—Ermac to his enemies |
Biography
- Mortal Kombat 1: "Ermac is a collection of souls, bound together by Quan Chi's dark magic. The souls within him were intended to function as a group mind. That part of the spell is temporarily undone, however, when Ermac is defeated by Mileena. During that period, one of the souls in Ermac's collection takes control of his group mind. It is that of Emperor Jerrod, deceased ruler of Outworld and husband of Empress Sindel. He rejoins the royal family, aiding Empress Mileena's reign. But when Ermac's collection of souls reestablishes its control, Ermac retreats to Outworld's shadows. No longer Quan Chi's slave, nor bound to the royal family, he must find a future worth fighting for."
Storyline
In restarting the timeline, Liu Kang wanted to ensure the realms would not fall into the same conflicts as he had previously experienced. In doing so, after seizing control of The Hourglass, Liu Kang forged the destinies of many past villains, such as Shao Kahn, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. Because of this, they never obtained their powers in dark magic, particularly Shao Kahn, thus, Ermac was never created in this timeline by the former Outworld tyrant.
Mortal Kombat 1
With conflicts growing in Liu Kang's newly created timeline, his champions, famous actor Johnny Cage, farmhand Kung Lao and former Yakuza gangster Kenshi Takahashi are tasked with tracking down and capturing the Outworld-born con artist turned sorcerer Shang Tsung due to his interactions with a mysterious benefactor and rising tensions between Earthrealm and Outworld. While in Outworld, they encounter others, such as the Tarkatan Baraka, a shapeshifting Saurian named Syzoth and the demoness Ashrah. While in the Living Forest, an ally of Shang Tsung, the Outworld-born miner Quan Chi. Rallying his own allies, he eventually harvests souls within the Living Forest in one of many established Soul Stealers. Using the Stealer, Quan Chi creates Ermac with the souls of the Living Forest, commanding the construct to attack the champions and their allies. As the battle ensues, Ashrah defeats Havik and Darrius before confronting Quan Chi. With his allies defeated, Ermac easily overpowers the Earthrealm champions. A blind Kenshi attacks Ermac in desperation, only for him to be knocked away by the construct. His sword, Sento, begins to talk with him through the spirits of his ancestors, restoring his vision and allowing him to fight Ermac, stabbing him and absorbing some of his souls. He then teams with Ashrah to finally defeat the construct. Due to the battle, the souls within Ermac begin to disconnect within his being, allowing for the soul of the deceased King Jerrod to briefly take over before the souls gain control again, however Ermac is left incapacitated as a result and the heroes depart with an unconscious Quan Chi to take him back to Earthrealm.
Later, as further events develop, the Lin Kuei consisting of Bi-Han and his brothers are dispatched to infiltrate the Ying Fortress to stop and destroy more of Quan Chi and Shang Tsung's Soul Stealers. There, they encounter the sorcerers' allies, where Bi-Han defeats Ermac. Later on, Bi-Han betrays the Lin Kuei and Earthrealm, leading to an alliance between Earthrealm and Outworld to stop the sorcerers. The infiltrate the Fortress again, with Mileena and Tanya encountering Ermac as did Bi-Han. Ermac is defeated by Mileena, but the resulting battle once again disconnected the collection of souls within him, allowing King Jerrod, Mileena's father, to once again take control of Ermac's body. With Jerrod restored with Ermac's body, he joins his daughters and wife in battle with the sorcerers.
Within the fortress, the sorcerers' benefactors reveal themselves as a Shang Tsung from a previous timeline, one that battled Liu Kang for the Hourglass and became a Titan, resulting in two fractured timelines. Another battle ensues, this time with Liu Kang's forces and Titan Shang Tsung's. Queen Sindel is killed in the battle, with Jerrod using the abilities of the souls within Ermac's body to absorb Sindel's soul, ensuring her death was not in vein. He then joins them in more battles later on to stop Titan Shang Tsung from merging their timeline with his own, with the decision to travel to Titan Shang Tsung's timeline to stop him.
Liu Kang arrives in Titan Shang Tsung's timeline with his Forces of Light to battle Titan Shang Tsung's Forces of Darkness. A battle ensues with kombat and death all around. Titan Shang Tsung summons a Titan version of Quan Chi, thus reforming The Deadly Alliance for the battle at hand. As the battle wages to the top of the Pyramid, a good version of the Deadly Alliance briefly fight the Titan Deadly Alliance before being quickly killed. At the top, the Titans fight Liu Kang and an ally, only to be bested by Liu Kang's ally in kombat. Liu Kang uses his Temporal Power to erase both Titans, but in doing so, causes the timeline seemingly begins to collapse. Running out of time, Liu Kang sends his ally back to their respective timeline before doing so with himself.
Jerrod remains in control of Ermac for some time after, remaining as consul to Mileena's rule. However, Ermac's soul collection would later regain control of his body.
Ending
- Mortal Kombat 1 (Canonical): "For a moment, Jerrod took control. We fixed the damage which had allowed him and reimposed our collective will. But the damage went further than We thought. Without Quan Chi's aid, the spell which birthed us would fail. All of our souls would die. We freed the sorcerer from captivity. But after healing us, he betrayed us. He schemed to make us his slave once more. Kombat was fierce. Yet, we persisted, finding strength in the unique abilities of our collected souls. Now We must decide our future path. Reconciling our desires will be difficult, but reconcile them We must. If not, We will be consumed by civil war."