Raiden

RAIDEN

Real Name: Raiden

Class: God

Occupation: God of lightning

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Sky Temple, Earthrealm

First Appearance: (DC Comics) Mortal Kombat X #2 (January, 2015)

Powers: Raiden was a god possessing lightning based powers, and he was a superb hand-to-hand combatant.

History: (Mortal Kombat X #16 (fb)) - During the Neatherrealm war Quan Chi and his servants clashed with Raiden and Sonya Blade. Raiden won the day, and restored Sub-Zero to life. Sub-Zero couldn't deal with the guilt over the atrocities he'd committed as Quan Chi's thrall, but Raiden assured him he'd make amends.

(Mortal Kombat X #2-4) - Raiden visited Scorpion, having given him the cursed Kamidogu dagger for safekeeping. He warned him that after the Neatherrealm war the boundaries between worlds was weak, and a silent demon had made his way to Earthrealm. He said a champion would be needed to vanquish the demon, and although Hanzo knew Raiden was a liar, it was a fact that people died after he visited. Raiden returned to the Sky Temple to meet Fujin, and used the Kamidogu of Order to clear the cloudiness that prevented him from fully seeing the demon. He saw a vision of the future, and realized events had already been set in motion. Raiden saw Cassie Cage, daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade, as the harbinger of the fall of Outworld and Earthrealm.

(Mortal Kombat X #5) - Kotal Kahn ruled Outworld, but his rule was challenged by Mileena, and their war ravaged Outworld. Mileena had an alliance in Earthrealm with the Red Dragon organization, so Khan and his companions D'Vorah and Erron Black traveled to Earthrealm to stop her. They were captured by Special Forces, and interrogated by Sonya Blade. When he promised Earthrealm would suffer the same fate as Outworld Sonya said she didn't trust him, and was attacked by D'Vorah, who she fended off. Kahn broke his bonds and said hey had to work together to save Earthrealm. Raiden broke up the fight, Kotal and his allies returned to Outworld, and Raiden told Sonya they needed to find Cassie. Black Dragons had kidnapped her and taken her to Outworld.

(Mortal Kombat X #9-11) - Takeda and Scorpion reached the Sky Temple, and Raiden appeared in a bolt of lightning, attacking them. He told them they should never have pursued him, and they fought. Takeda stabbed him with his katana, but it had little effect. Raiden had been possessed by the Kamidogu, but his spilled blood purged the curse. Raiden took them to the Jinsei Chamber, using Earthrealm's life force to heal himself and Takeda, whom Raiden had burned with lightning. Raiden revealed that years ago he contacted the Elder Gods to banish Shinnok, sending the amulet that contained his life force to a dark dimension. The Kamidogu served as a key to open up the dimension, and he'd entrusted each one to a champion, but one was missing. A demon corrupted the blood magik and possessed Sub-Zero, who had the missing dagger.

(Mortal Kombat X #16) - Raiden commended Scorpion for retrieving the Kamidogu and sparing Sub-Zero's life, saying both of them had their share of vengeance for a lifetime. He told Scorpion and Takeda where the remaining Kamidogus could be found.

(Mortal Kombat X #20) - Raiden arrived at Jax's house, having entrusted the Kamidogu of Earthrealm to him after reviving him from the dead, only to find that his Kamidogu had been forcibly taken from him by Reiko.

(Mortal Kombat X #22) - Fujin traveled to the Neatherrealm, and found the barriers he'd constructed with Raiden untouched. He warned Raiden that Shang Tsung's island was the probable location of a weak point where Quan Chi could launch an incursion. Raiden told Fujin that ever since he accessed the blood majik the jinsei rejected him, and he said they needed to contact Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage, who were sailing to Shang Tsung's island with Kotal Kahn.

Comments: Created by Ed Boon & John Tobias.

Raiden was a character from the Mortal Kombat video game series, first appearing in the original Mortal Kombat. This entry covers only Raiden's DC appearances. For a full history of the character see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raiden_(Mortal_Kombat).