Reptile (Mortal Kombat)

Reptile
Mortal Kombat character
Reptile in Mortal Kombat X (2015)
First game	Mortal Kombat (1992)
Created by	Ed Boon
Designed by	John Tobias (early games) Steve Beran (MK:D) Mark Lappin (MK:SM, MK:A) Atomhawk Design (MK2011) Ha Nguyen (film) Beverly Safier (Konquest) Christine Cover-Ferro & Christien Tinsley (Rebirth)
Voiced by	Dan Forden (MK4-MKA) Marz Timms (MK2011) Steven Blum (MKX)
Motion capture	Chris Mathews (MK2011)
Portrayed by	Daniel Pesina (MK, MKII) John Turk (UMK3/MKT) Keith Cooke (film) Jon Valera (Konquest) Richard Dorton (MK Rebirth)
Fictional profile
Origin	Zaterra (Outworld)
Fighting styles	Hung Gar, Crab (MK:DA) Pào Chuí (MK:A)

Reptile is a video game character from the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise created for Midway Games by Ed Boon and John Tobias. He debuted in Mortal Kombat as a hidden boss and appeared in subsequent titles as a playable character, also appearing in the merchandise and other media related to the series.

Reptile is a Raptor, a nearly-extinct bipedal humanoid race of reptilian creatures and loyally serves the series' recurring villain Shao Kahn in hope that his race will be revived. Reptile has been featured in almost every title in the series under the same pretenses, and until the 2011 reboot, he had yet to be rewarded for his efforts. Critical reception to the character has been positive, with many print and online publications commenting on his evolution since his debut as a hidden character.

Included in the first game late in the development process, Reptile's character concept was conceived while Boon was driving back to work from lunch. Noting the success of utilizing a palette swap method for Scorpion and Sub-Zero's character sprites, he and Tobias decided to include a "super secret hidden feature" in Mortal Kombat, choosing Reptile's green color as a contrast to Scorpion's original yellow and Sub-Zero's blue colors. Developed with the premise of being "a cooler version of Scorpion", the character's concept was completed in a single evening. Reptile's inclusion was intended as a marketing tool for the arcade game: as extreme conditions must be met to encounter Reptile, the designers hoped to rely on word of mouth to spread rumors of the character's existence. However, the character was not included in the title until version 3.0 of the game.

Reptile's appearance caused fans to speculate that he could be unlocked and used as a controllable character. Boon noted in a later interview that due to the popularity of the rumors surrounding the character, they decided to include Reptile in subsequent installments of the series as a playable fighter.