Summary
NetherRealm Studios' premiere fighting game,Mortal Kombat, debuted in arcades more than 25 years ago. Originally released by Midway,Mortal Kombatbecame infamous due to its barbaric, bloody moves known as Fatalities. The series has since seen comics, movies, and tons of merchandise released in the U.S.
The games are also known for their difficult boss battles. While some are easier than others, several bosses have become infamous for blocking players from finishing their games by racking up their Continues or emptying their pockets of quarters.Mortal Kombathas had all sorts of different bosses, but some have brutalized players more than others over the course of several generations.
Updated Jun 19, 2025, By David Heath:For a series famous for killing people,Mortal Kombathas lived on for over 30 years now. It could have gone down with the ship when Midway Games went bankrupt, but it lived on when the property was bought by Warner Bros. and the development team became Netherrealm Studios. If anything, they’ve gotten stronger, adding more features, gameplay tweaks, and guest characters.
That, and they’ve mademore final bossesto break the game’s mechanics, the spines of players' mains, and every player’s patience. Some are old classics given new life to revive a 90s kid’s worst nightmares. Others are newer designs to torment Gen Z. Either way, they’ve been added to this list, and rearranged to rank them based on challenge, design, and their impact on players.
9Blaze
Blaze first appeared in the background of the Pit Stage inMortal Kombat IIbefore becoming a secret character inMortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. Not unlike Cinderfrom Rare’sKiller Instinct, Blaze’s body is covered in flames and, as such, uses fire-based elemental attacks. As unassuming as he looked, this fire-covered being held immense power. However, he didn’t become a boss untilMortal Kombat: Armageddon.
In storyline, he was imprisoned to guard the last dragon egg. Once that hatched inMortal Kombat: Deception, he was freed to unleash Armageddon. As such, he’s one of the most powerful figures in the franchises, but also one of its weakest designs as he’s quite generic.Armageddonmade him bigger and more intimidating, but not more interesting.
8Dark Kahn
Wait, wasn’t this list only for the main franchise? Why is this Shao Kahn-Darkseid mish-mash here? WhileMortal Kombat Vs DC Universewasn’t the worstMKgame around, let alone the worst fighting game, Netherrealm Studios would have been forgiven for moving on from it. Yet their next project,Mortal Kombat 2011, was abbreviated toMK9.Armageddonwas the 7th in the series, and there was no other bigMKrelease between it orMK9.
So, as weird as it sounds,MK vs DCis actuallyMK8. Dark Kahn was formed when both Shao Kahn and Darkseid had their interdimensional escapes interrupted, causing them and their worlds to start fusing. To ensure they’d fuse, Dark Khan would force theMKandDCcast to fight each other by infecting them with Rage. He’s intimidating enough, though for a fusion ofMKandDC’s biggest baddies, he looks more generic and boring than either on their own.
7The Deadly Alliance (Shang Tsung & Quan-Chi)
AfterMortal Kombat 4, the two sorcerers Shang Tsung and Quan-Chi teamed up inDeadly Allianceorder to revive the Dragon King’s Army and use it to take over the Realms together. The two even managed to kill Shao Kahn and Liu Kang, which surprised players. Players could even pick them as default characters on the roster. Hsu Hao and Cyrax had to be unlocked, but not the final bosses.
The duo came back as Titans inMortal Kombat 1. Or, to be more accurate, Shang Tsung did the fighting while Quan Chi acted as his Kameo assist character. At least they weren’t default characters, as one is a pre-order bonus and the other is DLC. Even so, they still came off as just another fight than a climactic battle. For a deadly alliance, the two were anything but, with Shang Tsung doing much better on his own.
6Shinnok
Originally featured inMortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, Shinnok was a fallen Elder God who was trapped in the Netherrealm and sought to take power following Shao Kahn’s defeat inUltimate Mortal Kombat 3. Revived via his amulet via Quan-Chi, this shape-shifting sorcerer returned to Outworld and aimed to take over the Realms and get revenge on his archnemesis Raiden.
Shinnok was the final boss ofMK4, where he was basically a retread of Shang Tsung. But instead of shape-shifting in kombat, he couldswap move setsa laTekken 3’s Mokujin. For someone who was supposed to succeed Shao Kahn, he looked more like his court jester.Mortal Kombat Ximproved his look by giving him his own fighting style and a snarky, Emperor Palpatine-esque personality. But then again, he technically wasn’t the final boss in that game.
5Kronika
Mother of Shinnok and Keeper of Time, Kronika controlled the fates of everyone and everything within theMKUniverse via her giant Hourglass. She created good and evil, and tried for eons to balance the two. But each time, one would overwhelm the other, forcing her to destroy it and start fresh. Raiden’s timeline meddling inMK9and his victory over Shinnok inMKXled her to try wiping the slate clean again inMortal Kombat 11.
As a Titan, Kronika is among the most powerful beings in theMortal Kombatuniverse. She is a tough boss who can summon allies to fight for her while she tries to reshape the Sands of TIme. Otherwise, she tends to teleport and play the zoning game with long-ranged projectile attacks, being more boring to fight than challenging. Which is a bit of a shame forMK’s first woman final boss as she has a unique design and interesting backstory.
4Corrupted Shinnok
MKXopened with Shinnok getting beaten down by Johnny Cage and sealed within his own amulet. With the help of Quan Chi, Shinnok returns to Earthrealm to complete what he started: taking control of Earthrealm’s Jinsei, the source of its life force. By corrupting it, he could kill off all life in the realm and make himself more powerful. The result was Corrupted Shinnok, who looked much more on par withMK’s better bosses.
Even though Netherrealm couldn’t resist reusing Dark Kahn’s skull face and glowing cracks, Corrupted Shinnok gained a reputation for being one of the hardestMKbosses in recent memory. Some players took over 50 tries to beat him on the game’s harder difficulties, and he wasn’t that much more merciful on Normal. Of course, that didn’t him in the lore, as he would canonically end up beaten by Cassie Cage and reduced to a head inMK11. Raiden was right:some fates are worse than death.
3Onaga
Hatching from the egg Blaze was supposed to guard, Onaga wasDeadly Alliance’saforementioned Dragon King, and was the final boss ofDeception. The former king of Outworld was the most powerful being until Shao Kahn disposed of him and seized power for himself. With most ofMK’s heroes down for the count, and his Dragon Army revived,Deceptionsaw him ready to take Outworld back.
Much like Kintaro and Motaro, Onaga doesn’t get launched by uppercuts, nor can he be thrown. His attacks hit hard, and his grabs deal intense damage. Aside from his retreat moves, Onaga can also breathe fireballs and breathe flames in streams. He’s since made a few cameos in later games, with his Dragon Army returning inMK1, but he hasn’t been seen as a full character sinceArmageddonmade him playable for the first and only time thus far.
2Shang Tsung
The original final boss of the firstMortal Kombat, Shang Tsungcould shape-shift into any fighterin the game and summon fireballs. Unfortunately, his debut was otherwise underwhelming as he was easier than the sub-boss Goro. It didn’t help that he had less animation than the rest of the roster. His moves got better in later games, where he was either a regular roster character, or the better half of the Deadly Alliance with Quan Chi.
However, as a character and a design, he’s arguably the best in the series. He’s a schemer who knows exactly how to twist situations into his favor. Whether he’s pulling the strings of bigger baddies or working with the good guys, he always has a Plan B or C to stand out on top, as he showed in theMK11: AftermathDLC andMK1. Shang Tsung loves being evil so much that, ironically, it makes him more endearing and entertaining as a character.
1Shao Kahn
There aren’t enough words to describe the sheer power and ferocityof Outworld’s emperor. Following Shang Tsung’s defeat in the originalMortal Kombat, the sorcerer fled back to the Kahn and begged for another chance to prove himself. Shao Kahn would grant Shang Tsung back his former youth and kidnap Earthrealm’s fighters, forcing them to compete in Outworld’s tournament to open the way for his invasion.
Serving as the final boss ofMortal Kombat 2and3, this powerful brute followed Kintaro and Motaro, respectively, and was just as powerful and difficult. Shao Kahn’s projectile and shoulder ram abilities later came accompanied by a mid-ranged sledgehammer and an anti-air flying knee strike. These moves would return inMK9, where their armor and stun made him just as cheap and testing as the classic games.
Even when he was made playable, and thus losing most of his cheap tactics, he stood out as one of the biggest and scariest characters on the roster. Midway and Netherrealm have tried topping him with bigger, badder, even smarter bosses. But their skull faces, sly sneers, or cheap moves couldn’t help them fill his boots. Like him or loathe him, Shao Kahn isMK’s best and most iconic final boss.
