#i'm here for bi han and shang tsung working together since bi han was a kid

[cienie-isengardu]

[rachelfoleyisntdead]

Thoughts on MK1

I'm going to try to go in chronological order, and I might miss something and make another post about it later but let's gooooo (obviously spoilers below).

I think the first half of the story is really good. Yes, it relies very heavily on tropes, but they serve the story well and work.

I love that Outworld is a matriarchal society and that Sindel is the ruling Empress, not the Emperor's consort. Not a huge fan that everything is also based on nepotism/everyone inheriting their position from their family. Apparently meritocracy does not exist in Outworld and I get the vibe that this is in fact by Liu Kang's design.

I don't like what a hypocrite Liu Kang is. He says everyone is 'free to choose peace' but literally all of the characters have had their lives manipulated in an attempt to force this 'peace'. But we're supposed to condemn anyone who doesn't like that. Yeah, honestly--Shang Tsung and Bi-Han are valid, I'll say it.

Which brings us to Bi-Han. Oh, Bi-Han. I really want to give him a cough drop, his throat must be so sore from gargling gravel all day (I say this lovingly). I actually don't hate Bi-Han's heel turn, I just think it needed more build up. It could've worked really well if we had spent more time with Bi-Han first. I'm probably going to make a longer post about this.

I do like the new Syzoth a lot… but he's a bit much. He's really on the edge of being a Wattpad OC with how tragic and pretty he is, his whole 'saddest boy in the world' thing. Immediately offering to just die made me cringe. But, you know, hopefully he'll have fun in Earthrealm with Ashrah and Kung Lao and chill out a bit.

Baraka's whole story slaps. It's easily the best part. It is tragic, but not overdone, it's over all really great. No complaints about that at all, I just wish there was more. But maybe we'll get a Baraka expansion where they do more about the Tarkat.

Ashrah is… not as good as she could be. I love her design, love her fighting style, love her story in general and LOVE that she's here. But uh… are we not gonna talk about how she thinks killing other demons to purify herself is fine? This feels like a bug when it should be a feature. I really want them to explore this, there's so much potential here. This will also be a longer post at some point.

Shang Tsung is that bitch. Love him. 11/10 SLAY FACTOR off the charts. NRS gave the people what they want. So glad he's our villain and not Kronika. God, that smirk. What a guy.

Megan's delivery is bad, but I don't think it's entirely her fault. People should've told her. And they shouldn't have given her a character that was so serious. She works very well with a sort of dry humor, they should've played to her strengths instead of… just letting that situation happen. Cut her some slack.

Why are Liu Kang/Kitana and Hanzo/Harumi being pushed as the 'tragic lovers separated in every timeline' when that's Bi-Han and Sareena??? Like. yeah. I'm biased. But Harumi was not even a character, and Liu Kang and Kitana were not tragically separated, they were together all the time??? They ruled the Netherrealm together??? I don't get it.

I really like how story mode acts as an origin story for some of the characters and you 'unlock' their powers. I also LOVE how they used it to tease new cosmetics.

Love it when they said the thing. "mortal kombat", "deadly alliance", "armageddon" yes yes yes.

Also loved when Johnny made call backs to the OG timelines, ie "the flesh pits". Johnny really is perfect for that.

Johnny and Kung Lao are perfect.

Kuai Liang and Tomas are such daddy's boys and I hate it for them. This will probably be expanded on in the Bi-Han post but shut. the fuck. up. about. your. dad. I hope Kuai Liang never becomes grand master. I'm so sorry Kuai Liang fans, but this version of him is NOT it.

Smoke using his power to levitate up the wall was unintentionally hilarious. Especially since he didn't use it to break his fall. Bro???

Everyone in the game kinda easy to lie to/convince, but this might be a feature. Liu Kang sorta 'raised' everyone to be guileless and kneecapped the development of anyone who might be manipulative. I'll let it pass but honestly, I don't think Liu Kang needed to provide 'proof' of anything.

The entire royal family needs to apologize to Li Mei right fucking now, I am so serious. They continually did her dirty when she was nothing but loyal, and questioned her even when she was saying shit Kitana already knew (that the thing with Earthrealm was a misunderstanding). Apology, or Li Mei enters her villain era. Fuck y'all.

Basically, Li Mei, Shang Tsung, Bi-Han and Baraka get to do whatever they want as far as I'm concerned. Everyone else, I'm keeping an eye on. Oh wait, no. Kung Lao can have rights too, bc he's hilarious. Yall stop sleeping on him.

Anyway, that's my takes, I'm sure I'll have more thoughts. Overall, story mode was actually great, and I think there's a lot they can build on for DLC or even course correct, so I'm excited to see where that goes. If yall want to know my thoughts on a specific plot point or character, feel free to hit up my asks, love to make long posts about this stuff.

[cienie-isengardu]

Du you have any headcannon about bi-han and sub zero

Oh, I have plenty of them! Like, an endless list 🤣

I’m not sure to whom the “Sub-Zero” part should refer (Bi-Han or his younger brother or their father/grandfather?) so I'm gonna focus on Bi-Han, allright?

My top favorite one: Bi-Han is aromantic and asexual.

Prodigy when it comes to cryomancy. Earned his name earlier than most adepts because his ice skills developed much faster but also because he is hard working by nature. Even his Lin Kuei masters were concerned with his dedication to training. He also is a very quick learner, most of the time he doesn’t need anyone to explain how certain skills or moves work, he will figure it out all by himself and then in a few days perfect something that usually takes people years to master. This is something that more often than not freaks out people.

The side effect of Bi-Han’s growing skills is how cryomancy is affecting his behavior. He has never been very talkative or open around people, but the older he is, the less social he becomes. Also stubborn and strong-minded. And dangerously cunning.

Absolutely favorite assassin of Shang Tsung. When he was a kid, the Grandmaster allowed him to train with Shang Tsung. As in, Lin Kuei got a promising adept with additional experiences of operating in Outworld, while Bi-Han was doing small jobs for the sorcerer. Like spying on his enemies and stealing. Bi-Han and Shang Tsung got so well together that adult Bi-Han was constantly doing some side-jobs for Shang Tsung. They kept meeting in Earthrealm from time to time, with or without Grandmaster’s knowledge.

Bi-Han was helping Shang Tsung with distracting Reptile from sorcerer’s own little side project, so Syzoth couldn’t report on him to Shao Kahn. 

The first person he killed was one of Lin Kuei masters and he was twelve. He did it in front of the crowd. Since that day everyone knew Bi-Han is not someone to mess with. It also proved to the Grandmaster that yes, this kid will be one of the best of Lin Kuei but also someone to keep an eye on.

Bi-Han has a soft spot for animals, he doesn’t care much for people with a few exceptions. 

He looked after Kuai Liang before Lin Kuei kidnapped them and kept doing so to the last of his day. But despite their brotherly bond, there are plenty of things Kuai Liang doesn’t know about his older brother, because Bi-Han’s the closest friend/trustee was Hydro, his partner in crime.

Doesn't care for technology but likes fast motorbikes

Had some interesting relationship with previous grandmaster (Sektor's grandfather). They made some deals that allowed Bi-Han to officially claim Kuai Liang as his brother and clan after killing father and taking Sub-Zero mantle for himself.