Mortal Kombat Creator Explains How Error Message Spawned A New Character

Ermac is set to make his Mortal Kombat 1 debut, as NetherRealm Studios has announced the first gameplay trailer for the telepathic ninja is coming this week. In the leadup to the reveal, series creator Ed Boon has shared details on how the character was born, which includes a simple misunderstanding of an abbreviation.

Boon begins by elaborating on Ermac's name, which is an abbreviation of "Error Macro," or a log of every error in the code while an arcade machine was in use. The "Ermacs" counter was listed alongside the number of times players encountered Reptile on the machine, which led some to believe "Ermac" was a similarly secret opponent.

30+ years ago we were working on the very first #MortalKombat game. The game's software, had sections of code that it (theoretically) should never reach/execute. If it did, it incremented a counter that would log the ERROR. We also made a "Game Audits" screen where we could check… pic.twitter.com/8Hzq3Teu6T
— Ed Boon (@noobde) April 8, 2024

The Twitter thread says that even after Mortal Kombat 2 made Reptile a playable character while adding new secret fighters Jade, Noob Saibot, and Smoke, there were some players who were still looking for Ermac. It would take two more releases to see Ermac finally to the roster, as the red ninja finally became playable in Mortal Kombat 3's expansion Ultimate MK3.

Ermac will join the Mortal Kombat 1 roster via the Kombat Pass, and he will be the fourth fighter added via the pass. Invincible's Omni-Man, DC Comics's Peacemaker, and Quan Chi have already joined the game, while Takeda and The Boys' Homelander will follow soon after.

Mortal Kombat 1 is available now on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC. The Kombat Pass is also available now, both as a separate purchase and bundled with the game's premium editions.