Meat (Mortal Kombat)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Meat | ||||||||||||
|
|
Meat is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series.
Contents |
[edit] About Meat
Originally introduced as a bloody skeleton without a canonical story in Mortal Kombat 4 and Mortal Kombat Gold (see Character development), Meat is a human-like being that possesses a genetically-altered body. He made his first official appearance as a fighter in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon as a person that only possesses muscular, skinless human flesh with one of his eyes hanging out of its socket.
[edit] 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 around the time of Shinnok's invasion before he could be fully completed.[1] 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.[2]
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. With the ability to be anyone he pleased, Meat lost his sense of identity and went into obscurity.[1]
[edit] Combat characteristics
[edit] Signature moves
- Head Roll: Meat tears off his head and rolls it at his enemy like a bowling ball. (MK:A)
- Meat Leg Slide: Meat slides to his opponent with a kick, leaving a trail of blood behind. (MK:A)
- Body Mutilation: Meat stretches the nerve holding the eye that's hanging out of its socket and then lets it snap back. This move serves as a taunt for Meat and heals him when done in combat. (MK:A)
- Flesh Teleport: Meat falls flat on his face and disappears in a bloody gunk, reappearing in the same fashion behind his opponent. (MK:A)
[edit] Character development
Meat was actually served as a "skin" (most likely, as a bonus addition) for each fighter in Mortal Kombat 4/Gold. The name "Meat" was given to the character after fans saw the text "Meat lives!" on Ed Boon's website promoting Mortal Kombat 4's 3rd revision.[3] The later released strategy guides also referred to the character as "Meat", subsequently making it an official moniker.[4][5] 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.
[edit] 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.[4] The character resembled a bloody skeleton, but its move set took after whatever character was selected. The template design for Meat was taken from many fatalities that render a character into a bloody skeleton. If he is frozen in battle while fighting against Sub-Zero or Shinnok, Meat will appear as a frozen version of the player whom he is selected as rather than as a frozen skeleton. If Meat was selected as Goro however, he will appear as a shortened, two-armed frozen version of Goro.
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 Netherealm. If interacted with, Meat will reward the player with some koins, then fleeing soon after.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Meat's Ending. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Midway Games, 2006.
- ^ Dawson, Bryan (2006). Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Prima Official Game Guide. Prima Games. ISBN 0-7615-5448-3.
- ^ Mortal Kombat 4 - Revision 3.0. Brady Distributing Company (1998-10-06). Retrieved on 2007-01-28.
- ^ a b Fink, James (1998). Official Mortal Kombat 4 Fighter's Kompanion. Brady Publishing. ISBN 1-56686-795-9.
- ^ Cain, Joe (1999). Mortal Kombat Gold: Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Prima Games. ISBN 0-7615-2329-4.
