Summary
- In the early days of Mortal Kombat, rumors about unlockable fighters spread through magazines, leading to both fans and developers fueling the speculation.
- Characters like Nimbus Terrafaux and Hornbuckle and Torch were initially rumored to be playable, but they turned out to be fake or unofficial until future games introduced similar characters.
- Some characters, like Belokk in Mortal Kombat 4 Gold and the rumored Ash Williams in Mortal Kombat 11, generated excitement among fans but were ultimately not included in the games.
In 1992, after the release of the very first Mortal Kombat, rumors galore surrounded the game. Back then, there was no internet, so the main source of information for video games was from magazines that specialized in the latest news, interviews, and other information.
It wouldn’t take long for gossip about certain unlockable fighters existing in some of the Mortal Kombat games, doubly so for the home console versions alongside. Some were completely ridiculous, while others were eventually implemented into the series officially. Funnily enough, both game journalists and even the developers themselves were prone to fueling the file.
8 Nimbus Terrafaux (Mortal Kombat)
Mortal Kombat (1992)
Electronic Gaming Monthly pulled a prank on their readership with a gag character called Nimbus Terrafaux. Said to be an African-American martial arts fighter and was mentioned by name in a few issues, two screenshots of him as a supposed playable character in Mortal Kombat's first game eventually appeared in a future issue around 1994 as an April Fool’s joke.
It would seem his fatality would’ve involved a backflip that would decapitate the opponent, and there was a picture that showed him completing the Test Your Might minigame, too. However, his surname - an amalgamation of the Latin words “Terra” and “Faux” means “Fake Earth” - was a sneaky hint that he didn’t really exist.
7 Hornbuckle And Torch/Blaze (Mortal Kombat 2)
Mortal Kombat II
- Released
- November, 1993
- Developer(s)
- Midway Games
- Platform(s)
- Arcade, Sega Game Gear, Sega Genesis, SNES, Nintendo Game Boy, Sega Saturn, PS1
- Genre(s)
- Fighting
In the background of The Pit 2, there are two edited versions of Liu Kang posing with one another. One has green clothing, while the other is engulfed in flames. Fans nicknamed them Hornbuckle and Torch, respectively.
Hornbuckle would be referenced as part of a secret message in the Sega Genesis version of Mortal Kombat II, where a secret fighter like Jade may appear on-screen with the message “Hornbuckle who?” Some fans wrote to magazines, lying about how he wielded a mechanical hand and launched every projectile type in the game at once! Torch, however, would be eventually created as an official character in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance under the name Blaze.
6 Belokk (Mortal Kombat 4 Gold)
Belokk was intended to be a new character for Mortal Kombat 4 but was scrapped due to time constraints. When Eurocom was commissioned to create an updated port for the Sega Dreamcast with more content, they accidentally shared the character’s name and screenshots of the pugilist to game journalists.
Fans were left buzzing as a result, with some assuming that he could be acquired via Tanya's character selection box. In actuality, this was a glitch that was not patched in time by the developers before the game’s release.
5 Shinnok, Krypt Guy, T-Wrecks And Frank (Mortal Kombat 11)
Mortal Kombat 11
- Released
- April 23, 2019
- Developer(s)
- NetherRealm Studios
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- Genre(s)
- Fighting
Netherrealm Studios pulled an elaborate prank during April Fools' Day in 2020. A new challenge tower was introduced in Mortal Kombat 11, made up of a selection of fights with some quirky twists to complicate things.
Images shown in the tower included Shinnok, the Krypt Guy, a dinosaur (summoned by the final boss, Kronika, on the last stage) called T-Wrecks, and the “Bestiary guy” (who can occasionally be seen kicking animals in the Koliseum Beast Pen) named Frank. None of these characters actually appeared as opponents, and there were numerous messages reminding players not to take any of what they saw at face value.
4 Aqua (Mortal Kombat Trilogy)
Some rumors of secret combatants were downright bizarre. Mortal Kombat Trilogy would serve as an all-stars mega-mix of fighters from various titles as part of a console-exclusive release. In reference to it, Official UK PlayStation Magazine and Official Playstation Collector's Edition both posted images of an edited swapped version of Scorpion (i.e. His sprites from the first game) with a duck-billed ninja called Aqua.
A supposed soundbite of Shao Kahn saying "Aqua wins" made rounds online, though this ridiculous idea was proven to be fake. It didn’t stop fans and modders from editing together images of what Aqua would have looked like if he was real.
3 Pedro (Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3)
This is, quite possibly, the silliest fake fighter ever conceived. Mortal Kombat 3 on the PlayStation was said to be home to a Stryker-lookalike with greasy clothes and a bushy mustache, called Pedro. The UK publication Computer & Video Games Magazine posted a ludicrous set of requirements in their April 1996 issue, which involved crashing the game as a result.
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Pedro was said to have a Fatality that ignited the loser with flatulent gas and launched flaming fireballs from his backside.
2 Ash Williams (Mortal Kombat 11)
Ash Williams of Evil Dead and Army of Darkness fame was said to be set to appear in Mortal Kombat 11’s first fighter pack. There was a circulated promotional email passed around mentioning his name for Kombat Pack 1 DLC, and the trailer hinting at his inclusion included the round of a revving chainsaw and a blast from a shotgun, both of which are parts of his iconic armory. Even data miners found his name referenced in the game’s code.
And yet… nothing of the sort came to fruition. The character’s actor, Bruce Campbell, went on record a few times to deny his involvement, going so far as to post a cheeky image on Twitter to debunk the hearsay. Fans have speculated Ash may have been a last-minute ejection due to copyright reasons.
1 Ermac And Skarlet (Mortal Kombat & Mortal Kombat 2)
Both Ermac and Skarlet were created based on similar circumstances. Glitches sometimes turned Scorpion in Mortal Kombat and Kitana in Mortal Kombat 2 blood-red. Fans also spotted “ERMACS” listed beneath a counter for each fight with the secret fighter Reptile in the arcade machine’s maintenance mode, thinking it was an option to fight this mysterious red fighter. In actuality, “ERMAC” was an abbreviation for “error macro”.
Nevertheless, in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Ermac was turned into a real character and has appeared in numerous games since. Skarlet was made official in Mortal Kombat 2011’s DLC and reappeared again in the 11th entry, where her voice actor, Beata Pozniak, won an award for Best Performance. These two are easily the best of the rumored and fake characters out there, finally being turned into the real deal and being showered with praise by many.