7 Most Powerful Mortal Kombat Fighters, Ranked

The Mortal Kombat series is chock-full of powerful fighters. After all, many of these characters have to go up against literal gods and somehow hold their own. That said, there are levels to this, and while Mortal Kombat‘s power levels are constantly in flux as the team at Netherrealm reboots the franchise every few games, a few fighters stand out from the crowd as the strongest ever. There’s also a certain unseen being that will probably destroy everyone if they ever make a real appearance.

Here are the seven strongest fighters in the history of Mortal Kombat.

7) Shujinko

Shujinko can copy the fighting style of any character in Mortal Kombat. That’s an incredibly deadly ability, giving Shujinko the ability to mix and match skills to perfectly counter his opponent. Now, he only has that ability because he helped resurrect Onaga, who some might argue should get this spot, given his status as a nearly unkillable wrecking ball.

However, Shujinko redeems himself and breaks the Kamidogu. That small vulnerability was enough to counter The Dragon King’s invulnerability, and Shujinko wrecks shop with Onaga once his defenses are down. Unfortunately, Shujinko can’t move much higher thanks to his pesky human mortality.

6) Shao Kahn

Shao Kahn has been one of Mortal Kombat‘s main antagonists for decades. Because of that, he’s taken a pounding here and there, most notably suffering defeat from the likes of Liu Kang, Raiden, and Kitana. However, he also has a few impressive notches in his own belt.

In fact, Shao Kahn was the one who originally killed Onaga to take his throne in Outworld. Of course, he did that with poison instead of his fists, but Shao Kahn proved that he is as intelligent and deceitful as he is strong. However, the real proof of his strength came in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. There, Kahn killed Blaze, earning himself godhood before Raiden reset the timeline in Mortal Kombat (2011). He’s not quite as strong in the Mortal Kombat 1 timeline, but don’t be surprised if he gets back to his former glory.

5) Blaze

If Shao Kahn killed Blaze, you might be wondering why I have Blaze above the big guy. Well, it’s pretty simple: Shao Kahn didn’t do it on his own. Kahn didn’t actually kill Blaze during the events of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. That was Taven. Then, Netherrealm decided to get weird.

In Mortal Kombat (2011), that whole fight was retconned. Taven was instead tossed aside by Shao Kahn, who then killed Blaze. It’s never made 100% clear if Blaze took a few licks from Taven before Shao Kahn finished the job or not, but in the current timeline, it seemingly took two fighters to knock Blaze off his perch. That’s enough to give the Elemental a slight boost over Kahn.

4) Kronika

As mentioned, Netherrealm loves to play with its own lore in ways that don’t always make sense. Kronika is a great example of that, as Mortal Kombat‘s entire history up to that point told fans that the Elder Gods were the strongest beings in existence. Then, Kronika made her first appearance, introducing the universe to the concept of Titans.

Kronika has complete control over the timeline as the Keeper of Time. That means she can literally rewrite history whenever she wants. The only problem is that she can’t get rid of the gods. Sure, fighters like Raiden would still get smoked in a one-on-one fight, but that loophole ultimately leads to her demise. Still, she’s coming out on top in most fights.

3) Shang Tsung

Shang Tsung is a tough character to rank. On one hand, Liu Kang wiped the floor with him relatively early on in their journey together. The master deceiver has worked his way into positions of power with relative ease since then, but that has as much to do with his guile as it does his fighting ability.

However, Shang Tsung was one of two characters (more on the other soon) to kill Kronika and wear her crown as a Keeper of Time. Unfortunately for him, Fire God Liu Kang then came back and took Shang Tsung down once again. Titan Shang Tsung tries one more time in a massive battle against Liu Kang at the end of Mortal Kombat 1, but once again, the sorcerer comes up short.

2) Liu Kang

Liu Kang has been Mortal Kombat‘s main protagonist from the jump. Since Day 1, this guy has been pulling off nearly impossible feats with relative ease. Liu Kang dropped Goro, Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn, and Shinnok over the course of the first four games, establishing himself as one of the best fighters in the series’ history.

Then, fans were treated to Mortal Kombat 11. In that game, two different Liu Kangs merged into a single being and took Raiden’s god powers. That gave us a version of Liu Kang that could control fire and electricity, which gave him enough power to overtake Kronika. Of course, that made him even stronger, as Liu Kang now had control over time itself. As mentioned, he’s then able to Shang Tsung twice, despite the sorcerer also having Titan powers, but even that isn’t enough to get him the top spot.

1) The One Being

We have never played, faced, or really even seen much of The One Being. Instead, it exists more in myth than anything else, but it’s still widely known as the strongest character in Mortal Kombat history. The One Being has existed since the beginning of time and routinely took out Elder Gods to give itself sustenance.

However, they eventually fought back, and a group of Elder Gods was able to take The One Being down. They broke the being into several parts and scattered them across the various realms, creating the Kamidogu. While The One Being isn’t technically alive in the traditional sense, its disembodied consciousness still exerts its will on many of the strongest villains. Legend says that if all six realms are reunited, it would come back, so when characters like Shao Kahn try to merge all the realms, he is doing so because of The One Being’s influence.

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