Watch Kabal demonstrate the most bonkers Mortal Kombat fatality I have ever seen

Mortal Kombat is famous for "fatalities," the over-the-top finishers that fighters can employ on one another to wrap up matches with a bang, or a splat as the case may be. There was a time when they were controversial, but these days they're a mass-market selling feature, barely worthy of a raised eyebrow.

Even so, the new trailer for the Mortal Kombat 11 fighter Kabal, and specifically his fatality, is something to see. I thought that watching a guy get punched so hard that his brain bailed out through his face was impressive, but that's got nothing on this, which I will try to describe simply to emphasize the futility of the effort:

Kabal flays Sub-Zero's chest with his hook swords, then drives them through his stomach, lifts him up, and then rips the swords out laterally, eviscerating him; he then swings one sword up into Sub-Zero's throat, so that the hook is protruding through his mouth, and heaves him overhead, smashing him down, skull-first, onto the stone floor.

Oh, and we haven't actually gotten to the fatality part yet.

Okay, so somehow Sub-Zero manages to get back to his feet, but he's no longer able to defend himself. Kabal, not being the sporting type, takes advantage by hooking one of Sub-Zero's ankles with his axe and dragging him at Flash-level speed, inflicting the all-time-worst case of road rash on Sub-Zero's face. Once the skin (and eyeballs and bone and all that) are burned off, he stops suddenly and flings Sub-Zero forward, then jumps into a teleporter that puts him in front of the not-yet-dead-enough Sub-Zero, who is now sailing through the air like a person-size spitball. Kabal holds his hook sword in front of him, and like a giant, bloody log splitter, cleaves Sub-Zero clean in two, lengthwise.

Now he's dead enough. I can't say that this is the most bonkers Mortal Kombat fatality of all time, but I've certainly never seen one that tops it. Either way, I think we can all agree that words just don't do it justice.

Kabal, if you're into the lore of the Mortal Kombat universe, is a former Black Dragon enforcer who was resurrected as a Revenant. Introduced in Mortal Kombat 3, he's known for his speed, his hook swords, and the respirator he needs to survive (and which apparently nobody has ever tried taking off of his face). This twisted, evil version of his former self now serves the Netherrealm, and has pledged to destroy all other realms.

Mortal Kombat 11 comes out on April 23 on Steam.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.