Little John

John, nicknamed Little John, is the son of Raiden and Rosemary.

Early life
Rose was pregnant with John during the Big Shell Incident. Rose told Raiden of the pregnancy after admitting that she had originally become his girlfriend in order to spy on him for the Patriots, before eventually falling in love with him legitimately. The baby's existence was threatened towards the end of the incident, when the Patriots ordered Raiden to complete his mission, warning him that they held Rose hostage and that they would kill her in addition to Olga Gurlukovich's child if Raiden did not kill Solidus Snake.

Rose gave birth to John sometime after the Big Shell Incident. However, she and Roy Campbell devised a plan to protect her son from possible danger as a result of Raiden's resistance activities against the Patriots. After Rose claimed that she had suffered a miscarriage, Raiden became disenchanted with his life, and began a long downward spiral of alcoholism and self-abuse, eventually breaking all ties with his former fiancée. Rose subsequently married Campbell, and John was outwardly raised as his son.

One month after the collapse of the Patriots' system, the five-year-old John met his true father for the first time. Rose took John to see Raiden in the hospital, where she revealed the truth of John's parentage and the motivations behind her actions. As Raiden attempted to embrace him, John bashfully ran away to the other corner of the room. Enquiring as to whether he was afraid of him, John denied this and told Raiden that he was "cool," while brandishing a toy sword. As an avid sci-fi movie and anime fan, John had grown up with the romantic notion of a hero. Afterwards, the three finally began their lives as a family.

Post-Insurrection
In order to support Rosemary and Little John, Raiden joined the Private Military Security Company Maverick Security Consulting, Inc. as a military instructor, VIP bodyguard, and other related jobs.

Behind the scenes
Little John is named after Jean Jack Gibson's robotic navigator in Snatcher.

Although Jennifer Hale is credited for providing John's English voice in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, many fans believe he was actually voiced by Nika Futterman. When questioned about this, Futterman claimed that she could not remember, since neither her nor her agent keep specific details on her roles. However, Futterman did say that it was likely, as Hale usually plays girls whereas she usually plays boys.