Raiden

Raiden (雷電), real name Jack, was the adopted son of Solidus Snake, after his biological parents were both killed by Solidus early in his childhood. From an early age he was trained to be a soldier and earned several nicknames due to his skill in combat. Sometime after this, he was outfitted with a cyborg exoskeleton to keep him alive after torturous experiments by the Patriots in which they removed his spine and part of his head.

Early life and career
Jack was adopted by Solidus Snake, who became his godfather after he killed the young boy's parents. Jack was subsequently taken overseas, raised as a child soldier, and later fought in the Liberian Civil War in 1989. Under Solidus Snake, Jack became a killing machine, known alternately as the "White Devil" and "Jack the Ripper" due to his incredibly high kill rate compared to other boys his age. Armed with a gun at the age of six (he would later remember it as an AK rifle), he proved to be a superior soldier, rising to become captain of the Small Boy Unit at ten.

After the war ended, Solidus placed Jack in a relief center for a while, but he was removed by a non-governmental organization and taken back to the United States, where he came into the hands of the Patriots. An immense number of nanomachines were later implanted into his cerebral cortex, in order to have Jack function as a back-up system for one of their optic-neuro AIs. The same nanomachines were also capable of memory manipulation by connecting or stimulating synapses, primarily nerve sections in the dormant part of the brain.

Jack would grow up to suppress the memories about his terrible childhood, burying the memories of his bloody past, though he still suffered from nightmares of his past nearly every night. Now living a life in the United States, Jack joined the military where his admirable skills were at first recognized by the U.S. Army's Task Force XXI. From there he participated in three hundred VR simulations, such as a re-creation of the Shadow Moses Incident that took place a few years earlier.

On April 30th, 2007, Jack met Rosemary and had an argument about King Kong. After they parted ways, they met again afterwards, shocked that they worked in the same place. Eventually, Jack grew to love Rose deeply, but his harsh experiences had left him melancholic and emotionally distant, and he constantly shut her out of his problems. However, all of this drama was a ruse by the Patriots to gain more control over Jack's life, with Rosemary acting as a spy.

Sometime prior to the Big Shell Incident, Jack was recruited into the supposedly reformed FOXHOUND, a special forces unit that no longer officially existed.

At the beginning of the Big Shell mission, Jack was briefly referred to as "Snake" before his codename was changed to "Raiden" by the Colonel, as the leader of the terrorists was also referring to himself as Solid Snake. Prior to being dispatched, Raiden's superiors also removed his natural blood, placed it in cold storage, and replaced it with a nanite filled blood substitute instead. On his way to the Big Shell, he also found that the oil fence had a recently-cut hole, implying that someone other than him had managed to sneak in. He later revealed this to the Colonel, who was shocked, since there wasn't supposed to be anyone other than Raiden who should have infiltrated the base. His suspicions that there was another intruder were quickly confirmed, as he entered a room full of knocked-out guards and caught a glimpse of the man as he ascended in an elevator. Raiden took to the mission with much hesitation, as he had only been trained in VR missions (some of which also didn't cover vital materials such as knowing how to dispose of C4), and had no actual field experience, often becoming somewhat indecisive at times.

Raiden later met up with Iroquois Pliskin, a Lieutenant Junior Grade with the United States Navy SEALs, but he was revealed to be the real Solid Snake, who had faked his death two years prior during the Tanker Incident. Raiden eventually learned of the Patriots existence, as well as the development of Arsenal Gear and the Big Shell's development being a cover for Arsenal Gear. He also rescued Emma and escorted her, although she ended up killed by Vamp despite his best efforts in preventing her death. Raiden and Snake were able to join forces to take down Dead Cell and implant a virus into GW, the Patriots AI that was running Arsenal Gear, an enormous Patriots warship built under the Big Shell. He was then captured by Snake and Olga Gurlukovich, but Olga freed him shortly afterwards, telling him they had needed to use him so that Snake could sneak on board.

As Raiden snuck through Arsenal Gear, He discovered that his C.O. was acting odd, which was later revealed to be due to the Colonel actually being an AI construct of GW. Rose contacted him by Codec, and revealed that she was a Patriot spy sent to keep tabs on him, who even went as far as to alter her appearance to Raiden's liking so that he would keep her in his life; however, she insisted that she had genuinely fallen in love with him. This greatly angered him, but her transmission was cut off, just as she was revealing that she was pregnant with his child.

Raiden then met up with Snake, who gave him Olga's High Frequency Blade as well as most of his equipment back. The pair battled through Arsenal Gear's Arsenal Tengu commando soldiers before encountering Fortune. Snake told Raiden to go ahead, with Fortune claiming that Snake was the root of all her misery. Raiden, hesitant at first, left Snake to face Fortune. Raiden went on to battle against the horde of mass-produced versions of Metal Gear RAY units managing to defeat several of them before collapsing from exhaustion. Just as Raiden was about to be killed, Olga came to his aid. By doing this, she revealed herself as an enemy of Solidus, who angrily killed Olga. Olga's final words were for Raiden to live. As Solidus ordered the remaining RAYs to kill Raiden, the virus planted into GW went into effect, disabling the RAYs. Solidus destroyed them out of frustration.

It was soon revealed that Raiden was merely a puppet of the Patriots, and that his entire mission on the Big Shell was a lie, a scripted event cunningly devised by the Patriots. Additionally, the "Colonel" he was speaking to was actually GW, an AI created by the Patriots, posing as Colonel Roy Campbell, created by Raiden's hopes and expectations of Campbell. They told him that he was just a weapon, a creation of the Patriots with no purpose but for what they made him. The AI instructed Raiden to kill Solidus, which he had no choice but to do so, for his own sake and for the sake of Olga Gurlukovich's daughter and Rosemary/their unborn child. Solidus also desired to kill him so he could access the backup data of the Patriots that was stored in his cerebral cortex in order to track them down, to compensate for the apparent destruction of GW.

A fierce battle on top of Federal Hall ensued, and ended with Raiden emerging victorious. He then met up with Snake, who assured him that he is not the puppet of anyone, and that he could shape his own destiny. Raiden offered his services to Philanthropy, but Snake told him to take care of his personal life first. Raiden then met up with Rosemary, and he solemnly forgave her, and they ultimately decided to continue their lives together.

Post-Big Shell
Raiden and Rosemary began living together, but the tragic memories of his days as a child soldier started to resurface, causing tension in their relationship. He began drinking heavily, and getting into fights and eventually decided to leave her.

Raiden learned from Big Mama, in exchange for the location of Big Boss that he obtained from GW, that Olga's daughter, Sunny, was being held in Area 51, and successfully rescued her with the help of Big Mama and the Paradise Lost. After hearing of Rosemary's miscarriage and subsequent remarriage to Roy Campbell, Raiden became despondent. He left Sunny in the care of Otacon and Snake anonymously. Afterwards, he left to wander the Earth. Raiden studied scouting techniques under a Native American shaman living in Alaska, and learned to hunt. He then began work on retrieving Big Boss's remains from the Patriots for the Paradise Lost Army, leading to his capture. As a prisoner, the Patriots used Raiden as a test subject for experiments in exoskeletal enhancement surgery, during which he had his head and spine excised from his body from his lower jaw down and subsequently grafted into an enhanced synthetic body.

With the help of the Paradise Lost Army, Raiden managed to escape his captivity. After undergoing surgery to clear his body of nanomachines and being saved by Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar, he was successful in reclaiming Big Boss's remains from the Patriots. The enhancements implanted throughout Raiden's body, however, were too severe to allow him to live a normal life again. He elected to disappear from the life of his fiancee, Rosemary.

Raiden returned in 2014, and while Solid Snake was in South America, he contacted him through Codec, commenting that he had been helping Big Mama find the corpse of Big Boss. He also now felt as if Raiden was his only name, disavowing his identity of Jack when he first contacted Snake. Their first call had to end abruptly due to a firefight, though. Shortly after Laughing Octopus was defeated, Raiden contacted Snake again, helping him track Naomi by teaching him how to scout. Raiden appeared in person in a South American marketplace, where he helped Snake and Otacon escape by fighting off the Gekko.

Eventually, the Gekko held him captive on behalf of Vamp, who stabbed him twice with his knife and tasted his artificial blood. While believed by his opponent to be "immortal", Raiden replied that he simply doesn't fear death. Snake then shot the tethers, freeing him from the Gekko and destroying them. Both Raiden and Vamp battled each other with a sword and a number of knifes, respectively, resulting in Vamp stabbed through the abdomen and Raiden receiving multiple inflictions himself. When Snake and Otacon's helicopter hovered above him, he jumped aboard and escaped along with Naomi Hunter, but not without collapsing from the grave injuries he sustained from the previous fights. Aboard the Nomad, he continued to suffer even more due to his injuries, causing his chances of survival to become very bleak. Naomi had sympathy for him, as her adoptive brother and Raiden had both endured a great deal of suffering as a result of each becoming a Cyborg Ninja, and was extremely bitter that the Cyborg Ninja project was still continuing.

After a dialysis and a "white blood" transfusion with the help of Dr. Madnar, he returned again and saved Snake's life at Shadow Moses after disabling the suicide gekko that were attacking. He has a final face off with Vamp, after Snake returned him to a near-mortal state via the nanomachine supressors Naomi gave him, on top of Metal Gear REX, with Raiden emerging the victor, finally killing Vamp once and for all. He also told Naomi that Sunny said that "I cooked them right," shortly before she euthanized Vamp and committed suicide by injecting herself with large doses of nanomachine suppressors. With Snake controlling REX, Raiden assisted in his escape by warding off the Gekko chasing them, eventually being caught under debris caused by the Suicide Gekko. He set himself free from under the debris by removing his right arm. After doing so, he put himself in the way of Outer Haven, stopping it in its path and holding it back from crushing Snake allowing him to get out of the way. Raiden eventually was crushed under it, screaming Rose's name and remembering a conversation of how they met, as well as images reuniting with her at Federal Hall during the the end of the Big Shell Incident, before he lost consciousness. He was confirmed later to be alive by Otacon but was in no state to help Snake in his final mission aboard Outer Haven.

However, as Snake made his way deeper into Haven, he was saved once again by Raiden, missing both arms and wielding his sword in between his teeth, from a group of FROGS. He also demonstrated lightning-like powers. Raiden originally intended to go upload the FOXALIVE virus into GW in Snake's place, stating that his current state made himself immune to the microwave corridor, but Snake convinced him to not do it as he "still has his youth." Instead, he decided to hold the FROGS off and buy Snake enough time to upload FOXALIVE. He was able to kill several of them but was eventually overwhelmed and taken down. Once Snake and Otacon destroyed GW along with the other four AIs, the FROGS were incapacitated and unable to kill him.

Afterwards, Raiden was sent to a hospital where he was fitted with with a new cybernetic body that appears far more human. Upon waking up from his surgery, Rose and a small child entered the room, with Raiden ignoring them both, thinking that the child was Roy Campbell's, who Rose had married during Raiden's disappearance into the Alaskan wilderness. Rose told Raiden that the child was his, and her miscarriage was a lie. She explained that her marriage to Campbell was a plan that they both had orchestrated to protect herself and their son from the Patriots so as to not give the Patriots any reason to capture Rose and John, as they would provide no leverage against Raiden. In other words, Raiden's lack of awareness of his son and his disdain for Rose meant that both would serve no purpose to the Patriots, as their suffering would not move him in any way. Stunned, Raiden forgave Rose once again, as she felt desperately guilty from being unable to tell him from the danger it presented. She proceeded to introduce their son as John and the three huddled together in reunion. To him, at that moment, it felt like a scene from Beauty and the Beast. But Rose reassured him that he was no beast, but her husband. Raiden then vowed that he was done running, while Rose vowed that she was no longer afraid.

Names
The word "Raiden" (雷電) literally means "thunder and lightning" in Japanese. He shares this codename with the Mitsubishi J2M Raiden, an Imperial Japanese WWII fighter aircraft, which the Allied forces codenamed "Jack." The Patriots later informed Raiden that, like his namesake, he was nothing more than a weapon, a tool to be discarded once its usefulness has been outlived.

One of Raiden's nicknames, Jack the Ripper, is a pseudonym for an unidentified serial killer in 1888 who was active in the largely impoverished districts in and around Whitechapel, London.

Personality and characteristics
Due to his participation in the Liberian Civil War, Raiden was one of the few Force XXI VR subjects to possess actual combat experience. When he first infiltrated the Big Shell, Raiden appeared to be a young and "inexperienced" agent of a "reformed" FOXHOUND unit, occasionally prone to emotional outbursts. When the memories of his time as a child soldier began to resurface, he gained somewhat of a low opinion of himself, especially in comparison to Solid Snake's accomplishments. Although he immensely respected Solid Snake, there were instances where it had its rough spots during the Big Shell Incident, such as when he learned that Snake and Otacon lied to him about whether they knew about the Big Shell being a great big conspiracy, as well as a remark Snake made that got him angered enough to make explosive insults about Snake, not realizing that Snake was next to Otacon during the conversation, resulting in him hearing every word of it, and when Snake "betrayed" Raiden at Arsenal Gear to lessen security onboard, and was especially irritated that Snake didn't warn him beforehand.

Raiden shares some similarities with his Cyborg Ninja predecessor, Gray Fox; both had been child soldiers who were given nicknames due to their brutality; they both underwent cybernetic experimentation by the Patriots, and used technologically advanced blades; and they both saved Solid Snake from a Metal Gear (Fox with REX, and Raiden with Outer Haven). Raiden was also similar to Gray Fox's adopted sister, Naomi, in that he was adopted by the same person who murdered his parents. Raiden is the only known Cyborg Ninja to have survived, and also the only one who hasn't fought Solid Snake.

By the time of Liquid Ocelot's Insurrection, Raiden had changed considerably; the trauma of his break-up with Rose and the "miscarriage" of their unborn son, combined with rigorous training and his torture at the hands of the Patriots, changed Raiden from an inexperienced rookie to a cold and virtually emotionless soldier, who seemingly doesn't care about his own life; for instance, in his fight with Vamp in South America, he freely admitted to Vamp that he didn't fear death. Raiden's only real display of emotion occurred after the death of Big Mama; Snake told Raiden that he (Snake) has no future, while Raiden has a family; at this, Raiden grabbed Snake, shouting that he too has nothing. Nonetheless, due to his past experiences with Snake, he was completely loyal to the legendary soldier and citing his personal views about Snake by asking him to "not leave me alone." Upon discovering the truth about Rose's "marriage" to Campbell, Raiden seemed to regain some of his old self.

Raiden used to smoke at one point in his life but had quit by the time of the Big Shell Incident.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Raiden (雷電) appears as the main protagonist of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Konami kept his starring role a secret right up until the game's release in North America, even going so far as to replace Raiden with Snake in teaser trailers and other preview materials (although he did appear in a few trailers, in his scuba gear, his presence was not as emphasized as the other characters). The presence of Raiden in the game was announced to the Japanese press on the same day as the game's release in North America.

Following the release of Metal Gear Solid 2, Raiden was met with a mixed reaction from fans of the series. Much of the negative response was due largely to his apparent naive attitude, androgynous appearance as well as acting as the protagonist over Snake. However, director Hideo Kojima has stated in interviews that he was introduced primarily to attract new fans to the game so that he could ask questions that a veteran like Snake wouldn't ask, so as to avoid treating Snake like a rookie, and to make Snake appear more impressive as a character, an idea strongly defended by some fans. Kojima has also explicitly stated that Raiden is his favorite character in Metal Gear Solid 2.

According to characters designer Yoji Shinkawa in the featurette The Making of Metal Gear Solid 2, the primary reason why Raiden is designed as bishonen (a "pretty boy") is because a fan letter stated that the addresser in question did not want to "play a story with an old man." Kojima also mentions similar reasons in the documentary Metal Gear Saga Vol. 1.

The concept of Raiden as a character was spawned when director Hideo Kojima and sound director Kazuki Muraoka went to see The Replacement Killers as an alternate film choice due to their original film choice, Saving Private Ryan, had lines that were far too long for them to wait. Similarly, the twist that Raiden was not Snake was admitted by Kojima to have been inspired by the plot twist of Terminator 2: Judgment Day where the titular character played by Arnold Schwartzenegger was not a villain in that movie.

Raiden's real name Jack (ジャック) is based on one of the main characters from the movie Titanic, along with his girlfriend Rose. Like Solidus Snake and Fortune, Raiden's other name is also that of a playing card - King, Queen, and Jack, respectively.

In the original gameplan of Metal Gear Solid 2, Raiden was to have had false memories of his father, in which he was apparently killed in a hunting accident. Raiden's "father" would also have resembled Solidus Snake.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Metal Gear Solid 3 makes use of Raiden's character as well as his appearance. Selecting the option "I like MGS2!" before starting a new game, triggers a change in the opening, in which Naked Snake (also named Jack) wears a mask that looks identical to Raiden's face, to conceal his identity from the gunship crew. Additionally, the oxygen mask that Snake wears during the HALO jump bears an intentional resemblance to the diving mask that Raiden wears in the opening of Metal Gear Solid 2.

Later in the game, Major Ivan Raidenovitch Raikov, (who bears an intentional resemblance to Raiden) must be neutralized and his uniform stolen in order to infiltrate the west wing of Groznyj Grad. "Ivan" is the Russian equivalent of "John," for which "Jack" is often used as a nickname in English.

In the Metal Gear Solid 4 Directors trailer, Raiden makes a parody appearance along with Snake, who is dressed to look like Sam Fisher, the main character in Splinter Cell. The trailer depicts them fighting over who will be the main character of Metal Gear Solid 4. Snake wins the fight easily, sitting in the "Main Character" chair, signalling a chime. But just as Snake leaves and before the credits roll, Raiden is seen eyeing up the chair, and as the screen fades to black, the same chime is heard. However, Raiden is not a playable character in Metal Gear Solid 4.

Raiden has a major role in one of the Secret Theater shorts made by Kojima Productions for their website, and included in Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. Entitled Metal Gear Raiden: Snake Eraser, Raiden (voiced by Charlie Schlatter) attempts to "erase" Solid Snake by traveling back in time in a Terminator-like fashion and attempting to assassinate Naked Snake, all ending in humorous failure. After deciding not to kill Naked Snake, he went back to the events of Operation Intrude F014 (complete with MSX2 graphics) to kill Solid Snake himself, ending in similar failure, where, ironically, he is stopped by his original target, Big Boss. In the ending, he accepts that he can't change the past, although he does hope to get a starring role in Metal Gear Solid 5 (which he does).

Metal Gear: Ghost Babel
Raiden does not appear in the main story, but he is briefly referenced by his real name, Jack, in the special ending after the player managed to complete 40 VR missions, where he was apparently being trained with various VR missions relating to Solid Snake's exploits in the Galuade Incident, presumably to make Raiden more powerful than Snake was during Galuade's fall.

Metal Gear Solid Mobile
After completing Metal Gear Solid Mobile, revealed to be a VR mission, Solid Snake is declared a failed test subject and has his memories erased, and a pair of mysterious voices discuss a second test subject, "Jack", wondering if he can do better. After completing all the Special Mission stages in the previously released Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, a mysterious person named No. 4 makes a cryptic reference to the unknown participant taking part in the VR missions, referring to the participant as "Jack."

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus
In Portable Ops Plus, Raiden becomes playable in Infinity Mission mode after beating the game on Hard mode.

In the game, Raiden appears as he does in Metal Gear Solid 2. He is not able to use his acrobatic kick from Metal Gear Solid 2 and instead is able only to ram at opponents like any other soldier, and like the Arsenal Tengu, he is equiped with a blade so he only has three free item slots, but an advantage in comparison to the Tengu ops is that Raiden perform unending combos with his blade which gives him the chance not to get discovered while slashing enemies. His use of a sword is also referenced by Roy Campbell, stating that a new soldier joined who wields a katana. Added to this is that Raiden, unlike Naked Snake or Old Snake, has the Athlete ability which makes him run faster than regular soldiers. However, on the downside, he posseses less stamina and health points which makes him vulnerable when he is surrounded by enemies. Overall, he posesses similar stats to Old Snake and Naked Snake.

"A member of FOXHOUND, with extensive VR mission training. Received code name "Raiden" while infiltrating the Big Shell, an ocean cleanup facility occupied by terrorists. Raised as a soldier from childhood, and haunted by memories of his past, his real name is Jack."

- Official description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Raiden's never-used sidearm in Metal Gear Solid 4 is the classic Mk23. It is visible on the Medicom Action Figure based on the designs by Yoji Shinkawa, and usable when playing as Raiden in Metal Gear Online.

Metal Gear Online
Raiden is a special character downloadable from the SCENE expansion pack along with Vamp.

Raiden the White-blooded Scout, can fall from any height without damage and jump on ledges that would normally require a boost, and has no nanomachines. He handles a High Frequency Blade, operable in lethal and non-lethal mode, which allows him to deflect frontal attacks. His other unique weapons are the Mk.23 pistol and the Throwing Knife. When his Visor is closed, he can see all traps in the map. Instead of the usual CQC three-hit combo, he instead starts a spin kick which continues as long as the user keeps tapping R1. When pressing the jump back button, Raiden, does backwards handstands instead of jumping backwards (Raiden can get shot during these back handstands). He is also equipped with CQC 2 and a throat-slitting ability, along with a running ability higher than Runner 3.

When playing as Raiden, he does a pose similar to that of Gray Fox in concept art for Metal Gear Solid. This can be seen after taking a large fall.

Metal Gear Solid: Rising
Metal Gear Solid: Rising is the second game in which Raiden is the primary player character, although this time the player takes control of Raiden in his Cyborg Ninja appearance. The story will cover the events that occur between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4, and will focus on how Raiden became the character he is during Liquid Ocelot's Insurrection.

The game employs a more action-based style of gameplay based around a concept called "zan-datsu" ("cut and take"), although the stealth gameplay of the previous games will still be present. The gameplay strives to allow the player to replicate the same kind of feats that Raiden performs in Metal Gear Solid 4.

As a point of interest, the original render of Raiden from the game's reveal at E3 2009 showed him having brown eyes and a pale complexion. This was rectified in a promotional render released several months later via the online game Metal Gear Solid: Piece Walker.

Other appearances
Raiden is a secret character in Evolution Skateboarding. To play as Raiden, the player must beat the game 100%, collecting all coins with character Mark Appleyard.

Raiden's likeness also appears in other games:
 * Artwork of Snake from Metal Gear Acid show two soldiers in the background; one of them has the same Skull Suit and mask that Raiden wore during the Big Shell Incident.
 * Raiden, in the Skull Suit, is featured as a sticker in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
 * A costume available to download for LittleBigPlanet allows the Sackboys to dress up as Cyborg Raiden.
 * In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Raiden's outfit can be unlocked by completing the Virtual Training in the Animus 2.0.

Misc.
Raiden's past shares the same history as Grey Fox's relationship with Naomi Hunter, Grey Fox killed Naomi's parents and adopted her as his sister. Solidus Snake killed Raiden's Parents and adopted him as his son.

Video
thumb|500px|left|Raiden Fight with Gekkos and Vamp 