Raiden (Mortal Kombat)


Raiden is a video game character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series by Midway Games. Making his official debut as one of the original seven playable characters in 1992's Mortal Kombat, Raiden is one of the central characters of the franchise. Based on the Japanese thunder god, Raijin, and portrayed in the series canon as the thunder god and appointed protector of Earthrealm, Raiden defends the planet from myriad otherworldly threats alongside his handpicked warriors. He commands many supernatural abilities such as teleportation, flight, and control of lightning.
A mainstay of the Mortal Kombat cast, Raiden has appeared as a playable character in every fighting installment with the exception of Mortal Kombat 3 and its upgrade, and was among the eleven characters to represent the franchise in the crossover title Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. He is one of the three DLC characters in Fighter Pack 2 for Injustice 2, with a new look that was designed by Comic Book artist, Jim Lee. He has featured extensively in other Mortal Kombat media such as the two feature films, the animated series ', the television series ', and the web series, in addition to appearing on official series merchandise. General and critical reception of the character with regard to his design and gameplay has been positive, but mixed in terms of his alternate-media appearances.

Appearances

In video games

When Earthrealm was young, Raiden was its protector. He fought the rogue Elder God Shinnok, who wished to overthrow his fellow gods, in a war that threatened to destroy Earthrealm. With the aid of the Elder Gods, Raiden managed to defeat Shinnok, then banished him to the Netherealm and secured his amulet of power in a secret location — a Temple of the Elements tucked away in Nepal's highest mountains. Raiden charged four gods with guarding the amulet—the gods of Wind, Fire, Earth, and Water. When the elder Sub-Zero stole Shinnok's amulet from the temple for the sorcerer Quan Chi millions of years later, Raiden appeared before the Lin Kuei warrior and ordered him to enter the Netherealm to steal it back as his powers do not work there, lest Shinnok use it to free himself. Sub-Zero's mission was a success and Shinnok's threat was averted for a time. However, it was later revealed that Quan Chi had acquired the real amulet and gave Sub-Zero a counterfeit amulet, which Raiden never realized the counterfeit.
In the original Mortal Kombat, Raiden was invited to compete in the Mortal Kombat tournament, by its grandmaster sorcerer Shang Tsung himself. Raiden accepted and took human form to compete. In Mortal Kombat II, watching events unfold from high above, Raiden realized Outworld emperor Shao Kahn's intentions. He warned the last remaining members of the Shaolin tournament Liu Kang and Kung Lao of Shao Kahn's threat before venturing to Outworld. Despite Shao Kahn taking every soul on Earth as his own, Raiden was able to protect the souls of Liu Kang and other chosen warriors. Initially unable to participate due to the merger of Outworld and Earthrealm, Raiden sacrificed his immortality in order to help his chances against the Kahn after the Elder Gods refused to assist him in Mortal Kombat Trilogy. In the end, Shao Kahn's forces were defeated and restoring Earthrealm to its original state.
In Mortal Kombat 4, following Outworld's failed invasion, Shinnok, with the aid of Quan Chi, again sought to rise from the Netherealm and conquer the other realms. However, with Liu Kang again uniting Earthrealm's warriors, Raiden's Forces of Light emerged successful. Now granted the status of Elder God, he turned over his position as Earthrealm's protector to his brother, the wind god Fujin.
In ', Raiden could not interfere when the titular alliance of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi killed Liu Kang due to his Elder God status. Disgusted by his fellow Elder Gods for their refusal to intervene, Raiden relinquished his position and gathered Kung Lao, Jax Briggs, Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage, and Kitana to stop the sorcerers. However, Raiden's allies were all slain.
In ', Raiden confronted the Deadly Alliance himself. When Onaga, the Dragon King, enters the fray, Raiden momentarily set aside his differences with the Deadly Alliance and assisted them in their attempts to repel Onaga. Raiden released his godly essence, resulting in an enormous explosion that killed the alliance but failed to harm Onaga. Raiden's essence soon gathered again in Earthrealm, but it returned corrupted and reformed into a darker variant of himself. Raiden had become furious with the way Earthrealm's inhabitants had treated their realm, which increased once he learned that Shujinko had foolishly unleashed the Dragon King. With his patience exhausted, Raiden chose to take matters into his own hands. Removing Liu Kang's body from its grave, he took it to an underground temple that belonged to the Houan, an ancient sect of necromancers whom he had destroyed centuries earlier, and revived his former ally. Liu Kang's reanimated corpse became the enforcer of Raiden's will as he sent it on a mission to wreak havoc on those he believed did harm to Earthrealm.
This caught the attention of Shinnok, who appeared before Raiden and offered him an alliance. Raiden was well aware of Shinnok's deceptive nature, but he accepted the offer in an attempt secretly to uncover Shinnok's plans. Raiden's story is further expanded in the Konquest mode of ', when he encounters Taven and reveals to him that he had struck a deal with Shao Kahn, agreeing to let the Emperor conquer and rule all other realms, so long as Earthrealm was left alone. In return, Raiden agreed to hunt and eliminate Taven for the Kahn so that he could claim Blaze's godlike power for himself. Raiden confronts Taven, only to be defeated. Raiden would later fight against Shao Kahn when the two became the last surviving warriors. The latter emerged victorious, but the former was able to send a message to his past self before Shao Kahn could finish him off.
In the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot, past Raiden receives his future self's message and works to avert the events of Armageddon. Although he succeeds and defeats Shao Kahn, his decisions resulted in many of Earthrealm's defenders, including Liu Kang, being killed and turned into Quan Chi's undead revenants.
In the subsequent installment, Mortal Kombat X, Raiden and Fujin join forces to defend the sky temple from Shinnok, Quan Chi, and the revenants. They manage to defeat the fallen Elder God and trap him in his amulet as well as revive the fallen Jax, Sub-Zero, and Scorpion. Twenty years later, Raiden discovers Shinnok's amulet was stolen and works with Earthrealm's new defenders to retrieve it. However, he fails to stop Quan Chi from releasing Shinnok, who takes Raiden prisoner so he can corrupt Earthrealm's Jinsei. After Cassie Cage defeats the Elder God, she helps Raiden purify the Jinsei by drawing Shinnok's energy into him. Following this, Raiden confronts the Netherrealm's new rulers, Liu Kang and Kitana, and presents them with Shinnok's decapitated head to prove he will show no mercy to those who threaten Earthrealm.
In Mortal Kombat 11, having used Shinnok's amulet to become Dark Raiden once more, he leads an assault on the Netherrealm with the Special Forces to destroy their cathedral, and succeed. In doing so, he unknowingly angered the keeper of time and Shinnok's mother, Kronika, who decides to rewrite history to undo his interference. To do so, she creates a time storm that erases Dark Raiden from history but brings a younger version of him from the past due to his being immortal. After learning of his future self's fate, Raiden joined forces with the Special Forces, Kotal Kahn, and past versions of his allies to defeat Kronika. When he learns the Elder Gods had been killed however, Raiden slowly gives into his dark impulses and uses Shinnok's amulet to empower himself like his future self did. When his version of Liu Kang tried to stop him, Raiden sees visions of other timelines where they fought and realizes Kronika manipulated them all because she fears his and Liu Kang's combined power. Once Kronika learns of this, she kidnaps Liu Kang, forcing Raiden and his allies to mount a rescue mission to save him. Along the way, he confronts Liu Kang's revenant and merges with him and past Liu Kang to become Fire God Liu Kang, who goes on to defeat Kronika. Once he does so, a mortal version of Raiden joins Liu Kang to advise him on forging a new history since the battle took them to the beginning of time. In the DLC story expansion, Aftermath, the mortal Raiden attempts to stop Shang Tsung after he approaches them and claims they cannot use Kronika's Hourglass without her Crown of Souls, though Liu Kang allows the sorcerer to go back in time to retrieve a past version of it. While in the past, Shang Tsung works with past Raiden and his allies to secure the Crown and attempt to save the future, though he betrays everyone during the final battle. When Raiden and Fujin try to stop him, the sorcerer defeats them and drains their souls while keeping their bodies alive for future use. In the expansion's bad ending, Raiden serves Shang Tsung in conquering the realms.
In the crossover fighting game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Raiden fought Shao Kahn until he sent him into a portal that caused the latter to fuse with Darkseid and turn them into Dark Kahn, which in turn fuses the Mortal Kombat and DC Universes. Despite clashes with members of the Justice League, Raiden worked with Superman to defeat Dark Kahn and undo the fusions; later imprisoning Darkseid in the Netherrealm. In his arcade ending, Raiden returns to his realm to find that exposure to his world's sun has weakened him greatly. Quan Chi offers him a jade amulet of unknown origin that can restore his powers. Raiden is given a choice between a life of servitude to the sorcerer, or mortality.
Raiden also appears as a secret character in NBA Jam Tournament Edition, NFL Blitz, and '. He was also included as a playable DLC character in Injustice 2. In his arcade ending for the game, after mysteriously being transported to the Injustice universe and defeating Brainiac, Raiden is warned by Doctor Fate that "armageddon is coming". To avert it, he helps found the Justice League Dark and becomes its leader.

Design

In the Japanese Shinto religion, from which the character is derived, Raijin is usually portrayed as a small, red-skinned demon that beats a drum to create thunder. However, his appearance in the games resembles more of a Taoist thunder god presented in the Chinese temples.
Raiden's name was spelled this way in all of the original arcade games and in every game since Mortal Kombat 4. However, the PC and console ports released until Mortal Kombat Trilogy, along with both movies and the TV series, changed the name to "Rayden". This was possibly due to copyright issues from a shoot 'em up game called Raiden or the character Raiden from the Fatal Fury series. Ed Boon personally hated that Acclaim spelled it with an Y.
The creators claimed they based Raiden's character design on The Three Storms, Lo Pan's three servants from the film Big Trouble in Little China. The third storm, Lightning, exhibited the ability to ride and control lightning and wore a hat that closely resembles Raiden's conical hat. In an interview featured in Deception, Ed Boon said that the hat that actor Carlos Pesina wore to portray the character in the earlier Mortal Kombat games was ruined as a result of Pesina repeatedly performing falls during production. Mortal Kombat and Deadly Alliance states that Raiden is seven feet tall, but his sprite was the same height as the other fighters. His coolie hat is his most recognizable feature, and he occasionally wields a quarterstaff that holds the power of thunder and lightning. The Chinese character for thunder, 雷, is visible on most of his costumes. A saya appears on Raiden's secondary costumes in Deadly Alliance, Deception, and Armageddon, but he is never seen actually using the sword. Raiden has electricity pulsating across his body in Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 4, and Deadly Alliance. He has glowing white eyes, which glow red in Deception and Armageddon.
Raiden was voiced by Midway employee Jon Hey in the first two games. He became well known for yelling randomly while performing his "Torpedo" move. Fans originally believed that he was yelling in Japanese, while others believed it to be mangled English phrases such as "Your momma's from LA", or "Get back in the car". John Tobias revealed that Raiden was merely speaking gibberish and not actual Japanese, as it was originally intended.
According to the Konquest mode in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Raiden has mastered all of more than 750 documented varieties of jujutsu, which is his secondary fighting style.

Gameplay

Raiden's Fatality in the original game, in which he obliterated his opponent's head with a lightning strike, was drastically altered in the Super NES version due to Nintendo's strict no-blood policy at the time. The decapitation was changed to the opponent simply turning into a gray pile of dust and a skull. In the same game, by using Raiden's finishing move on the final opponent in the third Endurance match, Goro appeared with a glitchy body that was the same shade of gray as the ashes of Raiden's defeated opponent.
Raiden was originally going to use his staff as a weapon already in Mortal Kombat II, but Midway was forced to omit it due to memory constraints. He was unplayable in all versions of Mortal Kombat 3 and briefly appeared only as part of Nightwolf's Friendship, which saw him transform into Raiden while a Mortal Kombat II arcade cabinet appeared along with one of two quotes, "No, But I Can Do a Raiden Transformation", or "I've never seen a Kano transformation", both of which were based on false reports that Kano was secretly playable in Mortal Kombat II and Raiden likewise in Mortal Kombat 3. The Friendship was changed in the Nintendo 64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy after Raiden became a playable character in that game.

In other media

Raiden appears in the Mortal Kombat comic books in his usual role as the guide and mentor of the Earthrealm warriors. He and Shang Tsung were often portrayed as bitter enemies, and he was forbidden from intervening in the mortals' affairs, as shown when Johnny Cage was to answer one of the questions in the Tao Te Zhan. However, in a departure from the storyline of the first game, he was not allowed to participate in the tournament in the miniseries Blood & Thunder, due to his godly status.
Raiden co-starred in his own three-issue miniseries Rayden & Kano. In this miniseries, it is stated that, while his fellow gods stay out of mortal affairs, Raiden never remains silent, and always tries to give the good side an advantage in the eternal struggle. Raiden saved Kano's life and attempted to give him a sword called "Ebbonrule", which drew strength from an evil man who turned to the side of good. Raiden hoped Kano would slay Shao Kahn using the sword's power, but Kano gave the sword to Shao Kahn instead in exchange for godlike powers, which left Raiden to realize that his actions would never tip the balance of good and evil. During the last Tournament Edition issue, Raiden commandeered the group of heroes in Shao Kahn's tournament. He ultimately sacrificed himself to save the team from an ambush by Kano, Kintaro, Goro and Smoke. Raiden was depicted as having two female servants, named Wynd and Rayne.
In the first Mortal Kombat movie, Raiden, who is played by Christopher Lambert, is disallowed from participating in the tournament, but remains the guiding god of thunder, bent on doing all within his power to help Earth's chosen warriors gain victory. His wardrobe consisted of a robe which hides his attire from the first game. His eyes occasionally displayed his true nature and he was seen teleporting only once. Raiden also possessed a dry sense of humor that was sometimes lost on the other characters, often prompting him to apologize after making dry remarks. According to the 'Making of Mortal Kombat' published by New Line Cinema, Raiden's role was "to protect the Earth Warriors and make sure Shang Tsung's forces don't cheat to win". On the ship taking all tournament contestants to Tsung's island, Raiden informed the Earth warriors that he had looked into all their souls, and one of three would decide the outcome: Liu Kang, Johnny Cage or Sonya Blade. Raiden also appeared in the animated film ' as the guide of the protagonists.
Raiden was played by James Remar in the 1997 sequel, '. He was depicted as the brother of Shao Kahn and the son of Shinnok in the film's original storyline, which included both Raiden and Kahn sporting a dragon tattoo that was explained to be a family crest bestowed to his family's bloodline, and allowed its bearers to travel safely between realms. A fight scene he was planned to have with Sheeva was included in the shooting script, but it was eventually cut from the film; Raiden instead fought a pair of Reptile clones while Sheeva died after being crushed by a falling cage. In the end, he became an Elder God in the place of his father.
Jeffrey Meek played Raiden in the live-action series '. Unlike his film and game incarnations, this Raiden is far more upbeat, with a sarcastic personality making him less aloof toward humans. He was Kung Lao's mentor since childhood, and constantly reminds the young warrior of his duty to find new fighters to protect Earthrealm and to prepare for the next Mortal Kombat tournament.
Raiden was a regular in the 1996 animated series ' and was voiced by Clancy Brown. He was depicted in his Mortal Kombat II attire and retained the dry wit and sarcasm of his Conquest counterpart, clashing with Sonya and Jax in several episodes.
Raiden is one of the many re-imagined characters in ', featured in the sixth episode and portrayed by Ryan Robbins. He crashed landed to Earth to participate in the Mortal Kombat tournament, but he, unfortunately, landed within the bounds of a mental hospital. He is found by a young female patient named Blue, whom he befriends, and taken in by orderlies. After three months of therapy, his doctor believes that Raiden is still under the delusion that he is the God of Thunder, and constantly vomits a blue substance. He is swiftly lobotomized, but due to his supernatural abilities, recovers from it. He attempts to escape but is lobotomized once again. Blue finds him and locks the door to the room, and Raiden tells her to stab him. After a tearful goodbye, Blue stabs him, causing him to disintegrate into lightning and smoke. Raiden reappears elsewhere and takes his signature hat from an old Chinese man. David Lee McInnis plays Raiden in the 2013 second series of Mortal Kombat: Legacy.
David B. Mitchell voiced the role of Raiden in the 2020 animated movie '.
Tadanobu Asano will portray Raiden in the 2021 reboot of the film series.

Reception

Raiden is often included on the list of the top characters of the Mortal Kombat franchise. He was ranked as the 10th best character from the series by UGO.com, who praised him as one of the iconic characters from the franchise. He was sixth in Game Revolution's ranking of top ten "old school" Mortal Kombat characters, noting him for his gibberish and the Fergality. In 2011, GameRant placed Raiden as sixth "most awesome" Mortal Kombat characters, commenting: "The starring role, coupled with fun moves as well as a set of shocking fatalities, solidified Raiden’s place as one of the most memorable kombatants in the series." In UGO's 2012 list of the top Mortal Kombat characters, Raiden placed fourth. The readers of Dorkly voted him the series' third greatest character in a 2013 poll.
In 2011, UGO ranked his hat as the 14th coolest headgear in video games and commented "Kung Lao’s got a slick topper that he can also use as a weapon, but Lord Raiden’s conical straw hat is untouchable." It was ranked as having the fourth best headwear in video gaming by GamePro in 2009. In 2010, UGO ranked "baby Raiden" as the cutest Babality. In 2011, Paste listed Raiden's Fatality in the 2011 Mortal Kombat game as the sixth best from that game, also ranking Raiden's Fatality from the original Mortal Kombat as the second best from that game. WeDoTech.net ranked Raiden as fifth on their 2010 list of top fighting characters of all time, commenting that "his ability of flight and teleportation are also two skills designed perfectly for the combat arena." In 2012, Complex ranked him as the 32nd "most dominant" fighting game character.