Boss

The boss is the final opponent that the player must face at the top of the battle plan after having braved their way through the ranks of other fighters. Final bosses are often always computer-controlled only, and thus, are unplayable. Bosses are always inhuman, often demonic, compared to the the cast of characters. In addition, they often possess several advantages over the normal characters such as higher resistance to attacks and much more prominent strength. Victory over the boss results in his climatic demise, followed by the selected kombatant's ending. On rare occasions, the player may unlock a prize for their success.

Mortal Kombat
Shang Tsung - Goro's Lair

Shang Tsung has the first boss role in the entire series. Despite his decrepit appearance, Shang Tsung is a force to be reckoned with. His main form of attack involves launching fireball volleys at his opponent, with each of them being very damaging. In addition, he has the ability to morph into any other character in the game, including Goro.

Mortal Kombat 2
Shao Kahn - Kahn's Arena

Shao Kahn is even more fierce and intimidating than Shang Tsung was. Unlike him, Shao Kahn relies on brute strength, thus most of his attacks are melee oriented, but have long reach and can seriously damage the opponent if off guard. He mainly attacks with single punches and kicks along with a powered charge that comes out rather abruptly.

Mortal Kombat 3
Shao Kahn - The Pit III

Not much has changed about Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat 3, though he has replaced his javelin with an eye blast and features a new rising charge attack.

Mortal Kombat 4
Shinnok - The Well/Elder God Temple

The first boss character to be initially playable without having to fulfill any conditions. Unlike other bosses before him, he is less intimidating, though he possesses the ability to use other characters' movesets.

Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance
Quan Chi - Quan Chi's Lair Shang Tsung - Shang Tsung's Palace

Unlike the previous games, the final boss in this game is actually split into two separate battles, with the order being predetermined by the storyline of the player's selected character. After an unusually total absence from the previous Mortal Kombat game, Shang Tsung returns as one of the bosses, for the first time since the original Mortal Kombat. Though he lacks the ability to morph into other characters, he still possesses dangerously fast combos, variations of his classic fireball attack, and he can also power-up from the soul chamber. Shang Tsung's partner in the Deadly Alliance, the sorcerer Quan Chi, is also a formidable opponent. He uses a devastating combination of sweeps, fast melee attacks, and a deadly expertise of his broad swords to make life miserable for the player. Like Shinnok in Mortal Kombat 4, both Shang Tsung and Quan Chi are playable in the game. For the first (and only) time in a Mortal Kombat game, they are also the only final bosses against whom the player can perform a fatality on when they are defeated.

Mortal Kombat Deception
Onaga - Dragon King's Throne Room

The very first blatantly non-human boss in the series. The Dragon King is much more imposing than any other final boss encountered at this point and this fight requires a combination of both strategy and skill. While, Onaga can be damaged normally (except for immunity against projectile attacks), Onaga's defense can be weakened by touching any of the Kamidogu lying in place at the edges of the arena. Onaga cannot be defeated by a ringout and the Kamidogu cannot regenerate. Like Shao Kahn, he relies on brute strength, although his attacks tend to be somewhat quicker as he can even perform small combos. He can also breath fire, either firing off a single fireball or a stream of flame that can stun and burn the opponent. He also takes advantage of his wingspan, generating powerful gusts of wind to create gaps between his opponents as well as being able to fly.

Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks
Shao Kahn - Kahn's Arena

Shao Kahn is much more difficult in this battle than he was in MKII but possesses his MK3 moveset. In addition, Shao Kahn can grab the player now and recovers much faster. The safest way to deal damage is by use of projectile attacks and Kintaro's disembodied head. Once Shao Kahn's health is half depleted, his helmet will shatter and begin to make use of his Wrath Hammer only. He makes single, swift upward and downward swings. After at least 4-5 swings, he will begin spinning around with the hammer extended, and the attack can juggle as well, making the attack even more hazardous. After a period of swinging, he will fall into exhaustion. At random, this is merely a hoax. If approached a close range, Shao Kahn will automatically counter you with a grab-and-throw attack.

BlazeArm.jpgl Kombat: Armageddon
Blaze - Pyramid of Argus

Transformed for the events of Armageddon, Blaze is the most powerful entity in the entire franchise at this point. Having become a maelstrom of fire and destruction, Blaze uses long reaching attacks with swipes and kicks. Unlike his original form, Blaze strangely does not implement projectile attacks, but has the ability to teleport, something that other final bosses before him lacked. While he is a playable character, Blaze is the only boss character in the game who cannot be finished off.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe Dark_Kahn_render.jpg
Dark Kahn - Apokolips

The nightmarish merger of Shao Kahn and DC Comics Darkseid. He is essentially a fusion of the two in every sense of the word, having a combination of their movesets which utilize a series of brutal attacks and swift charges.

Mortal Kombat (2011 video game) MK9_Shao_Kahn.jpg
Shao Kahn - Kahn's Arena

Arguably the hardest incarnation of Shao Kahn ever seen. He is as he was in his original MKII incarnation with a differences. While he still uses powerful punches and kicks, he makes much more use of his hammer, even going so far as to chuck it at his opponents to stun them as well as making more frequent use of his charge attacks. Most notorious though is now having invincibility frames in his attacks, allowing him to continually punish his opponents with nigh impunity. Unlike the other final bosses from previous games, Shao Kahn has his own set of Fatalities which he will use if the player loses to him on Medium or higher.

Sub-Bosses
The sub-boss precedes the final boss of the game. It is usually a completely non-human creature that dwarfs the other characters in about every sense of the word; speed, strength and size. They tend to put up more of a challenge than the last boss at times.

Mortal Kombat
Goro - Goro's Lair

The first boss of his kind to appear in any fighting game. He immediately challenges the player right after the last Endurance Match opponent is defeated as the game will not even switch to the Battle Plan. Instead, his roars and occasional tremors can be heard as the battle goes on, giving him a truly intimidating, frightening sense of air. The Prince of Shokan is an intimidating four-armed behemoth with devastating attacks. A mere single punch can easily take off nearly a quarter of health. He also launches fireballs from his fist as well. His favorite technique employs the use of his lower arms to grab the player and then proceeds to relentlessly smash them with his free arms.

Mortal Kombat 2
Kintaro - Kahn's Arena

An even more ruthless warrior than Goro, Kintaro is a much faster and more powerful foe. While sharing similar attacks with Goro, Kintaro has his own uppercut, which sends the opponent high into the air and offscreen. He is also the first to employ the Teleport Stomp in where he leaps high into the air and comes back crashing down on the opponent, stomping them for good measure.

Mortal Kombat 3
Motaro - The Balcony

Possibly the most intimidating sub-boss in the franchise yet. Motaro carries the traits of his predecessors but much more powerful and with a few other tricks. He has the ability to freely teleport, allowing him to immediately counter attacks and has a sweep attack that employs the use of his tail, covering the entire floor. His most notorious trait is the ability to automatically reflect any and all projectiles thrown at him without needing to do anything.

Mortal Kombat 4
Quan Chi (Arcade Version) Goro (Home Version only)

Goro returns for the home ports of MK4 as a sub-boss, retaining his moves from the first game. He can also be unlocked as a playable character through a code.

Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance
Moloch - Moloch's Lair

One of two Oni employed by Quan Chi as insurance. Moloch is a tough and somewhat persistent foe. He utilizes the mace chained around his arm and swings it about in wide arcs and can even fire a projectiles

Mortal Kombat Deception
Noob-Smoke - A deadly tag team born from Noob Saibot's takeover of the Brotherhood of Shadow clan and using the former Lin Kuei cyborg Smoke as his enforcer. Similar to the Endurance Rounds of previous entries, the player must fight both characters at once. Unlike said battles however, the characters are treated as a single entity, sharing the same bar. Both have their own singular style and switch when said styles change. Noob Saibot employs the nimble and quick Monkey style for combo attacks while Smoke utilizes the powerful Mi Tzu style which employs single, but effective strikes. They can be unlocked as playable characters through the Krypt.

Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks
Kitana

Mileena (secret)

Jade

Reptile

Baraka

Sub-Zero

Goro

Scorpion

Inferno Scorpion

Shang Tsung

Kintaro

Ermac (secret)

Kano (secret)

Mortal Kombat Armageddon
Goro

Kintaro

Moloch

Motaro

Onaga

Shao Kahn

Sheeva

Khameleon (Wii Only)

Scorpion (Wii Only)

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
Darkseid

Shao Kahn

Mortal Kombat 2011
Shang Tsung

Goro or Kintaro (Who the player fights is chosen at random) - Both characters are relative unchanged from their original incarnations, but like Shao Kahn, possess invincibility frames while attacking, but are arguably easier to beat than before. If defeated by either Shokan in Ladder with the difficulty set to Medium or higher, they will perform a Fatality at random. While normally unplayable, they do have a defined moveset and even Fatalities with names given to them. A single event in Challenge Tower called Gor-owned allows the player to assume the role of Goro through a five round Endurance match.