Backstory
Height: 5’10
Age: 35 (as of Revengeance)
Aliases: Jack The Ripper, White Devil, Mr. Lightning Bolt, ‘Snake’
Occupation: Bodyguard and Mercenary
-Follows the Rules of Nature
-Former streaker
Jack was born in the 80s during the first Liberian Civil War, to unknown parents who were murdered by Solidus Snake shortly after his birth. Solidus subsequently adopted him, turning him into a child soldier and merciless killing machine. Due to his ruthless proficiency with knives and close-quarter weapons, he gained the title of ‘Jack The Ripper’, eventually becoming captain of the ‘Small Boys’ unit, a subunit of the Army of the Devil composed entirely of child soldiers.
After the war, due to a combination of nanomachines and intense counseling, Raiden’s memories of the Liberian Civil War were suppressed, only appearing in traumatic nightmares. He later joined the United States Army Task Force XXI, and went through a variety of VR training missions, including a recreation of Shadow Moses. Once he left the program, he met his future wife, Rose. In 2009 Raiden became enamored in the Big Shell Incident, an event he would later learn was scripted by ‘The Patriots’ in order to get him to kill his adopted father Solidus. Raiden did exactly that, but refused to be The Patriot’s puppet anymore.
After the incident he became interested in Japanese swordsmanship and the Samurai Code (I.E, became a huge weeb), and began practicing sword fighting with his High Frequency Blade. Unfortunately, the memories of his bloodied past resurfaced, Raiden became a heavy drinker and incredibly violent, and subsequently left Rose, wandering aimlessly. Eventually he, EVA, and the Paradise Lost Army rescued the now dead Olga Gurlukovich’s daughter, Sunny, from Area 51. But Raiden began wandering aimlessly yet again afterwards, having heard Rose had been remarried to Colonel Campbell. This would later turn out to be a facade to prevent The Patriots from going after her. While wandering, Jack also learned tracking skills from a Native American shaman in Alaska.
But Raiden’s no quitter and decided to rejoin the Paradise Lost army, which led to him getting captured, and rebuilt into a cyborg by The Patriots, replacing his entire body below his jaw (Save for his heart). With help from the Paradise Lost army, Raiden managed to escape captivity, clear his body of nanomachines, and help Solid Snake in the events of Metal Gear Solid 4. With The Patriots deactivated, Rose revealed that she didn’t remarry to Colonel Campbell, that her’s and Raiden’s son was in fact alive, and they once again got back together, (hopefully) ending the drama between the two for good.
Finally, we have the events of Metal Gear Rising, where Jack returned to military life, gained an upgraded cyborg body upon being defeated by Jetstream Sam, fought through him, a variety of members of the Desperado Enforcement LLC, and the manliest Senator who ever lived. Despite his bloodied past, being frequently manipulated, and his...Initial reception by fans, Raiden remains one of the most capable characters in the Metal Gear universe, and quite the skilled swordsman.
Experience
While very traumatic, Raiden’s past as a child soldier has made him deathly skilled in warfare, and a variety of other skills.
-Raiden has been fighting as early as the age of 6, and became the captain of his child soldier unit ‘Small Boys’ at the age of 10.
-After having his memories suppressed, Jack joined the U.S Army’s Force XXI trials. During which he underwent extensive VR training focused on sneaking, tactical operations, and military warfare. This included missions indistinguishable from reality, such as a recreation of the Shadow Moses incident from Metal Gear Solid.
-In 2009 he was enamored in the Big Shell incident, which, through a series of very elaborate plot twists, turned out to all be a simulation. Despite this, the physical acts and experience he gained from it, and defeating entities such as Fatman and Vamp was very real.
-By the end of Metal Gear Solid 2, Raiden defeats Solidus Snake, the perfect clone of Big Boss, and a skilled swordsman in his own right.
-After the incident Raiden took to studying Japanese swordsmanship. Despite being self taught, he is exceptionally skilled, and has gone toe to toe with sword masters such as Jetstream Sam, who had been training all his life.
-He also apparently learned some hunting and tracking skills from a Native American Shaman.
-Raiden returned in Metal Gear Solid 4, now as a cyborg, and assisted Solid Snake in fighting off multiple robotic threats.
-Finally, we arrive at Metal Gear Rising Revengeance, where Raiden returned to the battlefield, this time getting a better cyborg body, going up against the Desperados forces, reawakening to his Jack the Ripper persona, and prevented America from going into all out war.
Equipment
Descriptions of Raiden’s primary weapons in Revengeance can be found here.
Cybernetic Body: After being captured by The Patriots, Raiden’s human body was replaced by a cybernetic one. The new body featured muscle enhancements, claw-like fingers, and a data-storage area located in his left arm.
Once he’d lost his first fight with Jetstream Sam, Raiden got an upgraded body with an augmented reality display for seeing in the dark, a 200 megapixel camera in the left eye, carbon nanotubing muscle fiber, and a Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell directly linked to his High Frequency Blade. This is what allows him to siphon energy from enemy fuel cells.
The body also comes with pain inhibitors that allow Raiden to fight to his fullest, even when missing limbs. Though when unleashing his ‘Jack The Ripper’ persona, he’ll intentionally disable the inhibitors.
High Frequency Blade: Raiden’s go to weapon. A single-edged sword that, by oscillating at different frequencies, is able to weaken the molecular bonds of anything it strikes, acting as a light means of bypassing durability. These weapons also appear to be able to create some kind of shockwave or extended slice, letting them slice well beyond their melee range.
Stun Blade: A weapon with a built in 2-million volt current. Capable of temporarily shutting down cybernetic interfaces, while also functioning as a cutting tool.
Armor Breaker: A high frequency blade designed to pierce through armor, with a chance of destroying even the toughest forms of it with each hit.
High Frequency Longsword: A high frequency sword with an extended length modeled after the Nodachi.
High Frequency Machete: A blade based around a machete. While lacking in range, it allows for much faster strikes.
Fox Blade: Gray Fox’s sword. Capable of cutting apart even the thickest armor with a single strike.
High Frequency Wooden Sword: A blade mainly designed for non-lethal purposes.
L'Etranger: A polearm composed of multiple Dwarf Gekko Tripod arms that can shift into a whip for extended range attacks.
Dystopia: Two sais that can be thrown at enemies to stun them while magnetically pulling Raiden to them, making them essentially a combination of a mid-ranged grappling hook and an EMP.
Bloodlust: A pair of high frequency machetes that form a pincer blade. While weighty, they deal immense damage, and offer a lot of defense.
High Frequency Murasama: Raiden’s killer app weapon. Gained after defeating Jetstream Sam, and the most powerful blade in Revengeance, while also boasting a trigger-based quick draw.
Sub Weapons
Rocket Launcher: A large anti-tank rocket that can be fired for a large-scale explosion.
Homing Missile: A heat-seeking anti-aircraft missile launcher.
Frag Grenade: Standard explosive grenades.
EMP Grenade: Grenades that produce a wide EMP burst, allowing it to short-circuit electronics and other cyborgs for a time.
RP Grenade: Grenades that release red phosphorus, making a smoke screen that can block vision and infra-red.
Jam Grenade: An electronic attack device capable of disabling electronics and jamming radios and radars.
Cardboard Box: The Metal Gear staple. Used as an effective means of tricking enemies, often being the focal piece of equipment that Raiden’s mission may very well hinge on.
Infinity Wig: Raiden’s equivalent to Snake’s Infinity Bandana. It gives him effectively limitless ammo. In Revengeance, he has 3 variants of the wig that gives him infinite sub-weapon ammo, infinite fuel cell gauge, and infinite enhanced Blade Mode. While these might seem like silly, non-canon pieces of bonus equipment, the effects of items like the Infinity Bandana have been canonically referenced in Metal Gear’s cut-scenes.
Metal Gear Solid 2 weapons
While Raiden has mostly forgone firearms and his past weapons since getting his cyborg body, he should in theory still have access to them
M9: A pistol equipped with a suppressor and laser sight that fires tranquilizer rounds. Primarily used for non-lethal takedowns.
Heckler and Koch MK 23: Raiden’s primary sidearm. A 12-round hand-gun that fires .45 ACP bullets. It’s also fitted with a suppressor to dampen the sound of its gunshots.
AKS-74u: An assault rifle with a muzzle velocity of 735 m/s with a max range of 500 meters.It can be fitted with a suppressor.
PSG1: A long-range sniper rifle with a muzzle velocity of 868 m/s that can hold up to 20 rounds per cartridge. While often difficult to aim, using depressants can help steady it.
RGB-6: A six shot grenade launcher.
M18 Claymore: A mine that can be planted in the ground and exploded once something moves within its radius.
Radar: A special radar that gives a breakdown of the surrounding terrain, enemy locations, ETC. It can be equipped with additional features such as an AP sensor, and Mine Detector.
Directional Microphone: A special microphone used to eavesdrop and pick up distant noises and conversations.
Goggles: Raiden has several different goggles that come with night-vision, infrared, and thermal vision. Though the abilities of his cybernetic body make them a bit moot.
Abilities
Besides superhuman strength, speed, and durability, Raiden has…
Superhuman Acrobatics: Raiden is capable of leaping long distances, running along walls with his Ninja Run, and is generally very agile.
Stealth Mastery: Thanks to his VR training, Raiden is a master of stealth. While it’s largely foregone as of Revengeance, Raiden will still use it in key instances.
Firearms Mastery: Raiden’s a quick and precise shooter, capable of using any firearm he gets his hands on. Though as of Revengeance he almost exclusively uses melee weapons.
Sword Mastery: Raiden has always been efficient with melee weapons, and after studying ‘the blade’, became all the deadlier, having defeated multiple combat experts and sword masters. His cybernetic body also allows for more atypical sword strikes, such as using the grips on his cyborg feet to swing his sword using his leg, or fighting with the sword in his mouth, Roronoa Zoro style.
A full list of Raiden’s moves can be found here.
Blade Mode: While using Blade Mode, Raiden’s perception of time is temporarily slowed, multiplying his speed by a factor of 10.
Ripper Mode: Raiden’s super mode that further bolsters his speed and strength, and lets him slice through most opponents with a single swing. While this drains his energy very quickly in gameplay, Raiden has fought opponents such as Monsoon while using it for an extended period of time. So it should in theory last at least several minutes.
Electricity Manipulation: While usually there for effect, Raiden has used electricity to produce lightning bolts in the past, and regularly generates it from his sword and body.
Feats
Strength & Destructive Power
-Casually sliced apart a building supporting several freight crates.
-Held back a giant battleship with an outdated version of his current cyborg body.
-Capoeira’d two Gekkos with just his feet.
-Sliced through and a Metal Gear Ray’s carbon nanotubing body.
-Lifted and threw the Metal Gear Ray several dozen meters.
-Lifted and threw the Metal Gear Excelsus.
Speed & Agility
-Even before getting a cyborg body, Raiden could deflect bullets.
-Caught up to a speeding train.
-Can block mounted machine gun fire from the Metal Gear Ray.
-Outsped missiles by hopping along them.
-Performed multiple sword strikes while his perception of time was slowed so much, rain drops were virtually frozen still.
Durability & Survivability
-Survived multiple slashes from the Murasama.
-Survived a beatdown from Senator Armstrong.
-Survived a punch that tore apart the Metal Gear Excelsus.
-Logically speaking, Raiden’s durability should be comparable to his destructive power.
Scaling
Who does Raiden scale to?
As of Revengeance, Raiden should scale to pretty much everyone in the Metal Gear series. His cybernetic body is the most recent and advanced tech in the series, and outstrips the speed and destructive power of the franchise’s already superhuman soldiers. Including Ocelot, Snake, ETC. He naturally scales to the cybernetic threats he fights and defeats as well.
Solid Snake
-Evaded the Metal Gear TX-55’s lasers.
-Timed and surfed on a missile.
-Dodged a round from a rail gun after it was fired.
Revolver Ocelot
-Reacted to Volgin’s lightning.
Gray Fox
-Held back the weight of the Metal Gear Rex.
-Casually parried gunfire and bullet timed.
Big Boss
-Held back the weight of the giant war machine, Cocoon.
Solidus Snake
-Deflected mounted machine gun fire.
Weaknesses
Raiden’s tough, but not invincible. Enough force can damage his cybernetic body, and while it can take hits from high frequency blades, it’s still ultimately vulnerable to their molecular manipulation. The blood in his body also needs to be changed from time to time, similar to the oil in a car, giving him a pretty definite stamina cap.
To top it off, while he seems to have managed to suppress and cope with it for the most part, Jack still suffers from a severe case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This can make him irrational and mentally unsound depending on the circumstances.
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