planet like it's 1995, you can.
- Cyrax (Annihilation): Forward, Back, Forward, Kameo (Mid)
- Sektor (Kompactor): Back, Forward, Back, Kameo (Mid)
- Scorpion (Toasty!): Down, Forward, Down, Kameo (Mid)
- Sub-Zero (Spine Rip): Forward, Down, Forward, Kameo (Mid)
- Sareena (Inner Demon): Back, Down, Down, Kameo (Mid)
- Frost (Breaking Point): Back, Down, Back, Kameo (Anywhere)
It's sorta funny how the most "basic" characters often have the coolest Kameo finishers. Jax's "Big Boot" (Down, Forward, Down, Kameo) from a distance is a classic that never gets old.
The Weird Stuff: Animalities and Seasonal Finishers
By now, you've probably seen people turning into glowing spirit animals. Animalities made a huge comeback, and they are arguably more creative than the standard fatalities. They don't replace the mortal kombat 1 fatalities list, but they definitely sit right alongside it as "must-see" content.
Most Animalities follow a similar input pattern, usually involving a lot of "Back, Forward" or "Down" motions. For example, Rain turning into a killer pufferfish or Reptile becoming a massive lizard. They're wild.
Then there are the seasonal ones. NetherRealm added specific finishers for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
- Happy Halloween: This one usually involves a pumpkin being smashed onto someone's head.
- Save Me a Slice (Thanksgiving): Exactly what it sounds like. It’s messy.
These seasonal ones are actually universal. Any character can perform them, provided you’ve unlocked/purchased them in the shop, which is... well, it's a choice NetherRealm made. You usually trigger these by holding Block and pressing a specific button during the "Finish Him" sequence.
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Don't Forget the Distance
I've mentioned it before, but it's the biggest point of failure. If you're playing as Kitana and trying to do the "Royal Blender" fatality, you have to be at Far distance (Down, Forward, Down, Back Kick). If you're standing right next to them, you’ll just do a sweep or a crouch kick.
A Quick Cheat Sheet for Distance:
- Close: Touching the opponent.
- Sweep: A step or two back.
- Mid: About jumping distance away.
- Far: All the way on the other side of the screen.
If you're struggling, go into the Fatality Training mode. It actually puts a glowing marker on the floor to show you exactly where to stand. It's the best way to build the muscle memory so you don't choke during a real match.
How to Get Those Second Fatalities
If you look at your move list and see "???" for the second fatality, don't panic. You don't actually have to unlock them to use them. As soon as you successfully perform a hidden fatality once using the correct inputs, it will permanently show up in your move list.
The "official" way to unlock them is to reach Mastery Level 14 with that specific character. That takes a lot of time in Invasions or Tower modes. Save yourself the headache and just use the inputs listed above.
To keep your skills sharp, head into the Practice Mode and select Fatality Training. This mode allows you to toggle the timer off, giving you infinite time to practice the inputs and the specific spacing for every character on the roster. You can also pin the moves to the screen so you aren't constantly pausing the game to check the list.