My Favorite Video Game Character

I'm a 90's kid and grew up with Super Mario Bros. I was fascinated by the Mario games and the fantasy worlds they took place in. When I was in school, I would draw my own Super Mario 3 overworld maps during class and attempt to design my own levels for an imaginary sequel or expansion of the game. I used to walk around clutching any object I could find in one of my hands like Mario holding a vegetable on the cover of the USA version of Super Mario 2. One of my cousins and I were so into Super Mario World that we pretended to be Mario and Yoshi and I'd jump on his back while he walked around pretending to eat berries off of trees. I even used to run around blinking my eyes for a make-believe shining effect and pretending I had an invincibility star.

During recess in elementary school, I would sometimes pretend to be Bowser and chase girls on the sports field while acting like I was blowing flames at them. They laughed and played along, running away screaming because they were imagining themselves to be princesses who didn't want to get captured by King Koopa. One Halloween, my mother designed an awesome Bowser costume for me to wear for trick or treating. I've also always had a great imagination, and while I was in bed at night right before I'd go to sleep, I would throw the covers over my head and act out a made-up episode of the Super Mario cartoons that used to air on television while providing the voices for each character.

I'm still a Nintendo gamer to this day. The Switch is the only gaming system I own, and it's surreal to see Nintendo and the Mario series still going strong. I recently played through Super Mario Bros. Wonder and loved that game. With everything I just said though, I'm not going to make the obvious choice and say Mario, Bowser, or even Yoshi is my favorite video game character of all time.

Over the years I've been a big fan of other video game franchise characters, like Tails the fox from Sonic the Hedgehog for example, but there's one character from another video game that I've always found really cool, and that's Reptile from Mortal Kombat.

I've always enjoyed fighting games like Tekken, Primal Rage, Super Smash Bros, Clay Fighter, and more, but the original Mortal Kombat games were always the best to me. They had a combination of ninjas, elemental powers, strong warriors, and an impressive variety of characters to choose from. I remember mailing a fan letter to the two creators of the game and they were cool enough to write back and answer all my questions I had about their awesome creation.

In the first Mortal Kombat game, a mysterious character named Reptile is available to fight as a secret match if you manage to find him. This is iconic because he became the first secret character in fighting game history. He starts off as just a recolor of the other ninja characters and borrows their special moves, but he gains his own identity and appearance in the follow-up games.

Reptile fan art

Armored Reptile with his long tongue

As his name implies, Reptile is a lizard-like Saurian who has the ability to shapeshift into a human form; a species later known as Zaterran. He's eventually given a "real" name of Syzoth, and he possesses the ability to turn invisible and spit acid at his opponents in the Mortal Kombat games. Other characters insult him for his repulsive appearance and foul, noxious smell.

I never liked how Reptile was always portrayed as a gullible servant who did what he had to do in order to save his family and learn more about his mysterious race, so whenever I chose him as my fighter I would change his storyline in my mind to one of an outcast who serves no one but himself. My favorite games to play as Reptile are Mortal Kombat II, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat X. His design in MKX is my overall favorite, and that's also the game they officially gave him his own unique voice and dialogue.

When I was in middle school, I had a dream that Reptile was real. He appeared as a small lizard just as he had in the first Mortal Kombat movie using CGI, and he was running around and causing a mixture of chaos and excitement on the school playground. Some kids were fleeing from him in fear while others were laughing and chasing him as he rushed around at blinding speed and camouflaged in the outside surroundings in order to evade capture.

Reptile's "acid bath" fatality (finisher) move

I love video games, and if I had to pick one character to name as my favorite, I'm going to give that honor to Reptile because of how cool he is and how much he evolved as a character. I mean, who wouldn't want to play as a stinking, acid-spitting lizard-man who can turn invisible and use his long tongue to eat his opponents' heads? It should come as no surprise that I chose an Argonian character for my first playthrough of Skyrim because they're a race of humanoid lizards and it reminded me of Reptile.

Since my mother had made me cool Halloween costumes like Bowser, Shredder from the Ninja Turtles, and James from Team Rocket before, I tried asking her to make me a Reptile costume in his human/ninja form, but that was unfortunately the year she wasn't able to find time or energy to make them by hand anymore. So while I don't have a costumed photo of myself to share, I found a picture online of someone who managed to pull it off really well!