Mortal Kombat 1: How to do Brutalities in MK1

Brutalities have become a staple of the Mortal Kombat series. They allow you to finish off an opponent in spectacular fashion and brutal style, just as the name implies. In Mortal Kombat 1, you can execute all kinds of moves that lead to bloody, over-the-top Brutalities to end matches and humiliate your opponents in the process.

But how do you complete a Brutality in MK1? With so many characters on the roster, there are a variety of methods to land a Brutality during a match. Fortunately, it’s a lot simpler than you might think.

Here’s how you can unlock Brutalities and execute your enemies in MK1.

How to execute Brutalities in MK1

To execute a Brutality in MK1, you must land the final blow with a specific attack. Once you do so, you’ll have to hold a certain button input to execute the Brutality. If done right, you’ll see the Brutality happen immediately. The opponent must be one final blow away from death, however—you can’t land a Brutality halfway through a fight.

Certain attacks or special moves can lead to a Brutality, and each fighter has more than one Brutality depending on the attack setup in the lead-up to landing the final blow.

By default, all characters begin with a basic uppercut Brutality, also known as the Klassic. This requires you to land a basic uppercut attack and hold down the attack button on the last hit. Doing so will decapitate the opponent, with their head flying off in a satisfying way to close out the match.

Brutalities through Special Attacks in MK1

Other Brutalities in MK1 require you to land a specific special move as the final hit. Whether it’s Raiden’s flying attack or electric ball, you’ll need to input the character’s particular special move and have it be the last hit in a fight.

When this happens, you’ll need to immediately press the corresponding button to begin the Brutality finisher. This can be a directional button, an attack button, or even a rapid button press. If you manage to land the attack and do the input right, you’ll be treated to a bloody finisher that is different from the character’s Fatalities.

If you don’t, you’ll just trigger the finisher phase to end the match. For some characters, it will take a little practice to get the right timing and land a Brutality the right way.

Special conditions for certain Brutalities in MK1

In a few cases, certain Brutalities require you to fulfill a special condition. This is more than just hitting a certain button or directional input. Brutalities like these may require you to be a certain distance from your opponent, such as being one jump away or even at the other side of the screen.

For example, Raiden’s “Excess Energy” Brutality requires you to be at least one jump away from your opponent, then hold the button down as your enemy is hit by Raiden’s energy ball attack. If you’re at the right distance when the final attack lands, you’ll get the Brutality animation. If you’re not at the right distance, your opponent will just get hit by the energy ball.

In order to execute these Brutalities, you’ll have to fulfill their conditions first before anything else. If you manage to do so, then the normal Brutality criteria applies afterward, which means holding down whatever input that it requires.

Unlocking extra Brutalities for characters in MK1

Each character in MK1 has one Brutality unlocked by default. In order to use other Brutalities, you’ll first need to unlock them. You won’t be able to execute a Brutality if you haven’t unlocked it, regardless of whether you fulfill its conditions during a match.

You can unlock more Brutalities by leveling up Fighter Mastery for a given character, or by unlocking them in the game’s Invasion Mode. Playable characters can unlock all of their Brutalities when you reach level 35, while Kameo fighters require you to reach level 15 to unlock a Brutality.

Another way to unlock extra Brutalities is by spending coins at The Shrine from the main menu. You can spend 1,000 Koins at The Shrine to earn a random unlockable. Sometimes you’ll earn a Brutality, although there is no way to tell when you might get one. If you’ve saved up a lot of Koins from playing through Invasion mode, you’ll want to spend them all to increase your chances of unlocking more Brutalities for the roster.