I think it does fit Bi-Han’s character as a very simple, unemotional, unattached man concerned only with loyalty, to have a very un-personalized, standard Lin Kuei uniform – albeit with the tunic markings because he’s a high-ranked member, since Sub-Zero is said to be the single best warrior in the clan at the time of MKM/MK1. Although white coloured contacts offer the best depiction relative to the video games, you can also choose a pair of Sub-zero blue contact lenses that show off the characters iconic colour and his affinity with deadly ice attacks. Also, when I draw Scorpion’s eyes, I like to make sure they look like the very heavily shadowed ones with seemingly no eyebrows that he had in MK2, I think that captures his scary undead look the best. You can tell right away when you look at it “that is definitely one of Shang’s guards”.

Also note, a very subtle touch: I actually keep very close track of the heights of the characters I draw, compared to one another. I also made sure to keep his knives as blue lightsabers like they were in the original MK1 and 3. I prefer sci-fi and fantasy elements over too much realism and Kano’s one character that I think benefits from more tech in his arsenal. I always thought that for his entrance into the tournament and first meetings with the heroes, he’d want to sort of keep his godhood a secret, the way Yoda pretends to be a simple-minded native when Luke first meets him on Dagobah, to test how Luke treats him and see if he’s a good person and how ready he is to learn. Now feeling quite happy with my success so far I thought it would be a good idea to try and make one.

To make him look different from the other ninjas and specifically “Scorpion”-y, I gave him skull kneepads because Scorpion always wears skulls somewhere on himself as his specific logo, and his is the only one of the ninja costumes that has that diamond quilting pattern. SCORPION – Scorpion is the only “ninja” in MK who’s actually from a Japanese ninja clan. In addition to adding sleeves, I’m modifying the belt so it has a skull buckle that’s part of an alternate in-game Scorpion. I always thought it was weird that he wore red in the first game and then suddenly switched to blue for every game after, so I wanted to draw him with a blue belt. Then I thought “well those slippers look silly, let’s give him socks and tennis shoes like he wears in the other games”. Mainly I think what I like about it is that softer padding makes the Shirai Ryu look more poor and mundane than the Lin Kuei, who have more decorated clothes and fancier armor.

I used that little “swirly clouds” texture in a very faint blue on his shawl, which is shaped like the one from Mythologies (two parts hang down from the belt instead of one loincloth like in the other games), because he had a similar texture on his clothes in Vincent Proce’s fan art and I liked how it looked. One thing I wanted to do is make his clothes much “nicer” and more privileged looking than Scorp who’s still dressing like a Feudal Japan ninja, so Sub’s outfit is tight like spandex, his tabi boots are rubber soled instead of sandals, it looks like it’s all been sewn specifically for him. Press the confirm button (X on PS4) to make this a permanent costume change, at which point you’ll be pushed into the variation selection menu. SUB-ZERO – To me, the first Sub-Zero costume isn’t the one from MK1, it’s the one from Mythologies, because that’s the prequel.