I don't think there's an official list made, but off the top of my head, here's a list of characters who died in between games (I mean dead, not hiding or thought to have been killed or saved from the brink of death, not retcons, and not characters deaths done before MK Mythologies, like Sindel who died outside of the whole beginning of the series).
Scorpion (MK Mythologies, killed by Sub-Zero)
Sub-Zero (killed by Scorpion after Liu Kang defeated Goro, and Shang Tsung sent his warriors to kill off the surviving Earthrealm heroes [confirmed in the official MK2 comic])
Mileena (killed by Kitana in MK2, resurrected by Shao Kahn)
Motaro (killed by Sheeva as she rescued Kano from Kahn's dungeon to have him join her in killing Shao Kahn)
Sheeva (killed by Shao Kahn after Kano betrays her plot to Kahn)
Liu Kang (killed by Shang Tsung and Quan Chi in DA)
Hsu Hao (killed by Jax in DA before the ultimate battle between the heroes and the villains)
Johnny Cage (killed in battle against Quan Chi and Shang Tsung and the Undefeatable Army and Tarkata warriors)
Sonya Blade (see above)
Jackson "Jax" Briggs (see above)
Kitana (see above)
Kung Lao (see above)
Shang Tsung (killed when Raiden self-destructed against Onaga)
Mavado (killed by Kabal in retribution for almost being killed by Mavado).
Everyone else is not really explained/was retconned/happened in a non-canon ending/non-canon biography.

I agree with the above statements, but I guess it all can be a bit confusing when you think about it...lolol...I mean Johnny Cage had a tombstone in MK3 and he was back for MK4...

The only character that showed signs of actually being killed (in the video games) was Liu Kang returning as a zombie. Obviously he's confirmed dead...lolol...

As it was once said in an interview with one of the MK creators, "Nobody ever really dies in a Mortal Kombat game!"...hmmmm...interesting thought...lol

I guess it all depends on who's storyline you follow throughout the games. You beat it with one guy, somebody dies. You beat it with another guy, somebody else dies....go figure...

If I remember right, Kano died in MK3 when Sonya tossed him off a highrise. He was found by Motaro and resurrected to continue serving Shao Kahn.

Not quite. From Kano's MK:DA Konquest:

"High atop a skyscraper, Kano faced off against Special Forces agent Sonya Blade during Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm. Kano had kicked Sonya into one of the stone gargoyles on the roof of the skyscraper.

"Sonya was on her knees, defeated. Kano grabbed a lock of her hair in his fist, and prepared to finish her. Suddenly, the wench sprung a leg grab flip attack, and sent Kano over the side to the street below.

"Kano lay severely injured, and would surely have perished had Motaro not seen the fight. The Centaur brought Kano back to Shao Kahn's fortress and revived him with magic.

"Although Motaro had rescued Kano, it was merely to imprison him so he could later face the wrath of Shao Kahn for his failure to defeat Sonya."


Motaro's kind of a jackass going through all that trouble over Kano, but that's what happened.

alright. Well then ewhat happened to kano in during the MKDA era? i never really heard anythign about him.

Sverved around as Kahn's general for a time until the DA came along. Right after murdering the clone of Kahn he offered the DA his services.