Sub Zero - An Accidentally Brilliant Character
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- Опубликовано: 24 июл 2024
- Listen to me geek out about Sub-Zero, second Sub-Zero, Noob Saibot, Frost, talk symbolism and make up lore for probably way too long.
MK power system video I mentioned:
• Mortal Kombat - An Acc...
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:09 The Mechanics of Ice in MK
05:01 Symbolism
07:05 Subs & Scorps Truly Are Opposites
10:09 Second Sub-Zero (Kuai Liang)
12:11 Frost
14:40 The Nature of Ice
#subzero #noobsaibot #mk #mortalkombat #lore #powersystem #elementalmagic #bihan #mkdeception #mortalkombat1 
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At this point bro i just want you to make your own MK lore and ima say thats cannon. Its 100000% more interesting and consistent than the actual NRS titles.
Oh you have no idea what's coming.
I can tell the writers didn’t think much and everything is just falling into place perfectly
Don't think, feel.
My headcanon is that the writers intuitively did what they’ve done. Or it’s akin to tv shows where they do something on accident and it works, so they just run with it
@@iam1894 It's also likely that Tobias did, in fact, think of some of this, and just made a great framework.
@@CynicalWarlockYeah, would have loved to see what Tobias would have done with the story if he didn't leave Mk, Great video though, you just earned a subscriber!
@@deviousballstickler821 Thank you, I appreciate that. Way more videos on the way.
Kuai Liang may actually be my all time favorite character from any piece of media. I can't give an exact reason, but this edgy ninja with ice powers still being a rather compassionate and heroic character just hits right with me
Yeah, he's that anime archetype - the cool (yes, puns) aloof, stone-cold killer that looks like an antagonist, but ends up allying with the heroes and becoming a fan favorite.
Same
Mine is Bib Han
His voice actor is great
@@Sindr0mYEAH Yes. Steve Blum is a god among voice actors.
I love both Sub-Zeros but Bi-Han holds a special place in my heart. His tragic story and the fact that it’s canonical that he wanted to retire and take his younger brother out of the Lin Kuei and never got that chance is 💔
It does fit his character. Only wish Noob Saibot would get a full arc with a satisfying ending, for once.
Kuai Liang (pre-MK1) is THE fighting game character. The development he had was truly insane. A man who worshipped the very ground his older brother stood, only to grow up, meet gods and other great heroes, and find out THEY TOO had flaws and problems, that none of them were perfect, especially not his brother, and yet, for Kuai to rise up above almost all of them, and become one of the greatest protectors of earth, to show that yes, you can be greater than your past, was something truly, truly special, and I miss that terribly.
With that being said...there's just something hauntingly sad about Bi-Han (again, pre-MK1). I will probably write in depth about it at some moment, but Bi-Han's entire arc is akin to Vincent Vega's in Pulp Fiction. He could've had everything. But he just puked on it. He could have left the Lin Kuei so many times, at first, his brother was the reason he stayed, he couldn't live on the rest of his life looking over his shoulder not only for him, but Kuai Liang as well. And then they got older. And all the murder and filth started to pile on Bi-Han, and he simply couldn't let go. He left little pieces of humanity in the highway of murder and hatred, until there was nothing left. Only the shadow.
Only Noob Saibot.
So yeah, Bi-Han as Sub-Zero is my favorite character of all fighting-game history, with Kuai Liang as a solid top 2. Frost, though? Conceptually nice, wasted potential. Once more, she comes up short, forever in the shadow of both Sub-Zeros.
I dunno if you embellished this a little bit, but it's brilliant, and pretty much the way I feel about these characters. I remember thinking, back in the Deception era, that Sub-Zero allying with the good guys and becoming grandmaster of the Lin Kuei is a dream come true. He was both unbelievably ambitious and honorable - a rare combo.
Bi-Han, on the other hand, is an extremely tragic character that, unfortunately, never gets developed once he gets into his Noob Saibot phase.
As a side note, it's funny how many times people have to say "pre-MK1" era. The time reboots are nice and all, but they destroy any semblance of consistency and stakes, and they killed a lot of what was great about these characters in the process.
Frost is actually a very relevant character, in the world of today - a cautionary tale against radical feminism - cause she's trying to better her male counterparts, by betraying and stealing from them. A woman trying to be a man is no woman.
Kuai Liang and Liu Kang are the protagonists for the MK franchise
Don’t know if it’s different but Noob is a Wraith and Scorpion is a Spectre
@@Sniper_T_2x Yeah, I've heard that one before. Could be, as Raiden says, a distinction without a difference.
2:00 a more unknown character that rarely ever gets mentioned hydro who’s also a member of the lin kuei CAN actually manipulate the temperatures of water to do both liquid and ice attacks and even boiling hot water attacks as well! It’s a shame he’s barely been mentioned and never even been playable in any of the games.
Yeah, he only appeared in that one comic (and MK: Legacy, if you really wanna count that), so it's hard for me to accept him as canon. Even his name is kinda generic.
That said, I was just thinking it's a shame we basically only have one Water element user (Rain); would definitely like more than that.
I was really hoping he’d atleast be a kameo in mk1 but ig they forgot about him?😭
The fact that someone can overthink the mortal kombat magic system and its so good that nrs could actually use this is really amazing 💯
Overthinking is my special move.
Frost's special moves always worked so well with her story in Deadly Alliance, as she lacked the experience that Kuai Lang did, Frost could only form smaller weapons like daggers, and her ice was only able to travel across the ground and not directly like an ice ball.
Plus I wish NRS would explore the theory that Frost is Bi-Han & Kuai Lang, younger sister who was left with the mother when they were taken back to the Lin Kuei.
That's a good point, her having few specials makes sense, story-wise.
Yeah, I'm not sure how I feel about the sister thing, but it makes a lot of sense, logically. There aren't a lotta cryomancer descendants walkin around, and their forebears are extinct, so it is very likely that the 3 are related.
I've always liked the theory that Frost was Bi Han and Kuai Liang's younger sister. Maybe she admired Bi Han more than Kuai, and her treachery was a way to make the Lin Kuei what she thinks Bi Han would want it to be.
Damn, that is cold. Pun not intended.
Poor Kuai Liang can't catch a break.
There was a fun dialogue in mk11, when Frost tells Noob he was exellent grandmaster, but Noob responded he dont allow women in Lin Kuei.
@@CapnMidnight "YOU'RE WORSE THAN KUAI LIANG!!!"
@@CapnMidnight That is actually quite funny.
Yeah bad guys always have more fanatics than good guys so it makes sense.
I always took the ice clone as Kwai liang’s literally separating himself from his powers which was important to keep himself grounded. IIRC part of Bi Han’s downfall was hubris because of his powers. That’s why he lost.
Ooh, that's good. Great bit of symbolism - fits right in with the video.
You’re not wrong about Frost having limited potential, but I would love to see a dedicated video on her, especially now that she has a place in the newest game as a non-playable.
I'll put her on the list.
I love Sub-Zero more than Scorpion since forever. I know Scorpion is Ed Boon's baby but Sub-Zero, ugh.
I love how you noticed so much nuance and details that just fits together. Your assigning of what ice symbolizes in each cryo Lin Kuei gave me goosebumps, man. WOOOO!!
It's funny, cause Subs is probably more popular by name than Scorpion, yet Scorps is still the poster boy and always wins, in every piece of promo material.
It gets old.
"gave me goosebumps" - Would it be fair to say you got.. chills? Eh?
For real though, thanks so much for the kind words. Glad you enjoyed the video.
@@CynicalWarlockfun fact: sub-zero still has more canon wins than scorpion
@@AnakinSkywalker-lu3iu That's cool to hear, young Skywalker.
Actually, it makes sense. Sub-Zero's still alive, so he has more wins just by virtue of surviving them.
I love how much accidental brilliance is in this universe just waiting to be highlighted... Great work!!
Thank you, thank you.
Rain's always been my favorite ninja and character overall, and he always will be. I love watching these videos, and I think you should really make one about Rain next, especially him in MK1. He may seem like a random jobber but his and havik's tower ending gives a whole new layer to his character. And his character intros are very interesting, I noticed that with edenian royalty and people like Li Mei and Tanya he seems very remorseful and regretful for what he did in his tower ending, but with other characters that he sees lesser, like Smoke, he mocks them and boasts about how powerful he is since he drowned Seido all by himself. His ego is still clearly here, but toned down, and mixed with a superiority complex. Also, his change from a ninja like scorpion and sub-zero to a mage could be interesting to talk about.
Rain has a *lot* of potential that's always remained somewhat unfulfilled. That remorse and regret you mentioned nails it. He's a character caught between 2 worlds: his Edenian roots and his ninja life in the service of Shao Kahn or his own ambitions.
The ironic thing is that one fuels the other. Finding out that he's Edenian royalty made him feel more entitled and power-hungry, yet then his quest for power makes him regretful of all the Edenians he inevitably has to screw over in pursuit of it.
On and on, spiraling into a gruesomely vicious cycle, and struggling with what his own identity and what that should ultimately be.
@@CynicalWarlock Such an interesting character that's never received the spotlight. There's also ANOTHER layer to his character, making him even MORE interesting, the fact that he's a demigod, and a bastard son of argus. His brothers, taven and daegon, who are involved in prophecies and important characters adds even more to his character. And while writing this, I've just realized that his powers are insanely interesting as well. Do they even fall under your element system? He doesn't just control water, he controls the weather AND lightning and can make storm clouds out of thin air!
@@riptide6041 Yeah, I explained it in the other video, albeit briefly. He manipulates the water in clouds to form the right thundercloud interactions, so he is ultimately Water (maybe a bit of Air too).
But the demigod thing definitely exacerbates the chip on his shoulder. Him being the third brother.. well, third brothers tend to feel left out, and that's definitely true for Rain.
And for all that Ed boon still orchestrates his death in most of the trailers. Even with the last quan-chi trailer 😭.
I'm honestly sick of it. There was still Scorpion favoritism in the older games, but the trailers and promo material still went out of their way to make Sub-Zero cool (pun) as well.
That Deception promo, for instance, where he fights Baraka. One of the simplest, yet coolest bits of Sub-Zero promo ever, to this day.
Dude, I gotta say... your video essays or explanations are amazing. Just finished the Matrix one and found it phenomenal, as with this and the MK magic system one. I subbed xd
Thank you very much! It's rare to find an MK *and* Matrix fan.
Glad you enjoyed them. More on the way.
Thank you for showing me that I am not alone in giving Mortal Kombat this much thought and consideration. I absolutely love this.
No, you are definitely not alone. Been gushing over this universe since I was a kid.
I really enjoyed this video especially the part about how the powers fit on Kuai Liang, Bi Han and Frost based on their personalities I love it.
Yeah, I'm gonna make an entire series out of this. Plenty to dig into, with Mortal Kombat.
Really good video, though I would also like to point out Noob's relation with Smoke during the events of Deception/Armageddon, as throughout those games, Noob is still alone, lacking any form of allies/companionship.
That is until he stumbles across a cyberized Smoke within an abandoned stronghold, left unpowered and is now mostly a shell of his former self. Noob then proceeds to activate and use Smoke for his own exploits, even if it against his will.
It isn't nearly as deep as your interpretation of Noob's shadow abilities, but it's an interesting thing to point out regarding his overall story, as even with the company of Smoke, he is still alone.
No I always loved that team up, in Deception. It makes so much sense - 2 withered husks and shadows of their former selves allying together, to share their grief; the only 2 who can understand what each of them went through.
The noncanon ending is also tragically soul-crushing, where fucking rip Kuai Liang in half - his 2 failures and sources of trauma devouring him whole.
Of course, a much more fitting ending is Sub reaching through to Smoke and convincing him to turn against Noob.
Noob saibot is my favorite ninja and when you explained how tragic and lonely his life is I almost cried. Damn. Same
Beyond the cool factor, that's what makes the character great.
As someone who loves A Perfect Circle and Mortal Kombat, thay intro was completely unexpected but HIGHLY appreciated. Great video!
Talk about serendipity.
John Tobias would be proud of you getting the lore & the backgrounds of the Sub-Zero brothers especially Bi-Han.
That would make my day.
Heck, my year.
Bro, you need to work for NetherRealm Studios and become a writer for the next MK game.
Nah.. Not dumb enough.
@@CynicalWarlock No, you're actually very knowledgeable on this franchise's power system and how these characters are portrayed within the games. It's all the more reason why you should join NRS. That way, the developers can heavily improve the story mode of their games with your help.
@@vincerizzo1401 Well trolling aside (on my part), improving this game's lore and story quality is a dream of mine, so your words honor me. Thanks.
@@CynicalWarlock You're welcome.
Perhaps Frost could have some sort of secret auto-immune disease or cancer, and her cryomancy acts to slow it - keeping her in remission. But, as she gets stronger, so does her disease. She NEEDS more power, to be "colder", in order to survive it.
Man, you went hard on the misery thing. :))
Not a bad idea, though.. all in all. Shades of Mr. Freeze's wife.
I honestly love the Idea of these Iconic Cryomancers that use it in Unique Ways, Bi-Han is the perfect example of a Cold Blooded Assassin that while Neutral he has a Tainted Soul with a Heart of Ice plus Greed and Power Hunger, that’s why he becomes a Wraith, his Pitch Black Skin both symbolizes it and is a Burn Marks made from his Ashes(Fun Fact I heard that Hellfire is actually Heavenly Fire that burn the Sins of the Soul) compared to Scorpion that got his power to Quan Chi embracing his Rage into Hellfire, Kuai Liang is arguably the Best of the 3 as he’s the basic example of not Judging a Book by its Cover, plus he’s the Most Powerful of the Cryomancers do to having more experience with his Ability, no wonder he’s the Fan Favorite, and as for Frost not gonna lie I thought and still think that she’s Bi-Han’s Daughter as both of them have Similarities and yet they’re so Different basically a Fox pretending to be a Rabbit, she’s more Hotheaded, Egotistical, and Arrogant wanting to prove she’s the Best and yet her Flaws are her greatest weakness and downfall, I have a Theory that in the Future that both Hanzo and Frost would either have a Rivalry or a Thing as if Hanzo is Younger and is both Kuai Liang and Tomas’ Future Inactive, why not do the same with Frost as him being with Harumi obviously leads him to Tragedy, but it’s just a Speculation to try new Directions.
Well said.
Or written, rather.
I assume that theory at the end is about the MK1 timeline. Still haven't finished that game; will fix that.
@@CynicalWarlockGood Luck to finishing the Game, I know for many MK1 is Controversial but to me I Enjoyed the Game
What an accidentally brilliant way to present my alter ego persona since I've first laid a hand on a controller and was introduced to the mystical universe of Mortal Kombat (mystical to it's creators as well, it seems).
It reminds me of a lot of the late night conversations I used to have with my little brother, when we were kids that were supposed to be asleep because they had very real school the next day rather than let their minds wonder on for hours about fictional worlds, conversations in which we would imagine all sorts of unexplored/unexplained lore and backstory for many games/movies that peaked our interest at the time, however, MK in particular was a recurring source of imagined content. I especially liked your culmination of exploring the differences between Bi Han and Hanzo Hasashi as a basis on which the manifestation of their abilities furthers the very antithesis that their alter egos will forever represent to one another. Concerning the comparison with Kuai Liang, I would, maybe, dare to introduce a small variation regarding the use of the ice clone in MK Trilogy, which is that, in my humble opinion, Bi Han was always portrayed as a ruthless assassin that used his cryomancer abilities to overwhelm his opponent to the point of desperation whereas Kuai Liang, who inevitably suffered because of his brother's behavior, chose to depart from this manner of expression by using his power in a more defensive way. If you let your imagination draw a parallel between the element of ice and the Force present in Star Wars lore, it's almost the same kind of thinly veiled difference as between Sith and Jedi. Ultimately, one lets their emotions control and drive their actions while the other chooses to suppress them in order to have a more clear minded approach.
Stop! I'm tearing up here. Me and my brother used to do the same thing.
Absolutely brilliant addition to the clone theory. It absolutely is a Sith vs Jedi use of ice, and I've always dreamed of having a modern MK game with both Bi-Han and Kuai Liang in it, as separate characters, or variations - one extremely offensive (ice blasts, weapons, spikes, shards, zoning and pressure tools), and the other extremely defensive (ice clones, traps, armors, setup tools). You kinda had that in MKX, but not exactly what I'm talking about.
In hindsight to my initial thoughts, I guess I'm now quite curious to see what they make of this reboot version of Kuai Liang in MK1.
@@g_ho_st Yeah, still haven't played the full story mode, so I'm confused about how that works.
I've always just gravitated towards sub-zero as my favourite character in MK an i think i now have found out why
Glad to be of help.
I've always loved Winter and ice-themed heroes and villains. Winter has so many aspects to it that are frequently overlooked, such as the very strong connections with the underworld, the dead, and hope. In many mythologies around the world, winter is associated with death and the dead, often in ways people don't expect. In Norse mythology, winter was the season when the dead were free to roam and the wild hunt was tasked with taking them back to Hel. In Greek myths, it was the time Persephone was in the underworld with Hades as the queen of the dead. In her absence, winter was brought to Earth. Lastly in Celtic mythology winter was a season of hope as the youth and power of the sun were brought back to Earth on the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year.
Ice and Winter are very layered and it's amazing, absolutely my favorite season and 'element'.
As a further note, winter is also associated with darkness/night, the north, and the earth often called the sleeping or dead earth.
Loving this, will watch every single video you release on MK. Keep up the good work
Ooh, there will be a *lot* to watch. :D
Great analysis. I really enjoyed this video. Bi Han had always been my favorite of the brothers for some reason.
He's the most powerful, mysterious, and ominous of the 3.
Ugh thank u soooo much do doing this. Elemental things are just my favorite type of anything. Avatar is my literal favorite show! You nailed this!
Mine too, and I don't say that lightly.
If you haven't seen it already, you'll love the MK power system video. Even more Avatar parallels.
I liked your take on Frost and would be interested in hearing more
Thanks. Several people asked for a dedicated Frost video, so I'll just have to make it.
Sub to see it.
Ever since I was 8 yrs old when the original MK came out in 1992, Sub Zero has been by far my favorite not just MK character, but my favorite character in all of media.
All of media? Wow, that's special. Glad this video found you, then.
Most definitely. I remember seeing his spine rip fatality in the arcade for the very first time like it was yesterday, it was love at first sight lol. I really dig all of your MK vids man, keep up the great work!
@@kylereno5383 Appreciate it, thanks.
Brilliant video, especially the comparison with Scorpion and how their individual tragedies determined or shaped their new forms in hell
Thank you, Mr. Wayne. Glad to have you back.
this is the best mk commentator nobody else is talking like you!! big bro !
I sure love to commentate.
Another great analysis, one of my favorite character in MK too at that.
Glad I chose him, then.
What a happy accident subbing to your channel.. great and engaging videos. ❤
Welcome. I'm all about happy accidents.
Dude this guys a genius add him to the writers team
P.S. congrats on blowing up
Would probably be a waste of talent as Ed Boon is a morron who wouldn't understand this deep thinking. He only took John Tobias' ideas and made 12 other color versions (incl female & cyborg) of each character 😢
Thank you; I'm still wrapping my head around it.
Blowing up, not being a genius. :D
@@BruceWayne-qv4fc I like Ed Boon, he's really good at what he does, but there is true to this, sadly. It was Boon and Tobias working together that made MK successful in the first place.
excellent explanation of both Bi-hans use of cryomancy and how in the end he always had that darkness inside him which he couldn't overcome and in the end its his shadow self that aids him , also fun fact,at 13:23 you cut at the right time as the guy was about to trip and fall out of scene XD
Didn't know that. Got the actor's footage from another video, I think, so they probably cut it at the right time.
Great video! I would love to see you go in depth with scorpion who happens to be my favorite ninja, and THE counterpart of sub zero and basically the face of MK.
Naturally, I'll talk about him. Although pretty much everyone knows his story.
For slight context regarding their transformations, Scorpion and Sub-Zero were both brought to the Netherrealm linked by one man, Quan Chi. Quan Chi sent Sub-Zero to retrieve an item and killed Scorpion in the process, and Quan Chi deceived Scorpion into killing Sub-Zero. The difference in their making is its speculated Quan Chi pretty much forged Scorpion from the damned soul of Hanzo Hasashi, his human life. He created a powerful revenant to serve him. However, Sub-Zero was initially invited to join the Brotherhood of Shadows due to the evil in his soul, but he denied it. Brotherhood of Shadows arent just revenants but direct loyal servants of the fallen Elder God, Shinnok. When Sub-Zero died, Quan Chi created Noob Saibot by not making him just a revenant, but making him a member of the Brotherhood of Shadows.
So Sub descended further.
@CynicalWarlock Yeah. Hanzo wasn't so much as evil, Quan Chi used his rage for the deaths of his family and clan to turn him into Scorpion. Sub's inner evil is what was used to turn him into Noob Saibot. Hence why there was a chance for reasoning with Scorpion but none with Noob Saibot. In MK: Mythologies, Quan Chi has Sub-Zero retrieve Shinnok's amulet. When he does, Raiden sends Sub-Zero to get it back. Towards the end of the journey, Quan Chi informs Sub-Zero of how Raiden sent him into the Netherrealm because he was tainted with evil and tries to recruit him into the Brotherhood of Shadows. Sub-Zero, of course, denied him. In the end, when Sub-Zero returned to Earthrealm with the amulet, he asked Raiden if what Quan Chi said was true, and Raiden told him only he could control his destiny.
@@Shadowdragon_TV Which is an important point, because even though Bi-Han had "darkness in his soul", he wasn't a psychopath, or anything, just a somewhat conflicted soul. The pendulum could swing either way.
Alas, it did not swing in his favor.
You guys do know that Hanzo chose to be a revenant & that he even admits that too. Where did this misconception that Hanzo was mind controlled come from? That’s never been the case before NRS fucked up every character in 9-11.
Yayyyy I'm loving this!! Thanks for posting this type of videooo . :) brilliant as usualll. I'm praying for an edenian ninja video with the likes of mileena, jade, kitana, Tanya and Sindel 🤞
It's probably gonna be my next one.
@@CynicalWarlock yayyyy
This is my first time ever on your page. Brother man you are cooking 🧑🍳 , Keep it up 👍‼️
Thanks a ton. Lots more videos coming up.
Cool Bro , Plus I want a dedicated Frost video , She's Preeeettyy.
Get ready for 15 minutes of pure headcanon. :))
Great video and I agree the brilliance of this franchise and the move set is amazing Noob Saibot is my favorite character with Sub-zero being a close second
Thanks. Yeah, it's not just about backstory, or plot, when it comes to fighting game characters. Their move-sets and animations are a big part of their personalities, as well.
@@CynicalWarlock exactly I was really impressed with the character development they gave these characters especially Bi Han and Hanzo Hashashi
Cool video! Keep up the good work!
Yes, very 'cool' indeed.
ice clone can also be a manifestation of the younger sub zero's ability of self reflection that improves his morality.
Beautiful!
That power system video was awesome.
Thank you. Might make a part 2, to account for all the missing powers and element combinations.
I am oh so mad about what they did with Bi-Han in MK1. In mythologies it was clearly shown that Bi-Han has light in his heart, even though his soul is stained with darkness. In OG MK1 it was said that that mission was his last. He was about to assassinate Shang Tsung and leave Lin Kuei to live a peaceful life. He wasn't a hero, but he never was a villain. Killing people was his way of making money, that's what he said himself. And that's why Noob Saibot as a concept stings so much. We see a character that once was honorable, yet not without flaws, but with his heart almost in the right place, falling so low to become a shadow of his former self.
In MK1 he's just Vergil. Like, bad caricature of Vergil. "I NEED MORE POWER" type shenanigans. Just look at him in Armageddon chapter ending. He's at peace, he's calm, collected and humble. "You honor me, Liu Kang", he says. But he wants power. WHAT FOR. Vergil had a childhood trauma because he believed that he was too weak to protect his mother. If something like that happened to Bi-Han, if he wanted to become stronger no matter what because he failed to save his father, that literally would have made him one of the best characters in the game(and if we exclude his pointless hatred for Smoke). Like, just change two things.
Make it like he's harsh on Thomas to make it look like he hates him, but actually he just wants him to be better, and make him feel like their father's death was his fault, and everything simply will fall in the right places. He needs this power from Shang Tsung to protect Lin Kuei, to protect his family. To protect Kuai Liang and Thomas, because he wasn't strong enough to protect their father, their grandmaster. He failed his duties and he won't fail ever again. Siding with Outworld, cyberinitiative. Any means necessary to protect his family and clan. And it would have made Sub-Zero the most tragic character in MK1. THE best character in MK1.
Make Frost his disciple in the second game, raised on the idea of power and protection of Lin Kuei above everything else, make her betray Bi-Han because she believes that he's too weak towards Shirai Ryu, make her the ultimate reflection of Bi-Han. Let Bi-Han and Kuai Liang talk to each other, let Bi-Han try to explain himself.
But nah, why bother. "I WANT POWER, NOT FAME."
This man gets it.
I dunno why the devs (and some fans) love jerking off to the idea that Bi-Han was always a full-on psychopath, which misses the nuance of the character and the point of his transformation into Noob, as you pointed out.
"to become a shadow of his former self." - Literally.
I also love the comparison to Vergil - that could've easily been a shit character, yet something as simple as a backstory element (his childhood trauma) completely changes and upgrades his character. Everything he does, he justifies it as a means to better help and protect, which is a mentality that's so easy to fall into, in real life.
Can't wait for the next game/timeline, where Bi-Han will have shadow powers from the get go, and just decide to paint his costume black, one day.
Also, a fan of both MK and Devil May Cry? Man after my own heart.
loving the mk videos❤❤❤❤
I'll keep em coming.
I could see this (see what I did there?) as a small or not so small series of MK lore essays.
Quite enjoyed this one, so hurry up with the next!
Waaaaay ahead of you.
Great video bro, you put in the effort and I thoroughly enjoyed watching. +1 sub :)
Much appreciated. More on the way.
Was not expecting Pet by A Perfect Circle to greet me as the intro song
For some reason, that's the exact kind of rhythm and vibe I had in mind. Wanted something powerful, menacing, and of course, *cool*.
Part of why this assessment of MK's magic system(s) fits so cleanly is because of how heavily thr franchise draws upon the cosmology of Taoism, Buddhism, and other aspects of Asian mythology. The most recent game to actually spell that out was during MK vs DC, where Shang explains that he was able to best Liu Kang depsite Liu's status as "chosen one" was owed to a natural flow of energy over time. In an unspoken and unstated manner, however, we see it evidenced again in MK"1"; pay attention to all the little details about how Liu Kang started his "New Era". The entire time, Liu is still beholden to the Buddhist and Taoist belief systems acquired over the course of his Shaolin tutelage. He has achieved godhood, and ascended beyond it as the new Keeper of Time..., only to forfeit that status to serve a lesser role as Defender of Earthrealm (replacing his mentor, Raiden). It is a manifestation of Buddhist teachings regarding reincarnation, one that Liu Kang may well have recognized and further motivated his abdication of power.
Beautifully explained. Liu is all about living in balance and minimizing suffering; pretty much the opposite of Shang.
Now I can't stop thinking about a version of MK where Raiden did the same as Liu Kang - he used to be way more powerful (like an Elder God or Keeper of Time) but chose to give up that power to be 'just' god of Thunder and protector of Earthrealm...
...and then regretting it, because of incompetent Elder Gods.
@@CynicalWarlock Incompetent, or compromised in the case of MK11.
As for Liu Kang seeking balanced life style with minimal suffering, this correlates to Buddhist teachings on the nature of life and karma. The general idea is that all life is suffering, and that suffering is born from our desires. As humans, we are in a balanced state that allows us to suffer just enough misery and joy to balance our karmic scales to reach enlightenment (Nirvana being a state in which we are freed from the cycle of suffering and reincarnation). Being reincarnated in the heavens or hells comes with distractions that make it more difficult, if not impossible, to achieve enlightenment in that lifetime.
@@kylenguyen7371 Yeah, I was referencing the 2 philosophies you mentioned. Buddhism seems to have gained some traction, online, in recent years. I see more and more content about it.
And yeah, regarding Raiden, the NRS version of him is my least favorite, to be honest.
@@CynicalWarlock NRS Raiden holds the idiot ball pretty often. When you think about it, some of it makes sense this time around, but it still makes him look like a pretty foolish person when they're supposed to be a powerful deity.
MK9 is explained as Shinnok (through Quan Chi) actively interfering with the sequence of events to ensure a greater degree of success when they eventually re-play the MK4 "NetherRealm invasion of Earth" plan. MK11 reveals why Shinnok was conscious of the rebooted timeline and was able to disrupt Raiden's message through time; what was previously believed to be his prior status as an Elder God was actually his direct lineage from Kronika (and the fact his sister Cetrion was the one who gifted Raiden the message sending amulet in the first place). Shinnok has always held a grudge against Raiden, so he *would* naturally seek to make a fool of him at every turn. The problem is that Shinnok was too successful in this goal; Raiden is stuck holding the idiot ball well after Shinnok's decapitation, and plays directly into Kronika's plans for much of the MK11 campaign.
@@kylenguyen7371 I like that you're an all-round lore buff. No allegiance to any particular timeline/era of MK.
I have an idea for Frost, in the MK media is implied that their father was the cryomancer and kuai liang and bi han were taken from their mother. What if she is their half sister, and they are having the same father, but he left her mom who barely made any living for them. And after that she (the mother) died am
agonising death from malunutrition or something.
Which could be cured, but they didn't have the money for the medicine or something. And out of not having choose she has to battle in the underground matches.
As we know, many of the elemets are representing some emotion, so she could have been locking her abilities out of rage and trauma, so being kinda unstable.
Yeah, the sister/half-sister theory is somewhat popular in the fandom.
And it makes sense - you don't see any other Cryomancers walkin around, so the blood lines between these 3 should be fairly close.
Damn bro, this was really a good ass video. 👍🏾
Thank you. More on the way.
I always wound up with sub zero when I was younger. I wanted to play a ninja and my brother would never let me play scorpion. It wasn’t long before I fell in love with the character. Just stumbled on this channel. Cool stuff.
Guess your brother did you a favor, in the end.
Subscribed and liked! Man, another great video!
Just a suggestion, if you plan to do a video about Tremor cause his lava, metal and cristal powers, could you please mention Hotaru? He is a lava user too. Thanks!
Much appreciated, welcome to the sub club.
I will address Lava element, at the very least, cause that's a no-brainer (Earth + Fire), and I'll gladly include Hotaru in that video. Sometimes it's hard to find combatants that use the same element, so I'm pleased there's more than one Lava user.
@@CynicalWarlock Thanks man!
Dude this video is incredible
I only do incredible.
Keep this series going! Maybe the Cage family next?
Oooh, I have a lot to say about Cassie, in particular, and how they messed that character up, in MKX.
I'll add them to the list. Thanks for the suggestion.
@@CynicalWarlock can’t wait!
Ohhh, the intro, the intro, THE INTRO!!!
Nice to see how everything just fits together perfectly like it was intended, truly brilliant. I wonder how you even thought of this, shadow like ice is fluid like water and hard as earth. And in the case of making opponents intangible same thing is accomplished when sub freezes his opponent. I wonder what a female version of scorpion would be like.
Also, almost forgot.
Mk2021 reference: the writer of that movie, Greg Russo actually mentioned That his bi han is half edenian, explains his long life span in the movie. Imagine if jade or Tanya was a water bender maybe not as good as rain but still a water bender
@@syki-tp1tn Sub-Zero's longevity, in that movie, perplexed me all this time, and the man who was paid actual money to write the story didn't even bother to explain it in the actual movie.
I think we should all become Hollywood screenwriters; apparently, the bar for entry is set somewhere below the 9th circle of Hell.
Regarding the video, this is my favorite intro, so far. Really proud of the song choice. And the editing has just the right tempo to it.
I don't remember for sure, but Noob Saibot might have been what sparked the whole power system thing, in the first place. I remember thinking about his origin and trying to find some connection between Sub and Noob.
@@CynicalWarlock okay.
But the movie went through five writers and was about fucked from the start, I'd say that this is the best version of the script, maybe there was an explanation in place before the runtime was cut down to exactly an hour and 50 mins. But it still has bad writing problems even with that
@@syki-tp1tn Yeah, the constant rewrites are par for the course, in Hollywood. Knew it was gonna be bad, honestly just watched it to make a review video.
When it comes to those whom are new to MK, the fire-ice duo are all they know
Easily recognizable.
Your take certainly makes me more sympathetic to Bi-han. Always loved Noob Saibot but now I can feel a twang of sadness for him rather than he's just badass shadow man.
Thanks. That's 2 for 2 radically different styles of videos that you liked. You think you're special, or something?
A frost video would be pretty epic to see 🫡🤷🏾♂️💯
I'll put it on the list.
Sub-Zero has always been my favorite character, and I actually like what they did to Bi-Han in MK1 alot. It's realistic that at least one of Liu Kang's timeline changes was for the worse, and given Bi-Han's prior character, making him the eldest son of the Grandmaster turns him into basically the stand-in for Sektor and that's tragically poetic in a way. 11 told us Sektor has always had a negative influence on Bi-Han in every timeline. Being the son of the leader of the clan AND the only cryomancer among he, Kuai Liang and Tomas only amplified his ego as well.
Looks like there's stuff to dig into, in the new timeline, as well.
Kuai Liang is probably my favourite ninja from MK. I really like the way he was done in MK1 even if he is scorpion now. So I guess he would be the part of fire that keeps you warm on cold nights?
Hehe, you could say that. Fire that's not from hell, for once.
I remember that the sub zeros had an abandoned sister at one point in the original timeline. That would have helped a lot with frost's motivation, to add to to your idea at the end. I believe it may have their father that abandoned the sister but since he has passed perhaps, a litlle bit of revenge or jealousy for her long lost brother/brothers
Yeah, I didn't know how popular this theory was, at the time of recording.
Definitely makes sense - Cryomancers don't just grow on trees, so when 2 of them meet, there's likely some kind of blood relation there.
I agree. I wonder why they never ran with that plot line
@@vc1396 Cause they'd rather make Frost a shallow, petulant brat, for no reason.
I agree I like that frost idea
I think there's something to be said about Kuai Liang being Ice used in a measured form. Cold can be refreshing, a splash to make one stop and think things through, a sometimes harsh but necessary rebuttal, which is how he was portrayed between the 3D era and before MK1. He was always moderate in everything he did, which is probably why he works so well in this element. In particular, I like his involvement in MKX, where he shows Hanzo the truth. In a way, him doing so is honorable, but it also was a cold move that basically damned the realms.
Whereas Bi Han allowed the cold to numb his heart until he fell from grace, and Frost is more like an unforgiving hailstorm, burying everything and anything under its path including herself, Kuai Liang is the ideal form of the element to allow things to flourish. This may also be accidental like everything MK does, but I think it's also why his former name of Tundra is so genius. The tundras are one of the few cold climates where life thrives, with very long seasons of snow and frost that can be very unforgiving, yes, but the beautiful landscapes teem with life when the sun touches them.
Genius! Wish I included this in the video.
Glad we agree
Fans of your previous mortal kombat also hope in the future you can about talk the various ninjas of mortal kombat
Thaaat's what I'm doin.
Opposite element examples: Smoke and Tremor, Quan Chi and Shang Tsung (most ethereal element vs the most substantial one, respectively)..
I'll also think about the 'secret bff characters' video. Love the idea. I'll be making one in that vein, for sure.
Have about 20 video ideas, lined up; if not more.
@@CynicalWarlock maybe you can make video about different mortal kombat characters have bit similarty like smoke and jade who is loyal friend of blue wearing characters like sub-zero and kitana also takeda and frost who apprentice of scorpion and sub-zero but different personality
You earned a sub
My favorite food.
There’s a reason I love my frosty boi, other than the fact that I like using his freezing moves a lot to stun enemies.❄️
Yep. His unreal fashion sense.
@@CynicalWarlock He does often have some of the best drip.
7:22 (+)and their both name is *HAN*
another adding for the mythos of hell, is depicted to be place of darkness and also place of fire that burns soul to punish, hmmm intresting...(points both assassin's)
Also the cryobrothers aren't just half aliens but also half americans
Bi-Hanzo
You know.. i just thought of this, like Hanzo and Bi-han
technicaly Skarlet is female Ermac
: both appear from false rumor and evidence
: both red pallete swap
: both kreated by Shao Khan from his enemies soul and blood (unfortunately this was retcon for Skarlet 🤦♂️)
Even tho she use blood magik there's no evidence of her doing blood bending, if she can that would connect her with Ermac more because Ermac can do that too (but using souls) oh well..🤷♂️
We have three, two Kharacter who shared same story, fate or abilities
: Bi-han and Hanzo
: Shang Tsung and Quan Chi
:Ermac and Skarlet
I think there's more of this "two kharacters" who's like this but i can't find them in my mind🤔
Noob Saibot was my favourite in Mortal Kombat until MK Trilogy when Shao Kahn became my favourite character with Noob just behind Shao Kahn/General Shao. I’ve heard a few times that Noob Saibot is gonna be a DLC character in the story mode expansion which I hope as he is going to make the roster basically perfect and I hope he still has the sickle from MK11 as that would be sick! And his sickle will be part of his gear and if his gear isn’t a sickle it should be a mask/headgear which he had in MK11
They're both really cool characters. If Noob returns, I hope they don't give him the Captain Klaw voice again.
@@CynicalWarlock the Dr Klaw’s voice from Inspector Gadget didn’t bother me that much as I thought what would an undead Wrath from Neather Realm would sound like that why I didn’t mind the voice and thought it kind of suited Noob Saibot. Talking of the voice actors I’m really glad that the person who voiced Shao Kahn in MK11 did General Shao’s voice in MK One too as his voice really suits the character. A few other of my favourite characters like Ermac, Rain, Smoke and Havik all made the cut which made me ecstatic
@@nichhodge8503 Yeah, roster-wise, MK1 has a pretty great one.
I’m working on this MK fanfiction/retelling. While I am nowhere near to where I plan to add Frost, I already have a general idea as to what I want to do with her.
She joins Kuai Liang’s Lin Kuei in its very early conception, a few years before the mk3 invasion from Outworld. She is highly skilled, the best of all the new recruits, and Kuai Liang sees her as his closest student. Because of this, he is far more harsh and critical for her, as he wanted to see her be better than him. Without the uncontrolled anger that lead him to carelessly joining the mk2 tournament to kill Scorpion, despite knowing that the cyber Lin Kuei were there and as a result nearly getting himself and Smoke cyberized.
However, Frost sees her mentor’s harshness as a sign of her inferiority, that Sub-Zero views her as a disappointment despite her powerful abilities. As Frost's skills and master of Cryomancy increases, Kuai Liang's expectations for her only grow higher.
Sektor (who I plan to prop us as Kuai Liang's rival, with Scorpion staying Bi-Han's rival exclusively) takes advantage of Frost's lack of proper validation. He manipulates her into fighting alongside Outworld and his Cyber Lin Kuei, trying to paint Kuai Liang as a horrible abusive mentor that she would be better of without. After Sektor successfully get Frost to join him,, he offers to give her the dragon medallion if she helps him defeat Kuai Liang and his Lin Kuei
Once she betrays Kuai Liang, the two of them manage to defeat him and leave him to die in a snowy mountain.
Next we see of them, they are fighting Kuai Liang's Lin Kuei and right as it seems the Cyborgs are on the verge of victory, Kuai Liang returns.
After defeating a number of Cyber Lin Kuei, he sees his former student, standing in his way ready to face him.
She lets out all the bottled up emotions she had, every last bit of anger and resentment is yelled out to Kuai Liang.
Rather than the fight she expected, Kuai instead realizes the error of his ways. How his unfair treatment was not right even if he had good intentions. He begs for her forgiveness, admits his faults and that he was far too young himself and lacked the maturity to be a proper mentor to her.
At that moment, Frost no longer knew what to do. Instead of seeing Sub-Zero, the horrible, brash, and unkind teacher that she was so bitter towards for so long. All she sees is Kuai Liang, the man who took her in when she had nothing else, gave her a home, and taught her everything she knew.
Fearing that she might turn against him, Sektor tosses the medallion to her out of nowhere, knowing full well what it will do to someone as inexperienced as Frost.
The medallion alone being in her hands began to enhance her abilities, only for its power to overwhelm and freeze her as it did in the original timeline.
I am not sure whether or not to let her live after this. Leaning more on live though.
When I saw how long the comment is, I was like "oh shit".. but I was engaged reading all the way through.
Good storytelling.
This is a far better structured, cleaner telling of their story. I like the idea of divorcing Kuai Liang from Hanzo - their destinies should converge, but they are not rivals. Sektor always should've been Kuai's true opponent.
This is sort of like Anakin and Obi-Wan's relationship gone good (or not gone that horribly wrong, rather).
The ending gave me instant Avatar: The Last Airbender vibes. Specifically the end of season 2, when Zuko, one of the chief characters, almost turns from bad to good, but falters in the last second, and you're left waiting for season 3 to see what the fuck just happened.
Same thing here - you're given the impression that Frost is ready to turn back to the light, but she's frozen before she can make a decision either way, which builds so much anticipation for the next chapter.
What will she do when she finally gets unfrozen?
Good job.
@@CynicalWarlock Holy shit thanks man I really appreciate it. I wasn't satisfied with both midway's and NRS' attempts at Frost's story. I didn't want her betrayal to stem purely from her own personal pettiness or ego. I wanted Kuai Liang to have some fault in her fall to darkness, and hated how mk11 Kuai didn't seem to have any personal reflection as to why Frost would want to join Kronika.
@@insertnamehere7228 Those are good points. Betrayal is both more realistic and stings more when the betrayed is partly to blame. And it's some much-needed depth, in the MK universe.
This is amazing. It really fits MK's storytelling style, and gives her persona some flexibility. And I'd leave her ending relatively open-ended - she's holding a medallion that begins to slowly freeze her, but her mixed feelings lead to the fact that she now has no desire to use the medallion. She no longer needs anything to prove something to someone. The medallion stops. It doesn't mean that she has mastered it, but now that Sector and Kuai Liang are trying to talk her out of it, Sector again reminds her of her reasons for allying with him, and Kuai Liang apologizes again . She silently turns slowly and walks away into the unknown, clutching medallion in her hands, but her spirit is frozen and it is not known whether she just left to start a new life or will now forever wander the snowy desert, not giving medallion to anyone, but also not using it
If you mastered moving waters shape, then you would be able to control the state and temperature. All that determines temperature and state (gas liquid solid) is how fast or slow the molecules are vibrating and how close they are together.
Yeah, well you're assuming that these people can control the elements at a molecular level, which clearly doesn't seem to be the case. Rain can't make steam or ice, for the most part, Tremor can't control gas etc.
Sub-Zero seems to be slowing down molecular motion, turning water to ice; that may be all he does. But he clearly can't do the opposite, and create heat.
So this is all very specialized stuff.
A cool idea I always thought for Frost was that she wanted to be as powerful as Bi-Han and Kuei Liang but was impatient and rather not as skilled. I always imagined a universe where Bi Han capture/killed Shinnok with his extraordinary ice abilities and Kuei Liang having mastered his ice abilities as well, Frost just trained in the brutal assassin way so she could never learn as fast as the Sub Zeros and thought that the Medallion would make her strong enough, but she simply wasn't strong enough. Or maybe she might want to start an alliance with Noob Saibot to learn ice abilities from the one who could defeat/face an elder god or Sektor for being able to modify her to become strong and powerful enough without the medallion and without years of training, which would still be impossible for her to come anywhere close to the Sub Zero's before her. (this would've made her mk11 appearance better)
Yeah, that's a version of what actually happens, basically. A cool idea you touched on is Frost forging an alliance with Noob. That would be a dramatic twist - as soon as she learns Noob's real identity, she abandons Kuai Liang and makes a pact with the devil, so to speak, hoping to learn from Noob Saibot. Obviously, it doesn't go well, and it further fuels the animosity between Sub and Noob.
Okay, a idea for making frost a Kombat Kid, Being the child of MK1’s scorpion
Doable, actually. If they actually did Cassie and Takeda right, for once, that could be a cool team of young fighters.
I really wish there be another Legends movie that focuses on the Lin Kuei clan and the two Ice Brothers
Yes! Heck, make it a full-fledged live-action film - the big mistake they keep making is they keep trying to shoehorn 40 characters in one movie; there isn't enough screen time for everyone. Make a damned ninja movie, then tie that into the rest of the film series, with the heroes and shit.
The shredder one from deception I think it was is the coolest.
It's the one I remember most fondly, as well. All the characters look so goddamn cool, in that game. I remember worshipping the MK: Deception promo material, right when it came out, cursing myself for not having a console to play it on.
I love this Video but I have a question. Where does geras power let’s in this power system specifically his time powers
Sand (Earth-Air) + Lightning.
Sand accounts for the matter or space, in spacetime, and Lightning accounts for the time portion (think faster than light travel, the Flash's Speedforce, Superman reversing time etc).
I'll make a dedicated video on it, since so many people asked about this.
@@CynicalWarlock thank you im interested in this power system
Kuai Liang is one of the wisest and smartest people in this franchise, and if devs weren't always rushing into "THE WORLD IS ENDING GATHER UP EVERYBODY" stories and allowed, for example, a series of short comics about some characters, I believe that this Frost could have got the Zuko treatment. Ambitious, impatient teen, eager for power and approval is mentored by someone who is calm, accepting, wise and loves tea. I can clearly picture a story in my head about Frost struggling with her powers, the fact that Lin Kuei are now partners with Shirai Ryu, and that her power is growing immensely, clouding her judgement. So she leaves the clan, swearing to come back and overthrow Sub-Zero, many years later she joins Kronika, gains a robotic body... and regrets it. This new power gave her nothing but emptiness, she doesn't feel the same comradery and trust when she's under Kronika's command, not like when she was Lin Kuei, where everyone accepted her and welcomed her. So she comes back, humbled, grown, guilty, ready to face Sub-Zero's judgement. And Sub-Zero accepts her back, as if nothing happened. She is baffled, almost enraged. Why is he accepting her so easily? Why isn't he punishing her? She betrayed everything the clan stood for, became a cyborg. But Kuai Liang never judges people for their appearance, he judges them for their actions. And if Frost came back, ready to accept the punishment, then she knows what means being Lin Kuei. And so she becomes his right hand again, even though she's treated harshly by others, thinking she might be a spy, Kuai Liang is always there to support her. The main fight happens, the reboot doesn't happen because fuck that, Kronika is defeated and Frost was on the front lines, fighting Kronika's minions and protecting her comrades with her new power, gaining their trust and respect again. And Sub-Zero, already growing old, steps down as a grandmaster, making Frost the new leader of Lin Kuei.
But instead of that Frost is just "WAAAAH I WANNA BE NEW LIN KUEI MASTER WAAAAAH", Kuai Liang is "ye fuck the cyber initiative" and then fucking dips for the rest of the story, Bi-Han appears, gets washed twice and completely disappears, to be never mentioned ever again. what's even the point. Scorpion got some closure to his story(a very stupid one in my opinion, but closure nonetheless), and Kuai Liang is there only to look cool and say stuff like "I am the Grandmaster". I know I'm reaching even further than Reiko with his moves but Scorpion being Ed Boon's favorite really may have thrown some shadow on Sub-Zero's story progression. Even though Special Forces and Kombat Kids are clearly the main focus of the story, Scorpion always gets to shine in his chapter. He kills Quan Chi, allowing him to resurrect Shinnok, he redeems his past self by advising him to accept the new Lin Kuei.
In MKX Kuai Liang beats the living crap out of Kombat Kids, and then simply does nothing. A huge squadron of trained ninjas, with Sub-Zero in charge, allows kids that he WASHED with zero effort to take on THE GOD OF DEATH. "Ye these kids are weak as hell surely they'll kill the god of death because green". In MK11 he resurrects his old friend Cyrax because somehow only him can just rip off some cables out of the wall(may I remind you that Cyrax literally killed himself in comics, and Kuai Liang reprogrammed him so that he could kill himself AGAIN), beats the shit out of Bi-Han and just dips. Unironically, if you remove him from MKX and MK11 storyline, it loses absolutely nothing, Kuai Liang is redundant there. JUST LIKE IN MK1
I share your sentiment, completely; NetherRealm would benefit from slowing down and focusing more time on less characters, per title.
I love the Zuko parallel. Honestly, it's a testament to how well these character arcs are written in Avatar: The Last Airbender, and why that's such an evergreen show.
Sub-Zero forgiving a cyberized Frost is that much more poignant, since it likely reminds him of Cyrax's fate and both triggers his ptsd and his heroic instincts.
And don't even get me started on the comics. Waste of pages, for the most part.
I like your theory about Quai Liang and his frost clone, but you make frost clones as Bi Han in MK Mythologies: Sub-Zero. Just wanted to mention that 🤣 otherwise, great video!
Oh and if you remember my comment in your last video about my writing, one of my characters is an Elemental (term used to describe someone talented with a specific element) but he uses alchemy to enhance his water Element magic and manipulate its state between liquid, solid, and a gas state. He can't use the plasma state, because try as he might but he has a low or possibly no connection to the fire Element.
Feels good to learn more about cryomancy in this video, I'm more of a Bi Han fan. Dude was done dirty in the old games, he can kill gods in his game but loses to Scorpion still? Idk about that haha 🤣 if he beat the fire God i think he could beat Hanzo.
Yeah I know, and Bi-Han also has the clone in MK,9 cause he's just a reskin of the other Sub-Zero, so once again, this is just my headcanon.
Oh, and the elemental god part, in Mythologies, is total bullshit. Bi-Han's powerful, but he's not god level; yet he beats 4 gods *and* Shinnok, at the end? Get the fuck out. That's just video game protagonist convenience. As far as I'm concerned, those are just 4 elementals, not elemental gods. Although to be fair, the wind god kinda does look like Fujin.
Your writing is actually good. I'm more and more intrigued. Funny how we both referenced the 4 states of matter, in physics. Makes sense that that Elemental character would have difficulty with fire; his natural affinity is for water, the opposite element. But that's a clever way to branch out into different elements.
@@CynicalWarlockSo I remember another video mentioning that they are Demi-Gods but Quan Chi and by proxy Shinnok were manipulating events to allow Sub Zero his wins. Perhaps this is simply head cannon but Fujin is shown to be less powerful than Raiden, a Demi-God and Protector of Earthrealm, until Raiden passes the mantel on at which point Fujin seems to get more confident and powerful. There is a ending for Tremor the Earth Elemental which grants him Demi-God powers equivalent to the aforementioned Raiden and Fujin.
Cannonically though, the Wind God Sub-Zero faces is said to be Fujin and the rest are said to be 'Gods' but the latter title is thrown around so freely that I do not know what is and is not a god in this universe. Nor is the power of a God established properly - the Elder Gods can literally wipe someone from existence (Shao Kahn at the end of MK9) but a 'Titan' can wipe them from existence (Kronika and the endings from MK11). Then MK1 reboots everything canonically yet Titan Liu Kang is also called Fire God Liu Kang. And when he faces other Titans they are shown to be no more powerful than the Gods from previous timelines/ games.
@@Master000000001 In a nutshell, MK's lore has 0 consistency, which is something I'm trying to provide.
As you said, the pantheon of MK is so incredibly vague. We have demigods, gods, elder gods who are above them, titans - who are a most recent asspull - and the only gods we actually meet Raiden, Fujin, Argus and Delia; and the only Elder God we ever meet is Cetrion, which is another recent asspull.
And the Elder Gods interfering willy-nilly, only when they feel like it, based on some technicalities always struck me as weak, and made me want to portray the Elder Gods as the charlatans they seem to be, in most cases.
Great video 💯.... but from what i heard from the creators it's not a power system but that would make more sense than the things they randomly add over the years
No, of course not, the power system stuff is just my deranged imagination.
That was the point, though, to provide a little more structure and consistency.
@@CynicalWarlockoh well you achieved that because most of what you said made complete sense...the creators says noob use shadow simply to not be like scorpion and sub zero but later said him and scorpion got it from Quan chi but your logic is better. Frost was sub zero apprentice but turned bc she couldn't be sub zero when she wanted but got shit on in mk11😂
@@clouty_tv9985 It honestly grinds my gears when I hear the Quan Chi retcon. If Quan Chi's so powerful that he can create such disgustingly broken op fighters on a whim, why isn't he already ruling Netherrealm, Outworld, everything?
I like Quan, but too much power for not a good enough reason hurts the characters and the storytelling.
Always been sub zero fan since shaolin monks, never understood the hate other than tier wise in games. But character wise he’s pretty cool
One of the best characters, actually. And he's usually nerfed to oblivion, gameplay-wise, because of his ice clone.
I come back to this video, cause i just thought of this now!
1:50 Rain may not have the freeze ability to make ice but yet he can make water solid, one of his (MK11) fatalblow shows him creat Water Spikes (liquefied solid) and his (MK9) fatality shows him creat water sword (well this one is pressurised not solid) but its a "still" water
Yes his water cannot turn to ice, but Dammed the eldergods he can make water portal🤯
Edit: also other fire users cannot creat lightning (unless MK11 god Liu Kang) yet this water dude can
If you look closely, the water spikes still move like a liquid, during that Fatal Blow, but the slow motion makes them seem solid. So it's kinda like the MK9 water sword thing.
The portal thing always seemed stupid to me, unless it's him literally turning into water which.. cool flex, bro, but taking the water theme a bit too far, in my opinion.
And yes, I was just writing something about this - only a select few characters seem to be able to master more than one element, and they tend to be uber-powerful demigods, royalty, genetic freaks, or sorcerers. Rain at least 2 of those, so yeah, it fits.
@@CynicalWarlock also i forgot, his water throne flex
@@ihevmilkdhou Didn't even know about that one. Ok, *that's* a weird flex, bro.
@@CynicalWarlock well.. he is a god
@@ihevmilkdhou demi..god* :D
Bi Han had an ice clone in Mythologies and classic sub zero had ice clone and ice shower in Trilogy 64
Yeah I know, and Bi-Han also has the clone in MK,9 cause he's just a reskin of the other Sub-Zero, so once again, this is just my headcanon.
Didn't know about the Trilogy 64 version.
Had a thought about the noob not getting fire from hell thing. What if the neatherrealm is more lava element and his existing ice power mixed with the fire aspect to become water(as you said he was incapable of using water directly) and then that mixed with the remaining earth element?
That's extremely technical, but.. surprisingly possible. Lava is Fire + Earth, so between that and Ice, you have everything you need to create gross, greasy puddle of tar.
@@CynicalWarlock also(just thought of it now) kinda implies sub-zero and scorpion are evenly matched because sub's ice can extinguish hell fire
@@RowbotMaster Yep, that was the idea.
Personally, while Frost is technically a human depiction of Hell's Treachery, I still think she should be a love interest to Kuai, much as Bi-Han with Sareena; MK Reconciliation inspired me for that!
Yeah, I'm not opposed to that either. Most people like the theory that they're siblings, which is fine too.
I will say, Frost and Kuai being romantically linked *is* a little telegraphed; that would be the one con.
MK Reconciliation looks awesome. Didn't know of it.
Mortal Kombat went from Midway to WB to Netherealm, and the early story is really simple enough that writers who put more thought into it can really flesh out things. at first Sub zero is just "ice guy" and noob is "easter egg black palette swap ninja", ice guy=cold, shadow guy=evil, but I think when Midway wrote deception and retroactively made Noob the original sub zero they start to flesh out things.
You're right! I forgot that Noob was only revealed to be Bi-Han in Deception. Discussed this with other commenters, but it really does come down to creating a good framework; as you wrote, simple, elemental characters whose lore can then be expanded upon, in a very organic way.
It's also worth noting that by the time Deadly Alliance and Deception rolled around, Tobias had already moved on from Midway, yet the writing was still pretty darn good. So Tobias deserves a ton of credit for creating this great framework, but he definitely wasn't the only bright bean in the bunch.
P.S.
"easter egg black palette swap ninja" cracked me up. That should be Noob's middle name.
I’m MK11 I was glad to see Frost back and I wasn’t happy about the cyborg body, itself being said some of the outfits looked good and I also liked her non spiked hair
Yeah, some of the skins looked ok, mostly because they reminded you of her Deadly Alliance look.
The clone part made me al.ost cry😢
Mission accomplished, then.
Felt like an analyzing evil episode
Nice parallel.
Maybe some techniques are to magically dence than others? Like you said before ice is water magic but maybe its a different sub type. Like how all rectangles are squares but not all squares are rectangles.
Maybe it could be something like Water + Specific Family Trait = ice
Kinda like how reptile creates force balls but only his are acidic because of his race so an acid force ball is
Force + Specific family trait = Reptiles special ball?
Ik none of this is cannon but its really cool!
I think the square-rectangle thing is the other way around, but the elemental subtype is, indeed, a good idea. I do allude to it, when I mention genetics. That definitely comes into play for a lot of these characters.
You should do video about edenias too their roles and personalities seen their moves. Mileena is feral and deranged but reckless so all her moves are offense oriented and high effort consuming like a rabid animal. Kitana is regal and serious while being protective and mercifull in heart so her strikes in fan moves which can do by anybody with fans like rising fans are fast and effective but her wind powers either for moving enemy or sending projectiles back while being gracefull and elegant. Jade had been a friend, bodyguard, assasin, knight, general, and rebel leader while being mysterious so her moves are too versitale, in her assasin aspect shadows are protecting herself while giving her chance to attacking or getting close to enemy or even making her invisible in some games, her knight and general aspect makes her bo staff and razorblade reaching everywhere and controlling movements of the enemy and in her friend and in her rebel leader aspect makes some of her moves like mk9 pole moves and mk11 dash based moves and combos and her shadow kick feral. Tanya is liar and traitor, so her overly flexing-acrobatic kicks, tonfa and naginata moves are probably distracting, fast and flexible for her deceptive and playing nature while her powers has the fastest teleport with brightest lights, fire and glam to distract or put a performance to the enemy to deceive or giving them illsion while stabbing tonfas to their backs. Sindels is not just powerfull but also having powerfull personality with grace and having weight on her words and actions so her flight is almost almost heavenly and gracefull, her scream and her hair controlling both enemy and battlefield while being commanding and demanding reslept. Her starscreamer and flexiable kick are also like tanya has some glam im there because she is a queen who has to be an icon while being adored and really needs to sell herself as a model person. Rain is a demi-god with arrogant egotistical and demanding personality with in the belief of his rulership is written in the stars so his moves like waterball, roundhouse kick and lightning all are moving enemy and hard hitting as it almost like rain had to prove himself and his power while his self-superiority making him a sadist with god complex who uses his abilities to drown the enemy or maiming them someway like removing their eyes or ripping or breaking their joints as often seen in his fatalities. Skarlets is also a sadist with creepy, insane but driven mind and urges she didn't try to controll so she uses enemys blood against themselfs and uses weapons like blood sycthe's or blades espically to dissect the enemies acces to their blood and being so driven evolving to being reckless to dissecting them with hard strikes and applying so much preassure she is being slow to allow enemy to counter attack or punish her and even harming herself just to hurt the enemy. She also has psychopatic tendencies as seeing enemies as just bodies or even commodities instead of living beings so like a mad scientist does with lab gears she uses her witch like ablilites to manipulate or shape the enemies.
Funny you should mention that; the video I'm working on is about Edenians. Not all of them, just the royal family. Sub to see it.
I'll definitely be making a video on all Edenians, though, and I'll borrow some of your points. Great comment.
With my dark magic noobs clone resembles an oil like replica, the ways most of his moves end show that...also water can be made from lin kuei warriors like Hydro...
Ah, finally, a true connoisseur of the Netherealm.
Dude just made a legitimate argument for having Frost mainline as the villain of MK14 (or 13, if 12's DLC uses [REDACTED] from the end-credits) and I'm all on board.
Better to shine as a villain, than to fade as a background character, I suppose.
I would live what you have to say about Geras
Gonna make a video talking about his time powers.
@@CynicalWarlockAppreciate that, looking forward to it 😊
Hope you get hired by Ed Boon!
He just called; he wants to retire and leave me in charge.
Anyone recognize what film 9r media the scene at 13:20 is from.
Mortal Kombat Conquest.
A cheesy, yet brilliant show.