Top 20 Most Powerful Mortal Kombat Fighters

The Fallen Elder God wields immense power for someone having been stripped of his status. Even so, we wouldn’t dare mess with a dude who can conjure up skeletal hands to shred and smash us to pieces. Fighting him in his more demonic form is also out of the question. But of all of the strongest warriors across the realms, he gets the bottom of the proverbial totem pole. Why? Well, despite all of those awesome powers and the ability to become some otherworldly monstrosity, he got his butt whooped by our next entry.

Normally, we wouldn’t have put Cassie Cage on this list. It’s not that we have anything against her. It’s just because a lot of her powers aren’t as deadly as, say, the boss characters or even the spectrum of ninjas we’ve seen. She utilizes a lot of her maneuvers and attacks that we’ve already seen in both her father and her mother. However, bringing down an Elder God is quite the feat, and when you’ve achieved doing such a thing, how can you not be called one of the strongest fighters in all the realms? Shinnok should be ashamed.

Kotal Kahn wields about the same might and brutality that his predecessor exercised. He can deal a ton of damage in just a couple of hits, but his fists will be the least of your worries. As with the rest of the Osh-Tekk race, Kotal can use the sun to heal himself or even torch his opponents. And that goes without mentioning his ability to use blood magik, gain more strength by summoning totems, and turn into a giant panther. In other words, Kotal Kahn is basically a god…well, he was until his predecessor took the throne for Outworld back.

On paper, the title of “God of Wind” doesn’t sound as impressive as, say, someone who can make skeleton hands or harness the sun to burn people. What, he can make water waves at will? He can blow air in your face? No, Fujin can do more damage than you think. He can create waves powerful enough to tear your skin off, take out your limbs, slam you around like you’re caught in a tornado - all sorts of different ways. We have more reasons to be afraid of air.

One would have thought Scorpion would have made our Top 10 initially. After all, this dude has been killed and revived about as many times as Superman. Thing is that his rage is all he needs to unleash his real power. In addition to teleportation, he can also conjure up hellfire and, of course, toss out his seemingly never-ending spear to be an absolute troll. Even without all these supernatural abilities, he’s an incredibly skilled fighter, an expert in swordfighting and Tantō. So, he is definitely worthy of being called one of the strongest fighters in “Mortal Kombat” lore.

Let’s ignore the fact that Triborg was a waste of a slot for MKX’s DLC and really look at his existence within the lore. Sektor, Cyrax, Smoke, Cyber Sub-Zero - all of them were already deadly warriors that could blend dangerous weaponry and technology with their martial arts knowledge. But when mashed together into one metallic entity? Triborg is essentially the Terminator of the “Mortal Kombat” universe. And when you’re known as the last remaining piece of the Lin Kuei Cyber Initiative, you know Triborg will make sure his presence is felt everywhere.

Putting Noob Saibot on a list like this is kind of funny given he was a secret boss at one point and was infamously known for being insanely hard. How many of us recall fighting him for the first time and watching him spam all of his shadow clone moves? That alone is enough for us to call him a powerful character, but that’s not even the end of it. Remember, he also has the “Ghost Ball”, which is unblockable and disables blocking AND the use of special moves. All of his moves are cheap, easy to spam, and if it weren’t for game balance, viable to annihilate just about anyone.

Ermac is absolutely the most powerful of the rainbow ninjas we’ve seen across “Mortal Kombat”, and it isn’t even because of some crazy power he wields. Yeah, he has telekinesis and can do some crazy stuff with that, but there is one small tidbit about him that makes him super powerful: he isn’t human. Ermac is an actual entity composed of the souls of fallen victims. So long as there are souls to harness and fuse together, Ermac can never truly die. Thanks to a certain Outworld emperor, Ermac has achieved immortality now and forever, which cannot be said for most of the characters on our list in a literal sense.

Quan Chi gets a spot higher than Ermac, Triborg, and many others simply because of what he has been able to accomplish with his dark magic. He is the one responsible for turning Bi-Han into Noob Saibot. He took down all of Hanzo Hasashi’s clan, tricked him into thinking Bi-Han was responsible, and turned Hanzo into what we know as Scorpion. Quan Chi’s skills in necromancy are no joke, and with his devilish intellect, he could easily conquer the various realms if it weren’t for Earthrealm’s many defenders.

Yeah, Shao Kahn almost made it into our Top 10. This dude is a big, dumb beefcake with a magical hammer and has escaped death a handful of times. And like with several other characters, he has been resurrected and come back stronger than ever. Really, he is just a big brute who is capable of punching and smashing anything to solve his problems. However, there are ten other characters who could easily bring him to his knees because of his dependence on brawn and weaponry. Hey, pure muscle can only get you so far.

We were considering her husband for this list, but how many times have we handed Shao Kahn’s ass to him on a silver platter? Too many. Sindel, on the other hand, can serve you without lifting a finger! The reason why so many cower in fear to the queen isn’t because of her whip of a “Bride of Frankenstein” hairdo - it’s her set of pipes! Just by screaming, Sindel can blast back foes, make Chef Boyardee out of their faces, and even scare their soul out of their body. The only thing that could limit her powerful voice is her lungs, and given how much yelling she’s had to do in combat, it’s safe to say she’s an explosive human subwoofer.

If you aren’t familiar with this old man, Shujinko was the protagonist of Konquest Mode in “Mortal Kombat: Deception”, where he was tasked with retrieving the Kamidogu. While he starts out as an inexperienced warrior, Shujinko eventually evolves into a master of nearly every martial art in the universe. This is because Damashi granted him the power to copy and learn every fighting style he sees. It’s basically instant knowledge, meaning he can kick your butt in more than a handful of ways. With that kind of power, he could easily become the most powerful character, but we’ve got eight more entries to go!

Don’t worry - we’re not about to make this Top 10 Elder Gods or anything, but Cetrion is way more powerful than one may realize. We aren’t just talking about her Elder God status either. Cetrion can control life and nature, meaning she has power over earth, water, light, air, and fire. In other words, she’s basically Captain Planet as a Poison Ivy-type character. Sounds ridiculous, but when you think about it, all those elements allow Cetrion a lot of different abilities. Shall she crush you with rocks? Drown you with water? Burn you up with fire? How about all three?

We know what some of you are thinking: “Wait, why are you guys putting Raiden above Cetrion? All he has is lightning!” Well, it’s not only about how many powers or abilities you hold - it’s how you use them. Raiden may be the god of just thunder, but he’s capable of doing so many things with this single source of energy. Not only can he zap the living daylights out of his enemies, but he can also teleport almost instantaneously, conjure traps, use lightning for telekinetic abilities, and even heal! Needless to say, Raiden doesn’t need to be a jack of all trades to prove himself. He gets more than enough done with just thunder and lightning.

Onaga is such an intimidating foe that even Shao Kahn was too much of a coward to fight him and opted to try poisoning him instead! Yes, the feared Dragon King is capable of committing unspeakable evil, and when in possession of all of the Kamidogu, he is almost unstoppable. Even when they teamed up to take him out, Onaga made quick work of Quan Chi, Raiden, and Shang Tsung. Raiden even attempted to take Onaga down through a sacrificial blast, and it was STILL not enough to stop him. In order to defeat him, Shujinko had to bring together EVERY warrior and use their powers against Onaga. See? ALMOST unstoppable! But not quite.

Without a doubt, Shang Tsung is the most underhanded, cunning villain of the “Mortal Kombat” roster. The sorcerer will do literally anything if it means he’ll benefit later down the road. His power lies not only in his formidable intellect and fighting prowess, but also in his soul-absorbing abilities. Shang Tsung can shape-shift into other people, copy their moves, and even absorb their soul in order to retain his youth. He’s practically figured out immortality and can choose who lives or dies...assuming he doesn't end up dead himself.

Ugh, it’s the big lummox that pulled “Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe” down even further. Why exactly is this ugly mug popping up on this list? Well, in a way, this bland mesh of Darkseid and Shao Kahn can utilize a form of mind control, by infecting people with rage. By forcing the “Mortal Kombat” and “DC” cast to fight each other, he was able to grow his power and almost completely merge both universes. The fact that he has enough spiritual influence to potentially cause a cataclysmic event on such a scale is kind of absurd … but also kind of terrifying.

Despite his generic design, Blaze is able to do far more damage than one might initially assume. As soon as he became corrupted by the Dragon Egg, Blaze was no longer just a dude with arbitrary fire powers. No, once he achieved his new form, he was able to single-handedly ignite the start of Armageddon itself, bringing an end to not just mankind, but the entire world. Think - Armageddon occurred almost entirely because of this guy’s existence! That’s some crazy Cthulhu-level stuff right there!

Of COURSE Kronika was going to pop up sooner or later. Cetrion popped up on here. Why wouldn’t her mother? After all, Kronika plays an incredibly important part of the “Mortal Kombat” storyline - both iterations of it, actually. You’re looking at the guardian of time and space herself! She can pretty much bend reality and history in whatever way she sees fit, and she’ll even use those powers in combat. When you really think about it, she’s responsible for the creation of many of the entries we’ve covered here. So, why is she at #2? Well, if you played through “Mortal Kombat 11” and the “Aftermath” story, you know very well why.

Normally, Liu Kang wouldn’t make this list. For a long time, this guy was just a simple shaolin monk trying to be the greatest warrior he could. This all changes towards the end of MK11 when Raiden merges with Liu Kang, turning the monk into Fire God Liu Kang! Then, at the end of the “Aftermath” expansion, he takes on Shang Tsung, who bears Kronika’s crown of temporal magic, and takes over her role as Keeper of Time. You know, his name could make a good business card. Liu Kang - Shaolin Monk, Fire God, Architect of Destiny, Most Powerful Being in the Universe.