Stryker made his debut in Mortal Kombat 3 and returned in MK Armageddon and MK9. He is an american SWAT officier and finds himself in the war by the invading Outworld Armies and Shao Kahn.

Somehow he manages it to survive and compete against the many supernatural power using enemies and fights his way through them with his taser gun and some grenades.

Stryker is a quite funny MK character who got a good comeback in Mortal Kombat 9 after a very dissapointing design in MK Armageddon. He was never a fan favourite and is one of the least drawn Mortal Kombat characters.

Stryker in MK3 drawn for our MK Tribute

Mortal Kombat 3 & MK Trilogy

Kurtis Stryker, is a riot police / SWAT officer who appeared originally in the Mortal Kombat III lineup, the first impression he gave was one of a pizza boy compared to an actual warrior in the lineup for Mortal Kombat.

Though he had even from the beginning a good range of close and long range attacks with his riot clubs to trip up unwary opponents and his grenades that could be tossed close and far.

With the addition of new moves in Ultimate Mortal Kombat III,  Stryker also became the first character in the Mortal Kombat line up to use his gun as one of his basic special moves. a good attack to push an opponent away.

Stryker in MK3

Mortal Kombat Armageddon

Stryker did not reappear again until the Mortal Kombat Armageddon (2006) in which his fighting style altered and in an attempt to get more fans to like him, his costume was altered to something looking similar to Doctrine Dark from the Street Fighter EX series. Still it seems for the most part, this player included, he was still ignored.

Mortal Kombat 9

Then he came in Mortal Kombat 9 again, and players were forced to play him to get past both the tower mode where Stryker had the most annoying task of defeating three Shao Khan’s in a row, and having to play him through four battles in the story mode of Mortal Kombat 9

At first, Stryker would seem a clumsy and awkward fighter to play, his most obvious advantage being his hand gun attack. which it is, but becomes even more effective with a combination of his other attacks. the baton charge which used to keep Stryker vertical and open to attack is now turned into a roll which will duck most all except the very lowest of projectiles and catch the shooter in a throw which can then be followed up by his hand gun for multiple hits or a long range grenade. his baton sweep is also a nice way to catch an opponent who is intent on blocking your high attacks and forgets about their feet. stryker has mid range speed but his attacks are effective once you get a hang of him.

His greatest weakness in Mortal Kombat 9 would perhaps be that his x-ray does not have the range of most fighters nor can it go through blocks, perhaps being one of the x-rays to seemingly give the least damage and be long winded in the animations.
It is perhaps avoided in favor of enhancing one of his special techniques or saved for a combo breaker.
His fatalities since MK3 seem to be gun related or with stuffing a grenade around his opponent or in him. Though perhaps an odd choice of fighter at first, when learned he becomes quite effective and lethal catching fighters unaware who are more used to people playing Sub-Zero or Scorpion or Johnny Cage.

And Stryker is one of the few characters to have a funny ending of mocking Johnny Cage about movie rights.
Stryker has come aways since his days knocking on your door for pizza or to break it open with his baton and is perhaps better for his reworking thanks to Ed Boon and co.

In short, while Stryker came in as someone to be laughed at in MK3, he has now come up on the roster as more then a decent player, but a dangerous contender in the right hands.

If you underestimate a proficient Stryker player, be prepared to have your ass handed to you!