Raiden (Final Fantasy VI)

Raiden is an esper in Final Fantasy VI who can be acquired as a magicite. He is the upgrade of Odin.
==Profile==
Raiden resembles Odin, though he is mostly colored in blue with gold highlights on his armor and a blue cape. He is a tall knight who rides a mostly blue and white horse.
==Story==
After the party obtained Odin's magicite in the ancient castle, they found the petrified statue of the castle's Queen. The Queen had been in love with Odin and her statue shed a tear on the magicite, imbuing it with power and transforming it into the Raiden magicite.
==Gameplay==
Raiden costs 80 MP to summon and uses Shin-Zantetsuken (True Edge in the Super NES and PlayStation translations), which inflicts Death on all opponents. It has a Hit Rate of 140, works against undead enemies, and will stall an enemy's final attack one turn, but fails on targets immune to Death. On level up, he provides a +2 boost to Strength (later replaced with a +2 boost to Agility in the Pixel Remaster release, with Strength +2 handed off to Alexander for balance). In either case, Raiden is the best esper to raise his assigned stat.
Raiden is an effective summon to use against enemies vulnerable to Instant Death, as it has a high enough hit rate to be reliable. However, its MP cost is a bit high. His level up bonus is the best possible for physical fighters.
===Spells===
Raiden only teaches one spell but it is an extremely useful one; Quick allows the caster to take two additional turns that enemies and allies cannot act during. This is an all-around useful ability, especially when combined with relics to attack multiple times a turn or cast multiple spells a turn. E.g. if Quick is combined with the Soul of Thamasa, a character could cast five spells without interruption.
* Quick x1
== Other appearances ==
=== Final Fantasy Record Keeper ===
=== Final Fantasy Trading Card Game ===
Raiden appears in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as Lightning-elemental Summon cards.
Raiden TCG.png|Raiden [5-122R] Chapter series card.
Raiden 4-114L from FFTCG Opus.jpg|Raiden [4-114L] Opus series card.
==Gallery==
Amano Raiden.jpg|Concept art by Yoshitaka Amano.
FFVI Shin-Zantetsuken.png|Shin-Zantetsuken (GBA)
==Etymology==
The Japanese word is written in katakana. The summon's name is instead . One possible source for this name is that it is a mix of "Raiden" with "Odin": In Final Fantasy VI Odin does not extend the sound, however Odin's name has been written in design documents for the game (image) and in earlier titles.
There is a 1976 anime series called where the titular mecha is named Raideen . has a track called "Rydeen" from the 1979 album . The track is known for having been sampled and covered in many early Japanese video games, and drew inspiration from the rhythms of a running horse. The name for the track has been officially transcribed into Japanese as (and also as , the same kanji for Raiden).
==Citations==
de:Raiden (FFVI)
Category:Espers in Final Fantasy VI
Category:Magicite in Final Fantasy VI