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Mortal Kombatis home to some of gaming’s most fearsome warriors from across the spectrum of reality and ability. On one end, we have Raiden, Earthrealm’s just-shy-of-invincible defender and God of Lightning, and on the other end, we have characters like Goro, the Prince of Outworld, and perhaps the most intimidating four-armed creature in gaming.
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However, for every mighty character inMortal Kombat,there is one thatdoesn’t quite fit in with the rest, one whose strength pales in comparison to the literal gods and warrior princes they are up against. In-game most characters are fairly balanced to play. In the series' lore, though, it’s a different story.
Updated June 30, 2025 by Erik Petrovich: When it comes to the worst MK characters of all time, there are quite a few to choose from. The series has been around for a long time, and there have been countless fighters added to its roster over the last 30 years. But even some of its oldest, most iconic characters aren’t all that powerful, not compared to the strongest characters in Mortal Kombat lore. With the release of Mortal Kombat 1, many characters from the 3D era of MK have been refreshed and re-vamped. Tanya, for example, is no longer just an evil jobber, and as such has moved up a few spots on this list of the weakest MK characters. This list also now includes Kano and Darrius, in relatively high positions thanks to their wits, criminal connections, and general strength, but still ranked among theworst characters in Mortal Kombatbecause of other weaknesses.
15Johnny Cage
Johnny Cage is one of the most recognizable characters from theMortal Kombatfranchise. He’s been in just about every game, he was in the original 90’s movie, and his one-liners and Hollywood attitude set him apart from the rest.
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Until he discovers his latent abilities, though, he is no better than a very skilled martial artist in the lore. Throughout just about all of his appearances in theMortal Kombatseries, includingMortal Kombat 1, Johnny Cage is basically just a fighting movie actor whoactuallyknows what he is doing.
14Bo Rai Cho
Bo Rai Cho is an Outworldian master of drunken martial arts, and his abilities in-game show this to every degree possible. His attacks in the games he made appearances in usually included his trademark puke puddle and belly flop.
Bo Rai Cho in the lore is a capable fighter in the drunken fist style, butbeing from Outworldmeans his victory in Mortal Kombat would count for his home realm, not Earth. His weakness mostly comes from both his alcoholic behavior and, simply, his age.
13Kano
Kano is one ofMortal Kombat’s most iconic villains, having been in the series since the very beginning as the foil to Sonya Blade. Kano’s fatalities, including his eye lazer and heart-ripper, are some of the game’s most instantly recognizable, but Kano isn’t reallythatpowerful, relative to the series' other most powerful characters.
Just like Sonya, he isn’t afraid to resort to traditional weaponry – and his appearance in the 2021Mortal Kombatmovie was a welcome treat, too. He’s a skilled martial artist, and a criminal mastermind who can shoot a beam out of his eye, but aside from that Kano doesn’t have much going for him.
12Sonya Blade
Sonya and Kano couldn’t be more different in terms of personality, but their fighting prowess is right about the same. Kano and Sonya have a feud going back to the firstMortal Kombat, but both have the advantages of tech and guns.
Sonya is a special forces officer, while Kano is a criminal mastermind. Aside from these traits, though, they are just ordinary people who know how to shoot. Although Sonya and Kano can’t really use special powers in most canon appearances, theirMortal Kombat 1Kameo appearances prove that they are still bothcapable martial artists.
11Tanya
Tanya is one of the more forgettable antagonists from theMortal Kombatseries, having appeared as a major villain in two of the lowest-rated games in the series,ArmageddonandMortal Kombat 4(the latter of which she was one ofthemajor antagonists).
However, she was brought back inMortal Kombat 1as the head of the royal guard, and is by all appearances a good-aligned character in Liu Kang’s new timeline.
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She’s almost always shown as a close ally of Mileena (inMK1, Mileena is good-aligned), but in just about every way Mileena is a stronger character in the game’s lore. She’s kind of like the sidekick to amuch stronger, much coolersuperhero who takes all the spotlight.
10Darrius
Darrius is a character introduced inDeceptionwhose own goals justify his means, and is described as some as being a terrorist because of this. He hails from Orderrealm, otherwise called Seido, where is is the leader of the resistance against order. InMortal Kombat 1, he comes back, and is shown to be on Shang Tsung’s side.
Darrius really doesn’t have much more going for him – interestingly, though, he was the final character to be made forDeception, according to Ed Boon. His fatality sees Darrius rip the opponents arms off and bash them with it, but all things considered, there are much more interesting and brutal fatalities out there.
9Dairou
Dairou made his premiere inMortal Kombat: Deceptionand returned forArmageddon,andMortal Kombat 1under the new role of Havik in Liu Kang’s timeline. There’s not much that stands out about Dairou, except of course the tattoo on his forehead and his disastrous hairline, and most fans don’t seem to mind that this character was turned into Havik at all.
He is a Seidan, a realm of order, and once served as a guard for his world. When he enacted revenge on the man who killed his family, he was imprisoned – but he eventually escaped and began work as a mercenary. All things considered, he isn’t a terrible fighter, but he’s certainly not anywhere near the levels ofMortal Kombat’s best.
8Jarek
Jarek was the replacement for Kano inMortal Kombat 4, essentially serving as a carbon copy of that iconic villain for the fourth entry. In later games he gained his own unique moveset, but ultimately the character is as uninspired ashe is hilariously over-acted.
There’s a famous scene at the end of Sonya Blade’s storyline inMortal Kombat 4. Without going into too much detail, the scene makes absolutely no sense, involves multiple people falling off the same cliff, and has become one of the most infamously iconic examples of terrible voice acting in video games.
7Hsu Hao
Hsu Hao made his debut inMortal Kombat: Deadly Allianceas a member of the Red Dragon clan. He has no heart, which has been replaced with a bionic implant that also enhances his natural abilities. If one were to take Iron Man and paste his origin story onto a leather-clad Mongolian man without nearly as much personality or power, Hsu Hao would be the result.
His only playable appearance in a mainlineMortal Kombatgame was inDeadly Alliance, though he made a few cameos in later entries over the years. In fact,Mortal Kombatco-creator John Vogel despised the character so much that he considers his death at the end of Jax’sDeadly Alliancecampaign to be canon.
6Kurtis Stryker
Stryker is, quite literally, just a cop from New York City who finds himself thrust into the middle of all theMortal Kombatshenanigans. Technically, he’s a riot control officer, and he also had experience in the Marines.
Stryker discovers he was chosen by the gods inMortal Kombat 3but otherwise doesn’t know why he was chosen amongst all the other people on Earth. He’s just a cop doing his job, after all. InMortal Kombat 1, Stryker returns as a Kameo, complete with his grenade-strapped-to-the-chest Kameo fatality.
