Ivan Raidenovitch Raikov

Ivan Raidenovitch Raikov (イワン・ライデノヴィッチ・ライコフ) appears in the game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. He was a GRU major second in command at Groznyj Grad to Colonel Volgin, also being the colonel's lover.

Raikov later appears in MPO as an unlockable character, found by placing spies in the Western Wilderness before rescuing Naked Snake. Raikov had lost his position due to his abusive ways against soldiers (a reference to MGS3, where the player 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.

He is essentially a comic relief character in himself, although his role in the MGS3 storyline is served by Snake needing to disable him and take his identity in order to infiltrate Groznyj Grad. Much humour is derived from his resemblance to Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 2, himself being a character partially created in response to the Raiden-related backslash following his replacement of Snake as the main character in MGS2.

Raikov was also a usable character in the original Metal Gear Online bundled with Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. It remains to be seen if his likeness will be released for MGO's latest incarnation, but it is likely his usage will be discarded in favour of more recent characters.

Trivia

 * Raikov's middle name means "Son of Raiden" in Russian;
 * His appearances in MGS3 often contain other references to Raiden, including, but not limited to:
 * In the locker in Groznyj Grad where Naked Snake hides Raikov, there is an MGS2 promo poster, featuring Raiden;
 * If the player is attacked in close quarters by Raikov, Raikov will use the same punch-punch-kick combo as used by Raiden;
 * If the player interrogates Raikov using CQC in the Subsistence version of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, he will say several identical or similar to lines said by Raiden in MGS2, such as "No, never heard the name before." and "We'll tell them everything together";
 * During the battle with The Sorrow, if the player had previously killed Raikov when stealing his clothes, Raikov's ghost will be walking in the same manner as Raiden does when naked.
 * Shortly before the torture sequence, Volgin grabs Snake's (while disguised as Raikov) crotch in the same manner the President does to Raiden in MGS2.
 * Repeatedly calling people on the radio while wearing the Raikov mask will result in arguments where Major Zero and Para-Medic tell Snake to take off the mask, but Snake refuses. Some of the dialogue can be compared to the public's reaction to Raiden replacing Snake in MGS2.