Ivan Raidenovitch Raikov

Ivan Raidenovitch Raikov appears in the game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. He is a part of the Russian military intelligence agency known as GRU and is the gay lover of Colonel Volgin. He is very similar in appearance to Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty. He is Colonel Volgin's gay lover/concubine. His sexuality can be determined from his character trait: Artist - i.e. he is uninterested in women (while EVA may have also unsuccessfully tried to get information out of him attempting her womanly charm on him). He is also unresponsive to dirty magazines in MGS3 and MGS Online.

If you threaten him with a knife, he will give information about Volgin, but sometimes he'll also speak parts of Raiden's dialogue from MGS2. Raikov is defeated and stripped by Naked Snake, who uses his clothes to disguise himself in Groznyj Grad to get to the Shagohod. If confronted while the Raiden mask is on, Raikov will stare at Snake with a narcissistic beat to which Snake is then discovered. After subduing/killing Raikov and wearing his uniform with mask, the player can go out on a rampage throughout Groznyj Grad, beating up scientists and soldiers without reprise (some will even thank you).

In Subsistence, Raikov is available for use during online play as the leader of GRU. His special attack is the famous crotch grab, a special CQC move that knocks out the enemy in one painful strike.

The canonical choice for the player was to only knock him unconscious in MGS3 as Raikov also appears in MPO as an unlockable character. To find him, place spies in the Western Wilderness before rescuing Naked Snake. A spy report will flag. Raikov had lost his position due to his abusive ways against soldiers (a reference to MGS3, where you could attack Soviet soldiers without reprise when disguised as Raikov, as he was "just that kind of guy" from EVA's observations), and was imprisoned, to be released by Naked Snake and his team.

Raikov's patronymic (a personal name based on the name of one's father), Raidenovitch, means "Son of Raiden". When used in a Japanese context, Raidenovitch can be interpreted as 'son of Raiden' in Russian or 'Thuderbolt's Bitch' in Japanese. This may refer either to Raikov being the Raiden's spoof, or that he is "Thunderbolt"(Colonel Volgin)'s bitch. Or maybe even both.

Current status: Unknown