Noob Saibot
Encyclopedia
Noob Saibot is a video game character
from the Mortal Kombat fighting game
series. He debuted as a hidden character in Mortal Kombat II
, although the later game Mortal Kombat: Deception
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.
Another one wore a hood, but such idea was later moved to the new character of Havik. 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. 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.
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
. 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. 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 who appeared in the first Mortal Kombat tournament and was killed by his enemy Scorpion. 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. Supporting him and Shao Kahn, Noob Saibot is trapped by the Earth warrior Nightwolf in a magical tornado that explodes alongside him.
, 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.
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. He was played by J.J. Perry
.
, 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. 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. IGN
noted that fighting Noob was one of the more difficult secrets to attain in Mortal Kombat II. Kotaku
praised his Fatality describing it as "vicious looking" and calling it a highlight of Mortal Kombat.
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the Mortal Kombat fighting game
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
series. He debuted as a hidden character in Mortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat II is a competitive fighting game originally produced by Midway Games for the arcades in . It is the second game in the Mortal Kombat series. Like its predecessor, various home versions were produced...
, although the later game Mortal Kombat: Deception
Mortal Kombat: Deception
Mortal Kombat: Deception is a fighting game developed and published by Midway as the sixth installment for the Mortal Kombat series. It was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in October 2004, while a Nintendo GameCube version was published in March 2005. Mortal Kombat: Deception follows the...
established his true identity as that of the original Sub-Zero
Sub-Zero (Mortal Kombat)
Sub-Zero is the name given to two video game characters from the Mortal Kombat series. The older Sub-Zero first appeared in the first Mortal Kombat game, being replaced by his younger brother in Mortal Kombat II and the subsequent games...
, who was killed by his nemesis Scorpion
Scorpion (Mortal Kombat)
Scorpion is a recurring player and boss character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He has been a playable character in all the games, with the exception of the original version of Mortal Kombat 3.-In video games:...
after the events in the first Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat (video game)
Mortal Kombat is a 1992 fighting-game developed and published by Midway for arcades. In 1993, home versions were released by Acclaim Entertainment. Released in the Fall of 1994, the Microsoft Windows 3.1x version was released by Activision Interactive. It is the first title in the Mortal Kombat...
. The character's name comes from the last names of the creators of the Mortal Kombat franchise, Ed Boon
Ed Boon
Edward J. Boon is an American video game programmer who had been employed for over 15 years at Midway. He now works for Warner Bros...
and John Tobias
John Tobias
John Tobias is an American comic book artist, graphic designer and video game designer. Along with Ed Boon he is one of the creators of the groundbreaking Mortal Kombat fighting game series....
, spelled in reverse.
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". For Mortal Kombat: Deception, Noob Saibot was the first character drawn with designs made by Steve Beran. 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 similarities with a tuxedo.Another one wore a hood, but such idea was later moved to the new character of Havik. 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. 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.
In video games
Noob Saibot was first introduced in Mortal Kombat IIMortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat II is a competitive fighting game originally produced by Midway Games for the arcades in . It is the second game in the Mortal Kombat series. Like its predecessor, various home versions were produced...
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
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is a fighting game in the Mortal Kombat series, released in arcades in 1995. It is an update of Mortal Kombat 3 and was later updated again into Mortal Kombat Trilogy...
and Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Mortal Kombat Trilogy is a fighting game developed and published by Midway in 1996. It is a compilation of content from the previous Mortal Kombat titles, based primarily upon the gameplay mechanics of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3...
. 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
Mortal Kombat 4
Mortal Kombat 4 is the fourth main game in the Mortal Kombat series of fighting video games developed by Midway Games. Released to arcades in 1997, Mortal Kombat 4 is the first title from the series to use 3D computer graphics as well as one of the first games that Midway made in 3D. Eurocom later...
featured him as a playable character, he was eventually changed back to being hidden. 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
Mortal Kombat: Deception
Mortal Kombat: Deception is a fighting game developed and published by Midway as the sixth installment for the Mortal Kombat series. It was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in October 2004, while a Nintendo GameCube version was published in March 2005. Mortal Kombat: Deception follows the...
, 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 who appeared in the first Mortal Kombat tournament and was killed by his enemy Scorpion. This revelation is explored further in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks is an action/beat-em-up video game based on the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games. Shaolin Monks was developed by Midway LA and published by Midway for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox...
when Noob Saibot is pursued by his younger brother during one of the cut-scenes.
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon is the seventh game in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. The PlayStation 2 version was released in stores on October 11, 2006 while the Xbox version was released on the October 16, with a Wii version released on May 29, 2007 in North America.The game was not released...
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. Supporting him and Shao Kahn, Noob Saibot is trapped by the Earth warrior Nightwolf in a magical tornado that explodes alongside him.
Gameplay
In Noob Saibot's debut game, Mortal Kombat IIMortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat II is a competitive fighting game originally produced by Midway Games for the arcades in . It is the second game in the Mortal Kombat series. Like its predecessor, various home versions were produced...
, 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
Dan Forden
Daniel "Dan" Warner "Toasty" Forden is an American sound programmer and music composer, and was the lead programmer on several high-profile arcade and pinball games...
, respectively. In Mortal Kombat 3
Mortal Kombat 3
Mortal Kombat 3 is a fighting game developed by Midway and released in 1995, first as an arcade game. It is the third game in the Mortal Kombat series...
, Noob Saibot is not a ninja palette swap
Palette swap
A palette swap is a practice used in video games, whereby a graphic that is already used for one element is given a different palette, so it can be reused as other elements. The different palette gives the new graphic a unique set of colors, which make it recognizably distinct from the original...
, 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
Sega Game Gear
The was Sega's first handheld game console. It was the third commercially available color handheld console, after the Atari Lynx and the TurboExpress....
version, he had Kano's special moves and the Eyebeam Fatality. However, in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is a fighting game in the Mortal Kombat series, released in arcades in 1995. It is an update of Mortal Kombat 3 and was later updated again into Mortal Kombat Trilogy...
(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
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
. Losing to Noob Saibot in UMK3's Arcade, Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
, 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
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, originally known as Mortal Kombat V: Vengeance or simply Mortal Kombat 5, is a fighting game developed and published by Midway for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo GameCube, and Game Boy Advance...
; 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: KonquestMortal Kombat: Konquest
Mortal Kombat: Konquest is an American martial arts television series that aired for one season from 1998 to 1999, and was based on the popular Mortal Kombat fighting game series. The program was filmed at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida.-Storyline:"In each of us there burns a soul...
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
Eskrima
Eskrima is the umbrella term for the traditional martial arts of the Philippines, which emphasize weapon-based fighting with sticks, knives and other bladed weapons, and various improvised weapons...
stick.
Noob Saibot appeared in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is a 1997 American martial arts action film that was the sequel to 1995's Mortal Kombat, and was directed by John R. Leonetti, who had served as the cinematographer for the previous film...
, as a warrior who emerged from Ermac
ERMAC
ERMAC is a forum in which risk management professionals can nurture relationships with other risk management professionals. It also provides a forum in which these professionals can discuss topical energy risk management issues and ideas...
. 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. He was played by J.J. Perry
J.J. Perry
Jordan Andrew Perry , better known as J.J. Perry, is an American martial artist, actor, and stuntman.-Career:Perry began practicing martial arts training in 1975, at the age of eight. Because his mother was not able to afford her son's lessons, he cleaned a martial arts school, and received...
.
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. In a humor article by GameSpyGameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
, 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. Noob Saibot, along with Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Reptile, Smoke, Ermac, Rain and Chameleon was ranked #3 in GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
's 2009 list of the best palette-swapped video game characters. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
noted that fighting Noob was one of the more difficult secrets to attain in Mortal Kombat II. Kotaku
Kotaku
Kotaku is a video games-focused blog. It is part of Gawker Media's "Gawker" network of sites, which also includes Gizmodo, Deadspin, Lifehacker, io9 and Jezebel. Named to CNET News' Blog 100, Kotaku is consistently listed in the top 40 of Technorati's Top 100...
praised his Fatality describing it as "vicious looking" and calling it a highlight of Mortal Kombat.