Mortal Kombat 11 established Liu Kang, a man who uppercut or dropped people really hard Mortal Kombat arcade machines on them to end their lives, as one of the most powerful beings in his universe. After dying, returning as a mind-controlled zombie and being revived with Raiden’s powers, granting him fire god status, Liu Kang added the power to rewrite the entire Mortal Kombat timeline to his bag of tricks.
That explains – more or less – how Liu can teleport Kang to space, create a black hole by snapping his fingers, and turn Sub-Zero into a gore noodle in his (second) Mortal Kombat 1 fatality. Liu Kang’s black hole Fatality is already one of the fighting game’s best finishing moves, and arguably in the top 10 best Fatalities of all time.
Here’s a look:
Liu’s impressive new spaghettific Fatality was revealed in a new trailer for Saturday Mortal Kombat 1 that also confirms recurring character Geras. He made his debut in MK11 as a creation of Kronika, the former keeper of time, and introduced some fascinating time-trolling mechanics to that game. Geras investigates Liu’s time manipulation machinations and seems to appreciate how much the fire god is enjoying his new role – but there seems to be an undercurrent of disapproval in the way Liu uses Kronika’s all-powerful hourglass.
Developer NetherRealm shows what Geras is capable of Mortal Kombat 1 appearance, including his ability to freeze opponents in time and literally slam timelines together for a vicious headbutt. The recently confirmed Kameo Fighter Darrius even plays a part, acting as a blunt object for Geras to spin around.
But it’s the two Guardians of Time showing off their fatalities that make it MK1‘s new sneak peek such a crowd pleaser (the trailer has already been viewed 2.8 million times). Geras conjures up a sandstorm and grinds Baraka into a splinter before puncturing him, while Liu Kang lets gravity do the work on poor Bi-Han, who is skinned and mashed by the black hole.
If you just want to see the power of a black hole expelling Sub-Zero into a mile-long tube, here it is edited in GIF form:
Mortal Kombat 1 coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X on September 19. An online beta for players who pre-order the game (on PS5 or Xbox Series X) will go live on August 18.