It’s like they have people write characters as if they’ve never played a mk game before ever 💀

it’s quite upsetting that my top favorite character in the entire franchise is one of the hugest victims of poor writing. you should be a writer for MK.

This is Another example of the circumstance where the fandom has better ideas that can actually improve the quality of a character

Imagine if mk12 is just a murder mystery of who killed Jerrod

Jerod: He killed me, she killed me, she killed me, I killed me! Are there any other killers I should know about? Kintaro: *meow*

Sub zero: such wasted potential This has just become a meme at this point

Why is the fandom more creative than the actual company that creates the story

Sindel in mk 11 is wasted potential imo

"This man deserves better, Ed!" Couldn't have said it better. As a Sub-Zero/Kuai Liang fan I have always hated how all the development or bond with his friends is either ignored, glossed over or get any resolution what so ever. Especially in Netherrealm era where they go their way to make Sub-Zero look apathetic and uncaring as possible which honestly angered me. There is lot of missed opportunities for him to have great character development and develop his bond with people he has connection with but we can't fucking have that, can we? Because Ed Boon has to make his fucking pet Scorpion look good in comparison which honestly is tiring. Scorpion gets all the development, but Sub-Zero gets barely anything or not given any attention. We don't ever see him react losing Smoke, he has no reaction over Hanzo's death and Cyrax is ignored completely. Ed Boon, people love Sub-Zero too! You really nailed it with this video, Snake. I was thinking the same. (Btw, I love Scorpion but I'm tired of Ed Boon pushing him too much)

It's funny how the Netherrealm Studios writing is so bad you can not think of any character that doesn't need a wasted potential episode

One thing that wasn't wasted with him is his voice update from MK9 to MK10+MK11. Thank you Steve Blum for such an awesome voice for an awesome character.

*john tobias’ legacy exists* NRS: I’m about to do what’s called a pro gamer move.

Ed has Scorpion on the brain so much he could care less about any other character.

The one thing I like about NRS Bi-Han is the short dialogue between him and Kuai Liang before their fight in Mk9.

I always wanted Kuai Liang to have a bitter rivalry with human Sektor in the past. They could write that Bi-Han and Kuai Liang did not particularly like Sektor since Sektor thought himself superior to other Lin Kuei (his father being the Grandmaster has a lot to do with that). The Grandmaster would show a lot of praise to Bi-Han for being the Lin Kuei's "most cunning assassin and theif" and having good leadership qualities, citing him as having grandmaster potential. That would upset Sektor and he would train his hardest to be the best, getting into fights with Kuai Liang along the way. He later discovers the potential of using technology along with Cyrax. Cyrax and Kuai Liang would agree that some technology would help their clan in the present and future but Sektor would try to take it a step further with cybernetics. His father would shoot this idea down, infuriating him. MK1 and MK2 happen and while Kuai Liang is away, Sektor kills his father and takes over the Lin Kuei, converting most of them into cyborgs. Kuai Liang returns, finding out that two of his friends and most of his clan have been converted into cyborgs. Sektor sees this as an opportunity to kill his rival by making Kuai Liang's friends, Smoke and Cyrax, kill him. Kuai Liang barely escapes with his life but is marked for death. Sektor and Kuai Liang's relationship turns from rival clansmen to bitter enemies. Fast-forward to the present and we have Kuai Liang, Bi-Han, and Sektor: three grandmasters (of the Lin Kuei, Tekunin, and Brotherhood of Shadow respectively). Each of them had their own idea of which direction the Lin Kuei should take. Yes, I would've made Noob Saibot grandmaster of the Brotherhood of Shadow after Quan Chi died.

Yes! Finally! You address Smokes absence and extreme lack of bond with Sub Zero. It annoys me that the writers complete ignore there friendship which was build up in MK9 and in the old timeline. The explaination for MK8 probably Sub Zero thought Smoke died in his mission to assassinate Shao Khan as a cyborg and didnt know he was captured and shutdown, found by Noob to serve him and never sees Smoke at the Lin Kuei temple attack.

Can we petition to get this man to be head writer on a reboot? I don't even know what to make of the current story it's so bad.

“Why not? You fuckin’ don’t.” Lawl. Holy shit that was funny.

"Why not? YOU fuckin' don't" 😂😂😂😂 DAMN.

NRS made it clear that Special Forces characters has a far more value to them then anyone else (with some exceptions of course). I mean, all of them has a chapters in mk11 story mode.

Where’s Shao Kahn’s wasted potential :(

Kuai Liang and Smoke, though not totally ruined like other characters, were generally useless and did nothing of note. This is especially egregious in MK9. I mean: - If Cyrax runs away from the clan to escape being a robot, and Smoke does it, and Sub-Zero does it... then deserting stops being special, doesn't it? "No one escapes the Lin Kuei" suddenly seems like an empty threat if EVERYONE is doing it and none of them fear the consequences. - Sub-Zero #2 is essentially made a copy of Scorpion, driven by revenge. - So Raiden didn't save Sub-Zero from automation because he was afraid Kahn would stop him...but nobody stops Liu from walking right up to Kitana and freeing her from her chains? It was a poorly written plot twist only added in for shock value. - When Kabal beats up Cyber-Sub, in the cutscene afterwards, we see Smoke, pretending to feel sad about Sub-Zero. I say "pretending" because the scene's only a few seconds long and his dialogue and acting still sound fake as hell. You know how in the old timeline, the way the Lin Kuei escape-and-capture plot was told was better than "ambush in the Outworld woods"? Well here we finally see the consequences of the capture and here's another thought: Automation is bad because it's meant to make you think about body horror, about being mutilated on an operating table and shit like that, right? Sure would've been nice if we got to SEE THAT HAPPEN. And remember how in MK3, "My best friend was taken and I couldn't save him and now he's being forced to hunt me and I feel guilty and don't want to fight him, I want to restore him somehow" was Sub-Zero's WHOLE STORY, and Cyber-Smoke's story was kinda about trying to resist the programming and hold onto his humanity through sheer force of will? Well, apparently that's too good for the new timeline, where we don't have time to animate drama or give people personal side-quests, because nobody was hunting Smoke, Cyber-Sub never fought Smoke, Smoke had no real role in saving Sub, he was merely a bystander with a scant few vaguely sad sounding, completely forgettable lines of dialogue while Kabal and Jax and Raiden did all the real work of bringing their new robot buddy into the fold. - Sub-Zero gets to have a decently written scene where he finds out Noob is his brother and has a dramatic showdown with him...but he's NOT the one who actually finishes that fight? NIGHTWOLF, who has nothing to do with Noob, is the one who kills him? How is that appropriate? - If the only reason to switch Smoke and Sub-Zero's fates was to do something different with them and give Human Smoke a chance to be a character for a while...why would you kill BOTH of them? What the hell even was any of this? NRS can make great fighting games, but regrettably, they can't write for shit. That being said, you totally missed the point of Sub-Zero's origin in 2011. His origin is the same as it had always been; kidnapped by his Lin Kuei father and made to join the clan, and leaving behind his mother and sister, because they neither had powers nor any particularly special skills. That's what the Lin Kuei does, they kidnap children with powers and make them work for the clan. This isn't a one-off example of a Lin Kuei making his son work for him, either. The Grandmaster does the same with his own son, Sektor.

Kuai Liang Backwards is Liang Kuai (凉快 ) which means 'nice and cold' when I learned this is Mandarin I was like damn Sub Zero has a dumb name. It'd be like if Hanzo Hassashi Meant Nice and Warm or something.

nrs just needs to hire you to write for them

Right, Jerrod? Lol!

Im 98% sure that one of the writers watches you and when sub zero says “such wasted potential” it’s a shot at you

Whole Mortal Kombat is a huge wasted potential.

9:27 I think I might have a suggestion for NetherRealm's story structure. Have dedicated stories for the main characters (not all the characters, just the ones with significance). They don't have to be long, maybe an hour or two. Doing this gives more time to flesh out individual character arcs and allows players to get accustomed to certain characters. I think it fixes a lot of problems if they went with this setup... But I don't see that happening any time soon.

I think Hydro should be apart of Kuai Liang’s web of friends that is mentioned. I mostly want this so Sub-Zero, Hydro, and Smoke can be apart of a team called Solid, Liquid, and Gas.

I'm kinda sad Smoke won't have one of these, don't get me wrong Sub Zero is my favorite character and I love this episode, its just that Smoke has been done so wrong. Heck Cyrax stole the role that should've been his.

NRS don't give a shit about how good the story is, they would change anything they feel like changing at anytime.

We're unfortunately at the point where NRS themselves don't care about the lore of MK as they're too busy chasing the esports meme. It also doesn't help that Scorpion is Boon's husband so naturally he gets more development than anyone else. At this point the MK franchise should just go to someone else, perhaps the makers of Killer Instinct.

In my mind, Bi Han's grandfather took him and his brother. Perhaps their father, mother or both abandoned the clan. And grandpa took the kids to condition them for the clan.

Ironically “the line” comes from Sub-Zero

At least Sub Zero now has the best voice out of all the characters

And I don't see why people would have a problem with Bi Han getting a Redemption Arc but they were all for it with scorpion and yeah I get it scorpions back story is tragic but in all honesty he hunted down and murdered an innocent man and not only that Bi Han was shown to be a hero of the earth Realm a champion who defeated evil forces and Gods out to destroy and Conquer realms so his backstory is just as tragic if not more why the hate my ( )

Everytime i see a 4thSnake video roasting MK´s lore I know i´m in for a good time

It’s even worse that a part of community doesn’t care about these changes. I’ve seen arguments from people saying “oh it’s a fighting game it doesn’t matter” “if it plays well who cares” In a nutshell people will defend NRS and their SJW bad writing while not looking at why this is actually a big deal. Especially to us that have been playing the games forever now. It’s pretty much gotten to the point where I don’t even enjoy the game anymore and won’t touch it. Trust me I love MK I used to do local MK tournaments all the time won two of them actually but it’s just not fun anymore.

I’m up at 5:36 and I saw this. Had to watch lmaoo. Sleep? I don’t know her.

I get so annoyed by all the people saying that the lore doesn’t matter in modern mk because “It plays better” now which is pretty debatable still

5:37 lol raiden getting bullied always make me happy “I MuSt cOnsULt WiTh thE ElDer GoDs”

To be fair: Kuai apparently DOES restore Smoke before the pyramid battle in MKA, given that Smoke is part of the good guy side in the intro

Wait a minute, you’re absolutely right! 🤔🤭 Freaking Ed Boon and his yellow ninja-slave obsession, didn’t bother to do anything with the actual staple character of the series and has kept him stagnant since the last timeline. (Sub-zero, at least one version of the character, has been in every main series game, where scorpion wasn’t even in 3)... But then again, this is the same writer/whatever who gave characters the exact same endings in like every game 🤔 Sub-zero really is cold dude 😭

It’s 4 in the morning was watching your rage review on Mortal Kombat..and I refreshed and boom here we are.

If the writers could make Scorpion and Sub-Zero friends. Why not the same for Mileena and Kitana? Kinda like Kitana's ending in MK9. One of my favorites. Mileena had a happy ending ^_^

The funny thing is you’re more right about him than you think. NRS deadass wrote this man in a straight bromance with Hanzo but, he just stopped giving a fuck about his brother, two best friends and his student. Like they really just love fucking with their characters.

Post-MK9 Sub Zero is basically just a satellite character for Scorpion. Guy used to have his own storylines, with meaningful changes and interactions but now he's just regulated to Scorpion's boyfriend or sidekick. Even when they fight he always loses now, in the old timeline he at least used to fucking win.

I enjoy the stories of these games, but god damn do I wish they were longer so we could have character arcs like this. Sub Zero and Scorpion being allies should be a phenomenal part of the story, but because of how chapters are set up, they don't really get time to shine. Not only that, but characters related to them (Smoke, Noob) also fall further. Great video.

I think even NRS and Ed Boon have forgotten about Smoke at this point since he never even appears in mk11.

8:10 holy shit Kuai Liang he just got slapped back into his cyber body, oh wait

as a sub-zero fan i agree......sub-zero needs better writers...or the whole of mk. he comes off as unreasonably cold in the story but his ending shows him wanting to help his brother? seems a little odd.....like you said sub-zero should always try and free his brother from corruption, his friends and his student.

🎶"With your heart so COLD.....SUB ZERO!!!"🎶

I feel like a way to help solve some of the problems in mk11 story for sub zero is to have smoke be noobs partner instead of saibot, bi Han loves his new powers while smoke wants to escape but he is enslaved by bi Han to fight for him. Somewhere near the climax something happens that causes sub zero to have to make the choice to either save his best friend or his brother, he makes the desicion to save smoke from his enslavement and abandons noob leading to his death

Can you just get hired by NRS already. You clearly have more writing talent and passion for these characters than some of the actual writers

Please do wasted potential Smoke. He's my favorite Character ☹💔

I wonder, perhaps, if Kuai Liang should die redeeming his brother. Like imagine if they spent several games showing it as a quest of his. He redeems Smoke and Cyrax, he makes peace with Scorpion, but he still feels empty because his brother is trapped. Cue one final battle around the Jinsei or something and Bi-Han wins. He mortally wounds Kuai Liang, who then pushes him into the Jinsei. He's healed, made human again and Kuai Liang and Bi-Han share one final moment together, where Kuai Liang forces his brother to promise to lead the Lin Kuei to a better future. Imagine the stories going on, where Bi-Han has to keep the peace his brother made, but hates Scorpion for killing him, who has to befriend his brothers friends who both know Bi-Han killed Kuai Liang. And how about Frost, how would she grow up with Bi-Han being her mentor? So much potential, so much interesting things that could've happened by removing Noob and redeeming Bi-Han. And then imagine Kronika bringing Kuai Liang back as the new Noob Saibot.

I just want to say that Sub-Zero is a title from generation to generation for the best warriors in the family

What about Sektor? They pretty much turned that guy into a jobber.

Bi Han's name comes from the Chinese Word "Bì Hán". Which means "to escape the cold by going on a water holiday". While Kuai Liang is named after a Chinese Advisor who served to the Chinese Warlord named Liu Biao during the late eastern han dynasty of China. Whose first name Kuai, means family

I cannot wait for MK11 Critique

Blame Ed Boon. After John Tobias left, Ed wanted to boost his favourite character, which was Scorpion. Sub Zero was John favourite character over all.

Would love to see a Wasted Plotential video on Mortal Kombat as a franchise

I'll be damned. He listened to what I said about not using Sub-Zero's quote. Kudos to you sir.

I really love Sub-Zero. Netherrealm is focuses too much on the new characters like the Cage Family, Kotal Kahn, or the new friendship Kuai Liang has with Hanzo.

You could say that he keeps on giving his friends and family the "Kold Shoulder"... ... I'll see myself out 😔

I've recently came across and binged your videos and you mentioned something that would help so much with everything they do. NRS need a lore master, they need someone who understands their characters and relationships between different groups.

Sub zero was still impactful before but YOU made it MORE IMPACTFUL in ways that mattered. I have some ideas of my own. I envision Sub zero AKA Kuai Liang, Human Cyrax, Smoke human of course and Bi Han AKA Dark Tundra leading the Lin Kuei and finally defeating Secktor and becoming the NEW grandmasters of the Lin Kuei. On top of this they would become fathers of many sons and daughters, a strong and prolific line of honorable but deadly line of warriors. Naturally their enemy would be Secktor and he himself world collect data on them and make cybernetic versions of themselves but they would be controlled by Secktor. Frost would be Sub zero's student and Sub zero world be more attentive towards Frost helping her to improve not only her powers but her flaws, he world also tutor his children and various new members of the Lin Kuei along side Cyrax, Smoke, and Dark Tundra. I still have other ideas but this is all for now.

I believe the common understanding in the old timeline was that both of the Sub Zeros were brothers and were taken away from their parents/their mom, while their dad rejoined the clan or the clan just took them back because they wanted cryomancers. It's evident with MK Deception that there was an active Sub Zero in Shujinko's early years... so it could actually be a callback to that. Nonetheless, it still is somewhat confusing and you made great points

Rip smoke

Truth be told, I've been watching your MK videos for a while and I still don't understand what the hell's going on. I guess it's high time for me to follow ABI's move and just stop trying to understand this franchise for good. You guys hang in there, and keep doing what you're doing, Snake, and let's hope the story'll get fixed... somehow.

10:01 Tobias recently revealed that the original story had the two brothers taken from their *mother* by their *biological father* to be inducted into the clan, so they WOULD know who their biological grandfather is. The mother and sister would be left alone and not talked about.

Smoker's fate desperately needs to be changed.

Now Sub-Zero has Edenian blood in him due to his ancestors

Where there is smoke there is ire... Well played, well played.

i love these videos but they're so depressing lmao. Netherrealm hire this guy

Theory: It’s to draw parallel to scorpion. Scorpion’s dad didn’t want him in th shirai ryu, but he joined to support his family, or so I’ve heard in some adaptations. This implies that Original Subzero didn’t want his child to join the Lin Kuei & succeeded, but after he died the Lin Kuei recruited the brothers by force, so they could have a Cryomancer again.

I miss smoke so much

I completely agree. This chapter-by-character story system is flawed and needs to be replaced. Have the player use characters that are relevant in that point in the story, even letting us play with some of the villains if they do indeed win some battles. It would be more believable that way. If only the writers cared about their own characters..

“Arright” -Kuai Liang, Mortal Kombat 4

Yeah, I always thought that Kuai Liang needed some compassion slapped into him. Call me crazy, but I feel like Frost would probably be the best at it.

That outro is fucking hilarious

I’d love to see Smoke do anything besides be under someone else’s control at this point.

A shame really because he’s my favourite. Oh well, I’ll give him more screen time in my story

MK ended with Armageddon.

I'm hearing Artika's konquest song and I JUST CAN'T EVEN---!

My understanding on MK11 logic: If they don't have plot armor, they don't exist.

*SAY THE LINE SSNAKE*

BI-Han (Pre-Noob) SHOULD have been brought back in MK11 when the time merger happened. Imagine Bi-Han meeting Noob and the shock that would cause him. Destiny, fate, unchangeable future(?), all that good stuff. Not to mention HOPEFULLY making things right with his younger brother who cares more about Hanzo than anyone else. HELL, Bi-Han and Hanzo could really have some amazing character development there! Most of us here are overqualified for world-building at Netherrealm lol

I suppose a clan of assassin's would have to have some levels of disconnect as they'd never know what mission could be their last. In the Midway era, by having Kuai Kiang try to redeem his brother by finishing his mission, that suggests trying to honour his memory. But when MK9 occurred, they didn't show any disconnect as Smoke and Kuai Liang seemed pretty close, meaning his total lack of acknowledgement of Smoke in the later games would be inconsistent. The time skip might explain some lack of empathy but considering Smoke was still on the front lines in MKX, Sub-Zero could've at least mentioned him.

It truly is a shame NRS care not for the potential to keep an consistent narrative and character development. R. I. P. Mortal Kombat.

It's so difficult to like fighting games with bad writing in stories. I wish one company would care about it's writing if they're going to create a fighting game.

Damn man, i feel like an idiot, Sub zero is my favorite character and in his really short appearances he doesn't deal with sektor, frost, Noob, or smoke, and doesn't have a satisfying resolution with cyrax and I barely notice. What a lazy story this guy has. I admit is cool seeing him teaming up with scorpion but NOOB IS RIGHT THERE.

Thank you for this video! Sub zero has been my favorite character since I was a kid, and I straight up despise what they've done to his character 🤬😠

WOAH YOU’RE RIGHT!! Sub Zero and Scorpion could have went with the special forces in the NetherRealm in MK11

again, another reason why im happy mortal kombat will be (hopefully) rebooted after mk11. To finally give characters a fresh start so that netherrealm doesnt screw up the current story further

Given all of these Wasted Plotential videos I think it would be cool if you ever did a series about how you would have written the MK storyline if given the chance. Maybe set some guidelines like you can only use characters used in the series, you have to use the same games that were made, and you have to keep key defining events (invasion of Earthrealm, the Deadly Alliance, Armageddon, the time reset, etc). It would be fun to see what you come up with.

Y'know with how he was the punching bag in most MK11 Trailers and how Skorpion is becoming their beloved mascot. I'm starting to think they couldn't give less of a shit for The Sub Zeroes.

At this point I don’t know what to believe about mk lore but I only follow the midway era as I just play NRS for entertainment

So I only discovered this channel a few weeks ago and I’m just now realising that this show is called Wasted Plotential and not Wasted Potential.

You've been deceived again for you see...TWAS I WHO REALLY KILLED JERROD!!!!