There have been a lot of different Fatalities in Mortal Kombat franchise has grown from a handful of palette-swapped ninjas to a vast menagerie of interconnected stories, timelines, and characters, but despite all these changes the MK series has always been unafraid to be as self-referential as possible, which is why many fighters, moves, finishers, and stages show up in multiple iterations.
Co-created by John Tobias and Ed Boon, both former employees of Mortal Kombat's original parent company Midway Games, MK characters like Sub-Zero, Goro, Liu Kang, and Sonya Blade have appeared over and over again throughout the Mortal Kombat series. However, only one of these original characters has a fatality that is present in almost every game they appear in, and it happens to be Ed Boon's longtime favorite Mortal Kombat character - Scorpion.
Boon has been very vocal about his preference for Scorpion over other Mortal Kombat characters over the years, which is partially why the fighter has appeared on so much promotional and marketing material throughout Mortal Kombat's lifespan. As a member of the Shirai Ryu clan, Scorpion has transformed over the years from a simple unnatural force of chaos and revenge to a complex character capable of sitting down and having tea with Sub-Zero, which both characters actually do during Mortal Kombat X's story mode. Despite this newfound characterization, however, Scorpion is still a deadly adversary, and he also sports one fatality which has appeared in more Mortal Kombat games than any other.
Scorpion's Toasty Fatality Has Been In 10 Mortal Kombat Games (So Far)
Appearing in one form or another from the original Mortal Kombat all the way through the current MK11: Aftermath, Scorpion's Toasty Fatality is the most-used finishing move in all of Mortal Kombat. This shouldn't be too surprising to franchise veterans, since Scorpion himself has appeared in nearly every Mortal Kombat title. This is partially due to Boon's affinity with the character, but it's also likely because of how ubiquitous the "Toasty!" line is among Mortal Kombat fans. The full list of Mortal Kombat games that include Scorpion's popular finishing move is included below.
- Mortal Kombat
- Mortal Kombat II
- Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
- Mortal Kombat Trilogy
- Mortal Kombat 4
- Mortal Kombat Gold
- Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
- Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe
- Mortal Kombat (the 2011 reboot)
- Mortal Kombat X
While the actual act of Scorpion burning his opponent alive with fiery breath DOES make an appearance in Mortal Kombat 11 and MK11: Aftermath, it is in the form of a Brutality, not a Fatality. However, that is still an impressive number of games to feature different iterations of the same finishing move, and it may have something to do with the popularity of Dan Forden's "Toasty!" easter egg just as much as it does with Boon's love of the character.
Both Scorpion and Sub-Zero are arguably the most iconic and recognizable fighters in Mortal Kombat, so it is no surprise to see that one of Scorpion's finishers is the series' most overused. Hopefully Mortal Kombat 12 will allow players to see next-gen versions of "Toasty!" once again, but also the developers at NetherRealm should thing about some of the other popular Mortal Kombat fatalities that deserve a remaster... like Quan Chi's leg rip.
