Top 50 Mortal Kombat Characters

Nightwolf made his first appearance in Mortal Kombat 3, as an Apache warrior aligned with the good guys. Nightwolf uses the magic of the shamen to ward off evil-doers and to bring peace to the realms... By kicking everyone's ass. And he can shoot green arrows. I wish I had green arrows.

Kabal, one of the series's most mysterious characters, combines brutal moves and super speed to make himself one of Mortal Kombat's deadliest kombatants. First introduced in Mortal Kombat 3, he learned that he survived an attack from Shao Kahn's extermination squads and was destined to defeat him. Although Kabal is kept alive by artificial respirators, he is not an easy foe to beat. His abilities were actually toned down after Mortal Kombat 3 due to fan complaints of him being too powerful.

Stryker first came onto the fighting scene in Mortal Kombat 3, packing heat and sporting a 90's appropriate backwards hat. He has since updated his look to look more like Iceman from Top Gun in deep-sea diving gear. You might consider it an upgrade, but we're nostalgic for the more hip look.

Stryker, one of the series's good guys, seeks justice at all costs. After defeating Blaze in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, this ex-cop becomes unbound by law. He eventually takes the path of a vigilante, kicking bad guy ass on his own terms.

One thing that Mortal Kombat has in spades is hot babes in slutty clothing. It was hard to pick a favorite, but we had to go with tradition and choose the masked Mileena, personal assassin to Shao Kahn. Created as a clone to virtuous character Kitana, the process went awry and the new girl was left with a massive maw lined with razor-sharp teeth, much like fellow demon, Baraka. Because she's a woman, Milena keeps her nasty grill hidden behind a seductive purple veil, but for her Fatality she takes it off, allowing her to suck up her fallen foe in like a gigantic Dyson vacuum and spit their bones out all over the floor. Mileena was the very first evil female character to show up in the series, an uncommon move in an era where portraying women as villains was somewhat frowned upon. She quickly became a fan favorite both for her brutal attacks and her ultra-revealing outfits.

Mortal Kombat is all about the eternal war between the Earthrealm, where you and everybody you know lives, and Outworld, a shadowy hellhole filled with demonic marauders who like to organize tournaments and perform fatalities, usually in that order. The leader of those cross-dimensional jerks for most of the series was a dude named Shao Kahn, who was responsible for many of the failed invasions throughout the franchise's timeline. Initially hiding behind his underling, Shang Tsung, Kahn became playable in Mortal Kombat II, where his sprite was digitally resized to make him tower over the other characters. Like many end bosses, he's got a number of cheap attacks under his belt, but our favorite thing about Shao Kahn is that his speaking voice is the voice of the announcer heard throughout the series – so when you hear "Finish Him," that's Shao Kahn talking, baby. You'd better do what he says... or else. On top of that, if he beats you without losing health, he will stand over your mangled corpse and say "Flawless Victory!" What a badass!

Shang Tsung entered the world of Mortal Kombat as the boss of the first game. Since then, the evil sorcerer has been the primary villain throughout the series and an integral part of many of the evil plots conceived throughout. He is known and loved by fans for some his vicious finishing moves, such as entering his foe's body as a spirit and making it explode or making a bed of spikes rise from the ground and impale his enemies. His age tends to fluctuate, depending on the particular circumstance. Consuming more souls makes Shang Tsung more youthful, so stay far, far away.

Like Shinnok, Quan Chi also made his debut in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero while only becoming playable in Mortal Kombat 4. He is the necromancer responsible for reviving Onaga, and is one of the prime villians of the series. On his belt, he wears Shinnok's amulet.

You might've spotted this dark, mysterious man popping out from behind trees in the Living Forest while playing MKII. Smoke was a ninja assassin for the Lin Kuei Clan and was friends with Sub-Zero. Both he and his friend were loyal members of the Clan until they discovered their superiors' plan to turn them into cyborgs in order to make them fully obedient. Faced with the choice between betraying the Lin Kuei and losing their free will, both ninjas tried to flee. Sub-Zero escaped, but Smoke was not so fortunate. He was soon turned into a cyborg and programmed to go after his best friend.

Mortal Kombat is all about the secrets and hidden characters -- starting with Reptile and continuing with Smoke, Ermac, Jade, etc. Our favorite is the ludicrously-named Noob Saibot, who made his first appearance in Mortal Kombat II -- or did he? At first, he was nothing more than a palette-swapped Scorpion, even sporting the same moves. Saibot was billed simply as a "lost warrior" from the first game. Who was that lost warrior? None other than Sub-Zero, of course. If you read our entry on that frozen hero, you'll remember that he was killed in the first game by our favorite undead asskicker and replaced by his younger brother. But his soul wasn't consigned to the afterlife. Instead it was enslaved by Shinnok and turned into the undead warrior, Noob Saibot (named after the last names of creators Ed Boon and John Tobias spelled backwards). As the character developed, he gained some unique special moves, including a fireball that disabled his opponent's special attacks.