Khameleon



"I have spent a lifetime hidden from view..."

- Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Bio

Khameleon is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. She made her debut in the Nintendo 64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy as a hidden character and returned as a playable character in MK: Armageddon for Nintendo Wii version.

About Khameleon
Khameleon made her debut as a secret character in the Nintendo 64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy, while the PC, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn versions instead had Chameleon, a similar male character. After being absent for a long time she made her return in the Nintendo Wii version of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon with a new design.

Storyline
Khameleon's biography and endings screens in Mortal Kombat Trilogy describe her as the last female of her race, as Reptile is the last male. They reveal that her race, the Saurians, also known as Raptors, were originally from Earthrealm, but a great war drove some of them out of that realm and killed the rest. They found a new home in another realm, which they called Zaterra or "New Earth." However, Shao Kahn eventually found it, and after defeating them in Mortal Kombat, he drove the Raptors to near extinction and then merged the realm with Outworld.

It is said that Khameleon spent an indefinite amount of time trying to find Reptile in an attempt to restore their race, although he remained unaware of her, focusing on serving Shao Kahn. Khameleon finally caught up to Reptile and told him the truth of how Kahn was responsible for the extinction of their race. However, Reptile fell under the emperor's influence once again and turned against her. Having failed in her attempts to slay Shao Kahn, she began to wander the realms contemplating a way to strike back at him. Later, during the events of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, she learned of the battle that would occur in Edenia and the gift of ultimate power that would be granted to the victor. Distressed by the fact that Kahn was also seeking this power, Khameleon sought out to attain it for herself so as to exact revenge on him and his followers for what he did to her race. .

Her Armageddon ending states that after defeating Blaze and gaining god-like power, Khameleon focuses on Shao Kahn. Although Kahn pleads for his life, Khameleon transforms him and his army into Raptors as an act of revenge for the death of her species. However, she also loses control of her powers and accidentally transforms the heroes into Raptors as well. Even so, this act restores Zaterra to its former glory.

Biographies
thumb|300px|right|Khameleon's Bio Kard
 * Mortal Kombat Trilogy (Nintendo 64): "Reptile was once thought to be the last member of an extinct race of reptilian creatures, until the appearance of Khameleon. She alone knows the truth about their history and chooses to fight on the side of Earth. Making the last survivors of their race lethal enemies."
 * Armageddon (Wii): "Shao Kahn... He destroyed the realm of Zaterra - my home. My kind is all but extinct; I believe the only survivors are Reptile and myself. I have spent a lifetime hidden from view, searching for a way to kill the emperor for what he did to my world. It seemed I had been given my chance when Reptile agreed to join forces and slay him - but once again Reptile fell under Shao Kahn's influence and turned against me. I barely escaped with my life. For a long time I had given up hope. It seemed that Shao Kahn was invincible. His allies served and protected him, and those who fought against him only seemed to make him stronger. It was as if he fed on kombat itself. I wandered the realms aimlessly, uncertain of what could be done to stop him. During my journeys, camouflaged to conceal my presence, I learned from a gathering of warriors that a great weapon would present itself in Edenia. The victor of some skirmish would be granted immense power - like that of a god. More alarming was the mention that Shao Kahn himself sought this power. The emperor will not acquire it. I will find this weapon and use it to punish Shao Kahn and those who have served him. He will suffer greatly for destroying the Raptors."

Combat characteristics
At her debut, Khameleon possessed the powers and abilities of every female ninja to appear up to Trilogy and proved to be quite a formidable fighter. Because of her mimicking abilities, she had access to all weapons wielded by the three female ninjas, including Jade's staff and razorangs, Mileena's sais and Kitana's steel fans. She was also depicted with more effective invisibility than her male counterpart, Chameleon.

In Armageddon, her powers are condensed into a single moveset so that she has access to powers from all three at once as well as Tanya, confirming her as one of the ninjas; she is toned down, though, as she does not have all of their powers. She is also depicted with nigh-invisible skin, only noticeable by faint outlines.

Signature moves

 * Yellow Surge: Khameleon shoots a fireball at her opponent. This move is taken from Tanya. (MK:A)
 * Square Wave: Khameleon jumps into the air and attacks incoming foes with a flying punch. This move is taken from Kitana. (MK:A)
 * Venom From Above: Khameleon slides through the ground and quickly hits her opponent from above with a jump kick. This move is taken from Mileena. (MK:A)
 * Serpent's Shadow: Khameleon spins with a cloud of green smoke surrounding her and appears behind her opponent. This move is taken from Jade. (MK:A)

Endings

 * Mortal Kombat Trilogy: (Semi-Canonical) "Khameleon's former race were known as raptors. They evolved millions of years ago on Earth into intelligent creatures but fled the realm when it was destroyed in a battle between the gods. They repopulated a new realm known as Zaterra only to be driven to extinction by Shao Kahn when they lost to Outworld in Mortal Kombat. With Shao Kahn near victory against Earth, Khameleon contacts Reptile and shares the truth about their race with him. This turns him against Kahn, allowing Khameleon to lead a sneak attack against the emperor. This last battle results in the end of Shao Kahn and unification of Earth, giving Reptile and Khameleon the chance to beget a new generation of raptors.
 * Armageddon: (Non-Canonical) "Drinking in the power of Blaze, Khameleon's eyes glowed as she focused her wrath on Shao Kahn. The emperor would finally pay for destroying Zaterra and so too would those who served him. The pain he endured during his transformation was excruciating and Shao Kahn for the first time in his life pleaded for mercy. She granted him none. Khameleon's power transformed Shao Kahn into a Raptor, powerful like her, but subservient to her wishes. She then turned her attention to his allies and they too were transformed. But she lost control of her new found power and mistakenly mutated the forces of light as well. Khameleon now had at her command an army of powerful Raptor warriors. The might of Zaterra had finally returned."

Appearance
Khameleon first appeared as a grey palette swapped female ninja in Trilogy. During gameplay, she flickers in and out of full and partial invisibility. She does not wear anything other than her usual shade of gray when fighting herself, but rather one of the Khameleons will have a darker skin tone (identical to Jade's). In Armageddon, she wears clothes that are similar to the classic female ninja attire in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Trilogy, and the color of her clothes also change in the same manner as Chameleon. She is now shown to wear turquoise by default, although she is also able to turn grey in the color of her outfit, despite none of her special moves forces her costume to change color to gray. Her skin is also changed to a clear white in promotional renders, however, her body is fully transparent during gameplay, similar to Chameleon's.

Character development
Khameleon was a secret character in Trilogy and was playable by activation of a secret code. In the first surfaces of Armageddon, she (along with Chameleon, Motaro and many other minor characters) was hoped to appear in the game as none of them had yet been confirmed. In the September 2006 issue of Official Xbox Magazine, an article about Mortal Kombat: Armageddon mentioned that Khameleon would appear in 3D for the first time. However, in an interview with Midway producer Shaun Himmerick at the Games Convention in August 2006, he said that she would not appear in Armageddon. Later, Cinder, an administrator at the Midway Forums, posted that she would not appear in Armageddon for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles. The Wii version of the game, which would be released at a later date, was not mentioned. This appeared to leave the possibility that she could appear in that version. However, Cinder later removed the console references from his post, thus seeming to imply that she wouldn't be in any version. Later, Cinder specified that she would not appear in the Wii version either, making her the only main character in the franchise who was not included in Armageddon. Midway later stated that they had wished to include her, but time constraints prevented them from doing so. As a result of a great number of complaints from the fans, Ed Boon and Shaun Himmerick finally confirmed that Khameleon would be a playable character in the Wii version at the 2007 Winter Gamers Day event.

Game information
In Trilogy, her ability to turn partly invisible made her quite hard to see, even for the player controlling her. She had no moves or fatalities of her own, but rather her name in her life bar changed color, determining whether her moves are Jade's (green), Mileena's (purple), or Kitana's (blue). Since the lifebar is blue, this made her name quite hard to see most of the time. She technically had access to all of the three ninjas' moves and fatalities, though the timing is quite difficult. She may be fought in a one-player battle in a manner similar to Smoke's appearance in Mortal Kombat II. First, a battle must be fought on "The Star Bridge" (a level exclusive to the Nintendo 64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy). Then, when Dan Forden appears to say "Toasty!", if the player presses Down and Start together, that player will be taken to the "Living Forest" level to fight Khameleon. She also can be fought by enabling the secret endurance ladders. If done, Khameleon will appear towards the bottom of the highest-level ladder, still fighting in the Living Forest arena.

Prior to her return as a playable character in Armageddon, Khameleon was occasionally referenced in the intermediary MK titles. In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Khameleon is now able to perform a select number of the other ninjas' moves at any time, forcing her costume to change to the color of whatever ninja the move belongs to. She did not receive a move from Frost. In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, upon failing an objective for one of Nitara's Konquest mode chapters, the failure message reads: "You must successfully learn the Kama. Khameleon would have mastered it with ease had her culture not been clubbed by Shao Kahn ages ago." This is a reference to the 80's song Karma Chameleon by the group Culture Club. In Mortal Kombat: Deception, she is listed in Reptile's Character Card as one of his allies, acknowledging their ties together.

In Reptile's ending story in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, he discovers a female Zaterran inside a sarcophagus. When the female awoke, Reptile was restored to his original humanoid form, and soon their race would prosper again. This unnamed character was initially thought to be a reference to Khameleon, but in an online chat event held in November 2006, John Vogel stated that she is most likely a new, unrelated character.

Character Relationships

 * Belongs to the same race as Reptile.
 * Shao Kahn destroyed and enslaved her homerealm.
 * Wants to kill Shao Kahn and his minions.
 * While she did not appear in the opening cutscene of Armageddon, it is likely that she joined the Forces of Light.

Trivia
In General
 * Khameleon has the distinction of being the only character in the series whose appearances were console-exclusive, only having appeared in Nintendo consoles.
 * In MK 2011's Story Mode, there is a female grey ninja who looks like Khameleon in her MKT outfit, between the many kombatants.
 * Khameleon has been shown to have all the powers of every female ninja except for Frost and Skarlet.
 * Despite Khameleon having a good alignment, she is never shown fighting alongside the Forces of Light.
 * So far, Khameleon and Skarlet are the only female ninjas that have not been unmasked (Skarlet is unmasked in her babality, though).
 * Despite Khameleon's ties with Reptile, she is never referenced in his storyline.
 * If the Ultimate Endurance Ladder code is activated, Khameleon will always appear in the bottom of the Master ladder, fighting in the Living Forest.
 * Like Reptile before her, Khameleon will randomly appear at the beginning of a match in MKT to give hints on how to fight her.
 * Her second player palette swap in Trilogy has a dark skin tone, as opposed to differently colored or shaded clothes. She is the only character in Mortal Kombat history to do this.
 * Khameleon was the only Mortal Kombat character who was previously playable that did not return as a playable fighter in Mortal Kombat Armageddon up until the release of the Wii version.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
 * One of the few characters that do not have an alternate costume.
 * One of the few characters that did not appear in the opening scene.
 * One of the few characters that do not have a relic item to be found in Konquest mode (along with Chameleon and Taven).
 * She is one of 3 characters to bleed green blood in MK: Armageddon.
 * Has the same symbol on her headband and on her kneepads as Chameleon has on his headband and belt, respectively, further enhancing the possibility that they belong to the same race.
 * Has the same voice actress as Mileena.