Kurtis Stryker

Kurtis Stryker is a character from the Mortal Kombat games.

Kurtis Stryker was just a member of the NYPD's Special Riot Control Department. He was chosen by Raiden to be one of a handful of mortals to survive Shao Kahn's genocide of the human race. Even Stryker himself doesn't know why.

Personality
A badass cop and an unfazed everyman. His portrayal in 9, which emphasize his badass normal attributes. Prior to Kahn's Invasion of Earth, Stryker's badass credentials include thwarting terrorists in the Greenberg Tower Incident and rescuing civilians on a city bus wired to explode.

Powers and Abilities
Stryker relies mostly on police weaponry such as grenade, taser, and handgun in kombat. This gives him an advantage over other fighters in terms of range, in that he can deal a tremendous amount of damage from a distance. Using his baton, he can propel himself forward with incredible speed towards the opponent and either trip them or fling them far behind him. Additionally, in Mortal Kombat 3, one of his combos can launch the opponent into the air, which he can use as an opportunity for juggling.

In Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, Stryker's baton doubles as a device for opening and closing portals.

Signature Moves

 * Baton Trip: Stryker uses his baton to trip the opponent. In MK 2011, this move is called Baton Sweep.
 * The enhanced version is called Baton Bash. Stryker trips the opponent and then while they're lying on their back, smashes them over the head with his baton.
 * Baton Throw: Stryker jumps forward and uses his baton to fling the opponent behind him. In MK 2011, this is named Roll Toss and Stryker instead rolls towards the opponent, allowing him to duck certain attacks and projectiles.
 * The enhanced version is called Roll Out, the range is increased and Stryker tosses the opponent across the screen.
 * Grenade: Stryker throws a concussion grenade at his opponent. Two versions of this move exist, one allowing the projectile to be thrown in a high arc, called High Grenade Toss and another with a low arc, called Low Grenade Toss. It sometimes follows Stryker saying "EAT THIS!".
 * Double Grenade: Stryker throws two grenades at his opponent. There are also high and low versions of this move. In MK 2011, this is the enhanced version of the two Grenade throws.
 * Stun Gun: Stryker fires his taser and delivers an electric shock from long range. This move was originally his Fatality.
 * Gun Blast: Stryker pulls out a pistol (or a machine gun in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon) and shoots his opponent. In Armageddon, Stryker can also aim his weapon at an upwards angle. In MK 2011, this move is named Gun Shot.
 * The enhanced version is called Bang Bang and Stryker uses two pistols to fire multiple rounds.
 * X-Ray Move - Busted: Stryker pulls out a flashlight and shines it into the opponent's eyes, blinding them and causing them to kneel down. Stryker then slams his flashlight on top of the opponent's skull, breaking it. He then slams the opponent in the side of the face with a baton that breaks the jaw and skull even more. He finishes the combo by electrocuting the opponent with his taser.

Other Moves

 * Throw: Stryker tasers his opponent under the chin, then strikes them with his baton either in the stomach or in the back.
 * Baton Twirl: Stryker twirls his baton, hitting his opponent in the face.

Fatalities

 * Taser: Stryker fires his taser and sends electricity into his opponent, frying them to death.
 * Explosives: Stryker attaches an explosive charge to his dazed opponent and detonates it from a distance, causing them to explode in a mess of bones and gore.
 * Time Served: Stryker electrocutes his opponent with his taser, then graphically shoots their head with his pistol, causing their head above the jawline to explode.
 * Have a Blast: Stryker takes out a grenade, unpins it, and lodges it into the opponent's stomach before turning away. The grenade explodes in their stomach within seconds, leaving their burning lower body on the floor.

Other Finishers

 * Friendship: Stryker blows a whistle and holds up a stop sign while motioning for pedestrians to cross. In Mortal Kombat 3, all the playable characters run by. In Mortal Kombat Trilogy, all the ninjas (male, female, and cyborg) run past. In the Nintendo 64 version of Trilogy, Kung Lao's dog pulling a small red wagon passes through holding baby versions of Sub-Zero, Sindel, and Jax.
 * Animality: Stryker transforms into a Tyrannosaurus Rex and chomps off the opponent's upper body.
 * Babality: Stryker pulls out his pistol and fires at the floor, knocking him back and then starts crying.

Trivia

 * Known for being a very divisive character, according to Ed Boon in Stryker's Bio Kard, he is the favorite character of some, and the least favorite of many.
 * Ed Boon also stated that Stryker was supposed to be one of the strongest fighters in MK3.
 * When Stryker performs his Friendship in MK3, he will blow a whistle, then make characters pass by. Oddly, one of those characters is Kurtis Stryker himself.
 * In Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, Stryker uses his Grenade Toss move only once, in the episode "Old friends never die", where he uses this move to distract Smoke and save Sub-Zero.
 * In Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, Stryker is shown very shortly as a friend of Sonya.
 * In the official poster for Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Stryker is shown in his MK3 costume, even though that costume was not used in the actual game.
 * Also the blood that is splattered on Stryker is always red, regardless of the opponent.
 * In Mortal Kombat (2011), he is the only character where his final action of both Fatalities is seen three times.
 * In Stryker's MK 2011 bio, one of his accomplishments, "rescuing passengers of a speeding crosstown bus rigged to explode", is a reference to the 1994 film Speed, the other accomplishment, "single-handedly thwarting the terrorists in the famous Greenberg Tower Incident", is a reference to the 1988 film Die Hard and its Nakatomi Tower.
 * Stryker's X-Ray move opens with him blinding the opponent with a flashlight. This somehow affects Johnny Cage (who wears sunglasses) and Kenshi (who is blind). This is most likely just a gameplay mechanic, or it could be attributed to the flashlight being of such a high intensity that it is physically burning the other kombatant.
 * A number of redesigns were made for Stryker in Mortal Kombat 2011, such as an army-style design and a more vigilante-inspired SWAT outfit. These would all ultimately be rejected for a more refined version of his original MK3 outfit.
 * Stryker spends the majority of Mortal Kombat (2011) 's Story Mode in his alternate outfit. Oddly, he only appears wearing his primary outfit after being resurrected and forced to serve Quan Chi.
 * In a Top 10 list hosted by Screwattack.com, Stryker was placed at #3 of the worst characters in the Mortal Kombat series. However, they did say that he is much cooler in Mortal Kombat (2011) but "the damage is already done" and "the scars are too deep".
 * Stryker Gun Shot is the fastest projectile in Mortal Kombat (2011) as it hits the opponent immediately after the activation.
 * It is also the only Special Move that can be delayed in both enhanced and normal version.
 * In Nightwolf's chapter (15) in Mortal Kombat 2011's Story Mode, when the Lin Kuei enters the Cathedral, Stryker is the one who starts fighting Sektor. However, after Nightwolf beat Cyrax, Smoke is seen being beaten by Sektor. Stryker is seen briefly in the background of Nightwolf fighting a gray cyborg.
 * Despite his death in the opening sequence of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon being on the stairs of the pyramid, Stryker's body is located behind Sonya's, a great distance away from the pyramid.
 * Probable reasons for this are that he was either blasted by Shang Tsung's Skull Flame, or he survived the attacks that damaged him.
 * Stryker is one of the only seven characters that, after Mortal Kombat: Trilogy, only became playable again in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. The others being Sheeva, Kintaro, Motaro, Chameleon, Khameleon and Rain.
 * Pictures taken during the previous development of Mortal Kombat (2011) show Stryker using his Stun Gun move. However, he does not possess this move in the game.
 * In Mortal Kombat (2011), his gun resembles a Beretta 92. This makes sense, as some police officers carry a Beretta 92 variant as their service pistol.
 * In Armageddon, he trades in the Beretta M9's for a rifle resembling the FNH SCAR-L, a rifle marketed towards Special Forces units and Law Enforcement SWAT teams.
 * Mortal Kombat (2011) is the first game where Stryker wears an official police uniform.
 * In MK (2011), according to his alternate costume, Stryker's rank is Sergeant.
 * In Freddy Krueger's story trailer, Stryker was the target of Freddy when Johnny Cage knocked him unconscious in the beginning.
 * Stryker is the only character in Mortal Kombat (2011) who actually kills his opponent during non-Fatality win animation.
 * When Cassie Cage performs her "Selfie" fatality, Stryker can occasionally be seen commenting on her post under the username: StrykeMeDown, saying things like "WOAH....hold on now, you can't do that, take this post down immediately." humorously, Cassie may respond to this particular comment with "what are you gonna do about it, grandpa?"
 * Stryker, Rain, Sheeva, Kintaro and Motaro did not appear in the series for 9 years (starting with MK4 to MKD). This is the largest period of time during which the character does not appear in the games of the series.
 * If one includes characters added as DLC, Stryker is the only character turned into a revenant in Mortal Kombat (2011) that isn’t referenced nor physically appears in Mortal Kombat 11.