Story mode

To unlock the story mode in Mortal Kombat X, you must first complete the in-game tutorial. If you played the story mode in Mortal Kombat 9, you know that NetherRealm has a cinematic story-driven experience in store for Mortal Kombat X players. While the story mode in MKX is not as long as it was in MK9, it still has plenty of fights, and it's the only way to unlock Shinnok as a playable character (you can also grab stages and alternate costumes along the way).
You can't select your favorite character and play through story mode like some other fighting games. Instead, you play through the cinematic experience, taking control of the main character in the story at the time of each battle. There are 12 chapters in the story, each featuring a different playable character. You'll even battle against a few characters that are not playable in the game.
There are also Quick-Time Events (QTEs) that pop up throughout story mode. When you see a button on-screen, you have one chance to press that button before time is up. If you fail to press the button fast enough or press the wrong button, it may have an impact on the story. The button inputs are random, but if you take your time and focus on the button on-screen you can make it through the story unscathed.
Most of the story mode battles are made easy enough to defeat your opponents with a character you may be unfamiliar with. However, if things get too difficult, by default you can skip three story mode battles. Simply pause the game and select the option to skip the fight. You can earn more skip tokens by finding them in the Krypt. You can also adjust the difficulty of story mode in the options menu.
Chapter 1 - Johnny Cage
Quick-Time Event
Quick-Time Event
Battle Against Scorpion
Battle Against Sub-Zero
Battle Against Jax
Battle Against Shinnok
Chapter 2 - Kotal Kahn
Quick-Time Event
Battle Against Kano
Battle Against Tanya
Battle Against Rain
Battle Against Mileena
Chapter 3 - Sub-Zero
Battle Against Cassie Cage
Battle Against Takashi Takeda
Battle Against Kung Jin
Chapter 4 - Kung Jin
Battle Against Erron Black
Quick-Time Event
Battle Against Ferra/Torr
Battle Against Raiden
Battle Against Kotal Kahn
Chapter 5 - Sonya Blade
Battle Against Scorpion
Battle Against Jax
Battle Against Quan Chi
Quick-Time Event
Battle Against Kano
Chapter 6 - D'vorah
Battle Against Baraka
Quick-Time Event
Battle Against Rain
Battle Against Mileena
Chapter 7 - Takashi Takeda
Battle Against Kenshi
Quick-Time Event
Battle Against Reptile
Battle Against Erron Black
Battle Against Ermac
Chapter 8 - Jax
Battle Against Kung Lao
Battle Against Sindel
Battle Against Kitana
Quick-Time Event
Battle Against Liu Kang
Chapter 9 - Scorpion
Battle Against Sonya
Quick-Time Event
Battle Against Johnny Cage
Battle Against Sub-Zero
Battle Against Quan Chi to Unlock Scorpion's Hanzo Hitachi Alternate Costume
Chapter 10 - Raiden
Battle Against Baraka
Battle Against D'Vorah
Battle Against Kung Lao
Battle Against Liu Kang
Chapter 11 - Jacqui Briggs
Battle Against Reptile
Battle Against Ermac
Battle Against Ferra/Torr
Battle Against Kotal Kahn
Chapter 12 - Cassie Cage
Battle Against Sindel
Battle Against Kitana to Unlock the Infected Sky Temple Stage
Battle Against D'vorah to Unlock the Infected Jinsei Chamber Stage and Two Souls in the MKX Mobile Game
Battle Against Corrupted Shinnok 1
For more tips and Fatalities, read Prima's free Mortal Kombat X guide, and learn how to unlock Story Mode!