ismail ross's List: Mortal Kombat -Ermac

• Official Games

   

  [edit] Introduced in Mortal Kombat

   

  Johnny Cage
   Kano
   Liu Kang
   Raiden
   Scorpion
   Sonya Blade
   Sub-Zero
   Reptile
   Goro
   Shang Tsung

• Introduced in Mortal Kombat II

   

  Baraka
   Jax Briggs
   Kitana
   Kung Lao
   Mileena
   Sub-Zero
   Shao Kahn
   Jade
   Kintaro
   Noob Saibot
   Smoke

• Introduced in Mortal Kombat 3 and updates

   

  Chameleon
   Cyrax
   Ermac
   Kabal
   Khameleon
   Motaro
   Nightwolf
   Rain
   Sektor
   Sheeva
   Sindel
   Stryker

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•    

  Ermac

   

   

  A telekinetic ninja created from souls, Ermac was originally a slave of Shao Khan. Due to the fact that he is comprised of many souls, he speaks in plural, referring to himself as "we" (essentially the Venom of the Mortal Kombat universe). After gaining freedom in Mortal Kombat: Deception, Ermac switches to the side of good in order to repent for his past misdeeds. Many of his moves involve the use of teleportation and telekinesis, making him a very lethal foe.

   

     

    

            

• In the original arcade versions of Mortal Kombat, there was a listing in the audit menu for "ERMACS". In Revision 3.0, it was listed directly underneath "Reptile Battles," giving the appearance that they were grouped together. It was believed to reference a character the same way "Reptile Battles" does, leading people to believe that Ermac was also a secret character. The Ermac listing is actually a shortening of the term "Error Macro".
   
   Hence, Ermac was created by the MK Team because of fan mythology. It was said that by overplaying the Sega version of Mortal Kombat with Scorpion, the screen would eventually flash an alert message on the screen. The message read "Error Macro" and it would turn Scorpion's yellow outfit red. However, this was proven to be completely false. Despite repeated references that tried to inform the player that Ermac did not exist, the MK Team eventually decided to create him and include him in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.
  

•  Ermac is an entity composed of legions of dead souls created by Shao Kahn, most likely out of souls he had previously taken. Ermac has a variety of telekenetic powers which allows him to manipulate every aspect of living and non-living objects with his mind. In addition, he is able to manipulate soul energy because of his composition, which he uses in the form of both levitation and firing projectile attacks. Ermac's one weakness is the Netherrealm itself. Since he is a being created by magic, his powers would decrease over time the longer he stays in that realm, weakening the bond holding the souls together and threatening his very existence. 

  Ermac served as one of Shao Kahn's greatest warriors, participating in the invasion of Earthrealm (as recounted in Mortal Kombat 3). 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 the blind swordsman 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 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 and was not only in need of another ally, but assistance in freeing his enslaved comrades. Ermac was eager to help Liu Kang, as this was an opportunity to help him atone for the evil he had committed in Shao Kahn's name. Ermac decided to help Liu Kang and the two would set out to free Liu's allies from Onaga's control. They are eventually successful in their pursuit. On one mission for Shao Kahn in the Netherrealm, Ermac became acquainted with Shujinko. He was also assaulted by  Ashrah who believed him to be a demon.

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• The “ninja”-style characters remain some of the most popular, even among the most casual observers of Mortal Kombat. Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Kitana and other masked assassins have all made their mark with unique movesets and intertwining backstories. One such ninja in particular, Ermac, wasn’t even meant to exist, but thanks to a rare glitch found in early installments of the game, ended up becoming a real character. Early on, developers cut production cost and memory usage by using one actor to portray several ninjas, placing red fabric on their suit as guideline to later switch the color of characters (called a “palette swap”) using the computer. The red would be replaced with other colors to realize specific characters, such as blue for Sub-Zero and green for Reptile. However, after prolonged play sessions, a glitch would sometimes occur during a match, causing whatever ninja character on-screen to revert to the original red and display the message “Er Mac”, for “Error Macro”. Rumors spread this was a secret character with his own move set, but in truth, he was only a visual glitch. However, the designers behind MK would make up for the glitch by fleshing out Ermac as a real character in 1995, with the appropriate backstory to boot: he is the accumulation of souls belonging to fallen warriors. The female version of this glitch, far more rare but equally as fabled, became Skarlet in the recent 2011 reboot “Mortal Kombat”.

• “Ermac Who?” In the original Mortal Kombat for the arcade, having a chance to see the game’s audit menu will show a list of various commands, one of them called ‘Ermacs’ which was right under ‘Reptile Battles’. Whilst Ermac simply stood for ‘Error Macros’, something which would help stop the game from crashing, this didn’t keep fans from thinking that, like Reptile, this was another unlockable character. What further perpetuated this myth was a letter sent by a fan to Electronic Gaming Monthly claiming he had found a way to unlock Ermac with images provided showing him to be a red ninja, similar in appearance to Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Reptile. Eventually the developers had their own fun with the rumours by including cryptic messages in later games until eventually making Ermac an official part of the series roster.