Presenting, the definitive ranking ofMortal Kombatcharacters!
Im counting everyone, with only a few exceptions.
Here are the criteria…
It has to be an actualMortal Kombatcharacter and nota guest fighter.
That means no Freddy Krueger, Kratos, Jason, Predator, or anyone from the DC Universe.
Dark Kahn doesnt count for the same reason.
It has to be someone who was playable in the one-on-one games.
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Im lumping alternate versions of characters together.
No reason to split Human Smoke and Robot Smoke.
Similarly, Im not counting Tri-Borg as being a single character.
Hes more of a Voltron of existing characters.
Also, Im ranking these based on style, storyline, and personal preference.
Not over who has the better infinite combos and all that jazz.
Just be warned:there will be spoilers!
Lets get it started with the worst of the worst.
REIKO
First appearance:Mortal Kombat 4
Its one thing to be lame.
Its another to be built up as something exciting, only to be anything but.
Reiko was introduced inMortal Kombat 4as Shinnoks general.
Then in the PlayStation and Dreamcast versions of the game, we got to see the full ending.
He went into the portal where he then put on Shao Kahns helmet.
Reiko is Shao Kahn?!
I mean, it doesnt make a lick of sense, but thats still a big deal!
Then Midway swept it under the rug and said he wasnt Kahn.
He was just wearing the mask.
Um…good for him.
Reiko is like opening the biggest gift at Christmas only to see you got a pair of used socks.
With holes in them.
In the games story mode, Earthrealm and Outworld start out in decent relations due to the Reiko Accords.
Its probably a treaty based on them coming together in agreement that Reiko is the worst.
Just having Mavado wasnt enough, so they came up with another, lesser member of the group.
Hsu Hao was given a laser heart.
InMortal Kombat X, Kano has the same laser heart.
Hao is completely redundant and is ultimately forgettable.
Makes sense that they killed him off immediately in theMortal Kombat Xcomic.
Now his decapitated head is a regular fixture in Erron BlacksMortal Kombat 11intro.
MEAT
Meat was one of the lamer concepts for a hidden character.
He was just a bloody skeleton model used as an unlockable player skin.
No moves or gestures of his own.
WithArmageddon, they gave him some backstory.
Meat is an escaped experiment created by Shang Tsung with no sense of identity.
So yeah, hes just a gross, bloody dude.
Other than Kanos moves, Jarek lacked anything interesting that Kano brought to the table.
He was a major part in the most hilariously badMortal Kombatending, though, but more on that later.
TANYA
Yet anotherMortal Kombat 4character who was just an example of, Eh, we need more new characters.
Lets just alter an existing one.
They never came up with anything interesting for her to do.
Seriously, who was excited at all about Tanyas return?
Tanya also shows up in story mode, but brings nothing interesting to the table.
and more, Wait, who the hell is Dairou again?
This bland-looking mercenary is part of the whole Chaosrealm vs. Orderrealm subplot inMortal Kombat: Deceptionthat didnt go anywhere.
Dairou came from the realm of Seido, where order rules all, and was a prison guard.
He found out a prisoner killed his family and went against the rules by exacting revenge.
Since then, he became an outlaw with no regard for what Seido represents.
Not the worst backstory, but nothing was really done with it.
Give him a mask or spikes or a fannypack or something!
That was undone, but it ultimately corrupted her by the next game.
So at least her betrayal was more organic than Tanyas every waking moment.
Still, shes hard to care about and her cameo inMortal Kombat Xis completely forgettable.
Put her in normal clothes and shes just there.
SHUJINKO
God, I hate Shujinko.
This game touted Scorpion as the new marquee hero character, only to say, PSYCHE!
and put Shujinko in his spot.
Glad Cassie beat him to death in herMortal Kombat Xending.
MOKAP
Well, that joke didnt age well.
Hes no Dan Hibiki is what Im saying.
Shes still forgettable and became little more than a footnote in the franchise.
ASHRAH
Ashrah is a character with promise.
Her whole thing became about ironically earning salvation through outright slaughter.
Why should Raiden be the only heroic god fighting for humanity?
Even Rodimus Prime got a better deal than this guy.
Otherwise, all he really has going for him is his zealot-like behavior in following Onaga.
But yeah, hes still plenty vanilla once you get past that.
I mean, Taven was another failure, but at least that wasnthisfault.
DRAHMIN
Drahmin is a collection of cool ideas that dont make for much of a sum.
The basic backstory is great.
He wears a mask that keeps his mindless rage in check.
His arm is a metal club.
Hes constantly covered in flies.
Put it all together and he doesnt quite pull it off.
His buddy Moloch does a lot more with less.
The best he could do was train a worthy Earthrealm student to do the job for him.
When he keeps his bodily fluids to himself, he grows on you.
KAI
Kai probably should be lower on the list, but I dont know.
I kind of like him.
Maybe Im distracted by his cool tiger stripe tattoos.
Still, Im ranking him over those others because of the concept art for his almost-inclusion inDeadly Alliance.
Then he somehow became the end-all end boss inArmageddon.
Too bad Blaze never had any actual character to him.
He was always just a walking plot equipment.
Its just that theres nothing else to hang your hat off of after that.
Look at his friends.
You have the gun-toting, sassy military girl.
You have the psychic ninja with barbed arm whips.
You have someone with machine gun arms.
Then theres just the guy with the bow and the plain appearance.
NIGHTWOLF
First appearance:Mortal Kombat 3
Yeah, Nightwolf never did anything for me.
Other than his green laser weapons, Nightwolf was the most ho-hum member of theMortal Kombat 3cast.
That almost makes up for how lame he was on theDefenders of the Realmcartoon.
Remember when hed power up after his pet wolf jumped into his chest?
What the hell wasthatabout?
MOTARO
I cant fault Midways logic.
They did a massive, four-armed sub-boss.
Then they did a better-looking version.
Where else do you go other than four-legged?
Its no wonder Raiden killed him in the reboot with so little fanfare.
Coming from a realm of vampires that had been merged with Outworld, Nitara was hell-bent on separating it.
They never did anything of interest with her afterDeadly Alliance, and she was easily forgotten.
Also, I never got why she wore sleeves to go along with her leather bikini.
Maybe she just has sensitive arms.
Shes a red ninja who was originally just an unfounded rumor that later became an actual character.
Did she do something wrong?
Was she a punished hero?
Finally, he showed up as a DLC character inMortal Kombat X.
So who is Tremor?
He can even match him in causing earthquakes by punching the ground.
Theres a lot of mystery to the character waiting to be unraveled.
Shes Kitanas friend who happens to look just like Kitana, but usually more tan.
The most she did was decide not to kill Kitana when Shao Kahn told her to.
Even herArmageddonending was boring as hell.
The most they could do for her was, She wanted all evil to go away and it did.
Im a sucker for that.
I really liked his long-haired redesign in the reboot.
DARRIUS
With the Orderrealm vs. Chaosrealm storyline going on inDeception, Darrius was a nice wrinkle.
On the surface, he was a good guy.
Considering how extreme guys like Hotaru are, that would normally paint Darrius as sympathetic.
Instead, hes also a complete scumbag.
He immediately fell intoMortal Kombatobscurity, but I feel hes worth revisiting down the line.
KOBRA
One character punch in that always shows up inMortal Kombatgames is the down-to-earth fighter.
Same deal with Stryker.
Kobra is what happens when you decide, Wait, why do they all have to be heroes?
Kobra is Evil Johnny Cage, which makes it a shame that theyve never really interacted.
And I guess they wont, since Erron Black admitted to offing him at some point.
Of course, hes also a blatant knockoff of Ken Masters.
SHEEVA
After Goro and Kintaro hit the scene, Boon and the rest wondered, Where the ladies at?
and made a female Shokan warrior.
Sheevas status in Kahns party is a cool dynamic.
Goro and Kintaro have already failed in the prior two games.
Shao Kahns new #2 is Motaro, part of the centaurs, the Shokans natural enemy.
Yet Sheevas still on the payroll as Sindels bodyguard.
KIRA
If Kobra is Evil Johnny Cage, then his cohort Kira is Evil Sonya Blade.
Being the counterparts to Johnny and Sonya, they also share the same love/hate relationship, only its darker.
Those two deserve each other.
To many, Shao Kahn is the alpha and theyre afraid to get on his bad side.
He acts as Shao Kahns tax man, which is just such a brilliant concept.
Of course, Outworlds Prince John would have a Sheriff of Nottingham.
Hes so fluid and off-the-wall that I cant help but think of how Havik never got to really shine.
JACQUI BRIGGS
Gun arms are awesome.
The fact that Jacqui can choose between shotguns, machine guns, and pulse cannons is even better.
This transitioned well into hisMortal Kombat 9ending where he killed Shao Kahn for his perceived lack of respect.
Rain took that as, All right!
That proves Im great!
To show how great I am, Im going to destroy Earthrealm.
Rain makes a few appearances inMortal Kombat Xas Mileenas advisor.
Naturally, hes out to stab her in the back.
Of all the non-playable opponents, hes the one most deserving to be reintroduced onto the main roster.
MAVADO
The Red Dragon was one of the better ideas for expanding theMortal Kombatlore.
The endings for Mileena and Noob Saibot inMortal Kombat Trilogybuilt him up as this Satanic ender of worlds.
He was just a lazy Shang Tsung.
It wasnt untilArmageddonandMortal Kombat 9that they were able to make him seem like an actual threat.
Shinnok ends up jumping up the list a bit because of his depiction inMortal Kombat X. SONYA BLADE
First appearance:Mortal Kombat
Sonya is the weakest of the original seven characters.
The first lady ofMortal Kombatfits right in the line of awkward outsiders and unfazed adventurers.
Just like how Johnny would have wanted it.
What DOES work against her is her role inMortal Kombat 11.
Guys, Ronda Rousey is so bad.
No jury would convict me.
Their ending shows how their lifespan works and its honestly kind of tragic.
CETRION
Cetrion, by design, is more nightmarish than her brother Shinnok.
for the greater good.
You know what else rules?
Putting out cigars on your metal hand.
Also, being reskinned as Carl Weathers inPredator.
She aided him against Quan Chi and then asked him to help her leave the Netherrealm.
While the whole Orderrealm/Chaosrealm subplot never quite caught on, Havik is strong enough to exist on his own.
Hes a perfect chaotic neutral to throw a wrench in everything.
He saves Kabals life but convinces him to turn back to being evil.
Haviks the ultimate wild card in theMortal Kombatlore and really deserves to get more play.
Sindel takes a respectable leap up the ranks because holy shit that scene.
In the firstMortal Kombat, hes the holy grail of AI opponents.
Then inMortal Kombat IIhes shown to be a literal reptile with creepy reptilian attacks and Fatalities.
In the games that follow, he starts devolving and no longer becomes much more than a throwaway villain.
As the games went further withMortal Kombat GoldandTournament Edition, we started to see some real contrast.
Cyrax was an honorable warrior, but Sektor was a straight-up jerk.
He insisted upon being turned into a cyborg and presumably didnt even need to be given any programming.
Oh, and those noises he made inMortal Kombat 3were awesome.
Richard Divizio as Quan Chi as Alec Baldwin as Robert Deniro is something that will never get old.
I bet Noob Saibot does a mean Ray Liotta.
MOLOCH
Moloch was boss.
I mean, literally he was a boss, yes, but…you know what I mean.
The guy palmed a wrecking ball for crying out loud.
The young protege went through a tragic downward spiral through the games due to her ego.
Not because she was outright evil, but because her own faults led her to mental illness.
Looking like Nosferatu went through the Weapon X program, Baraka fit the evolved atmosphere ofMortal Kombat IIperfectly.
Mortal Kombat 11gave him a real shot in the arm.
I like his zest for flag-waving in the name of his clan.
Its rather perfect, especially in the way that DVorah does her in with a kiss.
Despite being girl-on-girl, its gross as hell and is in no way erotic.
Its like Mileena passing the torch to the new, grotesque, backstabbing female villain.
DVorah is a great new addition to the roster and is filled with all sorts of creepy surprises.
That was a strange phase.
KRONIKA
Theres a balance to most fighting game bosses that must be struck.
Theyre supposed to be crazy powerful, but hypothetically, anyone should be able to beat them.
Thats how arcade modes work.
If you arent a Liu Kang/Raiden hybrid, then shes straight-up untouchable.
Like I mentioned with her daughter, Kronika is a perversion of God as a concept.
There is no real happily ever after unless its the last game.
Dont play with broken glass, kids.
To paraphrase Kung Lao himself, Hes out of your league.
Stryker suddenly became the man.
I should also mention thathis endinginMortal Kombat 9is the funniest thing.
read more: The Forgotten Fighting Games of the 90s
20.
GERAS
At worst, Geras is a generic henchman with a unique spin.
At best, Geras is a tragic being whose only salvation can come from rising above his own mission.
For the most part, hes shown as completely loyal to Kronika and works well as her unbeatable soldier.
That voice rocks so hard, too.
Come thunder, come lightning!
While shes a major victim of Shao Kahns treachery, Kahn becomes a victim of his own hubris.
He could have snuffed her out as a child and probably should have.
And it totally did!
He would sell out humankind for the sake of power, survival, and probably for a laugh.
We should probably do something with that.
He probably wouldnt rank quite as high if not for Trevor Goddards rocking performance in the first movie.
As great as Goro was whenMortal Kombathit the scene, he also had kind of a Gumby/ClayFighterthing going on.
Kintaros design, model, and animation were leagues better, plus he made for a better gaming experience.
Hes a damn solid boss.
Unfortunately, hes still trumped by Goro having NetherRealm behind him while Kintaro becomes increasingly obscure.
GORO
Before Scorpion became the poster boy of the series, Goro was the true icon ofMortal Kombat.
He gelled well with the games digitized actors gimmick.
What was impressive was that he was the boss everyone cared about despite not being THE boss.
Originally, I had Goro below Kintaro on the list, but hes so great inMortal Kombat X.
For the first time in years, they really have a good grasp on how to make him work.
That apparently includes tearing random dudes in half in the middle of conversations.
LIU KANG
Liu Kang sucked for a long, long time.
Then he came back as a shambling zombie, which was just super.
This only led to Liu Kangs success as Evil King of Hell.
Make no mistake, Kotal Kahn is no hero.
Hes essentiallyMortal Kombats version of Black Adam and Namor.
CYRAX
Cyrax is what Smoke should have been.
Cyrax became a Special Forces agent up until his death inArmageddon.
When introduced inMortal Kombat 3,Kabalwas the absolute definition of anti-hero.
It just sucks that they chose not to really do anything with him for a while after that.
He should have been inMortal Kombat 4or at leastGold.
Then they stealth killed him and brought him back as a villain again, which kind of ruined him.
Even Kano will act proud of who he is.
A man with no spine is dangerous in his own way.
CASSIE CAGE
First appearance:Mortal Kombat X
Finally, they did it.
They introduced a new main hero character who is actually likeable.
ERRON BLACK
Erron Black is the Boba Fett ofMortal Kombat.
Everything about him just oozes cool.
Hes nigh-immortal as payment for assassinating a would-be Mortal Kombat contender back in the 1800s.
He wears a mask purely for style points.
Yet nothing beats Erron Blacks X-Ray attack where he literally has a bullet with your name written on it.
How fitting that the breakout character fromMortal Kombat Xwould be #10.
Sorry, in the movie, but I might as well go on.
Originally introduced as a one-dimensional villain, Raiden was retconned into being Earthrealms go-to mentor character inMortal Kombat II.
Despite having a presence in nearly every game, theyve done a fantastic job keeping him fresh.
He died and was reborn as a corrupt parody of himself.
He went back to his classic self in the reboot, which painted him as the biggest screw-up.
He kept trying to change history and nearly every time, he just proceeded to make things worse.
In fact, heresMortal Kombat 9summed up:
Accidentally killing off most of the cast?
You better believe thats a paddlin!
He chose not to and his sins caught up with him.
Noob Saibot represents the dark sickness that comes from the cycle of violence.
Regardless, Bi-Han makes for a great foil for Scorpion and the other Sub-Zero.
His ending inArmageddonis also a bit of a downer and his fate inMortal Kombat 11s Krypt is total bullshit.
NetherRealm added to his concept in the reboot.
Thats why without Kahn controlling his will, Ermacs more heroic.
Jerrod is the dominant personality.
Yet at the same time, shes facially nightmare fuel.
Shes playful, entitled, psychotic, and completely unpredictable.
Piss off, Thanos.
You dont even rank.
Shao Kahn the Konqueror is such a wonderful villain.
And yet, hed still probably take you out with a magic sledgehammer to the skull.
Simply put, you cant get better than Kahn.
They peaked too early.
JOHNNY CAGE
Until recently, theMortal Kombatgames have done a weak job expressing personality in its fighters in-game.
Sure, Scorpion had his, GET OVER HERE!
but its not like it really meant anything to the character.
Johnny Cage, though?
With that and his legendary split-punch attack, you KNEW that he was a tremendous-yet-loveable douchebag.
He would keep that going throughout the series.
Mortal Kombat XandMortal Kombat 11show that Johnny ages like fine wine.
His many, many pre-match conversations and that goddamn ventriloquist Fatality make him all the more lovable.
No,Scorpionisnt #1, but it was close.
He can be good, evil, somewhere in-between, but hes always got that badass aura.
Anyone could beat up Superman because they had an in-game explanation for that.
At least nobody from a visiting reality where all people do is fight.
The second Sub-Zero, Kuai Liang, was the oneMortal Kombatcharacter allowed to kick Batmans ass.
Then in his ending, Sub-Zero went on to don a cape and become the Batman of theMortal Kombatworld.
Because Sub-Zero is the bestMortal Kombatcharacter.
Theres so many great things about Kuai Liang Sub-Zero.
The fact that he started dressing up as the Shredder for kicks.
Knowing that Luke Perry voiced him on the cartoon.
All of that, and Sub-Zero had easily the best ending inMortal Kombathistory.
