Babality

A Babality is a finishing move introduced in the Midway fighting game Mortal Kombat II, the second in the Mortal Kombat series of video games. The move allows players to turn their opponents into an infant version of the character. This infant version is often clad in a diaper, although sometimes he or she is wearing pants or other lower-body clothing. Regardless, the regressed character's attire is basically a miniature version of the clothes he or she wore when fully-grown, complete with smaller versions of his or her accessories (Raiden's hat, Johnny Cage's shades, etc.).

To perform a Babality, the player must perform a special button combination for their character and have won the final round using only High or Low Kick. In Mortal Kombat 3 and its updates,Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy, the player had to win the round without using Block. After a Babality is performed, the sound of a baby crying plays (presumably the protests of the now-infant opponent) and the victor strikes a winning pose. The announcer proclaims: "[victor] wins; Babality!" In Mortal Kombat 3 and its updates, the generic green "Babality!!" text used in MKII is replaced with pastel colored, lettered building blocks. The blocks fall from the top of the screen and spell out "BABALITY" as a short lullaby plays.

Babalities were introduced as a deliberately absurd counter-argument to the controversy that the original received for its violent content, and a tamer counterpart to the typical Fatality. Fan reaction was mixed; some found them humorous and enjoyable, but others felt they were an unwelcome, out-of-character intrusion in what is otherwise a serious game. The moves were later dropped in an effort to abate this criticism.

Babalities appeared in Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat 3, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

Their initial appearance in Mortal Kombat II Revision 2.1 came with some glitches including one that allowed players to perform attacks after the babality was performed. A secret tribute to this appears in the N64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy where it is possible to revert the opponent back to adult form before exploding, resulting in a Fatality.

In the hacks of the Mortal Kombat (2011) demo, it was discovered that all non-boss characters have a baby model. This and the leaked secret achievements containing a reference to hidden -alities, makes it very plausible Babalities have indeed made a return to the Mortal Kombat series.