Ermac

This article is about the Mortal Kombat character. For the Energy Risk Management Association of Canada, see Ermac association.

Ermac
Mortal Kombat series character
File:Mkd ermac.jpg
First game	Mortal Kombat 1 (1992)

Ermac is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series.

About Ermac

Ermac is the first MK character to use the power of telekinesis. Making his official debut in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, he has been a controversial and mysterious character in the series canon, as his existence was rumored since its inception. He is an amalgam of many souls destroyed in Outworld's wars who came to be controlled by Shao Kahn and his Shadow Priests. Because of this, he commonly refers to himself as "we," "us," and "our" instead of "I," "me," and "my." Due to the sheer concentration of souls within Ermac, he possesses the gift of telekinesis and can travel to different realms. However, the depths of Netherealm drain his powers, and he is weakened dramatically while there.

He made his return in Mortal Kombat: Deception, where he was freed from Shao Kahn's control by the blind swordsman Kenshi and decided to become a force of good, partly out of guilt for his past evils. He also repaid his debt to Kenshi by helping to awaken his dormant telekinetic powers. To prove that he had turned to the side of good, he decided to help Liu Kang free the souls of his friends from the control of the Dragon King, Onaga.

Storyline

Ermac is an entity composed of legions of dead souls created by Shao Kahn, most likely out of souls he had previously taken. On one mission for Shao Kahn in the Netherealm, Ermac became acquainted with Shujinko. He was also assaulted by Ashrah, who erroneously believed him to be a demon.

Ermac served as one of Shao Kahn's greatest warriors, taking even more souls for his collection, participating in the invasion of Earthrealm. However, after Shao Kahn's defeat and subsequent loss of power, Ermac remained under Kahn's control and wandered Outworld without instructions. During the events of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, the wandering Ermac was found by Kenshi and was freed from Kahn's control. To show his gratitude, Ermac taught Kenshi the art of telekinesis.

Ermac's newfound freedom meant he was also free to choose his own destiny. He decided to repent for his earlier ways and became a force for good. After making this decision, he met a warrior soul who, like Kenshi, understood his suffering. This warrior soul was that of Liu Kang, who was not only in need of another ally, but also assistance in freeing his enslaved comrades. Seizing the opportunity to atone for the evil he had committed in Kahn's name, Ermac decided to help Liu Kang, and the pair successfully freed Liu's allies (Jax, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Kitana, and Kung Lao) from Onaga's control. In his MK: Deception ending, he is described by Shujinko as being capable of battling all five by himself with relative ease.

In Ermac's Mortal Kombat: Armageddon ending, it is said that after he defeats Blaze, the many souls contained within Ermac are released and form new bodies. They are all connected to each other mentally in a collective conscience, now making Ermac no longer just a fusion of souls, but an army.

Appearances in other media

Film

File:ErmacMKIIIRevolutio.jpg

John Medlen as Ermac in Mortal
Kombat: Annihilation

Ermac appeared in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, and was played by John Medlen. He served as one of Shao Kahn's generals, though he was never identified by name. Noob Saibot spawned from Ermac's body during the latter's fight with Sonya near the end of the film.

Television

Ermac appeared in the last two episodes of the 1996 animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm. In the twelfth episode, he and his army attempted to use a non-canon female ninja, Ruby, to defeat Jax and to lure the other warriors to their doom. Ruby proved to be true to her friends on the side of good, however, and Ermac's forces were defeated. He returned in the series finale as part of an attempt to stop Kitana's (unsuccessful) overthrow of Kahn from the Outworld throne. Ermac's appearance in both episodes was as a normal human who had an allegiance to Kahn. He revealed a goatee and receding hairline when he unmasked, with his only inhuman feature being his solid white eyes.

Character development

File:Mkla1.png

The diagnostics screen of the
first Mortal Kombat, which originated the Ermac rumor

Ermac's existence has been a subject of controversy that dates back to the beginning of the MK franchise. "Ermac" is a shortening of the term "Error Macro," which is referenced in a hidden reversed message in MK: Deception's Konquest mode, which stated, "It is a little known fact that 'Ermac' is short for 'Error Macro.' "

On the diagnostics screen of the first arcade version of Mortal Kombat, dated August 1992, there was a listing in the audit menu for "ERMACS". It was listed underneath "Reptile Battles" in the third revision, giving the impression that they were grouped together while leading players to believe that Ermac was an additional hidden character. In February 1993, Midway removed the "ERMACS" altogether from the fourth chip upgrade in an attempt to squash any rumors.

Eight months later, however, Electronic Gaming Monthly published a photograph in its October issue along with a letter from a reader named Tony Casey, who alleged that he had actually played against Ermac and then taken a Polaroid of the screen as evidence. EGM was subsequently besieged with mail from other readers providing varying instructions on how to access the character. The incident was later certified as a hoax perpetrated by the magazine, with the photograph actually being a doctored image of Scorpion from the Super Nintendo version of the game. Ermac never appeared in any version of MK, and there was also no naturally occurring default character palette that would have provided a full palette swap for the character.

Midway continued to deny Ermac's existence in Mortal Kombat II, by way of one of the scrambled messages that appeared at the bottom of the screen after beating the game: CEAMR ODSE NTO EXITS (an anagram of "Ermac does not exist"), while hidden character Jade randomly appeared right before a match with the message "Ermac Who?" He was nonetheless mentioned in a 1994 issue of Game Players in a sidebar speculating about possible hidden characters in the newly-released home versions of NBA Jam, though his name was wrongly interpreted therein as "Rim-Rack." The persistent speculation finally culminated in his playable debut the next year in UMK3 as a palette-swapped ninja sporting telekinetic powers.

After appearing in Mortal Kombat Trilogy in 1996, and despite playing a minor role in the MK:DA storyline, Ermac was not selectable again until 2004's MK: Deception, in which he was given his own distinctive identity and backstory. In an interview on Ermac's MK: Armageddon trading card, MK co-creator Ed Boon labeled Ermac's Telekinetic Slam (malapropistically called the "Teleport Slam") as one of his favorite moves in the entire series.