Fighting Games Friday: Covering Up Ermac
It’s been more than half a year since Mortal Kombat 1 released, and NetherRealm Studios has been slowly providing downloadable content in the time since. This is how every fighting game is being treated in our current age.
Ermac generated the most heated discussions of the characters NetherRealm promised, of a different sort compared to The Boys’ Homelander and the overt hints that he’ll lack the portrayal of Antony Starr, who reportedly isn’t reprising the role for unknown reasons. Ermac tends to wear a mask, as one of the many, many ninja characters in the Mortal Kombat series. But MK1 was a chance for the development team to take alternate paths for many character appearances and relationships thanks to being the start of a new timeline. They’ve largely been well received, but Ermac had one that perturbed a bunch of fans: He was too goddamned ugly without that mask.
This brutal assessment had to hurt. Ermac hadn’t been this exposed since the semi-mask he wore in Mortal Kombat X, which provided a glimpse of what he clearly looked like but covered up enough to ensure that he wasn’t entirely showing the facial goods. This had to bruise NetherRealm, considering this was the character’s first notable appearance since MKX after he skipped Mortal Kombat 11. It was the first time he was being introduced with the redone facial animation system the development team first implemented in Injustice 2, with this system debuting in the Mortal Kombat series with 11. I can’t imagine what the team thinks of them calling a character ugly.
This is why they’ve complied with fan demands. NetherRealm showed off Ermac this week, and confirmed that the character will arrive on April 16th for Kombat Pack owners (that’s their name for the season pass, if you were curious) and on April 23rd for everyone else. But it’s difficult not to notice the mask wearing now.
Not every character needs to be a pretty boy, and more ugly characters should be encouraged. There were times when I didn’t mind seeing Mileena unmasked, which essentially made her a female Baraka. Mortal Kombat has perhaps too many ninjas, with even Reptile donning the mask again in MK1 (which admittedly serves as a nice throwback to the old Reptile from the original timeline), and didn’t need yet another dude in the mask. I sympathize with that viewpoint, but… Ermac does look better in the mask. Fans make good points sometimes, and this is one of them. Chances are the unmasked variant will be an option in the game, as part of outfit customization.
Ermac’s move set is no surprise, though. He uses a lot of magic thanks to being the living embodiment of souls compiled by Quan Chi’s dark abilities. The spell Quan Chi had over Ermac was undone after, in a fun coincidence, Mileena defeated him in battle. (I mentioned Mileena before consulting Ermac’s story bio, but it’s not a surprise to see her mention considering both are Underworld dwellers.) Ermac can still use magic to teleport, levitate, and slam opponents, like a LOT of fellow MK and Injustice characters. I’m very into his Fatality, which involves him reassembling the opponent’s body parts to create a miniature Krang-looking appearance. It’s actually one of the tamer MK Fatalities around, in case you’re wondering how high the standards for gore are here.
If NetherRealm is listening to the fans regarding putting a mask on Ermac (poor guy), they’ll likely eventually listen to them regarding rebalancing the Kameo Fighters. But that will likely wait until after they’ve finished releasing the remaining two, and the other DLC characters as part of the first Kombat Pack.
The newest one coming is Mavado, one of several new characters introduced in the later installments in the first MK timeline, specifically in Deadly Alliance. Several of those characters were hated at the time, but the fanbase has warmed up to them so much that characters like Li Mei, Kenshi, and Ashrah have been welcomed back onto the roster with open arms. It helps that a new generation of fans who grew up with these titles (including Deception and Armageddon) during the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube days have come of age and have vocally asked for these characters to return in online channels. Mavado here is only returning in Kameo form, but there’s potential for him be fully playable again one day soon.
Ermac is the fourth of the six DLC characters. The aforementioned Homelander will come next, and I’ll award no points to myself for predicting that he’ll release alongside the debut of The Boys’ fourth season on Amazon Prime Video that arrives on June 14th. That also happens to be around not-E3 week, a great time for a character trailer and release for a popular fighting game. The season will conclude with Takeda, and the Kameo season will end with Ferra. After this, more fun will await with the next season and rebalancing. Fun for everyone, I’m sure.
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Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
