Characters / Mortal Kombat – Bi-Han

Mortal Kombat Main Character Index
Original and Reboot Timeline: MK (1992) | MK2 | MK3 | MK4 | Deadly Alliance | Deception | Armageddon | MK vs. DC Universe | MK9 | MKX | MK11
The New Era: MK1
Spinoffs: Mythologies: Sub-Zero | Special Forces
Non-video game: The Movie | Conquest | Defenders of the Realm | 2021 Movie
Individual Characters: Scorpion I (Hanzo Hasashi) | Sub-Zero I/Noob Saibot (Bi-Han) | Johnny Cage | Liu Kang | Raiden | Shang Tsung | Sub-Zero II/Scorpion II (Kuai Liang) | Kitana | Mileena | Shao Kahn/General Shao | Quan Chi

---

Spoilers for Mythologies will be unmarked

---

---

Sub-Zero (Bi-Han)

"Now you will feel death's cold embrace!"

Debut game: Mortal Kombat (Daniel Pesina)

Other appearances as Sub-Zero: Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (John Turk), Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero (John Turk), Mortal Kombat 9 (Jamieson Price), Injustice 2 (Steve Blum, Mirror Match only), Mortal Kombat 11 (Steve Blum, Mirror Match only), Mortal Kombat 1 (Kaiji Tang (English), Sebastián Llapur (Latin American Spanish), Satoyu (face model))

Non-game appearances: Mortal Kombat: The Movie (François Petit), Mortal Kombat: Legacy (Kevan Ohtsji), Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge (Steve Blum), Mortal Kombat (2021) (Joe Taslim)

A professional assassin, originally named Bi-Han, of the legendary Lin Kuei clan. As his name implies, he has the ability to control ice. After succeeding in killing Scorpion, his rival, he is hired by Quan Chi to reclaim Shinnok's amulet. Along the way, he fights four of the Earthrealm gods (including Fujin), but before moving onward, he is confronted by Raiden, who reveals Quan Chi's true intentions. Furious at Quan Chi for duping him, he travels to the Netherealm to stop the evil plot, and on the way encounters Sareena, one of Quan Chi's Oni servants, and befriends her. He defeats Quan Chi, but this does not stop him from reviving Shinnok, and after retaking Shinnok's amulet in a surprise move, he escapes the Netherealm through a portal, leaving Shinnok trapped again.

Later he is hired to assassinate Shang Tsung during the Mortal Kombat tournament. He makes his way up the ladder until he faces a newly revived Scorpion, who exacts revenge by burning him alive.

Thus was the life of Sub-Zero.

In the second timeline, caused by Raiden sending a message to his past self to prevent Armageddon, Bi-Han's story is largely unchanged. Even his death at the hands of Scorpion comes to pass, though there is one major change regarding it. Raiden attempts to coerce Scorpion into sparing Bi-Han, which almost comes to pass until Quan Chi intervenes. Right before his death, Sub-Zero realizes he has been tricked once more and tries to reason with Scorpion that he was being impersonated the night of his family's murder, only for his pleas to fall on deaf ears.

Bi-Han returns in the third timeline depicted in Mortal Kombat 1, once again donning the mantle of Sub-Zero. In this New Era, the Lin Kuei are re-imagined as a secret society of protectors for Earthrealm. Bi-Han is the eldest son of the former grandmaster, having inherited his father's position after his passing. However, years of training for threats that will apparently never come have left Bi-Han somewhat embittered. Believing his current life as a racketeer having little real purpose, he devises an ambitious idea to have the organization step out of the shadows and into the light as a national superpower.

For tropes related to his brother Kuai Liang, who inherited the mantle of Sub-Zero in the first two timelines, check here.

---

Tropes Related to Sub-Zero I in the Midway and original Netherrealm timelines

Tropes that appear across all of Sub-Zero I's appearances from Mortal Kombat (1992) to Mortal Kombat 9.

---

• The Ace: In life, Bi-Han was an absolutely amazing warrior. Strong, reliable, and one of the biggest reasons the Lin Kuei were so feared.
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • A Downplayed example in Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge as unlike the games there is no evidence he ever worked for Quan Chi, he also isn't the one who killed Scorpion. He also kicks Kano off of a roof and berates him for dishonoring the tournament for bringing his goons, who weren't invited to participate.
  • In the first game, he was only at the tournament to kill Shang Tsung and didn't show any respect for the tournament itself.
• An Ice Suit: His leather ninja gear wouldn't protect him from the cold, if he wasn't naturally immune to that.
• Anti-Hero: Of the Nominal Hero and Only in It for the Money sort. Especially plays this to a hilt in Mythologies, which entirely focuses on him. This aspect of him seems to get a little bit better, but he still remains a Jerkass and gets killed by Scorpion.
• Arch-Enemy: Scorpion. He hates Scorpion to a self-destructive degree and they've fought many times in the past. Interestingly once returned to life as Noob Saibot, Bi-Han doesn't seem to have any feelings toward his fellow Hellspawn at all instead dedicating all his hate and fury to fighting his brother and successor. It does return for a brief moment in 11, with some of their intros pointing to their former rivalry in addition to a further nod if Scorpion is chosen to fight Noob in Sub-Zero's place during their chapter.
• Asshole Victim: Subverted; in MK9, Sub-Zero is shown to be an arrogant jerkass who mocks the late Shirai Ryu to Scorpion's face, and who dies horribly for supposedly murdering Scorpion's wife and son. However, he was actually innocent of that crime, with Scorpion having been manipulated into murdering him by the actual culprit, Quan Chi. Raiden expresses regret about Bi-Han's demise, and upon learning the truth in X, Scorpion is horrified to realize that he killed Bi-Han for nothing.
• Baritone of Strength:
  • In MK9 and the times Steve Blum voiced him, Bi-Han was shown to have a pretty deep voice. It helps that he's a Lin Kuei.
  • In Mythologies and his Mirror Matches with Kuai Liang, Bi-Han speaks in a low, raspier voice that helps to emphasize his cold and harsh personality.
• Black Screen of Death: His Spine Rip Fatality in UMK3, as none of the fighters had animations in place that would make it feasible to show, as well as to mock the controversy the move caused in the original game.
• Blue Is Heroic: Downplayed; as Sub-Zero, Bi-Han's outfit is primarily blue, but he's a Nominal Hero for the most part whose most heroic moments came about because Raiden strong-armed him into fixing a mess that Bi-Han himself inadvertently helped cause.
• Bullying a Dragon: In 9, after Scorpion defeats Cyrax and Sektor in the tournament. Granted, Sub-Zero did (canonically) defeat Scorpion twice in Mythologies, but it's not a good idea to piss off the one hellspawn who seriously wants you dead.
  Scorpion: I will have my revenge, but I will not kill Sub-Zero.
  Sub-Zero: Will not? Or cannot?
  Scorpion: You! The Shirai Ryu are dead. You shall suffer as they did.
  Sub-Zero: To hell with your clan.
  Scorpion: No... TO HELL WITH YOU! [drags Sub-Zero into the Netherrealm]
• But Not Too Foreign:
  • In the original Midway timeline, he was originally the son of an American woman and a Chinese man. Said father was also descended from the Cryomancer race, thus making the Sub-Zero brothers not fully human.
  • 9 retcons the above by showing the parents of both of the brothers in a region that is pretty clearly in East Asia. It also explicitly states that both Bi-Han and Kuai Liang were abducted as children which contradicts the earlier backstory of the brothers having been born to an American woman with a sister and then later on being taken by their father to China.
• Canon Name: 9 reveals that his birth name is Bi-Han.
• Cassandra Truth: He tells Scorpion that he didn't kill his wife and child, but unfortunately Quan Chi shapeshifting into him and killing them while doing so made it hard for Scorpion to believe it. Quan Chi showing him footage of this through his magic spurns Scorpion into killing him.
• The Corruptible: As several characters point out in Mythologies, Bi-Han definitely has at least some evil in his heart, with Raiden explicitly warning him against allowing this darkness to control his fate. This warning ends up being for naught; after his death at Scorpion's hands, Bi-Han's darkness is used by Quan Chi to raise him as the wraith Noob Saibot, a creature totally consumed by the very evil that had troubled Bi-Han in life.
• Cryptic Background Reference: In his arcade ending of 11, Kuai Liang describes Bi-Han as having "embraced Sektor's corruption"; in the games themselves, Bi-Han, either as Sub-Zero or Noob Saibot, never interacts with Sektor onscreen, and his opinion of the Cyber Initiative is never explicitly stated (though his hatred of technology would lead one to assume that he would have been strongly against it), leaving the nature of the "corruption" Kuai Liang speaks of unclear.
• The Cynic: According to Kuai Liang in 11, Bi-Han used to advise his brother to never trust anyone.
• Death by Irony:
  • Somewhat. Scorpion claims his spine as a trophy after defeating him in battle, similar to how he died by his hand, but the actual killing was seemingly done by Scorpion's breathing hellfire upon him.
  • Despite the fact that he originally killed Scorpion, when the specter kills him, it's for a crime that Sub-Zero never actually committed.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: In Mythologies, he beats the tar out of all four of the elemental gods. Sub-Zero also has the chance to defeat Shinnok, which would put his total up to 5.
• Face Death with Dignity: In stark contrast to Scorpion, who essentially begged for his life before he killed him, Bi-Han was remarkably composed about meeting his death-by-hellfire at the former's hand. The only umbrage he seemed to take was when he found out that Scorpion was going to kill him for a crime he didn't commit, and pointed out this fact in vain before he was killed.
• The Faceless: Unlike Kuai Liang, Bi-Han's face is never shown while he was alive. As Noob Saibot, his unmasked visage in 11 is disfigured, making it hard to estimate what he might have looked like back then.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • Bi-Han's arrogance is a major part of what gets him killed in MK9; upon hearing Scorpion say that he won't kill him, Bi-Han feels the need to speak up and suggest that Scorpion can't, as well as mocking Scorpion's dead clan right to his face. If he'd been able to resist the temptation to pick a fight, Bi-Han likely wouldn't have died by Scorpion's hand; even with Quan Chi's interference, both Raiden and Bi-Han himself remark that his own choices didn't do him any favors.
  • Apathy is also another big flaw dating back since Mythologies. Raiden has warned him that there is a darkness within him and he is fated to fall into it, but he has the power to change his fate. Bi-Han, however, ignores it in favor of his Undying Loyalty to Lin Kuei, which leads him to be killed by Scorpion and resurrected as Noob Saibot. Carrying over to the reboot timeline, this also leads him to instead mock Scorpion rather than coming clean about the issue with Shirai Ryu, which once again leads him to his death and return as Noob Saibot. What is constant to Bi-Han throughout all timelines (even in the New Era) is that he's apathetic about taming the darkness within him (something that his brother Kuai Liang and fellow Lin Kuei follower, Cyrax, actually do for the better of themselves, kind of for Cyrax).
• Foreshadowing: Mythologies serves as one big build-up for his eventual fate as Noob Saibot.
• Flat Character: In the 1995 movie, Sub-Zero is portrayed as a brainwashed minion of Shang Tsung. Unlike Scorpion, he gets no lines and is mainly just there for a few fight scenes before being killed by Liu Kang.
• Frame-Up: He's on the receiving end of the trope in MK9; Scorpion was willing to spare him per Raiden's request, only for Quan Chi to illustrate a series of events that show Bi-Han killing Scorpion's wife and son, which convinces Hanzo to kill Bi-Han, whose last words were a sudden and sincere "that was not me" (which Scorpion, blinded by rage, ignores). Indeed, it was Quan Chi who killed Scorpion's family with Bi-Han being a pawn to his deal with Lin Kuei.
• Harmless Freezing: His ice blasts deal rather weak damage, but they do set enemies up for devastating further attacks.
• Heel Realization: Raiden's words that darkness existed in his soul deeply troubles Sub-Zero. Too bad he didn't do much to change anything.
• Hero of Another Story: Mythologies retroactively makes him into one by revealing he stopped Shinnok and Quan Chi's plot to conquer earth long before Liu Kang did.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: In the movie, he's pitted in a fight against Liu Kang. He seems to get the upper hand when he starts to freeze his surroundings and is rapidly cornering Liu Kang; unluckily for him, his chilling power backfires when Liu throws a bucket of water at him, which freezes, impales, and kills him.
• I Did What I Had to Do: His justification for killing Scorpion, and presumably, for every other murder he's likely had to commit. It is somewhat reasonable in Scorpion's case, as not killing him probably would have gotten Bi-Han killed by his own Grandmaster, given their clans' rivalry.

  Scorpion: You killed me in cold blood.
  Sub-Zero: I had no choice.
  Scorpion: You could have let me live!
  Sub-Zero: Then I would be the dead one.

• An Ice Person: He is the original (as in the first one chronologically) Sub-Zero after all. Under this moniker, he could do arguably anything that Kuai Liang was capable of including shooting freezing ice beams, conjuring weaponry made of ice, and creating an advancing slope of ice to slide on with.
• Ignored Epiphany: Bi-Han ended Mythologies troubled by the implication of darkness in his soul, but he ultimately does nothing to amend this, which comes back to bite him when he dies and Quan Chi manages to resurrect him as the thoroughly evil Noob Saibot.
• Insistent Terminology: Justified in that they're Chinese assassins, not ninjas, and he dislikes being called one. Quan Chi deliberately ignores the distinction, mainly because it clearly annoys Sub-Zero.
  "Let's get something straight here: I am not a Ninja. I am Lin Kuei! Scorpion was a ninja."
• Irony: Bi-Han personally killed Hanzo Hasashi. When Hanzo, resurrected as Scorpion, finally kills him, it's not to avenge his own death, but that of his wife and son... a crime which Bi-Han didn't actually commit.
• Jerkass: From what we've seen of him in 9, where he has no problem mocking the late Shirai Ryu to a grieving Scorpion's face. Bad idea.
• Jerkass Has a Point: In Mythologies, when Scorpion calls Sub-Zero out for killing him, Bi-Han insists that he didn't have a choice, which is true; he had the Lin Kuei's Grandmaster to answer to, and even if that hadn't been the case, if he'd spared Scorpion, Bi-Han might very well have died by his rival's hand.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's rather coarse when seen alive in MK9, but shows a softer side around Sareena and Kuai Liang's idolization of him would indicate this. The positive impact Bi-Han left on Sareena is referenced in the Story Mode of X, when Sareena confronts the undead Kitana, and Kuai Liang retains enough affection for the man his brother was to use Kronika's power to save Bi-Han's soul in his Arcade ending.
  Sareena: It is possible to escape Quan Chi, Kitana. I can aid you as Bi-Han aided me.
• Jobber: He shows up twice during 9's story mode to get beaten up, and it culminates with him getting killed by Scorpion so that his younger brother can come and take up the title of Sub-Zero.
• Kick the Dog: He insults the Shirai Ryu to Scorpion's face before their fight in MK9.
• Kill It with Ice: His preferred method of killing.
• Legacy Character: The codename "Sub-Zero" has been handed down from father to son (and from brother to brother) for years. He is the fifth to bear the name.
• Meaningful Name: While Chinese names are not usually hyphenated, "Bi-Han" has multiple translations depending on the characters used. These include...
  • "Forced cold", referring to his obvious Cryomancer powers.
  • "Corrupted man", referring to the darkness Raiden sensed in him that led to his eventual downfall.
  • "Avoid regret", describing his openly ruthless and uncaring personality as Noob Saibot.
• Misplaced Retribution: He (and, by extension, the Lin Kuei) wasn't the one who killed Scorpion's clan. It was Quan Chi.
• Nominal Hero: Bi-Han's motivation in life is about self-preservation (hence why handing the amulet to Quan Chi didn't invoke any sensation of transgression on his part when Raiden admonished him for it). He'll do some heroic things (like sparing Sareena) but in the end, he's not someone who acts because it is the "right thing to do" (his brother is keener on being the heroic type).
• Not Me This Time: As an assassin, he killed many people, including several Shirai Ryu and Hanzo Hasashi himself, but he did not kill Hanzo's wife and son. Hanzo only finds out about this many years after killing Bi-Han.
• Off with His Head!: His infamous "Spine Rip" Fatality, which involves ripping out the opponent's head and attached spinal cord from their shoulders (also a case of a Decapitation Presentation). Ironically, this is how he dies in the original timeline.
• Only in It for the Money:
  • He entered the tournament in the original game just to assassinate Shang Tsung and collect the large bounty on his head.
  • He also tells Raiden in Mythologies that he was just earning his living after Quan Chi escapes with Shinnok's amulet.
  "I was just earning my living."
• Palette Swap: Of Scorpion. Interestingly, he is not a mere Palette Swap of his own character in MK9. If you choose Sub-Zero's alternate outfit, he also gains the voice samples of Bi-Han instead of Kuai Liang, which means the alternate outfit is Bi-Han.
• Pet the Dog: Bi-Han is far from an angel, and even during Mythologies, he's a Nominal Hero at best. Nonetheless, he does show compassion towards Sareena, helping her escape from Quan Chi's service.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: Very devoted to the Lin Kuei.
• Retirony: In his original MK ending, it's revealed that assassinating Shang Tsung would've been his last job for the Lin Kuei and he would retire from his dangerous job afterwards. Unfortunately, by canon, Scorpion puts the trope in full effect, and possibly by Retcon, Bi-Han is shown to be so devoted to the Lin Kuei that he wouldn't even think about retiring.
• The Rival: He serves as one for Scorpion, being his most recurring adversary. He eventually gets to kill Hanzo, only for him to return the favor by incinerating Bi-Han later in the Mortal Kombat tournament.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Bi-Han is a ruthlessly pragmatic, cold-blooded killer who sees himself as nothing but a man earning his living; his younger brother Kuai Liang is an honorable, heroic individual who upholds the highest principles of the Lin Kuei. Bi-Han had no problem with the Lin Kuei's rivalry with the Shirai Ryu and personally killed Hanzo Hasashi, while Kuai Liang ultimately ends that feud and becomes Hanzo's steadfast friend.
• Ship Tease: In Mythologies, there was a briefly hinted love interest between him and Sareena, which passed on to his brother in Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition.
• Slide Attack: His "Slide" move involves him creating an advancing slope of ice and Bi-Han using it to "surf" right onto his opponent.
• Speak Ill of the Dead: Before his final fight in his life (as Sub-Zero), Bi-Han tells Scorpion "to hell with your clan!", only for Scorpion to retort back by exclaiming "to hell with you!"
• Super Sliding: Ever since the first game, Sub-Zero has used his ice powers to slide along the ground at speeds greater than normal movement speed. In later games, icy FXs are seen meanwhile Sub-Zero makes this Signature Move.
• Tragic Hero: Though "hero" is a bit of a stretch, seeing as he was an unrelenting assassin in life, unlike his little brother who was more compassionate. Nevertheless, he's shown to at least have the potential for heroism, but is still doomed to eventually be killed by Scorpion and resurrected as the evil Noob Saibot, losing any redeeming qualities he once had in the process.
• The Trickster: In Mythologies, Sub-Zero is noted to be the most clever and most skilled of all the Lin Kuei.
• Underestimating Badassery: In Mythologies, Bi-Han considered Quan Chi to be nothing more than a lunatic and dismissed him as a threat. Not only did Quan Chi con him into fetching Shinnok's amulet, but he later orchestrated Bi-Han's death and resurrected him as Noob Saibot.
• Unexpected Character: Treated in-universe as this in his UMK3 ending.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Raiden chews a large bite of Cyromancer pie out of Sub-Zero when it turns out that he's supplied Quan Chi with the means of freeing Shinnok from his imprisonment in the Netherrealm.
• You're Insane!: Once he discovers the true purpose of the Amulet of Shinnok, he is quick to call Quan Chi this - plus, to say that the amulet is worth nothing.

Tropes related to Sub-Zero I in The New Era

Tropes that appear across all of Sub-Zero I's appearances from Mortal Kombat 1 onwards.

---

• Adaptational Badass: At least compared to his second timeline counterpart. While Bi-Han was a Jobber as Sub-Zero and Noob Saibot in the second timeline, here he is as much of a badass as he was in the first timeline, as he defeats Ermac and the Deadly Alliance.
• Adaptational Jerkass: The prior version of Bi-Han, while hardly the warmest of individuals, was at least loyal to the Lin Kuei, motivated mainly primarily to make a living, and was at least implied to have had a good relationship with his brother before his death. In this timeline, Bi-Han is a snarling, callous, elitist asshole who wants to elevate the Lin Kuei for the sake of his own ambitions, treats Kuai Liang with indifference and neglect bordering on disdain, and petulantly despises Tomas for being adopted and not a "pure-blooded" Lin Kuei. Tellingly, he doesn't need to die and come back as a wraith to turn on Earthrealm or his brother.
• Adaptational Villainy: Bi-Han in this timeline is a far cry from the Jerk with a Heart of Gold Anti-Hero he was when he was alive in previous timelines. In fact, he turns out to somehow be even worse than he ever was as Noob Saibot in previous timelines. Not only is he as much of a colossal dick as his former wraith self, but while Noob Saibot still valued his past as a member of the Lin Kuei to some degree, this version of Bi-Han is a remorseless traitor who betrayed and killed his own father by refusing to help him after an accident befell him and willingly sold out his clan to the Deadly Alliance out of pure, petty spite towards Liu Kang for what he sees as "shackling the clan's potential". And it gets worse in the Arcade Endings: in this timeline, he's the one who decides to start the Cyber Initiative, something that he most likely would have been strongly against in previous timelines had he still been alive when it happened, even if it was more due to him being a technophobe and less out of any actual dislike for the initiative itself.
• Adoption Diss: When Smoke speaks out of turn, Bi-Han takes a moment to insult Tomas for being adopted into the Lin Kuei.
• Ambition Is Evil: His desire to elevate the Lin Kuei makes him an abrasive, ruthless leader who's a bit too eager to start conflict than prevent it.
• Arch-Enemy: Even in the New Era, Sub-Zero and Scorpion become bitter rivals. In fact, their animosity here is even more personal than it was in previous timelines; Bi-Han and Kuai Liang were brothers in blood and in arms before Bi-Han's treachery destroyed Kuai Liang's faith in him, which, combined with Bi-Han allowing their father to die and his violent response to Kuai Liang's refusal to join in his treason against Earthrealm, led to Scorpion founding the Shirai Ryu to oppose Sub-Zero's corruption of the Lin Kuei.
• Big Brother Bully: He treats his adoptive brother Smoke like garbage, disdaining Tomas for being adopted into the clan. His treatment of Kuai Liang is only better by comparison, and when both brothers refuse to join Bi-Han's treason, he slashes Kuai Liang's face and tries to kill him.
• Blood Knight: Fitting his bloated ego and desire for glory, Bi-Han jumps at the opportunity for conflict, and he's often needlessly violent in pursuit of his goals.
• Blue Is Heroic: Initially played straight, but subverted horribly. He turns against both Earthrealm and his own brother by siding with Shang Tsung just so he can achieve power.
• Broken Pedestal: Scorpion and Smoke are devastated when he not only betrays Earthrealm and sides with Shang Tsung, but also when they find out that he willingly allowed their father to die after having lied about trying to save him.
• Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: While Scorpion/Kuai Liang and Smoke/Tomas uses a roped kama/kunai combo and a karambit in Mortal Kombat 1 respectively, Bi-Han's ice weapons in gameplay take the form of a very simplistic spear and a relatively large flail in the shape of a skull with part of the spine attached to it forming its "chain", fitting for the most straightforwardly ruthless of the Lin Kuei trio.
• Cain and Abel: In 1, Bi-Han's betrayals of both his family and Earthrealm lead to Kuai Liang turning on him, and the animosity very much goes both ways; Bi-Han, enraged at his brother not obeying him, slashes Kuai Liang's face and tries to kill him, and their enmity continues post-story, where Kuai Liang and their adoptive brother Smoke found the Shirai Ryu to oppose Bi-Han's corruption. Pre-fight intros have both brothers promising a reckoning.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Downplayed; post-Face–Heel Turn, Sub-Zero doesn't see himself as being at all in the wrong, but he still boasts of being ambitious, cold-blooded, and willing to murder his own flesh and blood, taking pride in what his opponents rightfully see as abhorrent personal flaws.
• Childish Older Sibling: Bi-Han is much more hostile, impatient, self-centered, and entitled than his younger brother Kuai Liang.
• Composite Character: In this timeline, Bi-Han combines everything that's antagonistic and dark about Lin Kuei before/after Kuai Liang (of the previous timelines) reformed it:
  • In the previous timeline, the Grandmaster initiated the Cyber Initiative. In this timeline, Bi-Han is the one doing it after he becomes Grandmaster. In this way, Bi-Han takes the aspect of the previous corrupt Grandmaster.
  • He's shown to be completely callous and lacking empathy, something that he has in common with the incarnations of Sektor. And just like Sektor, he's accompanied with a yellow-colored ally who has more conscience than him (Kuai Liang as his Cyrax), ensured the death of his father to take over and becoming the biggest enemy of Kuai Liang.
  • And he achieved much of those by betraying those who considered him family, mirroring Frost who betrayed Kuai Liang after him teaching her. His attitude can also be said to be a toned-down version of the second timeline's Frost.
  • His moveset includes a dive kick that was previously exclusive to Cyber Sub-Zero in prior games, who at one point was a slave to the Cyber Lin Kuei fighting for Outworld during their invasion in 9.
• Deadpan Snarker: Even a cold hearted warrior like him has his moments:
  Havik: Deny me and become my enemy.
  Sub-Zero: Watch me shiver with fear.
• Devious Dagger: Following his betrayal, he confronts Kuai Liang and Tomas with a dagger he constructed using his cryomancy which he would use to give Kuai Liang a scar across his right eye.
• Disproportionate Retribution: When Johnny Cage, mistaking Liu Kang and the Lin Kuei for a LARP set up by his wife, grabs Sub-Zero's arm, Bi-Han responds by violently attacking Cage, kicking him across the room, and breaking a $10,000 sculpture. When Kuai Liang calls him on it, Bi-Han growls that it was necessary "to put [Cage] in his place".
• Entitled Bastard: He expects Kuai Liang and Tomas to be completely loyal to him and stick by his side despite constantly treating them like garbage. When they decide to defect from the Lin Kuei, he perceives them as traitors when he betrayed them first by letting their father die and allying himself with Shang Tsung.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: While his opinion of his father seems mixed at best, pre-fight intros where his mother comes up has Bi-Han speak fairly highly of her memory, though despite what Bi-Han thinks, Kuai Liang doubts that she'd approve of his crimes.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Heavily downplayed with his brothers; while Bi-Han treats them poorly even before his Face–Heel Turn, it's telling that his first response to Kuai Liang's defiance is to offer him a place at his side, rather than immediately writing him off as a lost cause. Pre-fight intros with both Scorpion and Smoke have Bi-Han imply that he'd at least spare them if they'd just submit to his authority, but neither of them are willing to be party to his crimes.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • For all his flaws, Bi-Han believes in order, and finds Havik's deranged notions of chaos and anarchy distasteful (he also wouldn't join him for moola, rejecting his offer by replying that the Lin Kuei aren't mercenaries).
  • In an intro with Nitara, Bi-Han declares his belief that no race should be immortal.
  • While he did allow his father to die, the fact that he simply committed Murder by Inaction to do it instead of doing the deed himself implies that direct patricide is a line Bi-Han wasn't willing to cross.
  • Bi-Han is disgusted by Shang Tsung's vile experiments, to a point that an intro with Liu Kang suggests that he might never have betrayed Earthrealm if he knew about them.
  • In his pre-kombat dialogues with Kitana and Mileena, he claims that the death of Sindel was neither his goal nor something he approved of, but they understandably don't care, given his role in the events that led up to it.
• Evil All Along: Him allying with Shang Tsung marks his Face–Heel Turn, but him revealing to Kuai Liang that he intentionally let his father die in an accident meant that he turned evil long ago and hid it from everybody.
• Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: While being the meanest version of Sub-Zero, his attempt at humor certainly leaves a lot to be desired...
  Sub-Zero: Your blood may be cold, but mine is iced!
  Reptile: ... Not something to be proud of, Sub-Zero...
• Evil Is Petty:
  • Played for Laughs; in an intro, Johnny Cage demands to be repaid for the sculpture Sub-Zero broke, only to be petulantly denied.
  • When Kung Lao thanks him for inspiring his chakram hat, Bi-Han dismisses it as "a worthless gimmick".
• Evil Sounds Deep: As well as raspy. This interpretation of Bi-Han happens to be of the most malevolent, with a jarringly deep voice that befits him. The more heroic variant of him that can be chosen in the final chapter has a less raspy voice.
• Face–Heel Turn: He starts off as the Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei and a defender of Earthrealm as one of Liu Kang's champions. However, his desire to elevate the Lin Kuei makes him an abrasive, ruthless leader who's a bit too eager to start conflict. Eventually, Sub-Zero chooses to help Shang Tsung and Quan Chi in an effort to elevate the Lin Kuei above their station, turning on both of his brothers to do so. After this, both Scorpion and Smoke denounce Bi-Han and form the Shirai Ryu in place of the Lin Kuei because of Bi-Han's betrayal.
• Foreshadowing:
  • During the training session set up by Liu Kang, Kuai Liang and Tomas looks like they're just doing a job that neither of them really want to do. The first interaction with Bi-Han, in contrast, is more ruthless, as evident when he tries to freeze Raiden's hands…
  • When the trio approach Shang Tsung's fortress, Tomas gets assaulted by a flying Nitara, nearly ensuing his death. When Bi-Han looks down, a small boulder falls down and nearly hits Tomas. Given his rather cold behavior towards him, it didn't appear to be an accident.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: While he's on the side of Earthrealm, Bi-Han's allies aren't very fond of him thanks to his belligerent and arrogant attitude, with even his brothers showing some disapproval of his bad manners. This remains true after Bi-Han's Face–Heel Turn; the conspirators he allied himself with don't think too highly of him, with General Shao throwing particular vitriol his way in their pre-fight intros.
• Frontline General: Despite being the Lin Kuei's Grandmaster, and presumably in full command of its resources, Bi-Han is shown doing plenty of his own legwork, even leading a dangerous infiltration mission at Liu Kang's behest.
• Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: He has a tendency of rudely pointing at people when he's being condescending towards or threatening them.
• Glory Seeker: Frustrated with the Lin Kuei's role as protectors of Earthrealm, Bi-Han longs for the chance to win glory for both himself and his order. As his treachery towards both his father and Earthrealm prove, he's not afraid to stoop to deeply immoral means of obtaining the glory he believes to be rightfully his.
• Good Is Not Nice: Bi-Han starts the game as a follower of Liu Kang, but that's about where his redeeming qualities end, as he's shown to be aggressive, arrogant, and ill-tempered. It doesn't take much for Shang Tsung to talk him into abandoning the "good" part of the trope.
• Greed: Bi-Han makes it abundantly clear he cares more for the financial reward in stopping Shang Tsung rather than because it's the right thing to do when he discovers the massive treasure loot.
  Sub-Zero: There will be spoils in this war...
  Scorpion: Let us win it first, brother.
• Hated by All: In 1, even before he betrays Earthrealm, Bi-Han's allies make sure to keep their distance from him. Post-Face–Heel Turn, no one has anything nice to say about him after the extent of his crimes are revealed, some even saying they always knew he was bad news. Even his two most loyal followers, Cyrax and Sektor, are implied to be more concerned about the well-being of the clan than they are about him and are simply following him out of duty (some dialog with Smoke even indicates that Cyrax chose to stay with the Shirai Ryu after being previously captured and let go with no word of what happened to Sektor).
• Hate Sink: This incarnation of Sub-Zero was written with the intention that the audience would dislike him. He's a gruff, abrasive, and short-tempered Jerkass, despite ostensibly defending Earthrealm. He's also shown to be very short with his brothers, especially Smoke, whom Bi-Han doesn't count as a "real" brother because Tomas was adopted. If that wasn't bad enough, Sub-Zero pulls a Face–Heel Turn by betraying both of his brothers for Quan Chi and Shang Tsung, and also reveals that Sub-Zero intentionally let their father die because he "lacked vision" for the Lin Kuei, and so that Bi-Han could become Grandmaster once their father was gone. Finally, Sub-Zero is a hypocrite who demands loyalty while showing none of it to anyone save himself, which makes everyone in-universe hate his guts. Even other villains find Bi-Han's treachery despicable. It's even made clear by the narrative that all of Bi-Han's excuses and plans for what he wants to do with the Lin Kuei are thin veils for his own personal glory than defending Earthrealm. All of this serves to give Sub-Zero/Bi-Han nothing that could make the audience sympathize with him and frame it so they have every reason to hate him.
• Hates Their Parent:
  • When his father was alive, Bi-Han disagreed with how he was running the Lin Kuei, and after his death, becomes agitated at the very mention of him. It turns out that Bi-Han's resentment of his father ran deep enough to let him die so that he could become Grandmaster himself.
  • Averted with his mother, whom Bi-Han speaks highly of in his intros. Albeit mainly because he thinks she would have approved of his actions; whether there's any truth in this opinion isn't clear, though Kuai Liang thinks she'd be disgusted with him.
• Hypocrite:
  • He gives Smoke grief for not being born into the Lin Kuei, but was happy to let his own father die for his own personal gain; Bi-Han places a lot of importance on blood ties for someone who doesn't even care about his own family.
  • When Scorpion and Smoke refuse to join him against Earthrealm, Bi-Han snarls that they're betraying their oaths to the Lin Kuei, totally ignoring his own betrayal of his oath to defend Earthrealm as the Lin Kuei's Grandmaster. What's more, he expects their obedience because he is Grandmaster, but he shamelessly betrayed the Lin Kuei's previous Grandmaster (his own father, no less) to get the job.
• I Did What I Had to Do: This is Bi-Han's excuse for selling the Lin Kuei to Shang Tsung's service. When anyone challenges him on his actions, he insists that he's elevating the Lin Kuei to the status they deserve and insists, under endless condemnation, that his actions were perfectly justified.
  Liu Kang: Your actions cost lives, Bi-Han!
  Sub-Zero: They were in the Lin Kuei's best interests.
• I Lied: When he first reported his father's death, Bi-Han claimed that he tried to save him. Upon his Face–Heel Turn, he admits to Kuai Liang that this was a lie and that he actually let his father die.
• I Regret Nothing: Even with everyone from his own family to a demigod to his own co-conspirators calling him out for what he's done, Bi-Han stubbornly maintains that he's done nothing wrong.
• Iconic Attribute Adoption Moment: An unusual example in that it is not a physical attribute, but a personality-related one. In the revised backstory, it's shown that Bi-Han is already exhibiting traits very similar to his past self as Noob Saibot. Namely, his more ambitious side and his tendency to be overly flowery and dramatic when proving himself superior to his opponents.
• Implied Death Threat: In a Mirror Match:
  Sub-Zero 1: We can't both exist.
  Sub-Zero 2: We won't for much longer.
• In Spite of a Nail: In the New Era, despite having a better life and outcome than he did in the previous timeline, Bi-Han still becomes evil due to his defining character trait: his arrogance. It is this arrogance that results in him betraying the ideals of the New Era's Lin Kuei set by his father and willingly allowing him to die just so he could take control of the clan for himself, as well as choosing to side with Shang Tsung when he tempts him with a batallion of Dragon Army soldiers. The combination of this, plus revealing to Kuai Liang the truth about their father's death, causes the two brothers to become enemies once again, with Kuai Liang defecting to form the Shirai Ryu with Smoke, once again starting the bitter rivalry between Scorpion and Sub-Zero.
• It's All About Me: Bi-Han is a violent egomaniac who won't hesitate to take advantage of any situation or offer that would give him the glory he desires, and also won't hesitate to attack those who get in the way of his dreams of power. The only person he loves or cares about is himself.
• Jerkass: Even starting out as the defender of Earthrealm, he is a colossal prick who treats everyone around him with disdain and is only concerned with furthering his own ambitions.
• Kick the Dog:
  • When Smoke briefly speaks up, an annoyed Bi-Han tells him to mind his place and insults Tomas for being adopted.
  • In one of their intros, Bi-Han threatens Kuai Liang's wife, Harumi, explicitly saying that his brother's family isn't off limits in their conflict.
  • One of the nastiest examples happens in his pre-kombat dialogue with Baraka, where he either says that tarkatans should be exterminated or that the Tarkat virus is divine punishment, among other insults.
• Kinslaying Is a Special Kind of Evil: While he didn't personally kill his father, Bi-Han's betrayal of and willingness to shed the blood of his own family is treated as particularly heinous in-story, even from villains like General Shao and Reiko (both of whom greatly value their relationships with their father/father figure).
• Large Ham: Bi-Han's deep, growling voice, towering ego, and ambitious personality make him a very dramatic character.
  Sub-Zero: [to Johnny Cage] Imbecile! You have no idea with whom you are dealing!
• Mean Boss: If his treatment of Scorpion and Smoke is any indication, Bi-Han's command style consists mostly of demanding respect from his followers, expecting their unquestioning obedience, and dishing out blunt put downs or petty insults at the first hint of backtalk or questioning.
• Moral Myopia:
  • Bi-Han places a great deal of importance on loyalty and respect... as long as he's the one who's owed those things. As the Lin Kuei's Grandmaster, he expects unquestioning deference from his brothers and subordinates, yet chafes under his own obligations to Earthrealm and Liu Kang. After he betrays Earthrealm, Bi-Han is furious at Kuai Liang for refusing to join him, yet in his tower ending, he boasts of having freed the Lin Kuei from Liu Kang's "enslavement", showing no regard for the loyalty and deference he expects to receive from others.
  • When Kuai Liang turns on him, Bi-Han is incensed at his brother's "betrayal"... despite admitting (even bragging) that he let their father die and having just sold out Earthrealm to Shang Tsung. Towering egotist that he is, Bi-Han considers Kuai Liang's actions far worse than his own.
• Murder by Inaction: The story mode reveals that in the accident that resulted in his father's death, he was there and could have prevented it but didn't, letting his father die and lying to both his brother and Smoke about it so he could finally attain the title of Grandmaster that he so coveted.
• Narcissist: Of the most malignant kind. Bi-Han easily turns his back on his own realm for selfish reasons, then tries to kill his own brother when he won't fall in line with his corruption and seriously believes it's himself who's the victim of betrayal.
• Never My Fault: Whenever it comes up in intros, Bi-Han always blames someone else for Scorpion and Smoke's "treachery", usually his brothers themselves, but also Liu Kang. In any case, like any narcissist, the very last person he blames is himself, even though it was his selfish treason towards Earthrealm that drove his brothers away.
• Nice, Mean, and In-Between: The "mean" among himself, Scorpion and Smoke; unlike his polite younger brothers, Bi-Han is a rude, impatient and needlessly aggressive brute who treats other people with disdain.
• Nominal Hero: Bi-Han is an arrogant, self-righteous, scornful douchebag who can only be counted among the heroes because of the Lin Kuei's loyalty to Liu Kang. By the end of the story, even that small redeeming factor is gone, as Bi-Han betrays Earthrealm to Shang Tsung and leads the Lin Kuei down a dark path.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Bi-Han claims repeatedly that serving Liu Kang is stagnating the Lin Kuei, and he insists that his actions in aiding Shang Tsung and abandoning Earthrealm's defense are for the clan's betterment, but, given that he admits to allowing his own father to die and has no problem with trying to kill clan members who won't fall in (his own brothers, no less), it's obvious that it's his own glory that interests Bi-Han, and he's using elevating the Lin Kuei to excuse his vile actions.
• Obviously Evil: In 1, he is a snarling mercenary who treats serving Liu Kang as a chore that limits his clan and behaves himself coldly with everyone, even his own brother, but he's seen as the necessary evil by others. His Face–Heel Turn comes as no surprise to the audience, but the decision still shocks Kuai Liang.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: After the Battle of Armageddon, Bi-Han somehow managed to slip away from the heroes, free General Shao (and presumably the other conspirators) from Lei Chin Prison on Outworld, and resume his own leadership of the Lin Kuei.
• Perpetual Frowner: In scenes where he is unmasked, Bi-Han is constantly scowling, a visual sign of his unpleasant personality.
• Pet the Dog:
  • After beating Ermac and Nitara, he asks Scorpion and Smoke if they're hurt. Given how much of a dick he is to them this is actually pretty considerate of him.
  • In one of his intros with her, Bi-Han has the decency to offer condolences to Kitana regarding her mother's death. Regarding him as complicit for his willingness to join Shang Tsung, Kitana spits it in his face.
  • Sub-Zero's arcade ending has him genuinely compliment Sektor for coming up with the idea for the Cyber Initiative, showing him more respect than just about anyone else gets from Bi-Han.
• Pragmatic Villainy: In his ending, Bi-Han wants to use the Dragon Army to bolster the Lin Kuei, but knows that doing so would require a lot of magic, too much to get the Army without drawing Liu Kang's attention, which is why he approves of Sektor's idea to employ cybernetics, rather than sorcery, to build Bi-Han's desired army.
• Pride: Bi-Han's already present ego has been dialed up to 11, to the point that it's his defining quality. He's supremely arrogant and abrasive, and highly ambitious, to the point that he believes the Lin Kuei should be a national superpower in their own right, and being deeply resentful of serving as Earthrealm's protectors. His self-importance is eventually revealed to run so deep that he allowed his own father to die for not sharing Bi-Han's ambitions, and he betrays Earthrealm to Shang Tsung when the sorcerer offers him the power he craves.
• Psychological Projection: Reflecting his own resentments about the Lin Kuei serving Liu Kang, Bi-Han accuses Kitana of wasting her potential by supporting Mileena, spitefully asks Raiden if serving the demigod is worthwhile, and suggests that Li Mei and her constables should help govern Outworld. He also tells Liu Kang that Earthrealm isn't his to rule, a reflection of Bi-Han's ambitions for the Lin Kuei and a failure to recognize that Liu Kang is Earthrealm's protector, not its ruler.
• Pungeon Master: Amusingly for such a serious, intimidating character, Bi-Han's intros and mid-fight taunts in MK1 have him making a lot of ice/cold-related puns, including:
  Sub-Zero: Ice to beat you!
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: The Lin Kuei's Grandmaster is also one of their mightiest warriors; he only loses his fights with Kung Lao and Johnny Cage due to holding back on Liu Kang's orders, and in his own chapter, he manages to defeat Ermac, Nitara, Quan Chi, and Shang Tsung. Even his defeat at Scorpion's hands comes after Bi-Han gave his brother a solid fight and a permanent scar.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Bi-Han, ironically, is the brutal and aggressive red to Kuai Liang's cool-headed blue.
• Redemption Rejection: Post-Face–Heel Turn, Bi-Han responds to any overtures to abandon his current path with a resounding "no", refusing to accept that he's done anything wrong and insisting that he's the one who's been betrayed.
• The Resenter: Although he serves Liu Kang per Lin Kuei tradition, Bi-Han resents his clan's role as mere protectors, believing that they are worthy of taking part in Earthrealm's governance. Shang Tsung exploits these frustrations to convince Bi-Han to betray Earthrealm, and even when his alliance with the sorcerer fails to get off the ground, Sub-Zero leads his now-renegade clan on a planned campaign of conquest, seeking to build the Lin Kuei into a national superpower.
• Screw Your Ultimatum!: In a pre-kombat dialogue, when Syzoth introduces himself as an emissary carrying a message by the Empress, Bi-Han threatens to send his severed head as a reply.
• Separated at Birth/Long-Lost Relative: The in-story explenation for one of his mirror matches, arranged by his father on purpose:
  Sub-Zero #1: I don't have a twin.
  Sub-Zero #2: Our father was a man of many secrets.
• The Sociopath: This iteration of Sub-Zero is exactly as cold-blooded as his name implies. He has a grandiose self-image, no empathy for others, refuses to admit when he's in the wrong, and has no qualms about selling out all of Earthrealm for his own glory.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Of Sektor, especially his Reboot incarnation. He's the son of the Lin Kuei's Grandmaster, is partnered with Smoke and a clan member wearing yellow (Cyrax for Sektor, Scorpion for Sub-Zero), disagrees with the way his father had been leading the Lin Kuei to the point he ensured his death so he could take over the clan, allies with Shao, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi to secure power for the Lin Kuei, is Kuai Liang's Arch-Enemy and, as shown in his Arcade Ending, he is the one to greenlight the Cyber Initiative.
• Tautological Templar: Bi-Han's sense of morality begins and ends with what benefits the Lin Kuei (or his idea of what benefits them, anyway). Even in the face of endless condemnation, he insists that his actions were wholly justified to free his clan from Liu Kang's "enslavement", and that his brothers are traitors for refusing to join him.
• Treachery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Bi-Han's treachery towards his own family is treated as utterly despicable by both the narrative and the other kombatants. Even other characters guilty of treason like General Shao and Reiko hold Bi-Han in contempt for what he's done (sometimes Kuai Liang even more for foiling their plans).
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: Under his and Kuai Liang's father, the Lin Kuei were devoted to Earthrealm's protection and were unquestionably loyal to Liu Kang. After their father died and Bi-Han ascended to become Grandmaster, he proved to be a much more forceful and demanding leader, expecting unquestioning obedience and voicing his frustrations with serving Liu Kang.
• The Unfettered: Bi-Han is willing to do anything to turn the Lin Kuei from a secretive protector clan into a superpower on Earthrealm. Selling out Earthrealm to Shang Tsung, greenlighting the Cyber Initiative, resorting to extortion (as seen on Kenshi's intro)... As long as Bi-Han sees a way for the clan (or himself) to profit/benefit from it, he does not care, and will defend his actions no matter how heinous or unjustifiable.
• Unwilling Roboticisation: Averted. Even though Bi-Han is a far worse person in the New Era than he ever was in either of the previous timelines and now embraces technology instead of rejecting it, he at least wouldn't turn Lin Kuei members into soulless cyborgs, but would instead have Sektor build battle robots for him (although it's unknown if the forced cyborgization process even exists in this timeline, it's not too farfetched to speculate that Liu Kang eliminated it to make even a rogue Lin Kuei grandmaster less destructive).
• Villainous Valor: For all of his many failings, Bi-Han is steadfast in his convictions, refusing to back down even after he's lost the support of Shang Tsung's conspiracy and he's left as one of the most disdained characters in the roster.
• We Can Rule Together: After he decides to join Shang Tsung, Bi-Han's subsequent fight with Kuai Liang has him entreat his brother to surrender and join him in the Lin Kuei's new future. Kuai Liang defiantly refuses, and the brothers remain at odds going forward.
• We Used to Be Friends: Scorpion's intros have him lament his brother's turn to evil, saying that he'd once thought of their bond as unbreakable and that he'd had high hopes for Bi-Han's leadership of the Lin Kuei.
• You Killed My Father: Although aghast at Bi-Han's treason against Earthrealm, Kuai Liang's shock only turns to rage when Bi-Han reveals his role in their father's death, solidifying the New Era's Scorpion and Sub-Zero as mortal enemies.

---

Noob Saibot (Bi-Han)

"Fear me!"

Debut game: Mortal Kombat II (Daniel Pesina)

Other appearances as Noob Saibot: Mortal Kombat 3 (Richard Divizio), Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (John Turk), Mortal Kombat 4 (John Turk, home versions only), Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition, Mortal Kombat: Deception, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Mortal Kombat 9 (Jamieson Price), Mortal Kombat 11 (Sean Chiplock, English; Tommy Rojas, Latin American Spanish)

Non-game appearances: Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (J.J. Perry), Mortal Kombat: Conquest (Sultan Uddin)

Upon dying, Sub-Zero I's soul was corrupted and he became a wraith named Noob Saibot. He lost his ice abilities but gained a new power: the ability to control darkness. Under his new identity, he served Shinnok as the head of the Brotherhood of Shadows for a time. He mainly played the role of observer until Shinnok's apparent demise in 4, which caused the Brotherhood to disband. He made a triumphant return when he nearly killed Goro under the servitude of Shao Kahn during Deadly Alliance, but after Shao Kahn (apparently) died, his role shifted to observer again until Deception, where he finds Smoke in one of Kahn's old prisons. He reactivates Smoke and reprograms him into servitude. He now aspires to enslave the Netherrealm under his iron rule by assembling a new Brotherhood of Shadows.

Noob's storyline in Mortal Kombat 9 is pretty much the same. He serves Quan Chi more readily than in the previous games, but he also hasn't lived the events post-Deadly Alliance, so it remains to be seen if he'll eventually strike out on his own. Near the end of the game, he is sucked into a soulnado, which is destroyed by his demonic essence, and his corporeal form disappears. He makes no appearance in Mortal Kombat X, but he's apparently still under the Netherrealm's control, as Quan Chi states in pre-fight dialogue that he has his soul. He returns in 11, now wielding his signature sickle and sporting an outfit that evokes imagery of an executioner and the Grim Reaper. He reveals he had survived his experiences in 9 and is free from Quan Chi's control to do as he pleases, which involves allying with Kronika with the promise of a Lin Kuei clan of his own to control in the new era.

---

Tropes Related to Noob Saibot in general

Tropes that appear across all of Noob Saibot's appearances.

---

• Berserk Button: Noob becomes irate when discussing the circumstances of his human death in a rare instance of emotion outside of sarcastic dog-kicking.
• Cain and Abel: He's the Cain to Kuai Liang's (the younger Sub-Zero) Abel.
  • In Deception he attempts to kill his younger brother.
  • In Armageddon he storms the Lin Kuei temple.
  • In 9 he tries to kill Cyber Sub-Zero as Quan Chi prepares the Soulnado.
  • In 11, depending on whether the player chooses Sub-Zero or Scorpion, he can potentially battle Kuai at the Cyber Lin Kuei Assembly plant. Kuai drives this trope home with his line after defeating him:
    Kuai Liang: We share blood. We are not brothers.
• Came Back Wrong: As Raiden foretold in Mythologies, the darkness in Bi-Han's soul corrupted him upon entering the Netherrealm, stripping Sub-Zero of all compassion and moral restraint, turning him into this Humanoid Abomination. This is also what Raiden tries to prevent happening to him in MK9. Unfortunately, Quan Chi had different ideas.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Noob positively revels in being a creature of darkness and evil, constantly talking up the power of darkness and his association with death in his intros and bragging about his crimes in life and death, as well as considering Johnny Cage's description of him as "tall, dark, and gruesome" to be "an apt description".
  Fujin: You were born ignorant of evil, Bi-Han.
  Noob: In time, I learned better.
• Casting a Shadow: Besides controlling his own shadow, Noob can create dark portals and ghostly fireballs that disable or reverse moves.
• Cycle of Revenge: He still holds a grudge against Scorpion. At the end of Armageddon (as recounted in 9's intro), he's killed by him. Noob's dead body is seen near Reptile's on the path to the Pyramid of Argus, with Scorpion's katana sticking out of him. His existence is a dark reminder of what usually results from this trope. As quoted by Den of Geek in one of his reviews:
  "Noob Saibot represents the dark sickness that comes from the cycle of violence. As explained in the reboot, by giving into his thirst for vengeance, Scorpion unleashed something horrible onto the world."
• Dark Is Evil: As Noob Saibot, Bi-Han wears black clothing and is commonly associated with darkness, to the extent of creating portals and controlling his shadow in 9. Of course, he's also Made of Evil.
• Death Is Cheap: He's the original Sub-Zero resurrected as a Wraith after being killed by Scorpion.
• Discard and Draw: Upon his revival, Bi-Han lost his cryomancy in favor of shadow and darkness-aligned powers.
• The Dragon: Apparently, plays this to Quan Chi (ironically, Scorpion —in his less rational moments— could also be seen in this light), although various bios throughout the series state that he's simply biding his time before carrying out his own agenda. In 11, he also says he answered to Shinnok directly.
• Drunk on the Dark Side: Mostly because he now lacks any positive qualities he had in life, but Noob most certainly does not lament this change. He instead revels in it, going as far to state in 9 that his new form and allegiance to Quan Chi suits his purpose.
• Evil Counterpart:
  • To Kuai Liang. Driven home in 9, where Cyber Sub-Zero notes that they are both corrupted versions of their former selves.
  • Can also considered to be one to Scorpion. A specter of a ninja, killed by his arch-nemesis, that gets resurrected in the Netherrealm, and with his death and resurrection are result of Quan Chi's manipulations.
• Evil Feels Good: He actually enjoys his new position as an evil wraith working for Quan Chi and says it suits his purposes.
• Evil Wears Black: As a living Nominal Hero, Bi-Han wore blue, but after his resurrection as a Made of Evil wraith, he covers himself in black from head to toe.
• Fallen Hero: Well "hero" is a stretch. As an Earthrealm dweller Bi-Han wasn't particularly "nice" or even "good", just a man "earning his living", by his words. Being turned into Noob Saibot made him a lot nastier than he already was.
• Fully-Embraced Fiend: Bi-Han took to being an evil Netherrealm specter like a duck to water, and, although he's a bit touchy about his old mantle of Sub-Zero, he embraces his dark powers and the loss of his humanity.
• Irony:
  • He gets killed by one of his personal victims. In a further irony, said victim, Scorpion, didn't kill him as revenge for his own murder, but for a crime that Bi-Han hadn't actually committed.
  • He ends up serving the very same forces he fought adamantly against in his past life. Quan Chi, his resurrector and employer, is even the one who convinced Scorpion to kill Bi-Han in the first place.
  • Similar to Smoke, he was also just a Scorpion Moveset Clone when he debuted but once a story had been established for him, he was made an ex-Lin Kuei and the former Sub-Zero (in fact the one who had originally killed Hanzo Hasashi).
• Jerkass: Bi-Han was never nice, but he naturally takes the callousness up a notch as Noob Saibot. Taken further in 11, where being freed from Quan Chi has allowed Noob to become much more expressive with his scathing personality toward others.
• Made of Evil: Having been stripped of his humanity, Noob Saibot might just be the most malicious character in the series. At least the other villains choose to be evil; Noob simply is.
• Monochromatic Eyes: His eyes —the only non-black part of him — are completely white.
• Obviously Evil: Noob Saibot is a Living Shadow that speaks in a voice that goes from deep to flat-out demonic as he constantly talks about the power of darkness. His actions and personality go a ways to proving that he's just as evil as he looks. Lampshaded by one of Noob's intros with RoboCop in 11:
  RoboCop: What crimes have you planned?
  Noob: Judging me by my appearance?
  RoboCop: By your history, Bi-Han.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: After his death at Scorpion's hands, Bi-Han was resurrected by Quan Chi as a wraith with powerful shadow-based abilities. Dialogue makes it clear that he's functionally dead, but he's also treated as different from a Revenant.
• Paint It Black: His body, skin and outfit alike, is pitch black (excluding Deception, where his default costume gives him normal-colored pigmentation; his regular and alt. outfits would be swapped around in Armageddon). Played straighter with his alt. in 9, which is the same as Sub-Zero's alt. in that game (supposed to represent Noob himself while he was still human), only black.
• Power Nullifier: His Disabler/Ghostball technique temporarily prevents enemies from using their specials.
• Pride: In life, Bi-Han wasn't known for his humility, but in death, his ego is amplified tremendously, with claims that Quan Chi "perfected" him, endless boasts about his power, and no shortage of arrogant and mean-spirited put downs for his opponents, to the point that Nightwolf and Cetrion both call him out on his arrogance.
  Nightwolf: Your arrogance lives on, Bi-Han.
  Noob: Dying made me more superior.
  Nightwolf: All are equal in death.
• Punny Name: His name is both "Boon" and "Tobias" spelled backwards, after developers Ed Boon and John Tobias. Note that Tobias leaving Midway has nothing to do with "Saibot" being removed in gameplay for Deception and Armageddon.
• Reforged into a Minion: After Bi-Han's death at Scorpion's hands, Quan Chi resurrected him as the wraith Noob Saibot to serve as his Dragon.
• Sdrawkcab Name: His name is a combination of the creators of the series, Ed Boon and John Tobias, spelled backward.
• The Sociopath: Being literally Made of Evil, decency doesn't really apply. While Bi-Han was relatively close to this, his few redeeming traits were stripped entirely in the process of becoming Noob Saibot. He's since become even more condescending, does not care in the slightest about his allies' well-being, and has a high opinion about himself, all of which are common traits for a sociopath.
• Tragic Villain: Bi-Han's transformation into the wicked Noob Saibot was entirely beyond his control, with him being a victim of Quan Chi's manipulations and Scorpion's misdirected vengeance, leading to his resurrection as a twisted shadow of his former self. While Noob embraces his new self, several characters express regret for the loss of the man that Bi-Han once was.

Tropes Related to Noob Saibot in the Midway timeline

Tropes that appear across all of Noob Saibot's appearances from Mortal Kombat (1992) to Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.

---

• Animal-Themed Fighting Style: He uses Monkey Kung Fu in Deception and Armageddon.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Noob was originally featured in the first build of 4, but removed just before the game was officially introduced into arcades. He was later reinstated as a secret character in the home versions of the game, but lacks a story entirely. This is pretty baffling, since he's one of Quan Chi's most powerful henchmen and should have played a major role in the conflict.
• Doppelmerger: In his Armageddon ending, he has an encounter with his human incarnation Sub-Zero who intends to reclaim Noob's half of their divided soul. After a fight that ends in a draw, the two decide to merge into an entirely new being that is neither Sub-Zero nor Noob Saibot.
• Flechette Storm: Used as a Fatality in both 4 and Deception (in the former, it was directly lifted from Reiko) and as a special in both Deception and Armageddon, both via shuriken (the weapons for members of the Brotherhood of Shadows).
• Foreshadowing: Aside from the hints given in Mythologies, in MK4 he's given his brother's Ice Shatter Fatality, perhaps hinting to The Reveal in Deception.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: His Deception ending has him and Smoke killing Sub-Zero in a manner not unlike that of his "Make a Wish" Fatality from 9.
• In the Hood: Used as an alternate costume in 4.
• Invisibility: Had this ability as a special in Deception and Armageddon.
• Optional Boss: He was one in his debut in the second game. He asked for 50 (25 in some versions) wins in a row!
• The Reveal: Deception (specifically Noob-Smoke's ending) confirmed that Noob Saibot is Sub-Zero from the first Mortal Kombat game revived as a wraith after his death at Scorpion's hands.
• Secret Character: In II. Notably, only Ed Boon knew of the character's existence since he was the lead programmer. In a documentary on ''MK3, Tobias and several developers unintentionally suggested using backward names for characters and end up agreeing that Saibot would be a great name for a robot character but not Noob. None of them at the time knew Boon had hidden a character with the name in their previous game.
• Stance System: He had the Monkey fighting style persist for both Deception and Armageddon.
• Walking Spoiler: By the time of Deception, considering he was an enigmatic figure before The Reveal that he was the original Sub-Zero.

Tropes Related to Noob Saibot in the original Netherrealm timeline

Tropes that appear across all of Noob Saibot's appearances from Mortal Kombat 9 to Mortal Kombat 11.

---

• Adaptational Jerkass: In the original timeline it's not made clear that he was aware of Quan Chi framing him for the slaughter of the Shirai Ryu. In 11 it's explicitly mentioned that he was complicit in the undertaking, and he's vocally opposed to the idea of peace between them and his former clan.
• Alien Blood: Being a wraith, his blood is dark blackish-purple. He has standard red blood in 11.
• Ambiguous Situation: While 11 confirms that he survived the Soulnado, where he was and what he was doing during X is never made clear; despite Quan Chi and Shinnok's prominence in the story, Noob never makes an appearance, and neither X nor 11 give any hints as to what he was doing while his masters were dispatched (the former only suggests that he's still in Quan Chi's service, and in the latter, he's serving Kronika for his own reasons).
• Back-to-Back Badasses: As a win pose in MK9 and 11, he does this with a clone he can summon during the fight.
• Badass Boast: He has a few appropriately sinister ones in 11:
  Shang Tsung: It's astounding you survived a Soulnado.
  Noob: My darkness is immutable and unkillable.
  
  Noob: Quan Chi no longer binds me.
  Shao Kahn: Now what will you do, specter?
  Noob: Kill you.
  
  Noob: Death is true power.
  Liu Kang: Shall I test that thesis?
  Noob: Kill me, and I will rise again.
  
  Noob: You know nothing of cold.
  Frost: You never conjured ice as cold as mine.
  Noob: Death is the coldest ice.
• Baritone of Strength: In MK9, specifically, due to his status as a wraith capable of producing an endless night.
• Blatant Lies: When Cetrion tries to rile him up in one of their intros by proclaiming Kuai Liang to be his superior, Noob claims that his ego is "dead"; Cetrion replies that this is an obvious lie, which virtually every other intro of Noob's where Kuai Liang comes up proves to be true.
• Broken Pedestal:
  • Becomes this for his younger brother in the second timeline. Whereas Sub-Zero was still trying to find a way to restore Bi-Han back to the man he once was right up until the Battle of Armageddon in the unaltered course of history, he ultimately agrees with his brother's assertion that they are brothers no longer after defeating him in 9 and 11. One of his intros with Sub-Zero in 11 hammers home the divide between them with a sledgehammer:
    Noob: You disappoint me.
    Sub-Zero: The feeling is mutual, brother.
    Noob: Mother would be so proud.
  • During their intros, Frost mentions that she used to admire Bi-Han, but his misogyny and arrogance have ruined that; she sees him as a disgrace to all Cryomancers and considers him worse than her hated mentor, Kuai Liang.
• Came Back Strong: In 11, according to one of his Mirror Match intros.
  Noob 1: The Soulnado made us stronger.
  Noob 2: It also made us legion.
  Noob 1: May the strongest shadow survive.
• Charlie Brown from Outta Town: His first appearance in MK9 has him wearing his alt costume, which is exactly the same as Sub-Zero's alt (i.e. the same one shown during the island tournament), only black. How Kung Lao, who was present at said tournament, is unable to recognize him is unknown (although he does remark that Noob seems familiar somehow).
• Cold Ham: He has an overly flowery and poetic way of describing his nightmarish wrath. Cassie in 11 even compares him to The Phantom of the Opera by bringing up Andrew Lloyd Webber. He never raises his voice, however. Probably can't, with that painfully guttural voice of his.
• Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: Auditory variant. Sean Chiplock, his voice actor in 11 is clearly channeling Frank Welker's Dr. Claw voice (and by extension, his Shao Kahn voice from Mortal Kombat: The Movie).
• Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: In-Universe, the characters barely, if ever, refer to him as Noob Saibot, always simply calling him Bi-Han. Presumably this is because the name started as an in-joke and nowadays sounds a little too silly for a character that's supposed to be scary and threatening, and also because Bi-Han used to be his name when he was alive.
• The Comically Serious: Noob's intros with Johnny Cage feature his taking Johnny's taunts seriously to the point Johnny wonders if Noob even realizes he's being mocked. Another one has Johnny concede that getting Noob to laugh is impossible, and that he is a "black hole of comedy".
• Cruel and Unusual Death: His fatalities in MK9 and MK11 revolve around the use of his shadow, and all of them produce creative, yet horrifying results for the victim.
  • "Make a Wish" in 9 sees Noob and Saibot grab his opponent by the leg and engage in a tug-of-war, with the victim screaming in agony as they are forcibly split in half by Noob and Saibot, starting with the crotch before tearing the torso and then the head. And the victim is conscious throughout all of it.
  • "As One", also in 9, while not as visceral manages to be quite sadistic where Noob uses Saibot to create a portal beneath their opponent and drag him to about mid-waist length before closing the portal and bifurcating the victim, who can only crawl and whimper weaky for a few moments before expiring.
  • "Split Decision" in 11 has Noob and Saibot use their sickles and portals to stab their opponent by the shoulders and knees, with each pull causing excruciating pain for the victim. Noob then forcibly thrusts his sickles forward, quartering the opponent into four pieces.
  • "Double Trouble", also from 11 has Noob use his sickle to cut open his opponent's guts, spilling out their intestines. As if that wasn't bad enough, Noob then thrusts his fingers into the newly open gut and releases a stream of shadows into the victim. What results is a pair of hands coming out of the opponent's mouth and tearing the victim in half from moth to waist, revealing Saibot emerging out of the opponent in a bloody gush.
• The Cynic: Bi-Han was already rather jaded while he was alive, but in death, he's even more cynical, trusting no one, plotting against allies whenever possible, and assuming the worst of every character he comes up against, which he greatly enjoys taunting them about.
• Deadpan Snarker:
  • Shows a surprising inclination for this in 11, trading barbs with several characters about their mistakes and failures. Even Shao Kahn is not immune to Noob's snark.
    Shao Kahn: Serve me, and conquer realms!
    Noob: Name one realm you control.
    Shao Kahn: Sharp tongue for a dead man.
  • Here is this epic comeback to his personal killer/victim.
    Scorpion: Do not expect mercy!
    Noob: I expect incompetence.
    Scorpion: You will burn, Bi-Han!
• Disappointed in You: An intro dialogue in 11 has him phrasing this toward Kuai Liang. The feeling is mutual.
• Doppelgänger Attack: In 9, Noob gains an ink-like shadow clone of himself who sends out to attack his foes.
• Downloadable Content: In 9, Klassic Noob Saibot from II.
• Dragon Their Feet: After sitting out X, Noob returns in 11, after his masters, Quan Chi and Shinnok, have been dispatched. While he's not out to avenge them (he's actually motivated by promises made by Kronika), Noob's intros establish him as still being at least somewhat loyal to Shinnok.
• Even Evil Can Be Loved: While Kuai Liang has nothing but contempt for the monstrous wraith his brother has become, he feels a definite sense of loss for the man Bi-Han once was. Kuai Liang's arcade ending has him use Kronika's power to avert Bi-Han's descent into darkness, saving his brother's soul and leading the Lin Kuei side-by-side with him.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • He remarks on how Kano is so evil his soul is dark black. Kano lampshades the trope right back.
    Noob: Your soul is black as pitch!
    Kano: Coming from you, that means something.
  • When Frost states that she will control the Lin Kuei, Noob Saibot is so disgusted by this that he even says his brother (who he looks down upon any chance he gets) would be a better fit than a whiny Entitled Bastard like her.
  • When Kollector states that he should respect him as they're both thieves, Noob dismisses him as being nothing more than a common thug.
  • When he tells Shang Tsung to join hell already, the man claims he would rather raise Onaga from the dead. Noob expresses that would be most unwise.
  • Like everyone else, he holds the Joker in contempt, considering the Clown Prince of Crime to be beneath the Brotherhood of Shadows and telling him that he has no soul.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:
  • When Nightwolf rebukes his claim that the Great Spirit broke the Matoka by admitting that they broke her trust, Noob questions the value of imparting power that isn't meant to be used.
  • In an intro with Scorpion, Noob refuses to believe that Hanzo's alliance with Kuai Liang is at all genuine, rejecting Hanzo's insistence as "Shirai Ryu lies".
• Evil Is Deathly Cold: In addition to being the evil specter of the former Sub-Zero (who was no angel, even in life), Noob invokes this in an intro dialogue with Frost, where she claims to be a better cryomancer than he was in life, only for him to retort that death is even colder.
• Evil Is Petty: A good amount of his dialogue in 11 consists of him taking extremely petty verbal potshots at his opponents.
• Evil Sounds Raspy: His voice was already deep when he was human, but in 11 it has turned more gravelly not unlike Dr. Claw, serving as a sign of his character progression.
  Erron Black: Goddamn, your voice is like nails on a chalkboard.
  Noob: It will be the last thing you hear.
  Erron Black: Aw, hell no...
• Facial Horror: His unmasked face is depicted for the first time in 11 during certain Fatal Blows and Fatalities, being revealed to be a skeletal looking black face with wrinkled skin and no nose.
• Fantastic Racism: He considers Mileena's Tarkatan blood to be a "taint" that makes her a savage, and he makes sure to mention Baraka's race when mocking his superstitious hatred for ghosts.
• Faux Affably Evil: Downplayed; most of the time, Noob is just acerbic, scathing and openly evil, but some of his intros have him feign politeness a bit to either be sarcastic or to give his Kick the Dog moments an extra sting.
  Noob: Tundra! How you have grown.
  Sub-Zero: That was a lifetime ago.
  Noob: Yet you remain a novice.
• Godhood Seeker: Usurps Kronika's position as the master of time in his Arcade Mode ending in 11, and uses her Sands of Time to reshape and dominate a new universe completely devoid of light, rechristening himself as "Death".
• The Grim Reaper: Becomes the real deal in his Arcade Mode ending in 11, to the point where he even renames himself "Death".
  "Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds."
• Half the Man He Used to Be: Both of his Fatalities in 9 involve severing the opponent in two — one horizontally, the other vertically. One of them is infamously one of the most sadistic and brutal fatalities in the entire franchise, as a matter of fact. It even made Ed Boon squeal.
• He-Man Woman Hater: One of the reasons he's ashamed of the Lin Kuei's current incarnation is because it allows female warriors.
• Hell Has New Management: Takes over the Netherrealm with help from Havik in his Arcade Ladder ending from 9.
• Hidden Depths: In 11, it is clear that some of the original Bi-Han has resurfaced, namely there are plenty of intro dialogues where he wants his original identity back even if he thinks his new form better suits him. Even though he has no desire of rejoining the Lin Kuei, he loves to state his varying opinions of how his old clan has changed.
  Noob: Still trading on my name?
  Sub-Zero: A name you forsook long ago.
  Noob: Not. Willingly.
• I Have No Son!: Upon his resurrection, Bi-Han no longer considers Kuai Liang his brother, disowning him to his face in MK9, and expressing endless contempt for him in his intros in 11. Kuai Liang returns the sentiment in 11, although his Arcade ending shows that he does retain some affection for the man Noob used to be.
• Hypocrisy Nod: After Noob calls Rain out for his ego, Rain hits back that Noob has suffered for his own arrogance, which the wraith doesn't deny.
  Noob: Arrogance will be your death.
  Rain: Speaking from experience, Bi-Han?
  Noob: Yes.
• Hypocrite:
  • Noob's intros have him mock Frost, Kung Lao, and Rain for their arrogant attitudes. Noob himself spends most of his other intros boasting about the power of darkness and his own plans to torture and kill his opponents, as well as claiming that Quan Chi "perfected" him. Cetrion even calls Noob out for claiming that "[his] ego is dead".
  • For someone who claims to revel in his status as a wraith and enjoy the power he wields as a creature of darkness, Noob is rather touchy about his old mantle of Sub-Zero, repeatedly putting down Kuai Liang as an inferior successor and showing quite a bit of annoyance whenever someone praises his younger brother. He's also keen on the idea of his death at Scorpion's hands (the event that led to his dark powers in the first place) being erased in the New Era.
  • Noob insults the Joker by claiming that the clown has no soul, but boasts that the same is true of him in a match with Shang Tsung.
• Hypocrite Has a Point: Noob may have no room to talk about anyone else's arrogance, but he's right that Frost, Kung Lao, and Rain all have major ego problems.
• In the Hood: In his MK9 and 11 incarnations.
• Insistent Terminology: When Jacqui calls him a Revenant in an intro, Noob is quick to point out that he is a wraith.
• Irony: Both Noob and Frost hate Kuai Liang, but in their intros, they each tell the other that he's at least better compared to them (Noob considers Kuai Liang is a better Lin Kuei Grandmaster than Frost would be, while Frost thinks Noob's misogyny makes him worse than Kuai Liang).
• Jobber: Has a tendency to repeatedly show up during 9 and 11's Story Modes to get beaten up.
• Kick the Dog:
  • You could say that he does this to all of his former allies, but Smoke and his little brother (who once adored him and originally sought to avenge him) get the short end of the stick. He even tells Cyber Sub-Zero this in 9:
    "We share blood. We are not brothers."
  • Every interaction he has with other characters in 11 is this — or trying to be this. It's saying something when even Shao Kahn, who's as much of a sociopath, is capable of friendliness (towards Kollector, Sindel, Skarlet and Mileena) — but not Noob.
• Lame Comeback: Most of Noob's verbal jabs in 11 are on-point, but a couple of his intros have him tripping up; when he tells Johnny Cage that "even legends die", Cage points out that Noob called him a legend, which the wraith quickly denies, and when Jax reminds him of how Scorpion killed him, Noob points out how Ermac maimed him, which doesn't land, since, as Jax points out, he, unlike Bi-Han, survived.
• Literal Split Personality: Possibly. In 9, Noob gains an ink-like shadow clone of himself; according to developer notes, this entity is Saibot, while Bi-Han is Noob, the main body and controller of said shadow creature (see Living Shadow below).
• Living Lie Detector: While he has no such powers naturally, Noob is both jaded enough to see directly through Kronika's empty promises (in his Arcade ending, he notes that with her making so many of them, it would be difficult if not outright impossible to keep all of them) and abrasive enough to call several characters out on their mishaps — he called out Shao Kahn for trying to sell him the promise of conquest in exchange for servitude, states that he does not doubt Frost's hubris, as well as calling Kotal out for being an appeaser, and when Kotal tries to spin it as trying to buy time to fight Shinnok on his terms, Noob tells Kotal he deceives no one but himself.
• Living Shadow: If you look closely, in MK9, Noob's shadow disappears when he uses his clone, and doesn't return until it finishes its attacks. This is averted in 11, where his shadow is still present to his character when he sends out his clone.
• Mundane Utility: In 11, he has a portal in his body that he sticks his sickle through when he's not using it. It seems a regular sheath isn't enough for him.
• Nightmare Face: His face is shown for the first time in certain moves in 11 and it is rather off-putting, resembling a black^note As in the literal color black, not African skin tone Red Skull.
• The Night That Never Ends: In his Arcade Mode ending in 11, he uses Kronika's Sands of Time to create a universe completely devoid of light.
• No True Scotsman: In one of his intros in 11, Noob states that no true Lin Kuei could stomach an alliance with Scorpion.
  Scorpion: Does that include your brother?
  Noob: What brother?
• Not Brainwashed: Kuai Liang initially thinks Quan Chi's magic corrupted Bi-Han. Good news is, it hasn't. Bad news is, Noob himself states that he is aware of what he has become - and he has embraced it.
• Not Quite Dead: Although his status was unclear after Nightwolf knocked him into the Soulnado in 9, at least some people in-universe (among them Scorpion and Nightwolf himself) gave him up for dead, only for Noob to show up alive (for a given value of "alive") in 11.
• Not So Above It All: For someone who has embraced his new identity, intros in 11 shows that he takes people praising his younger brother as Sub-Zero very poorly.
  Cetrion: Kuai Liang is your superior.
  Noob: Goad me. My ego is dead.
  Cetrion: We know that is a lie, Bi-Han.
• Not So Stoic: The few time he seems to show any emotion is when Kuai Liang reminds him that he abandoned the title of Sub-Zero after his death, and when Raiden tells him that Scorpion's murder of him made Scorpion lose the Thunder God's trust. A Bi-Han seething with rage rightfully claims that was not justice.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: As D'Vorah learns in one of their intros together.
  Noob: I should be glad you killed Hanzo.
  D'Vorah: Then why attack me?
  Noob: His life was mine to claim!
• Optional Boss: Klassic Noob in "The Cathedral" in 9.
• Plot-Irrelevant Villain: Despite finally making his long-awaited return in 11, he's this in the story mode. He only shows up twice and is defeated with very little trouble, with him leaving no lasting impact in the story whatsoever. He doesn't fare much better in the Aftermath story mode either, where he only shows up once and loses before never appearing again.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: In 11, he's dismissive of the concept of a female Lin Kuei in one of his intros against Frost. She instantly declares him to be worse than Kuai Liang.
• Pop-Cultured Badass: One dialogue with Cassie implies that he of all people knows the works of Andrew Lloyd Webber, and another against himself has him reference Harry Potter.
• Power Echoes: In 9, his voice has an ethereal quality to it, but is fairly similar otherwise to his original voice when he was alive.
• Portal Cut: His second Fatality in 9.
• Pretender Diss:
  • In MK9, when he meets Kuai Liang again, he declares that his younger brother is unworthy of the Sub-Zero mantle.
  • This bit returns in 11:
    Sub-Zero: I disown you in every way.
    Noob Saibot: Then disown my name, "Sub-Zero".
    Sub-Zero: The name was Grandfather's first.
  • When Kollector tries to compare the two of them, saying they're both thieves, Noob is far from impressed, calling Kollector "a thug, not a thief".
• Redemption Rejection: Whenever the idea of forsaking his evil ways or being freed from the darkness that empowers him comes up, Noob rejects it every time, all but spitting in the faces of Raiden, Fujin, and Kuai Liang.
• Sadist: He shows shades of this in his "As One" fatality from 9 as, in contrast to most fatalities where the loser is offed quickly, Noob chooses to bisect the victim by the torso using his portals and let them crawl weakly towards him in desperation before dying, followed by Noob having a satisfied laugh out of the situation.
• Shadow Archetype: He's established as an Evil Counterpart of his younger brother, being what he could have been had he decided to fully embrace the corruption after they both Came Back Wrong. Unlike Sub-Zero, who both manages to regain his humanity in X even after being transformed into a cyborg in 9, the few redeeming traits that Noob had as the older Sub-Zero were stripped entirely in the process of becoming a wraith. He also serves as an even worse version of Kuai Liang's Revenant, as while he is merely a corrupted servant of Quan Chi and Shinnok, Noob Saibot is a wraith with no true loyalty to anyone except himself and has zero qualms about faking loyalty to get what he wants, as seen in his ending in 11.
• Sinister Scythe: His weapon, which first debuted in MK4, and is part of his regular fighting style in 11.
• Smug Snake: While he's far from harmless, Noob's endless boasting of his power and deadliness is undermined by the fact that he canonically loses every fight he has in the stories of both 9 and 11.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: In 11, Noob is more openly twisted and evil than ever, but he never raises his voice beyond his usual menacing growl.
• The Soulless: In one of his intros with Shang Tsung, Noob claims to have no soul for the sorcerer to steal. Shang Tsung insists on killing him anyway, just to make sure; Noob invites him to try. That said, he claims to Johnny Cage that his soul "swims in darkness"; it's not clear if Noob is lying to Shang Tsung or just being poetic with Cage.
• Start My Own: In 11, Noob is convinced to work for Kronika by her promise of a clan of his own to lead in the New Era, separate from either Kuai Liang or Sektor's visions for the Lin Kuei.
• Sympathy for the Devil: While most characters understandably hate Noob, a few characters, including Fujin, Cetrion, and Kuai Liang, express pity for what he's become and think Bi-Han's soul might be worth saving (not that Bi-Han himself is interested).
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Noob is darkness incarnate, and his intros in 11 thoroughly demonstrate his acid tongue.
• Tele-Frag: One of his fatalities in 11. He slices open his opponent's stomach with a scythe, then sticks his hand near the wound to let his shadow enter into their body before his clone emerges his hands from their mouth and rips them in half.
• That Man Is Dead: Zig-zagged. Noob embraces his current identity and spitefully renounces his old one, except to boast that he, as Bi-Han, was the better of the two Sub-Zeros. The rest of the cast begs to differ.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Hoo boy, does he take this trope and run with it in the new timeline. Previous portrayals of Noob Saibot presented him as a much more enigmatic force of evil who, while a menace in his own right, aptly stayed more in the shadows while enacting his own plans, and didn't seem to care much for his old identity. In 9, his Establishing Character Moment is saying to his now roboticized brother that he not only enjoys his new life as a wraith and willingly serves Quan Chi because it suits his purposes, but that he also disowns Kuai Liang as his brother for, in his eyes, disgracing the legacy of the Sub-Zero title by "stealing" it from him. This hostility is amplified several times over when he returns in 11, fully showing just what a creature made of pure evil is capable of. He maliciously belittles and mocks everyone he fights against in unbelievably and increasingly petty ways. He even goes so far as to reveal to Scorpion that, even though he really didn't take part in the massacre of his clan, he would definitely have condoned it and likely done the deed himself if he had known about it.
• Troll: In 11, he's a lot sharper with his barbs, making very personal and pointed taunts against anyone he's matched with. Including his own brother.
• Unexplained Recovery: Seemingly killed by the Soulnado in 9, Noob returns in 11, offering no explanation for his survival beyond Quan Chi's creations not dying easily.
• Villain Has a Point: Noob is, put simply, Made of Evil and has of late embraced it. However, in some of his pre-match intros, he's not that wrong with the points he makes.
  • He was unjustly killed by Scorpion as he tells Raiden.
    Noob: I was killed unjustly.
    Raiden: For that, Scorpion lost my trust.
    Noob: That is not justice.
  • He was also killed before he could pass on the Sub-Zero mantle to next of kin. So no, he did not relinquish the name willingly even if, as Kuai said, "the name was Grandfather's first".
  • When Frost states she will become the Lin Kuei Grandmaster, Noob points out that his younger brother Kuai Liang would be a better fit to lead than a whiny, entitled brat like her.
  • Shao Kahn makes him the offer to join him and conquer realms. Noob demands Shao Kahn (who is now a fugitive) to name one realm he controls, to which he obviously can't answer.
  • Noob mocking Kotal Kahn as "the Outworld appeaser" is more accurate than Kotal likes to pretend; despite claiming that he was buying time to fight Shinnok on his own terms, in MKX, Kotal explicitly admitted that he wanted to appease Shinnok in the hopes of seeing Outworld spared.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: His X-Ray move in MK9 results in this from his opponent.
• Weakened by the Light: His intros with Kotal Kahn and Cetrion invoke this, while Noob himself claims that embracing the Jinsei, as Fujin suggests, would only weaken him, a logical enough conclusion, as Noob is a Living Shadow.
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • It's actually not clear on what exactly happened to Noob at the end of 9, whether he was Killed Off for Real or he managed to Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence or what. In one of his brother's intro dialogues, he states that Noob's whereabouts are unknown, which might suggest that he wasn't killed when he was tossed in the Soulnado — Revenant Kung Lao in the same intro states that Bi-Han is calling to Kuai Liang from the other side, but this might just be a taunt. He returns in 11 as part of the regular playable roster, and still holds animosity towards his brother. His appearance in the story mode has him directly confirm to his brother that he survived his experiences, noting that Quan Chi's creations are hard to kill.
  • This happens again in 11, where after showing up at the Cyber Lin Kuei Factory, he only shows up once again in Goro's Lair to protect the Well of Souls from Jax and Jacqui and disappears from the story afterwards. He makes another appearance in Aftermath in the equivalent of the latter scene, but once again disappears after being defeated by Fujin.
• Whole Costume Reference: 11 gives him a DLC costume resembling The Batman-Who-Laughs. You can also equip him with a mask that looks similar to him.
• You Are Already Dead: In an intro with Rain, Noob welcomes him to the Brotherhood of Shadows; Rain points out that he'd have to be dead to join, to which Noob boasts that the demigod already is.
• Your Mom: In his intros with Jacqui Briggs, Noob riles her up by making remarks about her dead mother, even claiming to have stolen Vera's soul.
• Your Soul Is Mine!: Although it's not seen, some of Noob's intros in 11 have him claim that he can steal and enslave souls, telling Jacqui that her mother suffered such a fate.

---