Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath is one of the franchise's most no-holds-barred adventures ever, as Shang Tsung leads a fellowship involving the gods Raiden and Fujin to steal Kronika's crown in the past so the future timeline can be recreated by the Fire God Liu Kang.
And as is the nature of the game, as the story mode plays out, there are quite a few characters who meet grisly ends, especially after Shang Tsung reveals his new deadly alliance, which double-crosses people at every turn. That said, let's look at the major people who fall in the sorcerer's war against the Keeper of Time.
REVENANT NIGHTWOLF
Revenant Nightwolf serves Revenant Liu Kang at Shinnok's Bone Temple, and right after Shang Tsung's crew escapes captivity, the past Nightwolf fights and defeats his Revenant self. Shang Tsung absorbs the Revenant's soul to heal, but when the younger Nightwolf tries to intervene, Fujin stops him. He says Shang Tsung has to live as the Fire God secretly told Fujin the sorcerer would be the only one able to beat Kronika, allowing him to bleed the evil Nightwolf dry and take the Revenant Sindel to purify.
SHEEVA
Even when Sindel's purified from her Revenant self, she reveals she's actually Shao Kahn's lover and wasn't mind-wiped all this time. Sheeva stumbles upon her, freeing Shao Kahn from Katana's jail and is heartbroken as she swore fealty to the Edenian queen years ago. Sindel kills her in kombat, but it's underwhelming, as the fight leaves Sheeva dead without any sort of big finish. This allows Sindel and Shao Kahn to frame Kitana for the death, takeover the Shokan legion, and join their secret partner, Shang Tsung.
GERAS
Geras confronts Shao Kahn and Sindel, as the Time Lord says Kronika wants them to be her lackeys and take Shang Tsung's coalition down. Shao Kahn refuses and fights him, winning and then crushing Gera's skull in Negan-Style with his hammer. Oddly enough, it's never explained why Geras couldn't use the Sands of Time to regenerate as he usually does.
THE HEROIC KUNG LAO
Shao Kahn and Sindel's forces then raid the warship that the heroic versions of Liu Kang, Kitana and Kung Lao are taking across the Sea of Blood to Kronika's Keep to aid Raiden and Fujin. With Sheeva's soldiers under the royal couple's command, their forces are too much which results in Shao Kahn breaking Liu Kang's legs and imprisoning Kitana. A darker fate awaits Kung Lao, though, as Shao Kahn throws him into the sea to drown and fall forever for eternity.
KOTAL KAHN
When Shao Kahn's war vessel arrives on Kronika's island, as he touches down, we see a head being tossed off as the bridge is lowered. It's Kotal Kahn, who joined Kitana's legion earlier and must now suffer the consequences of displacing Shao Kahn as Outworld's ruler. It's Shao Kahn's ultimate revenge for losing his throne, and mercy was never an option, as Kotal took away many followers.
THE HEROIC NIGHTWOLF
Shang Tsung reveals his full deception by shape-shifting into Raiden and tricking Fujin into gifting him the crown. Seeing as he designed it and sucked souls to empower it, Shang Tsung masters it and beats Nightwolf and the Great Spirit easily. After kombat, the Matoka warrior is seen lying in a pile of rubble with his neck seemingly snapped and the villain gloating how the mantle will die with Grey Cloud. He doesn't get to suck Grey Cloud's soul, though, as Fujin and Raiden intervene.
FUJIN AND RAIDEN (SORT OF)
However, they don't fare any better, as Shang Tsung then harnesses the power of the crown. Fujin, the God of Wind, and Raiden, the former Thunder God, are left near-death, with Shang Tsung absorbing most of their souls. They're now decaying, and more or less dead, but the sorcerer leaves them in this coma-like state to siphon their powers off for the rest of eternity.
CETRION
The elemental goddess, wounded after Shang Tsung's forces beat her up at his temple when they took the crown, has to sacrifice herself to power up her mom. Cetrion transfers her essence into Kronika, dying what she thinks is a noble death, as she knows the Time Goddess will be weakened without the crown.
KRONIKA'S REVENANT SQUAD
As Shang Tsung's deadly alliance raids Kronika's chambers, Sindel uses her bladed staff to impale Jade, with Shao Kahn then hammering Kitana onto it. The final Revenant, Kung Lao (who's still alive as his past self is in the sea for eternity), then has his neck snapped by Shang Tsung, who was impersonating the Shaolin monk out of arrogance.
SHAO KAHN AND SINDEL
After the Revenant crew's taken off the table and Shang Tsung wounds Kronika, he turns on Shao Kahn and Sindel for refusing to bend the knee to him. He beats them up and sucks their souls dry, as this betrayal is payback for all the years the Emperor made him a pawn. It's sweet revenge and empowers the tyrant even more to face Kronika.
KRONIKA
Kronika is then beaten in kombat by the shape-shifter, and he proceeds to suck her soul dry. This turns her into sand and with the powers of a Titan in him, Shang Tsung would proceed to remake history, that is, until the Fire God arrives from the future and reveals the sorcerer was a pawn all along, as only he could betray people to cut this one path to victory.
THE FIRE GOD (BAD ENDING)
In the bad ending, Shang Tsung bleeds Liu Kang dry after pummeling him and absorbs his power. This creates the ultimate Time Lord, since Shang Tsung has the power of a Titan, the souls of the crown and now the essence of a Fire God in him. This allows him to remake history, become a chronal Emperor and enslave Fujin and Raiden to be his generals.
SHANG TSUNG (GOOD ENDING)
In the good ending, the Fire God defeats the shapeshifter and harnesses the power of the Hourglass. He combines the energy with his powers and shoots mystical fire at Shang Tsung, which causes the sorcerer to turn to dust and blow away. Liu Kang then takes the crown and reshapes history the right way to start a new era.
Developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Mortal Kombat 11 is available now for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows and Google Stadia. Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath is now on sale digitally.