Skip To...
The soul of the Mortal Kombat games lies in the arcade ladders that have a final boss fight in the end. The one who defeats the boss with certain characters is the player that others would praise, or at least that’s how it was back in the day. However, not all these boss fights have the competence to stand on the same level. In one game you’re fighting an Outworlder that drains almost half of your HP with a single kick, while the other is merely considered a boss.
The list below is the ranking of all the mainline Mortal Kombat boss fights in every canon game. This does not include the sub-bosses, or the final fights with new bosses later added to the game via an expansion. Vanilla Mortal Kombat games and main boss fights only. Grab a snack, relax, and let’s review and rank some of our worst nightmares on Earthrealm.
12. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (Shang Tsung)
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance was a unique game that started the 3D Era. Lots of important story-related stuff happens in this game, like, killing Liu Kang right from the get-go. However, the ultimate foes of this game are so incompetent. The Deadly Alliance, Shang-Tsung, and Quan-Chi fight you separately and play like any other normal fighter does. No extra HPs, no unique throws, or special moves either. This was a wasted opportunity to put 2 enemies against your single HP bar to handle.
11. Mortal Kombat 4 (Shinnok)
Shinnok is introduced as a corrupted Elder God who wields the power of his amulet. The plan, the story, and the idea are great, but the output is a regular fight shoved into the game as a boss fight. Shinnok makes no such overpowered moves, so if you’re good at MK4, you can easily beat him with any character.
10. Mortal Kombat 1 (Shang Tsung and Quan-Chi)
Mortal Kombat 1 features a remake of the Deadly Alliance on a multiversal level, but the ending boss fight is just Shang Tsung and Kameo Quan-Chi. The fight isn’t all that easy, of course, but Shang Tsung does nothing to withdraw gallons of your HP as a boss in a Mortal Kombat game. As before, the Deadly Alliance is not powerful enough to climb higher on this ranking ladder. Titan Havik of Khaos Reigns? Even worse.
9. Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe (Dark Kahn)
Defeating the fusion of Darkseid and Shao Kahn isn’t that hard, but at least this boss comes with some unique abilities. Dark Kahn possesses the special moves of both Shao Kahn and Dark Seid, featuring an overhead grab that hits twice. Dark Khan’s HP is also more than the other characters in the game, meaning that you’re not fighting a simple foe this time.
8. Mortal Kombat 9 (Shao Kahn)
Shao Kahn wasn’t the best of options in the 3D Era, but he was redeemed in Mortal Kombat 9 both as a character and a difficult boss fight. His HP as the final boss of Mortal Kombat 9 is almost twice the size of the normal fighters, while his hits deal more damage than any other. His specials are the remakes of the original Mortal Kombat 2 and 3, while this time, he can throw his hammer at you! A move that even if you block, you’ll still be defenseless for the upcoming attack.
7. Mortal Kombat 1 – 1992 (Shang Tsung)
Shang Tsung was the first ever Mortal Kombat boss fight, making his debut in MK1 1992. Defeating Goro as the sub-boss of Mortal Kombat 1 was a huge pain in itself, but then you’d literally have to fight all fighters featured in the game. Except for the fire blasts that’d drain your HP like it’s a vacuum, Shang Tsung didn’t have any special moves in this game. However, he could appear as any other kombatants, including Goro! This was a huge deal back in the 2D Era of Mortal Kombat games.
6. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (Blaze)
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon was the end of all, the apocalypse of the original MK timeline if you will. And for a huge event that dictates the doom of all, the final boss should be a banger, right? Blaze isn’t the best of all Mortal Kombat bosses, but before you learn his pattern, fighting him is one hell of a headache. The worst of which is his insanely fast roll, draining almost 30% of your HP, and that’s if you don’t get hit by his unexpected second igneous roll.
5. Mortal Kombat: Deception (Onaga)
Onaga is the Dragon King, and he really did live up to his name. One single grapple attack and you’d receive a dragon-style slam dunk that drains almost half of your HP. Onaga’s moves are slow, but their impact even as chip damage is high. You could go for the 6 Komidogues around the arena to weaken the boss though, granting a free hit on the kneeled-down dragon.
4. Mortal Kombat X: Shinnok
Mortal Kombat X is somehow the remake of MK4 in terms of story. But while Shinnok was portrayed as a simple fighter in the past, MKX redeemed the Elder God by granting great power to him. Shinnok’s final boss fight has 2 phases, meaning that you have to defeat him twice in normal, and the ultimate demon form. In both, the fallen Elder God is capable of draining your health bar with a few moves.
3. Mortal Kombat 2 (Shao Kahn)
Shao Kahn was the nightmare of many Mortal Kombat players back when MK2 was released. It was a huge upgrade over Mortal Kombat 1, by offering you the ultimate boss that deals %40 damage with a single hit. If you manage to block Shao, your guard will break, meaning that the second attack will definitely hit you.
2. Mortal Kombat 11: Kronika
We beat Shinnok in two phases in MKX, but Kronika comes in with more rounds in the sequel. Every time you hit the boss to a certain level, she disappears, sending you another fighter to deal with. This happens many times, making it frustrating to reach Kornika herself to fight you. Not to mention that MK11 ‘s boss comes with a pretty nasty moveset as well. Imagine you’re trying to pull off a combo, and you get pulled back in time; how do you anticipate that?
1. Mortal Kombat 3 (Shao Kahn)
There’s a reason Shao Kahn is considered one of the top-tier baddies of the Mortal Kombat games. This character is uniquely arrogant, to the point that he gives 0 damn about the Elder Gods will and invades Earthrealm without winning the tournament. This takes place in Mortal Kombat 3 for the first time and no wonder he’s such a beast in this game. Shao Kahn has almost double the HP of a normal fighter, and his specials including the shoulder dash are super fast, giving him the advantage to punish you at will. This is just an upgraded boss fight of Mortal Kombat 2, with Shao Kahn cutting your HP by 30 to 50% with single-hit attacks.
