Reptile (Mortal Kombat)
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Reptile is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series.
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[edit] About Reptile
Reptile is a green garbed, human-like 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 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. This obsession is so important to him that it causes temporary fits of insanity.
Reptile was hidden in the original Mortal Kombat. 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)", "Alone is how to find me" (denoting that he is only unlockable in single player mode), or "Perfection is the key" (directing towards the double Flawless victory). This concept was then copied for Smoke and Jade in Mortal Kombat II.
He was a merge between the 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 Earth realm 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 Earth, Zaterra, or Outworld are the three likely choices.
[edit] Storyline
At some point - possibly before the death of the Great Kung Lao 500 years ago, or possibly after - Reptile joined Shang Tsung and Goro on Earthrealm. He stayed in hiding during the first Mortal Kombat. Naturally, when Tsung returned to Outworld, so did Reptile. He protected his master from harm during the events of Mortal Kombat II, and then went on to receive special missions from Shao Kahn himself, who had promised to release the remaining members of his race from slavery if he would unquestioningly do his bidding. Such an opportunity arose when Kitana had escaped into the unknown regions of Earthrealm during Kahn's invasion of that world. Reptile was sent with Jade to find and, if necessary, kill Kitana. He did not succeed as Jade betrayed him to help her friend Kitana.
After the war was over, with Kahn defeated and both Earth and Edenia free, Reptile was brought back as a prisoner to Edenia, and tried there for genocide, a bitter irony since his own race once was the victim of the very same act. Reptile was then exiled to the Netherealm.
When the fallen Elder God Shinnok invaded Edenia, Reptile grasped the opportunity to join Shinnok's Army of Darkness as a commander, hoping to convince Shinnok to revive his near extinct race. After being on the losing side once more, he escaped into Outworld again and rejoined his old masters, in spite of the fact that neither had ever kept their promises towards him.
Because of his state of separation from the other members of his race, and especially his matriarch, Reptile had begun to show signs of devolution. Where he used to mask his appearance by posing as a human, this proved to be no longer possible. By the events of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Reptile had nearly gone insane and had a significantly changed appearance, including a tail.
With the armies of Edenia and Outworld locked in combat, Reptile left the battlefield to report directly to Shao Kahn. He was distracted, however, by Nitara, who revealed to him knowledge of his lost civilization. She gave him the Kirehashi blade, which was an artifact of the Zaterran civilization, as proof.
When Kahn was apparently killed in a surprise attack by the Deadly Alliance, the desperate and purposeless Reptile quickly found a new mistress in the form of Nitara. Unknown to Reptile, he had always been merely a pawn in Nitara's plan to free her people's realm from the Outworld. The first step had been to distract Reptile long enough for the Deadly Alliance to kill Shao Kahn unhindered; next, she manipulated Reptile and the cyber-ninja Cyrax into battle. Reptile damaged Cyrax, ensuring the cyber-ninja would later help Nitara in her quest for the portal sphere. Eventually, Reptile came to realize that Nitara had fooled him, and that her plan had lead to the death of his master Shao Kahn. Enraged, Reptile tracked the vampire and Cyrax to the Lava Chamber, but he was too late. The portal sphere had been destroyed, and of Nitara and Cyrax there was no sign. All that remained was the almost fully incubated dragon egg of Onaga the Dragon King. The egg hatched, a beam of light struck Reptile and Reptile's body became the vessel for the reincarnated Onaga.
Although claimed by most fans to be 'devolving' into a more primal state since Mortal Kombat Trilogy, there is very little evidence to support that this change is anything but superficial. It is described in an unlockable photo of Reptile's home realm Zaterra, that members of his race can lose their humanoid appearance when separated for long periods of time from their monarchal leader; given the fact that this authority figure - like most of his people - were most likely wiped out centuries ago by Shao Kahn, the fact that Reptile did not start to 'devolve' until after he assumed his master killed at the end of Mortal Kombat Trilogy, and his race's natural camouflage ability to look like normal humans, it's more likely that Reptile's 'devolution' was a result of his increasingly maddening state overriding what mental capacity was required to maintain his human guise instead of a physical metamorphosis into a prior state of evolution.
Reptile returns in Mortal Kombat Armageddon, although it is not explained how he and Onaga were separated, or how Onaga still retains his form with Reptile no longer being used as the vessel for his soul. Also, Reptile is encountered in MKA's Konquest mode in the lair of the Red Dragon clan. Though no explanation is offered as to why he is there, it's possible that Reptile's DNA was also being used, along with Daegon's dragon, Caro's, as a means of creating human-reptilian hybrids. In his ending, after his victory over Blaze, the Pyramid of Argus begins to crumble under his feet. Reptile finds a tomb within the pyramid containing a female Zaterran, and Reptile slowly reverts back to his humanoid form. With the female Zaterran, Reptile revives Zaterra to its former glory.[1]
[edit] Combat characteristics
[edit] 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. (MKII, UMK3, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:DA, MK:SM, MK:A)
- Power Slide: Reptile slides across the floor to the enemy, hitting them and sending them flying into the air. In Shaolin Monks, Reptile secretes a trail of green fluid when he slides similar to the ice trail that Sub-Zero leaves when he slides. (MK, MKII, UMK3, MKT, MK:SM)
- 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. (MKII, UMK3, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:A)
- False Reappearing Act: Same as the False Disappearing Act, tapping the same button would cause another puff of smoke. (UMK3, MKT)
- Running Serpent: Reptile runs behind the opponent and deliver a successful elbow into their face. (UMK3, MKT, MK:A)
- Slow Forceball: 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)
- Fast Forceball: Just a faster version of the Slow Forceball. (UMK3, MKT)
- 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)
[edit] Recurring fatalities
- Head Eat: 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 stomach, giving a satisfied "Mmmm..." noise. (MKII, MK:SM)
- Hidden Chop: Reptile turns invisible, then rips or cuts off his opponent's torso before reappearing. 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 big puddle. (UMK3, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:SM)
- Acid Spew: Reptile leaps onto his opponent and sprays acid on their head, turning it into a skull. While the victim is stunned Reptile grabs the head with his tongue rips it off and eats it.(MK:DA)
[edit] Appearances in other media
[edit] 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. 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 changes Reptile into a human ninja form and, after an extended fight, is defeated by Liu Kang when he performs his trademarked bicycle kick. Kang then kills de-transformed Reptile as he squirms out of the wrecked statue. The nature of the Reptile's consumption and transformation is not explained. 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. He was played by Keith Cooke, who would play the younger Sub-Zero's role in the sequel.
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.
[edit] 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.
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, 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 was slain simultaneously with Reptile.
[edit] Comic books
Reptile is a minor character in the Malibu Comics series. He remains the loyal servant of Shao Kahn, and never lose a chance to make those around him remember he doesn't respond to Shang Tsung. Reptile appears in the Goro: Prince of Pain miniserie 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 on the games.
[edit] Trivia
- 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. Khameleon hasn't been seen since (although mentioned in MKD), while Chameleon has appeared again in Mortal Kombat Armageddon.
- 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 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 unexplainably 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 reptillian nature, the physical complications are off). In Mortal Kombat 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. Strangely enough, though, Reptile bleeds red blood in Armageddon should he fall victim to a death trap.
