Khameleon

Overview

Khameleon is a camouflaging ninja in the Mortal Kombat series, first appearing in the Nintendo 64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy as a hidden character who fights using the abilities of the game's other female ninjas (in a similar vein to the original Mortal Kombat version of Reptile). She is one of the series' "lost ninjas", being included in few games with little backstory. Her male counterpart is Chameleon, who appears in other versions of Mortal Kombat Trilogy using the abilities of the game's other male non-cybernetic ninjas. Although she did not appear in most versions of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, she was added in the later Wii version as an exclusive, making her an exclusive character for Nintendo platforms (prior to Mortal Kombat 1).

Unlike Chameleon, Khameleon's backstory became more defined, with her being one of the last members of the near-extinct Zaterran race of reptiloids (known in earlier games as "Saurians"), similar to Reptile. Unlike Reptile, she understands that Shao Kahn dominated the realm of Zaterra and drove the Zaterrans to their fate, and vowed revenge against the Outworld emperor. She has made no official appearance in the alternate timeline, although she has a rewritten backstory in the New Era timeline (where she is a member of the Umgadi, serving under Tanya). It is unclear if she remains a Zaterran in that timeline.

She shares the same appearance in Mortal Kombat Trilogy as other female ninjas, and is thus played by Becky Gable. Unlike Chameleon, her grey outfit's color does not change over time (with her name in the lifebar changing color instead) and she periodically becomes invisible (rather than being partially invisible all of the time). In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, her skin is nearly transparent and her outfit strongly resembles the female ninja outfits of the series' early games, with her base outfit color being turquoise (which changes color based on the abilities she uses). Rather than a hooded mask, she sports both a facemask and a headband.

Gameplay

In Mortal Kombat Trilogy, she "morphs" between the other female ninja characters (Kitana, Mileena, and Jade) at a regular basis to gain their weapons and movesets, with the color of her name in the game's lifebar being the only indication of which ninja's moves she has. Unlike Shang Tsung, her morphing is both automatic and random (similar to the "Randper Kombat" cheat code). She also has no unique fatalities, instead having access to the finishing moves of the ninja she is currently mimicing.

In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, she loses the ability to switch between different movesets and instead gains access to a single special move from four different characters (Kitana, Mileena, Jade, and Tanya). Performing a special move changes her outfit's color to match the ninja the attack is based on. She also fights with a falchion, as well as the martial art of Yīng Zhǎo ("Eagle Claw").

Endings (non-canon)

Mortal Kombat Trilogy

Khameleon informs Reptile, another one of the last surviving members of the raptor race, about how Shao Kahn destroyed their home realm of Zaterra and annihilated their people. This news turns Reptile against Shao Kahn, and Khameleon successfully ambushes Kahn in a sneak attack, leading to Kahn's death and the unification of Earth. With this freedom, Khameleon and Reptile are able to bring about a new generation of raptors.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon

After defeating Blaze and claiming the prize, Khameleon unleashes her new powers on Shao Kahn. Seeking revenge for the destruction of her homeworld, Zaterra, she transforms him into a powerful raptor, utterly subservient to her. She then does the same to Shao Kahn's followers. However, she loses control of this new power and accidentally transforms all of the other fighters into her raptor servants as well. This act leads to the rebirth of Zaterra's might.