#you people really tempt me with writing about bi-han and kuai liang brotherhood...

[cienie-isengardu]

There's some people who simply think Bi-Han never really loved Kuai in either timeline. Some people say Kuai adored Bi-Han but Bi-Han simply didn't feel the same way and that their relationship was one-sided, where Kuai loved Bi-Han where Bi-Han...simply didn't.

I don't believe that but I think the writing could use a bit of work here because in story mode Bi-Han's interactions with his siblings are pretty much him telling Tomas he's not one of them and then saying 'btw I let Dad die' to Kuai in some deluded hope that his brother would see his point of view. The only noticable moment he shows concern is when Nitara ambushes Smoke from above when they are scaling the walls and most say that doesn't count because he seems to have kicked that rock at Smoke whilst he was scaling the wall.

The falling rock while someone is hanging over the abyss is so popular I can’t even remember a similar scene not using this motif to present the sense of tension/danger. So I guess there is no point in blaming MK1 for going with that visual storytelling choice - though if it was intentional choice of creators to cast a doubt on whether Bi-Han on purpose kicked the rock or not, it is impossible to say. Definitely that moment could be better presented to avoid the confusion, especially since Bi-Han’s foot is clearly placed on the ground before the rock is even shown,

so it is rather impossible for him to kick it on purpose? I mean, the rock would need to start failing before Bi-Han stopped in his tracks, as kicking requires movement of the whole leg and as can be seen,  Bi-Han’s boot was firmly touching the ground while the rock itself appears a few seconds later, like out of nowhere (and in later scene, there is no rocks only snow around Bi-Han's feet, especially compared to where Kuai Liang was standing?) I assume, when Sub-Zero was leaning out, his weight must have caused the loose element to slide, especially since he was the one standing the closest to the edge and once rock slid, he took a step back.

(Yes, I’m that dedicated to do the slow motion rewatch to make sense of what really happened.)

But you know what is more surprising than the rock failing scene? The whole fact that a man who mastered magic and was capable of using his powers to literally fly didn’t use the same powers to save himself, instead panicked and relied on his hands (failed attempt) and knive - and the game subtitles literally describes Tomas' struggle as “panicked screaming”.

So if Bi-Han (and Kuai Liang) rushed over the edge and may accidentally cause a rock to fall, I think him being concerned for a brother who could die is enough good reason to give Bi-Han the benefit of doubt he did not do that on purpose. If he didn’t care, he would not bother to come there in the first place, especially since the enemy was already out there to get them all. Frankly, there is a lot to say about Bi-Han’s claims about Tomas (your blood will never be Lin Kuei), Tomas actually panicking to the point he was unable to use his magic and the fact that Sub-Zero still took him on this top priority mission when he quite likely had more warriors with real battle experience and skills than untested Tomas. On one hand, we could argue Tomas joined because Liu Kang said so, but the Fire God literally not even once acknowledged Tomas in any specific way and as the meeting scene proved, Bi-Han had a say in who is allowed to accompanying him for the mission, as he refused take Kung Lao and Raiden while Liu Kang did not try to force them on him. So I tend to assume that whatever Sub-Zero said about Tomas in regard to his Lin Kuei status did not stop him from including the adoptive brother in his duties. And the falling scene proved he had a point about Tomas’ training and battle experiences (or lack thereof) - even if voiced in a brutally straight up way. 

Generally speaking I think what (and the way) Bi-Han speaks should always be compared to his actions. Tomas not having a true Lin Kuei blood =/= taking him on top priority mission commissioned personally by worried Fire Lord.

That said, yes I agree that story mode should handle better both Bi-Han as character and the whole brothers dynamic but for that the story would need to give them more focus and screen time to establish well written balance between their flaws and virtues instead of the more or less one-dimensional characterization game started with (Bi-Han the angry & ambitious/power-hungry brother, Kuai Liang the honorable “never did anything wrong”, Tomas the loyal sidekick, basically). As the Lin Kuei subplot seems to exist solely to set up the conflict between Sub-Zero’s clan and Scorpion’s Shirai Ryu, I assume that was the authors' goal to achieve, but with such approach to klassic characters can’t say I’m surprised by fandom negative opinions about Bi-Han. 

I can understand the never-ending fan dispute about how much Bi-Han truly loved Kuai Liang, as Mortal Kombat lore is more than three decades old already and we still only got glimpses of their relationship from Bi-Han’s perspective. Considering how many games, books, comics, movies, animations and cards the series spawned in such a long time - and how different media present different “timelines”, it is both impossible and unfair to demand from new fans (or any fans in fact) to be familiar with all possible nuance, details and stories almost forgotten before they will speak their mind. Not everyone has the opportunity, time, energy or interest to expand their knowledge about characters and that is fine, even if we don’t agree with said opinions. I know it is hard to be Bi-Han’s fan, as the man, both as Sub-Zero and Noob Saibot barely gets the proper recognition, be it from fans or source material and this has been happening for many years now - even though he is the first Sub-Zero on whose popularity Kuai Liang grew to be character in his own right. 

I do not have a doubt that Bi-Han and Kuai Liang shared true brotherhood and I’m right now truly tempted to write an essay on why elder Sub-Zero is not - and in fact has never been - inherently evil character and why we should not doubt that Kuai Liang’s love to him is not grounded in some delusioned idolization but for now I wish point out to all doubters this: original Bi-Han and cryomancer Kuai Liang were first and foremost survivors above any simplified fan idea of good or evil nature. The only person that tried to give them a normal (safe) life was a mother and the woman was presumably killed alongside their youngest sister by their own father. Ice brothers were just kids when that happened - and even if the mother somehow managed to save herself and the daughter and hid from Lin Kuei, she was still removed for good from her sons’ lives. They were abducted by their father, brought from America (their place of birth) to China, a totally different land and culture, to be raised in secrecy and isolation from the world they knew. None of them choose to be raised as assassins and as their respective stories showed, Lin Kuei would easily turn against them at any moment if any stepped out of line. In Mythologies, Bi-Han was called the most cunning assassin of Lin Kuei, but in the same game Sub-Zero outright said if he did not fulfill the task, he would be killed for failure. This comes from a man who was openly praised  by the Grandmaster personally and yet his life was the constant fight for survival, the “perform perfectly any impossible task” or “be killed”. If to survive Bi-Han needed to be a cold-blooded person he became one. If because of that he won’t fit into the cozy fan ideas and the silly labeling either “good" or "evil” without taking into account what shaped said character in the first place, then frankly, that is the problem of fans, not Bi-Han.