Killer Instinct Tier List: All Characters Ranked [2023]

Killer Instinct is a fighting videogame series that was published by Microsoft Studios, Nintendo and Midway developed by Rare. The original game was released on the Game Boy and Super NES in 1995 and was released for arcades in 1994. The sequel Killer Instinct Gold was released for Nintendo 64 in 1996 due to the overwhelming response of the previous game. A reboot of the game series under the supervision of Ken Lobb, the first game published by Microsoft Studios and developed by Double Helix Studios was released in November of 2013 on the Xbox One as a launch exclusive title.

The game was finally released in 2016 on the Windows Store and Steam in 2017. There are a total of twenty-six characters ranked in the killer instinct tier list from the best to worst in different tiers based on their performance, stats, and abilities.

This tier list ranks all the characters of the game based on our research, experience, and gameplay. We also researched which character would people choose out of five and then we created this tier list and ranked every character of the game in five different tiers from best to worst accordingly.

We know that ranking the characters of a game can be very subjective and vary from person to person and some of the people might not agree with us and it should be kept in mind that every character in this tier list can be a competition as it is more dependant on the skill of the player.

Key Points

• This tier list has 29 entries
• The ranking is based on skills, range, and stats.
• The highest tiers have Aria, Rash, Fulgore, and Omen.
• The lowest tiers include combo and Sadira.

Summary

The table contains the ranking of all characters

Read the detail below:

S Tier

The S in this tier of killer instinct tier list stands for super or superb which means that the characters ranked in this tier are considered to be the best characters in the game. These characters excel all the characters in the game in terms of performance, stats, and abilities. These characters are the best in giving the opponent a very tough competition. This tier includes the following characters.

Rash

The rash is one of the most complete characters in the game. He has everything which includes overheads, air mobility, lows, staggers, hard-to-break combo attacks, and the ability to do much damage as output. He is the best character if the players are looking for unmatched mix-ups.

Aria

Aria has the linkers which are very difficult to break in the game. Aria also has a great range, strong pressure, the ability to do great damage when in instinct, and having a meter. Her special body-switching skill makes it hard for the opponents to predict this character’s playing style because each body has a different ability.

Fulgore

Fulgore is considered to be the best because he can play the role of a good rush-down character and a good zoner which makes him very hard to counter. His Fireballs, Blade Dash, and Lasers are some of his best moves which can give an enemy tough competition. His special skill called Teleport allows the player character to be invisible and teleport to the opponent which goes very nicely with the mix-ups making him a character with little to no weaknesses at all in the game.

Omen

This character has the best fly mobility in the game and performs well on the ground too because of meter lockouts and mixups this character has many options to capture the opponent on the screen due to high mobility. Omen is a bonus character from killer instinct season two tier list

A Tier

The A in this tier of killer instinct tier list stands for allrounder which means that the characters ranked in this tier are considered to give a very tough competition to their opponents in the game. These characters do not excel the characters in the S Tier of the game in terms of performance, stats, and abilities. These characters are all-rounders with great stats and abilities, giving the opponents tough competition. This tier includes the following characters.

Aganos

This character is considered to be one of the hardest characters to be used in the game but is still included in the A Tier among one of the best characters because of his close-range mixups and corner pressure gameplay. Players can use this character if they want a good defense and an amazing attack because this character can be used for both attack and defense gameplays.

Eyedol

This character’s full potential can be seen when he is in instinct mode which allows the player to have full access to the abilities of both heads at the same time. This character is very difficult to use for many players but has great abilities like rushing down and zoning in its warrior and mage form.

Thunder

This character in tier list killer instinct when gets close to his opponents causes a lot of damage to them when his instinct mode is activated which allows the player character to have a boost in mobility and the opponents to run away from Chief Thunder.

Hisako

This character might be considered of no use because of her slow speed but the damage she does to the opponent is amazing. This character’s wall jump skill can be a great trick for confusing the opponents giving the players an advantage.

Arbiter

This character has one of the best normal attacks and long-reach damage in the game. Due to the long-reach attacks of this character close combat opponents will have a tough time against him. This character gets an extra health bar because of the energy shield which gives the player an armor that helps in absorbing hits by opponents.

Glacius

This character is an excellent zoner as it has good corner pressure and a skill called Shatter which allows the player to damage the opponent with an unavoidable burst attack. This character’s other skill is Hail, which is the best anti-air attack in the game. Glacius can be a fun character for the players who are into ranged battles because of its full-screen zoning and mid-range attacks.

Riptor

This character is not used by the majority of the players but has a decent speed, good range and a decent survival run on the instinct which is great for retreats. Its Predator mode makes the enemies’ attacks useless as they do not cause damage to Riptor. This character’s Instinct increases its run speed, tail attacks, and flame which can be trouble for the opponents in both close and long-range battles.

Tusk

This character also has high damage output as well as high mobility and is considered to hit the opponent like a truck. This character is a danger for all the zoners in the game. Tusk’s special ability is called Deflecting Window and when activated allows the player character to counter the enemies attack automatically.

B Tier

This tier of killer instinct tier list ranks all the characters of the game that are considered to be above average having decent stats and abilities. Some of these characters are very easy to learn and have proven to be good for any match. These characters also may be able to defeat any high-tier character too but only with the right settings and skillful player.

Mira

This character is considered to be a high reward character having the best counter breaker damage in the game by losing health which can be regained by her command grab and bite. The thing which is not so good about this character is the loss of health points on using abilities and skills by the player just like the air dash attack which does not do any damage to the opponent.

Cinder

This character does not give the opponent a great amount of damage and requires the player to visit the lab more to master. This character is heavy on setups and juggling where it requires the player to use him more for his full potential. Cinder can helpful for players who like advanced combos.

Eagle

This character has a low damage output but great mix-ups. This player character uses his arrows to zone opponents and his bird to stun opponents but has a low rating for his anti-air moves. Eagle is pretty slow and is only suited for such players who have a zone playstyle.

Kilgore

This character in killer instinct tier list 2021 is considered to be one of the best zoners and has very good damage. This character’s guns and missiles shoot at multiple angles. The only thing not so good about this character is his long-range gameplay as he does not have any close-range specials. This character is only suitable for players who play from a longer range and like zoning.

Spinal

This character has very decent special and normal attacks on the opponents and is offensive in the gameplay. This character’s instinct mix-ups are great too because the bouncing skull does not disappear on miss and block. The only thing not so good about this character is the bad space ability and can be a challenge for the players as Spinal starts with zero, unlike Aganos.

Gargos

Gargos because of his jumps also has great mobility and is considered a normal character by many players to go with. This character cannot deal with pressure attacks due to his large size but still thinks his minions help the character press the opponent. Gargos is only suitable for players who want to sit comfortably watching the minions fight.

C Tier

This tier in the killer instinct tier list ranks all the characters of the game who are considered to have below-average stats and abilities by the players. The characters in this tier are also good picks but should be avoided when competing against S and A Tier characters. These characters can be helpful for the player when high-tiered characters are unavailable. The C Tier includes the following characters.

Maya

This is an offensive gameplay character with decent mobility and causes a lot of damage with her unavoidable combo attacks to opponents with her jump plus attacks. The only thing not so good about her is when this character losses her daggers it does not have many options because daggers have a major role in the offensive gameplay of this character. To use the full potential of Maya, the player needs to excel in Management resources.

Shadow Jago

This character has good dash attacks and mobility but consumes the meter faster as compared to other characters and the player can not play safe or risky at the same time which means this character is a high-risk high reward type. The special moves of Shadow Jago are all unsafe.

Shin Hisako

This character has good defense and is considered good for close-range gameplay because of good pokes and mixups that can not be broken easily. Once closer to the opponent this character can not be zoned out easily. The only weak point of this character is that Shin Hisako will have a very tough time getting closer to the opponents with good zoning characters.

General Raam

This character is considered to be the best grappler in the game and has very strong close attacks. Opponents might have to run away once this character gets close and starts using his fast command grabs and powerful normal attacks.

The only thing not so great about him is that this character needs to be close to the opponent before attacking him and by doing so the player might have to face many attacks from the opponents.

Kim Wu

This character has decent powers and very strong attack reversals. Zoning this character out is very difficult and this character’s output damage is strong as it has good parry and dragon cancels.

Jago

This character is considered to have decent zoning and damaging abilities and the unique characteristics of Jago are that in instinct mode this character can regain its lost health and fill the shadow meter faster. The only reason why this character is placed in the C Tier is that this character can not be upgraded but is still a fun character.

Kan-Ra

This character has great mobility and because of his traps, this character can play the role of a zoner whenever there is sand below. This character is difficult to master because of its hard-to-use attacks. The opponents might have a tough time reaching out to this character because of his traps due to which this character is known as trap setup.

D Tier

The characters included in the last tier of the killer instinct tier list are considered to be the worst among all and stand no chance at all against S or  A Tier characters. These characters are recommended only for the new players who casually play the game and are not favored due to their low skills, abilities, and stats.

TJ Combo

This character is considered to be a good combo starter because of his fast speed his combos are unbreakable by the opponents. The mistakes of the opponents can help this character initiate strong combos.

This character is also good at close-range attacks but like all the close-range characters TJ Combo has to be close to the opponents to his combos which means the player will have to bear a lot of enemy attacks and lose health.

Sadira

This character’s Instinct is considered to be the best in the game and is good against the characters who have low anti-air abilities. This character is good at juggling combos and creates web pressure with air mobility. The reason for ranking this character in the D Tier is that it relies on Instinct for attack recovery and is weak against zoning opponents.

Sabrewulf

This character has a decent Instinct and is a good rush-down character in the game. Due to his Instinct, all the attacks of this character do more damage to the opponent, and the chip damage is also increased. The unique skill Feral Cancel turns every ground attack to neutral, but this character does not have a good defense and requires the players to do resets, due to which it is ranked in the D Tier.

Orchid

The last character in the killer instinct tier list is Orchid which requires a lot of effort to go closer to the opponents and is a rush-down character in the game. The Instinct mode of this character gives the player good control because of the pokes of the character and unique skill called fire cat which allows the player to cover gaps with ease. This character is considered to have the fastest speed in the game and is only suitable for the players who like playing hard knockdown and assisting in mixups.

Killer Instinct on SNES: Bonus

Killer Instinct was released as a port to the original game on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994 after being released for arcades. At that time the game had a total of eleven characters.

To rank these characters from the best to worst in different tiers a killer instinct snes tier list is created to help the players choose the best character amongst all which suits them and helps them win the battles. The tier list is given below in the form of a table.

About Killer Instinct 

Killer Instinct is considered one of the best fighting video games that are inspired by the likes of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. However, there are several features that distinguish killer instinct from other games. Some of the best characters in our tier list have the deadliest moves and attacks in Killer Instinct that are extremely satisfying to perform. 

Double Energy Bars 

There is a Double Energy Bar and instead of winning two rounds, the players will have to fight until both energy bars are completely depleted. 

 Automatic Combos 

The game has Automatic Combos that allows you to press a single button to perform a combo. Furthermore, you can set the combo yourself by selecting a specific input or a special move. 

 No Mercy Moves 

Like the fatalities in Mortal Kombat, killer instant uses a mechanism called the No Mercy move or the Danger Move in later revisions. These moves allow you to finish the enemy by using a killer attack. Moreover, you can use the No Mercy Moves at the end of any combo. this is when the life bar of the enemy will flash red and you’ll know that the second bar of energy is going to be depleted.  

 Instinct Mode 

Another great addition that sets Killer Instinct apart from the rest of the games is the Instinct Mode. When activated, the player will take incoming damage or perform a series of Combo Breakers so that the gauge of Instinct Mode will fill up. When the indicator is full, the player can use it to get a unique bonus. For instance, if you are playing as Jago, you will get the Endokuken projectiles that will drain the life out of the enemy. If you are playing as Black Orchid, you can summon fire cats that will attack your enemy. 

Final Verdict

This tier list has ranked all the characters of the killer instinct and its remake from best to worst in different tiers for the players to choose the character which suits them and is the best for them. This tier list is based on our research, experience, and gameplay.

During our research on every character, the main points we took into notice were the stats, performance, unique skills, and abilities. We know that some of the audience might not agree on how we have ranked the characters in one tier or the other but as we know ranking varies from person to person and is very subjective.

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