Highlights
- Mortal Kombat X introduced Variations that altered gameplay. Unbreakable made Sub-Zero weak, but Grandmaster gave him the best abilities.
- Sub-Zero is a solid competitor in Mortal Kombat 11. He has good zoning capabilities but is predictable and easily punished.
- Mortal Kombat: Armageddon saw Sub-Zero rise to the top tier. His Shotokan style allowed for strong mid-air attacks and freezing abilities.
It has begun once again. Mortal Kombat 1 is finally here and fans get to see how Fire God Liu Kang’s new timeline plays out with its cast of characters. It’s made a few differences, like making Kuai Liang, previously the second Sub-Zero, the new Scorpion. His elder brother Bi-Han, originally fated to become the wraith Noob Saibot, keeps his ice powers and chilly moniker.
Between the two of them, Mortal Kombat’s premier ice ninja has gone from strength to strength over the franchise’s thirty-year history. Sometimes their moves made them bottom tier, like in the original MK game, and other times it was only their looks that bottomed them out (see Alt Skin MK Deception Sub-Zero). But these games offered the best versions of Sub-Zero.
8 Mortal Kombat X
Mortal Kombat X mixed things up by introducing Variations. Each character had three to choose from, which altered how players had to approach their gameplay. With Cryomancer, Sub-Zero could create ice weapons to aid him in battle. While Unbreakable boosted his defense with ice barriers and shields to reduce chip damage, though without offensive capabilities it made Sub-Zero one of the game's worst characters.
Unlike Grandmaster, which is his best Variation. It gave Sub-Zero the ability to use Ice Clones, which could be used to trap opponents in place or keep them back until they get frozen, leaving them open for a combo or two after a distance-closing slide. Still, it wasn’t enough to break the icy ceiling of mid-tier. Just enough to beat most of the cast, including all of Jax and Raiden’s variations.
7 Injustice 2
Speaking of Raiden, Sub-Zero joined the Thunder God as a guest character in Netherrealm Studios’ superhero slugfest Injustice 2. Part of the surprise over MK1’s sudden arrival was that it felt like Injustice 3 would be the next project after Mortal Kombat 11. There were even rumors that the company was working on a Marvel Vs. DC game. But, for the near future, the Injustice games remain a duology.
Sub-Zero is almost right in the middle of Injustice 2’s tier list. That doesn’t sound like much, except it also makes him the second-strongest guest character in the game after Hellboy. His mix-ups and zoning potential kept him from the doldrums that stuck Raiden at the bottom of the list. Unfortunately, he couldn’t handle aerial attacks so well, nor was he pressured when he was put in the corner. Guess it's only fair that ice can't handle heat so well.
6 Mortal Kombat 4
This list will stick with tier lists to keep things simple and make readers raise an eyebrow as Sub-Zero’s strongest games weren’t necessarily the best in the series. MK9 (or Mortal Kombat 2011) was a return to form for the series, but Sub-Zero was lower mid-tier in that game. MK: Deadly Alliance and MK: Deception were also fine games where the Lin Kuei grandmaster was neither grand nor much of a master.
However, Mortal Kombat 4, the series’ last entry at the arcades, was a stodgy game. It’s better known nowadays for its weird arcade endings, especially on its N64 port where it used the in-game graphics. Yet in both the original and Gold editions, Sub-Zero was considered high tier. He was stronger than the likes of Liu Kang, Raiden, and even the final boss Shinnok, while being the weakest ninja after the speedier likes of Scorpion and Reptile.
5 Mortal Kombat 11
Eventhubs places Kuai Liang’s last appearance as Sub-Zero (thus far) closer to the middle of their tier list. While others in the community have placed him in the game’s top ten fighters (albeit usually at 9th). Either way, Sub-Zero is another solid competitor here. He doesn't even have to worry about MKX-like Variations as they’re just loadouts of special moves in Mortal Kombat 11, and they can be “kustomized” one way or the other.
Sub-Zero is a good zoner with some solid up-front combos that follow well from his slide. He’s more beginner-friendly this time around too, moving faster to freeze foes long enough for a chain combo or two. Shame that many of his moves are unsafe, leaving him open to punishment. His weapon strikes can mitigate this, but they’re easy to read, thus making him more predictable to his opponents.
4 Mortal Kombat Trilogy (N64)
Mortal Kombat Trilogy was meant to be a big brawl between everyone from the prior games. The results weren’t pretty, as pixillated sprites from the original MK clashed with the more refined MK2 & 3 ones. Its mechanics weren’t any better, with the Aggressor Bar not really adding much, and Maximum Damage being an uninspired way to prevent broken combos. The ports differed from each other significantly too.
Sub-Zero in either his masked or unmasked forms wasn’t anything to write home about in the PS1 port. The N64 port made him one of the best characters in the game, known to fans as “Super Sub-Zero.” It made up for cutting out his unpopular Unmasked version by giving the masked Classic Sub-Zero his strongest moves, making him a better competitor. He’s only behind broken characters like Noob Saibot and Rain on most tier lists.
3 Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
The Ice Ninja spent much of the PS2 trilogy just above being the worst character in the games, with Kitana in MK: DA and Kira in Deception keeping him viable by comparison. So, it’s weird to see him rise to the top in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, sitting behind only his fiery rival Scorpion, demon lady Sareena, and banned boss characters like Blaze and Onaga.
Armageddon took away his (and everyone else’s) second fighting styles from the prior two games. But it also added Aerial Combat for midair attacks, and Sub-Zero’s Shotokan style had a lot of launching attacks. If he couldn’t spring his opponents in the air for his flying strikes, he could juggle them Tekken-style, extending the punishment with his freezing attacks.
2 Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe
Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe is an odd game. It got rid of the PS2 Trilogy’s Style Switching and introduced the Story Modes that would make the Netherrealm Studios games stand out. Yet it kept the 3D movement, changed the Aerial Combat into Freefall Combat for stage transitions, and threw in other odd gimmicks like Close Combat and Rage that didn’t work out. It also has one of Sub-Zero’s strongest incarnations.
He may even be the strongest MK character in the game, struggling only against the DC Universe’s Green Lantern and The Flash. His ice ball was vulnerable to sidesteps, while his Icy Counter wasn’t. It was good at catching offense-happy characters off-guard with an instant freeze, turning the tables in the player’s favor. The game also gave him a teleport move to make up for his slower slide, making distance-closing a non-issue.
1 Mortal Kombat 3
Sub-Zero’s redesign for Mortal Kombat 3 wasn’t actor John Turk’s fault, as he would also don the original outfit for UMK3’s classic ninjas. But this attempt to refresh Sub-Zero’s look made him look less like a mystical, super-powered ninja and more like a performer from the Mortal Kombat: Live Tour. Yet it would reappear in MK: DA and as a special outfit in MK9. Plus, when it came to gameplay, he was top-tier.
His Ice Clone was enough to capture running attacks, and his Ice Puddle could leave opponents slipping and staggering long enough to get frozen by his Ice Shower. Individually they had slow startups, but they made up for the other's flaws when they were used together well. Few people play MK3 over UMK3 nowadays, with the latter sending Sub-Zero back to the mid-tier. But if they do give its predecessor a go, they’ll get the cryomancer at his strongest.