Reptile

Reptile is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise by Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios. He debuted in the original 1992 game as a hidden opponent, establishing him as the first secret character in fighting game history. Reptile became playable in the follow-up Mortal Kombat II (1993) and has remained a mainstay of the franchise. As implied by his name, he is a Saurian, a fictional species of reptilian humanoids. One of the last surviving members of his race, he aligns himself with the series' primary villains in the hope his service will lead to the Saurians' revival. Outside of the games, Reptile has appeared in various related media. Reception to the character has been positive, with praise for his evolution from a hidden character to one of the franchise's most iconic fighters. Conception and history Reptile's character concept was conceived by Mortal Kombat co-creator and lead programmer Ed Boon after the original 1992 game was released into arcades. Noting the success of the palette swap method used for the sprites of the game's ninja characters Scorpion and Sub-Zero, he and series character designer John Tobias collaborated on including a "super secret hidden feature" in the game who would be a "cooler version of Scorpion". Reptile was completed in a single evening, and inserted into the third revision of the game in August 1992, the same month the game was first released. Reptile was not selectable with his inclusion intended as a marketing tool for the game due to the extreme conditions required for players to encounter him, with the developers in turn hoping word of mouth would spread rumors of the character's existence. Boon noted in a 1995 interview that the positive response to the character led to Reptile's inclusion in subsequent series installments as a playable fighter. Design and gameplay Reptile appeared in the three digitized Mortal Kombat fighting games as a palette swap of the two male ninja characters, with his green armor representing a combination of Scorpion and Sub-Zero's yellow and blue, respectively. He retained this design upon his playable debut in Mortal Kombat II (1993), with his true reptilian nature first revealed whenever his face mask was pulled down for his acid spit attack, or removed entirely for his tongue-grab Fatality and his arcade ending. He and the other ninja characters were omitted from Mortal Kombat 3 (1995) but included in the upgrade Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.