You’re standing at a loud, cigarette-burned arcade cabinet in 1995. You’ve seen the posters. You know Ermac, Mileena, and Classic Sub-Zero are in this game somewhere. But they aren't on the select screen. You start your climb up the Master Tower, sweating through a match against Cyrax, and you wonder: Will I run into them anyway?
Honestly, the short answer is no. But like anything involving Midway and Ed Boon, there's a "kinda" attached to that.
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In the original arcade release of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (UMK3), the three main "locked" fighters—Ermac, Mileena, and the masked Classic Sub-Zero—do not appear as CPU opponents in the standard arcade towers until they have been officially unlocked via the Ultimate Kombat Kode. They are essentially non-entities in the game's active logic until those ten-digit codes are punched in during the "Game Over" screen.
Why UMK3 Characters Don't Just Show Up
Back in the 90s, arcade secrets were a way to keep quarters flowing. If Ermac just popped up in the middle of your run, the mystery would be gone. Developers at Midway designed the arcade board (the Wolf Unit) to treat these characters as "inactive" assets.
If you haven't entered the codes yet, the CPU logic for the arcade towers pulls from a specific pool of available fighters. Since the "locked" status isn't just a UI trick but a literal flag in the game’s code, the AI won't select them to fight you. You could play ten thousand matches on a fresh cabinet and you’d never see Mileena drop down for a round of "Saitos."
However, there is a weird exception: Rain.
Rain is the biggest troll in fighting game history. He appears in the "attract mode" (the demo loop that plays when no one is playing) and even has a health bar color. But he isn't actually a playable character in the arcade version of UMK3 at all. He’s a "teaser" meant to make kids in the arcade go crazy trying to find him. You might see him "running" at Shao Kahn in the intro, but he will never, ever fight you in a match. He’s basically a ghost in the machine.
The "EJB Menu" and Hidden Appearances
Now, if you’re talking about the EJB Menu—the secret diagnostic menu named after Ed J. Boon—things get a little more flexible. If an arcade operator (or a savvy kid with quick fingers) accessed the EJB menu, they could jump straight to character endings.
Technically, you’d see the characters there before they were "unlocked" for the general public to use on the select screen. But in terms of a standard CPU battle? No dice.
The Ultimate Kombat Kodes
If you want these guys to actually show up, you’ve got to lose. It’s the only way. You play a game, lose, let the timer run down, and then you have roughly ten seconds to enter these specific sequences using both the Player 1 and Player 2 buttons:
- Mileena: 22264-22264
- Ermac: 12344-44321
- Classic Sub-Zero: 81835-81835
Once those are in, the game does a mini-reset. Suddenly, the icons appear on the select screen. Now, and only now, can they potentially show up in the "Master" towers or be fought by the CPU.
The Fightcade and Home Console Confusion
A lot of people think they’ve fought these characters before unlocking them because they’re playing modern ports or emulations. If you’re playing the Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection or a specific MAME romset, sometimes those characters are "pre-unlocked" by the person who configured the cabinet.
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Also, don't confuse UMK3 with Mortal Kombat Trilogy. In Trilogy, everyone is available from the jump (mostly). If you’re playing the arcade version, you’re dealing with much stricter rules. The CPU in the arcade is notoriously "cheesy"—it reads your inputs and counters you perfectly—but it won't cheat by picking a character that isn't technically "alive" in the game's current save state.
What About Noob Saibot and Human Smoke?
These two are the outliers. Human Smoke is technically "unlocked" by holding specific buttons (Away + High Punch + High Kick + Block + Run) while selecting the purple cyborg Smoke. Because he’s a "transformation" rather than a separate slot, the CPU doesn't usually pick him.
Noob Saibot, on the other hand, is a hidden opponent you can find via Kombat Kodes in 2-player mode, but he doesn't just wander into the arcade tower for a chat. He’s a "guest" you have to invite through very specific, often convoluted, button inputs.
The Reality of Arcade "Locks"
Most people don't realize that original arcade machines actually saved this data. If you unlocked Ermac on a Monday, he stayed unlocked on Tuesday, provided the cabinet’s battery (the CMOS) didn't die.
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But if you’re at a retro bar-cade today and the characters are gone, it’s probably because the machine was power-cycled and the settings weren't saved properly. You’ll have to do the "lose and code" dance all over again.
Basically, the game is a vault. The CPU is the guard. The guard isn't going to show you the gold until you have the key.
Actionable Next Steps
If you're looking to see these characters in action without the grind, your best bet is to check the DIP switches if you're using an emulator like MAME. You can often toggle "Extra Characters" to ON in the service menu (usually F2) to bypass the codes entirely. If you're on a physical cabinet, you'll need a friend to help you tap those Kombat Kodes fast—doing it solo on two sets of controls is a nightmare.
Once they're unlocked, try the Master Tower. The AI for Classic Sub-Zero is particularly aggressive and uses a different logic set than the unmasked version, making for a much tougher (and more authentic) 90s arcade experience.