Chameleon

Overview

Chameleon is a mysterious camouflaging ninja in the Mortal Kombat series, first appearing in most versions of Mortal Kombat Trilogy as a hidden character who fights using the abilities of the game's other male non-cybernetic ninjas (in a similar vein to the original Mortal Kombat version of Reptile). He is one of the series' "lost ninjas", being included in few games (Mortal Kombat Trilogy and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon) with little backstory. His female counterpart is Khameleon, who appears in the Nintendo 64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy using the abilities of the game's other female ninjas.

Unlike Khameleon, Chameleon's backstory is very vague, with only allusions to him being "one of Shao Kahn's deadliest warriors" and that he was ever-present throughout all the crises of the realms. Due to his similiarities with Khameleon, it is believed that he is also one of the last members of the near-extinct Zaterran race of reptiloids alongside both Khameleon and Reptile. Although there has been no official confirmation that this is the case, it was later revealed by series co-creator John Tobias that this was originally intended. He has not made an appearance in any alternate timeline.

He shares the same appearance in Mortal Kombat Trilogy as other male non-cybernetic masked ninjas, and is thus played by John Turk. Unlike the others, he does not have his own outfit color (instead cycling through the other ninjas' colors) and is partially transparent to match the name. In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, his skin is nearly transparent and his outfit strongly resembles the ninja outfits of the series' early games, with his base outfit color being turquoise (which changes color based on the abilities he uses). Rather than a hooded mask, he sports both a facemask and a headband.

Although he was introduced in Mortal Kombat Trilogy, an unfinished version of him appears in the Genesis and SNES versions of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 via external cheat devices. In this, he is just a version of Scorpion with no abilities.

Gameplay

In Mortal Kombat Trilogy, he "morphs" between the other male non-cybernetic ninja characters (Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Reptile, Smoke, Noob Saibot, Ermac, and Rain) at a regular basis to gain their movesets, with his current outfit color being the only indication of which ninja's moves he has. Unlike Shang Tsung, his morphing is both automatic and random (similar to the "Randper Kombat" cheat code) and does not induce a loading time for CD-ROM game versions. He also has no unique fatalities, instead having access to the finishing moves of the ninja he is currently mimicing.

In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, he loses the ability to switch between different movesets and instead gains access to a single special move from five different characters (Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Reptile, Ermac, and Rain). Performing a special move changes his outfit's color to match the ninja the attack is based on. He also fights with a ninja sword, as well as the martial art of Bái Hè Quán ("White Crane Fist").

Ending

Chameleon has but a single ending. Athough it does account for his whereabouts in previous tournaments, it unfortunately does little to divulge the secretive nature of his character.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (non-canon)

After years of watching the tournaments from the shadows, Chameleon finally has the chance he desires. Using camouflage to slip past the other fighters and race to the top of the Pyramid of Argus, he defeats Blaze and is enveloped with a power that grants him immortality. Finally deciding that the time for skulking is over, Chameleon deems that henceforth he shall be known across the realms as the true champion of Mortal Kombat.