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 then became playable in Mortal Kombat II.

About Reptile
Reptile is a green garbed, human-like reptilian creature that embodies the archetype of the unhappy underling. Reptile is said to be physically hideous and repulsive, but he is renowned for his great stealth, impressive fighting skills and unquestioning loyalty. Unlike many other henchmen of the lords he has served, Reptile does not strive for power. Rather, he is caught in a delusional state of mind, an obsession about finding the last remaining member of his race, the Saurians, or freeing his homeworld 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, this 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 then copied for Smoke and Jade in Mortal Kombat II, and Khameleon in MKT.

He was a merge between the original Sub-Zero and Scorpion characters. 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 more (character wise) and later, in Mortal Kombat II, Reptile was developed into a full character with his own special moves and would be 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 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.

Powers and abilities
At his debut, Reptile's powers for the most part, were borrowed from the cryomancer descendant, Sub-Zero and the hellfire specter, Scorpion. By the time of MKII, he is given his own powers. 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 is a mere guise to his true lizard form. 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 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, & 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. (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 is 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)thumb|250px|right


 * 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)

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)


 * 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 & grabs them in a reverse headlock, where he wrenches their head quickly to one side. (MK4)

Fatalities

 * 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 also called Yummy! in MK 2011.


 * 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. (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 input this fatality in his Klassic Costume, he will take of his mask and snarls at the screen before proceed on doing 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 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 eats his victims' heads after killing them. While not an inhuman ninja, he has been diagnosed with a real-life disease known as Harlequin type ichthyosis, giving him scale-like skin and eyes grown inward.

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.

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)


 * 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

 * Reptile is the first hidden character who appeared in a fighting game, he was a palette swap of Scorpion and Sub-Zero. In Mortal Kombat (2011) he can be found at the Pit Bottom and fought as a hidden fighter, wearing his Klassic Kostume and once again having his MK moveset, along with his very own abilities.
 * The "Pit Master" trophy and achievement for PS3 and Xbox 360 versions can be unlocked by fighting him.
 * A previous attempt for the game writers to expand on Reptile's Saurian origins brought the creation of the character Khameleon in Mortal Kombat Trilogy. She was said to be the other last remnant of Reptile's race. Her only similarity to Reptile was that she was a palette swapped ninja, although she was female. In the PlayStation and Saturn versions of the game, a similar character exists, though he is male and his name is spelled "Chameleon". This character has only been said to be one of Shao Kahn's greatest warriors. Chameleon has appeared again in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Khameleon made an exclusive appearance alongside Chameleon in the Wii version.
 * 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.
 * He and Kano are the only characters from the first MK game who don't appear inReptilealternate.png 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. However when in his Klassic Costume he bleeds red blood again.
 * On the back of the Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks box at Blockbuster, he is mistakenly listed as being called Lizard.
 * Of all the characters who appeared in Deadly Alliance and Deception, Reptile was the only one who received a new costume and character model for Armageddon, due to considerable fan demand for his "Shaolin Monks" costume to become playable.
 * Reptile was part of Jazwares.inc's third wave of Mortal Kombat action figures along with Kano, Johnny Cage and Noob Saibot released just prior to the holiday season of 2006.
 * 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, if Reptile is hit by Sub Zero's freeze-ball while he is performing his acid spit, Reptile will appear to have no face. This is because the head itself is treated as a separate sprite. This is further evidenced when Reptile is invisible. When performing the acid spit while invisible, his face will be the only part of him visible.
 * Many fans consider Reptile (and Onaga) to be "The King of Puns" as seen in comics in The Kombat Pavilion.
 * He is one of three characters in MK: Armageddon to bleed green blood.
 * In the both original arcade version of Mortal Kombat, as well as the SNES port, when the player fought Reptile, the name in the health bar said 'Scorpion'. Also, performing Sub-Zero's Spine Rip Fatality on Reptile made Sub-Zero hold Scorpion's head instead of Reptile's.
 * 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 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.
 * Cyber_Reptile.png 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 in MK 2011, Reptile wears armor that makes him appear to be a green pallate swap of Cyber Sub-Zero, but only for the duration of the challenge. According to the dialogue in Challenges #226 and 227, this is the armor of Unit 5, so it is odd to note that Unit 5 is a pallate swap of Cyrax, not Cyber Sub-Zero. This is most likely because all generic cyborgs in the Challenge Tower are palette swaps of Cyrax.
 * Despite being able to speak, Reptile does not speak in MK 2011; he just roars and snarls. He is seen whispering something to Shang Tsung, but such whispers are inaudible.
 * Ironically, despite his renowned secret character status, Reptile is the very first character fought in Mortal Kombat (2011) ' s Story Mode.
 * In MK 2011, Reptile doesn't rub his stomach when he does his Yummy! Fatality like he did in MKII.
 * 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.
 * In a Top 10 list hosted by Screwattack.com, Reptile was listed at #9 of the best Mortal Kombat characters in the Mortal Kombat Series.
 * In UMK3 for the iPod, there is a glitch in which he eats the person's head from the opposite direction.
 * In MK 2011, even though Reptile has acid in his body, when Noob Saibot performs his X-Ray, Together Again, on Reptile, he will puke normal vomit instead of Acid. This is just a gameplay mechanic.
 * In Mortal Kombat (2011), if Reptile uses his Weight Loss fatality on Kabal, the latter's hookswords will float above his legs.