Raiden (Mortal Kombat)
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- Rayden redirects here. For other meanings of the name Raiden, see Raiden.
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Raiden (also Rayden) is a video game character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series.
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[edit] About Raiden
Raiden is one of the most popular characters in the series. The eternal god of thunder and protector of Earthrealm, Raiden is a wise and powerful force. Often, he leads the forces of good against those of evil. Raiden has played a pivotal role in the Mortal Kombat games and storyline and will likely remain a key player in the future. Since he is a thunder-god, Raiden commands many supernatural abilities such as the ability to teleport, control lightning, and fly. As an immortal, he thinks in terms of eternity rather than normal human lifespans and his memories date back to the beginning of time itself. It is unlikely that Raiden can ever be truly killed. Even if his mortal form is destroyed, Raiden will rematerialize some time afterward.
[edit] Storyline
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 itself. One of the casualties of the war was the Saurian civilization (of which Reptile was a member), forcing the remaining survivors to emigrate to another world, which they named Zaterra.
With the aid of the Elder gods, Raiden managed to defeat Shinnok and banished him to the Netherealm and secured the amulet in a secret location- a Temple of the Elements tucked away in the highest mountains of Nepal. Raiden charged four gods with guarding the amulet- the gods of Wind (Fujin), Fire, Earth and Water.
When the elder Sub-Zero stole Shinnok's amulet from the temple for Quan Chi millions of years later, Raiden appeared before the Lin Kuei warrior, and instructed him to enter the Netherealm and steal it back, lest Shinnok use it to free himself. Raiden could not himself enter as his powers would dissipate in the Netherealm. Sub-Zero's mission into the Netherealm was a success and Shinnok was, for the time, no longer a threat. Though it was later revealed that the sorcerer Quan Chi had given Shinnok a false amulet, Raiden never realized it, and Quan Chi would remain in possession of the true amulet for the following years.
Some time later, Shang Tsung invited many of the warriors of Earthrealm to participate in Mortal Kombat on his island. Aware of the danger that Shang Tsung and his tournament poised to the future of Earth, Raiden assumed mortal form and fought in Mortal Kombat as well. He is also the only one to have witnessed Sub-Zero's death at the hands of the hellspawn ninja spectre Scorpion.
One year later, after Liu Kang's triumph in the tournament, Raiden found that he had no choice but to accept Shang Tsung's challenge of Mortal Kombat in Outworld. However, again aided by Liu Kang and the warriors of Earthrealm, Raiden prevailed over Shang Tsung's treachery and Shao Kahn's brutality.
Unknown to him, however, was the fact the Outworld tournament was only a distraction from another way to enter Earthrealm: resurrecting Shao Kahn's queen, Sindel, in Earthrealm to allow him entrance to the realm in order to reclaim his Queen, and start the invasion in the process.
Despite Shao Kahn taking every soul on Earth as his own, Raiden was able to protect the soul of Liu Kang and other warriors from Earth. At first unable to participate due to the merge of both realms, after the Elder Gods refused to assist him Raiden decides to sacrifice his own immortality, turning himself into a mortal in order to help his chosen warriors against Shao Kahn. In the end, Raiden and the warriors of Earthrealm were able to defeat Shao Kahn and his minions in Mortal Kombat, repelling the invasion back into Outworld and restoring Earth (and his status) to its rightful state.
Some time after the invasion was driven back into Outworld, Shinnok, with the aid of the vile sorcerer Quan Chi, again sought to rise from the Netherealm and conquer the realms. However, this time the war would also be fought by mortals; with Liu Kang uniting Earth's warriors at the side of the thunder-god, Raiden's Forces of Light emerged successful. Now granted the status of Elder God, he turned over his position as Earthrealm's protector to Fujin.
As an Elder God, Raiden could not interfere when Shang Tsung and Quan Chi killed Liu Kang many years later. Disgusted at his peers for their refusal to intervene, he renounced his position as an Elder, gathering his warriors to stop the Deadly Alliance. This time, disaster struck the heroes. The Earthrealm warriors Sonya, Cage and Jax were all slain in battle with the Tarkatan horde and Kitana was slain by Quan Chi, and Kung Lao slain by Shang Tsung. In a desperate measure, he confronted Shang Tsung and Quan Chi in front of the soulnado, but was defeated.
He returned to his feet when Onaga, the Dragon King, entered the chamber, and stood beside Tsung and Quan Chi as they attacked Onaga. When he saw that their attacks barely slowed Onaga down, Raiden released his godly essence, the effect of which was a single, massive explosion. It obliterated the Dragon King's tomb, snuffed out the soulnado, apparently destroyed the Deadly Alliance and Raiden himself, but did not harm Onaga. Raiden's essence soon gathered again in the Earthrealm, where he had now become furious with the way Earthrealm's inhabitants had treated their own realm. He became even more enraged when he learned that Shujinko had foolishly unleashed the Dragon King by attaining the Kamidogu of various realms for him. With that, his patience exhausted, Raiden decided he was going to take matters into his own hands.
Removing Liu Kang's body from its grave, Raiden took it to an underground temple that belonged to an ancient sect of necromancers called the Houan, whom he had destroyed centuries earlier. Binding Kang's body with enchanted shackles the Houan had used to control their revived undead, Raiden spoke the enchantments etched into the temple's walls that revived his former ally, infusing it with a thunderclap of lightning. The corpse of Liu Kang was now the enforcer of the Thunder God's will, and Raiden sent it on a mission to wreak havoc on those he believed did harm to Earthrealm. This caught the attention of Shinnok, and the former Elder God appeared before Raiden, offering him an alliance. If Raiden were to assist him in whatever he wanted, Shinnok would try to ensure the safety of Earthrealm. Raiden was well aware of Shinnok's deceptive nature, but he accepted his alliance so he could discover Shinnok's plans.[1]
His story is further expanded in the Konquest mode of Armageddon, when Taven (the mode's main character) encounters him. He informs Taven 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 Kahn, so that he could claim Blaze's godlike power for himself. Raiden confronts Taven as Kahn, Onaga, Shang Tsung, and Quan Chi escape into a portal leading to Edenia. He is unsuccessful however, as he is defeated by Taven, and left unconscious on the ground. Taven, while still being in shock and disbelief at Raiden's actions, leaves and follows the villains through the portal.
In Raiden's ending, he becomes extremely powerful after defeating Blaze. To make sure no other realm will possibly threaten Earthrealm again, he destroys them all.[2]
[edit] Combat characteristics
[edit] Signature moves
- Static Teleport: At will Raiden vanishes and reappears behind the opponent. (MK, MKII, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:D, MK:U, MK:A)
- Lightning Bolt: Raiden sends bolts of lightning flying at the opponent. (MK, MKII, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:DA, MK:D, MK:U, MK:A)
- Flying Thunder God: Raiden flies at his opponent and pushes them against the wall. Raiden can also do the move on the air, although not in the first game and Armageddon. (MK, MKII, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:D, MK:U, MK:A)
- Shocking Touch: Raiden grabs the opponent, holds them in the air and electrocutes them. On Deception and Armageddon, he ends the move punching the enemy away. (MKII, MKT, MK:DA, MK:D, MK:U, MK:A)
[edit] Recurring fatalities
- Electric Head: Raiden sends a surge of electricity into the opponent's head and it explodes. (MK, MKT)
- Explosive Uppercut: The god crouches down and sends a vicious electric charged uppercut to the opponent blowing him/her into millions of pieces. (MKII, MKT)
- Electrocution: Raiden grabs his opponent, holds him/her a few feet off the ground, and sends electricity into their body making them explode. (MKII, MKT, MK4, MK:DA)
[edit] Appearance
In the Japanese religion Shinto, from which the character is derived, Raiden (also known as Raijin) is usually portrayed as a small, red-skinned demon that beats a drum to create thunder. However his appearance in here looks more like a Buddhist/Taoist god presented in the Chinese temples. Even his attire looks like that of the Chinese god of thunder.
In Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, it states that Raiden is 7 feet tall. His sprite, however, appears to be the same height as the rest of the fighters.
His coolie hat is his most recognizable feature. The Chinese character for thunder, 雷, is visible on most of his costumes. A saya (katana scabbard) appears on Raiden's secondary costumes in Deadly Alliance, Deception and Armageddon. However, he is never seen using the sword. Raiden has electricity running across his body in MK, MK4 / Gold, and MK: Deadly Alliance. He has glowing white, occasionally blue eyes (In Mortal Kombat: Konquest he had deep blue). However, in Deception, he has red eyes.
Raiden was voiced by Midway employee Jon Hey in the first two games. He became notorious for yelling randomly while performing his Torpedo move in MKII. Fans originally believed that he was yelling in Japanese, while others believed it to be mangled English. Midway soon revealed that Raiden was merely speaking gibberish and not actual Japanese or English phrases, but many continued to insist that Raiden was actually saying weird stuff like "Johnny bought a car," or "Look out, here I come." This was featured in the VH1 program I Love 1992 (incorrectly, actually, since MKII first hit arcades in 1993), when one of the cast thought Raiden was saying "Santa Monica."
[edit] Appearances in other media
[edit] Film
In the first Mortal Kombat movie, Raiden remains the guiding god of thunder, bent on doing all within his power to help the warriors of earth gain victory. According to the movie, Raiden is forbidden from directly interfering in the tournament of Mortal Kombat. Raiden also possesses a sense of humor which the other characters seem not to share, often prompting him to apologize after making dry remarks.
In the critically-panned 1997 sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Raiden is revealed to be low in the hierarchy of the gods, as he must seek their guidance when the emperor of Outworld, Shao Kahn, begins his invasion of Earthrealm. Raiden had a tattoo of a dragon on his right shoulder blade that was given to those who carried his family's bloodline. (It also allowed its bearers to travel between realms). Shao Kahn also carried this same tattoo, and was revealed to be Raiden's brother while Shinnok was Raiden's father. (This is a non-canon event created specifically for the film that was likely an attempt by the screenwriters to shock viewers). Mileena and Cyrax sported temporary versions that flew off when they were defeated. Many fans dismissed this as just another example of how far-fetched Mortal Kombat: Annihilation was from the games. Raiden does not have his movie tattoo in either Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance or Mortal Kombat: Deception; this can be seen on his alternative outfits as both have one of his shoulders bare, and in the games, his status among the Elder Gods varies so much it could be said he had attained the power to traverse realms at some point and never needed such a mystical tool.
Raiden is portrayed by Christopher Lambert in the first movie and by James Remar in the second (with Ray Park playing the martial arts double). There was a planned fight scene he was to have with Sheeva (Marjean Holden) in Annihilation. Despite being in the shooting script (and subsequent novel adaptation), it was cut from the film; Raiden instead fights a pair of Reptile clones while Sheeva instead meets her demise by being crushed by a falling cage.
[edit] Television
Jeffrey Meek played Raiden in the live-action series Mortal Kombat: Conquest. 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 is a repertoire of information about other realms and the enemies of the three protagonists, and often offers advice for dealing with personal conflicts unrelated to their mission. Raiden often appears at the beginning of an event to explain the situation, and at its conclusion to provide insight or life lessons. Taja derides this characteristic as making the Thunder God useless when most needed, but Raiden is careful to emphasize that he cannot interfere with human endeavours involving Mortal Kombat; they must make their own choices. He can no greater predict the future than humanity, even while a god. In the series' cliffhanger finale, Raiden was foiled by Shao Kahn into entering Outworld, leaving Earthrealm, Kung Lao, and his friends helpless to defend themselves from his rampaging Shadow Priests. With all of his major foes dead, Shao Kahn forced Raiden to his knees as he commenced an assault on all of the realms. As the series was not renewed, this incredible conflict was left unresolved.
Clancy Brown provided Raiden's voice in the 1996 animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm. Raiden's role as a guide for the Earthrealm's warrior is maintained in the cartoon series. He and Sheeva don't get along very well, though it was never stated why.
[edit] Comic books
Raiden appears in the Malibu Comics series as the guide and mentor of Earthrealm warriors. Unlike its stated background, he doesn't' compete in the first tournament, since he is not allowed to due to his status. Raiden and Shang Tsung are portrayed as bitter enemies, having constants verbal assaults and proper fights, commonly ending in draw. He also can't interfere in mortal affairs, as shown when Johnny Cage was to answer the last question of the Tao The Zan.
Raiden appeared as the star of a 3-issues miniseries alongside Kano, entitled Rayden & Kano. In this miniserie, Raiden has a plan to tip the balance of good and evil towards good. It is stated that, while the other Gods remains 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 the sword "Menguadora", which draws power from an evil man turned to the side of good. Raiden hoped Kano would slain Shao Kahn using the sword's power, but he ultimately betrays him and gives the sword to Shao Kahn in exchange to godlike powers, leaving Raiden to realize that his actions would never tip the balance of good and evil.
During the last Tournament Edition issue, Raiden commanded the group of good fighters in Shao Kahn's tournament. He ultimately sacrificed himself to save the team from an ambush from Kano, Kintaro, Goro and Smoke.
[edit] Gaming information
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.
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. In the same game, by killing the final opponent in the third Endurance Match with Raiden using his fatality will make Goro appear with a glitchy grey-colored body, just like the ashes when he defeated the opponent.
Raiden was originally going to use his staff as a weapon in MKII, but Midway was forced to omit it due to memory constraints.[3]
In MK3 and Ultimate MK3 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). This Friendship was changed in the Nintendo 64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy because Raiden was in that game with the same MKII sprite.
According to Epic Games' official Unreal Championship 2 website, Raiden participated in the Liandri Tournament in order to recruit the finest champions in order to combat some unknown devastation that will occur throughout the various realms. Because he had already achieved Elder God status at that time and could not intervene, he was forced to renounce that position in order in enter the Tournament. The similarities between his storyline here and that of MK: Deception's are all too apparent, as both games are from Midway. Also, Raiden is the only character in the game that doesn't use dual pistols - he fires his trademark lightning bolts instead (which somehow look similar in design to Nahkti Scorpions).
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 MKT is portrayed by Sal Divita, who is also responsible for Nightwolf and all three cybernetic ninjas (Smoke, Sektor, and Cyrax).
Ever since it was revealed in Mortal Kombat: Deception that the One Being was influencing Onaga's actions, it's been heavily rumored among fans that, when Raiden released his essence in an attempt to kill the Dragon King, he also became corrupted by the One Being's influence. This seems to be supported by Midway in Deception and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon; Raiden is referred to as "Dark" or "Evil Raiden" in his alternate costume and concept renders found in Deception, and Liu Kang's Armageddon ending refers to him defeating a Raiden that had been "corrupted by his suicide" to become Earthrealm's protector god. Raiden's behavior has also become more erratic and uncharacteristic; he becomes increasingly aggressive in his protection of Earth, attempting to kill Shujinko for unknowingly reviving Onaga, allowing Shao Kahn free reign to conquer all other realms in exchange for his sparing of Earthrealm in Armageddon's Konquest mode, and even destroying all other realms to prevent them from being a danger to Earth in his Armageddon ending. He even openly claims to "not be the same Thunder God you knew" when the player (as Shujinko) interacts with him in Deception's Konquest mode. Interestingly enough, this new Raiden is somewhat similar to Midway's original Raiden concept; a god angered by mortals, participating in Mortal Kombat to prove the gods are superior to humans in kombat. In his Mortal Kombat 1 ending, Raiden wins Mortal Kombat, but it is not enough for him. He invites other gods to participate in the tournament, which ends up destroying the planet (This ending is non-canon, as there would have not been any more MK games if it were).
According to Raiden's Konquest Mode in MKDA, Raiden has mastered all of more than 750 documented varieties of Jujutsu. Jujutsu is Raiden's secondary fighting style.
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.
He appears as a secret character in Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict, NFL Blitz and NBA Jam: Tournament Edition. Raiden also makes a cameo appearance in a pinball machine, Bally's 1994 World Cup Championship, in a bonus round.
For Armageddon, although promotional renders and an early character select screen featured Raiden's primary costume from Deadly Alliance, it is not found anywhere in the final game (although his portrait in the character select screen still shows him in his Deadly Alliance costume).
[edit] Name
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 (as well as Japanese ports of the games), 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 of Raiden from the Fatal Fury series, who was seen as a large wrestler. The console versions up until Mortal Kombat 4, along with both movies and the Malibu comic book series, changed the name to Rayden.
[edit] Trivia
- In an interview for Raiden's character card in Deception, Ed Boon said that the hat that Carlos Pesina wore to portray Raiden in the earlier Mortal Kombat games was destroyed. This happened when Carlos was performing falls during production.
- One of his taunts from UC2 has him mocking another Mortal Kombat character, Johnny Cage - "You fight like Johnny Cage!"
- Fujin claims in his Mortal Kombat Armageddon bio that, if Raiden had indeed released his essence to stop Onaga, when his essence reformed, he would've essentially become 'reborn' as a new, neutral Thunder God, with none of his past memories or personality. As this obviously didn't happen, it is unknown if Fujin had merely been mistaken in his comment, or if something (such as whatever transformed him into his current 'Dark' personality) interfered with this process. This quote could also be a reference to Fujin's own failed attempt to stop someone (Sub-Zero) from gaining Shinnok's amulet in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero.
- Raiden's appearance and mastery of electricity appears to have been inspired by the villain "Lightning" from the John Carpenter film Big Trouble in Little China. As if referencing the influence, Lightning's prominently large straw hat is available alongside Raiden's smaller hat as usable parts in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon's Kreate-a-Kharacter mode.
- Despite being a neutral character in the original MK, Raiden's ending is a negative one. His newly-established Mortal Kombat tournament, with his fellow gods as competitors, results in the destruction of the Earth.
- In the Armageddon mini-game Motor Kombat, Raiden's Appearance is similar to his Deadly Alliance costume, however, in the Deception mini-games, he uses his dark costume as the costume he wears. Also, when performing Raiden's Motor Kombat special, he uses his quotes from Mortal Kombat 2 instead of his Deception voiceovers.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ At the onset of the Mortal Kombat storyline, Raiden was inarguably a force of good, doing what he could to protect Earthrealm from outside forces. However, his actions in Mortal Kombat: Deception (seen in the opening cinematic) apparently corrupted his soul, making the Thunder God a much darker character.
