Animality

An Animality is a finishing move from the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. It has appeared only in Mortal Kombat 3, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy. In addition to Fatalities, Animalities were used to kill an opponent following a victorious match-up. It is a unique finishing move, in that the character turns into an animal to kill their opponent. Animalities from Mortal Kombat 3 were shown as the character morphing into a glowing animal of a certain color; while in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy, the extra added characters' Animalities were shown as the character disappearing in a blaze of fire, and showing up as a cartoonish, (sometimes realistic) animal of realistic colors, (unlike the glowing, single colors from MK3's). Some characters turn into animals related to their own character persona, while others are totally irrelevant.

Animalities were dropped following Mortal Kombat 3. A brief Animality also appears in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, in which Liu Kang turns into a dragon. In addition, Scorpion couldn't turn into his namesake in MK3 because Sheeva already possessed that animality, so Scorpion instead transformed into a penguin; it wasn't until MK4, that he finally turned into a scorpion. Also despite his name and species, Reptile transformed into a mammal, a chimpanzee.

It is important to note that Animalities were one of many fan rumors the Mortal Kombat development team was aware of, and incorporated into a later game. Before Animalities were introduced in MK3, many fans were convinced Sub-Zero could turn into a polar bear in Mortal Kombat II. There was even a strategy guide which published a fake picture of this happening. In MKII 3.1, one of the possible lines that you would see in the game after beating Shao Kahn is a scrambling of the phrase "There are no Animalities". And of course, Liu Kang's Dragon Morph existed in MKII before it was made into his Animality in MK3.

The Animality concept also existed in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, although disappointing to most fans. Nightwolf, after turning into a wolf, taught Liu Kang how to "use his Animality" and turn into a dragon. This was used in the final scene when Shao Kahn turned into a hydra that Liu Kang, turned into a bipedal dragon, engaged in battle with.

List of Animalities
thumb|400px|right|Different Animalities of every character
 * Baraka – Vulture (grabs the opponent's upper body and flies off, severing it from his/her lower body)
 * Cyrax – Shark (swims underground with a fin out, coming back from the other side of the screen to devour the opponent)
 * Ermac – Frog (eats the opponent whole)
 * Jade – Cat (attacks the opponent in a vicious clawing flurry)
 * Jax – Lion (pounces at the opponent, devouring him)
 * Johnny Cage – Kangaroo (kicks the opponent away with his powerful feet)
 * Kabal – Skeletal Rhinoceros (rams the opponent away)
 * Kano – Giant Tarantula (constricts the opponent with his legs)
 * Kitana – Rabbit (mauls the opponent à la Monty Python and the Holy Grail)
 * Kung Lao – Cheetah (pounces at the opponent, devouring him)
 * Liu Kang – Dragon (eats the upper half of the opponent's body, as in his MKII Fatality)
 * Mileena – Skunk (releases stinky fumes that suffocate the opponent)
 * Nightwolf – Wolf (pounces at the opponent, devouring him)
 * Noob Saibot – Anteater (sucks the opponent into his snout)
 * Raiden – Electric eel (wraps himself around the opponent, shocking him/her)
 * Rain – Small Elephant (blows a loud sound from his trunk, making the opponent's skin dissolve)
 * Reptile – Monkey (chases the opponent away; the only Animality shown not to kill the opponent)
 * Scorpion – Penguin (lays an explosive egg between the opponent's legs)
 * Sektor – Giant Bat (whooshes by the screen twice, decapitating the opponent in the second pass)
 * Shang Tsung – Cobra (devours the opponent whole)
 * Sheeva – Giant Scorpion (stings the opponent, who turns red and explodes)
 * Sindel – Giant Hornet (pushes the opponent offscreen by repeatedly stinging him/her)
 * Smoke (Cyborg) – Silhouette of a Bull (rams the opponent offscreen)
 * Smoke (Human) – Porcupine (shoots his quills at the opponent)
 * Sonya – Hawk (grabs the opponent and flies off with him/her)
 * Stryker – Tyrannosaurus Rex (devours the upper half of his opponent's body)
 * Sub-Zero – Polar Bear (pounces at the opponent, devouring him)