Step into the brutal new era of Mortal Kombat 1, where a fierce roster of 22 iconic fighters awaits your command across Nintendo, PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. But the real challenge lies in unlocking the enigmatic Havik-only accessible by conquering the gripping 15-chapter Story Mode-and the sorcerer Shang Tsung, a pre-order exclusive now available for purchase. Ready to unleash chaos? Discover how to add these elusive warriors to your lineup and dominate the tournament like never before.
In this guide, we’re going to walk you through the entire Mortal Kombat 1 roster of 23 characters, and introduce you to the six planned additional characters coming in Mortal Kombat 1’s upcoming Kombat Pack DLC.
Note: Mortal Kombat 1 also has 15 Kameo characters, which aren’t listed here as they’re (mostly) different than the main roster.
Starting Mortal Kombat 1 character roster
The Mortal Kombat 1 character roster features both new and returning fighters . The game includes 23 main characters and 15 Kameo characters, who assist in battle . The base roster includes characters from past Mortal Kombat games, some of whom have not appeared since Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006).
Mortal Kombat 1 starts with a pretty massive roster, and only hides the two characters behind unlocks. All of the other characters in the game are fully playable from the moment you boot up Mortal Kombat 1. You don’t need to beat the Kampaign or do anything special to unlock them for versus mode.
Let’s go over all 21 characters in Mortal Kombat 1’s starting roster.
Ashrah
Ashrah is a fallen demon in Mortal Kombat 1, which basically just means she’s an angel. She originally appeared in Mortal Kombat: Deception. Like many characters on this roster, it’s the first time she’s been playable in a mainline game since Armageddon.
Baraka
Baraka is a survivor of the Tarkat plague, which turns him into a big-mouthed monster with spikes coming out of his arms. He leads the other plagued people into battle in service of Outland.
General Shao
General Shao is the beloved and hated Shao Khan that Mortal Kombat fans have known and battled for years. But in this reality, he is not the emperor of Outland, and is instead a faithful, powerful general who serves the realm.
Geras
Geras was an ally of Kronika, the Titan villain of Mortal Kombat 11. But in this new reality, he’s been rebuilt by Fire God Liu Kang in an attempt to preserve the memories of the past timelines.
Johnny Cage
Johnny Cage is a movie star who finds himself battling otherworldly entities in the Mortal Kombat tournament in order to stay relevant with the youth. He’s a series staple, and uses green magic to help keep up with the literal demons he’s battling against.
Kenshi
Kenshi is an old-school Mortal Kombat character, and plays heavily into the “blind swordsman” archetype. He’s back in this new reality, and is trying to escape his family’s yakuza past (by using his psychic sword powers to defend Earthrealm, it seems).
Kitana
Kitana is Mileena’s sister and another daughter of Sindel, which makes her a princess of Outworld. She uses her fan blades to act as her sister’s protector.
Kung Lao
Kung Lao – the man with the buzzsaw hat and one of Liu Kang’s best friends – is back in this new reality for Mortal Kombat 1. A champion of Earthrealm, he and his hat are here to help defend his universe via Mortal Kombat.
Li Mei
Li Mei is the chief of police in Mortal Kombat 1’s version of Outworld, and uses magic to subdue her foes. She appeared in Mortal Kombat X as an NPC, but hasn’t been fully playable since Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.
Liu Kang
Once a student of Raiden, and the only real remnant of the previous Mortal Kombat reality, Liu Kang is god in Mortal Kombat 1, and has reshaped the world in his image. The reason all of the characters are slightly different in this Mortal Kombat 1 is Liu Kang’s doing.
Mileena
Mileena is the heir to Outworld, and is extremely deadly with a blade. Under her mask, however, she’s hiding that she is infected with the same plague as Baraka: Tarkat.
Nitara
Nitara is a vampire woman from the realm of Vaeternus, and is playable in a mainline Mortal Kombat game for the first time since Armageddon. She’s Mortal Kombat 1’s celebrity character, and is voiced by Megan Fox.
Raiden
Once the god of lightning itself and Liu Kang’s mentor, Raiden is now a young, human man in the reality of Mortal Kombat 1. He joins the champions of Earthrealm to defend his home in Mortal Kombat.
Rain
Rain is another returning character to the Mortal Kombat franchise, and this is the first time he hasn’t been relegated to DLC or an NPC part in years. In this new reality of Mortal Kombat 1, Rain is an Outworld sorcerer who uses water powers to take down his enemies.
Reiko
Reiko is General Shao’s right-hand man, and is coming back to Mortal Kombat 1 as a fully playable character for the first time since Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.
Reptile
Is Reptile a man or a lizard in Mortal Kombat 1? Yes. Reptile is a shapeshifter in this reality, able to change between his human and lizard form at will. He also spits acid.
Scorpion
The brother of Sub-Zero in this reality, Scorpion has dedicated his life in service to the Lin Kuei, and is a powerful asset in the efforts to protect Earthrealm. Despite his background, Scorpion’s identity hasn’t changed, and he’s still the franchise’s signature character. And yes, he still has that infamous “get over here” catchphrase.
Sindel
Sindel is the empress of Outworld in Mortal Kombat 1, and mother of both Mileena and Kitana. She uses her hair and scream powers to decimate her enemies, just as she always has.
Smoke
Smoke rolls with Sub-Zero, Scorpion, and company in Mortal Kombat 1 in order to assist in the defense of Earthrealm. He uses his smoke-based powers to disappear and teleport around the arena.
Sub-Zero
The grandmaster of the Lin Kuei, Sub-Zero uses his ice powers to help lead his band of warriors in the defense of Earthrealm alongside his brother, Scorpion. This relationship change is one of the biggest in Mortal Kombat 1, taking fire and ice from mortal enemies to kin.
Tanya
Tanya returns as a playable character in Mortal Kombat 1 after being relegated to a cameo in the previous game. She wields a big, blunt bat and acts as a paladin-esque character after being raised from the dead.
How to unlock Havik and Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat 1
To unlock Havik in Mortal Kombat 1, players need to complete the game’s main Story Mode, which consists of 15 chapters and typically takes around five hours to finish. Once the story is completed, Havik will be added to the roster automatically, provided the player is online to claim the reward via the Kombat Kard menu. This unlock method requires no additional purchase and can be done on any difficulty setting. In contrast, Shang Tsung is not unlockable through gameplay; he was initially available as a pre-order bonus and can now only be obtained by purchasing him as DLC through the in-game store. This means players who did not pre-order the game must spend real money to add Shang Tsung to their roster.
There are two unlockable characters in Mortal Kombat 1 at launch: Havik and Shang Tsung. Here’s what you’ll need to do to unlock each of them, and a little bit about who they are in the Mortal Kombat universe.
How to unlock Havik
Havik is Mortal Kombat 1’s only unlockable character that you get by actually playing the game. You can unlock Havik by completing Mortal Kombat 1’s story mode.
Havik is an anarchist who has appeared in a few Mortal Kombat games in the past.
How to unlock Shang Tsung
Shang Tsung is technically an unlockable character for Mortal Kombat 1, and you unlock Shang Tsungby pre-ordering the game. Like most pre-order characters in Mortal Kombat, you’ll be able to buy him as DLC at a later date if you fail to pre-order in time. (In Mortal Kombat 11, DLC characters, including Shang Tsung, cost $5.99.)
One of the more famous Mortal Kombat villains, Shang Tsung was the original host for the game’s titular tournaments, and is a powerful shape shifting sorcerer.
Mortal Kombat 1 DLC characters
Mortal Kombat 1 features several DLC characters that expand the roster beyond the base game. The first Kombat Pack included fighters like Ermac, Quan Chi, Takeda Takahashi, and the guest character Homelander. The upcoming Kombat Pack 2, releasing alongside the Khaos Reigns story expansion on September 24, 2024, adds classic characters such as Sektor, Cyrax, Noob Saibot, as well as guest fighters like Ghostface, Conan the Barbarian, and the T-1000, plus a Kameo fighter, Madam Bo. Shang Tsung is a pre-order exclusive DLC character, while Havik is unlocked by completing the main campaign. Additional Kameo characters unlock as players level up their profiles. DLC characters can also be purchased individually or as part of bundles for early access and extended content.
Mortal Kombat 1 will be getting an infusion of new characters in the coming months – most of them likely won’t appear until sometime in 2024 – with its Kombat Pack DLC. Half of the Kombat Pack’s roster are beloved Mortal Kombat characters that didn’t make the cut for Mortal Kombat 1, and the other half are problematic super “hero” faves from our favorite TV shows.
Here’s the entire roster of the first Kombat Pack, which comes packaged in Mortal Kombat 1’s Premium Edition.
Ermac
In the old universe of Mortal Kombat, Ermac was a collection of souls inside what essentially just looks like a mummy. He served Shao Kahn, the emperor of Outworld. He does play a part in the Mortal Kombat 1 main story, but you won’t be able to actually play as him until the DLC characters arrive.
Homelander
Homelander comes from the Amazon Prime series The Boys – and the comic of the same name. He’s the big Superman-like superhero of that world, and is also a raging fascist with a god complex. He’ll fit in just fine with some of the villains of Mortal Kombat.
Omni-Man
Omni-Man is, like Homelander, one of the biggest superheroes from his universe. He comes from Invincible, another Amazon Prime show that comes from a comic.
Peacemaker
Peacemaker was once an obscure DC villain, brought into the limelight by John Cena in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad movie. Then he starred in his own show, Peacemaker. And now he’s coming to Mortal Kombat 1.
Takeda
Takeda is one of the “Kombat Kids” from Mortal Kombat X, and is the son of Kenshi Takahashi – a fighter who returns to Mortal Kombat 1. In the old universe, Takeda trained under Scorpion and used bladed whips as his primary weapon.
Quan Chi
How can I unlock Havik and Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat 1
To unlock Havik in Mortal Kombat 1, you need to complete the entire Story Mode, which consists of 15 chapters and can be done on any difficulty setting. Once you finish the final battle, Havik will become available as a playable character. If he does not unlock immediately, check the Rewards section in your Kombat Kard while online to claim him.
Shang Tsung, on the other hand, was originally a pre-order exclusive character. If you did not pre-order the game, you can still unlock Shang Tsung by purchasing his character pack from the in-game store for about $7.99 or £6.49.
What’s the quickest way to unlock Havik after finishing story mode
The quickest way to unlock Havik in Mortal Kombat 1 is to complete the entire 15-chapter Story Mode as fast as possible, ideally by playing on the easiest difficulty and skipping all cutscenes. This can reduce the roughly 4-5 hour campaign to just a couple of hours. Once you finish the final chapter, Havik will be unlocked immediately for play. If he does not appear unlocked right away, check the Notifications menu under your Kombat Kard while online to claim any missed rewards.
