Raiden (—‹“d, Raiden?), whose real name is Jack, is a character in the Metal Gear series. He is the protagonist of the Plant Chapter, the main act of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and a character in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
Nicknames earned on the battlefield as a child include White Devil and Jack the Ripper.
Raiden artwork for MGS2 Sons of Liberty
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Raiden in one of MGS2's cutscenes
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Sons of Liberty
In Sons of Liberty, Raiden is initially introduced in the Big Shell chapter as "Snake", serving as a member of what appears to be a newly-reinstated FOXHOUND. He is then given a new codename, "Raiden". Through encounters with Iroquois Pliskin (Solid Snake under disguise as a Navy SEALS operative) and the Dead Cell terrorist unit holding the "Big Shell" facility, he discovers he is being manipulated by a powerful government-controlling organization known as The Patriots.
Later in the game, Solidus Snake reveals information on Raiden's childhood in Metal Gear Solid 2. According to Solidus, Raiden was originally part of the Liberian Civil War during the early 90s, where he was orphaned. Taken under Solidus' wing (due to Solidus Snake having secretly killed Raiden's unidentified parents), Raiden is trained to become a child soldier and the leader of Solidus' "Small Boy Unit". By showing aptitude for genocide and mass murder, he was given the nicknames "Jack the Ripper" and "White Devil." After the conflict, Raiden disappears from one of the relief centres, taken by the Patriots.
After gaining US citizenship and joining the military, he takes part in the US Army's Force XXI trials, and during his indoctrination into a false reformed FOXHOUND unit, undergoes VR training where he carries out simulations of Solid Snake's previous missions. It is during this time that he meets and falls in love with Rose.
Playing the main role in Metal Gear Solid 2, Raiden had many conversations with Rose on the Codec transmitter. Some involved his mission, but most were more personal. During a conversation irrelevant to the mission, Rose confesses happenings of the past. When Raiden is angry at her actions, he refers to Rose sleeping with him as part of her devious actions. Later, Rose confirms that she is pregnant, but the Codec transmitter malfunctioned during her confirmation, thus preventing Raiden from learning of her pregnancy until they meet again at the end of Metal Gear Solid 2.
Guns of the Patriots
Raiden's new cybernetic suit
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[SPOILER - highlight to read]: Raiden appears in Guns of the Patriots. He appears in this game wearing a Cyborg Ninja exoskeleton, much like the one the character Gray Fox wore in the original Metal Gear Solid (which was featured as an alternate outfit for Raiden in the extra missions mode in Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance), armed with a similar high frequency blade. According to lead character designer Yoji Shinkawa, Raiden is "falling apart" due to his belief that Rosemary had a miscarriage. His relationship with Rosemary ended sometime between the events of MGS2 and MGS4 without him knowing it was a ploy to protect herself and their child. During this time, according to Rosemary, he became embittered and alcoholic, forcing the end of their relationship, although this may have been simply a cover story to explain their break-up to Snake when he inquired upon it.
Leaving the broken relationship, Raiden traveled the world, learning important combat and tracking skills he uses to help Snake during his final journey, and being outfitted with the cybernetic suit some time in between by a doctor known only as Dr. Madnar. Most of Raiden's body parts have been replaced by cybernetic prosthetics; the only parts of his original human body which remain are his head, spine, and heart. He also appears extremely pale - due, according to Hideo Kojima, to the fact he now has white artificial blood.
Towards the end of Act 2, "Solid Sun," Raiden helps Snake both in finding Naomi Hunter and staving off a squad of Gekkos before suffering grievous injuries from Vamp. This temporarily put him out of commission, as he needed to be put on dialysis. He makes a return at Shadow Moses, defeating Vamp in a long, protracted knife battle and escaping the crumbling facility with Snake. After being trapped under debris caused by a large number of Gekkos exploding, he is forced to cut off his own arm to escape and then single-handedly holds back an entire ship, Liquid Ocelot's "Outer Haven," from moving forward and killing Snake. He reappears once more inside Outer Haven in Act 5, severely injured and apparently missing both of his arms. He fends off a large squadron of FROGs by maneuvering his sword with only his mouth and feet, allowing Snake and Metal Gear Mk. III to proceed to the server room.
In the game's epilogue, "Naked Sin," Raiden is shown recuperating at an undisclosed hospital, his full-fledged cybernetic suit having been replaced with a more organic body. He is visited by Rosemary and a small boy he assumes to be her and Campbell's child, only to be informed that it is his own son, named John. Rosemary explains that she faked the miscarriage, and pretended to have a relationship with Roy Campbell as a plot to protect both her and the boy from the Patriots. Now that they were gone, she could work to reform the family. Raiden vows to never leave Rosemary alone again and to be the father that he was meant to be.
I didnt like him during my first playthrough of MGS2, but after replaying it and coming to understand what he was created for and his character he was a badass indeed. Problem is Rose made it a pain with all her whinning etc.
And of course after MGS4 he is an even bigger badass. Shit he juggles Metal Gear Gekkos with his feet. ROFL.
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Many thanks to Rao Kal-EL Da Man
Last edited by Zack Fair on Jun 17th, 2008 at 03:06 AM
He earned my respect during the events of Sons of Liberty because he was afraid and had many psychological issues that he managed to overcome to complete his mission and stop Solidus. That is being a real badass IMO, but alas it is still cool to watch him become the successor to Grey Fox.
It is a shame the vMGS4 videos no longer work. His Arsenal Gear feat is worthy of respect, not only because of the physical strength he employed but because of his loyalty to Solid Snake.
This is a tribute to Raiden. it highlights his feats from MGS4: including him fighting Vamp, holding back Arsenal gear to save Snake and fighting the FROGS without arms.
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Jun 17th, 2008 02:25 AM
