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Place of Origin Outworld (Made of souls from multiple realms)
Appearances UMK3
MKT
MKA
MK: Deception
MK: Shaolin Monks
MK: Armageddon
Fighting styles Hua Chuan
Choy Lee Fut(MK , MK:A)
Weapons Axe(MK, MK:A)
Alignment Good
Portrayers John Turk (UMK3, MKT)
John Medlen (second film)
Ermac is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series.
About Ermac
Making his official debut in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Ermac has been a controversial and mysterious character in the Mortal Kombat series, whose existence was rumored since its inception. It is now clear that Ermac 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" or "us", instead of "I" or "me." 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 souls, weakening him dramatically while there.
He made his return in Mortal Kombat: Deception, where he was freed from Shao Kahn's grip by the blind swordsman, Kenshi. He was not only free to choose his own destiny, but he also decided to become a force of good, partly in guilt of his past evils. To prove this, he decides to help Liu Kang in his own quest.
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, and was assaulted by Ashrah, who believed him to be a demon.
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.
Possible future
Ermac decided to help Liu Kang, and the two would set out to free Kang's allies (Jax, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Kitana and Kung Lao) from Onaga's control. Ermac's ending depicts them as successful, but whether they were or not is unclear at the present time. With their immenent return in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, where they are scheduled to make a reappearance, more facts will be revealed.
Memorable moves
Teleport Punch: Just like Scorpion, Ermac would vanish in a cloud of fire and reappear behind his opponent punching them. (UMK3, MKT)
Air Teleport Punch: Ermac could do his move in the air. (UMK3, MKT)
Telekinetic Slam: Using his telekinetic powers, Ermac would lift up and slam the opponent hard on the ground allowing for a combo. (UMK3, MKT, MKD, MKA)
Telekinetic Throw: Using his powers yet again, Ermac would throw his opponent on the ground behind him. (MKD, MKA)
Hado-Energy: Ermac sends a green fireball slithering at his opponent. (UMK3, MKT, MKD, MKA)
Mystic Float: Ermac uses his telekenetic powers to take flight. (MKD, MKA)
Mystic Bomb (when using mystic float): Ermac hits the ground with extreme force causing a shockwave (unblockable, yet avoidable by jumping in the air during impact). (MKD, MKA)
Dive Kick (when using mystic float): Ermac executes a diving kick. (MKD, MKA)
Hado-Bomb: Ermac glows and floats with being surrounded by green fireballs then he causes an explosion, not affecting him but his opponent. (MKSM)
Fatalities
Uppercut From Hell: Ermac performs an uppercut that knocks his opponent's head off their shoulders. (UMK3, MKT)
Telekinetic Massacre: Ermac repeatedly telekinetically slams the opponent over and over until they explode. (UMK3, MKT, MKD)
Telekinetic Compactor: Using his telekinetic powers he crushes the opponent inward, then stretches them out horizontally until they snap. (MKD)
Other finishers
Friendship: He turns his opponent into a rabbit. (MKT)
Animality: Turning into a frog he swallows his opponent whole. (MKT)
Headbanger: As a Hara-Kiri, he repeatedly slams his head into the floor until his head breaks off. (MKD)
Movie appearance
Ermac in Mortal Kombat: AnnihilationIn the movie Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Ermac (played by John Medlen) was one of Shao Kahn's generals. Ermac was portrayed as a cunning and mostly quiet character, though he did not hesitate at the opportunity for a power grab after the apparent death of Rain. However, the position of general was awarded to Sindel. Ermac survived until the final confrontation with the Earthrealm warriors, where he did battle with Sonya Blade and Jax. Noob Saibot spawns from Ermac's body during the fight to assist him, though both are ultimately defeated.
TV appearance
In the animated series, Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, Ermac had a one-episode appearance in which 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. Ermac's appearance in this episode was as a normal human who had an allegiance to Shao Kahn, and even revealed a goatee and receding hairline when he unmasked.
Trivia
In the first few versions of Mortal Kombat 1, there was an option in the audit menu for "ERMACS" which was rumored to be a counter which kept track of how many times its usage was activated. This, along with "Kano Transformations" in MKII, Sean Attacks, and Johnny Cage Transformations in MK3, were jokes intentionally put in to create mystery. This lead to people assuming that ERMAC was a character that could be fought, much like Reptile since it is located directly under "Reptile Battles" on the list. Electronic Gaming Monthly published a photo of what was claimed to be Ermac.[1] However, Ermac, ErMac, ERMACS, Error Macro, Error Machine, and Red Scorpion never occurred in any version of MK1. The entire concept was fan-based. This was then cemented by EGM magazine, which published not only a picture of "ERMAC" in MK1, but along with it, an in-game storyline similar to that of Reptile, by performing a specific method of fighting to find him. The player in question is "Tony Casey", who (possibly not even a real person) claimed to have been given the chance to fight Ermac in the game and even received messages/tips from him.
This is the only instance in the history of Mortal Kombat where evidence of a rumor presented under such false pretenses, led to the creation of an actual character. His storyline is even based off his own rumor as well, and later changed to become a legit character in Mortal Kombat Trilogy. The way EGM presents this character is as if it was intentionally put in the game to be found. None of Ermac's raw data can be found in any romset of MK1. The rumored method of finding Ermac spanned several ways, with the most popular word of mouth method being a double flawless, with a fatality, using all punches, no blocking, and doing a Fatality in front of your statue on the Warrior Shrine stage, and finally recognized by the method of fighting him in Shaolin Monks.[2] This is very possible to reproduce in MK1 but does not work. There is also no naturally occurring default character palette that would provide a full swap for and Ermac character.
The other argument is that it was a glitch, based off the system Midway Games introduced to correct errors that often occurred in Smash TV, which boasted the most on screen sprites of any arcade game. The most concurring idea of the ERMACS system brought you to a "secret" stage that merely reset the game on the fly, and allowed you to continue without the entire machine resetting. ERMACS was never implemented in MK1 because there was no reason to. The game can still be reset and crashed, and the ERMACS counter will never increase. The rumor was, "a billion to one chance in playing MK1, Scorpion would appear in a red costume." The only palette that Ermac could have possibly stumbled upon was the red palette for blood, which is three colors, and would make the character a blotchy mess of red hues, not a solid character with an intended palette, as every single person who has claimed it to be. This also never happened to anyone, as this rumor developed after the EGM publication.
The MK crew denied that he existed in Mortal Kombat II with one of the jumbled messages that appeared at the bottom of the screen after beating the game: CEAMR ODSE NTO EXITS (Ermac does not exist), and the occasional appearence of the secret character Jade with the message "Ermac Who?". The numerous rumors of his existence led to his debut as an official character in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.
Ermac is the first Mortal Kombat character to use the power of telekinesis.
Because he had taught Kenshi the art of telekinesis, it was believed that he was going to be Kenshi's mentor and trainer. This concept was to give him a rather "human" look, but because Ermac is well known to the fans as a ninja, the concept of giving him a human look was dropped (it was also said that his concept made him look too wealthy as well). Also, being Kenshi's mentor didn't make sense as Kenshi is considered to be a skillful and talented warrior himself, so that concept was dropped also. However, Kenshi and Ermac remain as comrades-in-arms.
In UMK3, he shared the uppercut fatality with Human Smoke.
In Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, one Game Over message reads, "Ask Ermac for Help". However, the only encounter with Ermac in the game involves fighting and killing him. The message may be a reference to his storyline in Mortal Kombat: Deception, in which Liu Kang's ghost seeks Ermac for help with reclaiming his body and defeating Onaga as well as freeing his friends, the Earth warriors.
His character model was originally just a palette swap of Scorpion with different moves until Mortal Kombat: Deception. Around the time of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, MK creators made the choice to give all the ninjas their own look and identity.
Ermac's appearance at the Warriors Shrine (a stage in the first Mortal Kombat) in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks can be taken as a sort of inside joke, as he was rumored to be in the first Mortal Kombat game (see above). Also, he takes the place of the Scorpion statue for who he is a palette swap of.
In his Deception ending, he is described by Shujinko as being capable of handling Kung Lao, Sonya, Kitana, Jax, and Johnny Cage all by himself (with relative ease). | |
