Quan Chi from Mortal Kombat 1 brings some seriously gruesome Fatalities

14.12.2023

Quan Chi poses near a portal with tentacles emerging from it, while Khameleon stands next to him, in a screenshot from Mortal Kombat 1

Michael McWhertor
is a journalist with more than 17 years of experience covering video games, technology, movies, TV, and entertainment.

Quan Chi, the cruel Netherrealm sorcerer and one half of Mortal Kombat’s famous deadly alliance, is now part of the Mortal Kombat 1 roster. He’s available as part of the fighting game’s first Kombat Pack DLC, and is the second post-launch character to join MK1, following Omni-Man.

Developer NetherRealm Studios took an interesting approach to Quan Chi for Mortal Kombat 1, reimagining him as a “lazy, clever fighter” who doesn’t like to get his hands dirty. He relies on his supernatural powers instead of martial arts, summoning skeletons from the ground and tentacles from an interdimensional eldritch beast to do his fighting for him. In fact, Quan Chi’s uppercut move sees him summon a full human skeleton from the ground, which performs the uppercut on his behalf.

Quan Chi also fires a variety of glowing green skulls, which hilariously nom-nom-nom his opponents, and uses portals to close the distance between him and his opponents. You can get a deeper dive into Quan Chi’s fighting style in Wednesday’s NetherRealm Kombat Kast, which also touches on forthcoming Kameo Fighter Khameleon.

NetherRealm had previously shown one of Quan Chi’s Fatalities, which looks heavily inspired by Tarsem Singh’s Jennifer Lopez-starring thriller The Cell (or that film’s grisly inspiration, the works of British artist Damien Hirst). Here it is, in case you missed it.

And now that Quan Chi’s in the wild, Mortal Kombat 1 players have discovered Quan Chi’s second Fatality, a gruesome — and, yes, lazy — murdering of his foe. In this case, Sub-Zero is commanded by Quan Chi to tear his own eyeballs out, shear off his jaw, and then cleanly pull his own head off, handing it to the sorcerer. It seems only appropriate, given the many times Sub-Zero has liberated his enemies’ heads from their bodies.

Gross. But not this gross.

Quan Chi’s arrival in Mortal Kombat 1 coincides with the launch of the game’s third season, The Cryomancer, in Invasions mode. Season 3 includes new story elements, boss battles, and a fresh batch of cosmetics for Sub-Zero, Kitana, Geras, Tanya, Johnny Cage, and Scorpion. NetherRealm has also added a Wi-Fi filter for online matches, letting players accept or reject matches based on their opponent’s internet connection.

Coming up next is new Kameo Fighter Khameleon, who can use the moves of Kitana, Mileena, and Jade when summoned in battle. Khameleon’s coming to MK1 in January 2024. In February, cross-play comes to Mortal Kombat 1, with support for cross-platform fights on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X (but not Nintendo Switch, apparently).

Quan Chi is available now to owners of the Kombat Pack, and will be released à la carte on Dec. 21. Four more fighters are coming in MK1’s first Kombat Pack: Peacemaker, Homelander, Ermac, and Takeda. More Kameo Fighters are also en route, with Ferra, Mavado, and Janet Cage confirmed.

MK1’s Kombat Pack costs $39.99 and is included as part of the Premium Edition of the game, which costs $109.99.

Source: Polygon