Meat (Mortal Kombat)

Infobox VG character
name=Meat


caption=Meat in "Mortal Kombat: Armageddon".
series="Mortal Kombat" series
firstgame="Mortal Kombat 4" (1997)

Meat is a fictional character in the "Mortal Kombat" fighting game series.

toryline

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. [cite book | last = Dawson | first = Bryan | title = Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Prima Official Game Guide | publisher = Prima Games | date = 2006 | id = ISBN 0-7615-5448-3 ]

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 has the ability to be anyone he pleased, Meat lost his sense of identity and went into obscurity. [http://mortalkombatwarehouse.com/mka/meat/#ending Meat's Ending] . "Mortal Kombat: Armageddon", Midway Games, 2006.]

Combat characteristics

ignature 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")

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. [cite web | title = Mortal Kombat 4 - Revision 3.0 | publisher = Brady Distributing Company | date = 1998-10-06 | url = http://www.bradydist.com/services/mk4.asp | accessdate = 2007-01-28 ] The later released strategy guides also referred to the character as "Meat", subsequently making it an official moniker. [cite book | last = Cain | first = Joe | title = Mortal Kombat Gold: Prima's Official Strategy Guide | publisher = Prima Games | date = 1999 | id = ISBN 0-7615-2329-4 ] 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.cite web | title = MK Fighter of the Wiik: Meat | publisher = IGN | date = 2007-04-19 | url = http://media.wii.ign.com/media/845/845775/vids_1.html | accessdate = 2007-04-22 ]

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.cite book | last = Fink | first = James | title = Official Mortal Kombat 4 Fighter's Kompanion | publisher = Brady Publishing | date = 1998 | id = ISBN 1-56686-795-9 ] 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 "", 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 and then flee soon after.

References