Fatalities

A fatality is the brutal finishing blow delivered at the end of a duel. A fatality is intended to kill and dismember the opponent, humiliating and destroying them totally. Although killing blows are a prominent feature of the Samurai Shodown series, they are not featured at all in Tenka. Fatalities vary from game to game, and character to character. Women could not be killed in 3 and 4, but everybody could be killed in 5, which introduced personalized killing moves called Zetsumei-Ougi (near-death secret).

Samurai Shodown, Samurai Shodown 2: Haohmaru's Journey to Hell, and Samurai Shodown 3: Blades of Blood
Killing another fighter in the first few games was as easy as striking them hard enough when their life meters were empty. A powerful strike would cut them apart, causing them to scream and die.
 * Finishing off a standing opponent would cut open their throat or chest causing blood to start gushing out, drenching you. They would gasp their last words before falling to their knees, then falling face-down, dead.
 * Finishing off a standing opponent would cause the attack to cut clean through their body. The attack would kill them, causing them to split in half.
 * Haohmaru: Cut diagonally from his right shoulder to left hip.
 * Nakoruru: Cut diagonally from right armpit to left side of her neck.
 * Ukyo: Cut diagonally from right shoulder to left hip.
 * Genjuro: Cut horizontally across chest.
 * Hanzo: Cut diagonally from right shoulder to left side of chest.
 * Galford: Cut diagonally from right side of neck to left hip
 * Earthquake: Cut horizontally through stomach. Falls backwards as legs spread apart.
 * Kyoshiro: Cut horizontally.
 * Killing an enemy mid-air slices them in half, cause the pieces of their body to scatter across the battlefield. In the first two games, they drop personal possessions worth bonus points.
 * Haohmaru: drops gold coins
 * Nakoruru: drops sakura flowers
 * Ukyo: drops extra pairs of tabi socks
 * Genjuro: drops a deck of hanafuda cards
 * Hanzo: drops shurikens
 * Galford: drops american flip flops
 * Earthquake: drops a gold bars
 * Wan-Fu: drops chinese coins
 * Nicotine:  drops prayer beads
 * Cham-Cham: drops bananas
 * Sieger: drops bullets
 * Charlotte: drops roses
 * Gen-an: drops human bones
 * Kyoshiro: drops tessen fans
 * Jubei: drops dango
 * Kuroko: drops human hearts(?)
 * Mizuki: drops severed heads of defeated opponents

Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa's Revenge
There are two kinds of fatalities. First are simple finishing blows that will kill an opponent: Secondly, each character can execute the enemy if they finish the opponent within 20 seconds in the final round:
 * Killing an opponent in mid-air will cut them in half. They will go flying slowly before their body rips in half, spraying blood everywhere. Both halves will bounce along the ground briefly, splashing more blood.
 * A piercing blow will slit their throat. A geyser of blood will shoot out, and the weakened opponent will scream as they collapse to the ground, dead.
 * A crushing blow will shatter their bones, causing the opponent to vomit up blood before dying and collapsing face first in a pool of their own gore.
 * An upward slashing attack will cause the opponent to freeze, scream, and bleed profusely. After standing still for a second, having been cut in half at the waist, their torso will slide off of their legs, which will then drop to it's knees and fall to the ground.
 * A powerful downward slice will cause a horrific explosion of gore, as the opponent seizes up, moments before ripping in half from head to groin. Both halves of their corpse will hit the ground as your samurai is completely drenched in blood.
 * Haohmaru: slashes upwards, jumping above the enemy, spinning around in mid-air, bringing his sword crashing down through the enemy, violently killing them, as they are cut in half.
 * Nakoruru: Jumps at the opponent, impaling them on her sword. She aims for the heart, and kicks them to the ground, watching as they bleed to death.
 * Kazuki: Launches a fireball at the opponent. It explodes, killing them and burning their remains.
 * Galford: Strikes the opponent with an electrically charged katana, tearing them in half vertically.
 * Basara: Strangles his opponent as he drags them into the shadows. Blood and gore erupt from the darkness, and the opponents remains vanish...
 * Genjuro: Charges through the enemy, ripping them in half vertically with brute strength.
 * Sogetsu: Slices up the enemy and phases through them as a wave of water, washing away all the blood from his attack. The opponent is bloodlessly split in half.
 * Ukyo: Unleashes secret Iaido techniques in a flurry of swordstrokes before reseathing his sword. He recites a haiku as the opponent drops to their knees and is cut in half.
 * Hanzo: Tackles the enemy, stuffing explosives into their clothes. The enemy explodes into several pieces as Hanzo escapes.
 * Jubei: An expertly aimed swing of his sword cuts the opponent in two before they can react
 * Amakusa: Pulverizes the opponent with an orb of energy that eventually explodes in their face killing them.
 * Charlotte: Repeatedly stabs the enemy, then their corpse drops to the floor in a bloody heap.
 * Rimururu: Drops a huge pile of ice onto the foe, smashing them into a bloody pulp.
 * Shizumaru: Slashes upward with his umbrella, popping it open to shield himself from the blood and organs that burst from his opponent when they split in half.
 * Kyoshiro: Spins violently in circles with his naginata, then collides with the opponent, liquefying them.
 * Gaira: Exorcises the evil from his opponent with his prayer beads and meditates causing the opponent to explode.
 * Tam-Tam: Twirls his sabre like a pinwheel and mows through the opponent's upper body.
 * Zankuro: Unleashes his incredible power, and cleaves the enemy in half, vertically.

Samurai Shodown V Special
Samurai Shodown 5 is the first game in the Samurai Shodown series in which fatalities can be inflicted on the female characters. Before 5, the girls were immune to fatalities, and being defeated with fatal attacks simply caused them to be knocked out. However, from Samurai Shodown 5 onward, all the female characters are now vulnerable to fatalities and can be killed, and have been given all their own death screams and animations.

In addition to generic killing blows, this title introduced Zetsumei-Ougi, or Near-Death Secrets, which, when executed, allow a samurai to instantly and violently kill their opponent, ending the duel immediately.
 * Haohmaru: Charges up his sword, then cuts through the enemy, cutting them in half from shoulder to waist. Both halves of the enemy's corpse are sent flying off-screen.
 * Nakoruru: Throws the opponent and brings them down to the ground remaining on top of them, then stabs them in the heart.
 * Hanzo: Breaks his opponent's arms, legs, ribs, then breaks open their skull.
 * Galford: He sics poppy on the foe, who proceeds to tear through them, ripping them in half from head to groin.
 * Ukyo: Dashes into the enemy, and runs circles around them striking them with iaijutsu kata. He retreats and recites a haiku as the opponent bleeds out and their upper body slides off the still-standing corpse.
 * Kyoshiro: He and Kuroko perform an Odori fan dance which culminates with the enemy being killed by an explosion backstage.
 * Jubei: Does a series of quick sword strikes, ending with a double horizontal cut and a Tsunami Sabre. The opponent is split in four pieces with the lower body remaining split on the ground.
 * Charlotte: Does a series of quick strikes, a fully charged Tri-Slash and ending with a Power Gradiation that splits the opponent vertically.
 * Tam-Tam: Summons his god and sacrifices his foe to it. After the opponent is carried off, a personal possession will fall from the sky. Cham Cham will also appear and celebrate with him.
 * Genjuro: He plays several hands of Hanafuda, each resulting in the enemy being cut apart, with his final hand cutting them in half diagonally.
 * Shizumaru: An image of Zankuro will appear as Shizumaru whiffs an attack and faceplants. The illusion will then come down with a powerful slash, splitting the enemy vertically. After the illusion disappears, Shizumaru will rise and be shocked at what just happened.
 * Rimururu: Freezes the enemy then manifests a giant ice mallet that she uses to attack. This Zetsumei Ougi actually doesn't result in a graphic death but a regular KO.
 * Basara: Drags the foe into the shadows. Geysers of blood spray out before their severed head rolls back onto the battlefield.
 * Gaira: Turns the enemy to stone and shatters their remains.
 * Kazuki: Uses a kamikaze attack to destroy the enemy in a horrible explosion.
 * Sogetsu: Clones himself, then slices the opponent in half at the waist before teleporting away.
 * Yoshitora: Performs a series of quick attacks with all of his swords before finishing with one final attack with his largest sword. This Zetsumei Ougi actually doesn't result in a graphic death but a regular KO.
 * Mina: Fires hundreds of arrows at the opponent and fires three more that cause an explosion, blowing off the upper half of the opponent's body.
 * Yunfei: Tears out the enemy's soul, and cuts it in half.
 * Kusaregedo: Impales the enemy on his arm then devours them alive. He'll vomit up bloodied clothing afterward. If his opponent was Mina, he will spit out her bra and panties after devouring her.
 * Rasetsumaru: Punches a hole in the opponent's chest, tears out their beating heart and crushes it, causing the opponent to fall. He will also lick the blood off his face.
 * Rera: A series of attacks between herself and Shikuru that ends with them slashing through the enemy, cutting them diagonally in mid air.
 * Enja: Incinerates the opponent.
 * Suija: The opponent is lifted into the air. Screaming, ripping and tearing is heard, then their blood rains down as Suija leans back and bathes in it.
 * Amakusa: Throws his orb at the enemy, puncturing large holes in their body, then destroys any remains.
 * Zankuro: Unleashes a huge energy blast that burns up the foe, leaving only their feet or sandals behind.
 * Gaoh: Transforms and impales the opponent on his helmet, a large lightning bolt strikes causing an explosion that sends the opponent's limbs flying.
 * Mizuki: After levitating the opponent and using a series of attacks controlled by her finger, she swings her energized Gohei, waving it over the opponent causing their head to explode.

Samurai Shodown: Edge of Destiny
Edge of Destiny allows for rival samurai to be butchered in 3D, however, personalized executions are dropped in favor of generic butchering and random dismemberment.
 * If an opponent is beheaded, the head will roll off their shoulders while the body stumbles forward or backward and slowly collapses.
 * If an opponents arm is cut off, they will roll around in agony, clutching the stump while they bleed out. If the attack was strong enough, the opponents arm may be attached to the weapon when it lands
 * When cut in half, the opponents torso will flop onto the ground while the legs stumble forward and crash to the ground.
 * If impaled on a weapon, they will clutch at it, spewing blood, before falling backwards.
 * If their stomach is cut open, they will lurch forward and vomit blood before falling into it face first.
 * If they're sliced open diagonally, they'll reach out in futility before suddenly collapsing.