Noob Saibot

Noob Saibot is a undead video game character who features in Mortal Kombat.

Biography

Original Timeline

Bi-Han (Chinese language: 壁寒; pinyin: Bì Hán; meaning "Cold Wall") was a male human who along with his brother Kwa Kiang were kidnapped by the Lin Kuei. Once there, they went through the training to make them powerful warriors that were dispatched on missions. Bi-Hans training was complete where he developed ice manipulation powers in addition to his martial arts prowess. He then took the code name where he became a famed Lin Kuei warrior known as Sub-Zero. At some point, his clan was hired by the sorcerer Quan Chi to recover a scroll for the Temple of the Elements. On his mission at a Buddhist temple, he found the map and encountered the Shirai Ryu warrior Scorpion. During the fight, he killed his opponent and returned with the scroll that he brought to the Grandmaster. In exchange for the Lin Kueis help, Quan Chi conducted his part of their arrangement whereby he had massacred the entirety of the Shirai Ryu clan. With his success, the Grandmaster sent Sub-Zero to the Temple of the Elements to recover an Amulet. On his mission, Sub-Zero battled numerous elemental guardians of the temple that included Fujin. Upon the completion of his mission, Quan Chi took custody of the Amulet and departed through a portal. It was then that Raiden appeared before the Lin Kuei warrior and told him the error of his ways namely that the Amulet belonged to the fallen Elder Gods. The Amulets capture meant that the entirety of Earthrealm was threatened because of his actions. As a result, Sub-Zero went through the portal and found himself in the Netherrealm. In the Netherrealm, he battled numerous of its inhabitants as he pursued Quan Chi and battled his followers. Sub-Zero later convinced the female demon Sareena to aid him and she betrayed Quan Chi whilst asking Bi-Han if he could take her away to Earthrealm. She was then felled by Shinnok who had re-acquired his Amulet leading to a confrontation with the Lin Kuei warrior. Sub-Zero was ultimately able to take the Amulet from Shinnok and escaped through the portal back to Earthrealm. Once there, he left the Amulet back into the safekeeping hands of Raiden and departed back to the Lin Kuei. After returning, he was informed by the Grandmaster of a new mission as the clan had been hired by a new client. This client was the sorcerer Shang Tsung who desired warriors to participate in the Mortal Kombat Tournament.

Sub-Zero then attended the tournament where he participated in the conflict only to be confronted by the now hellspawn reborn Scorpion who killed Bi-Han. After his death, Bi-Han fell through the darkest region of reality namely the Netherrealm where he was transformed into an undead revenant named Noob Saibot. As Saibot, he joined the Brotherhood of Shadow who worshipped the fallen Elder God Shinnok. One of his missions was to be deployed as a spy during the second Mortal Kombat Tournament in Outworld where he reported back to his masters. Noob Saibot served as an assassin that followed the orders of Shao Kahn and dispatched by the Emperor to eliminate those that posed a threat to his rule. In this time, his brother Kuai Ling followed in Bi-Han's footsteps and took the name Sub-Zero. During this time, Saibot added the Earth Warriors in helping to overthrow Shao Kahn. Following Shao Kahn's defeat, Shinnok was re-united with his mystical Amulet and began his assault against the realms. In this time, he returned to his master's side and operated as a General in Shinnok's Army of Darkness. After Shinnok's defeat, Noob Saibot sought to bring his own ascension to power and intended to create a legion of assassins that were loyal to him so that he could pursue his destiny. Whilst at Outworld, he journeyed to the abandoned fortress of Shao Kahn where he discovered within the prison cells the cyborg ninja Smoke. The inoperative warrior had been taken as a war trophy by Kahn since the failed invasion of Earthrealm. Noob Saibot managed to reactivate the nanotechnology within Smoke allowing his body to be repair and reshaped with the cyborg becoming his first ally in his quest. Afterwards, Smoke had successfully turned a number of warriors into cyber demons and together with Noob Saibot they staged an assault on the Lin Kuei temple at Arctika. They were repulsed by Sub-Zero and the Edenian demi-god Taven. Sub-Zero took the defeated Noob Saibot in the hope of purging the evil in his brothers body along with that darkness in Smoke. Though Smoke was cured, Saibot remained evil and he later escaped to participate in the events of the Armageddon. Noob escaped sometime after that and joined the Forces of Darkness. He was seen fighting against Sindel where he was later killed in the final battle after being stabbed by an unknown kombatant's sword.

Reboot Timeline

During the Armageddon, Shao Kahn was the victor which led to the destruction of all of reality. In his final moments, Raiden sent his memories back in time to his earlier self. These events were shown as scattered visions to the younger Raiden at the time of the Mortal Kombat Tournament. With these visions, Raiden sought to avert this future creating a new timeline. Bi-Han was a human from Earthrealm who came to be recruited into the Lin Kuei clan of assassins alongside his younger brother Kwa Liang. Becoming the assassin Sub-Zero, Bi-Han entered the Mortal Kombat tournament along with his fellow Lin Kuei, Sektor and Cyrax, to fight for Outworld. He fought against Sonya Blade in Goro's Lair on the orders of Shang Tsung, but was defeated. Later in the tournament, he confronted the Shirai Ryu specter Scorpion, who wished to kill him for murdering his family and clan. After mocking Scorpion's combat abilities, he responds by dragging Bi-Han down to the Netherrealm, telling him he will have his revenge in the same place where he was reborn. Scorpion and Bi-Han fought, with the former emerging victorious. Due to a prior agreement with Raiden, Scorpion decided to spare Bi-Han. Quan Chi, however, managed to change Scorpion's mind by showing him illusions of the Shirai Ryu massacre, as well as that of Scorpion's wife and son, all at the hands of Sub-Zero. Consumed by rage, Scorpion killed Bi-Han, despite Bi-Han's claims of not having any knowledge of the events. Scorpion brought Bi-Han's spine and skull ripped from his mortal body to Earthrealm, and let it fall to the ground and shatter in front of Raiden and the other kombatants.

He was then resurrected by Quan Chi who granted him power over darkness whereupon he took the name Noob Saibot. However, he came to be Quan Chi's slave and was subservient to him as a result. The first Earthrealm warriors to encounter him in his new form were Liu Kang and Kung Lao. Noob was bested by Kung Lao, who then questioned his identity, claiming he had a familiar presence. However, Noob escaped while Kung Lao fought Goro. Noob later travelled with Quan Chi to Jade's Desert, where he witnessed Sindel's resurrection. Both Noob and Mileena engaged Kabal when he made a move to attack Shao Kahn, the Emperor of Outworld. However, they were both defeated, with Kabal escaping through a portal back to Earthrealm. Saibot was later seen to be assisting Quan Chi in casting a spell to create a massive Soulnado. However, once his younger brother Kuai Liang now turned into a cyborg was spotted by Quan Chi, he left his work to challenge him, having been warned by Kano that Kuai Liang was a defector. He revealed his identity to his younger brother, telling him that he was not worthy of the name Sub-Zero, a name that was once his. He also claimed that while they shared blood, Noob no longer considered him to be a brother. They soon engaged in combat, where Noob Saibot was defeated by Kuai Liang, who, after the conflict, claimed that Noob was right; they were no longer family. Soon after his fight with Sub-Zero, He battled Nightwolf, but lost. Nightwolf then managed to destroy the Soulnado by kicking Noob Saibot into it, being swallowed by the souls it contained.

After Quan Chi's death, Noob Saibot was freed and went about reclaiming the honor that was stolen from him. Sareena mentioned Bi-Han had attempted to help Kitana escape from Quan Chi's influence. However, Kitana refuted this and claims that Bi-Han had corrupted Sareena with emotion, allowing her to escape Quan Chi to which Sareena responded that emotion freed her. Bi-Han was also mentioned by Scorpion after he discovered Quan Chi's involvement with the death of his family and the Shirai Ryu. Sub-Zero explained that it was Quan Chi was responsible for his death rather than Scorpion. Despite his seeming death, Noob Saibot survived the Soulnado and came to serve the Titan Kronika in exchange for a place in her New Era. The Keeper of Time intended to change the timeline of the realms to create a new universe that was balanced the realm according to her vision. Noob Saibot then helped defend her operations where he arrived the Cyber Lin Kuei factory after it was infiltrated by Sub-Zero and Scorpion. This led to him battling his younger brother and his foe but was defeated by the pair where he managed to escape the site with his allies. With Shang Tsung and Fujin on his island, Kronika sends Noob and Jax immediately to stop them from obtaining the Crown. He was defeated by Fujin, forcing him to retreat.

Overview

Personality and attributes

In appearance, Bi-Han was a male human of Chinese descent who initially wore the garb of a warrior of the Lin Kuei. After his death, he was turned into an undead being where he came to take the name Noob Saibot.

He was shown to had embraced his path following his transformation into Noob Saibot. In one instance, he admitted to Kuai Liang that his new path suited his purposes. He was also shown to be arrogant, believing himself to be a perfect creation from Quan Chi and that nobody can stand up to him. After being resurrected as Noob Saibot, Bi-Han essentially becomes a worse version of himself. He is even more ruthless and cold and completely lacks any empathy, and is willing to commit heinous crimes just for his master's endgame. After being freed from his master's control, he also continues to fight for the side of evil despite that.

Noob Saibot had said that victors wrote history and that he never lost.

Originally, he was a devout and loyal member of the Lin Kuei where he showed no hesitation in following orders. He was cold-blooded and ruthless where he had no hesitation in killing others. After his death, his corruption grew and he became more ruthless whilst he began to serve in the Brotherhood of Shadow. Whilst in the service to several masters, Saibot ultimately desired power for himself and he believed in the fulfilment of his own destiny.

He had an extreme hatred for the Shirai Ryu clan being complicit in Quan Chi framing up and vocally rejecting the idea of peace between them. He also insults the undead Scorpion's clan right in front of him, leading to his ultimate downfall. In the third and current timeline, Bi-Han is shown to heavily favor power over duty. He had resented his father for, in his eyes, preventing the Lin Kuei from achieving their "true potential"; his frustrations with the Lin Kuei led him to allow his father to die following an accident and betray Earthrealm to ally with Shang Tsung under the promise of power.

He had stated once that he would not have allowed female warriors to join the ranks of the Lin Kuei if he was Grandmaster.

It was shown that he had a younger brother by the name of Kuai Ling. He claimed that his brother had always tried to mimic him. Though he acknowledged that Kuai Ling shared blood with him, Bi-Han stated that the pair were no longer brothers. Despite this, he does show that he may still have some fondness for his brother, as he admits to Frost that Kuai Lang would make a better Grandmaster than her.

Powers and abilities

Being from Earthrealm, Bi-Han came to be a skilled fighter and martial artist. He knew a range of martial arts that included Hapkido, Pi Gua and Monkey.

As Sub-Zero, he had a range of cryokinetic abilities that gave him the power to manipulate ice. He could project this to freeze targets or form an ice clone of his body. He proved able to flash freeze opponents by touching them, freezing them to the point where they are brittle enough to shatter, and freeze the air itself by concentrating his ice powers into one destructive blast. He was also much stronger, faster, and tougher than most humans; being powerful enough to rip out someone's spine and rip them in half.

After his death, he was transformed into a revenant that was a undead being that gained the power to manipulate shadows. Due to being resurrected by Quan Chi, he found himself bound in servitude to him so long as the sorcerer was alive. In this state, his powers revolved around shadow and phantom aspects. He could use his shadow powers to render himself invisible, teleport, and increase and decrease the effectiveness of the powers of both himself and others limitless. Noob's phantom powers allowed him to remove and control another combatants powers with use of a projectile attack, lift them into the air with doppelgangers of himself called Saibot, and also to possess others.

Bi-Han has been granted great magical abilities from the Netherrealm after being resurrected. Noob displays a mastery over the powers of darkness and is able to turn invisible, create weapon constructs, and summon a shadow clone of himself to assist in battle. This allows him to overwhelm opponents who fight on their own. He can also duplicate and teleport to his shadow clone for an advantage in numbers and mobility respectively. The clone can also be summoned inside live opponents to bypass external defenses by pouring dark energy into them, tearing them apart from the inside. Like most ninjas, Noob has the ability to teleport. He could turn into liquid and reform elsewhere, use portals to reposition himself or his opponent, and even kill by crushing and disintegrating those who are caught in his portal. Noob honed his bunshin techniques as well; summoning multiple clones to restrain enemies.

Through his hidden claw, he was able to shoot out a spear attached to a rope that lodged itself into a foe and allowed him to drag them towards himself.

One use of his shadowy portals was to create one near his opponent with the other end being high up in the air. This meant that if a person fell through it then they would fall from a set height onto the ground. In his current form as a Wraith, Noob possesses a degree of immortality.

He made use of a range of weapons in combat including Kunai, Butterfly Knives, Axes, Scythes, Ninja Swords, Troll Hammers and Sickles.

Originally, Bi-Han had been a member of the clan of assassins known as the Lin Kuei where he went by the name Sub-Zero. After his death, he was reborn as Noob Saibot where he was a member of the Brotherhood of Shadows.

Notes

• Noob Saibot was created by Ed Boon and John Tobias where he made his first appearance in Mortal Kombat II (1993).
• The characters name was a combination of his two creators names spelt backwards namely Boon and Tobias.
• It was noted in Polyon that the characters creation was spurred by the positive reaction to the hidden character Reptile from the first game with Boon added Noob Saibot into MKII without Tobias' knowledge, though Tobias would later create the character's initial backstory as a Netherrealm wraith.
• Mortal Kombat: Armageddon established Noob Saibot as being the deceased elder Sub-Zero.
• For Mortal Kombat: Deception, Noob Saibot was the first character drawn and designed by Steve Beran.

In other media

Television

• In Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, the original Sub-Zero briefly appeared in flashback in the setting of the animated television series. In a flashback which shows him being defeated by Liu Kang like in the 1995 film. However, because the show was aimed at a younger audience, instead of getting impaled by an ice stalagmite-like in the film, Sub-Zero froze himself instead.
• In Mortal Kombat: Conquest, Noob Saibot appeared in the setting of the 1998 live-action television series where he was portrayed by actor Kimball Uddin. This version was an Outworld warrior covered in black oil who wielded an escrima stick where he had been imprisoned long ago. He came to be accidentally released by Siro and Taja whereupon Noob Saibot was recruited by a sorceress to assassinate Kung Lao.

Films

• In Mortal Kombat, the character appeared as the original Sub-Zero in the setting of the 1995 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor François Petit. His backstory was never shown except that he and Scorpion were the deadliest of enemies but became slaves to the power of the sorcerer Shang Tsung. They came to serve him as warriors in the Mortal Kombat Tournament that was being held in Earthrealm on Tsung's island. Together with Scorpion, Sub-Zero was one of Shang Tsung's guardians who confronted Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Sonya Blade on Shang Tsung's boat. When the two prepared to fight the trio, they were incapacitated by Lord Raiden. Later, during the dinner on the eve of the tournament, Sub-Zero participated in a demonstration fight for the Earthrealm warriors, killing his opponent by freezing and shattering him. During the tournament, Sub-Zero fought Liu Kang. When Liu Kang gained the upper hand, Sub-Zero used his freezing abilities to create a force field in an attempt to draw Liu Kang to his death. However, this backfired — Liu Kang threw a nearby wooden bucket filled with water (placed there by Raiden earlier to aid Kang) towards the force field, creating an icicle that impaled and subsequently froze the cryomancer.
• In Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Noob Saibot appeared in the setting of the 1997 live-action film where he was portrayed by stunt performer actor J.J. Perry. This version was a shadowy ninja who emerged from Ermac where he manifested to fight enemies.
• In Mortal Kombat, Bi-Han as Sub-Zero appeared in the setting of the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Joe Taslim. He was shown as being an assassin of the Lin Kuei who operated in the 17th century where he led his clan's attack against their Shirai Ryu rivals in Japan. Sub-Zero was responsible for killing Hanzo Hasashi along with his wife and son thus seemingly eliminating their bloodline. By the modern day, he came into service to the Outworld sorcerer Shang Tsung whose realm had won many of the Mortal Kombat tournaments. Seeking to ensure Outworld success, he was tasked with eliminating the chosen champions of Earthrealm with these including the modern day descendant of Hanzo Hasashi who was Cole Young. During the fight, Cole used a sword belonging to Hanzo Hasashi through which he came to resurrect his ancestor who was reborn as Scorpion. Ultimately, Sub-Zero was killed by Scorpion after he breathed fire on him leaving his body a charred corpse as he gained his revenge on the Lin Kuei assassin.

Appearances

• Mortal Kombat II: (1993)
• Mortal Kombat: Armageddon:
• Mortal Kombat:
• Mortal Kombat 11: (2019)

External Links

• Mortal Kombat Wiki Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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