Key Highlights:
- Complete guide covering Li Mei’s Fatalities, Animality, and Brutalities in Mortal Kombat 1.
- Platform-specific inputs with Input Distance and Execution Difficulty ratings for Fatalities and Animality.
- Brutality requirements include Fighter Mastery ranks, Final Hit conditions, hidden variations, and Seasonal Store Brutalities. Features practical execution advice, platform controls, and video guide.
Quick Links:
Formerly an Umgadi warrior, Li Mei serves as First Constable of Sun Do in Mortal Kombat 1. Her fighting style combines martial arts with magical energy, using attacks such as Nova Blast, Sky Lantern and Chain Reaction to control opponents at both close and long range.
Li Mei has two character-specific Fatalities, the UnBearable Animality, The Klassic, five Brutalities unlocked through Fighter Mastery and two additional Seasonal Store Brutalities. This Mortal Kombat 1 guide covers every current finisher alongside its platform inputs, working distances, Final Hits and activation conditions.
How to Perform Li Mei’s First Fatality in MK1 (Roman Candle)
Input Distance: Close to Jump Distance
Execution Difficulty: Easy
- PlayStation: ➡️⬅️➡️🅧
- Xbox: ➡️⬅️➡️🅐
- Nintendo Switch: ➡️⬅️➡️🅑
Li Mei punches into her opponent’s stomach and pulls out part of their intestine before igniting it with her energy. The burning intestine acts like a fuse, eventually reaching the opponent’s severed head and causing it to explode.
Roman Candle is normally labelled as a Close Fatality, but its actual working range extends considerably further. It can be activated from Close Range through to around Jump Distance.
I would not treat the Close label literally with this one. Li Mei can leave a substantial gap between herself and the opponent, which makes Roman Candle much easier to perform after a round ends without both fighters directly beside each other.
How to Perform Li Mei’s Second Fatality in MK1 (Grand Finale)
Input Distance: Close to Sweep Distance
Execution Difficulty: Easy
- PlayStation: ⬅️➡️⬇️🅾️
- Xbox: ⬅️➡️⬇️🅑
- Nintendo Switch: ⬅️➡️⬇️🅐
Grand Finale sees Li Mei channel energy through her fingertips and drive it into the opponent. Their arms explode before another burst destroys the torso, with Li Mei’s spectral lion completing the finishing sequence.
The Fatality works from Close Range through to approximately Sweep Distance, making its positioning slightly tighter than Roman Candle but still considerably more forgiving than standing directly against the opponent.
The easiest way I would separate Li Mei’s two Fatalities is by distance. Grand Finale is the closer option, while Roman Candle gives you considerably more space to work with.
Important: Li Mei can also perform the Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Winter Fatalities if they are unlocked on the player’s account. These seasonal Fatalities are not unique to Li Mei and can be performed by other playable fighters.
How to Perform Li Mei’s Animality in MK1 (UnBearable)
Input Distance: Sweep Distance to Full Screen
Execution Difficulty: Easy
- PlayStation: ⬇️⬅️⬇️⬜
- Xbox: ⬇️⬅️⬇️🅧
- Nintendo Switch: ⬇️⬅️⬇️🅨
Li Mei transforms into a giant panda and bites off one of her opponent’s arms. The panda then sits on the victim’s head, crushing it beneath its weight, before settling down to eat the severed arm.
UnBearable is another finisher where the generic Mid description significantly undersells its actual range. The Animality works from approximately Sweep Distance all the way to Full Screen.
I found the range is the most useful thing to remember here. If the opponent falls anywhere beyond Sweep Distance, there is no need to move closer before entering Down, Back, Down + Front Punch.
UnBearable is also Li Mei’s first Animality in the Mortal Kombat series. Her original playable appearances came after the classic Animality era, making Mortal Kombat 1 the first game to give her an animal transformation.
For the animal transformation used by every other playable fighter, see our complete Mortal Kombat 1 Animality guide.
All Li Mei Brutalities in Mortal Kombat 1
Li Mei has The Klassic and five character-specific Brutalities unlocked through Fighter Mastery. Fast Enough For Ya, One Way Ticket, Head Over Heels, Heads Or Tails and Light The Way unlock through her normal Mastery progression.
Two additional Brutalities, Pop! and Champion’s Fury, were introduced through the Seasonal Store and sit outside Fighter Mastery progression. Both remain usable once acquired.
The Klassic
Unlock Requirement: Available by default
- PlayStation: ⬇️ + 🔺
- Xbox: ⬇️ + 🅨
- Nintendo Switch: ⬇️ + 🅧
Final Hit: Uppercut
Additional Condition: Hold Back Punch during the Final Hit.
Li Mei performs the universal Uppercut Brutality, removing the opponent’s head as the final attack connects.
The Klassic requires no Fighter Mastery progression. Enter Down + Back Punch for the Uppercut and continue holding Back Punch as the Final Hit lands.
Brutality Variation: Li Mei does not have a normal character-specific Back Throw Brutality, but she can still perform the universal MK11-style Screen Throw. Initiate a Back Throw and immediately hold Up + Back Punch. The opponent is thrown towards the camera and cracks the screen.
Fast Enough For Ya
Unlock Requirement: Fighter Mastery Rank 3
- PlayStation: ⬅️➡️🅾️
- Xbox: ⬅️➡️🅑
- Nintendo Switch: ⬅️➡️🅐
Final Hit: Chain Reaction
Additional Condition: Hold Back during the Final Hit.
Li Mei continues the Chain Reaction assault after the opponent should already be defeated, repeatedly striking them into the ground before finishing with two crushing punches to the face.
Fast Enough For Ya is straightforward once the Final Hit is set up. Perform Back, Forward + Back Kick and continue holding Back as Chain Reaction connects.
I would add the held direction immediately after completing the special input rather than waiting to see whether Chain Reaction has depleted the remaining health.
One Way Ticket
Unlock Requirement: Fighter Mastery Rank 5
- PlayStation: ⬇️⬅️🔺
- Xbox: ⬇️⬅️🅨
- Nintendo Switch: ⬇️⬅️🅧
Final Hit: Sky Lantern
Additional Condition: Hold Down during the Final Hit. The opponent must be airborne.
Li Mei’s Sky Lantern destroys the opponent’s head and replaces it with the glowing lantern. Their body then floats upwards and eventually disappears beyond the top of the screen.
The airborne requirement is the important part. Simply allowing a grounded opponent to touch Sky Lantern is not enough. The Final Hit must occur while the opponent is already airborne.
I would set the lantern first and concentrate on launching the opponent into it rather than trying to improvise the entire setup at the end of the round. Scorpion Kameo is particularly useful for creating the launch and extension needed to send an opponent into an already active lantern. Community Li Mei players have repeatedly used this setup to make the Brutality considerably easier to land.
Brutality Variation: Hold Flip Stance + Block while the opponent is floating away during One Way Ticket. Instead of simply disappearing off-screen, the victim explodes above the arena and blood and body parts fall back down.
NOTE: You do not need to add Down to the hidden variation once the Brutality has triggered. The secret branch is activated by holding Flip Stance + Block during the floating animation.
Head Over Heels
Unlock Requirement: Fighter Mastery Rank 7
- PlayStation: ➡️ + 🅾️, 🅾️
- Xbox: ➡️ + 🅑, 🅑
- Nintendo Switch: ➡️ + 🅐, 🅐
Final Hit: Lion Tail
Additional Condition: Hold Down during the Final Hit.
Li Mei completes the Lion Tail Kombo and drives her heel into the opponent’s head. After struggling to pull her foot free, she tears the victim’s head from their body and catches it.
This Brutality developed a reputation for being unreliable around launch because the original game contained incorrect Brutality information and Li Mei’s unlock progression was particularly confusing. The underlying condition is straightforward in the current version: Lion Tail must deliver the Final Hit while Down is held.
For the input itself, I recommend entering Forward + Back Kick, then transitioning onto Down while pressing the second Back Kick. That gives the held direction time to register before Lion Tail completes rather than trying to add Down after the final strike is already happening. Player troubleshooting around Li Mei consistently found that holding Down early in the second part of the string was more reliable.
Heads Or Tails
Unlock Requirement: Fighter Mastery Rank 10
- PlayStation: ➡️ + 🅾️, 🅧
- Xbox: ➡️ + 🅑, 🅐
- Nintendo Switch: ➡️ + 🅐, 🅑
Final Hit: Kick Precision
Additional Condition: Hold Up during the Final Hit.
Li Mei completes Kick Precision and uses the final kick to remove the opponent’s head.
Heads Or Tails starts almost identically to Head Over Heels, making the two Brutalities easy to confuse:
Forward + Back Kick, Back Kick + hold Down = Head Over Heels
Forward + Back Kick, Front Kick + hold Up = Heads Or Tails
I think that is a much easier way to remember them than treating the two finishers as completely separate commands. The opening attack is identical. Only the second kick and held direction change.
Light The Way
Unlock Requirement: Fighter Mastery Rank 15
- PlayStation: ⬅️➡️⬜
- Xbox: ⬅️➡️🅧
- Nintendo Switch: ⬅️➡️🅨
Final Hit: Nova Blast
Input Distance: At least Jump Distance
Additional Condition: Hold Back Punch during the Final Hit.
Li Mei fires Nova Blast through the opponent’s torso, leaving a large hole through their chest.
Light The Way has two checks that need to be satisfied. Li Mei must be at least Jump Distance away, and Back Punch must be held as Nova Blast delivers the Final Hit.
The held-button timing is worth getting into muscle memory. I recommend entering Back, Forward + Front Punch and immediately moving onto holding Back Punch. Waiting for the projectile to travel across the screen before adding the button makes the input needlessly awkward.
Community troubleshooting from the early game reached essentially the same conclusion: Back Punch needs to be introduced extremely quickly after the Nova Blast input rather than waiting for the projectile to connect.
I would establish Jump Distance first, then concentrate solely on the special move and held button. Trying to retreat and immediately enter Nova Blast introduces another unnecessary variable.
Seasonal Store Brutalities
Li Mei received two additional Brutalities through the Seasonal Store. Pop! and Champion’s Fury are separate from Fighter Mastery progression and remain usable once acquired.
Pop!
Unlock Requirement: Seasonal Store
- PlayStation: ⬇️⬅️🅾️
- Xbox: ⬇️⬅️🅑
- Nintendo Switch: ⬇️⬅️🅐
Final Hit: (Air) Flipping Heel Kick
Required Form: Airborne
Additional Condition: Hold Down during the Final Hit.
Li Mei performs an aerial Flipping Heel Kick before following with another backflip kick that removes the opponent’s head and sends it flying towards the screen.
The important distinction is that Pop! specifically requires the airborne version of Flipping Heel Kick. Performing the grounded version with the same directional command cannot activate the Brutality.
I would therefore establish Li Mei’s jump first and only then enter Down, Back + Back Kick. Continue holding Down as the aerial special connects.
Champion’s Fury
Unlock Requirement: Seasonal Store
- PlayStation: 🅾️, 🅧, ⬜, 🔺
- Xbox: 🅑, 🅐, 🅧, 🅨
- Nintendo Switch: 🅐, 🅑, 🅨, 🅧
Final Hit: Pankration Champion
Additional Condition: Hold Front Punch during the Final Hit.
Champion’s Fury uses Li Mei’s four-hit Pankration Champion Kombo. The finishing sequence dismembers the opponent through bursts of energy before Li Mei destroys the remaining body in an explosion of fireworks.
Enter Back Kick, Front Kick, Front Punch, Back Punch and continue holding Front Punch as the Kombo reaches its Final Hit.
There are no distance, meter or airborne requirements to manage, which makes Champion’s Fury considerably easier to set up than One Way Ticket, Light The Way or Pop!.
I would focus entirely on entering Pankration Champion cleanly and adding the held Front Punch before the final part of the Kombo connects.
Li Mei Fatalities, Animality, and Brutalities Video Guide
The video contains Li Mei’s complete current Brutality collection, including Pop! and Champion’s Fury. It also showcases her two fatalities.
The showcase is particularly useful for seeing the difference between Li Mei’s normal Fighter Mastery finishers and the two Seasonal Store Brutalities, alongside the timing and positioning needed for Sky Lantern and Nova Blast.
In Mortal Kombat 1’s New Era, Li Mei’s history with the Umgadi and Outworld’s royal family connects her closely to Sindel, Mileena, Tanya and Kitana. You can explore our Sindel and Kitana finisher guides for their Fatalities, Animalities, and Brutalities.
