The Tragic Tale of Noob Saibot
Mortal Kombat 11
ESRB M, $60, Ages 18+,
Release date: April 23rd, 2019
Runs on: Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC
Published by: NetherRealm Studios
Consider the modern fighting game.
From the beer soaked, washing-machine game consoles of the ’80s, to the latest eSports stadium with a 4K Jumbotron, the fighting game genre can be reduced to the most basic visceral elements.
That’s probably why I appreciate this play pattern so much — and why you probably do, too. If you do, keep reading.
As any video game scholar knows, Mortal Kombat is the poster child of fighting games. With this latest (April 2019) release — Mortal Kombat 11, NetherRealm Studios had some work to do in order to keep the fans interested. Needless to say, when it came to a certain character, there was more to be desired.
Bi-Han is Back.
769–342. If you know this code you know exactly who I am referring to. Noob Saibot and I first met on my Sega Dreamcast back in 2004— in Mortal Kombat 4 GOLD. The mysterious ninja piqued my interest from the start, and he became my main fighter. Not all good things last forever, though. I eventually grew out of my Dreamcast and forgot all about MK, leaving Noob behind me.
We met again a decade later, in with the 2011 with the release of Mortal Kombat 9. It was not just seeing him Noob on the roster that made me giddy, it was hearing Jamieson Price deliver such an incredible performance on him as well. The way Noob looked, sounded and fought; it was amazing. I had regained my love for the franchise, and couldn’t wait to get back into the ring.
In hindsight, I should’ve stayed away, because seeing how everything with Noob turned out let me down.
Personally, I’ve found that the latest Mortal Kombat (MK11) has an identity crisis, and it doesn’t look like it will be fixed anytime soon.
Back in 2011, MK9 sought to try and reboot the original MK1 through MK3 story, offering a fresh perspective on an old story. Noob Saibot stayed the same up to this point, but still had a lot to tell. I have included a video to watch if you are unfamiliar with his origin. If not keep reading.
Finished? Let’s get right back to it.
So… Noob Saibot is back this year in MK11 with a spectacular redesign… a hoard of skins, gear, flashy intros, and visceral fatalities. His new voice, performed by Sean Chiplock grew on me given the context of Bi-Han’s “death” in MK9. But he could be so much more.
Kronika, the “big bad” this time around, employs the service of characters from both the current and past timelines, promising them power and authority in the “New Era.” Bi-Han, freed from Quan-Chi’s control after Hanzo Hasashi (Scorpion) beheaded him, decides to look into her offer.
You learn that Bi-Han is promised a new and deadly clan to lead in the New Era. After that, he is swiftly dealt with by either Scorpion or Sub-Zero. Bi-Han makes an escape, without any sort of extra dialog after the fight. I figured he would be back relatively soon, considering it was only one loss. The next and final time Bi-Han showed up was just to be beaten by either young Jax or Jacqui.
That’s it.
A character that was unjustly killed, enslaved, corrupted, killed AGAIN, and then freed was nothing more than a basic minion. What about his encounter with Scorpion? What about the obvious stupidity in Kronika’s logic? What about trying to find recognition? What about attempting to reclaim the honor he lost in life?
Noob Saibot is a typical case of wasted potential. He is not the only character to be put in this position, and will certainly not be the last. Seeing as he is my favorite character, I took this personally, and decided to take a look at what exactly NetherRealm Studios did wrong, and what they could have changed.
- Powers and abilities: Noob Saibot has complete control over darkness, which supplies him with portals, clones, energy balls and more. He is a threat that can clone himself, teleport, displace his enemies at will and survived Shang Tsung’s strongest magic spell; on top of this, he is an experienced assassin and proficient with a myriad of weapons. How was he bested by a teenager?
- Motivation: With the established fact that he is unkillable, very dangerous, and apparently freed from all sort of control, why is his first instinct to blindly follow a leader with empty promises? Can he put together that once time is restarted, he will need to face the same fate again in order to exist; and that it is a bit preposterous for Kronika to fulfill the promises to those whom seek to control the new timeline?
- Absence: What happened in the time between his initial freedom and Kronika’s recruitment? Even if we had an answer to that, and he still played out the same way in the story, why would you bring back a dead character to have absolutely nothing interesting happen with them? It is cool that he was brought back, but the only thing he contributed was an unhealthy amount of narcissism and black clothing.
- Personality: In some of the intro dialogues, Bi-Han has these moments where he’ll seem to speak genuinely to some capacity. “Were we always enemies?” “Kuai Liang was a fool to trust you.” “Death is the coldest ice.” “I was killed unjustly.” “Not willingly.” These moments feel special because every other time Bi-Han speaks, it is usually to say how evil he is, how he is perfect, or something-or-other about the endless abyss. It feels like NetherRealm Studios sacrificed Bi-Han being an interesting character for the kicks of making him a really minor inconvenience.
For The Future
Despite the fact Noob is not a main or relevant character in the current Mortal Kombat continuity, he remains an absolute favorite of mine — and I suspect, many other MK fans. Not to mention he’s the namesake (spelled backwards) of the two biggest minds behind Mortal Kombat. I’ll continue playing and customizing my own Noob Saibot, and hope to see some development in the coming years.
It would be such a shame to see him taken down a similar path in the next game he is in, especially when Mortal Kombat 11’s ending was so open-ended.
I’d like NetherRealm to take a close look at Bi-Han and his character arc. I want to feel like Noob was brought back for a purpose not shown in Mortal Kombat 11, and that whatever follows will finally bring peace to those that wrote him, and those that enjoy him.
I’m Mr. Noob Saibot, I also go by the name Unconquerable (@UnconquerableYT) on Twitter. As of right now, I’m an IMM Major at TCNJ and hope to get a job in the gaming industry later in life.
