reppy Wrote:
From the start Reptile was my favorite character. I suppose even to this day he still is. But I should be more specific; the Reptile that I knew from MK1 and 2 was my favorite character. In part 1 he's this guy hiding in the shadows. Didn't know too much about him, but damn if he wasn't hard to locate. Then in part 2 he gets this whole back story about how he discovered during the 1st tournament that Shang and Kahn were planning to enslave or destroy what very little was left of his species. So he kills them!
Of course, he didn't actually kill them. But it always bugged me, because he supposedly had knowledge of their plan before the events of MK2 took place.
So then in UMK3 and on when he's back to serving Shao Kahn like everything's cool, I had to come up with some kind of explanation. For a long, LONG time I was resigned to the idea that the Reptile we see in UMK3 all the way through Armageddon was a completely different guy from the same species. Here's all the evidence I found to support this idea.
Classic Reptile: Knows that Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn plan to enslave what's left of his diminishing race. During MK2 he PLANS to do something about it.
Imposter Reptile: Shows up in UMK3 and is back to work for Shao Kahn. Odd, yes?
Classic Reptile: Based on info from his MK2 bio, he already KNOWS that he's not the last of his kind. Yes, they're either near extinction or just really good at hiding, but he KNOWS he's not the last.
Imposter Reptile: Has to be told by Khameleon that there are still others like him out there.
Classic Reptile: Shows concern first and foremost for his people in his MK2 ending. This always gave me a sense that despite working for the bad guys, Reptile was a bit noble when it came to who he protected.
Imposter Reptile: For a while there I thought he said something about wanting to go back in time and be ruler supreme of his people before they were destroyed by Kahn. From his MK4 ending. Turns out he just wanted to go back in time.
HOWEVER- thanks to Khameleon's Armageddon bio, we now know that she was able to locate him and tell him that Shao Kahn was responsible for killing off what was left of their kind. He responds by trying to kill her and runs back to Shao Kahn for his doggie treat. WTF??? There had better be a good F'in explanation for this.
And by MKDA Imposter Reptile is so devolved that his simple, animalistic mind can't even remember that he should hate Kahn. What a F'in dog.
Classic Reptile manages to perform his duties while also keeping tabs on his masters. Using his stealthy skills, he is able to get information from them; mainly about their plan to enslave his race. He makes sure that his masters have his best interest in mind.
Imposter Reptile gets duped by Kahn, by Quan Chi, by Shinnok, and by Nitara. What's more, he never even saw it coming. And then in MKA he's apparently working for either Shao Kahn or Shinnok and Quan Chi again. The fact that he knows how hard these guys screwed him over in the past and he keeps on going back makes him look like even more of a tool.
Of course, his endings in UMK3 and MK4 never happened, so maybe he never had a chance to find out that he was going to be screwed over no matter what. But at any rate- Quan Chi and Shinnok certainly didn't do him any favors in MK4.
There are still some things I would really like the answers to. Like how come he betrayed Khameleon and continues to serve Kahn despite knowing he wiped out what was left of the Zaterrans. I can, if need be, supply the answers myself if Midway chooses to gloss over the issue, but I'd like to see what they come up with.
I'm of the impression now that there has only ever been one Reptile throughout the entire series, but damn if he hasn't had one hell of a chaotic ride through MK-Land.
You said otherwise in your third paragraph that you felt he was a different character all together(different reptile) that's why I said that.
