Pure Good Proposal: Raiden from Mortal Kombat 1 (2024)

Before we start, please note that this proposal is only about the New Era Raiden that appears in the MK1 game, and not about the Alternate Raiden from the previous games or the Original Raiden for the classic games. Here we'll soley discuss the human Raiden from the 3rd timeline instead of the god of thunder that we had grown used to.

What is the work?[]

Mortal Kombat is a fighting game series created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. It's newest installment: Mortal Kombat 1, is focused on the New Timeline created by Liu Kang after the events of MK11 where he defeats Kronika and takes her place as a titan, finally ending the endless cycle of timelines of constant death and suffering and creating a new era of peace with new beginnings for all the fighters.

Who is he? What has he done?[]

Raiden in this new timeline, has had his fate altered from that of a Demi-God to a mortal human working in a farm in Fengjian. He and Kung Lao had been training for years with Madame Bo under the secret supervision of Liu Kang. Raiden is perfectly happy to live in his home village unlike Kung Lao who wishes for adventure and glory, so he challenges him to a bet to entertain him. Later that day while eating atc Madame Bo's, Raiden pays but during this the tea shop is suddenly "attacked" by Smoke and a group of Lin Kuei. Noticing Madame Bo has been hurt, Raiden and Kung Lao rush to her aid and take down the Lin Kuei together before Bi-Han appears and tackles Raiden down. While Kung Lao fights him and Scorpion, Raiden tends to Madame Bo and calls Kung Lao for aid after the fight is over before it's revealed that it had all been a test. Liu Kang then reveals his intention to continue their training as champions of Earthrealm, and though Raiden is at first reluctant to leave his village, after Madame Bo tells him he can do more good as a champion thatn in Fengjian, he agrees to go with.

Over the next months, Raiden trained in the Fire Temple with Kung Lao, Kenshi and Johnny Cage, keeping the peace between the more competitive champions and avoiding conflict between Johnny and Kenshi, also advising Kung Lao about the possible dangers of his chakram hat. When Liu Kang brings the 4 champions to a tournament, Raiden faces Kenshi and Johnny, defeating them yet remaining humble and helping them up while also compolimenting their skills and honor, not letting their previous harsh words get to him. At nightfall he faces and defeats Kung Lao, being given an amulet that manipulates thunder by Liu Kang, though he was at first wary due to it's power and it being a possible disadvantage during the tournamnet, Liu Kang calms his worries by telling him how it would even the field against Outworld magic.

Raiden then leaves with the others to Outworld as the champion of Earthrealm. Upon arriving he advises Johnny against flirting with Kitana and Mileena as they don't need unwanted attention. Raiden is blown away by the beauty of Outworld and compliments their culture, remaining afable towards everyone around him, even General Shao despite his threats and insults towards him. Upon meeting Sindel, Liu Kang introduces him as someone who embodies the best qualities of Earthrealm, though Raiden expresses his nervousness. He then faces and defeats Li Mei, he then respectfully bows to her having been told her story by Liu Kang previously. He then faces Reiko, defeating him as well and remaining friendly despite Reiko's insults and claims that he is no warrior.

That night at a feast, he is worried by how much protection Outworld's royal family needs, and then engages in open dialogue with Sindel, happily expressing his excitement about meeting more people in Outworld and trying to achieve a peaceful bond between the realms, though he is interrupted by Shao. The next day he defeats Sheeva, Kotal, and Motaro, reaching the final stage which would have him face Kitana, much to his and Liu Kang's surprise. Despite the change, Raiden agrees to the fight and wins, exchaning compliments with Kitana afterwards and telling her he hopes they meet again under better circ*mstances (mirroring Liu Kang in the previous timeline). Raiden then fights Shao, still trying to remain friendly with him, and after defeating him tries to help him while also complementing his fight.

Afterwards Raiden leaves, though he remained on Earthrealm when the other champions infiltrated Outworld to find Shang Tsung, as he had built up a big reputation due to his victories and would be recognized inmediately. After Bi-Han defects to the Deadly Alliance, Raiden participates in a second attack on the Ying Fortress, where "Damashi" reveals himself to be the previous timeline's Shang Tsung. Raiden then assists the others in fighting against the Dark Sindel but is quickly defeated.

Raiden then took part in the attack on the Deadly Alliance, where he worked with Shang Tsung and Quan Chi to take down the portals that would bring Titan Shang Tsung's army to this timeline. He used all his power to take down the portals while Shang Tsung and Quan Chi fought the dark duplicates, even saving them from the Dark versions of Rain and Smoke despite all they had done. When the sorcerers noticed that the portals were tied to Dark Shao's life force and decide to kill him, Raiden protests and wants to find another way, only relenting because it was the only way to save the entire timeline and prevent several armies from moving in on their realms.

Raiden then joined the Forces of Light and participated in the Second Battle of Armageddon where he fought Dark Shao and was saved by his titan counterpart, leading him to question Liu Kang's choice. Afterwards, he returned to his own timeline where he had tea with Johnny, Kenshi, Liu Kang and Kung Lao at Madame Bo's, turning down a cameo role in Johnny's movie because of his new duties at the fire temple where he will help train new inititiates and convincing a reluctant Kung Lao to do the same. Liu Kang then leaves remarking the timeline is in great hands.

After the story, his tower ending reveals that he consulted with Liu Kang about why he had been stripped of godhood, and upon learning about the previous Raiden's fall to darkness, agreed with the choice and intro dialogues also have him swear to Geras that he would never follow the same oath as his previous counterpart. Raiden then began training with Scorpion in order to prepare himself for coming battles, so he could have the power of his previous self's "god rage" without risking a possible fall to darkness. Further dialogues reveal he offered to help Outworld find Shang tsung. convinced Johnny to return to train in the Wu Shi Academy, began training with Master Kai, helped Smoke and Scorpion train Hanzo, and began trying to establish more healthy and positive relations between Outworlders and Earthrealmers.

In Kung Lao's ending, it's shown that Raiden warned Kung Lao about containing Shujinko's ego and latern helped take down Shujinko when he became a threat to the realms. Raiden then began helping Kung Lao train the amnesiac Shujinko in a better way and to teach him humility. In Invasions mode, he also helped protect the timeline from more threats like a titan Hanzo Hasashi, a titan Nitara, and a titan Bi-Han

Corrupting Qualities[]

Raiden in the New Era is a complete change from the previous Raiden. He is consistently shown to be a very humble, kind and good-natured individual who doesn't wish ill will on anyone and takes any chance to make new friends. He is shown to be overly friendly to all other fighters in intro dialogues, even to his enemies like Shao and Bi-Han, and loves to learn more about Outworld, even offering to go with Syzoth to his home village.

While he did begin to feel like he had "been done a disservice" by having his status as god of thunder removes, it wasn't out of worry of not having more power or strength, but rather out of concern that he wouldn't survive in future conflicts and as such began trainign with Scorpion and Kai to grow his talents and be better prepared.

Now we have to consider lethality. I mean it's Mortal Kombat, though while Raiden's fatalities are undeniably brutal, not only are they only shown in non-canon battles, but they're also shown to be rather quick as compared to more brutal fatalities like Kung Lao's or Liu Kang's. The only moment of lethality that Raiden shows in canon is his killing of Dark Shao, but as explained previously there was no other way to shut down Titan Shang Tsung's portals and prevent his army from invading Liu Kang's timeline, not to mention he tried to convince Shang Tsung and Quan Chi to find a better way to shut down the portal.

Admirable Standard[]

The admirable standard in MK is quite high, though Raiden only has to compete with the heroes on this current timeline and not those of past ones. It's unfair to compare him to Liu Kang who was a titan and a keeper of time, having sufficient resources to create the entire world from scratch, including Raiden himself, and even after surrendering his titan powers, is still a powerful Demigod and the leader of Earthrealm while Raiden is a mortal.

Raiden stands out the most out of the four chosen Earthrealm champions, and I think that what pushes him past the admirable standard is his action of destroying Titan Shang tsung's three portals and preventing his army from coming across and invading all the realms in the new timeline. Not to mention he did it while working with two of his enemies and even risked his lfie to save theirs, trying to work in a good manner with them depsite their past actions.

Final Verdict[]

He has a good chance to qualify but I'll let the voters decide