In the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games, a Fatality is a special finishing move that can be used against one's opponent at the end of the final match. When the announcer says "Finish Him/Her," the player can choose to kill him or her through a fatality move.
Unlike special moves, a fatality may require certain distances and quick button sequences in order to achieve the desired result (for example, in Mortal Kombat 3, Sub-Zero's Break Down Fatality requires that he stands close to the opponent and quickly execute Block, Block, Run, Block, Run). Every character has their own special fatality that must be performed at a certain distance from the opponent. The number of fatalities varies depending on the game; while characters in Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance had only one, Mortal Kombat 3 and its updates featured as many as four. Traditionally for the main and important characters of the games (such as Sub-Zero, Raiden, Scorpion etc) their fatalities are usually a reflection of either their storyline or their special abilities- eg, Sub-Zero's fatalities have traditionally involved the use of his powers of ice (though his spine rip was found to be the most infamous of the fatalities), whereas Scorpion's storyline of a hellspawn ninja spectre involves the use of setting someone alight or using his famous spear in a fatality.
Fatality-style finishing moves have also appeared in other fighting games such as Killer Instinct, though they are not named as such; they are called "No Mercy Moves" instead.