Mortal Kombat 1: Nitara [Moveset, Combos & Fatalities]

Learn all the gameplay mechanics surrounding Nitara in Mortal Kombat 1, including her basic movesets, combos, and fatality variations.

After roughly 20 years since her last appearance in MK: Armageddon, Nitara returns in Mortal Kombat 1 with a refreshing moveset and abilities. Previously, she was only playable during Mortal Kombat’s 3D era, so it’s understandable that most players won’t recognize her. However, Nitara has quickly gained a high pick rate in MK1 thanks to her impressive air combos and decent range.

Key Takeaways
  • Nitara is a Mortal Kombat 1 character known for a high pick rate due to strong aerial combos and decent ranged attacks but has low HP.
  • She’s a vampire from the Vaeturnus realm and assists Quan Chi after he frees her people from sun poisoning.
  • Most of Nitara’s moves in MK1 are High and Overhead attacks, allowing for air combos.
  • Nitara has 28 Basic Attacks, 8 Special Moves, 2 Fatalities, and 6 Brutalities in Mortal Kombat 1.

Who Is Nitara In Mortal Kombat 1?

After the reboot following Mortal Kombat 11’s storyline, Nitara is a Vaeturnian, a species of natural-born vampires in MK1, and is now following Quan Chi.

nitara mk1
Nitara in MK1’s Story Mode (Screenshot by eXputer)

Nitara’s been loyal to Quan Chi after his magic helped remove the sun’s poisoning spread over Vaeturnus, her home realm. As such, she’s primarily a part of the villain group in Mortal Kombat 1, helping other mainline villains like General Shao and Shang Tsung in destabilizing Earthrealm and Outworld.

  • However, her main justification for these actions is that she plans to save her starving people by coming to Outworld and feasting on the locals.

Nitara’s Moveset In Mortal Kombat 1

Before You Start: The commands listed below are for PS5 controls and when Nitara’s facing the right direction. When she’s facing left, the ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ D.Pad controls are inverted.

Here’s a complete list of Nitara’s basic attacks while she’s facing right:

NAMECOMMANDDAMAGEBLOCK TYPE
Dirty ClawSquare20.00High
Never Grow OldSquare, Triangle30.00Mid
Never DieSquare, Triangle,  Square, TriangleN/AN/A
Must FeedSquare, Triangle, Circle70.00Mid
Broken NailsRight + Square50.00Mid
Easy PreyRight + Square, Triangle70.00Overhead
Low ScratchDown + Square20.00Mid
Blood StrikeTriangle30.00High
Blood SuckerTriangle, Triangle50.00Mid
Flying KolorsTriangle, Triangle, Square50.00Mid
Lunging LeechLeft + Triangle50.00Overhead
Drawing BloodLeft + Triangle, Circle70.00High
Deep ScratchDown + Triangle140.00High
Hex KickX50.00High
Hell DiveX, Circle70.00Low
Stabbing HeelDown + X20.00Low
BloodhouseCircle70.00High
Death SpiralLeft+ Circle77.50Low
Bleeding OutRight + Circle50.00High
TenderizeRight + Circle, X, CircleN/AN/A
Deep SweepDown + Circle30.00Low

As seen, most of the one-button attacks, like the Bloodhouse and Hex Kick, are all High attacks. This makes Nitara noticeably effective at keeping pressure, but opponents can counter-attack these moves by dodging under them with Low attacks.

nitara basic attacks
Nitara’s basic attacks list (Image by eXputer)

Following her basic moves, you can further extend your combos with Nitara’s aerial attacks, which you can perform after a launcher attack in MK1:

NAMECOMMANDDAMAGEBLOCK TYPE
Deep SlashUp-Right + Square50.00Mid 
Feast of BloodUp-Right + Square, Triangle70.00Overhead
Final FlutterUp-Right + Square, Triangle, Circle70.00Overhead
Downward ScratchUp-Right + Triangle50.00Mid
Broken WingsUp-Right + Triangle, Circle70.00Overhead
Final BreathUp-Right + Triangle, Circle, Triangle90.00Overhead
Side HeelUp-Right + (X or Circle)70.00Mid

Special Moves

Compared to basic attacks, special moves in MK1 are much trickier to pull off since they offer greater damage but make you vulnerable when the opponent blocks one of these attacks. As such, you should only use special special moves during combo strings to maximize your damage output.

nitara's special moves
Nitara’s special moves list (Image Source: eXputer)
Important: For Nitara, you can use R2/RB to ‘Enhance’ your Special Moves, which make them faster to execute and provide additional abilities, but cost a bar of meter.

Here’s the complete list of Nitara’s Special Moves in Mortal Kombat 1:

NAMECOMMANDDAMAGEBLOCK TYPE
Bad BloodLeft + Right + Square80.00High
Quick TasteLeft + Right + Triangle100.00High
Leap of FaithDown + Left + Triangle60.00Unblockable
Bloody BoltLeft + Right + X110.00Mid
(Close) Bloody BoltLeft + Right + X, Left110.00Mid
(Far) Bloody BoltLeft + Right + X, Right110.00Mid
Dark PlungeDown + Left + Circle60.00Mid
Blood SacrificeDown + Right + CircleN/AN/A

Nitara Combos In MK1

Nitara primarily focuses on effective aerial combos and several High-attack starters. Furthermore, she doesn’t suffer as poorly from MK1’s extreme damage scaling mechanic as other characters like Raiden or Havik.

nitara mk1
Nitara’s Gameplay (Screenshot Captured by eXputer)
Important: When picking a suitable Kameo Fighter in Mortal Kombat 1 for Nitara, I would advise going for Sareena since her stun-locking ability is great for extending combos.

Overhead Starters

You’ll find some of the best overhead-starting combos for Nitara from the list below:

COMBO NO.MOVESDAMAGEHITS
1(Anti-Air) Bloodhouse + Leap of Faith (Enhanced) + Broken Wings + Dark Plunge (Enhanced) + Bloodhouse + Quick Taste (Enhanced) + Jump Forward + Broken Wings + Quick Taste507.5719
2(While Overhead) Bloodstrike + Bloodsucker + Dirty Claw + Jump + Dark Plunge + Never Grow Old + Kameo Assist + Jump Forward + Feast of Blood + Quick Taste (Enhanced)315.8517
3(While Overhead) Bloodstrike + Bloodsucker + Dirty Claw + Jump + Dark Plunge + Bloodhouse + Quick Taste (Enhanced)  + Jump Forward + Broken Wings + Dash Forward + Bloodstrike + Tenderize306.9016

High/Mid Starters

Here’s a list of some optimal mid-starting and high-starting combos for Nitara that you can use to get used to with the character:

COMBO NO.MOVESDAMAGEHITS
1Never Grow Old + Never Grow Old + Jump + Broken Wings + Side Heel + Must Feed + Dash Forward + Bloodstrike + Leap of Faith + Downward Scratch 325.6812
2(In Corner) Flying Kolors + Leap of Faith + Dark Plunge + Bloodhouse + Quick Taste (Enhanced) + Jump Forward + Final Flutter + Blood Sacrifice360.2213
3Flying Kolors + Leap of Faith + Dark Plunge + Bloodhouse + Quick Taste (Enhanced) + Jump Forward + Broken Wings + Quick Taste366.8215

Nitara’s Fatalities In MK1

Like most characters, Nitara has access to 2 fatality variations in Mortal Kombat 1. Additionally, she can also perform 6 different brutalities, which can be performed at a specific range and after certain inputs.

nitara fatality
Nitara’s Primary Fatality (Screenshot Grab: eXputer)

Here are all the details regarding Nitara’s fatalities, covering their names, inputs, and range to execute:

NAMECOMMANDRANGE TO PERFORM
Vaeturnus KomBATDown + Down + Back, SquareMid
Second FatalityBack + Down + Back, CircleMid or Far

If you’re looking for a suitable Kameo Fighter for Nitara, consider checking out Darrius in MK1, covering his gameplay and concurrent lore. For accessing more gameplay-related mechanics, here’s how to unlock Scorpion’s Second Fatality. And consider reading up on Hanzo Hasashi in Mortal Kombat 1, discovering his revamped origin after being Scorpion since the beginning of the MK franchise.

Next:

Was this article helpful?

Thanks! Do share your feedback with us. ⚡

How could we improve this post? Please Help us. ✍

🎮Get up-to-speed gaming updates delivered right to your inbox.

We don’t spam! Read more in our privacy policy.

Hammad Ijaz


Hammad Ijaz is a Guides Writer on eXputer who is into all sorts of gaming genres. He has this pure passion for enjoying games to the fullest and then reflecting that passion back into his writing. Along with a gaming experience of 10+ years, he has many years of writing experience as well. Hammad further solidifies his status as a true gamer by showcasing 200+ hours of game time on Warframe, Witcher 3, and Elden Ring. Feel free to explore his extensive gaming library on Steam. Experience: 3+ Years || Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism || Published 150+ Guides 

Related Articles