Summary
Ninjas are a popular archetype in theMortal Kombatseries and for good reason. Masters of martial arts, stealth, and often possessing otherworldly powers these warriors are expert assassins.
There are a lot of ninjas in this series and many are extremely powerful, some even capable of holding their own against the very gods of the universe. The fighters on this list aren’t ranked by their popularity or strength in-game, but in terms of their power and capabilities according to the lore.
Updated on October 7th 2023 by David Heath:The Mortal Kombat lore has been tipped upside-down once again with the release of Mortal Kombat 1. What were familiar faces are now in new roles, like Raiden being Earthrealm’s human champion, Tarkatans being victims of an illness than a race of monsters, and Sonya and Jax are now mere Kameo Fighters instead of key players.
It’s also shaken up the role ofthe ninjas, as the likes of Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Smoke aren’t quite the same as they used to be. So, this list has been updated to refresh old entries with new info, reorder things, and add new entries that were either different enough to stand alone, or missed their spot last time. So, based on the mythos, these arethe strongest ninjas in Mortal Kombat.
23Tanya
Being from theformer realm of Edenia,Tanyanaturally has a long lifespan and an affinity for magic thanks to her divine lineage. In the classic timeline, she turned to the dark side by worshiping Shinnok, allying with the Brotherhood of Shadow and Shao Kahn, using them to enhance her strength and powers. The new timeline inMortal Kombat 1kept her in the light, protecting the Outworld Royal Family as the leader of the Umgadi.
Tanya is a highly skilled fighter that wields pyrokinetic abilities in battle. She can also reflect projectiles with her weapons and teleport across the battlefield. The only reason she doesn’t rank higher is that her pyrokinetic powers are lackluster when compared to other ninjas. She isn’t much stronger inMK1, getting beaten by Kung Lao, Johnny Cage, and her Umgadi predecessor Li Mei among others.
22Takeda Takahashi
The son of Kenshi,Takeda Takahashibecame an apprentice to Scorpion in his new Shirai Ryu, which essentially makes him Scorpion-lite. He uses a similar fighting style to his father and mentor, and is very skilled with bladed whips. He also possesses the unique ability to infuse himself and his weapons with a plasma-like aura to inflict more damage.
In addition to this raw potential he can also read minds, teleport, and move objects with his mind. While he shows incredible promise, he’s still young and inexperienced. His psychic powers weren’t enough to handle Ermac, and he only just held off the Revenants with his partner Jacqui Briggs inMKX. Then his evil counterpart was killed quickly by Kitana inMK1. With time, and his upcoming return as DLC inMK1, he may improve, but he isn’t that tough yet.
21Sektor
When the Lin Kuei adopted the Cyber Initiative, where members would become cyborgs to be more effective in combat,Sektorwillingly took part and abandoned his humanity in the process. With no hesitation or mercy, he became one of the Lin Kuei’s deadliest assassins. He even became Grandmaster until he was ousted by Sub-Zero. Then he’d form a rival cybernetic force, the Tekunin, to oppose them.
He comes equipped with homing missiles, a flamethrower, and the ability to teleport, though he’s constantly upgrading his components to increase his combat potential. Not that it’s helped him out in the lore. The AlternateMK9-MK11timeline saw him hold his own against human Smoke, but get defeated by Nightwolf, killed by Sub-Zero, then brought back for more defeats by Sub-Zero and Scorpion before being betrayed and blown up by Kano. For a tough borg, he has bad luck.
20Cyrax
Unlike Sektor,Cyraxwas converted into a cyborg against his will. He was captured by the red cyborg and programmed to follow the Cyber Lin Kuei’s will. In the classic timeline, he was able to regain his humanity and work with the Special Forces. He was less lucky in the Alternate Timeline, where he remains in their thrall until he breaks free and sacrifices himself and the other Cyber Lin Kuei to save Sub-Zero and Scorpion.
Like the other cybernetic ninjas, he is equipped with powerful tech and weaponry. He has an energy net that can stun targets, long-range explosives to bombard enemies, and even a teleportation device to travel the realms at will. He can even break his body down piece by piece to relocate short distances before coming together again. In gameplay, this made him pretty strong. In lore, he was better as a human with wins against Baraka, Sheeva, and Johnny Cage inMK9’s story mode.
19Reptile
Hailing from the former realm Zaterra,Reptileis a reptilian creatureknown as a Saurian. He’s served many masters from Shao Kahn to Shinnok as a begrudging assassin, seeking a way to bring back his lost race. He can be pretty formidable in combat with his acid spit, long tongue, and the ability to turn invisible among other skills. Yet he has a major weakness that keeps him from joining the other classic ninjas near the top.
In story, he wants to bring the Saurians back because he’ll gradually become more animalistic if his queen isn’t around. Eventually he’ll lose all cunning and become another overgrown lizard. Not that he’s all that sharp as he is, as the main villains have used him as their lackey for one purpose or another. He may be the first secret character in fighting games, but his legacy has largely been as a jobber alongside Baraka.
18Triborg
After theCyber Lin Kueiwere destroyed afterMK9, the Special Forces found test data that placed in a robot body. The result merged the minds of Sektor, Cyrax, Smoke, and Cyber Sub-Zero intoTriborg, who arguably became the most powerful cybernetic ninja. Without any of their inhibitions, he killed the Special Forces and now seeks to wipe out all organic life in favor of new Cyber Lin Kuei, with himself as their leader.
He has access to all the old cyborgs' weapons and abilities, from Sektor’s missiles to Cyber Sub-Zero’s ice beam. The machine can even copy his abilities to other borgs for backup. Sadly he doesn’t really have a story as he was made largely to show offMKX’s Variation gameplay, where players could pick 3 classic mechs (plus Cyber Sub-Zero) with one character. Given his disappearance from the sequels, it’s safe to say he didn’t amount to much.
17Chameleon
Like Triborg,Chameleonwas created with gameplay in mind first, then essentially given a shrug for a backstory.Mortal Kombat Trilogy(and hidden data inUltimate Mortal Kombat 3’s console ports) says he was one of Shao Kahn’s most fierce warriors. Then his last playable appearance inArmageddonsaid he had been watching events since the originalMK, waiting to act before joining the Forces of Darkness (i.e. all the bad guys) at the Pyramid.
He’s potentially the strongest ninjas, as he has all the abilities Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Reptile, Human Smoke, Rain, Noob Saibot, and Ermac have, and can swap in between them. ButArmageddonreplaced this with a move list that used a mix of their different special moves. Even then, since he’s never acted lore-wise, or been all that impressive gameplay-wise beyond being broken, he’s not all that special.
16Khameleon
Unlike her male counterpart, Khameleon actually has a backstory of sorts. Made to replace Chameleon in the N64 port ofTrilogy, she had the same gimmick, only she could switch between Kitana, Mileena, and Jade’s moves instead. She returned for the Wii port ofArmageddonas a sub-boss, where she added Tanya’s moves to her new, composite kit of the kunoichis' skills.
The classic timeline revealed her to be the last female Saurian, who sought to convince Reptile to turn against Shao Kahn and fight for Earthrealm. She didn’t quite succeed, and would only return to stop Shao Kahn from getting the power to unleash Armageddon. The Alternate Timeline suggested she was even Zaterra’s queen, but inMK1’s new timeline she’s one of the Umgadi under Tanya’s watch.
15Frost
The protégé of Sub-Zero,Frostmay not be as strong as her mentor by any means, but she has been able to hold her own against the Special Forces. Still, for a cryomancer, she has a hot head as she often acts before she thinks. She almost botched Sub-Zero and Scorpion’s reconciliation inMKXby trying to attack him, and her impulsiveness led her to be banished from the Lin Kuei by Sub-Zero himself. ByMortal Kombat 11,she switched allegiances to Kronika, Keeper of Time.
She turned Frost into a cyborg and made her the new leader of the revived Cyber Lin Kuei. As a result, she became stronger and more agile, and gained the ability to control multiple borgs a la Triborg. Yet her brashness led her to defeat against her old mentor, Scorpion, and Nightwolf. Still, that’s better than her Classic Timeline counterpart, who froze herself in place while trying to use Sub-Zero’s Dragon Medallion.
14Tremor
In the original timeline, he was just another ninja, but in brown. ForMKX,Tremorbecame a beast. He was taller than most of the roster, bulky, and possessed incredible strength and durability. He was capable of manipulating various minerals in the ground, causing earthquakes, summoning rocks for attacks and defense, and he could coat his body in various minerals for an advantage, even using molten lava.
It made Tremor a veritable juggernaut, capable of dramatically improving his durability and ripping apart the ground his enemies walk on. He’s also said to be immune to heat and burning of any kind, which in theory would make him effective in the Netherrealm. In the series' reality, he was killed by Jax in the Classic timeline, and arrested after some sharp blasts from Sonya in the Alternate one. MaybeMK1could bring him back for more destruction.
