Mortal Kombat 11 Fatalities as told by an elderly couple: "He's only got half a body"

To the surprise of no one, Mortal Kombat 11 is an exceedingly gory game. It may well be the goriest game ever made. Where else can you see faces pulled off, punched out, and peeled like a dang onion so closely and in such lurid detail? DOOM (2016) comes to mind, but seeing demons ripped apart just doesn't make the ol' toes curl quite like seeing a human being turned into a modern art installation. Case in point: this elderly couple's reaction to Mortal Kombat 11 Fatalities.  

This video comes courtesy of the couple's son, YouTuber and horror enthusiast Mark Petrie. It's clear from the start that these folks have no idea what they're getting into, and it's equally clear that Petrie delights in their haplessness. I can relate - the first thing I did after seeing the Mortal Kombat 11 Fatality trailer was show it to my dad, who laughed his ass off. Petrie's parents react with incredulity, but also with genuine horror, and understandably so. If you don't have any context for Mortal Kombat's borderline obsession with exquisitely rendered gore, I imagine it can be overwhelming, especially seeing it marathoned like this. Hell, it can be overwhelming even in context. 

That being said, here are a few of my favorite things these nice parents say throughout this video:  

  • "Gah, look at his spine there." 
  • "Oh you've gotta be kidding." 
  • *in a hushed tone* "Lunchmeat." 
  • "That's no way to treat a woman."
  • "One of those moves is fatal, you don't have to do 20 of 'em."
  • "He's only got half a body." 
  • "Oh that's like The Thing." 
  • "You promise I'm not going to have nightmares tonight?" 

I'd like to say 'oh that's nothing, I've seen worse,' but quite frankly, I haven't seen worse. The eyeball scene in Dead Space 2 and the finger scene in Heavy Rain are pretty bad, don't get me wrong, but Mortal Kombat 11 is on another level of gore. Good on Petrie's parents for making it to the end. Maybe just treat the experience as a vaccine against gruesome horror flicks. 

Here are some Mortal Kombat 11 tips to help you out as you dive into its brutal, brilliant fighting.  

Austin Wood

Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.