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
Whenever I see Mortal Kombat’s Scorpion celebrate after a fatality I find it interesting, especially after he summons a fiery Hell Hand from the ground to squeeze his enemy. Look at that strange balletic movement he does at the end. How graceful.
Hellish Dismemberment
Now, this is a gruesome one. Scorpion whips his spear chain towards an enemy’s arm, and rips it off, before taking one of their legs and snapping their neck. If I’m honest, this is a bit much. Look at that playdoughy blood flowing from their newly-made orifices!
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
Another portal-based fatality, Nether Gates sees an impaled enemy thrown into a portal, before falling through another up above, hanging their corpse before you. Grim.
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
Spear Slice is similarly speedy and simple. With Scorpion’s spear held in hand, he slashes away at the enemy until their torso departs their bottom half. What is it with Scorpion and horizontal slicing?
Spine Rip
Sub-Zero’s classic MK2 fatality isn’t exclusive to the icy fella. Scorpion got a crack at de-vertebraying (that isn’t a word, but it could be!) an enemy and does it just as well as far as I can see.
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.
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.