Abandoning his goal? He already accomplished it. The Lin Kuei now IS a force for good. Go play Armageddon Konquest again. See all the blue ninjas running around the Arktika Temple? Guess what they are and who they're loyal to. Sub-Zero's DONE changing the Lin Kuei. Now all he needs to do is lead it. That's a one man job, he doesn't need any more students.
Besides, there shouldn't BE any more students TO take in. He and Frost are the LAST of the Cryomancers, as in there is no one else on Earth capable of learning ice powers. If he ever wants a successor now, he's going to have to make one. Y'know, the old fashioned way. Biologically. Therefore, Sub-Zero is DONE being a teacher.

And Liu Kang stopped being the series protagonist several games ago. That wasn't my decision, it was Midway's. Liu's a zombie, Kung Lao's breathing, that's the current canon. Putting his spirit back in his body would be MOVING BACKWARDS and having him become a god and replace Raiden is basically a giant "fuck you" to Fujin. You got a problem with Fujin?

Of the current cast, I would like to see Sub-Zero step up into the "main hero" role. He has one of the stronger storylines and he's been pretty much groomed for the part.

I agree about Kung Lao becoming sort of like the next generation's Bo' Rai Cho who teaches the future potential heroes. Lao had his shot to step up into the hero role with MK:DA and they subsequently buried him in Deception and pissed on the grave in Shaolin Monks.

I seriously do not want to see Liu Kang as a future mentor character. The best thing he ever really contributed to the story was dying and I'd rather he become a remembered hero for the next gen the way the Great Kung Lao is.

I can't agree with you here. The Lin Kuei may be more than one or two people, but are they going to stop taking in students? Is Sub-Zero just going to dust off his hands and say "Well, my work here is done"? Being a Cryomancer has nothing to do with it. Where do ice powers come into this? The fact is, Sub-Zero is the Grand Master of the New Lin Kuei. It doesn't make sense for him to just step down.

Also, with Liu Kang, I'm not sure what you mean by he stopped being the series' protagonist. Who was the series' protagonist if not Liu Kang? All throughout the story, Kang is there, beating Shang Tsung, beating Shao Kahn, beating Shinnok (I actually don't know who canonically defeated Shinnok second go around), freeing his comrades and doing whatever it is he did in Armageddon. He hasn't been the protagonist of every game, but when it is not Kang, they usually only last about a game. And then Kang is right back in there, anyway.

Was it Midway's decision to get rid of Kang in the first place? It seems like a stunt the MK Team pulled, only for Midway to scream "What the fuck are you thinking?!?" Besides, there is an old idea in writing that says you cannot kill your main protagonist unless they die for a good cause. What good cause did Liu Kang die for? I liked his death and all...it was shocking, but that was a rare loss to prove that Kang is fallible. He then came back out of some kind of heroic responsibility to the realms, and resumed his role as at least a major force of good.

If Kang did return, he should certainly not be a playable character right from the start. He'd have to be obtained, and definitely play a more distant role in the story. But I definitely think he makes a better choice than Kung "three strikes, I'm out" Lao.

As for Fujin, it seems Midway made a decision with him, too. Where the fuck was this guy during Deadly Alliance and Deception? Fucking nowhere, that's where. Technically he was probably on Earthrealm or something off-screen, but it's so nice of him to be that important to the story. I'm neither a fan nor an opponent of the Fujin character, but if it was meant to go anywhere, it probably would have been in place of Raiden's character in MK:DA. Raiden came back in place of Fujin and Kung Lao came back in place of Kai, it seems.For Fujin to replace Raiden...again, it would be like getting MK4 again. That's not something I particularly want.

I don't think you're getting what I'm talking about regarding Sub-Zero. I don't know exactly how to explain to you that he can be Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei clan without fulfilling the Teacher archetype role the way Bo' Rai Cho did. It just seems self-evident to me. He hasn't stopped taking in students, there's just no reason to see it on-screen anymore because his students aren't important to the plot of the game. And if it's not being done on-screen, then he's not actually filling that archetype role.

For instance, you also consider Raiden a teacher and..."teacher" and "mentor" are not the same thing. Raiden has never stepped into the Wu Shi Academy and personally shown the monks how to throw a punch. He gives advice. That's completely different.

I'm also completely baffled by the fact that you still think the term "series protagonist" could possibly apply to Liu post-MK4. I think three whole games where he's either dead or a BACKGROUND character definitely says "not the main hero anymore". You seem to think that the only way for him not to be the main character is for someone to replace him. Why do you believe Mortal Kombat is one single person's story? There are MANY main characters.
Look, DA, Deception, and Armageddon happened. There's no magical Status Quo reset button. Liu Kang has been dead for SIX YEARS in real world time. After that long, status quo IS having him dead, not having him as the hero.

I can't understand how you couldn't consider Liu Kang to be the series' protagonist. As an overall franchise, Liu Kang is the archetypical babyface of Mortal Kombat. If someone came up to you and asked, who is the hero of Mortal Kombat, I'm pretty sure you'd have to answer "Liu Kang." Even if you had to add "but he kind of sucks" onto the end. I'm sure Ed Boon would answer the same way. I'm sure that's why Liu Kang was back one game after his death, too.

Keep in mind, I am talking about the series as a whole. Even when he's dead, Liu Kang transcends the usual rules that would apply to a mortal soul, and he comes back to right wrongs, and once again gets caught up in Mortal Kombat. It's a part of his story arc, trust me. I could very easily see Raiden re-uniting his body and soul, Liu Kang saying "Hey, Raiden, you're pretty evil these days, buddy," and then Kang defeating Raiden, and accepting his fate, only for the Elder Gods to promote Fujin to Raiden's old post, and tell Liu Kang that Earthrealm needs a protector...

I'm not saying he should train students, I'm just saying he'd make a good "mentor" for them as the main protagonist of the last saga (and I honestly don't see how you could argue otherwise -- no character was the "hero" of as many games as Liu Kang was). I don't think more than one Shaolin character should return, because then things get too cluttered. I'm not getting confused between a literal martial arts trainer and a mentor -- I'm just saying you don't need someone back as a trainer at the Wu Shi Academy, as well as a mentor. I'd rather go with the mentor role being filled, and the archetypical trainer forgotten for the time being. Or filled by a new character with a different spin on it. Probably for another realm, like Outworld, though.

As for Sub-Zero, you can not show any of the Lin Kuei's training processes all you want, it doesn't mean that they're not going on. Sub-Zero is always going to be connected to the Lin Kuei as long as they remain or until he gets removed from them in the story. That he personally doesn't train them is irrelevant. It's all a part of a "rebuild" story, even if they are at different stages.

Obviously we just completely disagree about what the future of Mortal Kombat should be.
You want to rely on the old legends, hence, kicking Fujin out of the story and Liu Kang becoming main character again even though he's been supporting cast or absent entirely since 2002.
I want to see the dead stay dead, few returning heroes, more use of characters with unfulfilled potential from 4-thru-Armageddon, and a large number of new, young heroes and villains, hence the need for one of the older characters to take a martial arts teacher role.
Let's just agree to disagree.

Thing with Liu Kang, and this is something I've brought up many times in my Story Analysis thread, is that there's a strange clash in that he seems to be a "main protagonist" merely because he happens to be the "main hero."

See, traditionally, the protagonist of any story is the character or characters who undergoes a dramatic change over the course of the story, both internally and externally. Encounters conflict, embarks on a journey of some sort, and maybe has dramatic impact on/with the characters he/she interacts with.
Basically, the protagonist is the character who is explored the most.

And under that definition, Liu Kang is easily overshadowed by the likes of Sub-Zero, Kitana, maybe Scorpion, and even Reptile. At best, Liu passes with a 65. His conflict is minimal, his interactions with other characters is rather basic, and his charactization is pretty broad. However, in spite of that, Liu Kang is/was "the guy who saved the day at the end," although, one could argue all that does is make Liu Kang less a protagonist and more a plot device.

Personally, I'll allow Liu Kang is among the main protagonists...plural...of Mortal Kombat. But if I had to single out just one character as THE main protagonist overall....I would lean towards Sub-Zero; even if he hasn't "saved the day at the end" yet.

I would just like to point out in case someone hasn't already, Ed Boon is and always has been a sick, sadistic bastard who has repeatedly reveled in torturing and generally fucking with MK fans heads. Look at all the past things he has said and done to get all the fanboys shitting themselves. Anyone remember the zebron hoax? How about years ago when his site claimed to have the first exclusive pic of MK4 and it turned out to be a pic of boon's sneakers. He loves to throw little things out there to stir up controversy. Sure this game is non-canon but I personally believe boon had this put in just to piss the fans off and make them squirm, another of his numerous sick jokes.

Joking around on a website is not the same as putting things in the actual game.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I will take exception to the statement you made about me wanting to rely on old legends, though, and assuming that I want the story to go in the direction I talk about being likely.

Granted, I would much rather see Liu Kang return than Kung Lao, if just because I believe they have fucked up Kung Lao, whereas Liu Kang may be old hat, but at least he's been consistent. Kicking Fujin out of the story? Technically speaking, Fujin has been out of the story for longer tha Liu Kang. At least Kang appeared in the opening video of Deadly Alliance and was playable in Deception before Armageddon came along. What's the difference between being off-screen and being an Elder God and being off-screen and being merely the protector of a realm. I'll tell you -- one's a promotion.

I still completely disagree with your perception of Liu Kang's importance in the story. In MK:DA, he is brought back by Raiden because he was so crucial to Earthrealm before he was cheated out of life by the Deadly Alliance. Canon is pretty murky around these parts, but I think we've been led to be believe that Liu Kang guided Ermac along the path of good, and then freed the souls of Sonya Blade, Kitana, Jax, Johnny Cage and Kung Lao. If you take his Armageddon ending as canon (which is a big assumption, but the prior importance of Liu Kang's character up to this point gives more weight to the possibility of his ending being canon over, say, Meat's), then Kang is also responsible for bringing Raiden to justice. That's a big part of the story.

A supporting character? Just because he died and you had to unlock him? Raiden would then be supporting, surely?



You bring up very interesting points. Liu Kang does seem like a simple way for the evil forces to be be defeated, etc. But to give the character slightly more credit than that, let's actually take a look at the changes to his character:

MK1: Liu Kang is representing the Shaolin tournaments in Mortal Kombat, to keep the realm of Earth free of tyrants such as Shao Kahn, and evils such as Shang Tsung.

MK2: Liu Kang is challenged to another Mortal Kombat tournament, which he is coerced into accepting by returning home and finding his brothers (not brothers in the related sense, mind you) murdered. His victory in MK1 now has a big question mark against it, and Kang needs to prove he can defeat the Emperor of Outworld, and the conqueror of realms.

MK3: Because of his defeat at the hands of Liu Kang (this is important), Shao Kahn is forced to come up with a "Plan C," and he invades Earthrealm through nefarious needs. Liu Kang has to fight against Shao Kahn, Shang Tsung and the forces of Outworld again, as well as coping with the assumed in-game death of Kung Lao (later retconned), and his new alliance with Kitana.

MK4: When Shinnok escapes from the Netherealm, Raiden trusts Liu Kang enough to request his help in vanquishing his old foe, as does Princess Kitana. Kang essentially plays the hero to a distant realm, because of his sense of responsibility. Liu Kang is becoming more and more comfortable as the Mortal Kombat Champion, it seems.

MK5: Liu Kang is killed as he poses one of the two greatest threats to the Deadly Alliance of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi.

MK6: The resurrection of Liu Kang's body triggers that old sense of responsibility in the soul of Liu Kang, which descends from The Heavens to again fight the forces of darkness. Kang finds a desperation in stopping his body, guiding Ermac to the path of light, and freeing the souls of his enslaved former comrades.

MK7: Liu Kang realises that Raiden is nuts, and steps up to the plate in fighting an Elder God he once considered a "brother."

The obstacles and the development is there for Liu Kang, even if he seems like he is a vanilla hero. For the most part, the Mortal Kombat story actually revolves around Liu Kang. Occasionally the "main characters" do things because of him. That's something that very rarely happens with Sub-Zero, who is sort of removed from the central thread.

Even if you have a character who doesn't seemingly change throughout a story, but changes those around him, they can still be considered the protagonist. Someone can do a complete u-turn in five seconds, and do the biggest change of the movie, but that doesn't make them the protagonist or the most identifiable character in said story.

As a human fighting for what he believes in, I honestly believe we are meant to identify with Liu Kang more than any other character in the series.

Fujin wasn't in the story because...listen close now...Deadly Alliance and Deception aren't set on Earth! Those two games are about Outworld. Raiden led the heroes there because he was trying to be proactive and stop the villains BEFORE they had a chance to invade, which Fujin, as the official protector, can't really do. He'd be leaving Earthrealm unguarded, AND he'd have had to take a mortal form to fight in a realm he has no dominion over, like Raiden used to have to to in MK1-3.
It's foolish and, frankly, damned selfish, to assume that just because Fujin didn't fit into the plots of those games that he'll never have a place in the next one and should be replaced with someone more popular who, by the way, isn't even a god.

And as far as Liu Kang goes, all I can really say is I completely disagree with your assessment of his role in Armageddon. You seem so damn sure that Liu got his soul back into his zombie body and fought Raiden. You admit yourself it was a What-If ending, not a surefire part of the canon, and then you go on to say it's what he does in your little list of Liu Kang's growth from game to game? That does not make sense.

The Liu that actually appeared and fought in Armageddon is the one we see take on Shang in the opening cinema, the zombie enforcer who works FOR Raiden, who by the way, is evil and brought JUST HIS BODY back to be simpleminded muscle, not because he felt he was "cheated out of life by the DA". And both versions of Liu, the zombie AND the ghost, were supporting players to the stories of other characters, and not the lead protagonist.
And I say that not because he was an unlockable secret character, but because his role in the story was minor. Helping Bo' Rai Cho win a battle with Baraka? Didn't affect Shujinko's fight with Onaga. Freeing his brainwashed friends with Ermac? Didn't affect Shujinko's fight with Onaga. Hanging out with Kitana and Nightwolf afterward? Doesn't affect Taven/Daegon/Blaze. His Zombie body fighting Shang atop the pyramid? Doesn't affect Taven/Daegon/Blaze. He's no longer got the limelight on him, the things he does are happening off to the side of the main plot, that's what makes him not the main character.
P.S., MK3 was not a "plan C". Trilogy revealed that the tournament from MK2 was actually a distraction all along so the heroes wouldn't notice the Sindel's resurrection plot coming to fruition.
You're wrong about MK4 too. He didn't try to save Edenia out of a sense of responsibility, he was just attempting to rescue his girlfriend. Didn't I already say that? I'm feeling deja vu about this one. Anyway...
Aaaaand finally...you messed up on Deception as well. Liu's ghost didn't descend from the heavens, it came out of the dead Shang Tsung and decided to resist passing to the heavens altogether. Also of note is that he didn't even notice his body was risen and killing until AFTER he'd helped Bo' Rai Cho, Ermac, and his brainwashed friends.

They're called "catalyst heroes." When I did the Liu Kang analysis in my thread, I mentioned that he could maybe be seen in that light.

But even in that department, Liu hasn't had that much effect on others. You can say the presence of Liu had/has an effect on Kung Lao, Kitana, Bo' Rai Cho, I suppose Kai, maybe Johnny Cage, maybe Ermac, possibly Raiden....but not that much really.

Honestly, I've sometimes wondered if that's why Liu Kang has very little personality and is presented as very broad. Like in Legend of Zelda, Link has no real personality. He never talks, never really responds to anything. They did that on purpose so Link's reactions and personality would be whatever the player gave him.
I've wondered if maybe Liu was intended to be the same way. An interesting theory, but it would appear fans for the most part gravitated and/or identified with the more defined characters.

I think Liu never growing or changing is simply a side effect of the fact that he's a Bruce Lee character and Bruce Lee's characters were all basically exactly the same - himself. In each and every movie, he played some sort of unshakeable rock who's completely and utterly certain of his own beliefs and ideals, because he made his films as some sort of vehicle to share his personal philosophy in martial arts and in life with the world.
That seems far more likely to me than that he's supposed to be an avatar for the player like Link. I don't know about you, but I can't relate to a disciplined monk who feels no fear and never loses. I suppose I relate most to Johnny Cage.
What's interesting is, I'm farily certain John Tobias has said Liu's his favorite character. I can't help but wonder if Tobias isn't just really, really into Bruce's movies and so the homage has special meaning for him.

Way to put up a straw-man, Razor. I'll address your points, out of consistency and in the spirit of discussion, but keep in mind: I meant that Liu Kang is, all things considered, the best example of a main hero the games have.

Give me someone else, go on. Raiden? His role has been amped up recently, but you cannot consider him a protagonist to the overall story right now. Sub-Zero? Never really focused into the main plot thread, which pretty much leaves him high and dry. Kung Lao? Liu Kang's sidekick for pretty much all but one game.

Wow, so you mean Fujin never returned until the anthology game because he wasn't important to the story? Incredible. We agree. I don't see where the personal attack of "selfish" comes from. I don't get anything from his character being left out. Look, you're the one making excuses for him. If Fujin is such an important character to the Mortal Kombat team, then you'd think they'd find a way to include him. It's just logic. "But, but, but...the game didn't take place in Earthrealm! It doesn't make sense he's in the game!" Yeah, it's not like a God has ever traversed the realms before in Mortal Kombat *cough*. And it's not like a certain robot establishing a clan of evil robots in Japan during the on-goings of Deadly Alliance was made playable in a later version of the game. To be honest, I'm not sure if Sektor wanders into Outworld during the game, but regardless, his business is in Earthrealm, but they found a way to slip him in.

There is no reason, at all, that Fujin couldn't have been in the exact same role Raiden is in around MKDA. There's no reason Fujin couldn't have been leading the preemptive strike. They chose Raiden because they felt the urge to bring him back. Regardless if you agree with their choice, do you really think that Fuji is going to get a crack when Raiden goes away next time? Fuji seems like filler to me. I'm just going with what the MK Team has given me. He's done pretty much nothing since becoming protector and all these big threats face Earthrealm.

You're the one preaching "new." Fujin is old hat as Protector right now. Time for someone new to fill those shoes, so we can forget the "non-Fujin" era of Earthrealm's safety. If you asked the MK Team who is more important -- Liu Kang or Fujin, I'm willing to bet they'll go with the former. That gives them more prerogative to bring Kang back. It doesn't matter that he's not a God. I mean, really, it's fantasy. Kang can easily be granted deity-status. I mean, they pretty much implied it in his Armageddon ending.

On that, what I said was that while Armageddon may not be canon (we don't now yet), Liu Kang's story is far more likely to be canon than, say, Stryker's, due to the good history Kang has had of having canon stories. I mentioned his ending as a possible way that Kang could change roles in a future game, and possible ways his character could further develop.

As for this development, you can't assume that all Kang had on his mind when he went to Edenia in MK4 was pussy. If you don't think Kang got at least some satisfaction out of, you know, saving a realm, then you're kidding yourself. Of course Kitana was a major influence. I'm just saying that often people overlook the subtext of Kang's development.

Way to take the phrase "Plan C" literally. I picked the letter randomly, because it was the third game, and as a slight hyperbole in reference to how many times Shao Kahn has failed to take Earthrealm. I was going to go with "Plan G," but chose "C" to be closer to the actuality of it. I guess if you're going to do exaggeration, do it big, hey?

I don't see how my assessment of Liu Kang is selfish -- if anything, I am giving him more than what he deserves for the sake of argument and discussion. You are the one saying "this character is shit!" Like, isn't that a little selfish? Especially considering if you had your way, you'd deprive people of the cliched hero of Mortal Kombat? A character that I'm sure is very popular with casual players, or is at least someone they expect to be in a MK game when they pick it up.

I'm being altruistic and unbiased here. I don't like Liu Kang. I've always been attracted to secondary characters and supporting casts. Please do not call me selfish for providing a devil's advocate to the Liu Kang hate a lot of people around here express.

And in regards to the role he played in later games -- although completely irrelevant to my point, because no real hero was ever established as a continuous main protagonist after Liu Kang -- why did Raiden choose Liu Kang's body? Because of it's fucking fighting knowledge. The muscle memory alone was enough to make Kang one of the greatest martial artists in the MK universe. Why is Liu Kang killed? Because he's too much of a threat to these fucking sorcerers with multiverse domination plans. Also, I think Liu Kang's happenings in Deception are perfectly relevant to Shujinko's. If Kang hadn't freed Onaga's slaves from Onaga, then they probably wouldn't have congregated to give Shujinko the power he needed to slay Onaga. If you piece it together:

* Liu Kang and Ermac save Kitana, Johnny Cage, Kung Lao, Sonya Blade and Jax
* They give power to Shuji to kill Onaga
* Raiden kills Shujinko
* Raiden unifies Kang's body with his soul

It all fits together. Then the whole story gets murky. Look, I thought Kang came back way too soon when it happened, but obviously Midway and/or the MK Team didn't. The more I study writing, and learn the ins and outs of writing as a business, the more and more worth I see in Liu Kang as a character. Call me a sellout, if you want, but do not call me selfish.

The problem between you and me is I don't think the games need to HAVE a main hero. Mortal Kombat is not the story of just one character. The title of the game is not "The Life and Times of Liu Kang". MK is episodic in nature, with an ensemble cast.
Is X-Men just the story of Wolverine? Do The Avengers and the Justice League have a main character? If you're such a great writing student, why don't you know how ensembles work?
P.S.
"* Raiden kills Shujinko
* Raiden unifies Kang's body with his soul"
What?! Those didn't happen!
AGAIN with the endings that aren't canon. What is WITH you quoting them all the time? You can't fucking use non-canon events to try and prove a point. That'd be like if I said "Baraka must be the most important villain because he became king in MK2". Only things that actually happened matter.

The (MK) Lin Kuei have a long association with ice.
The many students of the modern Lin Kuei use kori.
It is logical for the Lin Kuei to learn kori.

Kori is a mystic technique that can be learned with diligence and training.

Cryomancy is an inherent predisposition to master the art.
Sub-Zero is a cryomancer. Sub-Zero is the new master.

We're gonna need a bigger boat!
Good day! I SAID GOOD DAY, SIR!

Ahh Mick, my good friend with the sparkling wit who's jokes are always funny.
How wonderful it is to speak with you again on this, the day Americans like myself give thanks for all the good things in our lives.
In honor of Thanksgiving, I wanted to sum up how I feel about debating with you, but as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so I offer this instead:

Individually the sequence of symbols refer to specific meanings, but when I combine them in to one singular context, all it seems to say is, "wah wah Sub-Zero wah wah I don't want to pack my satchel, mummy."

Ergo; almost everyone has the capacity to learn kori, irrespective of inclination. Certainly all students of the Lin Kuei do, as sugg...


... Oh, yes. Okay.
That's fine with me. Mystic art, it is!

EDIT: Dibs on the one with hair!

Assuming I'm to take seriously the idea of once again going over whether or not Cryomancy is hereditary...

The Lin Kuei in Armageddon don't have ice powers. They don't seem to have any powers at all, in fact. The only time anyone except Sub-Zero does any freezing, it's because of the Ice Scepter. A blue tunic does not an ice user make.

And then, gee, there's also that whole "Why would they have made Subbie and Frost's heritages so important if just anyone could learn Kori anyway?" thing...

I get that in your comic, you wanted the clan to have a theme. And it's your comic, you can do whatever you want. I'm just sayin' they already HAVE a theme. Mythologies established that the clan regularly abduct and inducts kids with, essentially, mutant powers. They don't have to have the SAME mutant powers and all wear the same color for there to be a sense of solidarity.

A mystic arficat that can utilize the art of kori? INTRIGUING!


There's only one scepter, but multiple kori fighters.
Again! *cane hit*

You're usually even more fond of interpreting the canon as strictly as possible than I am.

In the canon, without knowing the origin of the Ice Scepter (Who's to say it's even "mystic"? The Lin Kuei of that era did love advanced technology...), all we can say definitively is what is written in Mythologies, Deadly Alliance, and Deception, which is only the Sub-Zero family line and Frost have ever displayed unassisted Kori powers and that is because of their ancestry. All the written evidence points to "hereditary mutant power", not "learned school of magic".

If they'd used the word "Cryokinetic" to describe Sub-Zero's species instead of "mancer", we likely wouldn't even be having this discussion. But "kinetic" sounds too sci-fi for an ancient race from a world perpetually stuck in the dark ages, so now we're stuck with a word that apparently has lead you to mistakenly believe it's booklearned wizardry even though that contradicts almost everything we know about Sub-Zero.

Cryokinetic isn't conducive to describing a [sub-]species, either.

While I certainly remember references to the rarity of cryomancers, I can't say I actually remember anything narrowing the capability of a fighter to learn to harness kori. Anything handy?
I'm particularly interested in the MKDA/MKD text!

So, is there any hard and fast rule when picking and choosing from previous references, or should we just assume Sub-Zero found a veritable army of second-cousins for the new Lin Kuei?

If we're going to assume anything, it should be that the current Lin Kuei don't use kori at all! Didn't I JUST point out that none of them display any powers in Armageddon?

But no, I've got some written evidence.
MK Mythologies backstory from the archived MKM website. All of which was also present in the instruction booklet that came with the game:
"Somewhere in the northern most parts of Asia, there exists a secret clan of assassins and thieves known as the Lin Kuei. This group has existed for centuries and thrives on the evil intention of the people who pay for their services. Its warriors are chosen at birth to be raised apart from the workings of day to day civilization and are stripped of their former lives. Only the clan knows their existence. Each of them posses certain skills and abilities that set them apart from normal men. These abilities are passed on from generation to generation and honed throughout the experiences of life."
"Sub-Zero learned of his ability as a young adult. It was passed on to him by his father, a fourth generation Lin Kuei warrior himself."

MKDA, Sub-Zero's Konquest:

"Sub-Zero has trained many years to hone his natural ability to freeze. This trait has been passed down through many generations of his family line."

Again, a natural ability passed down genetically.

Frost's bio:

"Sub-Zero had reformed the Lin Kuei clan and held a tournament to recruit the best of the best. The winner was a mysterious female named Frost who seemed to have freezing abilities similar to those of Sub-Zero. Breaking with Lin Kuei tradition, the new Grand Master, Sub-Zero, took it upon himself to train this new recruit. With his help, Frost was better able to harness her Kori powers."

Several important things revealed here. First, that Frost had her powers before meeting Sub-Zero. They were self-taught or discovered. And since it's the lost art of a race from another world, there's no way she could have learned it from them or read some sort of Cryomancer spellbook. The only logical answer is that she was born with the innate talent and discovered it spontaneously.

Second, it's not customary for the Grand Master to teach clan members personally. Sub-Zero takes a personal interest in Frost because he's never before encountered someone who had the same powers as him.

Third, why would Frost "seeming to have freezing abilities similar to Sub-Zero's" even matter if he could teach anyone to do what he does?

And from Sub-Zero's Deception bio:

"I learned that the ruins were a holy structure belonging to a lost race of people who had attained mastery over cold. After thorough study of this culture, I now believe both Frost and myself to be their descendants."

Why would Sub-Zero immediately assume that he and Frost are descended from the same people, if normal humans can learn Kori and ancestry is irrelevant to the power?

I might be able to dig up a little more if that evidence isn't satisfactory...but I'd rather not dig out my copy of Deadly Alliance and go reading through all the stuff I can't find on the net like Kontent pictures' text, looking for bits and pieces of something I already believe to be evident, if I can help it.

Yes, right before I pointed out you were mistaken.


Sub-Zero was predisposed to kori manipulation because of his cryomancer heritage, but trained to better harness it. Okay.


Frost is predisposed to kori manipulation, similar to Sub-Zero.
Sub-Zero opted to help her harness that technique. Alrighty. Gotcha.


The cryomancers first discovered the kori technique because they were... [dramatic pause]... predisposed to it. Intriguing!

So, after this, we now know... Cryomancers are inherently attuned to mastering the mystic martial arts techniques of kori. Sub-Zero is the descendent of cryomancers, and Frost probably is too.

All the other newbie Lin Kuei fighters remain either cherry picked anomolies from a pretty steady story mode, or, the family Zero.

It probably doesn't help that you think I'm referring to kori as something akin to sorcery, rather than a martial arts technique. Not that that really changes a subjective interpretation of fairly shallow facts. Facts that do not dispel the nature of the art. Maybe Mythologies will turn something more specific up, though.

The only Sub-Zero move I saw in the video was the Slide. I'm not prepared to accept the sum of all Kori is learnable techniques based solely on a move Reptile also knows. Especially since Armageddon wasn't exactly the bastion of creative consistency and originality. (And before you try to tell me Reptile also knows the freeze, can we please just agree his MK1 moveset wasn't canon?)

And even if Sub-Zero has been teaching his simplest move to his foot soldiers post-Deception, that doesn't excuse Smoke doing a deep freeze, or the Lin Kuei temple being decorated with ice, in your comic set during MK2, when the Lin Kuei headquarters was in Mongolia (established in the subtitle of an MKM cutscene), not the Arctic (he moved the clan there in his MKDA bio) and the Grandmaster was not Sub-Zero.