Raiden is a character from the Mortal Kombat games and was introduced in the first part of the series in 1992 and returned in almost all sequels with the only exception being the vanilla version of Mortal Kombat 3. He had to be unlocked in Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance and Mortal Kombat Deception but is an important part of the stories in both games.

Raiden is a Thunder-God and Protector of Earthrealm. He helps Liu Kang and the other Earthrealm Warriors whenever he is allowed to. During MK: Deception he changes to a darker version of himself, this design is also an alternate costume in Mortal Kombat 9. He plays again a big role in the story mode of Mortal Kombat X (2015) and is one of the two Mortal Kombat guest characters in the DC Comics fighting game Injustice 2 (2017). Raiden was one of the two first characters that were revealed to return in Mortal Kombat XI (2019)

 

Raiden was the first fighting game character with the ability to teleport himself as a special move. Today he is one of the most known Mortal Kombat characters and made it into the Spinoff MK vs. DC Universe and also as a guest character into games like NBA Jam T.E, NFL Blitz, and Unreal Tournament 2: The Liandri Conflict.

Raiden is part of the Game-Art-HQ Mortal Kombat Art Tribute and was drawn in his different designs from the first Mortal Kombat to Mortal Kombat 9. He is also the first Mortal Kombat character that got an exclusive illustration for this gallery. 

 

Raiden from the Mortal Kombat Games: an Overview

Charactername:  Raiden   Developed /Created by Midway Games later NetherRealm Studios
Gameseries: Mortal Kombat   First seen on: Arcades  
First Game: Mortal Kombat   Year first seen in: 1992 
Last Game: Mortal Kombat XI (2019)   Birthplace:  
Role(s) and Characteristics: Fighting Game Character, Protagonist   Weapons or Martial Arts Style: Staff (Since MK4), Nan Chuan (MKDA-MKA) 
Additional Tags: Thundergod   Similar Characters:  
Has Relations to: Fujin, Liu Kang   See also:  

 


Official Game Art like promotional Illustrations of Raiden

 

Raiden Injustice II Wallpaper

Raiden MKX Mortal Kombat X Wallpaper

Raiden MKX Wallpaper Art

Raiden MKX Mortal Kombat X Primary Costume Skin Render  

Raiden MKX Renders

Raiden in Mortal Kombat X, Wallpaper and Renders

Raiden Mortal Kombat 9 Official Illustration

Raiden Mortal Kombat 9 Original Concept Art

Raiden Mortal Kombat 9 Alternate Costume Official Concept Art Raiden Mortal Kombat 9 Portrait

Renders and Concept Illustrations showing both costumes of Raiden in Mortal Kombat 9 (2011)

Raiden MKDA Official Art

MK Deadly Alliance (2002)

Raiden Mortal Kombat 4 Official Art

Mortal Kombat 4 (1997)

Raiden Mortal Kombat II Art

Mortal Kombat II (1993)

Raiden Mortal Kombat II Official Artwork

Mortal Kombat II (1993)

 

Additional Official Art like Wallpapers of Raiden as well as Game Art of him only shown in the games:

Mortal-Kombat-Deception-Rai

 Mortal Kombat Deception (2004) WP Gallery

     

Raiden from Mortal Kombat drawn for the Game-Art-HQ Video Game Character Database

Raiden based on his classic design in the first Mortal Kombat, drawn by Nekro-Phil from the UK was the first MK character that got an illustration for our Game Character Database.

Raiden MK1 Ending 1  Raiden MK1 Ending 2

Did you know that he was actually one of the playable antagonists in the first game (together with Kano)? While he became Earthrealms Guardian since Mortal Kombat II and acted as one of the main protagonists in almost all of the later Mortal Kombat games, his bio and especially his ending in the classic Mortal Kombat suggested that we humans can expected nothing good from the Thunder-god. 

Phil is a member and contributor on Game-Art-HQ since years and you can find a lot of awesome stuff in his gallery on dA, have a look at it here!

 

 


Raiden in Game-Art-HQ Art Projects

All Mortal Kombat Art Tribute Artworks featuring Raiden:

Raiden from Mortal Kombat 1 MK Art Tribute on Game-Art-HQ

Mortal Kombat

Raiden from Mortal Kombat 2 MK Art Tribute on Game-Art-HQ

Mortal Kombat II

Raiden from Mortal Kombat 4 MK Art Tribute on Game-Art-HQ

Mortal Kombat 4

Raiden from Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance MK Art Tribute on Game-Art-HQ

MK DA

Raiden-MKDA-Alt

MK DA Alt

Raiden MK Deception

MK Deception

Raiden-MKD-Alt

MK Deception Alt

Raiden from Mortal Kombat vs DC MK Art Tribute on Game-Art-HQ

MK VS DC

Raiden-MK9

Mortal Kombat 9

Raiden from Mortal Kombat 9 Alt MK Art Tribute on Game-Art-HQ

Mortal Kombat 9 Alt

Raiden is a part of our Mortal Kombat Art Tribute and was drawn in all his different Designs so far!


Selected Fan Art and Cosplay Photos of Raiden

Lord Raiden Mortal Kombat X MK Legacy Art Series

Raiden returns in MKX

by Esau Murga 

Lord Raiden and the Antagonists from Mortal Kombat by Esau Murga

Lord Raiden

by Esau Murga

Raiden MKX Mortal Kombat X Storm Lord Variation Fan Art Raiden Displacer MKX Mortal Kombat X Fan Art Raiden MKX Thunder God Variation Mortal Kombat X

Raiden MKX Variations

by Romero Gonzales

Dark Raiden from MKX

by Flavio Luccisano

Raiden MKDA by_letticia maer

Raiden from MKDA

by Letticia Maer

Raiden MK by Esau Murga

Raiden Mortal Kombat Legacy

by Esau Murga

Ckassic MK Raiden

Classic MK Raiden

by Esau Murga

Raiden MK vs DC

Raiden MK vs. DC

by Filipe Aguiar

Raiden MK9 Alt Fan Art

Raiden MK9 Alt.

by MadiBlitz

Raiden Mortal Kombat 1

Classic MK 1 Raiden

by Dyl’ Cook

Raiden Mortal Kombat II Fan Art

Raiden Mortal Kombat II

by Fear-sAs`s

Raiden Mortal Kombat 1 fan art

Raiden MKI

by J41R0

Raiden MK 2011 Fan Art

Raiden from MK (2011) by SicMop

 

Selected Concept Designs and Redesigns of Raiden by Fans

Raiden Mortal Kombat Concept

Raiden Concept Art

by Filipe Aguiar

Female Raiden Mortal Kombat

Female / Rule 63 Raiden

by Magnothus

Raiden Redesign Mortal Kombat

Raiden Redesign

by Robert Schilling

Raiden Concept

by Flavio Luccisano

 


 

Updates and additions in Raiden’s Gallery

06.03.2022 Small Updates, + Flavio Luccisano’s Raiden Concept Art from 2012 added

10.01.2019 – Small Info Update about Raiden being in Mortal Kombat XI

20.11.2017 – Lots of Layout Updates for the gallery, added also NekroPhil’s take on Raiden for this gallery and Raiden in Injustice II!