POP! Games – Sub-Zero

Sub-Zero! Arguably my favourite character from the Mortal Kombat series. A ninja who could freeze people and who had one of the most brutal fatalities in the original game. What more could you really want from a fighting game character?

A couple of different people have worn the Sub-Zero mantle over the years. The Sub-Zero from the first game got killed off, eventually returning as Noob Saibot. The current holder of the title is the original Sub-Zero’s younger brother – why not, I guess?

But back in the day, before you could just look this stuff up on the internet, we mostly just knew Sub-Zero as the blue ninja with ice powers. You could kind of infer that he was a rival of Scorpion, given that they were different coloured ninjas, but let’s be honest here – no-one was playing that first game for the intricate story.

As one of the most popular characters in the series, Sub-Zero’s inclusion in the Mortal Kombat line was a foregone conclusion. He’s been designed to look like his Mortal Kombat X incarnation; it’s much more intricate than his first costume, but you can see there’s a common thread there. Personally, I think it’s a little over-detailed here, but Funko have been transitioning away from their plainer designs for quite some time now.

The paint isn’t going to blow you away, but it’s better than you might expect; the main areas you’ll want to watch out for are his hands. In classic Funko fashion, paintwork seems to be improving at a rate of two steps forward, one step back. The excess of detail certainly makes the painting process trickier, too.

There’s also a chase version of Sub-Zero available, at a 1/6 ratio. It’s the same sculpt, but his right hand is holding some kind of ice blob, cast in semi-transparent blue plastic. A good variation but not something worth paying scalper prices for.

Sub-Zero isn’t as good as the Scorpion I reviewed last month, but he is a fun figure nonetheless. Hopefully we’ll see some more additions to the line and/or repaints in the near future. Personally, I'm hoping for an MK/MK 2 Reptile.