Raiden, God of Thunder, is the Protector of Earthrealm. He and the Elder Gods defeated Shinnok millennia ago when the latter sought dominion over the realms. More recently Raiden thwarted Outworld's attempts to merge Earthrealm, First through the Mortal Kombat tournaments, then via invasion. Victory came at great cost, however, as many of Raiden's closest allies were killed in the battle. Raiden's strength was further tested when an escaped Shinnok led a Netherrealm assault on an Earthrealm weakened by war. Ultimately, Raiden imprisoned Shinnok again--this time in Shinnok's own Amulet. But rumor have reached Raiden that the Amulet, thought to be secured in an Earthrealm vault for decades, might have been stolen.

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Fatality 1: Bug Eyes (Close)

Fatality 2: Conducting Rod (Far)

Stage Fatality (Close)

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Brutality 1: Overload

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· Only in Thunder God Variation
· Perform a combo that does over 25% damage
· Final hit must come from the Lightning Strike kombo , , ,

Brutality 2: Inside You

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· Only in Displacer Variation
· Raiden must perform 5 Teleports
· Final hit must come from a ground or air enhanced Electric Fly , or enhanced Thunder Fly ,

Brutality 3: Power Outage

· Only in Master of Storms Variation
· Must land a 10 hit kombo during the match
· Final hit must come from a Static Trap or Full Trap

Brutality 4: Dark Force

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· Available in all Variations
· During the Power Discharge Kombo player must press during electric zaps
· Final hit must come from the Power Discharge Kombo , ,

Brutality 5: Super Shocker

· Available in all Variations
· Raiden must press times During the Electrocute
· Final hit must come Electrocute

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After milennia of fending off Earthrealm's enemies, Raiden began to wonder if defense was the best path to peace.
In a change of tactics, Raiden and the Shirai Ryu attacked Kotal Kahn's armies before they could rebuild.
They decimated the emperor's forces, leaving Outworld at their mercy.
The victorious Raiden claimed dominion over Outworld.
The first of many threats to Earthrealm had been removed.

We began by creating a very nomadic feeling Thunder God, as if he had been wandering the Realms since the last game. You can see in the early designs that the armor doesn't feel cohesive, but rather pieced together from scavenging. While these could have made for strong visuals, Raiden's narrative in the time between Mortal Kombat 9 and 10 did not match this representation.

We began to work towards a more traditional look to ensure the initial impression for Raiden would be the same benevolent God we had seen in previous Mortal Kombat games, eventually settling on our final design. You will notice on his tabard representations for Earth, Wind, and Water, the meteorological elements of Earthrealm.

When designing Raiden's corrupted state, we looked to Shinnok for inspiration. We wanted armor, cloth detail, and color scheme to clearly show Shinnok's influence on Raiden. While he is not pure evil, this Raiden is was designed to show a more militant approach to protecting Earthrealm.

• Mortal Kombat (1992)
• Mortal Kombat II (1993)
• Mortal Kombat 4 (1997)
• Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (2002)
• Mortal Kombat: Deception / Unchained (2004)
• Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006)
• Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (2008)
• Mortal Kombat (2011)
• Mortal Kombat Mobile
• WWE Immortals (2015)
• Injustice 2 (2017)
• Injustice 2 Mobile
• Mortal Kombat 11 (2019)
• Fortnite
• Mortal Kombat 1 (2023)