Mortal Kombat 1: How to Unlock Fatalities in MK1

Every character in Mortal Kombat 1 has multiple Fatality finishing moves they can use to end a match. Whether it’s exploding enemies or taking off a limb, Fatality moves end the battle in spectacular fashion—but you do need to unlock them

Unlike previous games in the series, you don’t unlock various Fatalities by finding them in chests or completing challenges. Things are very different in this game.

Here’s how you can go about unlocking fatalities in Mortal Kombat 1.

How to earn XP to unlock Fatalities through character levels in MK1

Fatality finishing moves are earned by playing with a character and leveling up their Fighter Mastery. Each level you gain grants you a new reward, which can include finishing moves and other extras that open up more options to you.

The simplest way to unlock extra Fatalities for any character in Mortal Kombat 1 is to continuously play with them. Every match you win, finishing move you execute, and flawless victory you earn grants you XP towards the fighter’s Mastery. The more you play with them, the more XP you earn.

As you level up, you earn more rewards through the Fighter Mastery. Every unlockable you gain from this is different for each fighter, which varies the amount of time it takes to unlock Fatalities. Some characters will unlock them faster than others, but every fighter will have a total of two Fatality finishers. One you already have when starting the game, and you unlock the other from leveling them up.

How to earn Fighter Mastery XP faster in MK1

Using a character in every fight will take a long time to earn XP in order to unlock a Fatality. However, there is a faster method to use that will work, even though it can still take some time. It involves the new Invasion mode and at least one item that can boost your XP gain.

All you need to do is play through Invasion mode until you reach the Tarkatan Colony. You’ll have to get through the first two areas at least to unlock it. But after doing so, you’ll just have to play through the area until you reach the “Squad Up” node.

When you do so, go to your character’s stats and put all of their skill points into the attack stat. If you need to reset your skill points, you can use the item you can purchase at the Wushi Academy Mesa area to redistribute all of your points. Afterward, make sure you have the “Not Junk” relic item equipped, which gives you a 15 percent boost in XP gain.

When you have done all of that, go ahead and play through the node on the board and try to finish the match with either a Brutality or Fatality finisher. You will be able to go through this battle pretty fast and can repeat it as many times as you like, which will earn you a good amount of experience. From my playthroughs, I was able to boost any characters I played with from level one to level 15 in about 30 to 45 minutes. And you can switch to a character that you want to level up at any time when you’re on the map and go into the status screen.

You should be able to unlock most characters’ second Fatality finisher through this method. In addition, you’ll gain a ton of other extras from their Fighter Mastery rewards.

How to use Fatality finishers without unlocking them in MK1

Luckily for many fans of the series, you can still use Fatalities for any character, even if you haven’t unlocked them yet. All you have to do when you see “FINISH HIM” at the end of a fight is input the motion and buttons of the Fatality the correct way. It’s as simple as that.

Like in previous Mortal Kombat games, you can still use any finisher you like, even if it’s not unlocked and not shown in a character’s move list. This goes for every character in Mortal Kombat 1. The only downside is that this method will not work for any Brutality finishers, which require you to still unlock them in order to be usable.