Spoilers ahead for The Boys on Prime Video.
After being announced what seems like a lifetime ago, Homelander is finally a part of the Mortal Kombat 1 roster. Casual and hardcore players alike are still getting a feel for how the character handles. Despite sharing very similar power sets, Homelander’s playstyle is incredibly different from Invincible’s Omni-Man, who joined the game in November of last year. Though both characters are brutal Superman-inspired fighters, Homelander’s playstyle is much more evocative of an arrogant, contemptuous bully. He constantly is leaning on his powers to keep opponents at bay or pummel them in corners where they’re most vulnerable.
That cocky attitude is perfectly reflected in Homelander’s brutalities, most of which are in reference to some of the character’s most iconic moments from the hit show. Homelander has five core brutality moves plus one secret brutality. Each of them ooze Homelander’s unique brand of malevolence and, fittingly for a game like Mortal Kombat 1, his propensity for massively bloody violence.
What Characters Would You Like to See in a Future Kombat Pack 2 for Mortal Kombat 1?
Mortal Kombat 1 already features a great roster of characters, including those from its DLC. NetherRealm Studios has the potential to make good on some longtime fan requests by adding characters like Sonya Blade, Jax, and Kano, as well as guest characters like Doomslayer, Deathstroke, and Ghostface in a potential second DLC pack.
All Homelander Brutalities in Mortal Kombat 1 and What Part of The Boys They Reference
After dealing a certain amount of damage to an opponent, players can initiate brutality moves. These inputs are all enhanced versions of regular moves. While less flashy and cinematic than the series’ iconic fatalities, they still reward players with a sufficiently gory finisher to inflict on their unlucky opponent. The trick to them is that brutalities have to be executed before the “Finish Them!” Screen appears. This means they have to account for the final hit on the enemy’s health bar, making them slightly trickier to pull off than fatalities, but equally satisfying in some cases.
Given the graphic nature of The Boys, it was always understood that Homelander would have some insanely vicious finishers and NetherRealm did not disappoint. Most of Homelander’s brutalities are references to his villainous antics in the show. From lasering people in half to outright overpowering and crushing his opponents, Homelander’s bloodthirstiness in the show translates well to his brutalities in Mortal Kombat 1.
Since so much of Homelander’s kit relies on playing keep away, the best strategy to pull these brutalities off is to overwhelm the opponent with zoning before quickly heading into melee range to end the fight.
|
Brutality Name |
Input |
|
The Klassic |
Down + 2 (Hold 2 during hit) |
|
What Happens If? |
Back + 3 (Hold 1 during hit) |
|
Shh... |
Down, Forward, 1 + RT (Hold Back during hit) |
|
Squeeze the Truth |
Forward, 2, 2, 1+ 3 (Hold Down during hit) |
|
I'll Laser Everyone! |
Forward, 1, 4, 2 (Hold Back during hit) |
|
Eye Exam |
(In-Air Only) Back, Forward, 2, 2 (Hold 3 during hit) |
The Klassic
This one isn’t unique to Homelander as a character. Instead, it’s a shared brutality across all characters that serves as a callback to some of the very first kill moves in the series. In this brutality, Homelander swiftly and matter-of-factly uppercuts the enemy’s head clean off their shoulders.
What Happens If?
Homelander boxes his opponents ears, causing them to bleed out and die. The final blow must come from Homelander’s regular attack called Hear No Evil. This move is a reference to the Season 2 encounter with the hero Blindspot. After revealing that he uses enhanced hearing to overcome his blindness, Blindspot is permanently injured, if not killed, when Homelander claps both of his ears, leaving him in a pool of blood.
Homelander's secret brutality is a slight variation on this move. When performing it on Kenshi, Mortal Kombat 1's blind swordsman, Homelander will utter a unique voice line, further referencing his ill-fated encounter with Blindspot in the show.
Shh…
Homelander reaches straight into his opponents chest and slowly pushes it into their heart and out the other side of their torso. This input is an enhanced version of Dirty Trick, and is a reference to how Homelander killed Black Noir in season 3, right down to Homelander’s final words during the kill.
Squeeze the Truth
After performing an enhanced version of the ironically named See No Evil combo, Homelander grabs the opponent’s head and gouges one of their eyes out. This is exactly what he does in the season 3 finale “Into the White Hot Wild,” where he does the exact same thing to Queen Maeve after she sides with The Boys.
I’ll Laser Everyone!
An enhanced version of the Heroic De-Escalation move, Homelander punches the enemy in the chest and knees them in the stomach before pushing them away and cutting them in three pieces with his laser eyes. Because Homelander kills people with his lasers a lot in the show, it’s hard to say for sure what scene this is an exact reference to, but given the name, it’s likely a throw to season 2, episode 5 “We Gotta Go Now,” where Homelander fantasizes about mowing down a huge crowd of protesters with his lasers.
Eye Exam
Homelander’s only air brutality, this finisher begins as a Vought Drop before Homelander grabs his opponent, brings them to the ground, and burns their face off with his laser vision. This is in reference to The Boys' season 1 finale “You Found Me,” where Homelander kills Stillwell for hiding Becca and his son, Ryan, from him for the past eight years.
Mortal Kombat 1
- Released
- September 19, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
Welcome to a new era of Kombat. NetherRealm Studios ushers in a new era of the iconic fighting franchise with a total reset that changes the entire world as we know it. Following the thrilling climax of Mortal Kombat 11, the all-powerful Fire God Liu Kang has created a New Era in the hope of bringing peace to Earthrealm and beyond. Through the series' most cinematic story mode yet, you'll be reintroduced to a cast of legendary warriors as you've never seen them before. Expect twists on classic friendships and rivalries, as well as new backstories that will change everything you think you know about your favorite Kombatants. Discover a host of new offline and online game modes as you master a revitalized fighting system that boasts bone-crunching Fatal Blows, defensive Breakers and the most creatively vicious Fatalities yet.
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
- NetherRealm Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Warner Brothers Games
- Franchise
- Mortal Kombat
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Fighting
