Mortal Kombat’s Scorpion is iconic, there’s no doubt about it. You all know who he is. When Mortal Kombat 2 came out, with Scorpion separating an enemy’s torso from their bottom half in brutal fashion, it caused such a stir that the ESRB became a thing because of it. Just like Prince’s Darling Nikki kicking off the ‘parental advisory’ sticker for music, Mortal Kombat’s Scorpion caused a swathe of pearl-clutching.
But before we dive into his bloody fatalities, you might want to check out our Mortal Kombat 1 characters, Mortal Kombat Mileena, Mortal Kombat Sonya, Mortal Kombat Sub-Zero, and Mortal Kombat fatalities guides.
Here are all of Scorpion’s fatalities in Mortal Kombat, starting with his most famous.
Toasty!
Toasty is for sure the most famous of Scorpion’s fatalities (seriously, we all know it, even if you’re not an MK fan). There are different variations of gruesomeness, with higher graphical fidelity allowing Scorpion’s enemies to die all the more viscerally. But one thing always stays – Scorpion rips off his face, shows his skull, breathes fire, then shouts ‘toasty!’ Lovely stuff.
Annihilation
Annihilation is one of the weirder fatalities, at least back in the day. Scorpion summons numerous copies of himself from below the earth, before they crowd the enemy. In the N64 version, as you can see above, it just fades to black. Maybe they’re having a big group hug? Yeah, let’s go with that.
Boss Fatality
The wonderful thing about Mortal Kombat fatalities is that they’ve always been sort of funny, and Scorpion’s Boss Fatality is no different, as he harpoons his enemy before slamming them against a skull-infested wall ready for some torture. Yeah, that’ll show ’em whose boss.
Chain Reaction
Mortal Kombat’s Scorpion isn’t exactly known for subtlety, and that’s very clear in his Chain Reaction fatality. As he spears his enemy, Scorpion then leaps over them, wrapping the chain between their legs, and using it to split them in two horizontally. Crikey.
Hell Hand
Hell Hand is one of Scorpion’s more interesting fatalities, as he’s not using his spear or setting anything on fire. Instead, as the name implies, he summons a huge, fiery, skeletal hand to drag his opponent to hell. Meanwhile, he looks as though he’s practicing to be a ballerina at the side. It baffles me, and I love it.
Hellish Dismemberment
Okay, now you’re getting to see just how violent Scorpion can be. He goes for torture and pain with this fatality, there’s no question about that, as he launches his spear chain at his opponent’s arm, pulling it clean off. As if that doesn’t get enough blood flowing, he then launches the spear at his victim’s foot, tearing their leg off. That all sounds horrific, right? Well, our pal Scorpion isn’t done yet, as to finish them off, he breaks their neck. It’s all very extra, if I’m being honest, but hey, that’s Scorpion for you.
Lava Pool
In this Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe fatality, Scorpion sucks himself down into a portal of lava, before opening one up under his enemy, sucking them in, and appearing back where he was as the enemy’s portal coughs out a skeleton.
Nether Gates
Once again, Scorpion makes use of a portal. To start this fatality off, he stabs his foe with his spear, wrapping his chain around their neck and then kicking them through the portal. You’re probably wondering where his opponent ends up. Well, they fall through a second portal above Scorpion, and they’re very much a corpse at this point, with their flesh burned away and their muscle and bones on show. It’s gnarly.
Scorpion Sting
In this MK4 Arcade fatality, Scorpion metamorphoses into a literal scorpion, which then uses its stinger to stab the enemy and rip out their torso from their legs. The most impressive thing is the perfect horizontal line between the now-departed torso and the legs. Clean.
Spear Shot
While it may involve a beheading, Spear Shot is relatively tame. Scorpion simply throws his spear chain into the unlucky victim’s head, tugs a few times, and then beheads. Still grim, but pleasantly simple.
Spear Slice
It’s simple and clean. Scorpion whips out his trusty blade to slice and dice his opponent. He keeps going until his enemy’s torso falls apart, leaving nothing but their legs. Scorpion is thorough, I’ll give him that much.
Spine Rip
Considering how much Scorpion hates Sub-Zero, it’s quite surprising to see him take a page out of the cyromancer’s book – it’s not just the LinKeui master who can rip out a spine. Scorpion does a good job of it, too, grabbing his opponent by the neck, giving them a good rip, and pulling their spinal cord cleanout. Again, it’s pretty grim, but he’s not the first fighter to give this a go, so I can’t judge him too harshly.
Split Decision
Scorpion gets even more Fruit Ninja on us here, with a slice horizontally separating torso from legs, a slice horizontally again to get the head removed, before a vertical swipe splitting the rotating head in half. Big crikey.
Stop Ahead
Now, this is just getting silly. Scorpion throws a fireball to make a hole in the middle of the enemy. In the said hole, the enemy’s heart drops and throbs in full view like being viewed in a vitrine. Then, as if that isn’t enough, he slices the front of their face off to reveal, well… maybe just see for yourself.
Who’s Next
Who’s next? Well, that’s what Scorpion might shout if he was a doctor, but, whatever the opposite of a doctor is, that’s probably what Scorpion actually is, as you can see in this fatality. Another beheading, this time with some knife-throwing skills to boot.
You’re Next
Wait, I’m next? That’s what I might shout if I’ve not been waiting long at the doctor’s office, or it’s what the unlucky victim of this fatality might shout. For this one, Scorpion turns into a fiery skeleton, leaps through the enemy’s abdomen, taking all but the spine away, beheads them, and then impales the head through the mouth with a spear.
Chain Reaction
This is a reaction that I want no part of. Scorpion launches his spear chain into his victim’s chest, jumps under them, disappears beneath them reappears in front of them, jumps in the air, and pulls the chain to slice them in half – it’s all very showy-offy.
Eye-Palling Victory
There’s nothing like launching your opponent into the air, throwing two spear chains through their chest, only for them to come back through their eyes. Pretty sadistic, Scorpion, I have to be honest.
Killer Klones from Netherrealm
This is just cruel. What’s worse than one Scorpion performing a fatality on you, a whole crew of them.
Who is Mortal Kombat’s Scorpion?
Okay, so now that you know all about just how violent Scorpion can be, allow me to tell you a little bit more about him. Bear with me, things can get a bit convoluted thanks to the different timelines, though who Scorpion is does tend to remain consistent until we get to the most recent timeline in Mortal Kombat 1.
Scorpion is one of the most popular characters in MK – surprising, I know, it’s not like hi face is plastered all over the franchise or anything – and is quite an important figure.
He’s a revenant under the command of Quan Chi, though he was once a human known as Hanzo Hasashi. Tragically, the original Sub-Zero kills Hanzo’s clan and family before killing him. As a result, Hanzo swears to avenge the deaths of his loved ones. It turns into a long feud, leading Scorpion to declare the second Sub-Zero, Kuai Liang, as his enemy, even though he’s not responsible for what Bi-Han did.
Scorpion has a tendency to side with anyone who can further his goals of revenge, though come the events of Mortal Kombat 11, he does try to help Earthrealm. In a strange turn of events, the Scorpion in Mortal Kombat 1 is Kuai Liang. Yep, that’s a twist not many people saw coming.
Okay, that’s enough blood and guts for today. Hope you enjoyed Mortal Kombat’s Scorpion and all his fatalities, kids! See more gruesome stuff in our cute games and relaxing games guides. Spoilers: MK does not feature. Or, to learn about other characters, check out our FNAF characters and Poppy Playtime characters guides.