Raiden

Raiden is the God of Thunder and Protector of Earthrealm and is one of the original characters to debut in the first Mortal Kombat . Ageless and wise beyond measure, he leads Earthrealm's mortals in the endless battle against the forces of darkness. When Shao Kahn, Emperor of Outworld, threatened to merge his realm with Earthrealm, an overwhelmed Raiden implored the Elder Gods to give Earthrealm a fighting chance. Thus the Mortal Kombat tournament was created. For millennia Shao Kahn has been kept at bay, but nine consecutive losses to Goro have eroded hope that Earthrealm can be saved. Determined to prevent Armageddon, Raiden tirelessly quests to find a champion worthy of Mortal Kombat."

About Raiden[]

Raiden is the eternal God of Thunder and former protector of Earthrealm. After the second defeat of Shinnok, he ascended to the status of Elder God. Being a god, he possesses many supernatural abilities, such as the ability to teleport, control lightning and fly. As a god, he is used to thinking in terms of eternity rather than normal human lifespans, and as such he has a radically different outlook on life.

Combat characteristics[]

Powers and abilities[]

Raiden is the god of thunder and lightning, and as such, he is immensely powerful and has complete control over electricity. He usually keeps behind the scenes in the games and rarely fights, although one notable exception was in Deception, where he fought both Quan Chi and Shang Tsung, and was able to hold his own for most of the fight. Using the element of lightning, Raiden can fire torrents of lightning or concentrated blasts. He also has the ability to fly, which he uses to fling himself at an opponent and shove them into a wall. He also has the ability to teleport to another destination by transforming his body into an ethereal state. Despite his godly status, he is not indestructible and has limits, though it is unlikely he can ever truly be killed. Raiden, like any other god, will have his powers taken away should he enter a domain not native to him, with Outworld being the most prominent example of this. His powers can return to him once he returns however. It is also because of his godly status that he is forbidden to directly participate in any Mortal Kombat tournaments unless he takes on a mortal form.

Signature moves[]

Teleport: At will Raiden would vanish and reappear behind his opponent. (MK, MKII, MKT, MK4, MKG,MK:D, MK:A, MKvsDCU, MK 2011)
- The enhanced version is called Sparkport and will have Raiden appear behind the opponent and quickly teleporting back in front.
Electricity: Raiden sends a bolt of lightning flying at his opponent. In MK 2011 this is known as Lightning. (MK, MKII, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:DA, MK:D, MK:A, MKvsDCU, MK 2011)
- The enhanced version is called Bolt. Raiden fires two bolts, one behind and one in front of him. The one behind him wraps around the map hitting the opponent in the back.
Torpedo: Raiden flies at his opponent and pushes them against the wall. He could perform the move in the air. In MKvsDCU it's called The Superman and in MK2011 the move is named Electric Fly. (MK, MKII,MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:D, MK:A, MKvsDCU, MK 2011)
- The enhanced version is called Thunder Fly. This increases the attack's speed and damage.
Shocking Touch: Raiden grabs his opponent and holds them in the air while electrocuting them, then punches them to the ground. In MK 2011 this is named Electrocute. (MK:DA, MK:D, MK:A, MK 2011)
Shocker: Raiden grabs his opponent and electrocutes them. In MK 2011 this is the enhanced version ofElectrocute. This lets Raiden grab the opponent one step farther. (MKII, MKT, MKvsDCU, MK 2011)
Vicinity Blast: Raiden performs a closer range version of his lightning, but with more knockback and a wind effect to it, which can be charged up. In MK 2011 it can't be charged. (MKvsDCU, MK 2011)
- The enhanced version is called Vicinity Burst. This knocks the opponent back.
Projectile Cancel: Raiden cancels out his Lightning or Vicinity Blast when charging it. (MKvsDCU)
Reverse Electricity: Raiden sends a bolt of lightning in the other direction hitting an opponent from behind. This appears partially as the enhanced version of Lightning. (MKT, MK 2011)
Electric Slide: Raiden slides across the floor and hits his opponent with his shoulder, electrocuting them in the process. (MK:DA)
[1]X-Ray Move - Shock Therapy: Raiden sends a beam in close range, when connects blinding the opponent. Then he teleports behind the opponent and elbows their back damaging their spine, heart, and ribs. Raiden then teleports in front of them and delivers a chop directly at his opponent's forehead, damaging the skull. Raiden finally sends a bolt of electricity through his opponent's head making them fall down. (MK 2011)

Other finishers[]

Friendship: Raiden generates a miniature version of himself named Kidd Thunder. (MKII, MKT)
Animality: Raiden turns into an electric eel and electrocutes his opponent until they explode. (MKT)
Fergality: After inputting a code on the Sega Genesis version of MKII, Raiden would turn the enemy into a smoking version of Probe Ltd. employee Fergus McGovern, who worked on that port of the game. (MKII)
Hara-Kiri: Self Electrocution: Raiden charges himself with electricity until he explodes. (MK:D)
Babality: Raiden lifts his hands up and lighting appears from it until a thunderbolt almost strikes him, making him curl into a ball and causing him to cry in fear. (MK 2011)

Trivia[]

Raiden's MK Vs DC Universe ending implies that he has become like Ultraman (Earth-3's Superman) where his powers are inverted (e.g. Kryptonite fuels his powers, Yellow Sun Radiation weakens them).
Raiden's Fatality in the original MK, 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's turning into a gray pile of dust.
Raiden's name is spelled Raiden in the arcade iterations of the Mortal Kombat games, and both Deadly Alliance and Deception. On the other home versions, his name is spelled Rayden. This was allegedly because of copyright issues as a shoot 'em up was named Raiden, or possibly to keep from confusing ofRaiden from the Fatal Fury series, who was seen as a large wrestler. The console versions up until Mortal Kombat 4 and the movies changed the name to Rayden.
- Ed Boon disliked the way that Acclaim changed Raiden's spelling. ^[1]
Raiden's name is written as 雷電 in both Traditional Chinese and Japanese and 雷电 in Simplified Chinese. It's pronounced as "raiden" (phonetically) in Japanese and "léidiàn" (Pinyin) in Mandarin Chinese. This is simply the Chinese word for "thunder and lightning" that was borrowed in Japanese together with the Chinese characters. The first character (雷) in this word means "thunder", the second one (電/电) now mostly means "electricity" (in ancient times it meant "lightning").
Raiden was modeled after the character "Lightning" from the 1986 John Carpenter movie Big Trouble in Little China.
Originally, Raiden was not going to be in Deception, and the opening of Deception explained why Raiden would not be in the game. However, this changed after fan complaints, and Raiden remained in the game; the character who would have replaced him, Fujin, makes only a cameo appearance in the Prison stage, and in the Orderrealm during Konquest. Despite this, logically Fujin is still the protector of Earthrealm, as appointed in MK4.
In MK3 and UMK3 for both the arcade and home versions, Nightwolf's Friendship had him transform into Raiden and an arcade machine of MKII drop down with two quotes, "Yes, But I Can Do a Raiden Transformation" or "I've Never Seen a Kano Transformation" (despite not actually turning into Kano). ThisFriendship was omitted in the Nintendo 64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy, due to the fact that Raiden was in that game with the same MKII sprite.
Raiden was originally going to use his staff as a weapon in MKII, but Midway were forced to omit it due to memory constraints.
Of all the Kombat Kode symbols shown in MK3, Raiden's symbol was the eighth to appear if player press the right buttons seven time or in reverse by holding the joystick Up and press the right buttons three times.
In the Super Nintendo version of the first MK, by killing the final opponent in the third Endurance Match with Raiden using his Shock to the Head fatality will make Goro appear grey just like the ashes when he defeated the opponent.
Raiden's popularity as a "thunder god" and the way fans reacted to him when he made his debut ultimately lead to the creation of other gods such as Fujin (the "wind god"). While they had their own uniqueness, Raiden was still considered to be the most popular of all the gods in the series.
He also appeared as a secret character in Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict, NFL Blitz and NBA Jam: Tournament Edition, as well as a cameo appearance in a pinball machine, Bally's 1994 World Cup Championship, in a bonus round.
To unlock Raiden in Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict the player had to complete all the challenges. Two of the challenges are called "Unreal Combat". The challenges involved 3 people at once though rather than their traditional 2. Also all 3 people used staff weapons for their melee weapons.
In the non-canon Malibu Comics three-issue miniseries Rayden and Kano, Raiden has two female servants named Wynd and Rayne. In Malibu's Blood and Thunder storyline, Raiden did not take part in the MK tournament, claiming that he was not allowed to compete.
In the television show Mortal Kombat: Conquest is the only portrayal of Raiden as sort of "laid back" god, where he seems like a normal human (or guardian over Kung Lao) rather than an immortal being.
Raiden and Sheeva don't get along in Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm. In Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, he was to partake in an extensive fight scene with Sheeva (Marjean Holden). Despite being in the shooting script (and subsequent novel adaptation), it was cut from the film; Raiden instead fights a pair ofReptile clones while Sheeva instead meets her demise by being crushed by a falling cage.
Even though Raiden has been portrayed by Midway employee and martial artist Carlos Pesina in all the original games AND all sprites, Raiden's versus screen image in Mortal Kombat Trilogy is portrayed by Sal Divita, whom is also responsible for Nightwolf, all three cybernetic ninjas (Smoke, Sektor, and Cyrax) and also played Scorpion in a live action clip in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero.
In Deception, Raiden's ending is the only ending to be narrated by himself.
Raiden is the first 'god' character to appear in a versus fighting game, as well as the first playable.
In his profile from the Brady Games' Official MK4 Fighters Companion strategy guide, Raiden's favorite food is "nuclear buffalo wings".
- This guide also said that Kidd Thunder is his favorite nephew.
It is interesting to note, that both Clancy Brown and Christopher Lambert have portrayed Raiden, because both actors starred in the film Highlander.
Interestingly enough, when Shao Kahn killed Raiden in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation his dragon Tattoo did not fly off when he died when all of the others with tattoos did. He explains this in the movie as Cyrax's, as well as Mileena's being temporary, as they are not in Raiden's bloodline.
Raijin Thunderkeg, a character hero from DotA, is possibly based on Raiden because both of them are divine beings of electricity and the storms, have power over lightning and thunder, wear certain hats, and must take a mortal form to participate in battle.
In MK 2011, Nightwolf refers to Raiden as Haokah, the Lakota Indian thunder god. However, Nightwolf is Apache, not Lakota.
In MK 2011, if Raiden is using his "Dark Raiden" costume, his teleport will be red instead of white.
In Mortal Kombat: Legacy, Raiden's blood is blue.
If certain X-Ray Moves are performed on Raiden, his hat will fall off. However, it will not fall off during Fatalities, similar to Kung Lao's Razor-Rimmed Hat.
Raiden's name and status as a god are taken directly from the Japanese thunder god Raijin.
Raiden was one of five selected characters to appear in the cover for a special edition of the Mortal Kombat Deception game. The special edition of this game included a metallic card of his character (along Baraka,Sub-Zero, Scorpion and Mileena).
Raiden's alternate costume in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance is his first official appearance hatless.
- Also, he has a katana on his waist, but he does not use it in battle.
- In Mortal Kombat 2011, one of Raiden's fatalities is called "Just a scratch" this is a reference to Monty Python's Holy Grail, in which the Black Knight fights King Arthur and is dismembered, the Black Knight says "Tis but a scratch". Raiden also leaves the head on the body, like in the film.