Kuai Liang and his older brother Bi-Han, served the Lin Kuei assassin clan faithfully until the first Mortal Kombat Tournament. There Bi-Han, codename sub-Zero, was killed by the demon Scorpion. Kuai Liang assumed the Sub-Zero name and went to Outworld to find his brother's killer. Meanwhile, the leadership of the Lin Kuei embarked on the Cyber Initiative, converting its members to cybernetic ninjas to increase their efficiency and remove their human imperfections. Kuai Liang was captured and converted. Eventually, Raiden and the defenders of Earthrealm restored his soul, and he joined their cause. He was later killed in the Outworld invasion, his soul claimed by the Netherrealm sorcerer Quan Chi. Sub-Zero served the demon realm during its subsequent war with Earthrealm. Returned to humanity by Raiden in the aftermath, Sub-Zero rebuilt the Lin Kuei--this time as a benevolent organization dedicated to the protection of Earthrealm.
Grandmaster Sub-Zero knew his Lin Kuei clan would need more than martials arts to stave off future threats to Earthrealm.
In the frozen reaches of Outworld, he found the answer: a female frost dragon with a clutch of eggs.
With his ability to freeze, Sub-Zero hatched the dragon-lings.
They accepted their Lin Kuei masters and their training as kombat mounts.
With a force of dragon riders, the Lin Kuei's ferocity became legend.
None dared risk konflict with Earthrealm.
Sub-Zero was designed right alongside Scorpion. The two characters define each other both in terms of Mortal Kombat history as well as their visual design. Once we knew that we wanted to make Scorpion feel as realistic as possible, we set the same expectations for Sub-Zero's prime costume.
We wanted players to see sweat and dirt on his skin and the wear and tear on his costume. He needed to look like he could walk out of your tv and into the real world. We knew we were on to something good when we got such a positive response from the teaser trailer featuring Sub-Zero and Scorpion fighting in a moonlit forest.
For his alternate costume, we got to show Sub-Zero as master of the Lin Kuei. He looks more like a leader and a teacher than a warrior. Without his mask, we get to see a much more human side of Sub-Zero than we normally get to see.
We also got to design a look for him as he transitioned into Cyber Sub-Zero, which we released as a skin in Mortal Kombat 9. You can see how his costume changes from that of a traditional ninja to something more hi-tech as well as the early cybernetic enhancements that will allow him to use his powers once he's made the shift from man to machine.