Noob Saibot

Noob Saibot
Noob Saibot as he appears in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
Series	Mortal Kombat
First game	Mortal Kombat II
Portrayed by	Daniel Pesina (MKII) Richard Divizio (MK3) John Turk (UMK3, MKT) J.J. Perry (second film) Kimball Uddin (Konquest) Jamieson Price (voice, MK2011)
Fictional profile
Origin	China, Earthrealm (reborn in Netherealm)
Fighting styles	Hapkido (MK:TE) Pi Gua (MK:TE) Monkey (MK:D, MK:A)

Noob Saibot is a video game character from the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He debuted as a hidden character in Mortal Kombat II (1993), although the later game Mortal Kombat: Deception (2004) established his true identity as that of the original Sub-Zero, who was killed by his nemesis Scorpion after the events in the first Mortal Kombat. The character's name comes from the last names of the creators of the Mortal Kombat franchise, Ed Boon and John Tobias, spelled in reverse.^[1]

Character development

During his first appearances, Noob Saibot's design was focused in the use of blackness with the staff stating "that's what's he's all about". They found difficulties in making some versions, without him appearing to look "into bondage".^[2] For Mortal Kombat: Deception, Noob Saibot was the first character drawn with designs made by Steve Beran.^[3] In this game, Beran attempted with multiple outfits in order to make him a more distinctive character and a give a less focus in his blackness. One design was removed because of difficulties with its details and similarites with a tuxedo.

Another one wore a hood, but such idea was later moved to the new character of Havik.^[4] An early alternate outfit depicted Noob Saibot with a black, red and blue outift with a Japanese words for darkness in the front flap. He was also shown unmasked, but this design ended as Havik's alternate outfit.^[5] For the same game, the use of a two-on-two combat was meant to be introduced, but was only used with the pair Noob Saibot and Smoke. Both characters were used as models for the use of such concept, and were intended to work together in the player's fatality.^[6]

In video games

Noob Saibot was first introduced in Mortal Kombat II as a hidden opponent simply referred to as "New Warrior." His character was given the name Noob Saibot and was made playable in home versions of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy.^[7] In the latter two games he allies with the emperor Shao Kahn while he secretly observes the emperor at the behest of the Brothers of the Shadow. Although early versions of Mortal Kombat 4 featured him as a playable character, he was eventually changed back to being hidden.^[8] In Mortal Kombat 4, he serves his superior, the fallen Elder God Shinnok. Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition featured Noob Saibot once again as a playable character, this time around serving as one of Shao Kahn's soldiers.

In Mortal Kombat: Deception, Noob Saibot is free to command his own group of assassins to serve him. He makes the cyborg Smoke his servant, with both characters appearing as early bosses, under the name "Noob Smoke". Here it was revealed that Noob Saibot was the resurrected form of the original Sub-Zero, named Bi-Han (Chinese: 避寒; pinyin: Bìhán)^[9] who appeared in the first Mortal Kombat tournament and was killed by his enemy Scorpion.^[10] This revelation is explored further in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks when Noob Saibot is pursued by his younger brother during one of the cut-scenes.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon featured Noob Saibot as a playable character. In the game's story mode, he and Smoke invade the Lin Kuei ninja clan's castle, assimilating most of the defending Lin Kuei ninja, turning them into their own subordinate warriors. Noob Saibot and Smoke are eventually defeated by the warrior Taven, and Noob Saibot is left in the castle, unconscious. Sub-Zero then tries to force Noob Saibot to recall his past identity.

Noob Saibot's latest appearance is in the 2011 Mortal Kombat video game. After being killed by Scorpion, he is subsequently resurrected by Quan Chi and serves as one of his enforcers.^[11] Supporting him and Shao Kahn, Noob Saibot is trapped by the Earth warrior Nightwolf in a magical tornado that explodes alongside him.^[12]

Gameplay

In Noob Saibot's debut game, Mortal Kombat II, he serves as a hidden opponent rather than a playable character. His appearance was that of a silhouette of Scorpion and his special abilities in Mortal Kombat II were copied from Scorpion. Losing to Noob Saibot in the Arcade version of Mortal Kombat II, Shao Kahn says, "Feel the power of -" and is abruptly cut off by Forden's "Toasty!"; however, in the SNES version of Mortal Kombat II will cause shouts of "You will die, mortal!" and "Toasty!" from Shao Kahn and Dan Forden, respectively. In Mortal Kombat 3, Noob Saibot is not a ninja palette swap, but actually a silhouette of Kano, since there were no human ninja in the game; as a result, his move list contains only Kano's combos. After Noob wins a round, a programming glitch has the voice over saying, "Kano shows mercy!" In the Game Gear version, he had Kano's special moves and the Eyebeam Fatality. However, in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (UMK3), due to the return of the ninja characters, he was given a full black sprite in the arcade and home versions, save for the Sega Saturn. Losing to Noob Saibot in UMK3's Arcade, Nintendo DS, and Sega Saturn conversions will cause Shao Kahn to say "It's official, you suck!". Noob Saibot is playable in Shaolin Monks in the Versus mode if both players select Sub-Zero; the last player to select him will play as a variation of Noob Saibot. He is colored black, like the real Noob Saibot, but he has Sub-Zero's frozen forearms and retains all of his younger brother's moves and fatalities. The only game in the main series Noob has not appeared in is Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance; however, is still included in the roster of Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition.

In other media

Noob Saibot (played by Kimball Uddin) made one appearance in Mortal Kombat: Konquest as an imprisoned Outworld warrior mistakenly released by Siro and Taja and then recruited by a sorceress to assassinate Kung Lao, a task which he failed. He was completely covered in black oil and wielded an Escrima stick.

Noob Saibot appeared in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, as a warrior who emerged from Ermac. Although he is not referred to by name in the film, or listed in the credits, he is specifically mentioned by name in the novelization based on the film.^{[citation needed]} He was played by J.J. Perry.^[13]

Reception

UGO.com ranked Noob Saibot at number three in their "Top 15 Mortal Kombat Characters" article, stating approval for his character evolution as the series progressed.^[14] In a humor article by GameSpy, the Mortal Kombat: Trilogy version of Noob Saibot was noted as being broken, citing a combo, where Noob Saibot fires one "Disabler" does a short combo then fires another "Disabler" in which the opponent can not escape. It jokingly noted that the only way to beat this combo was to eject the game.^[15] Noob Saibot, along with Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Reptile, Smoke, Ermac, Rain and Chameleon was ranked #3 in GamePro's 2009 list of the best palette-swapped video game characters.^[16] IGN noted that fighting Noob was one of the more difficult secrets to attain in Mortal Kombat II.^[17] Kotaku praised his Fatality describing it as "vicious looking" and calling it a highlight of Mortal Kombat.^[18]

References

1. ^ Mike Fahey (May 10, 2011). "In Which Noob Saibot Lives Up to His Name". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5800529/in-which-noob-saibot-lives-up-to-his-name. Retrieved May 14, 2011. 
2. ^ Midway. Mortal Kombat: Deception. (Midway). Level/area: Kontent: Noob Concepts. (2004)
3. ^ Midway. Mortal Kombat: Deception. (Midway). Level/area: Kontent: Noob Saibot Demo. (2004)
4. ^ Midway. Mortal Kombat: Deception. (Midway). Level/area: Kontent: Noob Concepts. (2004)
5. ^ Midway. Mortal Kombat: Deception. (Midway). Level/area: Kontent: Noob Demo Version. (2004)
6. ^ Midway. Mortal Kombat: Deception. (Midway). Level/area: Kontent: Double Character Concept. (2004)
7. ^ "History of Mortal Kombat Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3". GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 21, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071021084634/http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/video/hist_mortalk/p16.html. Retrieved May 21, 2011. 
8. ^ "Mortal Kombat 4 (cont.)". GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 21, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071021084644/http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/video/hist_mortalk/p20.html. Retrieved May 21, 2011. 
9. ^ "Netherrealm Studios Releases Sub-Zero Vignette!". 2010-11-11. http://www.mortalkombatonline.com/content/News/read.cds?article=1292. Retrieved 2011 01-24. 
10. ^ Midway. Mortal Kombat: Deception. (Midway). Level/area: Noob-Smoke ending. (2004) "After resurrection, Noob Saibot was surprised to see how much stronger his younger brother, the new Sub-Zero, had become. If he were still Lin Kuei, still human, he would probably have shown some degree of pride in his brother's achievements. However, as Raiden had revealed during the ordeal with Shinnok's amulet, his soul had been tainted when he had died at the hand of Scorpion."
11. ^ Netherealm Studios. Mortal Kombat: Deception. (Midway). Level/area: Chapter 14: Cyber Sub-Zero. (2011) "Sub-Zero: Bi-Han?! / Noob Saibot: Yes Kuai Lang. It is I. Quan Chi restored me."
12. ^ Netherealm Studios. Mortal Kombat. (Midway). Level/area: Chapter 15: Nightwolf. (2011)
13. ^ Mortal Kombat Novels - Trivia. Webs.com. Retrieved on 2010-02-20
14. ^ Noob Saibot - Top 15 Mortal Kombat Characters. UGO.com. Retrieved on 2008-12-23
15. ^ McKinney, Luke (2009-12-09). "Lame Fighter 2: The World's Worst Warriors!". GameSpy. p. 2. http://www.gamespy.com/articles/105/1052969p2.html. Retrieved 2010-03-13. 
16. ^ Koehn, Aaron (2009-01-13). "Palette Swapping: 17 Games that Did it Right". GamePro. http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/208570/17-best-palette-swapped-characters/. Retrieved 2010-03-13. 
17. ^ Lewis, Ed (2004-09-14). "Treasure of the Day: Mortal Kombat 2". IGN. http://ps2.ign.com/articles/548/548281p1.html. Retrieved 2010-04-04. 
18. ^ McWhertor, Michael (2011-04-29). "The New Mortal Kombat Does More Than Just Gore In Its Killer Celebration Of The Franchise". Kotaku. http://www.kotaku.com.au/2011/04/the-new-mortal-kombat-does-more-than-just-gore-in-its-killer-celebration-of-the-franchise/. Retrieved 2011-05-04.