JoRdAnMaN Wrote: i thought he was getting boring after Mk:da.

^^^ Too right. I doubt he will be evil but I'd love it if he was, we need more evil characters for a start, im freakin' sick to death of all the goodies

thats a good theroy but i still would have to say no for now. all they told us is that hes mortal now. but maybe because hes mortal the dragon king could make him evil which would lead to your theroy but rather just wait and see whats going to happen. i dont want really speculate cause i want the suprise of mortal kombat experience. thats why i rarely hang in this forum.

He's good. He's such a powerful entity of good it would be hard to make him evil unwillingly even without his godly essence. The way he looks now is slightly diminished. A result of releasing his godly essence.

I so hope he is evil, but I just don't see MK making that turn.

Read his bio.....it says why he looks like that.He burned himself up trying to release his godly essence to hurt dragon king.lol

When I first saw the images at work I said, "What the (censored)" I couldn't believe they were making my thundergod look so evil. Beat up I can understand, pissed off I could understand also...but evil! Then I got to thinking about his bio and some of the other characters we have seen. There is a chance that even if that is Raiden's body, it may not house his soul. We seen how souls can be transferred into another's body in MK:DA.

My theory, long winded but please bear with me before letting loose the flames.

Raiden did sacrifice himself, but when he 'died' the Dragon King imprisoned his soul and infused his body with a soul of a demon or similiar. Hence the red eyes. Liu Kang may be in a similiar situation, but his was started because of the Deadly Alliance but either the Dragon King or someone gave his body an evil soul. Who else would Earth's defenders least likely want to fight? Raiden and Liu Kang have been their leaders, advisors, brother-at-arms/father-figure since the first game. Even if Earth's fighters knew of the evil souls, their sub-conscious would not want to fight them and the sub-conscious is a difficult thing to control and/or overcome.

Now comes Scorpion's deal with the Elder Gods. He himself once being a 'lost soul' would be the most likely canidate to locate the true souls of Raiden and/or Liu Kang. His job is to find the missing souls and help return them to their proper place. Either in the Heavens or their bodies I have no idea. Why the Elder God would do this is they finally saw what a threat the Dragon King truely is. If one of their own could not even scratch him with a kamikaze attack, they finally took notice. Perhaps they either started to feel a little guilty for not listening to Raiden in the first place or they finally saw what a true leader he was and seek to have him back.

Ashra (sp?) is supposely a demon huntress, perhaps her job is to take care of the demons inhabiting Raiden's and/or Liu Kang's forms. In the process she may end of 'killing' Raiden and Liu Kang again, but not being one of Earth's warriors who have fought beside/for them, she would/should have no hesitation in fighting or killing them.

Now Nightwolf, yes I believe he is also involved in this somehow. Supposely he is a shaman, someone who deals with spirits and/or souls. Maybe he is there to aid either/both Scorpion and Ashra in their jobs. Also, it seems strange that Nightwolf seems to have acquired the power of lighting all of a sudden. Someone help me here, did he have the lighting bolt move in MK3, I remember Rain having it but not Nightwolf? Perhaps Raiden's soul was not captured only weaken. Now Nightwolf holds Raiden soul (and therefore some of his power) in protective custody until there is a way to return it to it proper home.

Mortal Kombat has a history of mulitple storylines all ending in the same place. This could be one of the many storylines we will see in the upcoming game. The other storylines would be dealing with the Sindel, Tanya/Jade, Mileena family war; the Sub-Zero history line, etc. I just can't wait to see the complete bios and the endings to get the true story.

Awesome theory, LadyRaiden! That is probably the most well thought out theory I've seen. And putting it that way, it could very well be possible. However, Raiden has his powers and his Nan Chuan style. It has to be him.

I like your theory LadyRaiden!

LadyRaiden Wrote: When I first saw the images at work I said, "What the " I couldn't believe they were making my thundergod look so evil. Beat up I can understand, pissed off I could understand also...but evil! Then I got to thinking about his bio and some of the other characters we have seen. There is a chance that even if that is Raiden's body, it may not house his soul. We seen how souls can be transferred into another's body in MK:DA. My theory, long winded but please bear with me before letting loose the flames. Raiden did sacrifice himself, but when he 'died' the Dragon King imprisoned his soul and infused his body with a soul of a demon or similiar. Hence the red eyes. Liu Kang may be in a similiar situation, but his was started because of the Deadly Alliance but either the Dragon King or someone gave his body an evil soul. Who else would Earth's defenders least likely want to fight? Raiden and Liu Kang have been their leaders, advisors, brother-at-arms/father-figure since the first game. Even if Earth's fighters knew of the evil souls, their sub-conscious would not want to fight them and the sub-conscious is a difficult thing to control and/or overcome. Now comes Scorpion's deal with the Elder Gods. He himself once being a 'lost soul' would be the most likely canidate to locate the true souls of Raiden and/or Liu Kang. His job is to find the missing souls and help return them to their proper place. Either in the Heavens or their bodies I have no idea. Why the Elder God would do this is they finally saw what a threat the Dragon King truely is. If one of their own could not even scratch him with a kamikaze attack, they finally took notice. Perhaps they either started to feel a little guilty for not listening to Raiden in the first place or they finally saw what a true leader he was and seek to have him back. Ashra (sp?) is supposely a demon huntress, perhaps her job is to take care of the demons inhabiting Raiden's and/or Liu Kang's forms. In the process she may end of 'killing' Raiden and Liu Kang again, but not being one of Earth's warriors who have fought beside/for them, she would/should have no hesitation in fighting or killing them. Now Nightwolf, yes I believe he is also involved in this somehow. Supposely he is a shaman, someone who deals with spirits and/or souls. Maybe he is there to aid either/both Scorpion and Ashra in their jobs. Also, it seems strange that Nightwolf seems to have acquired the power of lighting all of a sudden. Someone help me here, did he have the lighting bolt move in MK3, I remember Rain having it but not Nightwolf? Perhaps Raiden's soul was not captured only weaken. Now Nightwolf holds Raiden soul (and therefore some of his power) in protective custody until there is a way to return it to it proper home. Mortal Kombat has a history of mulitple storylines all ending in the same place. This could be one of the many storylines we will see in the upcoming game. The other storylines would be dealing with the Sindel, Tanya/Jade, Mileena family war; the Sub-Zero history line, etc. I just can't wait to see the complete bios and the endings to get the true story.

It is a good theory, but there are a few problems with this. When souls are transferred from one body to another, the soul that inhabits this new body should not possess the abilities of its former owner. Raiden clearly has his lightning powers intact, and he is using Nan Chuan. When Liu Kang entered Kano's body in Quan Chi's ending, it was clear the Liu's powers were now inside Kano's form. Raiden's godly powers are more than likely contained within his soul rather than his physical form.

If Li Mei's ending did occur, which most believe it did given her appearance in MKD, she has retained her powers rather than taking on the abilities of the new body.

All I know is that the bio of Raiden led me to believe he was dead "scarificed himself" was the term that tipped me off. Now he's in the game and appears to have his powers? Well then what the hell did he sacrifice? His Elder God status, who cares? If he doesn't have some kind of diminished ability in this game with this storyline, I'm gonna kinda be PO'd. Raiden is always SO predictable in these games and after reviewing his Bio I was hoping for a death/sacrifice. Now he's just beat up looking? If you blast away all you energy or whatever the hell is was then I'm thinking your not gonna be all Thunder god-ish. No big powers and not much life energy at all. What a rip-off.

my theories aren't as good or detailed as LadyRaidens,but here they are anyways:

1)a lesser god sacrificed his life/godly essence to give Raiden back some of his powers so he could assist in destroying the Dragon King.the glowing red eyes are a result of this.

2)while Raiden was weak from his attempt to destroy the Dragon King,a renegade soul/evil soul entered his body and is slowly corrupting him and by the time the Dragon King is defeated,he will be purily evil.

~Crow~ Wrote: It is a good theory, but there are a few problems with this. When souls are transferred from one body to another, the soul that inhabits this new body should not possess the abilities of its former owner. Raiden clearly has his lightning powers intact, and he is using Nan Chuan. When Liu Kang entered Kano's body in Quan Chi's ending, it was clear the Liu's powers were now inside Kano's form. Raiden's godly powers are more than likely contained within his soul rather than his physical form. If Li Mei's ending did occur, which most believe it did given her appearance in MKD, she has retained her powers rather than taking on the abilities of the new body. tgrant wrote: Awesome theory, LadyRaiden! That is probably the most well thought out theory I've seen. And putting it that way, it could very well be possible. However, Raiden has his powers and his Nan Chuan style. It has to be him.

Hmmmm...Perhaps you're right, or who's to say that a demon can't copy Raiden's abilities? If Shang Tsung a 'Demon' Sorcerer can when he shape shifts why not a demon who posseses (sp?) a body.
Also, if Raiden's soul was so weakened by the blast that he needed Nightwolf's help/protection that could be why the only abiltiy Nightwolf was able to 'borrow' was the lighting bolt.....
Another thought just crossed my mind, what if Raiden's soul was shattered and the trio I mention needs to locate the pieces to bring him back. Like the Egyptian myth of Osirus (sp? Right one?) Perhaps Ashra found one piece and that is why she is able to have Raiden's torpedo move. Nightwolf another and that is why he has the lighting bolt. Most likely its just my mind running low on power since it is almost time for me to get some sleep.

its possible that Raiden did die,while in mortal form,and went to heaven or whatever.the Elder Gods sent him back to earth with some of his powers intact and may have given Scorpion the task of ensuring he survives the battles.

that could explain the part in Scorps bio where it says he met the Elder Gods.

Of course there is the simple explaination for his new looks. He's just really, really mad for the first time in centuries. That is his old battle armor (a little singed from facing the DK) he is wearing and the red glaring eyes is just a sign of how seriously pissed he is. Have a nice day!
Note: This is a joke, kinda.....*sigh*

LadyRaiden Wrote: Of course there is the simple explaination for his new looks. He's just really, really mad for the first time in centuries. That is his old battle armor (a little singed from facing the DK) he is wearing and the red glaring eyes is just a sign of how seriously pissed he is. Have a nice day!

I find it hard to believe that Rainden is infact good. His bio explains why his outfit looks that way, but not why his eyes are red. And I can't seem to believe that his eyes are red cause he is mad, that doesn't seem to deep for his appearance. It's gotta be something more, with the title being deception and all, I doubt Raiden is his same old self.

Plus even though Raiden's bio says he's good, that doesn't mean he is. Otherwise Scorpion and Sub-Zero are foes and that's not the case with them from what has been seen. I think they listed him as good since in general, Raiden is good. Cause even if he is being controlled, Raiden is techinally good, becaue he's doesn't have control over his actions.

I think it's still up in the air for now. No one should be so sure and say for a fact, that Raiden is good or evil, cause no one knows for sure.