Editing Ermac (section)

==History and conception==
In the [[Diagnosis (artificial intelligence)|diagnostics]] menu of the 1992 original [[Mortal Kombat (1992 video game)|''Mortal Kombat'' game]], an audits screen{{#tag:ref|A screen that displays game statistics and is used to assess a machine's performance.|group="note"}} displayed a [[Macro (computer science)|macro]] created by ''Mortal Kombat'' co-creator and [[programmer]] [[Ed Boon]] in order to log [[Computer programming|coding]] errors.<ref name="ebgamespot"/> This practice was employed by series developer [[Midway Games]] since their 1990 arcade release ''[[Smash TV]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10255&letter=U|title=Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 - Videogame by Midway Games|work=The International Arcade Museum|publisher=WebMagic Ventures|access-date=May 30, 2015|archive-date=September 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923173041/http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10255&letter=U|url-status=live}}</ref> It was spelled as ''ERMACS''—a pluralized [[Contraction (grammar)|contraction]] of '''''er'''ror '''mac'''ro''—as in the number of times the program would execute.<ref name="gameological">{{cite web|url=http://gameological.com/2012/10/interview-mortal-kombat-cocreator-ed-boon|work=The Gameological Society|first=Roger|last=Riddell|title=Ed Boon, Mortal Kombat co-creator|date=October 15, 2012|access-date=November 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706050953/http://gameological.com/2012/10/interview-mortal-kombat-cocreator-ed-boon/|archive-date=July 6, 2015}}</ref> In early revisions of the game, it appeared on the audits screen beneath the counter "[[Shang Tsung]] Beaten" (in reference to the game's final [[Boss (video game)|boss]] fight). After Boon added the hidden character [[Reptile (Mortal Kombat)|Reptile]] to the third revision,<ref name="audits">{{cite web|url= http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/video/hist_mortalk/p13.html |title=The History of Mortal Kombat - Mortal Kombat (1992)|work=[[GameSpot]]|first1=Jeff|first2=Cliff|last1=Greeson|last2=O'Neill|access-date=December 25, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021084618/http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/video/hist_mortalk/p13.html|archive-date=2007-10-21}}</ref> ''ERMACS'' was now listed below the counters "Reptile Appearances" and "Reptile Battles", which provoked players into searching for a second secret character called Ermac.<ref name="ebgamespot">{{cite web|url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/mortal-kombat-creator-explains-how-error-message-spawned-a-new-character/1100-6522474/|title=Mortal Kombat Creator Explains How Error Message Spawned A New Character|first=Jason|last=Fanelli|work=[[GameSpot]]|publisher=[[Fandom, Inc.]]|date= April 8, 2024|access-date=April 12, 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240412060827/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/mortal-kombat-creator-explains-how-error-message-spawned-a-new-character/1100-6522474/|archive-date=April 12, 2024}}</ref>

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 [[Instant camera|Polaroid]] of the screen as evidence.<ref name="EGMermac1">{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGamingMonthly_201902/Electronic%20Gaming%20Monthly%20Issue%20051%20%28October%201993%29/page/n99/mode/1up?view=theater|title=Tricks of the Trade: Most Wanted Trick|magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|publisher=EGM Media, LLC|issue=51|date=October 1993|page=98|access-date=November 22, 2013}}</ref> Unbeknownst to the magazine, the photo was a doctored image of yellow ninja character [[Scorpion (Mortal Kombat)|Scorpion]] in the "Warrior Shrine" stage from the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|Super Nintendo]] version of the game that was tinted red with the added caption "Ermac Wins".<ref name="EGMermac1"/> Reader responses contained varied complex instructions for accessing the character.<ref name="EGMermac2">{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGamingMonthly_201902/Electronic%20Gaming%20Monthly%20Issue%20053%20%28December%201993%29/page/n150/mode/1up?view=theater|title=EGM Cheat Sheet: ''Most Wanted Trick'' Answers|magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|publisher=EGM Media, LLC|issue=53|date=December 1993|page=142-146|access-date=November 22, 2013}}</ref> With the still-nonexistent Ermac now visualized as a red ninja, players then claimed sightings of a random [[glitch]] that would cause the game's ninja characters' [[Sprite (computer graphics)|graphics]] to flash red, with "Error Macro" or "Ermac" replacing their name in their energy bar,<ref name="popfiction">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bROKVBAwRYw|title=PopFiction Episode 26: I AM ERMAC|work=[[GameTrailers]]|publisher=[[IGN]]|date=September 1, 2012|access-date=October 31, 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110011024/http://www.gametrailers.com/full-episodes/xwhtg7/pop-fiction-episode-26--i-am-ermac|archive-date=November 10, 2013|via=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> 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 (computing)|palette]] for the character existed.<ref name="popfiction"/>

A scrambled message was included in the ending of the 1993 sequel ''[[Mortal Kombat II]]'' that read "Ermac does not exist",<ref name="ermacdenofgeek"/> but neither Boon nor Midway marketing director Roger Sharpe denied outright the character's presence in the game.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/game-pro-issue-54-january-1994/page/n37/mode/1up?view=theater|title=Hot at the Arcades Special: ''Mortal Kombat II'' Interview|first=Manny|last=LaMancha|magazine=[[GamePro]]|publisher=[[International Data Group|IDG, Inc.]]|issue=54|volume=4|date=January 1994|page=34}}</ref> 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.<ref name="gameological"/> In 2011, Boon clarified the rumors on [[Twitter]],<ref name="EBtwitter1">{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/noobde/status/24679866951536640|title=Cuz he wasn't a character he was a macro I wrote for catching code errors/traps.|author=[[Ed Boon]] (@noobde)|publisher=Twitter|date=January 10, 2011|access-date=November 26, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304200007/https://twitter.com/noobde/status/24679866951536640 |archive-date=March 4, 2014}}</ref><ref name="EBtwitter2">{{cite web|url=http://twitpic.com/68jc1m |title=The TRUE origin of Ermac|author=[[Ed Boon]] (@noobde)|publisher=[[Twitter]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222163735/http://twitpic.com/68jc1m|archive-date=February 22, 2014|date=February 22, 2011|access-date=December 15, 2013}}</ref> and said he had kept the meaning of the ''ERMACS'' listing secret in hopes of stirring up fan speculation about the character.<ref name="popfiction"/>

Midway alluded 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]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Mortal Kombat II Kollector's Edition Comic Book |page=21|first=John|last=Tobias|author-link=John Tobias|publisher=[[Midway Games]]|date=1994}}</ref><ref>{{cite tweet|user=therealsaibot|first=John|last=Tobias|number= 126157779026194432 |title=The red LinKuei in the MK2comic is Ermac b4 he existed in game|date=October 17, 2011|access-date=December 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304200009/https://twitter.com/therealsaibot/status/126157779026194432 |archive-date=March 4, 2014}}</ref> ''[[Mortal Kombat: Deception]]'s'' training mode contained a message that read, "It is a little-known fact that 'Ermac' is short for 'Error Macro'",<ref name="MKDkonquest">{{cite video game|title=[[Mortal Kombat: Deception]] |developer=[[Midway Games]] |publisher= Midway Games|date=2004|level=Training mode}}</ref> an homage to his origins that was revived in ''[[Mortal Kombat X]]'' for a pre-match introduction sequence between Ermac and series newcomer [[Characters of the Mortal Kombat series#Takeda Takahashi|Takeda]].<ref>{{cite video game|title=[[Mortal Kombat X]]|developer=[[NetherRealm Studios]]|publisher=[[Warner Bros. Games]]|date=2015|level=Ermac–Takeda match introduction}} ('''Takeda''': "Error Macro." / '''Ermac''': "We are Ermac." / '''Takeda''': "We're not impressed.")</ref> He was an [[Easter egg (media)|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''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bell|Van Stone|2005}}</ref> [[Skarlet (Mortal Kombat)|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 [[Mortal Kombat (2011 video game)|2011 reboot game]] in what the company considered a second instance of turning fan rumors into reality.<ref name="rainboon">{{cite web|url=http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/07/22/ed-boon-talks-freddy-krueger-in-mortal-kombat-secret-origins-of-dlc-characters/|title=Ed Boon Talks Freddy Krueger in Mortal Kombat, Secret Origins of DLC Characters|first=Sid|last=Shulman|work=PlayStation.Blog|date=July 22, 2011|access-date=February 9, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331130449/http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/07/22/ed-boon-talks-freddy-krueger-in-mortal-kombat-secret-origins-of-dlc-characters/|archive-date=March 31, 2014}}</ref> In 2024, following Ermac's playable release for ''[[Mortal Kombat 1]]'', Boon commented, "We never would have guessed this red ninja with a ridiculous name would end up such a big part of ''Mortal Kombat''{{'}}s history and still be kicking over 30 years later ... he has a full story [and] history and is part of the ''MK'' lore."<ref name="ebgamespot"/>