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Mortal Kombat 1 lead teases Ermac gameplay trailer alongside history lesson

Ed Boon retold the interesting story of how Ermac came to be along with the tease of a Mortal Kombat 1 gameplay trailer coming this week.
TJ Denzer
TJ Denzer
Image via Ed Boon
1

Ermac is the next character coming in Mortal Kombat 1’s first Kombat Pack series of DLC, and we’re set to get a look at his gameplay this coming week. In fact, Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon went on to share the full story of Ermac’s conception and creation. It’s an interesting story born on the playground rumor mills of pre-internet gaming history. However, more importantly, we’re set to get a big look at Ermac’s new Mortal Kombat 1 moves and strategies this week.

Ed Boon shared the tease of Ermac’s upcoming gameplay reveal via his personal Twitter this week. Coming later this week, a new presentation trailer will drop that shows off Ermac in his full form, giving us a good look at the telekinetic powers of the one who is many.

The story of Ermac as told by NetherRealm Studios lead Ed Boon
Ed Boon tells the whole story of how Ermac began as a shorthand for "ERROR MACRO" that players thought was a secret character.
Source: Ed Boon

That tease of a gameplay trailer came with a story that new fans might not know: Ermac was an abbreviation for an error reporting system in Mortal Kombat arcades that players mistook for a secret character. This comes from the fact that those cabinets had stats reporting systems that listed various secrets of the game alongside something called “ERMACS”. That was actually Boon and the original creators’ shorthand for Error Macros, which logged occurrences of bits of code in the game that it wasn’t supposed to be able to reach.

This stat was listed underneath “REPTILE APPEARANCES” and “REPTILE BATTLES,” which convinced players Ermac was another secret character. Some even claimed (i.e. lied about) playing the character, adding to a rumor that continued until NetherRealm finally implemented the character in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

Now Ermac is coming back to Mortal Kombat 1 in the very near future, coming on the back of the Peacekeeper launch and Mortal Kombat 1’s crossplay update. Stay tuned for more news and updates on the Mortal Kombat 1 topic as we head towards to Ermac’s release.

Senior News Editor
Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.

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