Meat

"Meat was an experiment who escaped Shang Tsung’s flesh pits before he could be completely formed."

- Meat's Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Ending

Meat is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He made his debut in Mortal Kombat 4 as a hidden character.

Storyline
Meat's backstory in Armageddon, actually revealed during his game ending, stated that he was a horrific experiment created by Shang Tsung. He escaped the sorcerer's clutches before he could be fully completed. The official strategy guide for the game describes Meat as being "a fun character who assists Shinnok," although this relationship is not made clear in the story.

In his Armageddon ending, it is said that while the other fighters focused on each other, Meat rushed past them up the pyramid. Once he defeated Blaze, he gained the power to shape-shift. Since he had the ability to become anyone he pleased, Meat lost his sense of identity and slipped into obscurity.

Powers and abilities
It is quite unknown what Meat's powers are or their extent. In his debut, Meat was able to mimic the moves of the fighter that was originally chosen in his place down to the last detail. In Armageddon, Meat specializes in self-mutilation and immunity to pain, as he is able to function even without a head, and harms his own body as a means to rejuvenate himself when need be. Meat is also seen using weapons, such as the Cleaver.

Signature moves

 * Head Roll: Meat pulls off his own head and rolls it towards his opponent. (MK:A)
 * Meat Leg Slide: Using the blood that soaks his body, Meat will perform a low slide towards his opponent at high speed. (MK:A)
 * Body Mutilation: Meat pulls his loose eye and lets it ricochet back into position; this bizarrely enough gives him some health back. (MK:A)
 * Flesh Teleport: Meat falls forward and explodes into a puddle of blood upon impact with the ground; he then reappears behind his opponent. (MK:A)

Endings

 * Armageddon (Non-Canonical): "Meat was an experiment who escaped Shang Tsung's flesh pits before he could be completely formed. As the other kombatants fought, Meat rushed unseen to the top of the pyramid and defeated Blaze. Godlike energy enveloped him, giving him the power to shape-shift. With the ability to become anyone, Meat lost his sense of identity and disappeared into obscurity."

Character development
Meat initially served as a skin, created by art director Tony Goskie for each fighter in Mortal Kombat 4. The name "Meat" was simply a designation given to the model so it could be used in the game. It was later decided to make him a playable character as part of a hidden Easter egg. Players first learned of the character's given name after the text "Meat lives!" was placed on Ed Boon's website promoting Mortal Kombat 4 ' s 3rd arcade revision. The later released strategy guides also referred to the character as "Meat", subsequently making it an official moniker.

For a long time afterwards, his existence as a true character or a joke character was heavily debated amongst fans. Some believed he wasn't a character as he was really nothing more than an alternate costume for all other fighters and had no storyline. Still others believed the opposite, citing the fact that many Mortal Kombat characters in the past such as Reptile, Noob Saibot, Smoke, and Jade all started with no original moves or storylines in their first appearances either. Meat also appeared in Mortal Kombat: Deception's Konquest mode, giving more credence to establishing him in the canon plot. Finally, with the development of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Midway decided to make Meat an official character and wrote him a story.

During the character's video in IGN's MK Fighter of the Wiik series, Mortal Kombat art director Steve Beran humorously states that Meat has a cousin named "Skully", who is just a skeleton with no muscle or tissue. However, Beran laments that he never made it into the game.

Game Information
To access Meat in Mortal Kombat 4, the player had to defeat all challengers in Group Mode, which would have to include every single character. After that, any selected character became Meat. The character resembled a bloody skeleton, but its move set took after whatever character was selected. The template design for Meat was taken from the many fatalities that render a victim into a gory cadaver. In Mortal Kombat: Deception, like many other characters, Meat makes a short cameo appearance during the game's Konquest mode. The player as Shujinko finds him standing in a small cave in the Netherrealm. If interacted with, Meat will reward the player with some koins and then flee soon after.

Character Relationships

 * Experiment created by Shang Tsung, escaped before completed.
 * Was seen standing in a small cave in the Netherrealm by Shujinko, who was exploring the realm at that time.
 * It is unknown if he joined the final battle in Armageddon as he did not appear in the opening scene.

Trivia
In General:


 * In a Top 10 list hosted by Screwattack.com, Meat was placed at #4 of the worst characters in the Mortal Kombat series.
 * Meat, Nitara and Skarlet are the only characters whose powers involve the use of blood.

Mortal Kombat 4


 * Meat is the secret character of the game.
 * He is also a secret alternate costume for all the fighters.
 * Clearing the game as Meat in the arcade version causes the game to reset itself.
 * Meat cannot be saved. Turning the game off and turning it back on require the player to complete Group mode once more to play as him again.
 * If Meat is frozen by Sub-Zero, he will appear as a frozen version of the character he is imitating. If Meat is frozen while imitating Goro however, Goro's frozen model will appear highly deformed.

Mortal Kombat: Deception


 * In Konquest mode, he can be found in the Netherrealm in a small cave and appears there each day at 10:00 p.m., when you speak to him, he will give you 1000 onyx koins and he will never appear there again.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon


 * He can be unlocked by collecting 10 Relics in Konquest mode, or through a cheat code device.
 * Leaves bloody footsteps even if not attacked.
 * Bleeds profusely every match.
 * Has an eye dangling from his head.

Mortal Kombat (2011)


 * A figure resembling Meat appears on the altar of the Cathedral stage, surrounded by shadow priests. It is uncertain as to whether this is Meat as his origins state that he was created in Shang Tsung's Flesh Pits and has no previous ties to the Netherrealm.
 * In one of the new challenges of the Bonus Challenge Tower from the PS Vita version of Mortal Kombat (2011), "Meat" makes a cameo appearance. In said challenge, Johnny Cage is burned alive by Scorpion and is horribly disfigured, but survives, now resembling Meat due to the burns, and defeats Scorpion before passing out from the pain.