Raiden

Raiden is the eternal God of Thunder, protector of Earthrealm, and arguably one of the most powerful characters in all of Mortal Kombat. After the second defeat of Shinnok, he ascended to the status of Elder God. Being a God, he possesses many supernatural abilities, such as the ability to teleport, control lightning and fly. As a God, he is used to thinking in terms of eternity rather than normal human lifespans, and so he has a radically different outlook on life. This is not to say he is incapable of understanding human values and psyches. He is the father of Wonder Woman and the uncle of Captain Marvel and Kitana.

## Powers and Abilities

Raiden is the god of thunder and lightning and, as such, he is immensely powerful and has complete control over electricity. Raiden's movements in combat are stated to be as fast as lightning. He can summon lightning bolts with a thought, project electricity from his hands that can paralyze, incapacitate, kill, or force an opponent's body to move wherever he chooses, create forcefields and blades made of electricity, summon electric orbs that act as shocking traps, use electricity in conjunction with telekinesis to move objects without physically touching them, form massive thunderstorms that shapes the weather and channel electricity through his limbs to strengthen his strikes.

He usually keeps behind the scenes in the games and rarely fights, although one notable exception was in *Deception*, where he fought both Quan Chi and Shang Tsung, and was able to hold his own for most of the fight. Raiden has a plethora of other abilities that are not suited for combat such as creation of interrealm portals, project blinding light from his eyes, raise fallen beings from the dead, take flight and summoning objects such as ships.

The thunder god is gifted with foresight, and has the ability to see the future in his dreams or simply viewing it in his mind. His precognition can be enhanced by Kamidogu daggers infused Blood Magik, although this prevents his wounds from healing for a while once he has slit himself with the dagger. He has a degree of enhanced senses as he can track energy signatures and locate the presence of others, preventing stealth attempts on him or simply finding someone who is lost.

It is shown that he can also use electricity to heal and resurrect others. He also has the ability to teleport to another destination by transforming his body into an ethereal state. Despite his godly status, he is not indestructible and has limits. Raiden, like any other god, will have his powers taken away should he enter a domain not native to him, with Outworld being the most prominent example of this. His powers can return to him once he returns however. It is also because of his godly status that he is forbidden to directly participate in any Mortal Kombat tournaments unless he takes on a mortal form.

It should be noted that even without his godly power, Raiden has a millenia of experience coupled with knowledge on 750 forms of Jujitsu and three other martial arts and is not to be taken lightly, even in mortal form. He is well versed in the art of Bojutsu, the art of wielding the *bō*staff in combat. Throughout the years, Raiden has consistently carried his trusty staff with him through the years, although he has wielded other weapons such as warhammers.