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Sub-Zero is a mysterious blue-clad ninja from the Mortal Kombat video games and other media. He is an assassin for the Lin Kuei, an order of Chinese ninja that utilize mystic powers and weapons in battle. As his name implies, Sub-Zero's power is cryomancy, giving him the ability to freeze his opponents solid with icy blasts. In most MK media, Sub-Zero has a long-standing rivalry with the ninja spectre Scorpion, though their history and enmity is all but ignored in the Mortal Kombat movie.
The codename "Sub-Zero" actually refers to two characters: the brothers Bi-Han and Kuai Liang. The elder brother, Bi-Han, was loyal to the Lin Kuei's Grandmaster and accepted missions to spy on certain individuals and assassinate others. In the games and most other MK media, he is killed during the Mortal Kombat tournament. His younger brother, Kuai Liang, then adopts the Sub-Zero monniker. Unlike Bi-Han, however, he does not approve of how his clan operates and allies himself with the other heroes of Earthrealm to defend their world from the forces of evil.