Cryomancers
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Cryomancers are a relatively new race in the Mortal Kombat series of games. While members of this race have been in most of the games, it was only recently revealed in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance that there was such a race at all.
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[edit] Known Cryomancers
The only currently known descendants of this ancient Outworld race are Sub-Zero, Noob Saibot, and Frost. They all exhibit some form of control over ice and/or water. They seem most comfortable in near-polar regions, as evidenced by Sub-Zero's new Lin Kuei headquarters, and the Frozen Katakombs ruins in Outworld. Noob Saibot does not share this preference, since he died, and was sent to reside in the Netherrealm.
[edit] Outworld origins
Cryomancers were once a race of people in ancient Outworld. They all had the ability to control and manipulate ice, known as Kori powers (Kori is the Japanese word for ice, although the usual English translation is "Koori"). It is unclear how or when they died out, but some theories speculate that Shao Kahn may have feared their power and had them wiped out, or they could've died out during Onaga's reign. Some fled to Earthrealm, joined the ranks of the Lin Kuei, and have even bred with humans. Descendants have had no knowledge of their true ancestry.
The Frozen Katakombs is the only known sanctuary of the lost race of Cryomancers. It is located somewhere in Outworld. It is the place where Sub-Zero buried Frost after she betrayed him, and where he found his new armor which he wore during Mortal Kombat Deception.
It is unknown if the Dragon Medallion, which symbolizes leadership of the Lin Kuei, is an artifact of the cryomancer race or simply a mystical item of separate origin. It has shown to greatly increase Sub-Zero's freezing powers past their normal level.
[edit] Moves and fatalities
The most well known of the Cryomancer powers is Sub-Zero's freeze ball. The freeze ball is the most consistently used of the Kori powers. It has appeared in every game featuring a Sub-Zero.
Also shared by the brothers is the slide move; however, it is unclear as to whether they were actually sliding on ice or not.
In the censored Super Nintendo version of Mortal Kombat, Sub-Zero was given a deep freeze Fatality, in which he would encase the opponent in ice, then shatter them with a backfist.
In Mortal Kombat II, a number of new Cryomancer abilities were introduced, such as the ability to form a pool of ice on the ground, which the opponent would slip on. The deep freeze fatality returned in two steps. Another new ability was the ice grenade fatality: Sub-Zero would form a snowball in his hand, and throw it at the opponent, appearing to enter their body, causing them to explode.
In Mortal Kombat 3 the ice shower move was introduced. It was similar to the freeze ball, but it was shot upwards, and fell on the opponent. A new ice clone move was introduced as well. Sub-Zero would jump out of his position, leaving an ice replica of himself in place, the opponent would freeze upon contact with it. Icy breath was a fatality where Sub-Zero would breath a sort of mist cloud at the opponent, who would emerge frozen, then fall over, shattering on the ground. In another fatality, he would grab the opponent, raising them over his head. They would then be frozen, and Sub-Zero would rip the frozen body in two.
In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Sub-Zero dropped his slide move for the cold shoulder. In this move, Sub-Zero would slide across the ground in a kneeling position on a sheet of ice, apparently generated by his feet, and ram his opponent. Frost inherited the traditional slide move. Sub-Zero now used a move called the ice shaker, where he would create a field of super-cooled air around his body, similar the move used by the Mortal Kombat movie's Sub-Zero. The opponent would freeze when in range. Frost had a ground freeze move, where she would fire her ice onto the ground. It would then travel along the ground in a straight line, freezing the opponent on contact. Frost's fatality was similar to the deep freeze, but she would kick instead of uppercut.
In Mortal Kombat: Deception, Sub-Zero's fatalities again featured use of his Kori powers. Another new variation of deep freeze, he would freeze his opponent's body, then rip their head off, slide away on ice from his feet, and throw the head at the body, shattering it. His other fatality had him freezing his opponent up to their waist, and shattering their legs. As their torso was crawling away, he would stomp on their chest, popping their head off.
In Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, a greater amount of Cryomancer abilities are shown. In addition to the freeze ball, slide, ground freeze, ice shatter, and ice clone, Sub-Zero could also freeze opponents on contact by running into them, launch freeze balls in the air or at a 45 degree angle, and possessed the polar blast, which froze all enemies on the screen at once.
[edit] Other abilities
Cryomancers also have the ability to make weapons out of ice. Sub-Zero's Kori Blade, and Frost's Kori Daggers are examples of this. However, depending on their level of control, the weapons can be either intricate, or rather simple. Frost had limited control over her Kori powers, so her daggers were simple, while Sub-Zero has had years of experience, evidenced by his ability to create highly detailed objects.
Cryomancers also seem to be able to move unhindered if they freeze parts of their own bodies. In more recent games, Sub-Zero has been shown to keep his forearms barely frozen by use of the Dragon Medallion, which results in his arms being a light shade of blue. This could be to help increase his freezing abilities or to increase the hardness of his punches. An image from the krypt in Deadly Alliance shows that Sub-Zero has difficulty keeping his hands from freezing everyday items, such as a hot cup of coffee which, much to his frustration, goes cold every time he picks it up.
