Reptile is a green garbed, humanoid reptilian creature that embodies the archetype of the unhappy underling. Said to be physically hideous and repulsive, he is renowned for his great stealth and unquestioning loyalty. Unlike many other henchmen, Reptile does not strive for power. He is caught in a delusional state of mind, obsessed with finding the last remaining member of his race, or freeing his homeworld of Zaterra 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, his 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 repeated with Smoke and Jade in Mortal Kombat II and Khameleon in Mortal Kombat Trilogy.
He was a merge between the original Sub-Zero and Scorpion characters, capable of using both of their moves. 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 before the release of Mortal Kombat II. Reptile returned for the second tournament with his own special moves, available from the outset.
