Raiden (Metal Gear)

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Raiden
Raiden in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, illustrated by Yoji Shinkawa.
Game series	Metal Gear series
First game	Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Creator(s)	Hideo Kojima
Designed by	Yoji Shinkawa
Voice actor(s) (English)	Quinton Flynn (Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty), Charlie Schlatter ("Metal Gear Raiden: Snake Eraser")
Voice actor(s) (Japanese)	Kenyu Horiuchi
Motion capture actor	Eiji Morisaki
In-Universe Information
Real name	Jack
Also known as	"Jack the Ripper", "White Devil". Briefly assumed the codename "Snake" during and before the Big Shell incident.
Nationality	American (originally from Liberia)
Affiliations	Small Boy Unit (Liberian Civil War), Force XXI (sometime before 2009), Pseudo-FOXHOUND operative unknowingly employed by the Patriots (2009).

Raiden, real name 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.

His role as the protagonist of Metal Gear Solid 2 was a controversial twist, both for the unexpected substitution of the established hero, Solid Snake, and for his androgynous appearance, the latter so much that the ridiculing of his effeminate appearance became a recurring joke in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and several early Metal Gear Solid 4 promotional videos.

1 Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
2 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
3 Other appearances
4 References

[edit] Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Big Shell

In Metal Gear Solid 2: 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. Through encounters with Solid Snake and the Sons Of Liberty terrorist unit holding the "Big Shell" facility, he discovers he is being manipulated by a powerful government-controlling organization known as The Patriots.

Despite revelations that he is under the command of an AI commanding officer and being used as a guinea-pig to test a powerful information-control system, he is unable to prevent himself carrying out his objective. He is unwittingly responsible for a near-complete recreation of the events of the Shadow Moses Incident of Metal Gear Solid. While sharing the same goal as the terrorist leader and his adoptive father Solidus Snake by the close of MGS2, he is manipulated into killing him, mirroring Solid Snake's own patricide. His use as a human weapon controlled by misinformation forms the central crux of Metal Gear Solid 2; even his name, "Raiden", is a deliberate reference by his manipulators to Japanese bombers used in World War II.

However, he is not without the possibility of salvation; as the game ends, Snake reveals to Raiden and the player the key messages of the title--that humanity must find something to believe in and not merely accept what we are told, and that we must pass on those beliefs that are important to us.

A young Jack, during his service in Liberia

[edit] Early life

According to Solidus Snake's account of his childhood in Metal Gear Solid 2, Raiden was originally part of the Liberian Civil War during the early 90s, where he was orphaned. Taken under Solidus' wing (due to him having killed his unidentified parents) and trained to be the leader of his Small Boys Unit, to become child soldiers. Raiden disappears towards the end of the conflict, taken by The Patriots.

After gaining US citizenship and joining the military, he takes part 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, a Patriot spy who tracks his progress and during his mission in Metal Gear Solid 2, provides moral support and a degree of psychological manipulation to ensure his continued progress.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] As a game character

According to the series' creator, Hideo Kojima, the decision to make Raiden the main protagonist instead of Snake stemmed from the developers' desire to develop Snake from a third-person perspective, as well as to avoid treating Snake like a rookie again (considering the fact that Snake was already acquainted with most of the gadgets and weapons in earlier Metal Gear titles). Hideo Kojima has also stated that Raiden's character and its perception by the audience were important for the overall feel of the story (i.e. they contribute to a sense of lack of control, being subjected to major manipulation by unknown, deceptive and/or mysterious persons, and a general lack of knowledge about the conditions and motives of several characters as well as the twists and turns of the plot).^[1]

Designer Yoji Shinkawa noted in the Making of Metal Gear Solid 2 featurette that he and the other character designers took a great deal of inspiration for Raiden's appearance from the bishonen (or "beautiful man") archetype.^[2] Since Raiden was intended to be more appealing to female fans, the team thought it was important to make him conform more closely to the popular conception of male beauty.

Raiden's real name, Jack, was taken from the name of Leonardo DiCaprio's character in the movie Titanic. Concurrently, his love interest in the game is named (Rosemary) after Kate Winslet's character in the film.^[3] His role and status were also likened by the designers to those of the jack in a deck of playing cards, with Fortune representing the Queen, Solidus Snake the King, and SEAL Team 10 the expendable "spot" cards.

Konami kept Raiden's starring role in Metal Gear Solid 2 a secret right up until the game's release, even going so far as to replace Raiden with Snake in teaser trailers and other preview materials.^[3]) Although the news was leaked by Internet pirates shortly before the game's publication^{[citation needed]}, it was not widely circulated, and most players were hence shocked when they began playing the game and discovered that Snake had been supplanted by Raiden as the primary playable character.

Raiden in Guns of the Patriots

[edit] Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

In the E3 2006 trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Raiden appears wearing an exoskeleton manufactured by the fictional company, Tokugawa Heavy Industries. The exoskeleton is similar to the ones worn by previous Cyborg Ninjas (such as Gray Fox and Olga Gurlukovich). He is shown fighting against several GEKKO units on the streets. He easily dodges their attacks and single-handedly disables each unit with his high frequency blade, his knife, and at one point, even using his feet. It has been stated by Kojima that Raiden's blood in MGS4 is white which is the cause of his pallor skin color. It has been recently confirmed by Lead Character Designer: Yoji Shinkawa, that Raiden is indeed a Cyborg like Gray Fox, and the only things still human about him are apparently his head and spine. He commented that Raiden is "falling apart", making it seem that Raiden needs the exoskeleton to survive. It is not yet known what has caused this condition with Raiden, but he still seems to be fully aware of his identity - informing Snake that it's his turn to play the role of protector.

Despite not being a playable player in the single-player game, he will serve as Snake's backup. He will still be playable in the next iteration of Metal Gear Online, which will be included as a feature in MGS4.

[edit] Other appearances

While Raiden doesn't appear in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, several references are made to him in that game. Most visible is Major Ivan Raidenovitch Raikov, an eccentric, homosexual Soviet major, and dead ringer for Raiden. His name when translated to English, means "Son of Raiden", but is also a Japanese pun on the phrase "Raiden no bitch" or "Thunderbolt's Bitch", a reference to his relationship with Colonel Volgin.

In addition, when the player first begins the game, they are asked if they played Metal Gear Solid 2. If they respond that they did, the game's prologue will begin with a sequence where it appears that the main character is Raiden (and is referred to as "Jack"). However, at the end of the opening sequence, "Jack" tears off his mask, revealing Snake's face underneath. This something of a meta-joke, tricking players into thinking they will be playing as Raiden again but then symbolically removing him in favor of Snake.

Raiden also appears in several early Metal Gear Solid 4 promotional videos, literally fighting for control of the franchise with Snake in a series of comedic sequences. One of these promotional videos was named Metal Gear Raiden: Snake Eraser, which was included in Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence.