Warning: SPOILERS for Mortal Kombat (2021).
Mortal Kombat begins with an extended intro showing the rivalry between Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada) and Bi-Han/Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim), but it doesn’t spend much time explaining how that rivalry began. The two warriors play pivotal roles throughout the movie, with Sub-Zero acting as the primary antagonist, and Scorpion playing more of a background role as Cole Young’s ancestor. The origins of Scorpion and Sub-Zero’s feud go back even earlier than the film’s first scene, however, and some details from the video games can help explain why Sub-Zero killed Scorpion in the first place.
The story of Scorpion and Sub-Zero is also the story of their clans – Hanzo’s Shirai Ryu ninjas, and Bi-Han’s Lin Kuei assassins. In the Mortal Kombat games, the Shirai Ryu are formed when a Lin Kuei, Takeda, leaves China and the clan to start his own group of warriors, who become the Shirai Ryu. Because leaving the Lin Kuei is a fatal offense, war brewed between the two clans. The Shirai Ryu are later wiped out by the Netherrealm sorcerer Quan Chi, as payment for services rendered to him by the Lin Kuei, and specifically, Sub-Zero.
Things go a little bit differently in the Mortal Kombat reboot. For starters, Sub-Zero hunts Scorpion down and kills him in cold blood, rather than on the battlefield as happens in the video games. Sub-Zero also kills Scorpion’s family – a deed committed by Quan Chi in the games, though Scorpion still believes Sub-Zero is responsible. Sub-Zero is also an agent of the Outworld sorcerer Shang Tsung in the movie, rather than of Quan Chi, who doesn’t appear. Even with all these differences, however, the games can still help paint a clearer picture of Bi-Han and Hanzo’s feud.
It’s not confirmed that Sub-Zero is working for Shang Tsung when he kills Scorpion in the Mortal Kombat movie, but it’s likely. Because of the prophecy that Hanzo’s bloodline would defeat Outworld, the sorcerer would have wanted him out of the way. The existing war between the Shirai Ryu and the Lin Kuei would have made Sub-Zero a perfect choice to execute the assassination, which is exactly what he does. In this way, the Mortal Kombat reboot uses essentially the same storyline as the games, just with Shang Tsung replacing Quan Chi as the villain pulling the strings.
Though Scorpion exacts his revenge on Sub-Zero at the end of Mrtal Kombat, their fight is far from over. In the games, Bi-Han returns from the Netherrealm as the shadow ninja Noob Saibot, an even more powerful and evil foe. Scorpion’s actions will likely also draw the ire of the whole Lin Kuei clan, putting Cole Young at the center of war in Mortal Kombat 2.