Since his Deep Freeze (Batman: The Animated Series) against Batman, Mr. Freeze has found a home in the Arctic and started a surrogate family with his still cryogenics-encased wife Nora Fries, his adopted Inuit son Koonak, and two pet polar bears, Hotchka and Shaka. Nora's condition begins to rapidly deteriorate due to a submarine accidentally emerging from underwater directly underneath them, shattering her containment vessel. After punishing the submarine crew by freezing them with his trusted freeze gun, Freeze returns to Gotham City with his companions and enlists the help of his old colleague Dr. Gregory Belson to find a cure. Belson determines that Nora needs an organ transplant, but due to her rare blood type there are no suitable donors available. Freeze declares that they will use a live donor, even if it means killing an innocent woman, and bribes Belson into compliance with a promise of gold that will put an end to Belson's own financial problems.