"classic" SubZero is the third person in the series to use the alias of SubZero. He was presumed "lost" from a tournament long ago. That's all we know. As Team MK dropped him after his appearances in UMK3 / Trilogy that's all we'll EVER know.

Regardless of what the majority like to state on this forum, he IS a canon character; he has a bio screen, and his ending makes explicitly clear that he is a different individual than the elder Sub killed in MK1. The fact that he didn't return in MK4 doesn't matter a damn, as that clearly falls into the usual "ending events are non-canon" happenstance.

Him being Quan Chi is a silly stretch, though. Freezing powers? Not to mention the [paraphrase] "lost from a tournament long ago" doesn't tie in to Chi at all.

Quan Chi doesn't disguise himself in Shaolin Monks- the camera just pans to him at the end.

What the hell are you talking about man?Where does it states, that UMK3 Sub-Zero is different than MK1 one ?

In his ending.

No it doesn't.

"Having been killed in the first tournament Sub-Zero somehow seems to have emerged to win the third tournament. However, upon removing his mask both the Outworld and the Earth-born warriors... are shocked to discover the true identity of this warrior. A warrior who has long been missing from a previous Mortal Kombat, and one who will return in the fourth tournament."

Give it a modicum of linguistic analysis.

Sub-Zero SOMEHOW (implying the method for apparent resurrection will not be revealed) SEEMS (ie, appears. Not a definitive statement) to have emerged to win the third tournament.

HOWEVER (a word stating we will shortly discover something) upon removing his mask, both the Outworld and the Earthborn warriors are SHOCKED (ie, surprised. Yet they have met the Elder Sub before. And certainly his brother wouldn't be shocked) to discover the TRUE (therefore, what was assumed before was not so) identity of this warrior.

That reference was to him being around during that timeline not disguises. I admit it's a stretch, (ice powers), and wasn't sure if NRS had addressed it at all. But Quan Chi Definately has history with Sub, and being a sorcerer should have no trouble disguising himself, sig. moves and all. By my understanding, the only characters that debuted in MK4 to actually have an earlier appearance was Quan Chi and Shinnok (though Mythologies wasn't a "tournament" game). Appreciate any and all comments though.

His bio screen is rather flimsy evidence, because he is one of the few MKT characters (along with Goro and Kintaro, whose appearances were non-canon) to have a bio that is just a rehash from a previous game. Classic Sub-Zero's MKT bio is basically the same as Sub-Zero's MKII bio, with very minor changes:

It is practically the same. But that doesn't matter; the point was to (tenuously) establish him as the old SubZero, a theme which his ending continues then spins on its head.

I get why fans don't like him; his ending is poorly written, and it's very silly to make a third SubZero then just drop him (rather than have him as an alt, like Smoke / Human Smoke). But team MK have shown themselves capable time and time again of making daft blunders in the MK series. Look at poor copycat characters like Jarek and the HATED online characters like Dairou.

Not liking someone doesn't make them non-canon. Ironically, this third, long-lost SubZero *could* have had some kind of meaning post-MK Deception, after the reveal of SubZero's cryomancer ancestry. But there you go.

Wow, these MK guys are smarter than I thought! Here we get the next "ninja Sub-Zero" now that both the Blue Brothers are gone...

I think Classic Sub-Zero's ending is foreshadowing for Noob Saibot's reveal.

As it said Classic Sub-Zero was in a previous MK. Now the only characters we know to appear in the tournaments before MK where The Great Kung Lao, Goro and Shang Tsung. The latter two are there own characters in there own right and since The Great Kung Lao's soul has been taking by Shang Tsung it is silly to see him reappear before Shang's death in Deception. It is foolish for Shang Tsung to appear as a dead Sub-Zero because that would give his disguise away and Goro has four arms, so he could never pull it off.
I believe they were just messing around with the concept of trieing to incorperate him into another character and since it is now cannon that Classic Sub-Zero became Noob, it makes sence to remember he was in MK2 (I.e. he appeared in a previous MK and will return in MK4 which Noob did as a secret character).
Solved and I hope this ties up loss ends.

Wait, doesn't his ending clearly state 'having been killed in the first tournament'? The first tournament was when Elder Sub-Zero was killed. This seems to me like it is being clearly stated Classic Sub-Zero is to Noob Saibot like Human Smoke is too Robot Smoke. A memory, not actually the current version of said character. Also, both Human Smoke and Classic Sub-Zero have endings which hint of their return in MK4. Though the former's ending only mentions returning in MK4 in his UMK3 ending due to a retcon in MKT, as opposed to Classic Sub-Zero who can be considered actually returning in MK4(As Noob Saibot, albeit his status as a hidden character). This would also explain Classic Sub-Zero using the spine rip, elder Sub-Zero's fatality.

It's quite possible that by 'First Tournament' they could be referring to the very first one against Earthrealm. I mean, Liu Kang barely saved Earthrealm from merging with Outworld, because that was the ninth or tenth tournament. If Liu Kang lost, Earthrealm would merge with Outworld. Classic Sub Zero could be an ancestor of their lineage.

Cthulhu wrote:
"Wait, doesn't his ending clearly state 'having been killed in the first tournament'? The first tournament was when Elder Sub-Zero was killed."

It does. And then it says "SOMEHOW seems to won the third tournament." Which leads me too...

"This seems to me like it is being clearly stated Classic Sub-Zero is to Noob Saibot like Human Smoke is too Robot Smoke. A memory, not actually the current version of said character."

No. As I showed in my earlier post, it's immediately followed by a contradiction- "however"- then says the warriors are shocked to learn the TRUE identity of this fighter.

swampcrash_unknown wrote:
"It's quite possible that by 'First Tournament' they could be referring to the very first one against Earthrealm. I mean, Liu Kang barely saved Earthrealm from merging with Outworld, because that was the ninth or tenth tournament."

No, because immediately after that sentence it explicitly labels UMK3 the third tournament.

"Classic Sub Zero could be an ancestor of their lineage."

Now there's an idea, and one that could (distantly) been followed up post MKD.

So classic Sub-Zero is basically MK2 Sub :D

That's right, because MKII Sub-Zero was really a warrior "long lost from a previous tournament", who shocked the warriors with his true identity (when they thought he was MK1 Sub), and wasn't already in MK3 at all.

I love these threads about UMK3/Trilogy Classic Sub-Zero. Now before I reply let me say I too believed for the longest time it was someone from MK4 behind the mask, and I thought Shinnok not Quan Chi, because Shinnok could at least impersonate the elder Sub-Zero. But the above stated ending from UMK3 clearly does not give 100% definitive answer that the they are talking about the first tournament when they say "missing from a previous tournament." Yes the elder Sub-Zero in his Sub-Zero form was in MK1, but when he became Noob Saibot no one knew that Noob Saibot was the elder Sub-Zero until Mortal Kombat Deception. "Missing from a previous tournament" could mean MKII and onward. Then after MK Armageddon came out and Noob's ending as well as something in the official Prima Game guide made me 100% true that it was the elder Sub-Zero, I'll give my explaination after I qoute something from the stragety guide. I know they are not written by the actual developers but having worked in this business before, the developers do tell us mainly what to write.

In the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 section of the stragety guide in Classic Sub-Zero's page 93 it states this:

The original Sub-Zero is back, but his motives for being in Ultimate MK3 are unknown. Classic Sub-Zero is a hidden character; thus, his place in this game is not related to the story. In reality, Classic Sub-Zero is Noob Saibot.

Also remember that the merger of realms made it impossible for Johnny Cage to ascend into the heavens and he rejoined his body to fight alongside his comrades once more. The merger could have also let the original Sub-Zero's soul rejoin with a ninja and dawned his origianl attire. He fought alongside the Earthrealm warriors.

Let us also not forget the Mortal Kombat Armageddon ending which could corrobulate this theory of mine as well. I do not recall word for word what his ending was but I do know it in a detailed way. When Noob defeated Blaze he was transported to a dark area. Out of the darkness a figure appeared and it was Noob's former self Sub-Zero. The two fought but in the end the two merged to form something new.

Endings are not 100% cannon. The only ones that are cannon are Liu Kang's from MK1 - MK Gold (4 tournaments). Also remember in either Deception or Deadly Alliance in Liu Kang's Tomb there are 4 dragon medals one for winning each tournament. The third was not a tournament but a war ended when Liu Kang defeated Shao Kahn. But back to the Noob/Sub-Zero talk: Noob Saibot and the Classic Sub-Zero are the same fighter in UMK3. He was missing from MKII the previous tournament and returned in MK4, Noob Saibot was playable in the early revison of MK4 arcade and is a hidden fighter in the home platforms. There is your answer.

Part of me feels that because of the fact that Scorpion and Classic Sub Zero look more or less exactly the same, with Sub Zero just being blue, Classic Sub Zero could just be a hellspawn with ice powers. Weird long shot, but I always used to think that (mainly because Sub's eyes were white, but then again, all the ninjas eyes were in the guide).

Sorry to bump this, but I found some more information that could relate to this. John Vogel said that the Sub Zero that Shujinko met in Konquest was not Bi Han or Kuai Liang. It could mean that this Trilogy Sub Zero is in fact THAT Sub Zero, regardless of whether he actually competed. Although, if Trilogy is canon, then Kuai Liang and Bi Han (as Noob) competed. This leaves Classic Sub Zero's identity open. I think it could be the one Shujinko met.

If Quan Chi could shapeshift and take powers, why would he need Shang Tsung in a "Deadly Alliance" anyway?

Kinda weird. First poster said Quan Chi could have shapeshifted into Sub Zero. That's exactly what happened in MK Legacy. Kudos to you OP! Anyway, he totally whooped Shang Tsung's ass anyway in the intro for Deception. I don't think he really needs him.

classic sub-zero is bi han, in his bio it says that he was thought to be dead (mk1) missed a tournament (mk2) and returned to kill shang (mk3)

Classic Sub is by and large considered a non-canon character, and to the best of my knowledge has been for some time now. By the time of Trilogy, Bi-Han was firmly entrenched in his new role as Noob.

The decision to make 'MK1 Sub' into Noob Saibot wasn't made until even after Mythologies, so it wasn't foreshadowing of any type. They literally had no concrete plans for him.

As far as I'm aware, CSZ is meant to be a representation of Bi-Han (at this point, just known as ('MK1 sub'), but he wasn't actually around in this form during the time period.