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Fatality (Mortal Kombat)

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Fatality is a gameplay feature in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series, in which the victor of the match's final round inflicts a brutal finishing move onto their defeated opponent. Prompted by the announcer saying "Finish Him" or "Finish Her", players have a short time window to execute a Fatality by entering specific commands, while positioned at a specific distance from the opponent. The Fatality and its derivations are notable features of the Mortal Kombat series and have caused a large amount of controversies.

Mortal Kombat 11 trailer of fatalities

History

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Further information: Controversies surrounding Mortal Kombat

The origins of the Fatality concept has been traced back to several violent Asian martial arts media. In The Street Fighter (1974), a Japanese martial arts film, Sonny Chiba performs x-ray fatality finishing moves, which at the time was seen as a gimmick to distinguish it from other martial arts films.[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]

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. The most notable additions were graphic blood effects, more brutal fighting techniques, and especially the fatal finishing moves (this was a novelty as the traditional fighting games ended with the loser simply knocked unconscious and the victor posing for the players).[5] According to Boon, it started with an idea to enable the player to hit a dizzied opponent at the end of the match with a "free hit", and that idea "quickly evolved into something nasty."[6] Tobias recalled it differently: "Our first idea was to use them as a finishing move for final boss Shang Tsung, who was going to pull out his sword and behead his opponent. Then we thought, 'What if the player could do that to his opponent?'"[7] Tobias and former Midway Games programmer Mark Turmell stated that initially no one at Midway expected players to find the Fatalities in the game.[8][9] Tobias said: "When we watched players react to the Fatalities, we knew we had no choice but to give them more."[7]

Gameplay

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Much like special moves, a Fatality may require certain requirements in order to achieve the desired result. Usually, every character has their own special Fatality that must be performed at a certain distance from the opponent,[10] the three distances are close (the finishing move would not work unless the player is right next to the opponent), sweep/mid (the player should stand a step or two away from the opponent, but still within the distance that a sweeping low kick should hit), and far (at least one jump's forward length away from the opponent).[11] The number of individual Fatalities varies depending upon the game; while characters in Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance had only one, Mortal Kombat II and Mortal Kombat 3 and its updates (Mortal Kombat Trilogy and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3) featured as many as four.

Variations

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Animality

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This finisher allows the player to morph into an animal and maul their opponent. This style of Fatality debuted in Mortal Kombat 3.[12] According to Boon, his team "listened to what the players said about MKII and the Animalities that they thought were in there but really were not. To answer all these rumors, we put Animalities in MKIII [sic]."[6]

In order to perform an Animality, the player must first grant their opponent Mercy, the act which revives the opponent in lieu of delivering a final blow or performing a Fatality by restoring a small amount of health. Should the opponent be defeated again, an Animality may be performed.[12][13]

Babality

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Introduced in Mortal Kombat II, Babalities turn a defeated opponent into an infant version of the character.[14] They returned in Mortal Kombat (2011) with distinct animations for each character.[15]

Brutality

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Introduced in Mortal Kombat Trilogy and the Super NES and Genesis versions of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, this finisher allowed players to perform a combo which would cause the opponent to explode. Brutalities were not very popular, as they were extremely difficult to accomplish, requiring the player to memorize and perform a special 11-hit combo.[13] In Mortal Kombat X, brutalities were featured as enhanced versions of certain moves used as the finishing blow in the decisive round of a fight.[16]

Faction Kill

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Appearing only in Mortal Kombat X, the winning player performs a unique fatality pertaining to which faction that player is part of in the game. Each faction has a set of five completely unique faction kills, however the player has to play continuously for one single faction to reveal every faction kill available to that particular faction, including one that is unlocked by a Faction War victory.

Hara-Kiri

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The Hara-Kiri (Japanese for a certain type of ritual suicide literally meaning "belly cut"; Kenshi is the only character who uses it in this form) is a finishing move in which the losing player kills themselves at the end of a match, rather than be finished off by their opponent. Mortal Kombat: Deception is the only series installment to feature this finisher.

Heroic Brutality

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Heroic Brutalities are finishing moves exclusive to the 2008 crossover game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. In addition to the MK characters' Fatalities being toned down therein to accommodate the game's "Teen" rating, the Heroic Brutalities represented the DC characters' moral code against killing.[11] The censored finishers from both sides were considered a negative point of the game.[17]

Kreate-A-Fatality

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For Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, the Fatality concept was completely revised. In all previous games, finishing moves were in the form of a button combo, activating a scripted animation sequence. For Armageddon, the old system was replaced with a new Kreate-A-Fatality, or "Kustom-Chain-Fatality" system. After defeating an opponent in two rounds (with default settings), players are given a limited amount of time to perform one of several violent moves (such as ripping an organ out) attributed to a button and direction combination. The time then resets and the player can perform a second move, but the time bar decreases more rapidly after each move. It is also possible to "fail" the Fatality by running out of time before performing a final finishing move (such as ripping the opponent's head off). Once the player reaches 10 chains, he/she must use a finisher or else the Fatality sequence will stop and the player will not receive a rank or reward. If time runs out before the player can end the chain with a final fatal move, no rank or reward is given and the Fatality is not counted, regardless of how many moves were completed.

This concept has been met with a mixed reaction, with some fans and critics preferring the more interactive nature and freedom of the Kreate-a-Fatality system, and others missing the previous games' character-specific ending moves and alternatives to killing the opponent.[5] Originally, there were individual character-specific Kreate-a-Fatality moves for each character, but this feature was dropped, reportedly due to such a feat's infeasibility (especially in regards to the Kreate-A-Character option, which individual moves would not translate to). This kind of Fatality has only been in this game.

Stage Fatality

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Stage Fatalities brought environment interaction within the series, occurring when a player uses a part of the stage or map to execute a player. It is a finishing move that is not a standard character Fatality. Some examples of Stage Fatalities are having the victim fall into a pool of acid or a pit of spikes, or to be run over by a subway train; the stage then does not darken. Stage Fatalities are present in the series from the first Mortal Kombat, though are absent from Deadly Alliance.

Deception features more Stage Fatalities, renamed Death Traps, than any previous Mortal Kombat game. A special button combination is no longer required, as the opponent only needs to be either standing or hit in a particular spot on the stage. Unlike previous Stage Fatalities, Death Traps can be initiated anytime during a round and only require the opponent be hit into them, meaning an instant victory. However, if they are not executed in the decisive round, the fight does not end, going on to the next round. This action acts as a ring out. It was possible for some Death Traps to kill both fighters simultaneously, in which case the round went to the player who had taken the least damage, or Player 1 if both players had full life bars.

Traditional Stage Fatalities, seen since the original MK game through MK4, made a return in the 2011 Mortal Kombat. Button combinations are once again used to perform Stage Fatalities.[18]

Quitality

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Quitalities, first introduced in Mortal Kombat X, occurs when a player disconnects in the middle of an online match. This results in their character instantly dying, and their opponent is awarded with a win. Examples of quitalities include the loser's head simultaneously exploding or the loser swiftly snapping their own neck.[19][20] Like the Hara-Kiri, the Quitality is a finisher that requires the defeated player to commit instead of the winner, although it can be done at any point during the match.

Miscellaneous

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  • Fergality: The Mega Drive/Genesis version of Mortal Kombat II featured an exclusive finishing move that allowed Raiden to transform his opponent into Probe Ltd. employee Fergus McGovern, who worked on that port of the game. This finisher could only be performed on the Armory stage.[21]
  • Multality: Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks features Multalities, which are Fatalities performed on multiple common enemies at one time.
  • Animalities and Brutalities were both rumored to be featured in MKII, but were only later added in MK3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy, respectively. The rumored types of Fatalities that did not actually exist in any of the games included "Nudalities".[22][23]

Notable Fatalities

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  • In December 1994, GamePro polled readers for their favorite Fatalities and published the results in their March 1995 issue. All were from MKII: Jax's "Arm Rip", Sub-Zero's "Ice Grenade", and Shang Tsung's "Soul Stealer".[24]
  • GamePro counted down their "12 Lamest Fatalities" from various fighting games in 2008. Those from Mortal Kombat were: Liu Kang's "Death by Arcade Machine" (MK3, #12); The Flash's "Tornado Slam" (MKvsDC, #11); Raiden's Friendship (MKII, #10); Jax's "Amazing Growing Man" (MK3, #9); Scorpion's and Rain's Animalities (UMK3/MKT, tied at #8); Sindel's "Killer Hair" (MK3, #7), Kano's "Stomach Pounce" (MKvsDC, #5); all Babalities (#3); and Kano's "Ripping Out an Invisible Heart" in the censored Super NES version of the first game (#1).[25]
  • Game Informer published a list of the series' best, worst, and "downright confusing" Fatalities in 2010.[26]
    • Best: Liu Kang's "Dragon" (MKII); Sub-Zero's "Spine Rip" (MK); Reptile's "Head Snack" (MKII); Jade's "Head Gymnastics" (MK:D); Sektor's "Compactor" (MK3); Jax's "Arm Pull" (MKII); Dairou's "Ribs to the Eyes" (MK:D); and Sindel's "Scream" (MK3).
    • Worst: Liu Kang's "Cartwheel" (MK); Kano's "Knee Stomp" (MKvsDC); Kitana's "Kiss of Death" (MKII); Kabal's "Inflating Head" and "Scary Face" (MK3); Rain's "Upside-Down Uppercut" (MKT); and Bo' Rai Cho's "Fart of Doom" (MK:D).
    • Most confusing: Liu Kang's "Arcade Machine" (MK3); Jax's "Giant Stomp" (MK3); Johnny Cage's "Three Head Punch" (MKII); Cyrax's "Self-Destruct" (MK3); Darrius' "Rearranger" (MK:D); and Smoke's "Earth Detonation" (MK3).
  • UGO.com counted down their top 50 "Most Gruesome Finishing Moves Ever" in video games in 2011. Those from Mortal Kombat were: Sub-Zero's "Spine Rip" (MK, #50); Johnny Cage's "Triple Uppercut" (MKII, #45); the Joker's "Last Joke" (MKvsDC, #40); Kung Lao's "Hat Slice" (MKII, #35); Johnny Cage's "Nutbuster" (MK:SM, #29); the "Pit" Fatality (MK, #22); Sektor's "Iron Clamp" (MK3, #15); Dairou's "Ribeyes" (MK:D, #5); and Smoke's "Armageddon" (MK3, #2).[27]
  • Prima Games, in 2014, counted down their selection of the top fifty Fatalities from the entire Mortal Kombat series, with the top ten being Baraka's "Lifting Stab" (MKII); Noob Saibot's "Make a Wish" (MK2011); Kitana's "Kiss of Death" (MKII); Johnny Cage's "Nut Buster" (MK:SM); Ermac's "Mind Over Splatter" (MK2011); the "Pit" Fatality (MK); Dairou's "Eye Stab" (MK:D); Kung Lao's "Blade Drag" (MK2011); Kano's "Heart Rip" (MK); and Sub-Zero's "Beheading, Complete with Spine" (MK).[28]
  • GameSpot posted their chronological selections of the ten best and worst Fatalities in Mortal Kombat history in 2022, in their commemoration of the series' 30th anniversary.[29]
    • Best: Sub-Zero's "Spine Rip" (MK); Kung Lao's "Hat Split" (MKII); Shang Tsung's Kintaro transformation (MKII); Quan Chi's "Shake a Leg" (MK4); Sub-Zero's "Pitch" (MK:D); Scorpion's "Nether Gate" (MK2011); Ermac's "Inner Workings" (MKX); Cassie Cage's "Selfie" (MKX); Shang Tsung's "Kondemned to the Damned" (MK11); and D'Vorah's "New Species" (MK11).
    • Worst: Liu Kang's "Cartwheel Uppercut" (MK); Jade's "Shaky Staff" (UMK3); Classic Sub-Zero's "Blackout" (UMK3); Quan Chi's "Neck Stretch" (MK:DA); Scorpion's "Only a Flesh Wound" (MK:DA); Ashrah's "Voodoo Doll" (MK:D); all Fatalities in MK: Armageddon; Kano's "Stomp, Drop, and Roll" (MKvsDC); Cassie Cage's "I <3 You" (MK11); and Skarlet's "Heart Condition" (MK11).

References

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  1. ^ Stone, Sam (14 April 2020). "Mortal Kombat Legends' Jeremy Adams Explains How Scorpion's Revenge Adapts the Game". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  2. ^ King, Geoff; Krzywinska, Tanya (2002). Screenplay: Cinema/videogames/interfaces. Wallflower Press. p. 199. ISBN 978-1-903364-23-9.
  3. ^ "Bad Movie Night Toronto presents RIKI-OH: THE STORY OF RICKY". BlogTO. Annex Business Media. June 28, 2015. Archived from the original on 5 September 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  4. ^ Trev (May 14, 2011). "MORTAL RIKI-OH!!!". Gameblog (in French). Archived from the original on 13 June 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  5. ^ a b East, Tom (2008-01-07). "Mortal Kombat: Armageddon". Official Nintendo Magazine. Archived from the original on 2012-05-31. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
  6. ^ a b "Mortal's Master: Programmer Ed Boon". GamePro. No. 86. IDG. November 1995. pp. 38–40.
  7. ^ a b "Ten years ago, "Mortal Monday" brought us controversy, game ratings, and Mortal Kombat". 1UP.com. September 13, 2003. Archived from the original on 2011-09-10. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  8. ^ ARGpodcast (2018-06-26). "ARGcast Mini #14: Making Mortal Kombat with John Tobias". RetroZap. Archived from the original on 2018-12-24. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
  9. ^ Leone, Matt (January 9, 2013). "The story behind Total Carnage's confusing ending". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on November 2, 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
  10. ^ "Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe: Ed Boon interview". CraveOnline. 2008-10-08. Archived from the original on September 4, 2009. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
  11. ^ a b Reynolds, Pat (March–April 2009). "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe Strategy Guide by Pat Reynolds". Tips & Tricks. Larry Flynt Publications: 5.
  12. ^ a b Greeson, Jeff; O'Neill, Cliff. "The History of Mortal Kombat - Mortal Kombat 3 (1995)". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2007-10-05. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
  13. ^ a b "History of Mortal Kombat Mortal Kombat 3". UGO. 2008-10-28. Archived from the original on 2010-06-14. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  14. ^ "The Next Generation 1996 Lexicon A to Z: Fatality". Next Generation. No. 15. Imagine Media. March 1996. p. 33.
  15. ^ "Mortal Kombat Fatality and Babality List". GamesRadar+. April 22, 2011. Archived from the original on September 10, 2024. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
  16. ^ Futter, Mike. "Mortal Kombat X Will Feature Over 100 Brutalstrikes". GameInformer. Archived from the original on February 28, 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  17. ^ Jasper, Gavin (June 22, 2010). "The Top Ten Most Ridiculous Things to Come Out of Mortal Kombat". 4thletter.net.
  18. ^ sng-ign; Muove, Eppur Si; IGN-Cheats; Moreupdated, +11 1k (August 2011). "Stage Fatality Stages - Mortal Kombat Guide". IGN. Archived from the original on 2023-07-17. Retrieved 2023-07-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ Moser, Cassidee (19 March 2015). "Mortal Kombat X Will Punish You For Rage Quitting". IGN.com. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  20. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (2023-06-26). "In Mortal Kombat 1, a Quitality Is a Real Pain in the Neck". IGN. Archived from the original on 2023-07-17. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  21. ^ Severino, Anthony (February 3, 2011). "Top 10 Old School Mortal Kombat Characters". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on January 7, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  22. ^ "Mortal Kombat III". GamePro. No. 77. IDG. February 1995. p. 148.
  23. ^ "The 16-Bit Gamer's Survival Guide". GamePro. No. 93. IDG. June 1996. p. 70. A year ago that's what we were told: Nudalities would be in [Mortal Kombat 3]. However, Williams Entertainment changed its plans and released the game without Nudalities.
  24. ^ GamePro 68 (March 1995)
  25. ^ Shaw, Patrick (November 25, 2008). "The 12 LAMEST Fatalities". GamePro. Archived from the original on October 30, 2011. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  26. ^ Ryckert, Dan (May 3, 2010). "Mortal Kombat's Best And Worst Fatalities". Game Informer. GameStop. Archived from the original on August 13, 2012.
  27. ^ Jensen, K. Thor (February 11, 2011). "The Most Gruesome Finishing Moves Ever". UGO.com. Archived from the original on 2014-05-30. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  28. ^ Workman, Robert (April 2014). "The Top 50 Mortal Kombat Fatalities of All Time: 10-1". Prima Games. Gamurs. Archived from the original on May 15, 2014. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  29. ^ Clark, Justin (October 11, 2022). "30 Years Of Mortal Kombat's Best And Worst Fatalities". GameSpot. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
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