Avast! Scurry ye dogs upon the starboard bow of awesome as we set sail for choppy waters. We shall weather the storm and greet the tempest head on, so fret not ye salty scalawags, for this week bodes well for our passing!

With Sheeva, Nightwolf, Mileena, Smoke, Shang Tsung, Stryker, Reptile, Sonya's boobs, Sonya Blade, Sektor, Johnny Cage, Baraka, and Kabal in the clear, we head directly into the watery domains of MK's wettest warrior.

Admin Edit: Please be encouraged to direct new replies to this thread.

That's right, peons. It's RAIN time.

(Make it RAIN, fellas)

WHO IS RAIN?
Rain is a famous Korean pop singer, dancer, and actor mostly known to American audiences for the cult hit "Ninja Assassin" and for being Stephen Colbert's second greatest arch-nemesis (behind bears).

("RAAAAAAIIINNN!!!")

Sorry, I think I'm getting confused again.

Rain is an Edenian resistance fighter that betrayed his comrades to his arch-nemesis - Shao Kahn, NOT Stephen Colbert - in exchange for power and respect.

He is also MK's longest running inside joke.

("Purple Rain"? Get it?)

One can also assume Rain was trained in the art of combat by being exposed to a daily dose of Chuck Norris films, doing absurd roundhouse kicks with as much enthusiasm as I would do Scarlett Johansson.

(Note: Doing both at once is not recommended)

WHY IS RAIN IN THE SERIES?
As we've covered before, MK is known for many things: blood, boobies, blood, ninjas, blood, jokes, and also bleeding.

In many ways, Rain is the greatest MK character to exist since he combines everything MK is best at, being a joke of a ninja that kills things. The only way they could surpass that is if they made a purple ninja girl names "Princess"... or slapped some boobs on Rain, I guess.

(Internet law states someone somewhere will fap to this)

Okay, it took a little more effort to get Rain off the ground. To break it down, the MK Team needed to wait for the right weather forecast to ensure lightning would strike where they needed it to.

("So Monday we can expect some heavy roundhouse kicks with a sprinkling of mild 80's pop songs, and later in the evening a dash of demi-god with a ninja cold front. Either way, best bring an umbrella.")

Rain was born out of self-referential acknowledgement that MK had an annoying habit of recoloring their ninjas in every color of the rainbow, and apparently an undead wraith, a Chinese assassin, a lizard man, a collection of enslaved souls, and a walking chimney stack all shopped at the same surplus clothing store. Rain was the MK team's way of winking, nudging, and suggestively whistling at us that they knew it was getting out of control.

(Though if I see someone suggestively wink, nudge, and whistle, I expect things to get out of control in bed...)

So we got ourselves a purple ninja. Purple. And they named him Rain. Purple. Purple Rain.

(GET IT?!! Because we're going to run this joke into the ground so hard China will feel it!)

If MK ever had a counterpart to Street Fighter's pink-gi-wearing Dan, it would be our grape-draped ninja Rain. I mean, after all, what self-respecting ninja wears PURPLE?

(Pictured: A ninja with so little self-respect that he "does machines")

Rain was actually planned for MK3 but was cut before the game was made... and by "cut" we mean he was nothing like Rain at all. He was going to be an ex-Lin Kuei assassin that joined Shao Kahn... and he was going to be Tremor. But they hated the idea and morphed him into Rain instead.

(Guys, I know Tremor has his fans that demanded he be in this game, but when the team agrees he's so lame they need to improve him by turning him into RAIN... it's just time to move on... Let it go...)

Rain first showed up as a red herring in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 in the Attract Mode, but wasn't actually in the game at all. That didn't keep people from flipping out trying to find him. They even had messages hidden in the game saying you could find Rain in the graveyard, but it was all a lie. Just someone trolling the fans. Who could be so dastardly?

However, Rain eventually received a proper debut in the console ports of UMK3 and MK Trilogy where he was given a proper backstory, moves, fatalities, and ending, and all the powers and charm needed to make the ladies wet.

(It wasn't as hot as I made that sound)

Rain sort of petered into the franchise, and after a lackluster debut that made people who even hated Stryker and Nightwolf rethink their hatred, Rain sort of evaporated (hi-yo!) from the franchise.

But, see, Rain was a ninja. A NINJA, guys. And it didn't take long before the stupidity of Rain was outclassed by an even dumber colored ninja buffoon.

(he's a big red nose and a stupid wig away from being a clown)

While Rain had his fans, MK began hemorrhaging fans in general during the MK4 era, and Rain fans were already a small number. Not surprisingly, Rain wasn't exactly considered a front-runner for the rebooted MK:Deadly Alliance. He at least had cameos in Deception, but it wasn't until "everyone and the kitchen sink" Armageddon advertised a complete roster (no matter how nonsensical or hated) that Rain returned to the franchise.

And... well, Rain sort of grew on people. Armageddon did very few things right, but one of those few things it did right was give Rain a kick up the purple pants and develop him in a way that 90% of the roster is still waiting their turn for.

("Chest development" doesn't count, Nitara)

By this point, fan love for Rain had reached a boiling point (so many water puns, so little time). When Rain missed the initial cut of MK2011's roster, the community howled in a protest so loud that politicians everywhere now ignore other protests for not being even half as vocal or passionate.


Also, unlike politicians, NRS listened to the demands and made sure the forecast for MK2011 included a heavy dose of RAIN!

(The puns! The puns! They're so deliciously awful!)

RAIN'S STORY-
Rain's story began during the Mortal Kombat 3 era, where he is one of many generals in Kahn's army assisting in the invasion of Earthrealm.

Not to rain on his parade (ack... the puns...), but Rain's story in MK3 was pretty generic and forgettable. To truly get into the intriguing aspect of Rain's character, we need to flashback to the beginning.

(not THAT beginning)

"See, when mommy and daddy love one another very much, sometimes they hug each other in ways that only mommies and daddies can, and 9 months later a baby is born!"

.... Yeah, Rain's birth is nothing like that. His is more like "when an omnipotent god protector sees a super-hot Edenian babe sunbathing in the nude, he gets super horny and decides to hit that."

(LITERALLY)
"Then, 9 months later, his bastard child is born and his psychic wife doesn't need to be psychic to realize that this new kid crawling around might not be hers, so said uber-god does a "my bad" and dumps the kid on the doorstep of an Edenian general."


And THAT'S how RAIN was born.

As far as we know, Rain is the only playable Edenian with a Y-chromosome, having been a young child when Edenia was conquered. Unlike Kitana and Jade, who were raised in Kahn's court believing themselves of Outworld descent, Rain was first raised by his foster father, who died defending Edenia, and was then raised by the Edenian resistance, who waged a long, brutal, and ultimately futile war to reclaim their realm from Kahn's grasp.

Rain, being part god, quickly surpassed all the other fighters, and started to get a little cocky and arrogant. You can add "frustrated" to that list when his superiors decided that NOT promoting their finest warrior and giving him soldiers to help them win their war was a better strategy than "slowly die out in sadness and despair."

("You want our support? What, you think you're some kind of GOD or something?")

After continually getting overlooked and denied what he felt entitled to, Rain just said "screw it", waltzed right up to the man he'd spent centuries fighting, and sold out his fellow warriors in exchange for power and leadership amidst Kahn's armies.

What happened post-MK3, however, remains rather mysterious.

In Rain's ending, Rain's past is revealed to him by Kitana, which motivates him to go on a suicide mission to avenge his fallen father. However, he didn't show up again for some time, leading some to believe he died on the way, or some say the ending never happened at all.

(I say he got lost on the way)

Rain then had some spotty appearances in Deception, where he was trying to get Shujinko to steal for him a mystic Shokan dagger, though Shujinko backstabs him and tells Jade his plan, leading her to knock him unconscious and mock his wardrobe.

("Can you believe what he wears? What a man-whore. Huh? What do you mean "double-standard"?")

Despite a lame beginning, Rain was showered (huzzah!) with good development in Armageddon when Rain finally discovers his TRUE origin as the son of Edenia's patron god. Rain suddenly was in a league of deities and become a credible threat, with the blood of Argus coursing through his veins and a new-found purpose to aspire towards. Rain put on his game face and decided "to hell with leading resistance fighters or Kahn's armies. I could rule entire REALMS with this power!"

(If you had god-like power, wouldn't YOU do the same?)

Despite being brother to Taven and Daegon, Rain decided he didn't want to play second-fiddle to their ordained inheritance and decided it would be in his best interest to kill them.

(Most MK fans had the urge to kill them too, so that might be one reason Rain got more popular)

But, like everyone else, Rain ran into a bit of a roadblock. Mainly "Armageddon" and the annihilation of everyone, thus necessitating a reboot... which he tagged along for.

Rain's story is pretty much unchanged, except his ending implies he discovers his origins as a demi-god much sooner than before. Beyond that, though, he's absent from Story Mode and wasn't really involved in any direct way with the story or did anything important.
(Unless "posing seductively in church with Meat" is important)

RAIN'S FUTURE-
Because Rain had less to do with the story than that random grunt that gets kicked in the acid bath...
(Farewell, Blindman Bill McChestington. We hardly knew you.)
... that meant Rain also blissfully and ignorantly avoided the great purging of the MK roster by increasingly convoluted and unnecessary means.

(mainly because Rain himself was rather unnecessary. Oh snap!)

Still, Rain is alive and roundhouse-kicking. Beyond that, despite a very rough, tongue-in-cheek beginning (and middle), Rain's pretty popular now, and his gameplay, story, and design are all top notch. With the positive feedback he's received, coupled with a genuinely epic and serious storyline that deals with everything from child abandonment to infidelity to treason to redemption to fratricide, and Rain, as odd as it is to admit it, has the potential to spin-off into his own game with all the heavy material weighing over his head.

I wouldn't call Rain a shoe-in for the next game, just because MK is unpredictable like that, but I would call it a foolish move NOT to include him and build upon the positive buzz he's generated since splashing down (heh) and stirring fans into a tizzy.

That's especially true with the power vacuum left from pretty much the entire Edenian royal line being snuffed out in this game. In fact, one thing I always wanted to see in greater detail was Rain's relationship with Kitana. In the games, she comes to him and confides in him his origins, which showed some sort of connection between the two. In the non-canon Defenders of the Realm cartoon, he's even her prior fiance.

(You can't tell me in 10,000 years she didn't sleep with Rain, regret it, and do it all over again at LEAST 432 times....)

Rain's ties to Edenian nobility are worth exploring, as is his godly lineage and destiny.

(though can we do it without bringing these two back? Cause that'd be swell.)

Rain's had his ups and downs. Sure, he's had a few gray clouds ruin his day (zing!), and he still struggles to be a joke character, but every cloud has a silver lining (booyah!).

Rain's been through quite a bit of changes, and while public opinion is still split over whether he's terribly awesome or awesomely terrible, he's certainly left an impact. Rain may not be as iconic as Scorpion, or as memorable as Raiden, or as cool as Sub-Zero... but I think we can safely say Rain's a worthwhile addition to the roster, someone with a stand-out personality, lots of interesting drama, great moves and powers, and plenty of untapped potential just waiting to be explored.

So, sound off! How do you feel about one of MK's most notorious fighters? Do you think he's a joke? Do you take him seriously? Do you prefer him good or evil? Do you like his story? How about his gameplay? Are you happy he's DLC or would you have preferred him in the main roster and Story Mode? Do you want him as DLC in the next game or in the roster? What direction should they take him?

And let me know who I should cover next!

Okay, you wet bandits. Been fun. Garlador out.