Kung Lao and Sub-Zero are two names constantly causing misinterpretations. The
original Kung Lao (who was killed long ago by Goro) and the current one (who
made his in-game debut in MKII) are both simply referred to in the games as
"Kung Lao". Only the occassional reference to the original being the
current one's ancestor is made, and often mentioned as though it were an
insignificant detail.
Even worse, both the older Sub-Zero (the one who appeared in MK1 and
MKM:Sub-Zero, as well as later on in both UMK3 and MKT as 'Classic Sub-Zero')
and his younger brother (who was masked and simply called 'Sub-Zero' in MKII
and MK4, and appeared unmasked in MK3 and MK:DA), are often understandably
confused with eachother by fans. Of course, even within the story, Scorpion
believed for many years that they were the same person, but we'll get to that
part soon enough. To add to the confusion, the action/adventure spin-off titled
MKM:Sub-Zero revealed an even more elaborate family line for the Sub-Zero's:
the older brother (Classic) is technically the fifth man to be called Sub-Zero,
while the younger brother is the sixth. Their father, who has never actually
appeared in the games, was the fourth. Plotpoints like this make it almost
puzzle-like to dissect the storyline. After cross-referencing a lot of the
in-game text to distinguish these characters' histories, this guide should help
to clear up the confusion using the following standards:
• In this guide, when referring to the Kung Lao who was killed by Goro many
generations ago, he will always be referred to as "(the first) Kung
Lao", including brackets. All other references to simply "Kung
Lao" is the descendant, who made his debut in the games with MKII, and
lives in the same generation as Liu Kang.
• In this guide, when referring to the older brother Sub-Zero who was really
killed by Scorpion in MK1, he will always be referred to as "(Classic)
Sub-Zero", including brackets. All other references to simply
"Sub-Zero" refers to the younger brother. Those are the only two who
have actually appeared in any of the games. (That whole 5th and 6th plotpoint
from MKM:Sub-Zero is mentioned only in the introduction to the Lin Kuei clan,
but nowhere else.)
While every effort has been made to accurately represent the chronology of the
Mortal Kombat universe, there will always be minor discrepancies between
differing ways of reading or listening to the same words, be it in a game or in
reality. However, I've made an effort to make it as accurate as possible, and
will make corrections if necessary. To maintain a clearer narrative, it is
organizing into the chronological order in which the events are supposed to
have taken place within the MK universe.
The main storyline of the fifth Mortal Kombat fighting game, Deadly Alliance,
revolves mainly around Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, who both spent the majority of
their histories serving powerful rulers (Shao Kahn and Shinnok respectively.)
Each of the other characters in the game have their own motives for entering
the new tournament, as usual, but it all breaks down into three main plots:
1) The Deadly Alliance: How and why Tsung and Quan Chi formed it, why Scorpion
is after Quan Chi, and why Kung Lao and Bo'Rai Cho are entering the tournament
together.
2) The Web of Deception (section 5-5): This is the title I've given a major
MKDA sub-plot for this document. It's an intricate set of circumstances
revolving around the Outerworld Investigation Agency that Sonya and Jax formed,
the Red Dragon organization (century-long rivals of the established Black
Dragon from previous games), and a female vampire named Nitara with personal
motives of her own. This story was told in pieces with the character bios of
everyone involved, but with a lot of cross-referencing, it has all been pieced
together into one chain of events for this document.
3) Raiden: The remainder of the story is the expected defense of Earth realm
effort by Raiden. Basically, he approaches everyone who isn't already involved
by other circumstances and fills them in on what the Deadly Alliance has done,
and asks them to help him stop them (this is the introductory full-motion video
sequence you see in the game.)
