Raiden (Mortal Kombat)

Character

Storyline

Origins

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 retrieve it himself as his powers would dissipate in the Netherealm. Sub-Zero's mission into the Netherealm was a success and Shinnok was, for a time, no longer a threat. Though it was later revealed that the sorcerer Quan Chi had given Sub Zero a false amulet, Raiden never realized the counterfeit; Quan Chi would remain in possession of the true amulet for years.

Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat II

Mortal Kombat Trilogy

Mortal Kombat 4

Deadly Alliance

Deception

After doing battle with the Deadly Alliance in the netherealm, Raiden's essence soon gathered again in the Earthrealm, but the essence came back corrupted. 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 Raiden's will, and 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. 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 the offer in an attempt to secretly uncover Shinnok's plans.

Armageddon

Raiden would later fight against Shao Kahn when the two became the last surviving warriors. Shao Kahn emerged victorious, but Raiden was able to send a message to his past self before Kahn could finish him off.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

In his endings, Raiden returns to his realm to find that exposure to his world's sun has weakened him greatly. The sorcerer Quan Chi offers him a large jade amulet with unknown origins that would restore his powers. Raiden is given a choice between a life of servitude to the sorcerer, or mortality.

Mortal Kombat (2011)

In other media

Films

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 planned fight scene he was 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. At the end, he became an Elder God in the place of his father.

Television

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.

Comic books

Raiden was depicted as having two female servants, Wynd and Rayne. Though never explicitly stated, it is heavily suggested that each of these servants had powers over the element resembling their respective names.

Other games

Design

Raiden's name was spelled as is in all of the original arcade games, and in every console game released since Mortal Kombat 4. The console ports released up until Mortal Kombat 4, along with both movies and the comic book series, changed the name to "Rayden". According to Ed Boon, he spelled it that way to avoid confusion with the Fatal Fury character Raiden.

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.

In Mortal Kombat and , it states that Raiden is seven feet tall. His sprite, however, 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 (katana scabbard) 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 Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. He has glowing white (occasionally blue) eyes, which glow red in Deception and Armageddon.

Raiden was voiced by Midway employee Jon Hey in the first two games. He became notorious 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 mother's from LA," "Go to Bob's for eggs!" or "Get back in the car." John Tobias revealed in a Mortal Kombat II feature in GamePro that Raiden was merely speaking gibberish and not actual Japanese or English. This was featured in the VH1 program I Love 1992, when one of the cast thought Raiden was saying "Santa Monica." This tradition was also revived for all of Raiden's supermoves in Armageddon.

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's 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 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 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.

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. He is referred to as "Dark" or "Evil Raiden" in his alternate costume and concept renders found in Deception, while Liu Kang's ending in Armageddon refers to him defeating a Raiden that had been "corrupted by his suicide" to become Earthrealm's protector god. Raiden's behavior had also become more erratic and uncharacteristic; he became increasingly aggressive in his protection of Earth, going as far as to destroy all other realms to prevent them from being a danger to Earth in his Armageddon ending. This new Raiden bore a similarity to the characterization of Raiden from the very first game as a god angered by mortals, participating in Mortal Kombat only to prove the gods are superior to humans in combat. In his ending in the original game, Raiden wins the tournament, but soon becomes bored with human competition and he invites other gods to participate in the tournament, which ends up destroying the planet.

Reception

Raiden 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 also sixth in Game Revolution's "Top 10 Old School Mortal Kombat Characters" with praise on his gibberish and the Fergality. UGO also ranked baby Raiden as the cutest Babality. He was also ranked as having the 4th best headwear in video gaming by GamePro.

References

External links

Category:Fictional bojutsu practitioners Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1992 Category:Fictional characters with electric abilities Category:Fictional characters who can teleport Category:Fictional deities Category:Fictional jujutsuka Category:Fictional wushu practitioners Category:Film characters Category:Male video game characters Category:Mortal Kombat characters Category:Superheroes

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