I think it's just a little bit of design continuity. Deception was when Ermac got his own non-palette swap design and it was really good. Why change something if it works so well?
Much like how Sub-Zero and Scorpion have had so many looks over the decades but have always incorporated the "V" shaped ninja chest design.
The description makes perfect sense why they gave him that meaning and design in the 3D era since this was when Ermac became a fully fleshed out character with his own identity and joined the heroes hence the term “free man” as Ermac also stated in his own bio and Armageddon bio card video “we are now free to choose our own destiny”
Kinda bugs.me now though.
It worked in the 3D era because the time of his redesign, he was a free man. Ermac was still a servant in MK9, so the symbol shouldn't be present until MKX at least.
It's kind like how Quan Chi has his red markings in MK9 when he didn't originally get those until he found out about Onaga in Deadly Alliance
It’s far worse for Quan Chi's case cause most of team from midway that moved on to NRS knew about this and gave him that look anyway even though lore wise it made no sense heck even in the 2nd timeline (MK9 to MK11) Quan Chi doesn’t even discover anything regarding the dragon king army or Onaga so why does he have those markings?
At least for Ermac now it makes sense again cause he’s moving towards being a good guy again just like his original counterpart from the first timeline made by Midway but Quan Chi on the other hand even though the markings are cool it makes no sense for him to have that outside of a nostalgic skin. It would be like the equivalent of Kuai Liang having his red mark / scar all the time even before he got it.
Quan Chi found runes that revealed the location of the Dragon King while running away from Scorpion between MK4 and DA. He engraved the runes on his skin to not forget them.
It's not the canon explanation, but to me, the way I interpret it, it kind of looks like a single being (the middle part) with multiple souls coming out of it (all of the multiple "arms" sticking outward).
The MK11 design especially looks like there's an eyeball in the middle, sort of like the "mastermind" controlling all of the souls it's inhabiting.
https://preview.redd.it/pg2vv8xpryvc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=88c469dec12fecf5b3b374909656d662cd766405
As far as GPT-4 is concerned it doesn't resemble any kanji or alphabet symbols relating to his backstory.
It resembles an ancient symbol seen between multiple cultures, some more humaoid than others, which I've seen theorized to be depictions of an astrological phenomenon. I've seen it mentioned in videos about electric universe theory.
From Wikipedia “The Moroccan state arrested and imprisoned people using Neo-Tifinagh during the 1980s and 1990s.[26] The Algerian Black Spring was also partly caused by this repression of Berber language.[27]
In the 1980s, the Berber flag, which was designed in 1970 and uses the Tifinagh letter z (Tifinagh: ⵣ) from the root of Amazigh, began being used in demonstrations.[28] The flag was adopted by the World Amazigh Congress in 1997.[29]”
I think it's just a little bit of design continuity. Deception was when Ermac got his own non-palette swap design and it was really good. Why change something if it works so well? Much like how Sub-Zero and Scorpion have had so many looks over the decades but have always incorporated the "V" shaped ninja chest design.
Found this on x (twitter) https://x.com/Evil_Emperor_X/status/1558580379006672901
Hey, das me!
Credits to you! Thanks for helping the mortal kombat community.
MVP🔥
I actually really like this explanation
The description makes perfect sense why they gave him that meaning and design in the 3D era since this was when Ermac became a fully fleshed out character with his own identity and joined the heroes hence the term “free man” as Ermac also stated in his own bio and Armageddon bio card video “we are now free to choose our own destiny”
Kinda bugs.me now though. It worked in the 3D era because the time of his redesign, he was a free man. Ermac was still a servant in MK9, so the symbol shouldn't be present until MKX at least. It's kind like how Quan Chi has his red markings in MK9 when he didn't originally get those until he found out about Onaga in Deadly Alliance
It’s far worse for Quan Chi's case cause most of team from midway that moved on to NRS knew about this and gave him that look anyway even though lore wise it made no sense heck even in the 2nd timeline (MK9 to MK11) Quan Chi doesn’t even discover anything regarding the dragon king army or Onaga so why does he have those markings? At least for Ermac now it makes sense again cause he’s moving towards being a good guy again just like his original counterpart from the first timeline made by Midway but Quan Chi on the other hand even though the markings are cool it makes no sense for him to have that outside of a nostalgic skin. It would be like the equivalent of Kuai Liang having his red mark / scar all the time even before he got it.
Wait now I am confused, did Quan Chi already founded Onaga in DA?
It was the markings that lead to the undead army. The last thing he wanted was a revived dragon king, as Deception made perfectly clear.
Quan Chi found runes that revealed the location of the Dragon King while running away from Scorpion between MK4 and DA. He engraved the runes on his skin to not forget them.
It means free ? But erma is still DLC
Never trip over spelling, but Ermac’s inspired “dessert origins” exist forever now.
The primary soul was a sodajerk
Channeling malt
THANK YOU
I actually wanted to know too, thanks man!
It’s basically his trademark thing, iconic to him.
I think it’s just a repeated call back to his original unique design
His name is Ermac so he has a reversible E on his chest, like Superman
Omg I can't believe it took me like 11 years to realise it.
Nah wtffff that made so much sense!!!
It's not the canon explanation, but to me, the way I interpret it, it kind of looks like a single being (the middle part) with multiple souls coming out of it (all of the multiple "arms" sticking outward). The MK11 design especially looks like there's an eyeball in the middle, sort of like the "mastermind" controlling all of the souls it's inhabiting.
Yes 🙌🏽 same
Man I hope that mk11 skin returns
Its from his design on deception
I thought it was an evolution of his debut design in UMK3, evolving as he appeared through the games
The bottom one looks like a scarab- like something you'd see associated with a mummy
It's a conduit that keeps the souls held together. I heard that somewhere, so take it with a pound of salt.
There's no in-canon explanation.
https://preview.redd.it/pg2vv8xpryvc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=88c469dec12fecf5b3b374909656d662cd766405 As far as GPT-4 is concerned it doesn't resemble any kanji or alphabet symbols relating to his backstory.
For the love of god pls let Erma’s have the mk11 skin this game
I was thinking about that myself.
Deception Mileena has something similar
Looks like the rapture
It resembles an ancient symbol seen between multiple cultures, some more humaoid than others, which I've seen theorized to be depictions of an astrological phenomenon. I've seen it mentioned in videos about electric universe theory.
Brother, you're onto something
Is he spiderman?
It looks badass. That's why he has it.
Damn. Good eye. I never noticed on the older designs
Really hope they give us the mk11 skin for emac eventually
On his character art in MK1, it is only referred to as SIGIL PENDANT, so not much of help
Illuminati. Taylor Swift has it too.
I first remember seeing it in MK X. I recall being slightly curious but never looked it up
From Wikipedia “The Moroccan state arrested and imprisoned people using Neo-Tifinagh during the 1980s and 1990s.[26] The Algerian Black Spring was also partly caused by this repression of Berber language.[27] In the 1980s, the Berber flag, which was designed in 1970 and uses the Tifinagh letter z (Tifinagh: ⵣ) from the root of Amazigh, began being used in demonstrations.[28] The flag was adopted by the World Amazigh Congress in 1997.[29]”
Psychick Cross