I like your interpretation for a lot of reasons. 1st: This gets rid of some retcons as now, every version of Raiden is canon, not just MK2 Raiden so we actually have a dickhead Raiden who gets to grow and learn from his mistakes as opposed to an immortal diety that was just always a good guy. Makes him more interesting. 2nd: His Dark Raiden persona comes from him instead of from an outside force and it fits with his character. He was an arrogant god who grew to love humanity but now feels that such a love for humanity has softened him so he becomes more closed off and aggressive. Your Raiden chooses to be darker, he's not just corrupted like he is some program, like "Raiden.EXE infected with Shinnok Malware, turning Dark.EXE", he actually makes a conscious choice so it is still tragic because he is falling from grace but its even more so because it was a willing choice that the heroes can't just easily fix. 3rd: The visions your Raiden sends would give a reasonable excuse for Raiden not doing a good job preventing Armageddon, its not just because he is going off a stupid, vague message, he just can't figure out what he is supposed to change and keep. 4th: By having him ally with Shinnok, you actually make use of Dark Raiden, he actually becomes a threat instead of a minor, bad footnote in the series. Canon Raiden in the old timeline only does three bad things that don't seem to effect much, he turns Liu-Kang into a murder zombie but that doesn't seem like it makes too big of an issue to the story, he kills Shujinko, maybe, but Shujinko is still alive in Konquest so it doesn't matter either way, and he allies with Shao-Kahn and tries to stop Taven, and fails, and then joins the good guys. Not really too threatening in my opinion. Then in the new timeline he cuts off a villains head, threatens other villains, kills more villains and at most just acts like a prick with the implication that he's become more tyranical but we don't really see that since Johnny is allowed to give him lip and all he does is say he's suffered loss too. I imagine an actual threatening Dark Raiden would make Johnny piss his pants for talking back, canon Dark Raiden does not. There are two things I'd add. I'd keep Liu-Kang beating him but I'd either have it to where Raiden lost due to arrogance, like he underestimates Liu-Kang and doesn't give it his all, or he loses but its an extremely hard fight for Liu-Kang. The reason is, I like the idea of Raiden being Earthrealm's strongest warrior, he was rivals with Superman in MK vs DC so due to that I see him as a sorta Superman for MK and so the thought of Liu-Kang being stronger seems off to me, maybe its also due to MK 11 where Raiden always beats him so I just have that in my head but I feel Raiden should be stronger, but that's just me. Another thing I'd add is a weapon change to symbolize his fall from grace and his new aggression. For asshole and hero Raiden, keep him using a staff weapon as I do like that he uses it. His staff and his fighting style where he makes all those hand movements really just make him look cool and unique to me so have that weapon be normal Raiden weapon but for Dark Raiden, give him a hammer. In one of the 3d era stages, for I think Raiden's Sky Temple, there is a description that mentions the hammer in the middle of the stage is Raiden's so apparently Raiden will use hammers like Shao-Kahn. Have Dark Raiden use his hammer instead to physically showcase how aggressive and brutal he's become and it could even show some parallels with Shao-Kahn, possibly allowing for a change of heart when he realizes he's acting exactly like the evil conqueror of worlds. That is about all I'd add, otherwise I still like this interpretation, these videos really make a more thought out and imaginative story than NRS seems capable of.
@@The4thSnake I did think that as I was typing but I never played 4 so I really couldn't say without looking it up, which I should have done in all honesty.
Him, Sareena, and Sareena's sisters (Kia and Jataaka) are all massively wasted. Although honestly I say most of the 3D era kharacters are rife with wasted potential. The only ones that aren't wasted are Quan Chi and Kenshi - and that's only really because they might as well be considered original trilogy kharacters what with how often they're put in the story and given plot relevance in every game since their debut except Deception (Quan Chi) and MK11 (both of them).
I like your version. If I were to rewrite OG timeline Raiden, I think I'd go about it like this. Id retcon Raiden's MK1 bio a bit, make him a young, cocky God who thinks that a bunch of mortals, most of them not long lived, have no chance of defeating Goro and Shang Tsung and saving Earth. He however, is a God, who even when young is impossibly old (compared to humans) and so he thinks he is Earth's only hope. Like with your rewrite, he loses in the tournament to Liu, but Liu doesn't kill him. Being shown mercy surprises Raiden, as he would not have done the same had he won the match. Raiden watches Liu as MK1 continues, and when Liu does the impossible and wins, Raiden decides he will mentor the new Champion. The following games in the series stay the same for the most part, except that Raiden's affection for Lui becomes obvious, as he moves from Mentor and Teacher, to Father Figure, coming to view Liu as his son. Liu reciprocates in kind, coming to see Raiden as a surrogate Father. As the Games continue and the stakes become more and more dire, Raiden encourages Liu to become more ruthless and less trusting. Liu rejects this, as he is trying to hold on to the Shaolin teachings and his pacifists beliefs as much as he can. Liu does not want to allow his role as Earth's Champion and the constant death of MK to change him as a person. Finally, MK:DA happens and Raiden's greatest fear is realized- Liu's trusting nature is used against him and he is killed by the Deadly Alliance. Raiden finds Liu's corpse and has him buried according to Shaolin tradition. With Liu's burial, Raiden appeals to the Elder Gods, demanding they intervene, using Liu's murder as justification for them taking action. The Elder Gods, as usual, say no. Raiden accepts their decision, and states that he will seek justice for Liu, a lie he himself believes. In truth, Dark Raiden has just been born. This Raiden is motivated by the loss of his son, and unwillingness of The Elder Gods to act. He has decided that he will kill The Deadly Alliance, and then slay the Elder Gods for never heeding his warnings. Raiden is not consciously aware of this murderous change inside himself. However, the Warriors of Light are, especially SubZero and Nighwolf, who try to warn him that his spirit is becoming dark and that revenge will not stop the Deadly Alliance or bring Liu back. Much like his surrogate son, Raiden does not heed the warning, and fights the Deadly Alliance, where he is destoyed. However, similar to Scorpion, Raiden makes a deal with the Devil, and comes back as Dark Raiden in Deception. The final bosses of that game would be Dark Raiden and Zombie Liu Kang, two heroes and defenders of Earthrealm who have been corrupted by Darkness. In Armageddon, Liu's spirit would be reunited with his body, but Raiden would be too far gone to be saved, basically becoming the OG Raiden from MK1, who is willing to destroy earth to save it (plus he really, REALLY wants to kill the Elder Gods, and If Earth's destruction is the way to do it, so be it.) Earth's mightiest protectors, and surrogate Father and Son, face off one more time, in a callback to their original fight so many yrs ago. This time, Liu does heed Raiden's warning not to be trusting, and when he wins the match, he kills Raiden. Raiden notes that his boy is finally all grown up, wishes him well (Raiden does not apologize for his descent into darkness as he does not feel he was wrong) and passes on into Judgement, satisfied that his son is alive and that Earthrealm has a Champion once more. To Raiden, his own eternal destruction is a small price to pay, because Earth is safe now, even from him. Raiden is judged and destroyed by the Elder Gods for his actions, and Fujin is appointed to Raiden's place as Protector of Earthrealm. Over time, the name "Raiden" and the Legend of Mortal Kombat are lost to history, but a small band of warriors remain at the ready to protect earth, just as Raiden would have wanted. And thus, the MK series ends.
This was a really good one Snake. It stands out as one of my favorites. I love the idea of him turning against the Elder gods with Shinnok as there is a precedent for it. Keep up the great work.
Have to agree and I still cannot believe people say "Everything is Raiden's fault." So his bosses whose idea of stopping a warmonging asshole that is Shao Khan idea of a really lopsided tournament that will end up destroying the realms is a better idea? Also aren't the Elder Gods technically responsible for how Shang Tsung turned out? I believe in the comic it states that he had somehow "dishonored them" and thus was cursed to steal the souls of his enemies just to stay alive.
One thing i like from netherrealm is how they are showed raiden actually be more human, he shows really bad guilt and regret for his actions during mk2011, though one thing that kinda contradicts this is how he casually fights the rest, even though he gets his ass beat, i think that his fights should've been more about Raiden fighting his past mistakes for people that he not just allied himself with briefly, but also he felt like they were close. There should be a QTE where Raiden gets flashes to his fight with kang on the roof. That's how I would edit it yet again netherrealm made it hard to make anything better
Deadly Alliance 2.0 including Raiden and Shinnok? which would make Fujin a new protector of earthrealm and they would give him time to shine. Awesome idea.
I really liked this episode.The idea with a prideful guy developing to become a mentor and more softer to mortals,and after that rethinking his actions and becoming much more serious is brilliant.
The time that Raiden had between starting the spell and Shao Kahn caving his skull was 21 seconds. That sounds like a lot of time, until you consider that 18 seconds are taken up by him actually casting the spell, leaving only 3 seconds to say anything to his past self. And saying "Kahn must win" won't cut it, since he's saying this to his first tournament self, where it could very easily be interpreted to mean "Shao Kahn must win this tournament", and even if not there, then definitely in the Outworld tournament, where he actually competes himself.
Great video on Raiden, I never thought about having MK1 Raiden develop into his current personality. It's a real intriguing idea! One thing I thought about adding more to is his relationship with Liu Kang. He could begin despising Raiden due to his arrogance, violence, and complete disrespect for mortals and their plight against Outworld. Liu Kang wants to teach Raiden a lesson, which he eventually gets to do by eliminating Raiden from the tournament. When Raiden helps Scorpion and Sub-Zero fight off Shang Tsung's army after Liu Kang defeats Goro, Liu Kang is surprised that Raiden helped the "pathetic mortals". I'm admittedly not sure how to further develop their relationship in the MK2 section. During MK3, Raiden takes Liu Kang with him to confront the Elder Gods, feeling the Immortal Champion of Mortal Kombat could help sway the Elder Gods to help. Liu Kang is shocked, after his experiences with Raiden at Shang Tsung's Tournament, that Raiden would be sticking up for mortals and demanding the Elder Gods to help. This could be the point that Raiden tells Liu Kang, and the others, about how he has grown to respect and admire the mortals for their feats in MK1 & MK2. This could be the point Liu Kang and Raiden officially becomes friends, with Raiden beginning to mentor/train Liu Kang during and after the events of MK3. Liu Kang's death in Deadly Alliance, Raiden would take especially personally and possibly relapse into his MK1 persona, in anger at both Shang Tsung and Quan Chi's assassination, as well as the other Elder Gods not stepping in to stop them. Then once MK: Deception rolls around, Liu Kang's spirit witnesses the beginning of Dark Raiden, who resurrects his body as a zombie for some reason. He sees Raiden's more brutal and pragmatic actions, which Liu Kang is taken aback by. What happened to his friend? While he wants to deal with Dark Raiden, he focuses on saving his friends from Onaga and stopping Zombie Liu Kang. Right after Deception/before Armageddon, Liu Kang's spirit, now tethered to his zombie body, confronts Dark Raiden. The latter could explain why he is taking more drastic actions. Liu Kang tries to convince Raiden this is not the right path, but Raiden retorts him. This leads to Liu Kang angrily giving "The Reason You Suck Speech" before defeating Raiden in battle. This speech could be a factor in Dark Raiden regaining his senses enough to act like Good Raiden again, and send visions back to his past MK1 self. In the reboot, MK1 Raiden notices the repeated appearance of Liu Kang in his visions. Similar to MK2, I'm not entirely sure which would be the best path for this. You could have Raiden either stay away from Kang to avoid growing attached to him, or become invested in the monk due to his visions. Regardless, he views the vision of Kang's death as something he needs to prevent, which can add a lot more weight to him killing him either by accident like in MK9, or by some other means. It's like you said in the Liu Kang video, changing one character can have a domino effect on the others. MK1 Raiden developing into MK2 Raiden could enhance the stories of the other characters as well. I just came up with the above on the fly, I'm sure you could think of improvements/changes. Keep making Wasted Plotential, as this and the crtiques are what really opened me up to how much potential these characters and setting have.
As a fellow Mortal Kombat fan I've been watching your videos for the past month and I've been loving the re-tellings you've had for many of the characters especially for Liu Kang and the entire Ermac/Sindel/Mileena trilogy and while I am a fan of Netherrealm and loved the past few games even back in the 3-D Era which I grew up on, It is a shame about their current state of writing which limits and completely misses their opportunities, This channel has opened my eyes to the huge potential they have with all their characters and how character writing and arcs should go. So I just want to say thanks dude.
Hmm this is actually a pretty interesting new take on Raiden (And I love how you've actually worked with making one line of development for his character) Also might I suggest Reptile? I always felt he was done a poor hand in both timelines (Though I kinda prefer him in the new one solely because of his relationship with Kotal Kahn)
I agree on most points (a very good alternate plot outline for raiden.). I would say the elder gods are the underutilized villains of the story but the pre-reboot raiden is at fault to a degree. He sent a vague message to his past self which causes events ending up worse (in konquest mode he revealed he was originally on shao kahns side in Armageddon which could be why shao kahn was the winner) It was made to be he has crossed a line and become a villain but they (not unlike every plotline they create) mutated its purpose and drop certain elements of it to the point it creates massive plotholes. Now he he is a raiden that just wears black and treats bad guys horribly (at least so far, hopefully the new game shows more). The change to an anti-hero has made that whole concept very trite. I thought him as he was in deception and Armageddon was far more interesting. He viewed himself as doing the right thing but was completely warped to the point where he would make deals with shao kahn, try to kill shujinko and desecrate his beloved disciples remains to commit brutal murders including monks at a temple.
Not sure how I truly feel about Raiden. Sure, protective deities are a given in world defining events but at the same time. I think it's odd that Raiden is the *only* deity concerned over the safety of Earth Realm. I think he could have used an imbued companion meant to help carry out the safety and politics. Eh, I personally wished to see more of the other races from the MK universe. The Tarkatans are treated like orcs as war mongering savages when I think they have been dealt a very shitty hand of existence.
A companion? You mean like a fellow god, maybe one that has dominion over a different element who’s also concerned with Earthrealm’s protection? Sure would be cool if they had a character like that.
1:05 The first two MK games had a brief running gag of having the worst character endings end with "Have a nice day". They did the same thing with Shang Tsung's MK2 ending
New Idea: I had a theory as to why Shang Tsung might have invited this version of Raiden to the tournament. Namely, if all the Earthrealmers are eliminated, Outworld wins. So the idea is that by Raiden choosing to compete for himself, he is a neutral party and thus Tsung is exploiting a loophole where since Raiden isn't fighting for Earthrealm, if the Thunder God defeats all of them and Tsung probably thinks he is strong enough to, then Outworld wins by default.
Raiden's always been my favourite MK character, and I was very angry with the way they handled his story in MK9. everyone kept blaming him for everything, but he himself had no idea what to do! and imo it would be great to make him more snarky in X (maybe, not in 9, shit was going down, no time for jokes), at least towards the humans, like it was in the 1st movie and Conquest. with his power and knowledge it would be absolutely logical that he would sometimes call out mortals' hubris or stupidity, while maintaining respect for Earthrealmers and his team of fighters as well. hell, even "Defenders Of the Realm" kinda did that. and even from the way Raiden was presented in the first two games, it felt that there was more danger, more of an edge to him than the MK9 Raiden showed. it's okay that he's serious when shit gets real, but some charisma and even brutality would be soo welcome. a god who understands the sheer power that he wields, even when he becomes mortal, but is wise enough to respect and guide his allies.
See Raidens problem was that he didn't communicate enough about his visions. He didn't explain to Liu Kang especially that him beating Shao Kahn would result in nothing being changed. Nor does he warn the right people. He could've told Sub Zero he was going to be killed, he could've stopped Kuai Liangs kidnapping. For ffs he saved Johnny Cage for the better.
@@UnifiedEntity I know, that's the point, it's completely contrived and obvious. if he said even one more word, the shitstorm that is MK9's story-mode wouldn't happen, and NRS would have to come up with something that made sense. but that's not how they do things:)
@@JahlisMan In essence it WAS his fault but that was the result of just bad writing. Not good writing where the character made a stupid decision that EASILY could've been avoided vs an uncontrollable or VERY difficult event or adversary.
You people are readong way too much into it. It's not that serious. Raiden gets a cryptic vision and message and doesn't fully understand it so he pieces things together and does what he think is the obvious. (Letting the bad guy win clearly isn't the obvious) which leads to some things turning out for the worse due to him trying to piece everything together and losing other faith by the time he fully realize what needed to be done. Mk 3 plays out mostly the same but he gets corrupted in the process with a much cold heart and evil for the greater good. This is how it was written and suppose to be written so no it's not bad writing.
Pretty much why I ended up liking Raiden over the years. I started playing him more around MK2 alongside Sub and Mileena. At that time, it was rare to have a God character who was also vulnerable and had relatable issues. In one depiction, he was full of himself and got knocked down a peg. Then again, MK1 could have been that way just in-case the game itself didn't do well and no sequel was made afterwards. And from MK3 to 5, he was more that "fatherly" mentor as he grew closer to the mortals. The altered timeline has him more compassionate based on the events of MK9 as he looked back in MK10. "I would move the heavens to bring Kung Lao and Liu Kang back." as well taking a more active role against Shinnok and his Netherrealm legion. Therefore, he's become my third favorite MK character to main.
My fav is the snarky one, but more as we see him in Conquest (when done right). I like my Raiden to be snarky and sassy but still wise and does what is right
Okay I get what you mean with the “He must win thing” being contrived for more conflict, but, if you will, think of it this way: put Armageddon out of mind, and put yourself in the shoes of Raiden at the beginning of the first Mortal Kombat tournament during MK9. You just saw a bunch of future events play out in flashes, and your future self says any of the suggestions you just mentioned. “Kahn must win, the realms must merge, anything more clarifying, would’ve meant to Raiden at this point: “I need to let Shao Kahn win this Mortal Kombat and merge the realms, because future me said so.” “He must win” is an intentional phrasing, because if Raiden knew what that meant right away, then he would’ve gift wrapped Earthrealm for Shao Kahn, or outright ignore his future self resulting in the original timeline playing out the same as last time. Though I suppose the Invasion line would actually work, eventually, and that way maybe Raiden wouldn’t have fucked around with the timeline as much as he did. And regardless, you're still not wrong about it being a lazy writing trope that mostly only exists to create needless conflict that is all but completely deflated because Raiden can probably just infinitely repeat the timeline until he got it right.
I would have it that Goro, overly arrogant, confident in his abilities and wanting a real challenge after 8 tournaments without a challenge uses his status as champion to make Shang Tsung invite Raiden.
I love the concept of Raiden's only solution to preventing certain events from happening is to kill the individual in question without considering temporal anomalies. Scorpion's gonna kill Sub-Zero? *KILL SCORPION = BECOMES STRONGER AND REPLACES SINDEL AS THE KILLER OF HALF THE CAST* Smoke is about to become a cyborg? *KILL SMOKE INSTEAD OF SEKTOR = SMOKE RELEASES HIS ENENRA* Johnny Cage is going to be killed by Montaro? *REDIRECT JOHNNY CAGE FROM ENCOUNTERING MONTARO = CAUSES A SUDDEN, UNFORESEEN EVENT IN THE TIMELINE WITH SONYA BLADE DYING*
I cannot believe they just Thanos snapped Dark Raiden away in the second chapter after building him up so well in the intro of 11 and the ending of MKX. Ugh, so frustrating
My idea is that Raiden in MK1 lost all hope in mortals and become more dickish towards them. I think Shang wanted him to get on his side and this is why he invited him, but Raiden thinks that his sorcery is no match for his god-hud so he planes on killing him, stopping outworld threat just in the final moment (because he doesn't want to deal with outworlders), taking tournament is his hands and destroying everything cause he is just not care and wan't to just have some fun with other gods. But because not only is he defeated by Liu Kang, but so is Goro and Shang Thung, which made him realise that not all hope is lost. He assigns back as a protector of the Earth Realm, mentors Earth heroes and participates in the tournament, knowing how much Kahn is a threat (never understood why lesser god can't participate, it's not like he is too powerful, we saw that he doesn't have strength to defeat both Shao Khan or Deadly Alliance; also this tournament, unlike the first one, where champions of the losing side compete to fight the current champion, but rather a battle between to sides (the higher stakes, propose in 2011 works even better with this idea), and if Shao Khan can participate as a final stance of Outworld, so as Raiden). In MK3, because Shao have rights to go to the Earth realm Raiden can't interfere, thus he is not in the game, but he gets Nightwolf as a right hand and prophet of some sorts because he knows about Matoka warriors and their connection to the god-like powers, so he is an obvious pick. Also, he is much cooler with a Bi-Han in the mythologies because the Shinnok is a real threat to him, so he uses his mentor abilities to ensure he won't get him, because a Fallen Elder god still has enough powers to shut down a lesser god. And there you have it, a simple explanation, that saves all the situation...
You know this kinda works well with god aspect of Raiden. In our real life mythologies the thunder gods or gods associated with lighting (at lest those that I know) Raijin, Thor, Zeus, Sussano and etc were all pretty arrogant. So this works greatly. Since I read somewhere in past that it implied Raiden being all of thunder gods through out humanity’s history.
this raiden and your pacifist liu kang if in the same story could contrast very well together with raiden softening up and liu kang becoming more agressive through out the story.
I would to love see Raiden as the one who will bring Armageddon to all the realms instead of Shao Kahn or Blaze, it will not only show how far he is willing to protect earthrealm but how far he's fallen into the darkside.
Honestly, its pretty sad how incompetent they've made Raiden in this newer timeline. But, he did start off as an Elder God I guess, and they're the most incompetent people in MK as a whole. They never do anything to help anyone, hell they never really do anything in general, they just sit in the background as the realms are being threatened by various enemies always because some bullshit reason apparently makes the catastrophic events "not their problem". Them actually helping Raiden beat Shao Kahn in MK9 is honestly the first time I think I've ever seen them do anything, but it hardly erases how incompetent they are and the fact that they're largely responsible for Earthrealm's destruction since they allowed it to happen. I'll give Raiden credit where credit is due, he may come from a line of incompetency but he's at least trying to help, and in the end he does stop Kahn, but it comes at the cost of literally everyone except Sonya and Johnny Cage. All but 2 heroes died because of his incompetence. You're making the Elder Gods proud Raiden, let me tell ya ...I feel like my comment kinda spiraled off at some point and it just deteriorated into me bashing current timeline Raiden, but eh, I'm not good at voicing my thoughts and I don't feel like constructing another comment around Raiden right now so I'll just post this as it is
Just realized MK is a over the top of the real world. I mean... you just described it. People believe in a god that sits in the background and watch humans kill each other all the time. You can even say every character represents a different a country, race or idea.
Elder gods only really care about their own existence, they only intervene when the realms are threatened to be re-emerged. They really don't care about beings who technically don't exist.
It would be nice, I just think that MK as a whole needs a more clearer direction to where this series is going. Give better treatment towards their 3D era characters and not choose favorites. I know that era is not favorite among the fan base, but with a lot of tweaking and have more main story relevance besides the comics people would not complain as much for not having Their character in the game. Worries of a Armageddon sized roster would be quelled.
A lot of us including myself assumed MkX would've been 4 and onwards with tweaking regarding the deadly alliance. But the kombat kids threw me for a loop and pissed me off. Characters like freaking Kobra could've been fixed.
Just my opinion, but I think it's debatable just how much Raiden does know about what happened in the old timeline. MK9 seemed to indicate he only got vague flashes of events, not really a clear understanding of events.
This actually makes a lot of sense. great stuff. In the end you cannot totally manipulate time, some things remain constant. in both timelines he ended up being Dark Raiden, Liu Kang dies. Btw how come no one is talking bout Johnny Cage death in MK2 ?
I...actually will defend Raiden's cryptic statement in Mortal Kombat 9. If Armageddon Raiden had said those things suggested in the video, it does become clear that Shao Kahn must win, but there are some problems with this. Now I'd like to bring up the point that we have seen that the visions are not perfect and are broken into pieces, much like the amulet itself. If he had said "Kahn must win" or something as obvious as that, there was no guarantee that past Raiden wouldn't just throw the first or even second tournament to allow Shao Kahn to win. Future Raiden was cryptic, but it allowed his younger self to come to the realization at the right time rather than too early, thus making Armageddon Raiden's plan null and void.
How about a Wasted Potential on Quan Chi? It will be interesting to see how it all went wrong and how to improve. (disregarding the devs' fetish to his Deadly Alliance design)
@@Adam-jn7nc Quan Chi is Netherrealm lol but it would be intresting how to make Quan Chi better and not have him be the ocelot of mk and the Iago between Scorpion and Sub Zero's legendary rivalry, just some how make him better
If anything just make his Mary Sue-ness make sense. One tiny change: Shinnok of the old timeline sends visions to Quan Chi of the new timeline. Would explain why he knows so much and why he took all of Shang Tsung's ideas.
In MK Deadlly Alliance, Raiden renounced to his Elder God status after Liu Kang was killed. He's an Elemental God, yet he managed to become an Elder God and later he just renounced to his status to go back and protect Earthrealm again. In MK9 endings, Liu Kang becomes a God(Raiden's level) which means he could also become an Elder God. Im not entirely sure about this but it could be like that. I know it still sounds weird... Gods are Gods and humans "with powers" being able to defeat them is not something one can live with... but I think that MK universe is more like a rank system. It would be like Normal people(any race/realm) Semi God Elemental God Elder God If Im right, then Liu Kang defeating Raiden would actually make sense. He defeated a God because he actually has the power to do so.
True, but mk1 established that Raiden gives up a chunk of his powers and fights in a mortal form to be able to compete. He is not fighting at full power.
Raiden being more arrogant and than developing into a more humble and wiser father figure would have been compelling, especially if in MK 2011, we saw this arrogant mortal. With his visions, he’d literally be playing god with these mortals, trying to ensure he can prevents these visions justifying it as the greater good. But during the events of the game as you say, seeing the drive of these mortals, he grows quite fond of them and sees how his actions are driving him away from Liu Kang. . THEN MK10 we have a fully fumble Raiden, whose doing his best to atone, perhaps adapting a snarkier side like the films to better get the younger generation to trust him ; Sonya and Johnny are adamant he doesn’t try to “play god “ with Cassie. Not perfect but him becoming Dark Raiden in the end would work a bit more as a progression of his character instead of “oh the original timeline had dark raiden so we have to”
I'm be honest: You make many good videos even when you're talking about things you really dislike. I think some fans just want you to balance the Positive & negative videos. Like you I actually love your hidden potential series thou never stop making them. I honestly love your take on Devil May Cry. I'm really glad u explained the deeper tone of the stories that most wasn't understand. That's one of the things I like about your videos that you pay attention to the details in stories, and have some pretty good ideas. Just don't let the haters get to you.
Netherealm Will Never try anything like this even though they basically half assed everything into resetting the timeline in mk11 but they will just half ass it into ANOTHER story again
But if Old Timeline Raiden says something like "The Invasion must succeed" or "The Realms must merge" or "Kahn must win", wouldn't that cause new Raiden to instinctively think that means that Kahn must win the tournament that they were at? The MK1 tournament? If that happens, Kahn would invade, but it would be okay because Outworld would have won ten in a row. Now that is a dark timeline waiting to happen...
I actually kinda prefer this raiden over the canonical one. Also i’d be curious to see how Richard Epcar would approach this raiden and how he could shine if given the chance
I'm still disappointed they haven't reused Raiden's MK2 nuke uppercut. All that lightninng n' shit, just do a nuke punch. Oh and whatever you were talking about is cool i guess
Could you imagine if they had the foresight and not just winging it. You have the idea of "he must win" what if it was always referring to Shang tsung in Aftermath?
I'm starting to like your ideas more and more! And I kind of like the idea with Raiden being dark and going against the elder gods and allying with Shinnok! Two forces going against the elder gods because they did absolutely nothing and thus keep putting Earthrealm in peril! Why in the hell did they not do this sooner?!?!?
Huh, I think you fix him. Without abandoning his original personality and have it develop over time is a good, and I do think he should be at odds with the Elder Gods because of all the outlandish crisis that keeps occurring.
I thought Raiden went dark originally because his dispersed essence saw all the manipulations that had happened behind the scenes and he was so angry that he just went fuck it.
Hm.. If raiden is developed throughtout the mk franchies. Hm.. From a selfish god, to a compassionate mortal allies, to a 2nd chance forshadower to reasonable crupted rebel. Hmm. I like that.
It would be nice to see some kind of super MK game that covered the story from 1 to 10 while remaining consistent (no plot holes), and expanding on as many characters as possible. Instead of a single campaign it would be sort of like an expanded Arcade Mode where you unlock different perspectives of the same events as well as each character’s personal journey. I see with so many of these “Wasted Potential” plot lines that would be great for a single protagonist focused campaign, but with everyone else it makes sense that many characters are doomed to the backdrop. Instead of one campaign that focuses on multiple characters they should have multiple campaigns each focusing on one, or a small group of characters. Perhaps similar to Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep where it’s multiple timelines that occasionally intersect (except the intersections are everywhere in MK). It could be limited by having it so that whenever a character stagnates their perspective ends, and you have to play as a different character to unlock their next chapter. For example in the beginning you start with Johnny Cage: Chapter 1, Sonya Blade: Chapter 1, Liu Kang: Chapter 1. Playing Johnny Cage: Chapter 1 unlocks Sonya Blade: Chapter 2, and Scorpion: Chapter 1 which take place during a time Johnny doesn’t have any way to advance his character or otherwise be the protagonist of his own story. Completing a characters chapter which reaches the point where Johnny Cage’s Chapter 2 begins, and playing a character who at that point interacts with Johnny in some way unlocks that chapter. They have to interact with Johnny because if for example you don’t play as Johnny again until Johnny: Chapter 4 you won’t have a clue as to what he’s been doing unless you can get a general idea through another character’s perspective. Thus you progress through the timeline without extended jumps allowing you to keep track of the overall plot from multiple perspectives, but if there is a character who you’re interested in you can stick to that campaign for the most part.
Damn that would be awesome if most of the MK characters died because Raiden killed them to prevent the original timeline like you suggested, ending with stuff much worse: Going off what you said, to save Sub Zero, Raiden kills Scorpion a few times (Since he can keep coming back IIRC) making him actually more hateful and more powerful. He kills Smoke to prevent him from becoming a Cyborg, this give rise to Enenra, would would essentially be the new Noob, and possibly a Cyber Bi Han. To keep Cyrax from being cyborized he kill Sektor who possibly becomes Triborg earlier for reasons, maybe Cyrax later becomes a revanent. He attacks Shao Kahn to prevent Kung Lao from being killed and actually forfeits the tournament by doing so, making MK3 an actual merger, not by technicality. The Elder Gods do nothing because they actually lost Mortal Kombat, even though Raiden sees this as Shao Kahn breaking the rules. Sindel could still return, maybe due to Raiden saving Johnny and Shao needing a new general, but Raiden would kill her to save everyone else, she would then become Queen of the Netherealm. Shao Kahn would then use Sindel's power to kill everyone anyways, maybe he'd mind fuck Kitana to his side and take her as his bride just to stick it to the cast. He would obviously kill Liu on purpose this time, maybe giving rise to Liu, the God of Fire. It would be awesome if Raiden actually fucked things up a lot more than they are now :p.
I actually like this idea. It reminds me of Marvel's Thor. Being a god makes him arrogant in thinking mortals are nothing compared to him only to find out that this isn't true. I do like the mentor aspect as it's what I'm used to but I think I prefer the Thor treatment because Raiden actually fought in the MK 1 tournament but in MK9 they retconned this to him being ONLY an observer that can only fight if directly challenged, which was stupid.
Out of 11 games, there have been 4 tournaments, 2 of which were relevant to the plot. Maybe the series' plot wouldn't be so disjointed if they had Mortal Kombat in Mortal Kombat.
That Raiden laugh from the movie gets me every time😂
Hehehehehe...........Sorry.
Raiden
Raider should be played by tommy waiso
It,s Lambert and his " heh heh" which he makes in every role that gets me :)
321 Shazam it’s classic best raiden ever
Ha a Bastian profile pic , A man of culture I see
"It's not *weak* to value *LIFE* !"
RadiantNinja you spelled it wrong
Jojo.
No no he is right
I like your interpretation for a lot of reasons.
1st: This gets rid of some retcons as now, every version of Raiden is canon, not just MK2 Raiden so we actually have a dickhead Raiden who gets to grow and learn from his mistakes as opposed to an immortal diety that was just always a good guy. Makes him more interesting.
2nd: His Dark Raiden persona comes from him instead of from an outside force and it fits with his character. He was an arrogant god who grew to love humanity but now feels that such a love for humanity has softened him so he becomes more closed off and aggressive. Your Raiden chooses to be darker, he's not just corrupted like he is some program, like "Raiden.EXE infected with Shinnok Malware, turning Dark.EXE", he actually makes a conscious choice so it is still tragic because he is falling from grace but its even more so because it was a willing choice that the heroes can't just easily fix.
3rd: The visions your Raiden sends would give a reasonable excuse for Raiden not doing a good job preventing Armageddon, its not just because he is going off a stupid, vague message, he just can't figure out what he is supposed to change and keep.
4th: By having him ally with Shinnok, you actually make use of Dark Raiden, he actually becomes a threat instead of a minor, bad footnote in the series. Canon Raiden in the old timeline only does three bad things that don't seem to effect much, he turns Liu-Kang into a murder zombie but that doesn't seem like it makes too big of an issue to the story, he kills Shujinko, maybe, but Shujinko is still alive in Konquest so it doesn't matter either way, and he allies with Shao-Kahn and tries to stop Taven, and fails, and then joins the good guys. Not really too threatening in my opinion. Then in the new timeline he cuts off a villains head, threatens other villains, kills more villains and at most just acts like a prick with the implication that he's become more tyranical but we don't really see that since Johnny is allowed to give him lip and all he does is say he's suffered loss too. I imagine an actual threatening Dark Raiden would make Johnny piss his pants for talking back, canon Dark Raiden does not.
There are two things I'd add. I'd keep Liu-Kang beating him but I'd either have it to where Raiden lost due to arrogance, like he underestimates Liu-Kang and doesn't give it his all, or he loses but its an extremely hard fight for Liu-Kang. The reason is, I like the idea of Raiden being Earthrealm's strongest warrior, he was rivals with Superman in MK vs DC so due to that I see him as a sorta Superman for MK and so the thought of Liu-Kang being stronger seems off to me, maybe its also due to MK 11 where Raiden always beats him so I just have that in my head but I feel Raiden should be stronger, but that's just me. Another thing I'd add is a weapon change to symbolize his fall from grace and his new aggression. For asshole and hero Raiden, keep him using a staff weapon as I do like that he uses it. His staff and his fighting style where he makes all those hand movements really just make him look cool and unique to me so have that weapon be normal Raiden weapon but for Dark Raiden, give him a hammer. In one of the 3d era stages, for I think Raiden's Sky Temple, there is a description that mentions the hammer in the middle of the stage is Raiden's so apparently Raiden will use hammers like Shao-Kahn. Have Dark Raiden use his hammer instead to physically showcase how aggressive and brutal he's become and it could even show some parallels with Shao-Kahn, possibly allowing for a change of heart when he realizes he's acting exactly like the evil conqueror of worlds.
That is about all I'd add, otherwise I still like this interpretation, these videos really make a more thought out and imaginative story than NRS seems capable of.
The hammer was actually Raiden's weapon in MK4.
@@The4thSnake I did think that as I was typing but I never played 4 so I really couldn't say without looking it up, which I should have done in all honesty.
@@The4thSnake Wait really? well Midway wasn't subtle with the Thor influence their. God of Thunder? Check. Hammer? Check.
@@spiritofarkham1235 Yeah, that's why it's in the Sky Temple stage in MKD and MKA.
@@The4thSnake Kinda Wish it was used more. maybe as part of a fatality .
Speaking of gods, Fujin has the most wasted potential.
Him, Sareena, and Sareena's sisters (Kia and Jataaka) are all massively wasted.
Although honestly I say most of the 3D era kharacters are rife with wasted potential. The only ones that aren't wasted are Quan Chi and Kenshi - and that's only really because they might as well be considered original trilogy kharacters what with how often they're put in the story and given plot relevance in every game since their debut except Deception (Quan Chi) and MK11 (both of them).
kai to
@Illuminoss Entertainment i always felt like kai should be earth and scorpian shpuld be fire god since he repentedbut thatsjust me.
His potential’s not wasted because it’s not used. They never fucking do anything with Fujin for some reason.
@Kale Dog & Smoke47 we could have an entire plot revolving around dark raiden vs fujin, but nope ... shitty time travel
I like your version. If I were to rewrite OG timeline Raiden, I think I'd go about it like this.
Id retcon Raiden's MK1 bio a bit, make him a young, cocky God who thinks that a bunch of mortals, most of them not long lived, have no chance of defeating Goro and Shang Tsung and saving Earth. He however, is a God, who even when young is impossibly old (compared to humans) and so he thinks he is Earth's only hope. Like with your rewrite, he loses in the tournament to Liu, but Liu doesn't kill him. Being shown mercy surprises Raiden, as he would not have done the same had he won the match. Raiden watches Liu as MK1 continues, and when Liu does the impossible and wins, Raiden decides he will mentor the new Champion.
The following games in the series stay the same for the most part, except that Raiden's affection for Lui becomes obvious, as he moves from Mentor and Teacher, to Father Figure, coming to view Liu as his son. Liu reciprocates in kind, coming to see Raiden as a surrogate Father.
As the Games continue and the stakes become more and more dire, Raiden encourages Liu to become more ruthless and less trusting. Liu rejects this, as he is trying to hold on to the Shaolin teachings and his pacifists beliefs as much as he can. Liu does not want to allow his role as Earth's Champion and the constant death of MK to change him as a person.
Finally, MK:DA happens and Raiden's greatest fear is realized- Liu's trusting nature is used against him and he is killed by the Deadly Alliance. Raiden finds Liu's corpse and has him buried according to Shaolin tradition.
With Liu's burial, Raiden appeals to the Elder Gods, demanding they intervene, using Liu's murder as justification for them taking action. The Elder Gods, as usual, say no. Raiden accepts their decision, and states that he will seek justice for Liu, a lie he himself believes.
In truth, Dark Raiden has just been born. This Raiden is motivated by the loss of his son, and unwillingness of The Elder Gods to act. He has decided that he will kill The Deadly Alliance, and then slay the Elder Gods for never heeding his warnings. Raiden is not consciously aware of this murderous change inside himself. However, the Warriors of Light are, especially SubZero and Nighwolf, who try to warn him that his spirit is becoming dark and that revenge will not stop the Deadly Alliance or bring Liu back.
Much like his surrogate son, Raiden does not heed the warning, and fights the Deadly Alliance, where he is destoyed. However, similar to Scorpion, Raiden makes a deal with the Devil, and comes back as Dark Raiden in Deception. The final bosses of that game would be Dark Raiden and Zombie Liu Kang, two heroes and defenders of Earthrealm who have been corrupted by Darkness.
In Armageddon, Liu's spirit would be reunited with his body, but Raiden would be too far gone to be saved, basically becoming the OG Raiden from MK1, who is willing to destroy earth to save it (plus he really, REALLY wants to kill the Elder Gods, and If Earth's destruction is the way to do it, so be it.)
Earth's mightiest protectors, and surrogate Father and Son, face off one more time, in a callback to their original fight so many yrs ago. This time, Liu does heed Raiden's warning not to be trusting, and when he wins the match, he kills Raiden. Raiden notes that his boy is finally all grown up, wishes him well (Raiden does not apologize for his descent into darkness as he does not feel he was wrong) and passes on into Judgement, satisfied that his son is alive and that Earthrealm has a Champion once more. To Raiden, his own eternal destruction is a small price to pay, because Earth is safe now, even from him.
Raiden is judged and destroyed by the Elder Gods for his actions, and Fujin is appointed to Raiden's place as Protector of Earthrealm.
Over time, the name "Raiden" and the Legend of Mortal Kombat are lost to history, but a small band of warriors remain at the ready to protect earth, just as Raiden would have wanted.
And thus, the MK series ends.
This was a really good one Snake.
It stands out as one of my favorites. I love the idea of him turning against the Elder gods with Shinnok as there is a precedent for it.
Keep up the great work.
Have to agree and I still cannot believe people say "Everything is Raiden's fault." So his bosses whose idea of stopping a warmonging asshole that is Shao Khan idea of a really lopsided tournament that will end up destroying the realms is a better idea? Also aren't the Elder Gods technically responsible for how Shang Tsung turned out? I believe in the comic it states that he had somehow "dishonored them" and thus was cursed to steal the souls of his enemies just to stay alive.
One thing i like from netherrealm is how they are showed raiden actually be more human, he shows really bad guilt and regret for his actions during mk2011, though one thing that kinda contradicts this is how he casually fights the rest, even though he gets his ass beat, i think that his fights should've been more about Raiden fighting his past mistakes for people that he not just allied himself with briefly, but also he felt like they were close. There should be a QTE where Raiden gets flashes to his fight with kang on the roof. That's how I would edit it yet again netherrealm made it hard to make anything better
When you want to just kill weak mortals.
lol so relatable
Casually fighting a mortal kombat against inferior beings
Ningen
Elder Gods: Why are you not consulting us?
Raiden: Busy flexing on mortals.
Deadly Alliance 2.0 including Raiden and Shinnok? which would make Fujin a new protector of earthrealm and they would give him time to shine. Awesome idea.
Amazing idea
Funny thing is they could’ve done this with mk11 where fujin steps up to be the new protector of earthrealm when raiden falls to dark side
I really liked this episode.The idea with a prideful guy developing to become a mentor and more softer to mortals,and after that rethinking his actions and becoming much more serious is brilliant.
The time that Raiden had between starting the spell and Shao Kahn caving his skull was 21 seconds. That sounds like a lot of time, until you consider that 18 seconds are taken up by him actually casting the spell, leaving only 3 seconds to say anything to his past self. And saying "Kahn must win" won't cut it, since he's saying this to his first tournament self, where it could very easily be interpreted to mean "Shao Kahn must win this tournament", and even if not there, then definitely in the Outworld tournament, where he actually competes himself.
Great video on Raiden, I never thought about having MK1 Raiden develop into his current personality. It's a real intriguing idea!
One thing I thought about adding more to is his relationship with Liu Kang. He could begin despising Raiden due to his arrogance, violence, and complete disrespect for mortals and their plight against Outworld. Liu Kang wants to teach Raiden a lesson, which he eventually gets to do by eliminating Raiden from the tournament. When Raiden helps Scorpion and Sub-Zero fight off Shang Tsung's army after Liu Kang defeats Goro, Liu Kang is surprised that Raiden helped the "pathetic mortals".
I'm admittedly not sure how to further develop their relationship in the MK2 section.
During MK3, Raiden takes Liu Kang with him to confront the Elder Gods, feeling the Immortal Champion of Mortal Kombat could help sway the Elder Gods to help. Liu Kang is shocked, after his experiences with Raiden at Shang Tsung's Tournament, that Raiden would be sticking up for mortals and demanding the Elder Gods to help. This could be the point that Raiden tells Liu Kang, and the others, about how he has grown to respect and admire the mortals for their feats in MK1 & MK2.
This could be the point Liu Kang and Raiden officially becomes friends, with Raiden beginning to mentor/train Liu Kang during and after the events of MK3.
Liu Kang's death in Deadly Alliance, Raiden would take especially personally and possibly relapse into his MK1 persona, in anger at both Shang Tsung and Quan Chi's assassination, as well as the other Elder Gods not stepping in to stop them.
Then once MK: Deception rolls around, Liu Kang's spirit witnesses the beginning of Dark Raiden, who resurrects his body as a zombie for some reason. He sees Raiden's more brutal and pragmatic actions, which Liu Kang is taken aback by. What happened to his friend? While he wants to deal with Dark Raiden, he focuses on saving his friends from Onaga and stopping Zombie Liu Kang.
Right after Deception/before Armageddon, Liu Kang's spirit, now tethered to his zombie body, confronts Dark Raiden. The latter could explain why he is taking more drastic actions. Liu Kang tries to convince Raiden this is not the right path, but Raiden retorts him. This leads to Liu Kang angrily giving "The Reason You Suck Speech" before defeating Raiden in battle.
This speech could be a factor in Dark Raiden regaining his senses enough to act like Good Raiden again, and send visions back to his past MK1 self.
In the reboot, MK1 Raiden notices the repeated appearance of Liu Kang in his visions. Similar to MK2, I'm not entirely sure which would be the best path for this. You could have Raiden either stay away from Kang to avoid growing attached to him, or become invested in the monk due to his visions. Regardless, he views the vision of Kang's death as something he needs to prevent, which can add a lot more weight to him killing him either by accident like in MK9, or by some other means.
It's like you said in the Liu Kang video, changing one character can have a domino effect on the others. MK1 Raiden developing into MK2 Raiden could enhance the stories of the other characters as well.
I just came up with the above on the fly, I'm sure you could think of improvements/changes. Keep making Wasted Plotential, as this and the crtiques are what really opened me up to how much potential these characters and setting have.
As a fellow Mortal Kombat fan I've been watching your videos for the past month and I've been loving the re-tellings you've had for many of the characters especially for Liu Kang and the entire Ermac/Sindel/Mileena trilogy and while I am a fan of Netherrealm and loved the past few games even back in the 3-D Era which I grew up on, It is a shame about their current state of writing which limits and completely misses their opportunities, This channel has opened my eyes to the huge potential they have with all their characters and how character writing and arcs should go. So I just want to say thanks dude.
Thank YOU for giving my videos a chance.
same here bro
Hmm this is actually a pretty interesting new take on Raiden (And I love how you've actually worked with making one line of development for his character)
Also might I suggest Reptile? I always felt he was done a poor hand in both timelines (Though I kinda prefer him in the new one solely because of his relationship with Kotal Kahn)
Becoming the vessel for Onaga was probably the most interesting thing that has ever happened to Reptile, to be honest.
Agree, he deserves better
I did put him on the list, but I honestly don't remember the idea I had for him.
The4thSnake Maybe talk about Khameleon if you do make a video about Reptile?
@@freezyreef Of course.
Glad to know I'm not the only one who notices Raiden's character change in between MK1 to MK2
I agree on most points (a very good alternate plot outline for raiden.). I would say the elder gods are the underutilized villains of the story but the pre-reboot raiden is at fault to a degree. He sent a vague message to his past self which causes events ending up worse (in konquest mode he revealed he was originally on shao kahns side in Armageddon which could be why shao kahn was the winner) It was made to be he has crossed a line and become a villain but they (not unlike every plotline they create) mutated its purpose and drop certain elements of it to the point it creates massive plotholes. Now he he is a raiden that just wears black and treats bad guys horribly (at least so far, hopefully the new game shows more). The change to an anti-hero has made that whole concept very trite. I thought him as he was in deception and Armageddon was far more interesting. He viewed himself as doing the right thing but was completely warped to the point where he would make deals with shao kahn, try to kill shujinko and desecrate his beloved disciples remains to commit brutal murders including monks at a temple.
Not sure how I truly feel about Raiden. Sure, protective deities are a given in world defining events but at the same time. I think it's odd that Raiden is the *only* deity concerned over the safety of Earth Realm. I think he could have used an imbued companion meant to help carry out the safety and politics.
Eh, I personally wished to see more of the other races from the MK universe. The Tarkatans are treated like orcs as war mongering savages when I think they have been dealt a very shitty hand of existence.
Well, he's got Fujin.
...now if only the game developers would remember him long enough to actually DO anything with the two.
@@CrisisComics exactly
A companion? You mean like a fellow god, maybe one that has dominion over a different element who’s also concerned with Earthrealm’s protection?
Sure would be cool if they had a character like that.
1:04 - Oh, THAT’S where that “Have a nice day” meme comes from!
1:05 The first two MK games had a brief running gag of having the worst character endings end with "Have a nice day". They did the same thing with Shang Tsung's MK2 ending
It was a thing 90s fighting games did. Sf2 did the same thing in M. Bison's ending.
This Raiden > Canon Raiden
@Trevor White we need dickhead, ruthless raiden
The aforementioned fuck up turned out to be Raiden fading out of existence because netherrealm had no clue what to do with him. Great job.
New Idea:
I had a theory as to why Shang Tsung might have invited this version of Raiden to the tournament. Namely, if all the Earthrealmers are eliminated, Outworld wins. So the idea is that by Raiden choosing to compete for himself, he is a neutral party and thus Tsung is exploiting a loophole where since Raiden isn't fighting for Earthrealm, if the Thunder God defeats all of them and Tsung probably thinks he is strong enough to, then Outworld wins by default.
Raiden's always been my favourite MK character, and I was very angry with the way they handled his story in MK9. everyone kept blaming him for everything, but he himself had no idea what to do! and imo it would be great to make him more snarky in X (maybe, not in 9, shit was going down, no time for jokes), at least towards the humans, like it was in the 1st movie and Conquest. with his power and knowledge it would be absolutely logical that he would sometimes call out mortals' hubris or stupidity, while maintaining respect for Earthrealmers and his team of fighters as well. hell, even "Defenders Of the Realm" kinda did that.
and even from the way Raiden was presented in the first two games, it felt that there was more danger, more of an edge to him than the MK9 Raiden showed. it's okay that he's serious when shit gets real, but some charisma and even brutality would be soo welcome. a god who understands the sheer power that he wields, even when he becomes mortal, but is wise enough to respect and guide his allies.
See Raidens problem was that he didn't communicate enough about his visions. He didn't explain to Liu Kang especially that him beating Shao Kahn would result in nothing being changed. Nor does he warn the right people. He could've told Sub Zero he was going to be killed, he could've stopped Kuai Liangs kidnapping. For ffs he saved Johnny Cage for the better.
@@UnifiedEntity I know, that's the point, it's completely contrived and obvious. if he said even one more word, the shitstorm that is MK9's story-mode wouldn't happen, and NRS would have to come up with something that made sense. but that's not how they do things:)
@@JahlisMan In essence it WAS his fault but that was the result of just bad writing. Not good writing where the character made a stupid decision that EASILY could've been avoided vs an uncontrollable or VERY difficult event or adversary.
You people are readong way too much into it. It's not that serious. Raiden gets a cryptic vision and message and doesn't fully understand it so he pieces things together and does what he think is the obvious. (Letting the bad guy win clearly isn't the obvious) which leads to some things turning out for the worse due to him trying to piece everything together and losing other faith by the time he fully realize what needed to be done. Mk 3 plays out mostly the same but he gets corrupted in the process with a much cold heart and evil for the greater good. This is how it was written and suppose to be written so no it's not bad writing.
MKX Raiden being snarky... is kinda weird... especially what has happened.
Love it, not everything but I love how you can make raiden selfish to slowly caring
Pretty much why I ended up liking Raiden over the years. I started playing him more around MK2 alongside Sub and Mileena. At that time, it was rare to have a God character who was also vulnerable and had relatable issues. In one depiction, he was full of himself and got knocked down a peg. Then again, MK1 could have been that way just in-case the game itself didn't do well and no sequel was made afterwards. And from MK3 to 5, he was more that "fatherly" mentor as he grew closer to the mortals. The altered timeline has him more compassionate based on the events of MK9 as he looked back in MK10. "I would move the heavens to bring Kung Lao and Liu Kang back." as well taking a more active role against Shinnok and his Netherrealm legion.
Therefore, he's become my third favorite MK character to main.
Does anyone miss Raiden with a cape?
Me. The Deadly Alliance design was his best one
No capes!
A cape with brighter colors. His Armageddon outfit sucked.
Anyone miss MK V DC Raiden? (Actually I like a few from that game)
Injustice 2
My fav is the snarky one, but more as we see him in Conquest (when done right). I like my Raiden to be snarky and sassy but still wise and does what is right
Okay I get what you mean with the “He must win thing” being contrived for more conflict, but, if you will, think of it this way: put Armageddon out of mind, and put yourself in the shoes of Raiden at the beginning of the first Mortal Kombat tournament during MK9. You just saw a bunch of future events play out in flashes, and your future self says any of the suggestions you just mentioned. “Kahn must win, the realms must merge, anything more clarifying, would’ve meant to Raiden at this point: “I need to let Shao Kahn win this Mortal Kombat and merge the realms, because future me said so.”
“He must win” is an intentional phrasing, because if Raiden knew what that meant right away, then he would’ve gift wrapped Earthrealm for Shao Kahn, or outright ignore his future self resulting in the original timeline playing out the same as last time.
Though I suppose the Invasion line would actually work, eventually, and that way maybe Raiden wouldn’t have fucked around with the timeline as much as he did. And regardless, you're still not wrong about it being a lazy writing trope that mostly only exists to create needless conflict that is all but completely deflated because Raiden can probably just infinitely repeat the timeline until he got it right.
I love this video, I love everything about it. It's amazingly put together, well thought out, and excellently executed.
I would have it that Goro, overly arrogant, confident in his abilities and wanting a real challenge after 8 tournaments without a challenge uses his status as champion to make Shang Tsung invite Raiden.
I love the concept of Raiden's only solution to preventing certain events from happening is to kill the individual in question without considering temporal anomalies.
Scorpion's gonna kill Sub-Zero?
*KILL SCORPION = BECOMES STRONGER AND REPLACES SINDEL AS THE KILLER OF HALF THE CAST*
Smoke is about to become a cyborg?
*KILL SMOKE INSTEAD OF SEKTOR = SMOKE RELEASES HIS ENENRA*
Johnny Cage is going to be killed by Montaro?
*REDIRECT JOHNNY CAGE FROM ENCOUNTERING MONTARO = CAUSES A SUDDEN, UNFORESEEN EVENT IN THE TIMELINE WITH SONYA BLADE DYING*
2:41 Raiden: I am a God how can you kill a God? What a grand and intoxicating innocence
I gotta admit, I'm with you on the fact that MK 9, 10 and 11 aren't Raiden's fault
I cannot believe they just Thanos snapped Dark Raiden away in the second chapter after building him up so well in the intro of 11 and the ending of MKX. Ugh, so frustrating
My idea is that Raiden in MK1 lost all hope in mortals and become more dickish towards them. I think Shang wanted him to get on his side and this is why he invited him, but Raiden thinks that his sorcery is no match for his god-hud so he planes on killing him, stopping outworld threat just in the final moment (because he doesn't want to deal with outworlders), taking tournament is his hands and destroying everything cause he is just not care and wan't to just have some fun with other gods. But because not only is he defeated by Liu Kang, but so is Goro and Shang Thung, which made him realise that not all hope is lost. He assigns back as a protector of the Earth Realm, mentors Earth heroes and participates in the tournament, knowing how much Kahn is a threat (never understood why lesser god can't participate, it's not like he is too powerful, we saw that he doesn't have strength to defeat both Shao Khan or Deadly Alliance; also this tournament, unlike the first one, where champions of the losing side compete to fight the current champion, but rather a battle between to sides (the higher stakes, propose in 2011 works even better with this idea), and if Shao Khan can participate as a final stance of Outworld, so as Raiden). In MK3, because Shao have rights to go to the Earth realm Raiden can't interfere, thus he is not in the game, but he gets Nightwolf as a right hand and prophet of some sorts because he knows about Matoka warriors and their connection to the god-like powers, so he is an obvious pick.
Also, he is much cooler with a Bi-Han in the mythologies because the Shinnok is a real threat to him, so he uses his mentor abilities to ensure he won't get him, because a Fallen Elder god still has enough powers to shut down a lesser god.
And there you have it, a simple explanation, that saves all the situation...
'Have a nice day' amazing haha
@The4thSnake , I agree that this is much wasted Plotential, but I think Raiden is still an interesting character despite this.
I love this series! I am officially adopting your versions of these characters as headcanon
You know this kinda works well with god aspect of Raiden. In our real life mythologies the thunder gods or gods associated with lighting (at lest those that I know) Raijin, Thor, Zeus, Sussano and etc were all pretty arrogant. So this works greatly. Since I read somewhere in past that it implied Raiden being all of thunder gods through out humanity’s history.
Can't wait for your Wasted Plotential for Meat!
I just want Fujin to take over as ER protector.
this raiden and your pacifist liu kang if in the same story could contrast very well together with raiden softening up and liu kang becoming more agressive through out the story.
Interesting idea.
8:50 I don’t know why, but I love your delivery of line.
I would to love see Raiden as the one who will bring Armageddon to all the realms instead of Shao Kahn or Blaze, it will not only show how far he is willing to protect earthrealm but how far he's fallen into the darkside.
Thunder God? More like...Blunder God
Honestly, its pretty sad how incompetent they've made Raiden in this newer timeline. But, he did start off as an Elder God I guess, and they're the most incompetent people in MK as a whole. They never do anything to help anyone, hell they never really do anything in general, they just sit in the background as the realms are being threatened by various enemies always because some bullshit reason apparently makes the catastrophic events "not their problem". Them actually helping Raiden beat Shao Kahn in MK9 is honestly the first time I think I've ever seen them do anything, but it hardly erases how incompetent they are and the fact that they're largely responsible for Earthrealm's destruction since they allowed it to happen. I'll give Raiden credit where credit is due, he may come from a line of incompetency but he's at least trying to help, and in the end he does stop Kahn, but it comes at the cost of literally everyone except Sonya and Johnny Cage. All but 2 heroes died because of his incompetence. You're making the Elder Gods proud Raiden, let me tell ya
...I feel like my comment kinda spiraled off at some point and it just deteriorated into me bashing current timeline Raiden, but eh, I'm not good at voicing my thoughts and I don't feel like constructing another comment around Raiden right now so I'll just post this as it is
Just realized MK is a over the top of the real world.
I mean... you just described it. People believe in a god that sits in the background and watch humans kill each other all the time.
You can even say every character represents a different a country, race or idea.
Elder gods only really care about their own existence, they only intervene when the realms are threatened to be re-emerged. They really don't care about beings who technically don't exist.
Your new story for Raiden is what he could’ve been if Nrs had actual good writing and no kronika
1:10 it’s weird how he is warning Shang Tsung of his actions and Raiden is facing completely the other way lol.
It would be nice, I just think that MK as a whole needs a more clearer direction to where this series is going. Give better treatment towards their 3D era characters and not choose favorites. I know that era is not favorite among the fan base, but with a lot of tweaking and have more main story relevance besides the comics people would not complain as much for not having Their character in the game. Worries of a Armageddon sized roster would be quelled.
A lot of us including myself assumed MkX would've been 4 and onwards with tweaking regarding the deadly alliance. But the kombat kids threw me for a loop and pissed me off. Characters like freaking Kobra could've been fixed.
Just my opinion, but I think it's debatable just how much Raiden does know about what happened in the old timeline. MK9 seemed to indicate he only got vague flashes of events, not really a clear understanding of events.
I love the movie version of Raiden. Wouldn't mind a small return to that.
This actually makes a lot of sense. great stuff. In the end you cannot totally manipulate time, some things remain constant. in both timelines he ended up being Dark Raiden, Liu Kang dies. Btw how come no one is talking bout Johnny Cage death in MK2 ?
I...actually will defend Raiden's cryptic statement in Mortal Kombat 9. If Armageddon Raiden had said those things suggested in the video, it does become clear that Shao Kahn must win, but there are some problems with this. Now I'd like to bring up the point that we have seen that the visions are not perfect and are broken into pieces, much like the amulet itself. If he had said "Kahn must win" or something as obvious as that, there was no guarantee that past Raiden wouldn't just throw the first or even second tournament to allow Shao Kahn to win. Future Raiden was cryptic, but it allowed his younger self to come to the realization at the right time rather than too early, thus making Armageddon Raiden's plan null and void.
"The Youngest and fastest warrior in the tournament...Liu Kang"🔥
How about a Wasted Potential on Quan Chi? It will be interesting to see how it all went wrong and how to improve. (disregarding the devs' fetish to his Deadly Alliance design)
Quan Chi has had enough. Mk9 assured that.
Quan Chi is the real creator of Netherealam studios
@@Adam-jn7nc Quan Chi is Netherrealm lol but it would be intresting how to make Quan Chi better and not have him be the ocelot of mk and the Iago between Scorpion and Sub Zero's legendary rivalry, just some how make him better
I actually don’t mind Quan (hate how he always on ups Shang tho)
If anything just make his Mary Sue-ness make sense. One tiny change: Shinnok of the old timeline sends visions to Quan Chi of the new timeline. Would explain why he knows so much and why he took all of Shang Tsung's ideas.
In MK Deadlly Alliance, Raiden renounced to his Elder God status after Liu Kang was killed.
He's an Elemental God, yet he managed to become an Elder God and later he just renounced to his status to go back and protect Earthrealm again.
In MK9 endings, Liu Kang becomes a God(Raiden's level) which means he could also become an Elder God. Im not entirely sure about this but it could be like that.
I know it still sounds weird... Gods are Gods and humans "with powers" being able to defeat them is not something one can live with... but I think that MK universe is more like a rank system.
It would be like
Normal people(any race/realm)
Semi God
Elemental God
Elder God
If Im right, then Liu Kang defeating Raiden would actually make sense. He defeated a God because he actually has the power to do so.
True, but mk1 established that Raiden gives up a chunk of his powers and fights in a mortal form to be able to compete. He is not fighting at full power.
@@jeangentry6656 oh, well then it also explain why gods can be defeated by humans
Sike, Dark Raiden was removed minutes after the game starts. They didn't know what to do with him
Im glad to see you make Mk videos again.
I would LOVE to see you write Mk9-Mk11 with this type of Raiden
Raiden being more arrogant and than developing into a more humble and wiser father figure would have been compelling, especially if in MK 2011, we saw this arrogant mortal. With his visions, he’d literally be playing god with these mortals, trying to ensure he can prevents these visions justifying it as the greater good.
But during the events of the game as you say, seeing the drive of these mortals, he grows quite fond of them and sees how his actions are driving him away from Liu Kang. .
THEN MK10 we have a fully fumble Raiden, whose doing his best to atone, perhaps adapting a snarkier side like the films to better get the younger generation to trust him ; Sonya and Johnny are adamant he doesn’t try to “play god “ with Cassie.
Not perfect but him becoming Dark Raiden in the end would work a bit more as a progression of his character instead of “oh the original timeline had dark raiden so we have to”
I'm be honest: You make many good videos even when you're talking about things you really dislike.
I think some fans just want you to balance the Positive & negative videos. Like you I actually love your hidden potential series thou never stop making them.
I honestly love your take on Devil May Cry. I'm really glad u explained the deeper tone of the stories that most wasn't understand.
That's one of the things I like about your videos that you pay attention to the details in stories, and have some pretty good ideas. Just don't let the haters get to you.
I won't. Thank you.
Shao Khan: *breathes*
Raiden: 5:06
Mortal Kombat is 90% wasted potential. The Mortal Kombat 11 roster is another big example. Are Takeda and Kenshi going to be in the game????
Netherealm Will Never try anything like this even though they basically half assed everything into resetting the timeline in mk11 but they will just half ass it into ANOTHER story again
Dude I fucking love Christopher Lambert's Raiden!
The best wasted plotential video so far
(Just so no crybabies reply this is just an opinion)
lol bruh u liek dis haha git reel
Good example
But if Old Timeline Raiden says something like "The Invasion must succeed" or "The Realms must merge" or "Kahn must win", wouldn't that cause new Raiden to instinctively think that means that Kahn must win the tournament that they were at? The MK1 tournament? If that happens, Kahn would invade, but it would be okay because Outworld would have won ten in a row. Now that is a dark timeline waiting to happen...
That being a possibility, a potential unintended outcome for the plan, makes way more sense than him being vague on purpose.
@@The4thSnake Maybe that dark timeline will be where MK11's Shao Kahn comes from?
this Raiden is Epic!
God I love ur channel at least someone cares ab raiden.. aka my fav character
I actually kinda prefer this raiden over the canonical one. Also i’d be curious to see how Richard Epcar would approach this raiden and how he could shine if given the chance
I like this idea
I'm still disappointed they haven't reused Raiden's MK2 nuke uppercut.
All that lightninng n' shit, just do a nuke punch.
Oh and whatever you were talking about is cool i guess
I loved old Raiden, he can actually fucking fight in a tournament and creates Immortal Kombat in his Mk1 ending for fucks sake 😂
Great wasted potential, it was very enjoyable,
raiden from the movie where he had long hair should be a skin in mk11! looks sick
It's weird that there are no hair options for him in IJ2 or MK11 so far.
@@The4thSnake lmao
Could you imagine if they had the foresight and not just winging it.
You have the idea of "he must win" what if it was always referring to Shang tsung in Aftermath?
I'm starting to like your ideas more and more! And I kind of like the idea with Raiden being dark and going against the elder gods and allying with Shinnok!
Two forces going against the elder gods because they did absolutely nothing and thus keep putting Earthrealm in peril! Why in the hell did they not do this sooner?!?!?
As long as he consults with the other gods from time to time we’re Gucci
Very good vid bud!
Yes. Yes, it is.
Huh, I think you fix him.
Without abandoning his original personality and have it develop over time is a good, and I do think he should be at odds with the Elder Gods because of all the outlandish crisis that keeps occurring.
Thorough video!
Love your suggestions and head cannons. I know someone who isn't of you because of that MK11 thoughts video but I still like most of your videos.
I thought Raiden went dark originally because his dispersed essence saw all the manipulations that had happened behind the scenes and he was so angry that he just went fuck it.
Wow these MK lore sick bra
Hm.. If raiden is developed throughtout the mk franchies. Hm.. From a selfish god, to a compassionate mortal allies, to a 2nd chance forshadower to reasonable crupted rebel. Hmm. I like that.
I really love where the story is going especially i really love dark raiden, i love the way he thinks its as if i can relate.
It would be nice to see some kind of super MK game that covered the story from 1 to 10 while remaining consistent (no plot holes), and expanding on as many characters as possible. Instead of a single campaign it would be sort of like an expanded Arcade Mode where you unlock different perspectives of the same events as well as each character’s personal journey.
I see with so many of these “Wasted Potential” plot lines that would be great for a single protagonist focused campaign, but with everyone else it makes sense that many characters are doomed to the backdrop. Instead of one campaign that focuses on multiple characters they should have multiple campaigns each focusing on one, or a small group of characters. Perhaps similar to Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep where it’s multiple timelines that occasionally intersect (except the intersections are everywhere in MK). It could be limited by having it so that whenever a character stagnates their perspective ends, and you have to play as a different character to unlock their next chapter.
For example in the beginning you start with Johnny Cage: Chapter 1, Sonya Blade: Chapter 1, Liu Kang: Chapter 1. Playing Johnny Cage: Chapter 1 unlocks Sonya Blade: Chapter 2, and Scorpion: Chapter 1 which take place during a time Johnny doesn’t have any way to advance his character or otherwise be the protagonist of his own story. Completing a characters chapter which reaches the point where Johnny Cage’s Chapter 2 begins, and playing a character who at that point interacts with Johnny in some way unlocks that chapter. They have to interact with Johnny because if for example you don’t play as Johnny again until Johnny: Chapter 4 you won’t have a clue as to what he’s been doing unless you can get a general idea through another character’s perspective. Thus you progress through the timeline without extended jumps allowing you to keep track of the overall plot from multiple perspectives, but if there is a character who you’re interested in you can stick to that campaign for the most part.
7:48 I dunno why this made me laugh so much
Damn that would be awesome if most of the MK characters died because Raiden killed them to prevent the original timeline like you suggested, ending with stuff much worse:
Going off what you said, to save Sub Zero, Raiden kills Scorpion a few times (Since he can keep coming back IIRC) making him actually more hateful and more powerful.
He kills Smoke to prevent him from becoming a Cyborg, this give rise to Enenra, would would essentially be the new Noob, and possibly a Cyber Bi Han.
To keep Cyrax from being cyborized he kill Sektor who possibly becomes Triborg earlier for reasons, maybe Cyrax later becomes a revanent.
He attacks Shao Kahn to prevent Kung Lao from being killed and actually forfeits the tournament by doing so, making MK3 an actual merger, not by technicality. The Elder Gods do nothing because they actually lost Mortal Kombat, even though Raiden sees this as Shao Kahn breaking the rules.
Sindel could still return, maybe due to Raiden saving Johnny and Shao needing a new general, but Raiden would kill her to save everyone else, she would then become Queen of the Netherealm.
Shao Kahn would then use Sindel's power to kill everyone anyways, maybe he'd mind fuck Kitana to his side and take her as his bride just to stick it to the cast.
He would obviously kill Liu on purpose this time, maybe giving rise to Liu, the God of Fire.
It would be awesome if Raiden actually fucked things up a lot more than they are now :p.
It would also give the revenant valid reason to hate him
Kitana is Shao Kahn’s daughter
CoolDudeCobermai not really
Akosa117 true enough, it would still be wired through
Anyone else kinda proud at how little he shat on the reboot? I am
Yeah, Raiden was dealt a shit hand by himself. He still is the ultimate blundergod
Great thinking
I actually like this idea. It reminds me of Marvel's Thor. Being a god makes him arrogant in thinking mortals are nothing compared to him only to find out that this isn't true. I do like the mentor aspect as it's what I'm used to but I think I prefer the Thor treatment because Raiden actually fought in the MK 1 tournament but in MK9 they retconned this to him being ONLY an observer that can only fight if directly challenged, which was stupid.
Out of 11 games, there have been 4 tournaments, 2 of which were relevant to the plot. Maybe the series' plot wouldn't be so disjointed if they had Mortal Kombat in Mortal Kombat.
AKSHUALLY ITS 5 BCUZ TEH DED ALLIANCE HAD 1 FOR LI MEI LOL LURN THE LORE SCRUB
@@The4thSnake that's 1 of the 4 that I was referring to.
@@DrakeVagabond 2011 has two of them.
@@The4thSnake i generally don't count that as two since it comes with so many asterisks being a atl reboot. But I'd guess you'd be right.
Great video
Has anyone noticed that in MK9'S intro, Shao Khan is wearing his Mk vs DC outfit. Which means that MK vs DC happened within the timeline
It's because that design is similar to his Deception/Armageddon look. DCU is clearly not canon.
Will there be a Wasted Potential for Dark Raiden? Like they had that on a silver platter and they just wasted it in MK11
Have a nice day raiden
There was potential for this to work but Netherealm loves style over substance