Video Game / Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero

1 Following

The One With… FMV cutscenes galore (only in the PlayStation version).

Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero is a Gaiden Game Beat 'em Up in the Mortal Kombat franchise, developed by Midway Games and released in 1997 for North America and in 1998 for Europe. Canonically, it is a prequel set before the events of the first game and, by proxy, Mortal Kombat 9.

As the name implies, it stars Ensemble Dark Horse Sub-Zero in his quest to stop Evil Sorcerer Quan Chi, who seeks to retrieve an amulet to revive the God of Evil Shinnok. It also provided (and retconned) origin stories for characters who would appear in later Fighting Games, such as the aforementioned Sub-Zero, Quan Chi, and Shinnok, as well as Sub-Zero's rival Scorpion, the wind god Fujin, and the demon amazons Sareena, Kia and Jataaka. Of course Raiden makes an obligatory appearance.

Framed as an opportunity to better-explore the Lin Kuei clan and Outworld, it featured (for the time) impressive visuals and cutscenes. Sub-Zero begins with a limited moveset but unlocks new ice-based attacks as you progress. The developers wanted to keep the Mortal Kombat combat system intact while shoe-horning in some other capabilities. Acclaim did a similar thing with the Batman Forever console game two years earlier, using the MK1 engine on loan from Midway. Mythologies went a long way toward inspiring the creation of the Konquest mode in Mortal Kombat: Deception.

It was followed by Mortal Kombat: Special Forces and Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. Despite being mostly-forgotten, this game plugs a few holes in the backstory to Mortal Kombat 4, and also helps explain how Sub-Zero started on the path to becoming Noob Saibot. For more, see the series' Developers' Foresight page and its Shout Out page.

The game was later re-released in 2025 as part of the Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection, with retouched graphics.

The game provides examples of:

• Adaptation Expansion: There are subtle differences between the Playstation and Nintendo 64 versions. For example, just before Sub-Zero's battle with Shinnok, Shinnok remains silent after one-shooting Sareena, while in the Nintendo 64 version Shinnok gives a short speech to Sub-Zero.
• Alien Blood: The Mooks of levels 6 and 7 (the pink and turquoise guards) and of level 8 (the assailants in red) bleed green.
• Amazon Brigade: Quan Chi's personal assassins (Kia, Jataaka and Sareena) act as his bodyguards. Sub-Zero has to fight all three of them to obtain three keys to gain access to Quan Chi's sanctum.
• Anti-Hero: The player character, the first Sub-Zero, is a ruthless assassin who is highly loyal to the Lin Kuei and is willing to murder someone (Scorpion) if they get in his way. The first half of the game is about him intruding to Temple of Elements that hold the key to releasing Shinnok and contains Gods that hate Shinnok and Quan Chi's guts, and kill said Gods and any Shaolin monks that guard the place, which is decidedly not a good thing, but Sub-Zero does it anyway because it's his mission. That said, he is capable of remorse, and the second half of the game is spent on undoing his mistake of handing Quan Chi and Shinnok the thing he wanted and saving the world, though only because he still wants to live in the world. Even moreso that canonically, he has a chance to finish off Sareena but chooses not to do so. Though when Raiden tells him that he can change his destiny and control the darkness within him, he decides to ignore that and stays loyal to Lin Kuei.
• An Ice Person: Sub-Zero has access to the ice powers of the parent series, but in this game he/the player must gain experience points to access them.
• Armed Mooks: The Shaolin monks from the first stage and up to the water element level can wield many weapons, like a bo staff, a hatchet, and dual escrima.
• Ascended Extra: Sareena debuted here as one of Quan Chi's personal assassins, and even gained something of a Ship Tease with this Sub-Zero during a cutscene. She returns later as a playable character in both Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition (2003) and Mortal Kombat Armageddon (2006).
• Back Tracking: Every level, bar the first, is a damn warren which involves a ludicrous amount of backtracking.
• Berserk Button: Sub-Zero does not take kindly to being called a ninja by Quan Chi. Scorpion, a ninja, is his mortal enemy.
• Boss-Altering Consequence: Two instances:
  • If Sub-Zero kills Scorpion with a fatality in the first stage, he will reappear as a mid-stage boss in stage 6, "Prison of Souls".
  • Sub-Zero can use a fatality on Sareena after he defeats her in "Shinnok's Fortress". However, if the player spares her, Sareena will suddenly appear during the Quan Chi boss fight to deliver the final blow, uppercutting the sorcerer out of the arena.
• Boss Room Key:
  • In Stage 8, Shinnok's Fortress, Quan Chi's three personal assassins each hold a key that allows access to the last bosses of the game.
  • In every elemental stage, Sub-Zero has to find three keys of the elements (Wind, Earth, Water, and Fire). However, only one key is needed to open the room to the Water God in the Water Element stage, and three keys are needed to open the room to the Fire God in the Fire Element stage.
• Bottomless Pits: One of the many ways the game has to hinder the player's progress is an enormous quantity of pits through a level, particularly stage 2, which is set in the Himalayan mountains.
• Captain Obvious: "Somehow you have retained your mortality, which would mean you are vulnerable to death!"
• Deadly Rotary Fan: A trap in stage two, Wind Element, activates a giant brown fan when Sub-Zero takes one of the keys.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Sub-Zero defeats not one but FOUR elemental gods in the Temple. Your fight with Shinnok counts as well, if you decide to stay after grabbing the amulet.
• Digitized Sprites: As with all early games in the series. Averted with a handful of enemies, however, such as the Rock Golem.
• Doomed by Canon: While the player can choose differently, Sareena's presence in future games and Scorpion becoming an undead revenant means that regardless of whatever happens, Sub-Zero canonically saves Sareena and kills Scorpion to preserve the timeline.
• Dramatic Irony: After the first stage, the Lin Kuei Grandmaster receives news from Quan Chi himself that the Shirai Ryu entire clan has been exterminated. To mark the occasion, he tells Sub-Zero that, sometimes, "you can trust a sorcerer".
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: After escaping the Netherrealm with Shinnok's Amulet, Sub-Zero delivers it to Raiden, who simply says "mission accomplished". Sub-Zero complains that he got no thanks from the Thunder God, who answers that Sub was undoing a mistake he himself made.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Each of the Mortal Kombat 4 characters present in the game, most notably Quan Chi, Shinnok, and Fujin (referred to in this game as simply "Wind God"). Sareena would herself become playable in later installments.
• Earth/Wind Juxtaposition: The mid-section of the game involves Sub-Zero traversing the Temple of the Elements to gain access to Shinnok's amulet deep within its walls. The second stage is "Wind Element", where Sub-Zero has to face spinning platforms and ride a hurricane to further advance in the stage and reach Fujin, the god of wind, who looks very much human. The next stage is "Earth Element", which takes place in a mine or subterranean area filled with tunnels and crevices that open and close at random. Its boss is the Earth God, a towering Golem-like creature.
• Easy-Mode Mockery:
  • On Easy Mode, the game ends after Subbie completes the elemental temples.
  • In the N64 version, if Sub-Zero does not have enough exp. points before reaching Quan Chi's sanctum, the game ends.
• Everything Trying to Kill You: One of the many things that makes this game so hard. You would be hard-pressed to find a room where there isn't a hazard. Even when using an elevator in the final stage, you almost expect a Mook to drop in.
• Fake Difficulty: The weird control mapping makes this game much more difficult than it should be. The Mortal Kombat engine doesn't translate well to the platforming sections, obstacle courses or enemy swarms (you have to press a separate button to turn around), and Mythologies was written off as a Mulligan.
• False Innocence Trick: If Sub-Zero decides to spare Scorpion in the first level, while imprisoned in the Netherrealm, he will meet Shinnok in his prison cell, instead of Scorpion. He claims that he's an unjustly imprisoned soul like Sub-Zero and notes that he's playing Raiden's "game" for the time being. His manipulation of Sub-Zero indirectly helps his own escape from the Netherrealm several years later.
• Fire/Water Juxtaposition: The mid-section of the game involves Sub-Zero traversing the Temple of the Elements to gain access to Shinnok's amulet deep within its walls. The fourth stage is "Water Element", where Sub-Zero has to traverse a labyrinthine water reservoir and avoid drowning. The boss of the "Water Element" is the Water God, against whom Sub-Zero's freezing abilities are effective. The next stage is "Fire Element", which takes place in an underground volcanic area riddled with platforms hanging over lava and secret floor traps that spew fire streams. Its boss is the Fire God, against whom Sub-Zero cannot use his freezing attacks, since they quickly evaporate as soon as they touch the Fire God.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Raiden opens up a portal to the Netherrealm for Sub-Zero to cross through, and warns him to "beware the Brothers of the Shadow", Quan Chi's sect.
  • Sub-Zero reaches Quan Chi's inner sanctum atop Shinnok's Fortress and confronts the sorcerer. Quan Chi taunts Sub-Zero that, since the Netherrealm is a place for "evil beings," that means that the ninja belongs there.
• Game-Breaking Bug: In the Nintendo 64 version. In the second screen of stage 2 (a room with red pillars and yellow and white walls), if the player does a Slide attack to return to the first screen, Sub-Zero is locked out of the screen and cannot return, rendering the game unplayable.
• Genre Mashup: It's a Sidescroller/RPG/Fighting game. Certainly a unique specimen.
• Giant Mook: Hulk Monks, which are played by Brian Glynn, who played Shao Kahn in MK2 and 3.
• Guide Dang It!:
  • The post-battle against Fujin, which requires the player taking cover in a small niche.
  • The final battle with Shinnok is worse, since it involves a button combination which must be timed perfectly.
• Heist Clash: Quan Chi hires Sub-Zero to steal a map leading to Shinnok's amulet from a Shaolin temple. What Sub-Zero doesn't know is that Quan Chi had hired Scorpion, another assassin from a rival clan, for the same task in case Sub-Zero failed. Neither man is aware they are both being employed by Quan Chi and the two have a fight which ends in Scorpion's death.
• Hilarious Outtakes: The cutscenes alone make the PS1 version a klassic, as well as the post-credit clips.
• To Hell and Back: After a fashion. The last three stages happen in the Netherrealm, which serves as an analogue to Hell in the universe of Mortal Kombat. In the interlude cutscenes between stages 5 and 6, Raiden sends Sub-Zero via a portal to the Netherrealm in order to get Shinnok's Amulet back. After the ninja steals the amulet from under the deity's nose, he enters a portal and returns to Earth, to the Temple of the Elements, Raiden already expecting him.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: In stage 3, Earth Element, the stage opens up rifts on the ground at certains spots as traps for the player. Depending on the hole, it can lead to a death scene for Sub-Zero, as he falls and his body is impaled by a stalagmite.
• Insistent Terminology: The Lin Kuei are not ninja. To explain, the ninja of Japan originated from an ex-Lin Kuei who defected and fled from China to Japan, taking their secrets with him and starting his own assassin clan, the Shirai Ryu. Needless to say the Lin Kuei despise being associated with what they consider to be a group of posers and thieves. Interestingly, Quan Chi plays this trope straight himself using the same example but in reverse: he repeatedly and insistently refers to Sub-Zero as "ninja" specifically to piss him off.
• Inventory Management Puzzle: Depending on how the player advances during gameplay, Sub-Zero can carry healing items from one stage to the next, but they occupy slots in the limited inventory space and have to be managed to clear out space for some level-only key items.
• Kill Enemies to Open: A variation: starting with stage 6, the player has to defeat mini-bosses to obtain objects that allow to advance further:
  • In Stage 6, Prison of Souls, the robotic guardian holds the keycard to the third floor.
  • In Stage 7, Bridge of Immortality, the player has to defeat a rider on a dinosaur and three other robotic guardians to obtain the three keys to access the last stage.
  • In Stage 8, Shinnok's Fortress, Quan Chi's three personal assassins each hold a key that allows access to the last bosses of the game.
• Literally Shattered Lives: One of Sub-Zero's abilities in the game is Ice Shatter: the player can shoot two ice blasts at a Mook enemy to turn him into an ice statue and shatter him.
• Lock and Key Puzzle: A literal example. From stage 2 onwards, the player has to find keys in every level that allow Sub-Zero to open up new paths/doors.
• Mêlée à Trois: Sub-Zero breaks into the Shaolin Temple in China to steal the Map of the Elements, and faces the monks protecting the place. However, Scorpion, from Lin Kuei's rival clan, has also invaded the place, but the monks pay him no heed, and aren't allied with him either.
• Mooks, but No Bosses: In the middle part of the game, the elemental gods are all fought at the end of their respective levels, in their own boss arenas. The only exception is the Earth god, which is fought in the middle part of the level, with no fanfare to indicate he is one of the elemental guardians/bosses, save for a different background music.
• Natural Elements: The game's mid-section occurs inside the Temple of the Elements, in the Himalayan Mountains. The temple is divided into four stages, each representing "the four elements which comprise the very existence of Earthrealm": Wind, Earth, Water and Fire. The stage bosses are also Earthrealm's elemental gods.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: It's because of Sub-Zero that Quan Chi gets the amulet and must be stopped in the second part of the game. Raiden chews Sub-Zero out for this.
• One-Winged Angel: Shinnok after you take his amulet. Fighting this phase is optional, you can just scamper through the portal and end the game. Defeat him and you will be rewarded with a blooper reel.
• Player Inventory: Fitting for an RPG-inspired game, the player has access to a personal inventory which can store key and usable items.
• Power Levels: Despite having access to his characteristic Ice Blast since the first level, the player must obtain more experience points in order to use the Directional Ice Blast (diagonal up or down) and the Air Ice Blast (casting an Ice Blast while in the air).
• Prequel: Twofold:
  • The game takes place before the first game, since Scorpion is still alive at the start of the game, but is reborn as a wraith mid-game, and old Shang Tsung appears in The Stinger, interested in hiring Sub-Zero for a tournament... Mortal Kombat.
  • It also serves as distant prequel to Mortal Kombat 4, since it introduces the latter's main antagonists, fallen deity Shinnok and Evil Sorcerer Quan Chi.
• Psycho Electric Eel: Level 4, Water Element, has electric eels swimming about in some flooded parts of the stage. They can electrocute Sub-Zero if he touches them.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: While not fitting for the bosses, Shinnok/Quan Chi's low-level minions in stage 8 wear red hoods, red pants and a black harness over their bodies.
• Redemption Equals Death: Sareena, except that was retconned into being a Disney Death.
• Religious Bruiser: The Mooks of level 1, the Shaolin Temple, are monks who are fighting to protect their monastery. This continues within the walls of the Temple of the Elements (stages 2 to 5): they are identified by a red shirt or cloak and white pants.
• RPG Elements:
  • A small inventory. Sub-Zero can carry a determinate amount of items, and if he fills it, he needs to use or drop something in order to take the new item. This includes keys.
  • If you manage to do combos, Sub-Zero can level up to learn his moveset.
• Rule of Three: In every elemental stage, Sub-Zero has to find three keys of the elements (Wind, Earth, Water, and Fire). The same occurs in stage 7, Bridge of Immortality, where the player has to defeat three robotic guardians and a dinosaur, and in stage 8, which are guarded by Quan Chi's female assassins.
• Running Gag: Quan Chi keeps referring to Sub-Zero as a "ninja", despite the latter's insistence he is Lin Kuei, not a ninja.
• Science Fantasy: The Netherrealm levels (Prison of Souls, Bridge of Immortality, and Shinnok's Fortress) are a mishmash of the fantastical and the technological:
  • The Prison of Souls is the most technologically advanced area of the Netherrealm, with a robotic guardian, mooks with green laser canons, and elevators. The whole stage even looks like an industrial complex. Even in the ending cutscene one of Quan Chi's assassins spies on Sub-Zero with advanced binoculars.
  • The Bridge of Immortality retains something of the technological level of the previous stage, with the three robotic guardians with flamethrowers and machine gun arms, and mooks with canons.
  • Shinnok's Fortress is a pyramid structure with teleporting altars that activate with magical keys. It is also the Netherrealm level with no technology.
• Seers: At least in this game, Quan Chi is implied through his cutscene dialogue to have predictive abilities, since he says he foresaw Sub-Zero retrieving the map and braving the Temple of the Elements.
• Shaolin Monk: The first stage is explicitly titled "Shaolin Temple", which makes the mooks inside it monks.
• Shock and Awe: In the Earth element stage, there are some Shaolin monks that can teleport and cast a lighting attack at Sub-Zero.
• Shout-Out: If Sub-Zero falls into a Bottomless Pit in the Fire Temple, when he touches the lava, he's consumed with a fiery explosion taken straight from the menu screen of the first Twisted Metal game.
• Slide Attack: Sub-Zero must earn experience points in order to access his Slide attack. Also, he has two Slide attacks: a normal one, and the Super Slide, whose reach is longer.
• Smashing Hallway Traps of Doom: Far too damn many in this game. Some come from the ceiling, others come from the floor - all of which come up with little to no telegraphing.
• Speed Echoes: When Sub-Zero uses the Super Slide technique, afterimages of his body appear behind him.
• Super Drowning Skills: Sub-Zero can't swim, as the water temple proves.
• Super-Speed: In level 5, Fire Element, a type of monk mook has super speed.
• Video Game Caring Potential: While most enemies just fall over and die (or explode) when defeated, you're given the option to either kill or spare two of them: Sareena and Scorpion. In both cases, choosing to show mercy has positive results later. Specifically, if you spare Sareena, she'll have a Heel–Face Turn and help Sub-Zero in the battle with Quan Chi. If you spare Scorpion at the beginning of the game, you avoid having to fight him again as a wraith in the Netherrealm.
• Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: Huzzah! You've acquired the amulet! ...Only five levels in? Sorry, fellas, victory doesn't come that quickly.