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- NOTE: This page is mostly about Sub-Zero in his Cyberized and Revenant forms, rather than his more heroic normal self. Thus, info surrounding Sub-Zero's actions ONLY in these respective forms should be put here.
| “ | You are not so fearsome! | „ |
| ~ Cyber Sub-Zero's Battle Cry. |
| “ | You will know the chill of death! | „ |
| ~ Revenant Sub-Zero, Mortal Kombat X. |
Sub-Zero, real name Kuai Liang, is a major character of the rebooted trilogy of Mortal Kombat, as a warrior with cryomancy, who would seek to reform the Lin Kuei eventually becoming it's Grandmaster and Bi-Han's little brother and Scorpion's rival/best friend.
He serves as a major protagonist of Mortal Kombat (2011) who was converted by the Cyber Lin Kuei into a cyborg. While he was freed from his programming, he was later killed and became a Revenant. He features as a major antagonist of Mortal Kombat X, before being restored to life.
He was voiced by Jim Lee in Mortal Kombat (2011) and by Steve Blum in Mortal Kombat X, who also voiced Reptile in the same game, Baraka in Mortal Kombat 11, Ares in God of War, the Shadow Broker in Mass Effect 2, Vilgax and Zs'Skayr in Ben 10, Amon in The Legend of Korra, Starscream in Transformers: Prime, Orochimaru in Naruto, Kyogai in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and Edward Avalache in Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King.
Appearance[]
In MK 2011 Sub-Zero was turned into a cyborg by the Lin Kuei after being captured, because of this his cyber form looked similar to Sektor and Cyrax, but his dominant color was blue and his head looked different.
In Mortal Kombat X, Sub-Zero regained his human form and became a Revenant serving under Quan Chi. Like the others, his skin turned pale and his veins glowed yellow along with his eyes. His outfit was similar to his earlier appearance, but twisted by the sensibilities of the Netherrealm, which included a steel spine-like decoration on his back and a more armored vest.
Unlike his previous appearance, he did not wear a hood but still retained his mask. Upon being freed from Quan Chi's control, he wears an outfit similar to his MK3 and MKDA appearances, but allowed his facial hair to grow out. His scar is still featured prominently, which is caused by Kano instead of original timeline's Lin Kuei.
History[]
Backstory[]
Kuai Liang was raised in the Lin Kuei alongside his brother Bi-Han, having been kidnapped as children. Both Kuai Liang and Bi-Han have the ability of controlling ice, due to having Cryomancer ancestry, and Kuai would go under the codename Tundra, while his brother would become Sub-Zero. Tundra was close to Smoke, and sought to uphold the honourable principles of the Lin Kuei.
Mortal Kombat 9[]
The two split and Sub-Zero then heads off to investigate something, when he is confronted by Cyrax, finally automated and turned to a cyborg, much to Sub-Zero's horror. Cyrax tells him he has to come with him so he can become a cyborg, but Sub-Zero tells him that he will never comply. They fight and Sub-Zero wins. Sub-Zero allows Cyrax to escape, intending to finish his task. He is then met by Sonya and Jax who were following Cyrax. Upon seeing him, they are confused and say that he is dead. Sub-Zero explains to them he is Bi-Han's younger brother and inquires what they know about his death. Sonya tells him he was killed by Scorpion and to check the coliseum. They are then confronted by Ermac, who causes Jax's arms to explode. After his victory, Sub-Zero tells Sonya he must go the coliseum, and directs her to a nearby portal back to Earthrealm.
From here, Kuai Liang's fate changes in the second tournament due to Raiden's interference by saving Smoke. Sub-Zero goes to the coliseum and demands that Shao Kahn let him fight Scorpion. Shang Tsung, however, makes him fight Reptile. Sub-Zero defeats him, and eventually, Quan Chi summons Scorpion. Sub-Zero defeats Scorpion, but before he can kill him, Lin Kuei cyborgs, led by Cyrax and Sektor, capture him. Cyrax and Sektor swear allegiance to Shao Kahn in exchange for Sub-Zero. Shao Kahn agrees and Sub-Zero is taken back to the Lin Kuei Temple to be automated.
Sub-Zero is turned into a cyborg in Smoke's place, dubbed LK Unit 5-20 and forced to serve the otherworldly dimension Outworld and its tyrannical ruler, Shao Kahn. He is first seen confronting Kabal due to the speedster using one of Outworld's portals. The two fought, only for Kabal to defeat him, knocking him unconscious. Smoke and Raiden recognise him, with Smoke being especially distraught. They took him back to the heroes base in a church, where Jax reprograms him, removing the slaving protocols in his CPU, giving him his free will back. Kuai Liang is left guilt ridden for working for Shao Kahn and joins the Earthrealm champions, briefly going undercover among the Cyber Lin Kuei, until Sektor discovers the deception. Sadly, while he is able to aid the heroes, Cyber Sub-Zero was killed by Shao Kahn's wife Sindel, empowered by Shang Tsung's souls, who destroys his circuits. The sorcerer Quan Chi proceeds the resurrect him as an undead revenant, along with the other Earthrealm defenders, as Shao had promised him.
In his non canon ending, Cyber Sub-Zero was the one to defeat Shao Kahn, but ended up being possessed by the Emperor, with his form being transformed into a Cyberised copy of Kahn.
Mortal Kombat X comics[]
The process that turned Sub-Zero into a revenant is seen in the Mortal Kombat X comics. Here Cyber Sub-Zero found himself in the Netherrealm before Quan Chi, being restrained by the now revenant Smoke and Jax, with Quan Chi explained their souls belonged to the Netherrealm, as his now did. Sub-Zero defiantly declared he would not be his slave, Quan Chi retorted he would be his puppet and destroy his cyborg body, freeing his remaining internal organs. Quan Chi then used his dark sorcery to regrow Sub-Zero's human body, reviving him as a true revenant who now served the Netherrealm.
Mortal Kombat X[]
| “ | I liked it better when we fought on the same side. | „ |
| ~ Johnny Cage after defeating the undead Kuai Liang |
Revenant Sub-Zero served in the subsequent Netherrealm War, ironically working alongside Scorpion. He attacked a Special Forces chopper with Johnny Cage on board, killing a pair of soldiers by freezing their heads. He fought Johnny but failed to kill him, with Kenshi Takahashi throwing him out of the chopper with his telekenesis. When Johnny fell onto the ground while fighting Scorpion, Sub-Zero froze him in place and nearly decapitated him, but Cage defended himself with a crowbar, and the two fought.
In the final hours of the Netherrealm War, Sub-Zero fought alongside Scorpion and Jax against a squad of Special Forces soldiers in Quan Chi's fortress. Sub-Zero was ordered by Scorpion to protect Quan Chi but was too late as Sonya Blade defeated the sorcerer, allowing Raiden to finish his incantation, resurrected him, Scorpion and Jax. Now human once more, Sub-Zero was haunted by his experiences as a revenant, and would later say that the only good thing that came from it was his human form's restoration.
While Sub-Zero appears as a playable character in his human form, the revenant version is a skin for the character, and his cybernetic form is reused as a hidden variation for the DLC character Triborg.
Powers and Abilities[]
Being the descendant of the cryomancers, Sub-Zero possesses power over ice and the ability to control it in many forms. He can flash-freeze people and create an ice statue of himself to act as a scapegoat that can flash-freeze opponents.
As Cyber Sub-Zero, his skills were greatly enhanced and is apparently the strongest of the Lin Kuei cyborgs, able to fight off both Goro and Kintaro, two of the strongest Shokan, at once. Cyber Sub-Zero retained his cryomancy powers and could form a large sword made of ice, drop ice bombs from his chest, and cover himself in a sheet of ice, causing anyone who hit him to freeze. He had a teleport move where he separated in a flash of light and reformed behind his opponent.
Personality[]
Unlike his brother, in MK9, he was loyal to the Lin Kuei, later he becomes rageful and vengeful his brother's killer Scorpion, later he was kidnapped by Sektor and Cyrax and gets brainwashed by them, when Kabal defeats him and he is at the church, he rembered that he was brainwashed by the Cyber Lin Kuei, after that he defeats Sektor, Kano, Goro, Kintaro, Ermac and Noob.
After that he and the earthrealm heroes (in Chapter 15), defeated all the Cyber Ninjas, later Sindel came in the church and gets killed by her (along the others), when Raiden came to the Netherrealm for Quan Chi's "help", Sub-Zero is an undead villain.
In MKX, he is still Shinnok's servant, alongside Scorpion to attack the special forces, he reappears in Quan Chi's Fortress to attack Raiden, Sonya and Johnny, later he resurects as a hero.
After that he told the truth to Hanzo about his family and clan murderer, Quan Chi, and later he became his friendly rival.
Quotes[]
| “ | Cyber Sub-Zero: Sub-Zero; LK Unit 5-20.
Kabal: You say that like it means something! |
„ |
| ~ Cyber Sub-Zero's confrontation with Kabal. |
| “ | Do you have the might to expell me? | „ |
| ~ Revenant Sub-Zero to his human counterpart in a mirror match. |
| “ | Revenant Sub-Zero: the Outworld souse!
Bo Rai' Cho: I regret your fall, Kuai Liang. |
„ |
Gallery[]
.jpg "Mortal Kombat X Sub-Zero (Revenant).jpg (290 KB)")
Trivia[]
- This was the first version of Sub-Zero to be given a real name.
- Cyber Sub-Zero was the result of Raiden seeing a glimpse of the future where Smoke became a cyborg as was part of the original timeline. Because he saved Smoke, Sub-Zero was captured to become a cyborg instead.
- There is no actual dialogue in Cyber Sub-Zero's ending, only images with no narration.
- Cyber Sub-Zero has the lightest build of all the Lin Kuei cyborgs and also has a unique tint of blue for his blood. This may be some form of anti-coolant or antifreeze so his cyborg components can work with his freezing powers.
- The announcer does not say the "Cyber" part of Cyber Sub-Zero's name similar to how Smoke in Cyber form is still refer to as Smoke.
- The exact process of Sub-Zero becoming a Revenant is different between the game and the MKX prequel comics. While MK9 depicts Cyber Sub-Zero as a revenant, the comics indicate that Quan Chi was unable to control in his cyberised state, and had to transform him into a human.
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 Villains
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