Sub-Zero (Kuai Liang)

Kuai Liang, commonly known as Sub-Zero, and formerly known as Tundra and the cyborg LK-52O, is a Lin Kuei assassin in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series.

Kuai is the younger brother of Bi-Han, who was the original Sub-Zero.

Appearance
Sub-Zero dresses in the familiar blue-garbed ninja-like uniform. Originally, Sub-Zero was depicted with Asian facial features as revealed in the ending when unmasked, due to his Chinese-American heritage.

Around Mortal Kombat 3, Sub-Zero was given a scar over his right eye to help differentiate himself from his older brother. Sub-Zero was the first ninja-like character in the series to go on without a mask and wore a less-concealing version of his outfit. In MK4, he wore the traditional uniform his brother wore, but again wears an updated version of his MK3 outfit in Deadly Alliance featuring Chinese characters. His alternate costume from Deadly Alliance and beyond is more of a stream-lined version of his original costume featuring the Dragon Medallion on the right side of his chest. In Deception, Sub-Zero dons an ancient armor once worn by his Cryomancer ancestors.

In Mortal Kombat X, Sub-Zero regained his human form and became a Revenant serving under Quan Chi. Like the others, his skin turned pale and his veins glowed yellow along with his eyes. His outfit was similar to his earlier appearance, but twisted by the sensibilities of the Netherrealm, which included a steel spine-like decoration on his back and a more armored vest. Unlike his previous appearance, he did not wear a hood, but still retained his mask. Upon being freed from Quan Chi's control, he wears an outfit similar to his MK3 and MKDAappearances, but allowed his facial hair to grow out. His scar is still featured prominently.

Interestingly, Sub-Zero is one of the few characters in the series to show signs of natural aging (faster than anyone due to the Dragon Medallion). Around Deadly Alliance, he is depicted with slight wrinkles and graying hair, which has begun to bald around the time of Deception. His scar also changes blue, and eventually fades from his face entirely.

In sporadic appearances beginning with MK4, Sub-Zero bears a flexible ice sheet on his forearms, a sign of his growing power of cryomancy. This aesthetic choice was carried over into MKX with his Cryomancer variation.

Personality
After Bi-Han was murdered by Scorpion during the tournament, Kuai Liang swore revenge on him. He mastered the art of ice and cold, and took his brother's former code name: Sub-Zero. Driven by anger, Kuai Liang entered the Mortal Kombat Tournament with one goal: To destroy his brother's killer, and anyone else that gets in the way.

Abilities
Being descended from a race of Outworld inhabitants known as Cryomancers, Kuai Liang has the innate ability to control ice in many forms. Throughout the span of the series, Sub-Zero's powers have continued to evolve. His deadly ability to freeze comes from the process of him absorbing the air around him and storing it before releasing it as a cold substance or simply lowering the temperature of the surrounding air to create ice constructs. He is naturally used to the cold temperatures of his turf and is able to resist other Cryomancers' freezing abilities as shown in the Mortal Kombat X comic series where Frost fails to freeze Sub-Zero's arms. His ability to freeze is strong enough to turn the body's water content, flesh and bone into brittle ice with just a single tap of his fingers. He has even surpassed his (late) brother Bi-Han's freezing ability, whose ice can reach temperatures up to -500° Fahrenheit which is way below absolute zero.

He is one of the few combatants who can manipulate chi, the life energy of a martial artist. By channeling his chi, Sub-Zero can use it to enhance the power behind his physical strikes and make them strong enough to send other combatants flying with each strike he lands on them. The Dragon Medallion has not just increased the power of his freezing ability, but it has also given him another source of chi to channel power from. Sub-Zero is one of the many combatants capable of teleporting by turning his body into ice and reforming his physical form of flesh and blood in another location.

Aside from flash-freezing opponents, Sub-Zero also has the ability to instantly conjure up an ice statue of himself to act as both a scapegoat and a 'landmine' of sorts as any who touch it instantly flash freeze. He has created many different kinds of ice constructs for offense and defense. Such ice constructs include swords, daggers, hammers, axes, spears, shields, walls, spikes, statues and more. He is one of the characters that are more oriented on defense thanks to his ability to counter attacks by freezing melee attackers who come into contact with him and being able to create several defensive ice constructs that usually freeze on contact such as icy orb traps, ice clones, ice barriers and ice armor.

Ever since he takes possession of the Dragon Medallion, the scope of Sub-Zero's powers and abilities has increased significantly. As a member of the Lin Kuei, Sub-Zero has attained a great degree of skill in many forms of hand-to-hand combat. The Dragon Medallion and his ancestral armor increased and amplified his martial arts and ice-related abilities, as shown in his Deception Arcade ending. Throughout the Mortal Kombat series, Sub-Zero's abilities have grown more powerful; he was capable of killing an entire city's population while amplified by Blood Magik and was able to freeze a large building and shattered it with one punch.

Signature Moves

 * Ice Blast: Sub-Zero sends a blast of ice directly towards the opponent to temporarily freeze them in place for a free hit. He could also freeze opponents in midair, if timed correctly. In the earlier Mortal Kombatgames, if Sub-Zero were to freeze the opponent twice, the second ice ball would defrost the opponent and freeze Sub-Zero, setting him up for a free hit. Like Scorpion's Spear, it has had different depictions. In MKIIto MKT, it is depicted a series of ice shards; from MK4 onward, it is an energy blast of ice condensed into a spherical form. In MKX, it takes the appearance of frozen mist in a beam-like projectile. In the same game, Sub-Zero throws it with only one hand rather than two. In Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, the Ice Freeze can also inflict a small bit of damage, even to enemies who are immune to being frozen by the move. In MK 2011 and MKX, this is called Ice Ball.
 * The enhanced version is called Ice Beam. Instead of a single ball of ice, Sub-Zero will shoot a beam of ice, making it easier to hit opponents in the air. The opponent is also frozen for a longer amount of time.
 * In MKX, the enhanced version is called Ice Blast which activates faster and is a much larger, faster-moving projectile rather than a beam. It also has the ability to destroy an enemy's projectile, should it come in contact with one.
 * Slide: Sub-Zero slides across the floor, knocking the opponent off their feet. It is assumed Sub-Zero slides by freezing the soles of his feet. This move was later given to Frost. In Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, Sub-Zero can perform an uppercut or throw a snowball-like projectile after executing the Slide.
 * The enhanced version is called Power Slide. After Sub-Zero hits the opponent, he will follow up with an additional twin palms attack.
 * In MKX, the enhanced version is called Icy Slide, which has armor and has Sub-Zero follow up with a blast of ice to the opponent's back.
 * Ground Ice: Sub-Zero freezes the floor and whoever steps on the circle of ice will temporarily slip all over the place, setting the opponent up for a free hit. Since it aims for the opponent's feet, it cannot be blocked. This move was also later adapted for Frost. In Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, the Ground Ice maneuver can be upgraded to allow Sub-Zero to freeze the ground around him in a radius affecting multiple enemies or even create chunks of ice to pop opponents into the air. In MK 2011, the opponent is frozen to the ground, and the move is called Ice Puddle. In MK11, this move is unblockable.
 * The enhanced version is called Ground Freeze and it freezes the entire arena floor that is in front of him.
 * Ice Clone: Sub-Zero creates an ice clone of himself anywhere he chooses, and anyone who touches it will freeze. In MKX, it is called Ice Klone, and can be used as a shield to block damage, or a projectile if Sub-Zero is close to it.
 * The enhanced version is called Ice Statue. The clone will stay for a longer period of time and Sub-Zero will spawn the clone much faster. Additionally, in some instances, Sub-Zero can continue combos after spawning the enhanced version when timed right.
 * The klone can be shattered with Ice Burst if Sub-Zero is near it, dealing additional damage. In some cases, it can also allow a brief juggle.
 * Klone Toss: Sub-Zero grabs his Ice Klone and throws it at the enemy, knocking them to the ground. Enemies hit with Klone Toss will not be frozen as if they were to touch the stationary Klone otherwise.
 * Ice Shaker: Sub-Zero emits a wave of cold air from his body freezing anyone or anything near him.
 * Tombstone Teleport: Sub-Zero's body becomes ice, falls backward into the ground, and reappears behind his opponent.
 * Icy Counter: Sub-Zero quickly covers himself in a sheet of ice. If an opponent attacks him physically whilst in this state, they will automatically be flash-frozen as Sub-Zero disappears and reappears behind the opponent with his Kori Blade in hand to strike them down. A low or sweep attack from the opponent does not trigger this ability.
 * Ice Nugget: Sub-Zero makes a block of ice above his opponent, which comes crashing down on their head. It is unblockable.
 * Ice Burst: Sub-Zero sends out a pulsing wave of ice, knocking the opponent off their feet.
 * The enhanced version is called Frost Bomb, activates faster and launches the opponent into the air for extended combo.
 * Frost Hammer: Sub-Zero summons a large warhammer made of ice and pounds the opponent into the ground with it.
 * The enhanced version is called Crushing Hammer which activates slightly faster and bounces the opponent for extended combos at the cost of dealing slightly less damage.
 * Air Frost Hammer: Sub-Zero summons his Frost Hammer while in the air and slams the head into the ground, knocking the opponent off their feet.
 * Polar Puncture: Sub-Zero grabs his opponent and stabs them 3 times in the lower chest area with an ice dagger and then stabs them a final time with two in the upper chest area. Sub-Zero is able to use special attacks after the final stab, so long as the correct input is used.
 * The enhanced version, called Arctic Assault, has armor on startup but no extra damage. When enhanced, the attack will connect on standing opponents during a combo.
 * Barrier of Frost: Sub-Zero forms a large barrier of ice in front of him that cancels or absorbs projectiles and freezes opponents who touch it.
 * The enhanced version is called Barrier of Ice, and activates faster, while retaining the same properties.
 * Frozen Aura: Sub-Zero covers himself in an armor-like layer of rock-hard ice, rendering him immune to chip damage. While the Aura is active, it will increase the damage of the next Ice Burst used and create knockback. In addition, utilizing Icy Slide will freeze the opponent in the air, allowing for a free hit. However, the Aura will disintegrate after either of these attacks are used. Sustaining too much damage while the aura is active will shatter it.
 * The enhanced version is called Ice Aura, which is activated much faster, has Sub-Zero recover from using the move quicker and reduces all damage taken.
 * Ice Shower: Sub-Zero shoots ice straight overhead which falls back down atop his opponent. He can shoot it close, mid way, or far away to freeze the opponent. In Armageddon, it is known as Ice Pillar and instead of falling on the opponent, the ice comes up underneath them like a frozen geyser, freezing and suspending them in the air.
 * Cold Shoulder: Sub-Zero rushes the opponent with his shoulder, leaving a trail of ice behind him on the ground. This is the replacement of his Ice Slide in these games. In MK (2011), Sub-Zero uses this move to initiate his X-Ray attack.
 * X-Ray Move - Deep Freeze: Sub-Zero charges at the opponent with a cold shoulder and punches into the stomach, proceeding to freeze and crush the opponent's entrails, also cracking their ribs. He recoils and headbutts the opponent in the side of the head, shattering their skull and jaw. This move can be delayed.
 * X-Ray Move - Deep Freeze: Sub-Zero sucker punches the opponent before plunging his hand into their stomach, grabbing and ripping out their entrails. He freezes them into an icicle, which he violently rams into the opponent's eye socket.
 * Sub-Zero can delay the activation, where he freezes himself, effectively turning the attack into a parry. If the opponent attacks Sub-Zero while this is done, they will freeze in place. Sub-Zero also has the option to cancel the attack, though it can only be done once it is turned into a parry. If the opponent is frozen from the parry effect, Sub-Zero can cancel the attack which leaves the opponent open for any other attack.
 * Fatal Blow - Chill Out: Sub-Zero pushes his opponent backwards and plunges two ice axes into their sides before kicking them to the ground. He then buries the blade of a larger axe into their head and uses it as leverage to raise the opponent overhead and violently slam them into the ground, shattering the axes in the process.

Other Moves

 * Suplex Throw: Sub-Zero grabs his foe, proceeds to roll backwards, brings up a leg as in a monkey flip and launches the foe halfway across the area. He then does a kip-up. Almost all male ninjas share the Suplex Throw pre-MK4.
 * Icy Skateboard: Sub-Zero freezes his opponent and ride on the frozen opponent's body like a skateboard.
 * Rib Breaker: Sub-Zero grabs his opponent, delivers two elbows to the ribs then flips his opponent to the ground. In Armageddon, he freezes his opponent then delivers a massive forward punch to the ribs.
 * Free-Fall Super Move: Sub-Zero freezes his opponent solid, before slamming them to the ground with a powerful axe-handle punch, shattering their icy restraint in the process.
 * Throw: Sub-Zero creates an icicle and stabs the opponent with it, then twists it, breaking it.
 * Force Claws: Sub-Zero winds up and then hits the opponent with a double palm strike. This move can be charged, and at full charge it will freeze the opponent on hit.
 * Throw: Sub-Zero freezes his opponent solid, then punches them with an ice-covered fist, knocking them to the ground.
 * Ability To Freeze: Sub-Zero kicks his opponent in the abdomen, pushes them back a bit then grabs them and throws them in the opposite direction.
 * Upward Sword: Sub-Zero slices his opponent with a rising ice sword that knocks them away. This replaces his Rising Fist uppercut in the Cryomancer variation.
 * Note: This uppercut cannot miss if the opponent ducks like other uppercuts.
 * Kold War Kombo-Ender: Sub-Zero forms large ice spikes around his body, damaging the opponent, ending his current combo.
 * Ice Decoy: Sub Zero replaces himself with his Ice Klone, evading a fatal blow.
 * Forward Throw: Sub-Zero dazes his opponent with a punch, freezes a block of ice over their head and launches them straight into it with an uppercut.
 * Backward Throw: Sub-Zero buries an ice axe into his opponent's chest and kicks them to the ground behind him.

Fatalities

 * Snowball Grenade: Sub-Zero creates a small orb of ice and launches it at the opponent. It lodges within their chest and detonates, causing them to explode from within. In MK:SM, Sub-Zero freezes the opponent first before launching the orb.
 * Ice Shatter: Sub-Zero deep-freezes his opponent, then uppercuts their upper body, shattering it. In MK:SM, Sub-Zero knocks off the opponent's upper body rather than shattering it.
 * Freeze Kick: Sub-Zero freezes his opponent and kicks them, smashing them to pieces.
 * Frosty!: Sub-Zero breathes icy breath at his opponent, who falls back and shatters upon contact with the floor. In the mobile phone version of UMK3, he still breathes icy breath, but uppercuts their body into pieces, similar to his Ice Shatter Fatality.
 * Overhead Ice Smash: Sub-Zero grabs the opponent and presses them over his head. After freezing the opponent, Sub-Zero breaks them into pieces with his own hands. In MKvsDCU, it is called Freeze Slamand Sub-Zero throws the opponent on the ground, shattering them, as well as MK3 GameBoy version only.
 * Ice Blast: Sub-Zero sends a blast of ice directly towards the opponent to temporarily freeze them in place, then opponent detonates.
 * Spine Rip: Sub-Zero grabs the opponent's neck, and tears out their spine and skull. This Fatality was taken directly from his older brother. This was also used as a finisher in Armageddon.
 * In the Game Boy Advance version of MK:DA, Sub-Zero rips out the opponent's frozen skull with the spine instead of the whole head with the spine. Several organs are also removed in the process during this version of the Fatality.
 * In MK:SM, Sub-Zero freezes the opponent first before performing the spine rip.
 * In MK 2011, this Fatality is unlocked via a DLC code.
 * In MKX, this Fatality is renamed as Head Rip.
 * Skeleton Rip: Sub-Zero sidesteps towards his opponent's back and rips a whole skeleton out of their body. Different from Kano's version in MK3, Sub-Zero pulls it from the lower spine.
 * Freeze and Throw: Sub-Zero freezes his opponent before ripping the head off, sliding away, then throws the head at the opponent, shattering the body and head.
 * Below Freezing: Sub-Zero freezes the legs of his foe and shatters them. He then walks toward the victim, ignoring their pleas for mercy, and proceeds to stomp on them, causing their head to explode.
 * Have an Ice Day: Sub-Zero freezes his opponent from the foot up to the waist. He then rips the opponent's torso off and holds the victim's bleeding torso in victory.
 * Spinal Smash: Sub-Zero rips the opponent's spine and skull out through their chest. He then freezes the opponent's body and smashes it with the spine.
 * Chest Kold: Sub-Zero freezes his opponent's chest before punching through it, leaving a gaping hole through their torso, with their spine intact. He reaches in and grabs the spine with both hands, breaking it in half. Finally, he presses the victim over his head and rips them completely in half.
 * Bed of Ice: Sub-Zero forms a frozen bed of spikes behind his opponent, then kicks them onto the surface and jumps onto them, impaling them in several places. As he stands over the opponent, Sub-Zero gives a final stomp, causing the spikes to penetrate the skull with one eyeball gouged out and impaled on a spike.
 * Ice-Cutioner: Sub-Zero encases the opponent's body up to the shoulder in a block of ice. He then chops off the opponent's head with a single blow from his ice axe. The head rolls over, whereas Sub-Zero picks up the head, freezes it, and proceeds to shatter it with a single punch.
 * Frozen in Time: Sub-Zero creates an ice clone holding a spear and slides toward his opponent, flipping them over his head and impaling them on the spear. As the opponent hangs upside down, Sub-Zero then plunges his hand into their chest and rips out their spine, taking their head with it. Finally, he violently impales the head onto the tip of the spear, poking out an eyeball.

Other Finishers

 * Friendship #1: Sub-Zero takes out a Sub-Zero doll and text appears onscreen saying "Buy a Sub-Zero Doll !".
 * Friendship #2: Sub-Zero covers himself up with a snowman.
 * Animality: Sub-Zero turns into a polar bear and mauls his opponent.
 * Multality: Ice Stomp: Sub-Zero leaps up and comes back down, stomps on the ground and then freezes and shatters all opponents.
 * Brutality: Frostbite Rage: Sub-Zero covers himself up in ice, sliding toward the opponent, mercilessly pounding them until they shatter.
 * Hara-Kiri: Meltdown: Sub-Zero covers himself with ice, falls over and shatters, leaving him as a mess of ice and bones.
 * Babality: Sub-Zero urinates on the floor and accidentally freezes it with his feet, making him slip and hit his head on the ground, causing him to cry.
 * Brutality #1 - Snow Ball: Sub-Zero freezes his opponent and performs an Ice Blast from across the screen, smashing their torso to pieces.
 * Brutality #2 - Frozen Dinner: Sub-Zero freezes his opponent then performs a Rising Fist, shattering their head to pieces. In the Cryomancer variation, Sub Zero performs an Upward Sword to shatter the opponent's head.
 * Any one of Sub-Zero's abilities that freeze the opponent will count towards the brutality so long as the opponent is not frozen in the air. This includes his Barrier of Frost and Ice Klone.
 * Brutality #3 - Pick Your Brain: Sub-Zero performs a Polar Puncture, only this time, he stabs the opponent in the head instead of the chest, leaving a blade stuck in their head as they fall dead.
 * Sub-Zero must land a certain number of hits before Polar Puncture, otherwise the brutality will not occur.
 * Brutality #4 - Ice Cubed: While encased in his Frozen Aura, Sub-Zero performs an Icy Slide with the ice blast, obliterating the opponent and leaving their head intact. The camera pans down and zooms in on the head, now encased in an ice cube. The final hit must be from the enhanced Ice Slide. Any damage caused when the opponents health reaches zero during the combo will shatter the Frozen Aura, preventing the brutality from occuring.
 * Brutality #5 - Splitting Image: Sub-Zero creates an Ice Klone or an Ice Statue, then performs an Ice Burst to shatter the klone to pieces, piercing the opponent's face, chest, and arms. The opponent freezes shortly after. This Brutality can also be done by throwing the clone on the opponent with Klone Toss.
 * A button must be held during the hit in order for the brutality to occur.
 * Brutality #6 - Ice Skulpture: Sub-Zero performs his Throw, only this time instead of knocking the opponent away when frozen, he palm thrusts them through the chest, knocking out their heart and leaving a gaping hole in their chest. The opponent's head falls off shortly after.
 * Frozen Soul: Sub-Zero perform his forward throw animation, but this time, the icy block is filled with spikes, which impales the victim on contact and keeps them lodged above, blood dripping out of their body.
 * Ice Tomb: Sub-Zero amplifies his Slide, throwing the opponent against a wall of ice, then throws an ice axe horizontally towards the opponent, which decapitates them and lodges the axe to the wall, making their headless body collapse.

Trivia

 * Sub-Zero makes a cameo appearance in Injustice: Gods Among Us and a playable guest character Injustice 2
 * During Sub-Zero's Mortal Kombat (2011) arcade ending, a warrior in shadow can be seen performing the infamous Spine Rip fatality on another warrior. This is likely depicting Scorpion's death by the original Sub-Zero, Bi-Han, in the Shaolin Temple.
 * In Defenders of the Realm, Sub-Zero is shown to grow weak and debilitated in hot environments. It is unknown if this applies to other depictions.
 * The Pinyin translation of Sub-Zero's Chinese name, going by the first name-last name standard (the second character represents the person's first name), can be translated as "Liáng Kuí". While "Liáng" is a fairly common first name in mainland China (direct translation = "Good"), "Kuí" as a last name/surname establishes the person as a "foreigner from another kingdom" to China (as the name originated from either Mongolia or from the Manchu). Whether this character's naming convention was chosen to represent Sub-Zero's status as an Outworlder that was born in the Earthrealm or, alternatively, is merely a happy coincidence to the character is unknown.
 * The alternative Chinese characters for his name which literally meaning "Fast and cool".
 * In an episode of Malcolm in the Middle, Reese mentions the fact that nobody believes that he beat the last level of Mortal Kombat, to which Hal responds "Because that's just ridiculous; no one beats Sub-Zero."
 * Sub-Zero inspired the professional wrestling character known as Glacier in World Championship Wrestling. Ray Lloyd, a regional Karate champion, played the role for several years.
 * His weapon is called the "Kōri-Blade". Kōri (or hyō) is Japanese for "ice" (Chinese bīng), hyōten (bīngdiǎn) is "freezing point", and hyōtenka (bīngdiǎnxià) is "below freezing" - or, "sub-zero".
 * Despite not being a playable character in MK:TE, he is still involved in Sareena's ending.
 * Ed Boon stated that Sub-Zero was originally going to be called "Tundra", which canonically was Sub-Zero's original codename before changing it to Sub-Zero, honoring his fallen brother.
 * The game Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks has a small Easter egg when two players select Sub-Zero in versus mode; his player 2 outfit is recolored black and resembles Noob Saibot.
 * In the television show Mortal Kombat: Conquest, it is mentioned that Sub-Zero had a sister, Lisa (who was murdered by Peron), but this seems to be the only universe where it shows he had a sibling other than Noob Saibot. Of course, the series takes place hundreds of years before the events of the movie, so the Sub-Zero in Conquest could be the ancestor of the character in the games.
 * In his MK vs DCU ending, he becomes Earthrealm's version of Batman, even altering his attire based on Batman's, also, his leaving of the Lin Kuei to pursue this goal is similar to some plot elements of Batman Begins.
 * In MKII, it is possible to defeat an enemy using only uppercuts, which in-turn, would allow the final blow to be a freeze move. If done quickly, a player could freeze the opponent as a final blow and perform either the Deep Freeze Uppercut or the Ice Grenade to finish their opponent which would then be followed by the thaw and collapse of the character just finished. The result would be to finish an opponent with a Fatality while still leaving their body on screen.
 * During the making of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Sub-Zero was originally given Tae Kwon Do as his primary fighting style, but this was given to Sonya instead.
 * Sub-Zero is similar to Taven in the regard that they both have a brother (Noob Saibot/Daegon) that became corrupted (Noob's descent into darkness/Daegon's influence from Shinnok) and both have tried to kill them (Noob in Deception/Daegon in Armageddon).
 * In his MK 2011 ending, Sub-Zero's partnership with Scorpion is very similar to the one formed by Shang Tsung and Quan Chi; they are even referred to as a "Deadly Alliance".
 * Unlike Shang Tsung and Quan Chi's alliance however, this alliance did not end with Sub-Zero and Scorpion fighting each other, instead they remained partners.
 * A parody character called Absolute Zero appears in the game Adventure Quest Worlds.
 * Sub-Zero, counting his Klassic Fatality and cyber form, is the only character in Mortal Kombat (2011) that has 5 Fatalities. Also, counting his cyber form, he is the only character who is playable in two complete chapters. Also, he is the only character to fight the same opponent twice, this one being Ermac, who is fought once in each of his chapters.
 * Machinima held a V.S. video featuring Scorpion and Sub-Zero where fans could vote on who would win. Sub-Zero received 5,728 votes, but Scorpion won with 6,262 votes.
 * In addition to his MK1 Klassic Costume, Sub-Zero later received an additional outfit with the Freddy Krueger compatability pack, labled as the MK3 Klassic Costume. Although the head resembles his MK3appearance, the outfit is in fact the ninja outfit worn by Ninja Sub-Zero from UMK3.
 * When using Sub-Zero's alternate costume in Mortal Kombat (2011), most of his sound files are changed to Noob Saibot's; this can be clearly heard when he dies from a Fatality or performs the Ice ball special move. This can be interpreted as being the first time in many years since the Elder Sub-Zero was last playable in canon.
 * Furthermore, when wearing his Klassic Costume (Bi-Han's original costume), Sub-Zero's voice clips remain those of Kuai Liang.
 * The alternate color for his Klassic outfit in MKX resembles the color of the original Sub-Zero.
 * In a Top 10 list hosted by Screwattack.com, Sub-Zero was placed at #2 of the Mortal Kombat Characters in the Mortal Kombat Series.
 * In another Top 10 list hosted by Screwattack.com, Sub-Zero was placed at #5 of the ninja characters in the videogames.
 * In another Top 10 list hosted by Screwattack.com, Sub-Zero's Spine Rip Fatality was placed at #1 of the top Mortal Kombat Fatalities.
 * According to John Vogel, the Sub-Zero who taught the freezing abilities to Shujinko in his youth, was not Bi-Han or Kuai Liang but an ancestor of them (he could either be their father or grandfather).
 * Originally in MK 2011, Sub-Zero's human form possessed the Icy Counter from MK vs DCU. He was later given the Ice Clone instead, while the Icy Counter was given to his cyber form.
 * In MKX, Sub-Zero is the only character whose X-Ray attack does not break or damage any bones.
 * Sub-Zero makes a cameo appearance during Scorpion's intro in Injustice: Gods Among Us. He returns as a DLC character in the sequel, Injustice 2, with Steve Blum reprising the role.
 * Sub-Zero is also mentioned in a clash sequence with Scorpion and Batman.
 * Like Scorpion before him, Injustice 2 's Sub-Zero was given a redesign by legendary DC Comic's artist, Jim Lee.
 * The League of Legends character Shen has two alternate skins that reference both Scorpion and Sub-Zero.
 * Kuai Liang's older brother Bi-Han had a weapon called the Troll Hammer in MK Armageddon, Kuai Liang has similar weapon in Mortal Kombat X, made out of ice.
 * Fans of the Saudi Arabian soccer team known as Al-Hilal have payed tribute to Sub-Zero & the Mortal Kombat series before their club's matches first by showing Sub-Zero's face and then showing the words: "Finish 'em."
 * In MKX, Sub-Zero, along with Raiden and Reptile, has the weakest X-ray attack, dealing only 31% damage.
 * In MKX, Sub-Zero in his Cryomancer Variation is the only character with an uppercut that hits Mid rather than High. This means that it is unavoidable if the opponent does not block while ducking.
 * With the exception of reflected brutalities, Sub-Zero's Frozen Dinner brutality is the only brutality that can be performed by more than one person. The other two are Shinnok and Triborg as Cyber Sub-Zero.
 * Interestingly, Shinnok can steal the brutality in his Imposter variation while Triborg simply borrows the finisher.
 * Sub-Zero's default outfit in MKX is never seen in the Story Mode. This is also the same for Kung Lao, Liu Kang, Kitana and Scorpion.
 * He is shown to be able to teleport in the MKX Story Mode, but is never able to do it in actual gameplay.
 * Sub-Zero is able to teleport in his guest appearance in Injustice 2.
 * Sub-Zero, Scorpion and Jax are currently the only characters who have returned to Human form from being Revenants.
 * Sub-Zero is currently the only character to change from two different Revenant forms before returning to Human form.
 * This is because he was transformed into a Revenant as a Cyborg in MK 2011 then changed into the Revenant form seen in the Story Mode of Mortal Kombat X before being returned to Human form.
 * Although he never says Erron Black's name in MKX, Sub-Zero says Erron's name in its entirety when clashing with Deadshot in Injustice 2.
 * Sub-Zero is featured on the main cover art for Mortal Kombat XL.
 * Mortal Kombat 11 is the second game after Injustice 2 where Sub-Zero creates Ice Axes as weapons. This was only achievable in Injustice 2 with his Legendary Multiverse item, which changes his hammer to a double-sided battle axe.
 * Sub-Zero is one of the few characters whose voice actor from Mortal Kombat X reprises their role in MK11.