Reptile



"I am Reptile, and I do not answer to you. Fight!"

- Reptile to Taven in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon ' s Konquest Mode.

Reptile is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He is one of the few original characters, debuting in the original Mortal Kombat arcade game as a secret character. He became playable in Mortal Kombat II.

About Reptile
Reptile is a green garbed, humanoid reptilian creature that embodies the archetype of the unhappy underling. Said to be physically hideous and repulsive, he is renowned for his great stealth and unquestioning loyalty. Unlike many other henchmen, Reptile does not strive for power. He is caught in a delusional state of mind, obsessed with finding the last remaining member of his race, or freeing his homeworld of Zaterra from Outworld's grasp. Thus, he always remains loyal to Shao Kahn, only obeying other masters to survive and reach his goal of returning Zaterra to its former glory. While well-meaning and sincere, his obsession is so important to him that it causes him temporary fits of insanity.

Reptile was hidden in the original Mortal Kombat and thus holds the distinction of being the very first secret character to appear in a versus fighting game. Before battles with an opponent he would make his appearance and jump in the middle of the screen in a Sub-Zero win pose. Above his head would be clues on how to find him, such as "Look to la luna" ("the moon" in Spanish or Italian and hinting The Pit stage), "Alone is how to find me" (denoting that he is only unlockable in single player mode), "Perfection is the key" (directing towards the double Flawless victory), or "Tip eht fo mottob" ("Bottom of The Pit" spelled backward). Once in a while he will say "I am Reptile, find me!". This concept was repeated with Smoke and Jade in Mortal Kombat II and Khameleon in Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

He was a merge between the original Sub-Zero and Scorpion characters, capable of using both of their moves. Mortal Kombat co-creators John Tobias and Ed Boon admitted in an interview that the "birth" of Reptile was when they took Sub-Zero and Scorpion and fused the two into one and colored him green (yellow + blue = green). They christened this character "Reptile" due to his green color and their reference to lizards. While he wasn't given a lot of character depth at the time, he was worked on before the release of Mortal Kombat II. Reptile returned for the second tournament with his own special moves, available from the outset.

It is not quite clear how old Reptile is. Estimates run in the tens of thousands of years or even millions. What is known, however, is that the Earthrealm was nearly destroyed by a battle between the gods millions of years ago. Reptile's race of raptors, or Saurians, escaped to another realm, Zaterra, where it was then invaded and annexed by Outworld's emperor, Shao Kahn. As was the usual process for Kahn conquering another world, most of the Zaterrans were killed in the ensuing battles, only leaving a handful of people left. Among those, or among those descended from these survivors, was Reptile. Unlike the others of his kind, who were forced into slavery, Reptile was trained to be a servant of both Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung.

Because of this, it is unclear exactly what Reptile's place of birth is - although Earthrealm, Zaterra, or Outworld are the three likely choices.

Appearance
In each Mortal Kombat game that Reptile appears in, his design changes. In MK-MKT, he appeared in a human guise (this form is available in Shaolin Monks if he is selected by both players in versus mode). In MK4, he is a reptile and human hybrid. In Deadly Alliance, he is in his most animalistic form yet. In Deception, Reptile appears in his human guise in Konquest and Sindel's ending; however, this is possibly an oversight. In Armageddon, he re-uses his Deadly Alliance and Shaolin Monks design. In MK 2011, he has another reptile like design.

Powers and abilities
At his debut, Reptile's powers were borrowed from the cryomancer descendant, Sub-Zero, and the hellfire specter, Scorpion. By the time of MKII, he is given his own powers (albeit they shared slight similarity to Sub-Zero's). Reptile appears to take abilities from several reptilian creatures. As a Saurian, Reptile remains mostly human in appearance. However, like Scorpion, the mask and the skin behind it are merely a thorough guise to his true lizard form (whereas Scorpion's mask reveals a flaming skull). However, he appears to remove his mask more often than Scorpion. His saliva is composed of powerful corrosive fluids that can easily burn right through steel, much like acid. He also can fire concussive blasts of homing energy. Reptile's distinguishing trait is his ability to render himself completely invisible. As revealed in one piece of art for Deadly Alliance, a Saurian's appearance is human-like for the most part. However, the longer they are separated from one another, the more their human guises degrade and vanish over time until their true forms are revealed. The change is more than skin deep as it also can affect the mind as well. Saurians who lose their disguises completely will begin to regress into primal fits of blind rage, attacking both friend and foe.

Signature moves

 * Acid Spit: Reptile removes his mask and spits acid at the opponent. Sometimes, the jet of acid spit would hinder the opponent for a very short time as the steam from the acid burns away at the opponent's skin. In MKII to UMK3, it appears as a thick jet spit of acid. In MK4, it appears as a stream of acid bubbles and in MK:DA onwards, a ball of acid. (MKII, UMK3, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:DA, MK:SM, MK:A, MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Acid Stream. Reptile spews a stream of acid.


 * Power Slide: Reptile slides across the floor to the enemy, hitting them and sending them flying into the air. In Shaolin Monks and MK 2011, Reptile secretes a trail of slime when he slides similar to the ice trail that Sub-Zero leaves when he slides. In MK 2011 this is called Slide. (MK, MKII, UMK3, MKT, MK:SM, MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Slime Trail. Reptile slides at a further distance and will hit the airborne opponent with two kicks.


 * Chameleon: Reptile disappears or reappears in a puff of smoke. In UMK3, Reptile could not reappear unless he was hit. In Armageddon, Reptile can still turn invisible, though his weapon will remain visible. In MK 2011 this is called Invisibility and grants a small damage boost to any attack landed under this status. (MKII, UMK3, MKT, MK:SM, MK4, MKG, MK:A, MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Vanish. Reptile will turn completely invisible, leaving no light distortion to help determine where he is as well as a better damage boost.


 * Running Serpent: Reptile swiftly runs behind the opponent and delivers a successful elbow into their face. In MK 2011, this is called Elbow Dash. (UMK3, MKT, MK:A, MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Reptilian Elbow. Reptile follows up with an uppercut that knocks his opponent down.


 * Slow Force Ball: Reptile projects a green ball of energy that slowly moves toward the opponent. When it hits the opponent, he/she is propelled toward Reptile. In Shaolin Monks, the green projectile homes towards opponents. (MKII, UMK3, MKT, MK:SM, MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Slow Mega Ball. The size of the ball is larger, causes more damage, and travels slower.


 * Fast Force Ball: A faster version of the Slow Force Ball. (UMK3, MKT, MK:SM, MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Fast Mega Ball. The size of the ball is larger, travels faster, and causes more damage.


 * Upper Force Ball: In Shaolin Monks, Reptile can throw his Force Ball in the air. Only Reptile as a boss can do it and he does it only if an opponent is in air. (MK:SM)


 * Acid Hand: Reptile creates a Force Ball and spins toward the opponent, knocking them back. (MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Reptilian Hand. The attack will send the opponent skyward, but decreases in damage.


 * Dash Punch: Reptile slides and punches the opponent. (MK4, MKG)


 * Super Crawl: Reptile crawls under the opponent's feet, knocking them over. (MK4, MKG)


 * Rolling Spikes: Reptile curls himself up into a ball and rolls forward, knocking the opponent off of his/her feet. (MK:DA, MK:A)


 * X-Ray Move - Tricky Lizard: Reptile jabs a clawed finger into the opponent's eye, then snaps their neck turning them around. As they try to recover, he kicks them in the chest, breaking their ribs while sending them backwards. (MK 2011)
 * Unnamed X-Ray Move: Reptile charges the opponent to grab their head and break their jaw, then gouges their eyes with his claws before crushing the opponent's skull into the ground. (MKX)

Other moves

 * Spear: Sending out a rope with a tipped Kunai at the end, it impales itself into the victim's chest, allowing Reptile to pull him or her through the air towards him for a free hit, as well as cause a small bit of damage. This move was borrowed from Scorpion. (MK)


 * Iceball: Reptile sends a blast of ice directly towards the opponent to temporarily freeze them in place for a free hit. He could also freeze opponents in midair, if timed correctly. This move was borrowed from Sub-Zero. (MK)


 * Teleport Punch: Reptile teleports behind the opponent and connects with a flying punch to the back of the head. This move is borrowed from Scorpion. (MK)


 * Throw: Reptile grabs his opponent, climbs onto their back, then either flips backwards smashing them (Forward Throw) or creates a Force Ball behind their head that explodes, knocking them to the ground (Backward Throw). (MK 2011)


 * Suplex Throw: Reptile grabs his foe, proceeds to roll backwards, brings up a leg as in a monkey flip and launches the foe halfway across the area. He then does a kip-up. Reptile uses a modified version of this throw in MK:SM in which he gets the foe in a temporary sleeper hold but then places both his knees on his foe's back and launches him. Almost all male ninjas share the Suplex Throw pre-MK4. (MK, MKII, UMK3, MKT)


 * Neck Snap: Reptile forces his foe to their knees and grabs them in a reverse headlock, where he wrenches their head quickly to one side. (MK4)

Fatalities

 * Spine Rip: Reptile rips off the opponent´s head, with their spine still attached. Since Reptile had the exact same moves as Scorpion and Sub-Zero in the first Mortal Kombat, he gained the Fatalities from both. (MK)


 * Toasty!: Another borrowed Fatality, where he takes off his mask, revealing a flaming skull underneath the mask, and breathes fire on the opponent, who is reduced to a skeleton. Since he is a palette swap of Scorpion he is able to do this Fatality. (MK)


 * Tasty Meal: Reptile takes off his mask, revealing a reptilian face. He then opens his mouth and stretches out his long tongue, sticking it to his victim's head, then quickly retracts it, ripping off the head and eating it. Reptile then rubs his blood covered stomach, giving a satisfied "Mmmm..." noise. (MKII, MK:SM, MK 2011)
 * In MK 2011, this Fatality is unlocked via a DLC code. Reptile can use this in any costume. It is called Yummy! in MK 2011, but he does not rub his stomach.


 * Inviso-Slice: Reptile must be invisible to use this. His foe is very quickly ripped completely in half, with Reptile reappearing shortly afterward. How this is done is not precisely explained. In Shaolin Monks, the upper half simply disappears in a bloody mist. (MKII, MK:SM)


 * Acid Puke: Reptile gets close to the victim, opens his mouth, and spews acid over them, melting them down to a sizzling puddle. In UMK3, he regurgitates acid on the victim's body from the head top, while in MK4, he sprays acid bubbles from the same position, but inexplicably gains levitation powers while doing so, much like Kai, as the bubbles literally peel away at the skin and flesh of the opponent, leaving behind a bloody corpse. (UMK3, MKT, MK4, MKG)


 * Extra Meal: Reptile takes his Tasty Meal Fatality further by proceeding to eat the torso and upper legs too. (UMK3, MKT)


 * Face Chew: As the name implies, Reptile hops on the opponent's legs and shoulders and proceeds to savagely eat the opponent's face, leaving behind chunks of blood in the process. Once done, he jumps off and wipes away some of the blood on his face while the opponent staggers back in pain before plummeting to the ground as some leftover blood spills on the floor, showing a close up of the victim's now-mutilated head. (MK4, MKG)


 * Acidic Meal: Reptile spews acid on the victim's head, reducing it to a skull. He then promptly eats it with his long tongue. (MK:DA)


 * Claw Frenzy: Reptile continuously claws at his opponent's head until it is cut off. (MK:SM)


 * Acid Yak: Reptile forces his opponent's mouth open, then vomits acid directly into it. Appearing as a boss Fatality in Shaolin Monks, Reptile simply leaves his opponent to dissolve into a skeleton. In MK 2011, he plunges his hand into his opponent's body and rips out their mutilated stomach instead, leaving a gaping, bloody hole in their abdomen. If this Fatality is input in his Klassic Costume, he will take off his mask and snarl at the screen before proceeding with the Fatality. (MK:SM, MK 2011)


 * Weight Loss: Reptile turns invisible and slits the opponent's throat and stomach, causing blood to spew out. He then plants an Acid Force Ball deep into the gap of the opponent's stomach, causing their upper body to explode in a few seconds. He then hisses in delight. (MK 2011)

Other finishers

 * Animality: Scary Monkey: Reptile turns into a chimpanzee. The chimp then chases the opponent off-screen. (UMK3, MKT)
 * Friendship #1: Reptile Doll Sale: Reptile pulls out a Reptile Doll and a message appears onscreen saying "Buy a Reptile Doll." (MKII)
 * Friendship #2: Snake-in-the-Box: Reptile winds up a box and a giant snake head erupts out of the box which scares Reptile's opponent. (UMK3, MKT)
 * Babality: Reptile turns into an egg and hatches, and starts vomiting acid. (MK 2011)

Film
Reptile appeared in Mortal Kombat. In the movie, he was a bipedal lizard humanoid. Initially disguised as a statue, Reptile received orders from Shang Tsung to keep Liu Kang and the other humans away from Kitana. In one instance, he manages to lurk in a cavernous structure and watch Liu Kang before spitting acid into his face. During Liu Kang and Johnny Cage's journey to rescue Sonya in Outworld, Liu Kang encounters the reptilian creature and throws him into a statue. The statue consumes Reptile, transforming him into a human ninja form. After a brutal fight, he is defeated by Liu Kang when he performs his trademarked bicycle kick. Liu Kang then crushes the de-transformed Reptile to death as he squirms out of the destroyed statue. The nature of Reptile's consumption by the statue and transformation is not explained, because the camera moves up to the statue's face as the consumption is occurring. Like Scorpion and Sub-Zero, Reptile shared the same ninja outfit, but with a green color, and his mask had a jaw built into it. In his human guise, he was portrayed by Keith Cooke, who would play the younger Sub-Zero in the sequel. In his lizard form, Reptile had the ability to spit water-like acid and blend into his surroundings like a chameleon.

In Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, three ninjas dressed similar to Reptile confront the Earth warriors. Due to their similar costumes and powers, these three are supposed to be of the same species as Reptile. Raiden fights and defeats two of them, while the third is noticeably absent but likely defeated offscreen.

Richard Dorton plays Reptile in Mortal Kombat: Rebirth. Reptile is depicted as a cannibalistic criminal who removes his victims' heads after killing them. While he's not a Saurian ninja, he has been diagnosed with a real-life disease known as Harlequin type ichthyosis, giving him scale-like skin and eyes grown inward. He stores severed heads in a refrigerator until he gets hungry and eats them piece by piece. His age is revealed to be 30.

Television
Reptile was portrayed on Mortal Kombat: Conquest by martial artist Jon Valera, primarily in his guise from the Mortal Kombat films. Hailing from the rainy, barren world of Zaterra, Reptile and the thousands of his race have the ability to shift into a camouflaged lizard form that makes visual detection difficult. Their humanoid forms command formidable martial arts abilities, and they have the ability to spit corrosive acid through their fanged masks. This acid is so corrosive that it can even kill Zaterrans themselves, as demonstrated a few times in the episode In Kold Blood.

Reptile's debut was an attack on behalf of Shao Kahn, which left civilians and an ally of Kung Lao dead. It was later discovered that he had been selected as a mate necessary to propagate the Amazonian race of Queen Kreeya with Zaterran features, and betrayed the Emperor. The Zaterrans allied with Kreeya as the guardians of her breeding hives while they matured. Reptile was shunned by Vorpax when she slew Kreeya and became the new Queen. He was narrowly defeated in combat by her chosen mate, Shang Tsung, and died at the hands of Shao Kahn's invading Shadow Priests. The demise of the rest of the Zaterrans is unknown, although one, Kiri, whom he developed a sexual relationship with in Balance of Power, was slain simultaneously with Reptile.

Comic books
Reptile is a minor character in the Malibu Comics series. He remains the loyal servant of Shao Kahn, and never loses a chance to make those around him remember he doesn't respond to Shang Tsung. Reptile appears in the Goro: Prince of Pain miniseries as a member of a team lead by Kitana to find the missing Goro. He also appears in the Battlewave series, most of the time alongside Mileena in a sort of love/hate relation. His most noteworthy action on the comics is when he brainwashes Sonya into marrying Shao Kahn by means of eye-induced hypnosis, an ability never found in the games.

Merchandise
He was part of Jazwares.inc's third wave of Mortal Kombat action figures, released just prior to the holiday season of 2006.

In 2011, if players pre-ordered Mortal Kombat from Amazon.com, they would receive Reptile's Klassic ninja costume and his original Fatality as bonus DLC.

Movies

 * Servant of Shang Tsung in the first movie.
 * Guardian of Kitana in the first movie.
 * Defeated and crushed to death by Liu Kang.
 * Three reptilian warriors resembling Reptile and Sindel attacked the Earthrealm warriors and Raiden but were defeated in the second movie.

Stage Relationships

 * The Pit Bottom: Kombatants in Outworld may find themselves attacked by Reptile here. (MK, MK 2011)


 * Reptile's Lair: The area where Reptile waits in ambush during Earthrealm invasion. (MK4, MKG, MK:SM)


 * The Pit: Kombatants will meet with Reptile always. (MK:SM)

Trivia

 * The SNES version of MK was updated with Reptile in mind. Players only had to achieve a Double Flawless Victory to face him, and his name was used for the healthbar instead of Scorpion's.
 * Reptile was listed as #9 of the Top 10 Best Mortal Kombat characters hosted by Screwattack.com.
 * ScrewAttack also listed Reptile's Face Chew in MK4 as #10 of the Top 10 Best Mortal Kombat Fatalities, and they listed his Animality in UMK3 as #4 of the Top 10 Worst Mortal Kombat Fatalities.
 * In UMK3 for the iPod, there is a glitch where he eats his opponent's head from the opposite direction.
 * Fighting him will unlock The "Pit Master" achievement and trophy in Mortal Kombat (2011).
 * Reptile is the default choice for player 2 in both MKII and MK4, opposing Shaolin Monks as player 1 - Liu Kang and Kai respectively.
 * While Reptile's MK4 bio states that he was banished to the Netherrealm for committing genocide on other species, the MK4 comic shows Sindel (reclaiming her role as Edenia's Queen) banishing Reptile to the Cobalt Mines of Shokan for his crimes against Edenia. This is of note because until that point, the Cobalt Mines of Shokan had only been mentioned in MK: The Journey Begins and MK: Conquest. They have, so far, never appeared in any of the games.
 * In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Reptile appeared in his most animalistic form yet. However, in Mortal Kombat: Deception, in Sindel's ending, he appeared in his original human appearance from the first few Mortal Kombat games; this is either an indication that Reptile has regained this form, or a continuity error due to the fact he appears in Deception's Konquest mode in his human-guise.
 * He, Scorpion and Sub-Zero share their Friendship in Mortal Kombat II, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy.
 * He and Kano are the only characters from the first MK game who don't appear in the animated movie Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins.
 * For some odd reason, performing Reptile's "Tasty Meal" Fatality in Mortal Kombat II on the Armory stage causes the floor to randomly slide to the left until the end of the victory screen. Only the floor will be moving, Reptile and his newly dead opponent do not move in the direction of the floor despite them being on top of it.
 * In the first two Mortal Kombat games, Reptile bled red blood like the other characters. In Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy however, he bled green blood. (Although this is presumed this was put in due to his reptilian nature, the physical complications are off). In Mortal Kombat 4/Gold, his blood was turned back to normal red. In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, his blood was turned back to green, although broken body stubs would appear red. His technical appearance as Onaga in Mortal Kombat: Deception, he bled red blood again. In Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, he bleeds red blood. Reptile bleeds green blood once again in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, although he bleeds red blood in should he fall victim to a death trap. In Mortal Kombat (2011), he bleeds green blood, but when his fatality is full green. In his classic costume his blood is green but his innards and organs are red. His innards are red from UMK3 to MK:A and blue in MK (2011).
 * Reptile was incorrectly called "Lizard" on the rental cases for MK: Shaolin Monks at Blockbuster.
 * Although Reptile had a new, non-ninja design in Mortal Kombat 4, a UMK3-style ninja outfit could be unlocked for him. The outfit is a green recolor of Scorpion's MK4 design down to the skull mask and skull buckle, but lacks a loincloth due to his normal costume's model lacking the necessary geometry to create it. In addition, Reptile retains his new scale-covered skin rather than using the fake human skin used previously. He will also not remove the mask for Fatalities.
 * He was the only fighter from the previous two games that received a new costume and character model for Armageddon, due to considerable fan demand for his Shaolin Monks design.
 * When Liu Kang or Kung Lao find Reptile on the Pit in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, they refer him as "another servant of Shang Tsung", however, he will reply "I do not serve Shang Tsung". However, his MKII bio states he is Shang Tsung's protector and he does serve the sorcerer.
 * In Deadly Alliance, his alternate bio presents his first costume, and vice-versa.
 * In Mortal Kombat II, Reptile's head was treated as a separate sprite, so his face appeared while invisible if he performed the Acid Spit move. This is also seen if he's frozen by Sub-Zero mid-Spit.
 * He is one of three characters in MK: Armageddon to bleed green blood.
 * In the original arcade version of Mortal Kombat, as well as the Sega Genesis and Sega CD port, when the player fought Reptile, the name in the health bar said 'Scorpion', this was fixed in the Super NES version.
 * Reptile has the ability to create a green smoke wall from his breath in the story mode of MK 2011. This move cannot be used by the player in battle.
 * Like Baraka, in the short-film Mortal Kombat : Rebirth, Reptile has a different origin. Instead of being a Saurian from Zaterra, Reptile is a human cannibalistic mass murderer from Earthrealm, born with his eyes inside-out due to a condition called harlequin ichthyosis. He also murders his victims by ripping their head off, but with his hands instead of his tongue. He stores the heads in a refrigerator until he is hungry and eats them piece by piece, unlike him in the games, where he devours the heads directly. It also turns out that his age in this movie is 30.
 * In the Arcade, Sega Genesis, and Sega CD versions of the first MK, the game recommend the player to win two perfect victories along with a fatality without ever using block whenever they see a shadow flying in front of the moon at the Pit stage in one player mode. If done successfully the player would get an opportunity to fight the secret character Reptile: a combined version of Scorpion and Sub-Zero. In the Super NES version, the game doesn't required players to look at the moon for a shadow to do this, they would fight Reptile regardless of any shadow. If the player defeat Reptile with a fatality, they would be awarded a score of 10,000,000 bonus points.
 * In MK 2011 Reptile is one of the only five characters whose the victory pose is in a 3D model. The others being Sub-Zero, Cyrax, Freddy Krueger and Mileena.
 * In MK 2011, Reptile is one of six characters able to do an X-Ray that hits the opponent three times, the others being Noob, Raiden, Kano, Stryker and Kintaro.
 * If a pre-order is made at Amazon.com, players will receive Reptile's classic (or Klassic) ninja costume and his original Fatality from MK.
 * In Challenge #227 of the Challenge Tower, he wears the armor of Unit 5 and appears to be a green palette swap of Cyber Sub-Zero.
 * He doesn't speak in MK 2011, barring roars and snarls. He does however whisper inaudibly to Shang Tsung.
 * In MK 2011, if his Fatality Acid Yak is used on himself, his stomach is revealed to be blue.
 * In MK 2011, if Kabal performs his It Takes Guts Fatality on Reptile, Reptile's guts will be red and have red blood mixed with his regular green blood.
 * Khameleon was created to expand on Reptile's origins in Mortal Kombat Trilogy. Said to be the other last remnant of Reptile's race, her only similarity to him was that she was a palette swapped ninja.
 * In the game Skullgirls Encore, the character Fukua has a color palette that is based off of Reptile's colors. This is one of her three color palettes referencing Mortal Kombat, the other two being Ermac and Rain.
 * Due to an in-game bug (specifically, an error in the in game's assembly instruction), in the arcade version of the game, beating Reptile as player 1 in the original Mortal Kombat will only award 2 million points instead of 10 million.
 * Reptile will return in Mortal Kombat X as a playable character.