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Ermac appears in [[DC Comics]]' ''[[Mortal Kombat X: Blood Ties]]''.<ref>{{cite comic|title=Mortal Kombat X: Blood Ties |writer=Shawn Kittelsen |volume=1 |issue=1 |date=April 14, 2015 |publisher=[[DC Comics]] |id={{ISBN|1401257089}}}}</ref>
Ermac appears in [[DC Comics]]' ''[[Mortal Kombat X: Blood Ties]]''.<ref>{{cite comic|title=Mortal Kombat X: Blood Ties |writer=Shawn Kittelsen |volume=1 |issue=1 |date=April 14, 2015 |publisher=[[DC Comics]] |id={{ISBN|1401257089}}}}</ref>


Ermac received an action figure as part of a [[Jazwares]] set,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.destructoid.com/cyborgs-ninjas-dominate-jazwares-new-mortal-kombat-toys/|title=Cyborgs, ninjas dominate Jazware's new Mortal Kombat toys|first=Nick|last=Chester|work=[[Destructoid]]|publisher=[[Gamurs]]|date=2011|accessdate=October 25, 2022|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025222108/https://www.destructoid.com/cyborgs-ninjas-dominate-jazwares-new-mortal-kombat-toys/|archivedate=October 25, 2022}}</ref> and a life-sized [[standee]] from Advanced Graphics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://advancedgraphics.com/product/ermac/|title=Ermac 70" cardboard cutout|work=Advanced Graphics|date=2011|access-date=December 18, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222051042/http://advancedgraphics.com/product/ermac/|archive-date=February 22, 2014}}</ref> and a limited edition eighteen-inch [[Artificial stone|polystone]] statue from Syco Collectibles<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/12/06/mortal-kombats-deadly-statues|title=Mortal Kombat's Deadly Statues|first=David|last=McCutcheon|work=[[IGN]]|publisher=[[Ziff Davis]]|date=December 6, 2011|access-date=February 25, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320044833/http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/12/06/mortal-kombats-deadly-statues|archive-date=March 20, 2014}}</ref>
Ermac received an action figure as part of a [[Jazwares]] set,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.destructoid.com/cyborgs-ninjas-dominate-jazwares-new-mortal-kombat-toys/|title=Cyborgs, ninjas dominate Jazware's new Mortal Kombat toys|first=Nick|last=Chester|work=[[Destructoid]]|publisher=[[Gamurs]]|date=2011|accessdate=October 25, 2022|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025222108/https://www.destructoid.com/cyborgs-ninjas-dominate-jazwares-new-mortal-kombat-toys/|archivedate=October 25, 2022}}</ref> a life-sized [[standee]] from Advanced Graphics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://advancedgraphics.com/product/ermac/|title=Ermac 70" cardboard cutout|work=Advanced Graphics|date=2011|access-date=December 18, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222051042/http://advancedgraphics.com/product/ermac/|archive-date=February 22, 2014}}</ref> and a limited edition eighteen-inch [[Artificial stone|polystone]] statue from Syco Collectibles<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/12/06/mortal-kombats-deadly-statues|title=Mortal Kombat's Deadly Statues|first=David|last=McCutcheon|work=[[IGN]]|publisher=[[Ziff Davis]]|date=December 6, 2011|access-date=February 25, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320044833/http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/12/06/mortal-kombats-deadly-statues|archive-date=March 20, 2014}}</ref>


==Reception==
==Reception==

Revision as of 12:45, 13 April 2024

Ermac
Mortal Kombat character
Ermac in Mortal Kombat 1 (2023)
First appearanceUltimate Mortal Kombat 3 (1995)[1]
Created byEd Boon
John Tobias
Designed byJohn Tobias (UMK3)[2]
Steve Beran (MKD)[3]
Cy Mandua (MK2011)[4]
Justin Murray (MKX)[5]
Portrayed byJohn Medlen (film)[6]
Kim Do Nguyen (web series)[7]
Voiced byMichael McConnohie (MK2011)[4]
Jamieson Price (2015-present)[8]
Motion captureJohn Turk (UMK3)[2]
In-universe information
SpeciesFusion of souls
OriginOutworld

Ermac is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise by Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios. Debuting as an unlockable character in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (1995), he is an amalgam of the souls of deceased warriors and possesses telekinetic abilities.

The character originated from rumors alleging he appeared in the original 1992 game as a glitch, which were perpetuated by video game magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM). His name was derived from a diagnostics menu in the first game that displayed the text "error macro" as ERMACS. Although the rumors were false, growing interest led to him becoming an official playable character.

Ermac has additionally appeared in alternate series media including the animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm and the web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy. He has received positive reception for his special abilities, character development, and Fatality finishing moves, while his origins are considered among the most memorable legends of video gaming.

History and conception

In the diagnostics menu of the 1992 original Mortal Kombat game, an audits screen[note 1] displayed a macro created by Mortal Kombat co-creator and programmer Ed Boon in order to log coding errors.[9] This practice had been employed by series developer Midway Games since their 1990 arcade release Smash TV.[10] It was spelled as ERMACS—a pluralized contraction of error macro—as in the number of times the program would execute.[11] In early revisions of the game, it appeared on the audits screen beneath a counter titled "Shang Tsung Beaten" (in reference to the game's final boss fight), but after Boon added the hidden character Reptile to the third revision,[12] ERMACS was listed on the menu below the counters "Reptile Appearances" and "Reptile Battles", which provoked players into searching for a second secret character called Ermac.[9]

Midway removed the ERMACS listing from the game's fifth and final update in March 1993, but speculation about the character intensified after Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) published a submitted screenshot from the game and a letter from "Tony Casey" that claimed he had played against a red ninja named Ermac and taken a Polaroid of the screen as evidence.[13] Unbeknownst to the magazine, the photo was a doctored image of yellow ninja character Scorpion in a victory pose on the "Warrior Shrine" stage from the Super Nintendo version of the game, tinted red and with a superimposed center-screen phrase that read "Ermac Wins".[13] Reader responses printed two issues later contained varying complex instructions for accessing the character.[14][15] With the still-nonexistent Ermac now visualized as a red ninja, players claimed sightings of a random glitch that would cause the game's ninja characters' graphics to flash red, with "Error Macro" or "Ermac" replacing their name in their energy bar,[16] but such an occurrence was not possible as the macro counter could not increase in the event of a genuine glitch while no red palette for the character existed.[16]

A scrambled message was included in the 1993 sequel Mortal Kombat II that read "Ermac does not exist",[17] but neither Boon nor Midway marketing director Roger Sharpe denied outright the character's presence in the game.[18] In October 1995, two years after the EGM incident, Ermac was added to the selectable roster of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (an expansion of Mortal Kombat 3), as the developers felt that he had transformed from myth to urban legend and therefore warranted his inclusion in the series.[11] In 2011, Boon clarified the rumors on Twitter,[19][20] and said he had kept the meaning of the ERMACS listing secret in hopes of stirring up fan speculation about the character.[16]

Midway inserted allusions to the rumors and EGM hoax in subsequent Mortal Kombat games and related media. Ermac appeared on one panel in a Mortal Kombat II comic book prequel that was written and illustrated by series co-creator John Tobias and published by the company in 1994.[21][22] Mortal Kombat: Deception's training mode contained a message that read, "It is a little-known fact that 'Ermac' is short for 'Error Macro'",[23] an homage to his origins that was revived in Mortal Kombat X for a pre-match introduction sequence between Ermac and series newcomer Takeda.[24] He was an Easter egg boss hidden at the Warrior Shrine level in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, a 2005 beat 'em up spinoff title that spans the events of Mortal Kombat II.[25] Skarlet, a nonexistent female ninja character from MKII with a similar background, was included by NetherRealm Studios (formerly Midway Games) as a playable character in the 2011 reboot game in what the company considered a second instance of turning fan rumors into reality.[26]

Design and portrayal

Debuting in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 as a palette swap of Scorpion, Ermac received his own unique redesign for Mortal Kombat: Deception following an eight-year absence from the series

Ermac was played by actor John Turk in the digitized games Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and the 1996 compilation title Mortal Kombat Trilogy.[2] As a palette-swapped character, he was physically identical to the Mortal Kombat games' other male ninjas, save for his red coloring and darker skin tone.[2] For Mortal Kombat: Deception, which marked Ermac's return to the series as a playable character after an eight-year absence, he was given a distinct redesign by Steve Beran, the series' lead character designer and art director.[3] Beran explained that his objective of remaking old characters was to greatly differentiate them from their previous incarnations.[3] His Deception design was maintained for the 2011 reboot game, but with an increased black palette.[27]

For Mortal Kombat X, Ermac was designed with a slimmer figure and his mask exposing more of his face, revealing decaying skin.[28] According to NetherRealm Studios, his emaciated appearance was the result of his losing control of the souls inside his body, with a metal talisman modeled after his chest design from Deception affixed to his chest in order to keep his physical form intact.[5][note 2] The talisman initially covered his face, "securely nailed deep into the skull", in concept artwork by character artist Justin Murray.[5] Early designs by Murray had Ermac unmasked with a stockier figure and a solid black palette.[29] Ermac's "Inner Workings" Fatality (a finishing move that executes defeated opponents) in the game has him levitate his opponent, break their spine in midair, and then telekinetically pull their gastrointestinal tract out from their mouth.[30] The finisher was conceived by lead game designer John Edwards: "I remember sitting in the pitch meeting for it. People were like, 'That's hilarious and disgusting.' I'm pretty proud of it."[30] Sound effects used in depicting the graphic violence of his finishers were created with slime and a plunger.[31]

Ermac first appeared in Mortal Kombat 1 as a nonplayable character in the story mode and as part of a "Kombat Pack" of six downloadable player characters that was first announced by NetherRealm Studios in July 2023,[32] with him released to players in April 2024.[33] His new design retains his black-and-red palette and ashen skin complexion from MKX but with minimal armor,[34] and while Ermac was unmasked throughout the story mode,[35] a trailer for his playable release posted by the official MK1 Twitter account featured him with a mask.[33]

Gameplay

Ermac was one of three hidden unlockable characters in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, and was the only player character who had not appeared in any previous series installments.[36] As a palette swap, he had a standard projectile attack while sharing a teleport punch and uppercut-decapitation Fatality used by other characters.[36] His signature special move is the "Telekinetic Slam", which has him levitate his opponents and then slam them onto the ground.[37] Ed Boon considered Ermac one of the strongest characters in UMK3 based on the maneuver,[38] and GamePro opined that it was best used on downed opponents.[39] The staff of BradyGames considered Ermac a "great choice for the advanced player" in MK Trilogy, but felt his offense was ineffective in close range and easily nullified with the block button.[40]

His main fighting style in the three-dimensional games is Choy Lay Fut, a martial art that specializes, as depicted in his Deception ending,[41] in warding off multiple attackers.[42] GameSpy considered his combo (a timed succession of attacks) abilities "strong" in Deception, but his special moves less effective individually.[43] In Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, Ermac is an unplayable boss hidden inside a statue at the Warrior Shrine level.[25] GameFront's Mitchell Saltzman described Ermac in the 2011 series reboot as a novice-friendly character that experts could use to inflict heavy-damage combos.[44] In Mortal Kombat X, Ermac's play style is split into three fighting variations like those of the game's other playable characters,[45] and Bryan Dawson of Prima Games wrote that he was ideal for distance fighting and pressuring downed opponents.[45]

Appearances

Video games

Introduced in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (UMK3), Ermac was created to serve as an enforcer for Shao Kahn, the tyrannical ruler of the otherworldly dimension of Outworld. A hybrid entity created from the souls of several deceased warriors, Ermac possesses telekinesis and uses plural pronouns.[46][47] Following his creation, Ermac takes part in Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm and the eponymous Mortal Kombat tournament.[1]

In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (MK:DA), following Shao's apparent death at the hands of the titular alliance of evil sorcerers Shang Tsung and Quan Chi,[48] Ermac aimlessly wanders Outworld without someone to give him orders until he encounters a blind swordsman named Kenshi, who frees Ermac from Shao's control. In return, Ermac trains Kenshi in using a new attack.[49]

In Mortal Kombat: Deception (MK:D), Ermac reforms to atone for his work with Shao. In pursuit of this, he helps a deceased martial artist named Liu Kang free the latter's friends from their enslavement by the Dragon King Onaga.[47] In the opening of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (MK:A), Ermac joins Earthrealm's warriors in participating in a battle to claim the elemental Blaze's godlike power.[50]

In Mortal Kombat (2011), after Earthrealm defender Raiden alters the timeline to avert the events of Armageddon, Ermac returns to being Shao Kahn's enforcer.[51] While taking part in the Mortal Kombat tournament,[52] Ermac obliterates Jax Briggs' arms.[53] In Mortal Kombat X (MK:X), following Shao Kahn's death, Ermac initially serves the former's successor Mileena before defecting to Kotal Kahn due to Mileena not being Shao's biological daughter.[54][55][56] While serving under Kotal, Ermac faces and is defeated by Jax's daughter Jacqui Briggs.[57]

In Mortal Kombat 1 (MK1), which sees Fire God Liu Kang create a third new timeline, Quan Chi uses spirits from the Living Forest to create Ermac and protect his Soul Stealer machines from a group of Earthrealmers Liu Kang sent to stop Quan Chi. While fighting Ashrah and Kenshi however, the latter siphons some of Ermac's power before the former defeats him.[35] During a later confrontation with Earthrealm and Outworld's warriors, Mileena defeats Ermac, causing the soul of her father Emperor Jerrod to manifest and take control of the body. He subsequently helps the warriors defeat Quan Chi and Shang Tsung, absorbs his wife Sindel's soul following her death,[58] and serves as an advisor to Mileena after she becomes empress of Outworld.

Other appearances

Kim Do Nguyen as Ermac as depicted in the second season of Mortal Kombat: Legacy

Ermac appears in Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm.[59]

Ermac makes a minor appearance in Mortal Kombat Annihilation, portrayed by assistant stunt coordinator John Medlen.[6][60][61][62] Moreover, Ermac makes a cameo appearance in the tie-in novelization.[63]

Ermac appears in Mortal Kombat: Legacy, portrayed by Kim Do Nguyen and with makeup provided by Christien Tinsley.[64] This version is a decaying demon. On Shao Kahn's orders, he guards the "sword of Sento" and fights Kenshi when the latter arrives to claim it. While participating in the Mortal Kombat tournament, Kenshi would go on to kill Ermac using Sento.[7]

Ermac appears in DC Comics' Mortal Kombat X: Blood Ties.[65]

Ermac received an action figure as part of a Jazwares set,[66] a life-sized standee from Advanced Graphics.[67] and a limited edition eighteen-inch polystone statue from Syco Collectibles[68]

Reception

Ermac's origins as a glitch and rumored character are considered among the most memorable urban legends in video games.[69][70][71] GamesRadar+ executive editor Eric Bratcher, in a 2009 Electronic Gaming Monthly retrospective, credited the magazine hoax with Ermac's addition into the Mortal Kombat series,[72] while Rudie Obias of Mental Floss and Yannick LeJacq of Kotaku considered it the result of fans' enthusiasm for the character.[73][74] Mass Appeal singled out the "crazy-ass glitch" in including the original Mortal Kombat in its 2006 selection of the top arcade fighting games.[75] Steve Watts of 1Up.com wrote in 2011 that supposed video game glitches like Ermac "go on to live as legends until the creators have no choice but to make it a reality."[76] The staff of GameTrailers unsuccessfully attempted to access Ermac in the first game, per the reader instructions published in EGM, in an episode of their PopFiction web series that premiered at PAX Prime 2012.[16] In his 2019 study Immersion and Worldbuilding in Videogames, Edin Omeragiċ of the University of Osijek stated that Ermac's inclusion was "especially immersive for the way it includes end users into the process, with developers seemingly relinquishing control over their world for a moment and making their fans feel as if they also had a hand in its creation."[77]

Reception to his designs and gameplay have varied over the course of his series appearances. Though he and Mortal Kombat's other male ninjas made GamePro's 2009 list of the seventeen best palette-swapped video game characters,[78] Dan Ryckert of Game Informer wrote in 2010 that he did not want these characters, aside from Scorpion and Sub-Zero, in future series installments,[79] while Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot felt the unlocking of Ermac in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 was "a hassle".[80] In his 2022 book Mortal Kombat: Games of Death, David Church remarked that when Ermac and other hidden characters became playable in "completist" titles like UMK3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy, "their gameplay abilities were often poorly balanced and their backstories seem[ed] tacked onto the increasingly sprawling story world."[81] Following his redesigns and roles in Deception and thereafter, Ermac received positive reception for his development,[note 3] and was rated by gaming media outlets among the top series characters.[note 4] GamesRadar+ commented in 2014: "This red-clad ninja might not be as iconic as Sub-Zero or Scorpion, but it's hard not to love Ermac for his ... supernatural, Sith-like powers of telekinesis."[92] Gavin Jasper of Den of Geek, in 2015, wrote of his growth in Deception, "where he broke the bonds of [Shao] Kahn ... They [Midway] also made him powerful enough to take on Kung Lao, Kitana, Jax, Sonya, and Johnny Cage all by himself."[89] In 2019, sociology professor Ricardo Cortez Lopes published a study that analyzed the modifications of the Deception version of Ermac in player-created Mugen game adaptations, and theorized that they influenced NetherRealm Studios' future iterations of the character.[93] Ermac's initial Mortal Kombat 1 design revealed in July 2023 received heavy fan criticism due to the omission of his mask,[94][95] which resulted in NetherRealm adding it to his redesign for his April 2024 playable release.[94]

Ermac's finishing moves have met with critical praise,[96][97][98] particularly his "Pest Control" Fatality from the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot, in which he shrinks his opponent and crushes them underfoot.[99][100][101][102] When NetherRealm Studios posted a trailer of the "Inner Workings" Fatality from Mortal Kombat X on YouTube in March 2015, it accumulated over 850,000 views in less than a month,[30] and has garnered attention for its graphic content.[note 5] Chicago Reader spotlighted the finisher in an April 2015 article titled "Has Mortal Kombat Finally Gone Too Far?", describing it as "an act of medieval torture as imagined by Tolkien."[30] Justin Clark of GameSpot wrote in 2022 that the Fatality "might actually be the most shocking, gory, and disgusting act of surreal horror to ever happen in a video game, let alone the Mortal Kombat series".[107]

Response to his alternate-media incarnations has been negative.[108][109] Nathan Birch of Uproxx described him in Mortal Kombat Annihilation as a "forgettable red Scorpion clone" and his fight scene with Sonya in the film as "nondescript".[110] Carl Lyon of Fearnet censured the character's design in Mortal Kombat: Legacy and his role therein as having "little development outside of an opponent ... that gets quickly dispatched",[111] and while Gavin Jasper of Den of Geek noted Ermac's "pretty sweet fight scene" with Kenshi, he was also critical of his role in the storyline.[82]

See also

  • Sheng Long, a character from the Street Fighter series that originated as an EGM April Fools joke
  • Cow level, a secret level from the Diablo series originating as a hoax and later added to the games

Notes

  1. ^ A screen that displays game statistics and is used to assess a machine's performance.
  2. ^ "Shao Kahn's living prison, Ermac, represents what remains of his master's legacy in MKX. The construct's form is not holding up well under the current of time. We wanted to show signs of rot, of a loosening grip on the contained souls. ... [His] costume was designed to showcase an imperial authority, while hearkening back to his appearance in Mortal Kombat: Deception, showcasing their chest design from that game now bolted into the chest, holding the construct together."[5]
  3. ^ See: [82][83][84][85][86]
  4. ^ See: [87][88][89][90][91]
  5. ^ See: [84][103][104][105][106]

References

  1. ^ a b Jeff Greeson; Cliff O'Neill (October 21, 2007). "The History of Mortal Kombat: The Beginning of the End". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 20, 2002. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d Midway Games (1995). Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Midway Games. Level/area: Closing credits.
  3. ^ a b c Beran, Steve; Veljanovski, Christopher (March 28, 2006). "Steve Beran Interview". Kamidogu. Archived from the original on August 10, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  4. ^ a b NetherRealm Studios (2011). Mortal Kombat. Warner Bros. Games. Level/area: Closing credits.
  5. ^ a b c d NetherRealm Studios (2015). Mortal Kombat X. Warner Bros. Games. Level/area: The Krypt: Ermac concept art.
  6. ^ a b John R. Leonetti (director) (1997). Mortal Kombat Annihilation (Motion picture). New Line Cinema and Threshold Entertainment.
  7. ^ a b Kevin Tancharoen (director) (2013). Mortal Kombat Legacy II (Web series). Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
  8. ^ NetherRealm Studios (2015). Mortal Kombat X. Warner Bros. Games. Level/area: Closing credits.
  9. ^ a b Fanelli, Jason (April 8, 2024). "Mortal Kombat Creator Explains How Error Message Spawned A New Character". GameSpot. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on April 12, 2024. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
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  11. ^ a b Riddell, Roger (October 15, 2012). "Ed Boon, Mortal Kombat co-creator". The Gameological Society. Archived from the original on July 6, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2013.
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  20. ^ Ed Boon (@noobde) (January 10, 2011). "Cuz he wasn't a character he was a macro I wrote for catching code errors/traps". Twitter. Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
  21. ^ Tobias, John (1994). Mortal Kombat II Kollector's Edition Comic Book. Midway Games. p. 21.
  22. ^ John Tobias (@therealsaibot) (October 17, 2011). "The red LinKuei in the MK2comic is Ermac b4 he existed in game". Twitter. Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  23. ^ Midway Games (2004). Mortal Kombat: Deception. Midway Games. Level/area: Training mode.
  24. ^ NetherRealm Studios (2015). Mortal Kombat X. Warner Bros. Games. Level/area: Ermac/Takeda match introductions. (Takeda: "Error Macro." / Ermac: "We are Ermac." / Takeda: "We're not impressed.")
  25. ^ a b Bell, Joseph Grant; Van Stone, Matt (2005). Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks - Prima Games Official Game Guide. Random House. p. 102. ISBN 0761552197.
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  28. ^ NetherRealm Studios (2015). Mortal Kombat X. Warner Bros. Games. Level/area: Ermac biography.
  29. ^ Co, Franz (May 13, 2015). "Mortal Kombat X Artist Shares Early Ermac Concepts". Shoryuken. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  30. ^ a b c d Smith, Ryan (April 9, 2015). "Has Mortal Kombat finally gone too far?". Chicago Reader. Archived from the original on April 9, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  31. ^ Morris, Tatiana (April 1, 2015). "Here's how they get the gross Mortal Kombat X Fatality sounds". GameZone. Archived from the original on July 23, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  32. ^ Sheehan, Gavin (October 14, 2023). "Mortal Kombat 1 Reveals First Good Look At Invincible's Omni-Man". Bleeding Cool. Avatar Press. Archived from the original on October 17, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  33. ^ a b @MortalKombat (April 6, 2024). "Next week, we are many" (Tweet). Archived from the original on April 7, 2024 – via Twitter.
  34. ^ McWhertor, Michael (July 21, 2023). "Here's a first look at Homelander and Peacemaker in Mortal Kombat 1". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on August 5, 2023. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  35. ^ a b NetherRealm Studios (2023). Mortal Kombat 1. Warner Bros. Games. Level/area: Chapter 6: Upward Climb (Ashrah).
  36. ^ a b Midway Games (1995). Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Midway Games.
  37. ^ Hillier, Brenna (January 29, 2015). "Ermac joins Mortal Kombat X cast". VG247. Videogaming247 Ltd. Archived from the original on October 12, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  38. ^ Midway Games (2006). Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Midway Games. Level/area: Ermac's Kombat Card.
  39. ^ Major Mike (July 1996). "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Saturn Review". GamePro. Vol. 8, no. 94. IDG. p. 67.
  40. ^ Staff (1996). Official Mortal Kombat Trilogy Fighter's Kompanion. BradyGames. pp. 29–31. ISBN 1566866278.
  41. ^ Midway Games (2004). Mortal Kombat: Deception. Midway Games. Level/area: Ermac ending.
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