I agree totally with the section about Young Sub-Zero's (Kuai Liang's) motivation for MK2 and him taking on the Sub-Zero persona not just in memory of his older brother but also to goad out his brother's killer (possibly not even knowing the identity of the killer so NEEDING an identical costume to make himself better bait, hence why the costume we've seen so far is in fact BOTH Sub-Zeros sharing the same character model/slot).

And as far as both are concerned Scorpion considers his death unjust or in his own words "You killed me in cold blood." Not knowing the circumstances, since I doubt Bi-Han spoke of it much, Kuai Liang would consider his brother's death unjust. Even though when they first met Sub-Zero (Bi-Han) had the COMPLETE advantage over Scorpion, him having Cryomancy and Scorpion being just a really bad-ass ninja and master of kusarijutsu... In most tellings, Scorpion gained the upper-hand in terms of pure fighting skill so Sub-Zero "cheated" (arguably) by using his Ice Powers and then mercilessly killed him when he could have been merciful and just left him to thaw out hours later while in the meantime stealing the map and leaving LONG before Scorpion would have thawed out and recovered. This can be seen by some (especially Scorpion) as UNJUST. Scorpion then comes back as a Hellspawn and butchers him in an equally unmerciful and unjust manner. While Scorpion and some others may see this as justified, the fact that he used the powers of a hellspawn against a mere (though badass) mortal could be seen by most (like Kuai Liang if he even knows) as being just as "unjust" as Sub-Zero using supernatural cryomancy to defeat a normal (though badass) ninja using hand-to-hand combat and a rope-dart! It's all a matter of perspective really.

If this is the younger sub zero then where the hell is his scar. And i think noob saibot might become the cyborg if you think about it. But great viginette i cant wait for johnny cages lol

its working for me, so i don't know what your talking about crow, anyway.

My mind is blown. Man but even though its younger subby he still looks great. I kinda thought it was since younger sub, had ground freeze so no figure.

Older sub may make an appearance. Also i just realized that maybe some of the charactors that don't make it might make an apperance though story mode. Kinda unplayable or just a quick scene.

They've fixed whatever the issue was. The streaming video had disappeared for a while with only the download link (which wasn't working) left.

As people have said, he doesn't get the scar til MK3. This being MK1-3 there's plenty of time for that

Not a fan of that idea. Reduces Sub-Zero motivation to meager revenge and nothing else.

I prefer to think his taking the "Sub-Zero" name was trying to live up to the legacy of his brother, father, and the previous Sub-Zeroes.
That's kind of Sub-Zero's character arc: he started as a loyal Lin Kuei fighter trying to live up to his family's name....then became his own man and surpassed them by becoming the greatest Sub-Zero.

Personally, I always liked the notion that the younger Sub-Zero would also be honorbound to complete the former's mission. Ritualistic clan thinking that gave him a reason to be involved, rather than legacy + assumption.

That too.

The idea that the Lin Kuei doesn't regard its fighters as individual human beings adds to the later "Let's turn everyone into machines!" thing.

All I have to say was those cinematics were amazing. I have my problems with it, but for the most part they've been beaten to death, and overall I'm happy with how the videos look. Very good at telling a story, and I like the art style. Great job.

Superb!
It's real! Print it!

Glad to be patronized.

Please, please, please don't have OSZ dead before the game begins... I really want the fight between him and Scorpion to be part of story mode (followed by one of the most violent cutscenes in gaming history).

Ho-lee shit.

This is the best fucking news I've heard since E3. I'm so happy I could cry.
Side note: It's really starting to look like Raiden isn't gonna change barely a goddamn thing. Which is great by me. I never wanted a different timeline.
Maybe it turns out that the events of MK1 thru 3 are destiny and Raiden just keeps ending up doing all the same shit this time that he did the first fucking time, because the only knowledge of the future that we know he has for sure is a need to kill Shao Kahn, which is the SAME DAMN GOAL he had the first time, so what could he possibly do different?

Why can't he be multi-layered in motivation exactly?? Yes, OF COURSE there is the need to be what his clan expects. Sub-Zero isn't two individual characters, Sub-Zero is ONE character portrayed by two individuals. Which is why I believe the Character Model/Slot we've seen will be for BOTH Sub-Zeros in game. To the Lin Kuei, he is the continuation of the same identity with the same job, the same motivation, the same title --> the same man. Too himself, however, he is ALL of that AND he is a younger brother who wants to know who killed his older brother. So he kills two birds with one ice blast. Assume the mantle and fulfill his honor-bound duty to continue the legacy and complete the mission of the Lin Kuei Assassin "Sub-Zero", meanwhile at the same time draw out the murderer of Bi-Han and get the revenge that Kuai Lian seeks. He is Sub-Zero, one of many to have claimed that title, but he is also Kuai Lian whether the Lin Kuei wants him to be or not. This makes him a deeper and more realistic character than simply abandoning "Kuai Lian" to assume the identity of "Sub-Zero". Something the other Lin Kuei, perhaps even his own brother, were able to do but clearly not Kuai Lian or the current "Smoke", other wise they would not have rebelled and would have volunteered for automation like Sektor did. Who knows about Cyrax anymore.. willing? unwilling? confused?... lol.

My POINT is that a well written character has complex motivations and we all want a well written Sub-Zero (Both of HIM, lol) right?

That does make sense, but we will prob get minor changes throughout the story... Hopefully there won't be drastic changes, Kang better win the damn tournament, and Sub-Zero better not be end up becoming a cyborg, nor Smoke staying human...
I do hope the story does provide explanations for things that were uncertain before and uncertain now and tie loose ends with them... Like who abducted and trained the Sub Bros., and were they really "abducted"? And when were Scorpion's family and clan killed? etc...

Finding his brother's killer could still be a part of it. YSZ probably knows that his brother has some dark history with Scorpion,so it makes sense for him to decide to try and get that dark history resolved somehow so he can keep carrying the Sub-Zero mantle with honor. It's his name now,so he'd probably want to start fresh,without any ghosts of the past attached to the legacy he's now carrying. And if doing that involves tracking down his brother's killer or luring him out,so be it.

Makes sense to me.

None of those things are uncertain, they were explained in Mythologies.

The man who "abducted" the Sub-Zeros was their own father, who was Sub-Zero before them. The Sub-Zero family has been part of the Lin Kuei, using that name, for exactly 5 generations in a row. (6 if you count the younger bro separate from the older, but that's not really how a "generation" works.) Their mother didn't want them to join though so he had to take them.

Scorpion's family and clan were killed 2 years before MK1 by Quan Chi, as payment to the Lin Kuei for a job Sub-Zero did for him: stealing the map that leads to Shinnok's Amulet. The same mission where Sub-Zero kills Scorpion himself. Y'know, level 1 of the game MKM?

Another excellent point to consider. If I was the new Sub-Zero I wouldn't want the previous Sub-Zero's literal skeletons chasing me trying to f' up MY chapter in the legacy.

Sub-Zero Jr seeking revenge for Scorpion's revenge is hardly what I'd call a complex, or brilliant piece of writing. Particularly as we previously knew it to be that [Kuai Liang]'s key point of differentiation is a less brutal hand in combat. It's not unreasonable to think that his brother's killer might be a subject of consideration for him, but as a motivation, it's making the yin far too similar to the yang, with no real beneficial results.

If this younger Sub-Zero were to want to a fresh start, it would be just as logical for him to absolve himself of involvement in his brother's conflicts, concerned only with completing the task that has not been finished -- assassinating Shang Tsung. [Which obviously becomes a less significant goal as his story progresses, and his loyalties to the Lin Kuei dissolve.]

I really wish I played that game... Thanks for the explanations... What confused me about the bio was that it didn't mention getting abducted by his father...

Just out of curiosity,where did you get the 2 years from?

Scorpion tells Sub-Zero "you murdered me two years ago" on the boat to Shang's Island in the official MK1 comic book by Tobias (this panel was also reprinted as part of Scorpion's bio in the home version game manuals)

Mythologies itself tells us it's set ten years before MK4, by the way, for those interested in making a timeline.

Awesome,thanks. :3

EDIT:


Oh wow,I never even noticed that it really is Johnny there. And I watched that vid like 10 fucking times already.

::Sighs and face palms:: You only read the revenge part of my point, obviously. Only doing what is expected of him is not complex either. The revenge part isn't what's complex... him having more than one (CONFLICTING) motivation is what's complex.

READ THIS PART: I WANT BOTH MOTIVATIONS and I want them to obviously conflict. Like having an opportunity to assassinate his target and fulfill Sub-Zero's mission BUT he sees an opportunity to learn who killed his brother and *gasp* Kuai Lian has what is called a "Character VS Self" Conflict.

Also keep in mind that he is YOUNG and his brother JUST DIED. SO I don't think he's gonna be TOTALLY yang when it comes to Scorpion if he knows and if he doesn't when he finds out. He is known to be merciful to others (which is what saves him from Scorpion's wrath) and this is important as he is angry at the killer (whether he knows the identity or not) but unlike the previous Sub-Zero, he won't just kill anybody. He's only going to kill his target (Tsung) or the killer should the killer present himself/herself (as far as he knows I mean). He is also shown to be impulsive and reckless when it comes to fighting Scorpion.

I respect (and share) your preference for having him cast as honor bound and dedicated to living up to legacy of "Sub-Zero" but I want him to have MORE than ONE motivation. I dislike REVENGE only as well (One of my only issues with Scorpion's storyline... he's practically the same character as Kratos... I'm a big GoW fan too and I love those characters but at the same time you just wanna smack the guy and be like "Pay attention man, they are USING you and it's so OBVIOUS!").

Multiple layers of emotions and duty conflicting = complex... not just one or the other. More is better in this case. I never said that REVENGE ALONE was complex. You can rarely rebut PART of an argument and successfully rebut the ENTIRE argument.

Haha wow...