Reptile appeared in an updated version of Mortal Kombat where he would pop in before random matches to announce some cryptic clue. Reptile was the very first hidden character in fighting game history, an idea inspired by Electronic Gaming Monthly‘s April Fool’s Joke article that claimed that Street Fighter II had a secret final boss named Sheng Long. I’ve discussed his debut at length in my article on Mortal Kombatsecret characters, but here’s the gist of it. That made it all the more ironic when in a roundabout sort of way, he became one of the series’ big villains. A regular to the series, sure, but still the ever-so-beatable henchman character. Then, as the years passed, that novelty wore off, and he became just another lizard in the background. He started out as THE character to fight in the first game. The series owes a lot to the green, scaly, slobbering ninja.

Reptile has recently been announced for Mortal Kombat X, and it isn’t so surprising.

Today, we’re taking a look at Reptile, a character whose had his ups and down throughout the series. Mortal Kombat Xarrives on Tuesday, and we’re celebrating by taking a look back at many of the great characters from across the franchise.

Human reptile mortal kombat