Rate the Fighter (MK11): Sub-Zero

Rate the Fighter: Mortal Kombat 11 Edition!

Welcome back to yet another Rate the Fighter: Mortal Kombat 11 Edition blog post. Last time we inspected the mascot of the franchise and the one character that most people think about when the Mortal Kombat name is mentioned: Scorpion. Today, we'll be looking at his counterpart, someone who actually used to be Scorpion's biggest rival. A master of cyromancy, it's time to go over the character known as Sub-Zero.

Sub-Zero, Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei

Sub-Zero (Kuai Liang) as he
appears in Mortal Kombat 11.

When it comes to identifying which game Sub-Zero first appeared in, it really depends on which Sub-Zero we're talking about. Two people in the Mortal Kombat franchise bear the title "Sub-Zero", Bi-Han and Kuai Liang. Bi-Han first appeared in the first Mortal Kombat but was soon killed some time in between the first and second game by Scorpion, thinking that he was the man who murdered his family and clan. Kuai Liang was brought in as the replacement Sub-Zero in Mortal Kombat II. He was Bi-Han's younger brother who went under the name Tundra before taking his older brother's name to honor his death.

He would continue to be the main Sub-Zero from that point on and Bi-Han would actually find himself being resurrected as a Netherrealm wraith known as Noob Saibot. In the franchise's new timeline that was rebooted in Mortal Kombat 9 and continued into Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat 11, Hanzo Hasashi (Scorpion) and Kuai Liang actually end up making peace with one another. The two become brothers in arms, something that is shown off greatly in the game's main story mode.

Appearance

For Sub-Zero's default appearance in this game, he seems to have dressed in a way that better represents his Chinese heritage. Adding to this is a skin that remove Sub-Zero's hood and replace it with a headband and a skin that adds a different looking hood along with a stylish ponytail.  Of course, much like Scorpion, Sub-Zero has skins dedicated to making him look like he did in the classic Mortal Kombat games. One interesting thing to note is that depending on what color your skin is will also change the color of the ice axes you use. I love to wear skins that are red because the axes resemble blood and yellow because I'm five years old.

Overall, I don't really have that much to say when it comes to how Sub-Zero looks in this game. He's fine, nothing special, neither good nor bad, etc. I'll rate him a 7/10.

Equipment

Sub-Zero, much like Scorpion, can customize his mask as well as the weapons he uses. Well, technically one of his "weapons" is actually a belt that holds small knives that you can't actually use in-game, but you get my point. The video and my list are once again below, so let's get started.

Ninja Masks

• Lin Kuei Grandmaster
• Mantle of Black Ice
• King of Ice Masks
• Grandmaster's Hoarfrost
• Frozen Tengu
• De of the Hailbringer
• Lin Kuei Assassin
• Face of Winter Wind
• Master of Cold Justice
• Enemy of Shirai Ryu

Battle Axes

• Glacierbreaker
• Axe of Bitter Cold Death
• Lin Gui Snowman
• Death by Whiteout
• Ice Storm Executioner
• Blade of Bingdianxia
• Stormbreaker of Arctika

Belts

• Frozen Brother's Arsenal
• Arsenal of Sektor's Killer
• Snowbound Lin Gui Arsenal
• Rimed Arsenal of Xueshen
• Cold Gang Arsenal
• Lin Gui Gang Arsenal

Sub-Zero's equipment is very, very "cool". Puns aside, I love how most of the gear has both a normal version of what it is and then a frozen version of the gear. It really helps give you the sense that Sub-Zero handcrafted these weapons himself with his own powers. Overall, these gear pieces are just really solid and worthy of a 9/10.

Moveset

Interestingly, Sub-Zero barely has any default special moves in this game. In fact, all he has Ice Ball, Slide, and Kreeping Ice, with three other special moves needing to be equipped. I like to equip the Death-Cicle Barrage, a move where Sub-Zero shoots out tiny icicles from his hand, Kold Shoulder, a move that replaces Slide with a shoulder charge, and Rising Ice, a move that essentially works as a land mind that can freeze your opponents should they step on it.

Of course the lack of special moves can really only mean one thing, which is that Sub-Zero has a whole ton of combos at his disposal. Like I've stated before, I'm not good at all when it comes to pulling off combos. All I basically do with Sub-Zero is freeze whoever I'm fighting and then try to mash the buttons into what I hope is a combo. I'm going to rate his moveset a 6/10 for a huge lack of special moves available at all times and I'll be including a link to a video detailing how to do some basic combos with this character.

Fatalities and Fatal Blow

For the video provided below, it showcases everything listed below in reverse order.

Fatality #1, Ice-Cutioner:

• Pretty good, not bad. I love the bit at the end where Sub-Zero picks up the decapitated head, freezes it, and smashes it into pieces. It really helps the fatality as a whole because without it, it would've just been so lame. 7/10.

Fatality #2, Frozen in Time:

• Now we're talking! My favorite types of fatalities are the ones that incorporate a special move a character can normally perform into the move. With this one, it's both the ice clone and slide. But none of that really matters in the end because the real spectacle is the fact that the fatality includes part of iconic spine rip fatality that Sub-Zero has known to use ever since the first game. 9/10.

Fatal Blow, Chill Out:

• I love this fatal blow for one very specific detail: the opponent's blood gets frozen before it hits the floor. Can you imagine having your blood in the process of leaving your body, only for it to get frozen and broken apart inside your body? Brutal, absolutely brutal and I love it. 9/10.

Closing Thoughts

All in all, while it may seem like I'm not a fan of Sub-Zero, it's quite the opposite. I like Sub-Zero and I've been playing with him a lot recently, but he's just kind of one of those characters where I'm neutral on the matter. For newer players out there, Sub-Zero seems to be a really good character to start off with, as I've seen a lot of people mention that he's very balanced. Not a bad idea to be honest.

Final rating for Sub-Zero will be a 8/10.

Who's Next?

When it comes to the next character I review, I was thinking about do someone who's a bit of a comedian. Someone who's always making an ass out of themselves. Someone who's enough of a prick to tattoo their own name onto their chest. That prick I'm talking about will be none other than Johnny Cage!

Stay tuned!