Raiden (Mortal Kombat)

Raiden is a secondary protagonist and playable character from the video game franchise Mortal Kombat. He was portrayed by Richard Epcar.

Why He’s The God of Thunder

 * 1) Raiden is a well-written portrayal of several Asian gods of thunder. He is seen as the video game equivalent of Marvel Comics’ Thor.
 * 2) Richard Epcar and Christopher Lambert did an excellent job portraying Raiden in the games and 1995 film, respectively. Lambert returned to voice him for a DLC skin in MK11.
 * 3) Raiden is a mentor figure for Liu Kang, Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade. He is considered to be a memorable video game mentor figure.
 * 4) Raiden had iconic quotes such as “Thunder take you!”, “I must consult with the Elder Gods” and his gibberish while doing the Electric Fly move.
 * 5) His fatalities and brutalities are disturbing yet impressive to look at.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) His Dark Raiden form in Mortal Kombat 11 was wasted potential. It doesn’t help that his form appeared in tons of advertising and misled people into thinking he’s the main antagonist but not Kronika.
 * 2) Some Injustice fans may not like him as a guest character in the second game because Sub-Zero was already a guest character in the same game. Luckily, he comes with a Black Lightning premier skin.

Trivia

 * “I must consult with the Elder Gods” became a meme among Mortal Kombat players.