Dark Raiden | Wasted Plotential

[@SonicHaXD]

Dark Raiden is so cool. They should make a Light Raiden XD

[@TheGraveKnight]

Soon we'll have an entire alignment chart of Raidens

[@Nox_Nimbus]

Nah y'all forgot kidd thunder...we don't need light Raiden we got Raiden lite

[@A-bit-tired]

Nine hours ago?

[@autismtony2404]

@@Nox_NimbusKano called Fujin “Raiden Lite” in an intro dialogue.

[@whyhowwhen7043]

​@@A-bit-tiredmaybe it's something to do with pateron...

[@One_Millisec]

"Such wasted potential." - Grandmaster Blueberry Ice.

[@marker4803]

The most waisted of them all ☹️

[@bando-kun842]

Bye 🤣 blueberry ice 💀

[@shawklan27]

Good ole Steve Blum

[@julianvenegas642]

“Only Johnny Cage may use that name, and live.”

[@unhomesenzill4366]

Ha!

[@retro.7673]

Dark Raiden really said “By the elder gods” and dipped.

[@MazeDaGr8]

I will say though, Dark Raiden's monologue at the end of MKX, is one of my favorite moments of Richard Epcar's voice acting

[@austin9568AuraMasterDX]

"There are fates worse than death!"- E V I L Raiden Like being relegated to Costume Realm for both games.

[@blok--head7472]

Three if you count MK9.

[@GJBattles]

*Kostume

[@jmgonzales7701]

u hysr wusged ge wasbt evil

[@RomanB18]

Dark Raiden vs Omni Man

[@elgusaniiiodeljuego6823]

Cucholdrealm Studios: what do we do after Athe MKX cliffhanger? a) dark raiden vs evil liu kang. Whoever wins, we’re doomed. b) MCU the hell outta the franchise. Oh but they brought the first ever whamen final boss 😅

[@loganboyd6609]

Honestly the biggest offender the fact that a dark Raiden scared Liu Kang and Kitana he literally made The Fearless former protagonist quake in his goddamn boots setting up the idea that Raiden is going to become surprise antagonist instead of Liu Kang the greatest potential and a fucking alley-oop for a storyline and they somehow miss it like Shaq at a free throw line

[@jmgonzales7701]

i personally wanted dark raiden to be still a protagonist but just more proactive

[@ALLSTAR5498]

We deserved to see Raiden invading Outworld with how much they were hyping it up.

[@xavierhouston4650]

Facts.

[@tundrauzumaki]

Ehhhhh that would be out of character because he wasn’t technically evil, he was jus ruthless, aggressive and was mainly considered neutral & antagonistic

[@ALLSTAR5498]

@@tundrauzumaki Midway Dark Raiden was selling out the other realms as long as they left Earthrealm alone

[@tundrauzumaki]

@@ALLSTAR5498 Main reason why him conquering other realms is out of character because raiden was never known to conquer other realms, plus him selling out other realms for Earthrealm independence is what made him antagonistic… same way how Kotal tried to team up with the netherrealm (mkx dialogue wise) and bring his army to attack earthrealm thus antagonistic/neutral

[@ALLSTAR5498]

@@tundrauzumaki he had no interest in conquering

[@micah459]

I honestly feel like NRS only plans a beginning and ending and then comes up with everything in between when they get to it, instead of actually planning everything.

[@TheDigitalApple]

You feel like that because NRS always does this. “Alright time to set up Dark Raiden vs Netherrealm, no wait scratch that Infinity War is, the popular thing now so let’s do another lazy use of time travel.” *Next Game* “Alright time to do Great Kun-oh never mind Marvel phase 5 is starting, so let’s do multiverse despite the fact people hate it more now than time travel.”

[@blok--head7472]

​@@TheDigitalAppleUnoriginal storytelling at its finest. No wonder MK lost its edge as of late.

[@TheChues91]

@@TheDigitalApple No one hates the multiverse, it's objectively an amazing concept, but NRS does not have the ability to write it well like in comics or even DBZ.

[@omarslayz]

⁠@@TheChues91 yeah NRS should’ve never touched time travel and multiverse shit or anything that’s popular at the moment. they should be their own things and own stories like what midway mk did. though i don’t like mk9, i can appreciate how it did something that was barely ever done before in a fighting game. It’s also always been a main theme for injustice series so they should’ve sticked with doing time shit in there and not bring it into mk anymore. It would’ve made them look less tiresome and repetitive because i know that whenever injustice 3 is revealed, they are going to do again because it’s been a theme since the first injustice

[@GalahadTheSeeker]

@@TheChues91A lot of people hate the multiverse concept, and you liking it doesn’t make it an objectively good one.

[@Takejiro24]

When I saw him get dusted in MK11, I said, "Don't bring him back again, guys! You keep bringing him back and do *nothing* with him!"

[@darknesslight3100]

You have no idea how pissed off I was when they got rid of Dark Raiden. I was in LOVE with the concept. Raiden no longer putting up with anyone's shit, not even the elder gods. I was all like: "Shit just got real AF!"

[@redbigun]

MK11 should've been Dark Raiden as the main villain with Revenant Liu Kang and Kitana as that timeline's version of the Deadly Alliance. Or maybe even Revenant Liu Kang and Dark Raiden as the new Deadly Alliance. Making a new Deadly Alliance with corrupted heroes is a neat twist.

[@WikiThis]

That MKX had such a cool ending. I feel like them not doing anything with Dark Raiden in MK11 would be a lot easier to stomach if they didn't give him such a badass introduction as a cliffhanger in MKX.

[@wickdaline8668]

Dark Raiden could have, at the very least, been the secondary bad in MK11 next to Kronika. They gave no care to him whatsoever.

[@shadow-squid4872]

Literally deleted him after the first chapter 😭. And past Raiden getting angry with red lightning because of Shinnoks amulet doesn’t count

[@xavierhouston4650]

I wish Kronika was a neutral force on the sidelines or something. I’m just tired of should-be overpowered characters getting mopped.😭

[@jackdaone6469]

As much as I loved the symbolism of Shang Tsung and Liu Kang being the final fight in MK11, harkening back to MK1, how awesome could it have been to have Shang Tsung actually have a bit of a Face Turn and make Dark Raiden the final enemy to face?

[@kevingriffith6011]

@@shadow-squid4872 Hell, he could have at least been the reason the plot happens rather than just "oopsie doopsie he's gone". Have him keep getting visions from his future selves constantly warning of Armageddon (He's a sore loser like that, and we all know that's what he does when he fails to prevent armageddon). Have Raiden go to Kronika to find a solution to his time-related problem, only for her to deny him. Raiden doesn't take 'no' for an answer and they fight, cracking the hourglass and causing the timeline merger. Kronika then explains to him that she was engineering Armageddon this whole time before erasing him from existence, then kicking her plans into high gear because she needs to repair the hourglass. The heroes are then tipped off that something is wrong when their own raiden is missing, so now the heroes are actively seeking out the problem rather than Kronika just showing up out of nowhere and announcing her plans. It makes a lot more sense than Kronika just... doubling the number of enemies at her doorstep and then telling everyone "it was me" for no reason. It makes Dark Raiden's erasure more than just a byproduct of the villain's plan.

[@gringles]

Kronika: “I have mastery over time, an unkillable sand assassin and access to any foot soldier across all of history.” Also Kronika: “Fire kicks?! MY WEAKNESS!”

[@charleschamp9826]

It feels like they just like the aesthetic of Dark Raiden but don't want to actually commit to doing anything with the concept beyond having an excuse to fight Raiden in the story mode. Reminds me of how I once read someone, I do not recall who, say that it feels like Ed Boon just cares for the look of a yellow ninja with a certain power set named Scorpion, he does not actually care who's in the outfit, using the powers, and what their character actually is. Also with all this multiverse stuff I think it'd be interesting to see a Raiden that started out dark, they were created that way, perhaps by a Titan Shang Tsung or one of the other villains, but somehow ended up rebelling against them and their own naturally dark/evil nature to become good and have to constantly fight against those temptations to fall back into those old habits a lot more than your typical Raiden has to.

[@aidanfedorochko3728]

Raiden vs Fujin would be better than Raiden vs Lui Kang as it would serve to show the contrasts better. Fujin is someone who took the time to understand why he must protect mortals, while Dark Raiden is more like MK11 Geras carrying out a mission without a concern for mortals. It actually could lead to fun ideas like maybe he recruits the Cyber Lin Kuei as they are suppose to emotionless and Cold robots like he is when he defends Earth realm.

[@mazkeraid4039]

Like MK11 should have made Futen as a protector in Raiden’s place. There would be no need for another Raiden and we don’t need another DC/Marvel multiverse madness that impeded the potential it has, with the exception of Dragon Ball with their take on multiverse.

[@nabilahmed579]

Exactly, we can redeem fujin and can actually move on forward with a story, which nrs barely do

[@mr.checkyourself4672]

Kronika really made sure she erase Dark Raiden cause he definitely would have been a problem for her despite her being a Titan.

[@xavierhouston4650]

Even though he shouldn’t.

[@blok--head7472]

Plot convenience

[@MysteriousTomJenkins]

Dark Raiden would happily follow her. She can guarantee a eternally safe Earthrealm, he'd jump at that opportunity. He was willing to work with Shao-Kahn, working with the mother of two Elder Gods would not be out of character for Dark Raiden.

[@nabilahmed579]

Which makes the entire titan status more of a joke considering someone 2 ranks below a titan in the pantheon can threaten her just shows how pathetic she is

[@C.R.Cole331]

Imagine what we could've had: Raiden threatning Kotal Kahn. Raiden going too far with his plans and making the heroes rebel against him. Raiden vs Raiden. This way Dark Raiden would see the error of his ways, and Good Raiden would see what he could've become if he wasn't careful. And so much more.

[@Zaire_39]

Don’t forget either making Hanzo suffer for what he did in MKX by either forcing Hanzo to make up his army or have the Shirai Ryu face extinction or just make Hanzo’s life a misery & hunt him like a dog.

[@blok--head7472]

Nah, let's just wipe him out of the story, despite advertising the game around his new design. Genius marketing NRS... smh Someone at NetherRealms seriously dropped the ball *hard* with that decision.

[@Zaire_39]

@@blok--head7472 I blame Dominic. He’s been one of the writers since MK9 & the stories in 9-11 are all so god damn awful.

[@blok--head7472]

​​@@Zaire_39Say what you will about MK9, but at least they kept it simple. The second they introduced Kronika and her "Infinite timeline" bullcrap that's when the writting really went downhill. What's the old saying? When a film series either does time travel or goes to space, that's when you realize the studio is truly out of ideas? Something along those lines. That's how it feels with MK atm.

[@sonicanvaspost6867]

​@@blok--head7472yep. Sent them to space or do a time travel whenever they ran out of ideas so they could scratch that and start over. (Also looking at Tekken 8. Literally sending the fight to space)

[@gaelofariandel6747]

"I suck, do I? Is that what you think? Listen, buddy, I'm under a lot of stress!" --Raiden (The4thSnake), "Mortal Kombat 2011 - Raiden SUCKS" 2023

[@FizzyPopVevo]

I swear, the inclusion and subsequent exclusion of D.R must have been an elaborate joke, imagine hyping up a character for like, 3 years only to have them do basically nothing.

[@SandanxStrike]

4th Snake posted Wasted Potential of Dark Raiden!?!? Get the popcorn, this gonna be an instant classic!

[@rufflesthegreat2264]

You'll love this next part

[@itsjustbradttv2382]

He had to go consult the Elder Gods again...

[@burrito9327]

Surprised he didn't mention Kidd Thunder is also one of the good Raidens that helps against M1K Invasion Dark Raiden

[@Zaire_39]

The part about external factor being the reason for Dark Raiden. I wholeheartedly agree with. It should be a choice he made due to being frustrated with how people kept fucking up no matter how hard he tried. Because of Bi-Han’s gullibility, Bi-Han helped free Shinnok. Because of Shujinko’s gullibility, the One Being was almost freed. Because of Hanzo’s idiocy, the realms were almost taken by Shinnok. All of this would make someone pissed but they keep going for ‘he’s corrupted’ when in this case, it being his choice would be the best narrative decision in my opinion.

[@jmgonzales7701]

yes i think he should be more anti hero like than evil. I think dark raiden is cooler, when he was just a raiden who cares more about earthrealm than the people who live on it. And not like corrupted by shinnok amulet

[@Jahlil.W]

While most other MK topics that are considered to be missed opportunities or poorly handled by some are up to debate (usage of 3D Era characters, the Kombat Kids, MK9's Sindel massacre scene, etc.), Dark Raiden is perhaps the one character near-unanimously agreed upon to be wasted potential.

[@micah459]

Dark Raiden should've been more important in mk11 and honestly, a boss fight due to him being corrupted.

[@nabilahmed579]

Would have made more use of fujin than what they did with aftermath as a way to redeem himself for not being in the past games

[@mr.awesome6011]

Imagine saying no to Dark Raiden vs Revenant Liu Kang and going with more played out time travel/multiverse fuckshit.

[@xavierhouston4650]

One of my wishes getting killed:

[@TevyaSmolka]

Dark raiden is such a wasted concept that could’ve been really awesome and tons of fun to explore in my opinion.

[@Sxraj]

10:32 I just noticed that dwarf Raiden lol

[@vc_whatever]

ITS KIDD THUNDER!! PUT SOME RESPECT ON HIS NAME

[@PrimevalParadise]

I do like that the possible inner darkness is having this mortal Raiden train with the Shirai Ryu, I just wish it was Hanzo training him

[@The4thSnake]

Yeah, him turning to Kuai doesn't make sense.

[@Tevi_L7151]

@@The4thSnake because this Kuai doesn't make sense? I have a feeling that they are implying that Kuai is full of rage and always was, that is, it seems to have always been in him, but "just because". And yet he still calm, good boy

[@The4thSnake]

@@Tevi_L7151 It only makes sense if it comes after Invasions Season 1 and he's met Invader Hanzo.

[@Tevi_L7151]

@@The4thSnake his wedding to Harumi will be ruined twice? I'd be furious too lmao. But seriously, no one has yet confirmed that the invasion mode stories affect the main story with Liu Kang, meaning they are not confirmed as canon

[@queertitan]

4:11 I still don’t understand why Dark Raiden ceased to exist when the time warp happened. If time affects him differently due to his godhood, how was Kronika ever able to bring the past Raiden back?? Poor writing has always plagued MK 😖

[@billmcdermott9647]

I think they said two gods cannot exist in the same time line so he vanished They could have had him banished to the void beyond time like in Aftermath……then have him be the one who corrupts the new era

[@Fictionist10101]

All the revenants are wasted. They don't realise that evil versions of former heroes are still the same characters just with corrupted minds & hearts, the recent games made them generic goons with nothing to distinguish them apart

[@GlitchTheLitch]

Dark Raiden is trapped in this perpetual cycle of death and rebirth where there's glimmers of potential narrative goodness but he gets deleted before anything really kicks off. It is a bit frustrating.

[@Jahlil.W]

I remember what you said in in your MK 2011 review, that Dark Raiden is a combination of Raiden's MK1 personality and his role as Earthrealm's protector from MK2 onwards.

[@rcblazer]

Dark Raiden is one of many victims of Netherrealm throwing out the plot they establish at the end of the previous MK and just doing something completely different. "Oh, Shinnok had Quan-Chi manipulate the original Trilogy in 9 to give Shinnok the edge to win in MK4? Just have Johnny Cage beat Shinnok in Chapter 1!" "Dark Raiden preparing to attack the Netherrealm in all-out war at the end of MKX? Nope, he disappears at the end of Chapter 1 of MK11!" "Liu Kang becomes a god and recruits the Great Kung Lao for Mortal Kombat? Completely skipped what happened next in M1K in favor of Multiverse stuff."

[@doomslayer9138]

It's amazing how even the main characters of Mortal Kombat are wasted

[@SiklaBran]

I always assumed Dark Raiden was a result of: even though he sacrificed himself with the greater good in mind, the act of "Hara Kiri" is enough to taint your soul. Though that may simply be a very catholic reading of the events.

[@aeric_]

he is one of my favorite redesigns of a character and was a believable progression. I freaking love his Deception ending. Thanks for bringing that up and the what if? MK7 was a very interesting plot

[@SoulReaper2367]

Honestly I think it’s cool to have Dark Raiden as the main villain because I would like to see the defender of earthrealm & mentor to be dark & take things into his own measures, like it’s so interesting if you ask me having Liu Kang defeat his father figure without being a revenant or use to lose trust in Raiden like in the original timeline would be a cool dynamic fight. I want Dark Raiden to be more of a ruthless god who is willing to protect earthrealm even means to destroy other realms. That right there is dark and show that Dark Raiden isn’t fucking around with threats against earthrealm he would be a cool antagonist to the heroes who sees his methods inhuman & rebel against him, they should try to reason with him to stop because this isn’t who he is but he doesn’t listen and do his own thing. I hope Legends make Dark Raiden as the main villain if they were to make another Legends animated movie.

[@mazkeraid4039]

And not only that, just have Futen to replace Raiden in case he goes rogue. Yes, Futen is another name for Fujin, same being.

[@SoulReaper2367]

@@mazkeraid4039 facts man I always wanted Fujin to be the new protector of earthrealm or even an elder god. I think It’d be cool to have Raiden to kill of the elder gods because they didn’t do shit once the realms even earthrealm is in danger because the elder gods can’t interfere & plus they’re asshole & complete dicks.

[@__BlankStudios]

Dark Raiden's abrupt disappearance in MK11's story felt like the writers giving their biggest middle fingers before the much more infamous Sindel retcon.

[@blok--head7472]

The current writters must have a vendetta for the fanbase. Idk if it's because they got wrecked by pros back in the day, causing resentment towards the playerbase and the franchise as a whole, or what... That's my conspiracy theory. Why else would they neuter characters like Shao Kahn so damn much? Probably because they kept getting floored by him in the MK2 and 3 days. Just comes off very spiteful and petty.

[@KuWota2k]

This was my favorite Invasions season ngl. I was hesitant over seeing Young Mortal Raiden as Dark Raiden but heck even some of the unlockable skins along the way showed the design works as even normal God Raiden with a few adjustments (mainly the glowing eyes). Your observations and assumptions/theories on how a Young Raiden could've become Dark Raiden are very interesting and not something I considered, especially the fact Fire God Liu Kang was there, really makes you think how many other universes there are with Lord Liu's haha. Great and inspiring content as usual! Much love!

[@TheDigitalApple]

Dark Raiden is always wasted because Netherrealm always resets the timeline!

[@xsXRevanXsx]

MK11 was my first proper way into MK. I watched your videos and history behind the worry to get caught up. That chilling line: “there are fates worse than death” was so cool. I’d hoped that, when I played the intro Dark raiden would be a big focus… When the story dlc was announced, I was hoping for his return in that… also didn’t happen. In the end, he has an awesome design, awesome one-liners, yet no substance given by the writers. Like he’s there for shock value and not much else.

[@shinobipizza]

I'm going to repeat a comment I made on Reddit talking about Evil Raiden: I honestly hope they utilize and evil Raiden further down Liu Kang's timeline. Say, in MK2, Kung Lao and Raiden's sister both die tragically in a way Liu Kang could have stopped, and Raiden ragefully calls out Liu for it. Over and over again in the story, Raiden's generosity is met with violence, and by the end, he's had enough of Liu's and the other realm's bullshit. Completely changed from the sweet, humble farm man to a broken, sad, wrathful man who has had enough of Liu Kang's excuses. It would be an epicly tragic final battle, where Raiden wins. Then, MK3 would be about evil Raiden taking over Earthrealm to "protect" it, and having a chokehold on the hourglass, so no more timelines may interfere. Sort of like Injustice Superman, but unlike him, it doesn't bother Raiden one bit that the people of Earthream hate him and his "protection". A severely weakened Liu Kang creates a resistance of both allies and enemies to stop Raiden, and perhaps, bring him back to the light.

[@ObeliskTheTormented]

I don’t even need to watch the video to know I agree with this

[@stranger5011]

Imagine having the perfect character to be their main villain just to fumble this hard

[@multiverseguy1239]

Part of me wants MK1 Raiden to reject turning into Dark Raiden at somepoint. It will emphasize how Liu Kang isn't Kronika wanting a fight with Raiden and how everyone has a choice in his timeline.

[@xavierhouston4650]

Jerrod didn’t get a choice.🤣

[@xavierhouston4650]

Jerrod didn’t get a choice.🤣

[@gringles]

Liu Kang: “I squeezed you and your evil clone together so that your mother would have two daughters.” Kitana: “What about my dad?” Liu Kang: “…..did I mention that Mileena now has your birthright? Pretty neat, yeah?”

[@Gadreth]

Speaking about wasted potential MK Armageddon's Smoke I think that is the best concept, design, set of powers and even voice acting Smoke ever had it is just such a cool mean asshole design, he literally makes the opponent cough cause a cloud of smoke he spawns, that is just so mean spirited of him. And the design he haves is a mixture of his smoke, ninja and cyborg self, that is just so cool and original

[@Vegitodraws]

It feels like I'm never going to get around to actually writing this, but I've been conceptualizing a MK universe for a while. It sort of is a synthesis of the Midway and NRS V1 timeline with some new era stuff. In the universe, I wanted Dark Raiden to be a big deal in the Armageddon portion, trying to use the power of Blaze to do as you described in the video, destroy all of the realms besides Earthrealm. On the other hand is zombie/undead Liu Kang. Liu Kang starts off mind controlled around the end of the Deadly Alliance portion, but gains autonomy later on in that Deception. His autonomy leads him down a slightly darker path. His jadedness leads him to realize how this universe is beyond saving by conventional means. He remembers his days as MK's champion/savior, and decides to take it back in a slightly twisted way. He wants to rule over the realms like a tyrant and make them bend to his will. He will use the power of blaze to merge the realms, consolidating them to one territory for rule. He chooses to merge them instead of destroy them because he has friends on both sides. This conflict of interest leads to the two of them being the last two on the tower, fighting for the fate of the MK universe.

[@Vegitodraws]

I have some stuff for Scorpion and Takeda too, where Scorpion undergoes a similar arc to his Midway counterpart hunting the elder gods like Kratos. But, to mix it up a bit, he gets Takeda early, so it's like a Kratos and Atreaus thing. In trying to revive his family and the Shirai Ryu by working with the Elder Gods, he realizes that he needs to move on and that he has new family in Takeda and that the Shirai Ryu can live on through the two of them

[@Neo-bd9dk]

Dark Raiden was more effective and helpful than Good Raiden ever was. Decapitating Shinnok, and actually fighting Revenant Lui Kang’s forces. Good Raiden always has an excuse for why he can’t help anyone: Consulting the worthless Elder Gods, barred by stupid laws, or “keeping vigil”.

[@jermaineelliott2685]

Im so glad Im not the only one who feels this way. He was suched a waste. They did him no justice.

[@pious83]

When I think of an angle to pursue with Dark Raiden. Oddly enough it brings Bloody Roar to mind. Shenlong and Long Shin, specifically. Clone characters. One good, one evil. Characterisation (and eventually moveset differences) define the two. If they stick with human M1K Raiden. There is no reason, _because multiverse,_ you can't have Dark Raiden too. Give the latter the characterisation of (the forgotten) MK1 Raiden and that's all it would take to define each.

[@WhiteDarkness3113]

I get the feeling that Mortal Kombat 11 was original gonna have every character fight or turning on Raiden after realizing his ideals are going to far with Sonya's death, but scrapped it after the executives wanted new vision for the series, who knows that's just me.

[@blok--head7472]

Almost seems like the two plot lines (Dark Raiden and Kronika storylines) where created by two separate people, and instead of sticking with one, they just fused them together. The end result is pretty sloppy.

[@MeganZegan]

Dark Raiden is so cool... But, they never done good anything about it. To be honest I was so hyped about Raiden about being MK11's boss, not to mention that when I saw Shao kahn in pre-order I was certain that he revived Zombified Shao-Kahn to conquer the realms for himself. I don't usually say this but, imagine a world Shao-Kahn and Raiden in Alliance. Brutal and metal as hell.

[@shawerful5209]

I think dark raiden is cooler, when he was just a raiden who cares more about earthrealm than the people who live on it. And not like corrupted by shinnok amulet

[@gringles]

Same.

[@jmgonzales7701]

yes i think he should be more anti hero like than evil

[@ametozukumazu6073]

Dark Raiden threating revenant team to destroy them if they attack Earthrealm to after that just go "fck that, I don't care" and attack them instead is such a boss move. No wonder even Shao is worried. DR just him with even less sugarcoating.

[@JaimeAGB-pt4xl]

Despite LKang being the MK Earthrrealm champion... Raiden is the True Protagonist of the Story seen as he has to assemble the forces of Light to protect earthrealm in most installments and its the one direct opposition to SKang and Shinnok since the beginning of time.... Having said that, since the NRS era the use of dark Raiden is sooo Mediocre... they never commit to the idea of making him the true enemy or even let him be a chaotic neutral (or even C.Good) character... The definition of Waste

[@VongolaXanxus]

Can't wait for the Deception retrospective. Loved the DA one

[@brewstin]

Dark Raiden in the MK9 timeline was incredible. They teased him in MKX, and in the very next game he basically is just erased from existence. Absolutely sensational.

[@gringles]

They killed him off to make way for….*checks notes*……Kollector.

[@blok--head7472]

​​​​@@gringlesKollector and Cetrion were the lamest newcomers in MK11. Let's just keep it real. (Geras being the only exception.) They didn't have to be lame, but they were so bland and forgettable. What purpose did Kollector serve that say Reptile, Ermac, or Reiko etc couldn't do instead? Other than showing a new species that barley got any use other than as a mascot for NRS/WB's new slot machi- I mean Shrine? If anything that makes me despise him even more. (Shadow Of War Goblin, anyone? The one so sleezy they literally had to patch him out during the GOTY edition... nice job WB.)

[@gringles]

@@blok--head7472 Geras is a nice addition, it’s just a shame that they made him a jobber in the MK11/MK1 stories. On paper, he is the ultimate mini boss but in reality he is just there to lose, like the bad guys usually are. I miss the days when Ermac woke up and one shot Jax or chased the Kombat Kids around while casually tossing trees at them.

[@cagedcoco1681]

For MK11, I thought that Dark Raiden would be the Dragon to Kronika in trying to restore the MK world to status quo with a Liu Kang being his good rival to flip what was set up in MK9 with the premise being "you can't hang on to nostalgia"... ...then I found out the Writers' process was "pitch and reject" for 12 people who, more or less, doesn't care for consistency 😒

[@inductivegrunt94]

Maybe someday we'll get a Dark Raiden with a compelling story and plot relevance, I just feel it won't be any time soon.

[@slightlytwistedagain]

Turning the MK series into Kombat on Infinite Realms has created a situation where there are no stakes worth investing in. The story is nothing but mindless fluff to sell the next batch of toy action figures. That's the real wasted potential.

[@MysteriousTomJenkins]

Yep, nothing matters because they can just pull something new out of their ass, I mean alternative timeline. They can kill off God Liu-Kang and bring in a new Liu-Kang, they can keep characters from aging by just bringing in younger versions from fresh timelines and unfortunately they can also make altered versions of established characters because "Its a different timeline, of course they'll be different." The multiverse opens the flood gates for lazy story telling and this is NRS, the same people who made Kronika who only lost because she unintentionally sabotaged her goals just so the plot could happen.

[@blok--head7472]

Very accurate way of putting it. Especially when you start to realize how the guest characters are taking center stage for the DLC packs. As fun as they are, this is clearly where they wanna head Mortal Kombat. By turning it into Fortnite.

[@wizarddefiler420]

Trying to unlock dark raiden right now for my own donut steel timeline! You're an inspiration 4th Snake!

[@alexandrefrauches132]

Something that bother me about Dark Raiden is how his corruption always seems to come from outside forces instead of coming from the character decisions and development. After everything he went through in both timelines, it would be very understanble Raiden becoming more darker and obsess in wanting to protect Earthrealm at all cost.

[@shawnitube5434]

Dark Raiden would have been so cool!! Imagine an Earthrealm vs Outworld Mortal Kombat tournament led by Dark Raiden and Kotal Khan (or even a Dark Lord Kotal Khan). An epic premise for MK11.

[@adrianrocha6844]

One thing that sucked about the original timeline raiden when he went dark was that his lightning was still blue which didn’t work should have been red

[@trevoranthony3018]

Injustice 2 and MK 11 giving him red lighting was a fantastic addition

[@adrianrocha6844]

@@trevoranthony3018 yes exactly but I do prefer the original timeline as opposed to the alternated timeline

[@Nomadd_d]

I remember that the Mugen community made another Dark Raiden named "The Avenger" wich is Raiden with shadow powers and the Hammer of shao. Really cool

[@mr.awesome6011]

Name is kinda dumb. They should have just called him Raiden Kahn.

[@kevingriffith6011]

Hell, they could have at least USED him in the MK11 plot to be the reason Kronika has to come out of the shadows, rather than just having her make all these stupid decisions like doubling her opposition or announcing her plot to the heroes unprompted. Have raiden constantly being plagued by visions of Armageddon: We already know that Raiden's response to failing to prevent armageddon is to send a message back to his past self, (The sore loser). Have Raiden go to Kronika to seek help with his time-related issues, only for her to try to turn him away. Raiden refuses to take no for an answer and tries to seize control of the hourglass for himself, so Kronika and Raiden fight. The hourglass is cracked during the fight, causing the merger of the two timelines as demanded by plot, and Kronika in her rage erases present timeline raiden from existence (Rather than making his elimination a side-effect of the merger). This inciting incident does two things for us: It gives Kronika a reason to become an active villain other than "She's mad that Shinnok lost so much weight" as now she needs to repair the hourglass (Which will likely require a macguffin from the world), and it gives the heroes a reason to suspect something is up: Present Raiden's disappearance is *strange and concerning* to the heroes rather than just "A thing that happens when timelines merge", so now they have a reason to investigate what could have happened... Now our heroes can actually *figure out the plot for themselves* rather than having Kronika inexplicably drop by to explain it all while twirling her mustache.

[@cfdesignsonline]

I was always annoyed with how just about everybody saw the darker themed costume and assumed Raiden had turned into an 'axe murderer.' Although, if he was a little bit more like an axe murderer in the choices he made over the years, that might have made the Dark Raiden premise a lot more interesting. It would have made this current redemption arc far more clear too. - They didn't use the whole "Raiden practiced Dark Arts to resurrect Liu Kang...but ended up with Zombie Liu Kang" plot very well either. Because they gave that slam dunk to Quan Chi for all of the revenant stuff. Dark Raiden should have been in clear violation of a lot more of his 'normal' boundaries as the protector or EarthRealm than we actually got. Just imagine if everyone who died, he used them like Quan Chi did, but instead there's all these Zombies running around 'protecting' Earth. Yea... "Wasted Potential" is a fact.

[@dominiqueodom3099]

Dark Raiden's tease at the end of mk10 and then immediately getting Dusted in MK11 is one of the biggest Mistakes of the Netherrealm era. Their overuse of Timetravel has really limited any emphasis on being invested in the Plottings of whatever happens in this timeline because someone can just go and reset it again. Especially when MK9 had a powerful moment that they could've built off of with Raiden killing Liu Kang and that leading to either Raiden using Liu Kangs Body as a weapon or have Liu Kang come back for vengeance.

[@jcol341]

It's a terrible shame how pivotal Raiden has always been to the series... and yet no one has ever given him the time of day. Doubly so for him becoming a more violent, tainted version of himself. Even retouching it in the new timeline has made it have even less worth and even less impact because the answer is "he just is ok".

[@sandrothenecromancer6810]

I wonder if Netherrealms was forced to change the story because of WB

[@billmcdermott9647]

Because it was too like Injustice?

[@somerandomnesspoo8467]

I like the idea of Dark Raiden because all throughout MK it makes sense that he would eventually just be done will dealing with everyone else's shit. If you had to deal with the horrors of Outrealm and Netherrealm and they have the audacity to ever criticize you or your subjects you'd snap too. Hurdur guns are a cowards' weapon STFU you work with cannibals. Team Dark Raiden all the way.

[@SoulGizmo]

They could learn from darkwargreymon the digimon and have him be this surprisingly rather deep character

[@mrunknown4003]

I really hoped that dark Raiden was the final boss in mk11.

[@Couch_Banana]

I'm sorry, don't take this the wrong way, but when you started talking about your ideas for MK11 Dark Raiden and beyond, my brain almost tapped out. There's just so much info to remember, holy crap.

[@rymreaper]

Bro just needs a kapacitor , then his plotential won't be wasted

[@DanPankrat]

Just imagine that: Raiden defeats Kotal and the later sets Mortal Kombat tournament Special Forces refuses to join Raiden and he collects warriors for his army Kotal, Bo Rai Cho, Shang Tsung and Lui Kang form an alliance to find an artifact, which can kill even an Elder God. Special Forces also tries to find it only to fight Raiden’s subordinates and Deadly Alliance. Fujin tells them about the lost crystal, which can turn god into a mortal, and Forces finds it in hands of Raptors Reptile found in his MKX ending. This race results a global fight for the artefact, but someone steals it. Final Battle against furious Raiden with all his divine might awaits. That will be WAY more better than MK11…

[@AceTheSkylord]

0:36 Wait....is it not the case? Because I explicitly remember this was the case when reading Raiden's bio in MK: Unchained

[@krystofhyps4280]

I really hope they don't put multiverse in the next game

[@gringles]

NRS Writer #1: “Should we finally do something with this Dark Raiden storyline?” NRS Writer #2: “I don’t know, there’s all of this build up and anticipation for that plot…oh, what if we just make Mileena a good guy?!” NRS Writer #1: “That makes no sense, let’s go with that instead! Multiverse powers….ACTIVATE!”

[@Rozay403]

Been waiting for this one. I've been saying for so long that NRS isn't hitting the mark with Dark Raiden at all. They genuinely should have kept him as the big bad for MK11

[@saloz9483]

I'm legit curious why MK always get cold feet with Dark Raiden especially when their the ones who put him in. Like why hype him up at the end of MKX only to make him vanish in MK11. The concept is actually a really interesting one as its basically Raiden going to the extreme to protect earthrealm and his former allies for years trying to stop him. Theres a lot of as this video says plotential. Also you shouldn't expect to much from NRS MK at this point since they just keep fumbling stuff as MK1 still has huge problems when it comes to the story.

[@blok--head7472]

As lame as it was for NRS to completely snub him from the story, his overall design in MK11 was honestly pretty sick. Which just further rubs salt in the wound for what could've been...

[@xavierhouston4650]

True

[@gringles]

I don’t like seeing MK1 Raiden-Lite dressed up as Dark Raiden. They couldn’t even let the real Dark Raiden continue his story in MK1 Invasion mode, what a joke.

[@Cybfreak99]

Dark Raiden is just less threatening because of mk11😢 otherwise he would be my fav character

[@WaynesWorld12]

Needed this video !

[@Crisis-Comics]

They could've had an epic moment in MK11 with Dark Raiden trying to convince Past Raiden to kill Shao Kahn and prevent the deaths of Liu Kang and Kung Lao. We already had Johnny, Jax, and Sonya reacting to their future selves, so why not have Raiden react to how cold and merciless his future self became thanks to Shinnok's corruption? Maybe "the lie" that Shinnok mentioned in the MK11 opening is that the gods should guide and work through mortals instead of taking matters into their own hands... so Dark Raiden shatters the Amulet from MK9 (instead of having it "disappear during the time merger") and convinces Past Raiden to break the rules of Mortal Kombat and MURDER Shao Kahn. After all, the Elder Gods are perfectly willing to let Shao Kahn massacre millions of Earthrealmers until he merges Earthrealm and ignore the threats of Shinnok and Kronika... isn't self-sacrifice preferable to letting evil win even a partial victory?

[@artimex723]

Dark Raiden is as far from "wasted potential" as possible. Every scene with him in any MK game is epic af

[@The4thSnake]

Even the one where he disintegrates before he gets to achieve anything? Or the one where he loses to Mileena? So epic.

[@artimex723]

@@The4thSnake I mean, it's more of the whole idea behind Dark Raiden that makes him as great of a character as he is. His dark powers are kind of like the dark side in Star Wars. It gives him more strength, but at the cost of becoming overly emotional and occasionally losing control over those emotions. That's why he is always doomed to lose, because he has great power but little control over it.

[@Jahlil.W]

​@@artimex723 It doesn't mean much when they do bugger all with him.

[@Mileenussy]

I thought MK Armageddon intro was confirmed canon? 1:28

[@gonzalogca4907]

I will never forgive NRS for botching the hype created by the MKX ending. Getting rid of Dark Raiden in MK11 was the beginning of the end of my MK fandom.

[@blok--head7472]

"SuBvErTiNg ExPeCtAtIoNs" This trend ruined storytelling for the past 10 years it feels...

[@maylabrown4584]

Oh my god, they might actually pull off a GOOD Dark Raiden Story in the following story set-up for Mortal Kombat 2. Just imagine Raiden not believing in himself, wanting to protect Kitana and so on is what causes him to becoming Dark Raiden. No Jinsei Corruption, not Shinnok's Medallion and no destructive death needed, just a lack of belief in himself and lull to darker powers for the greater good. Like the Dark Raiden that we only HEARD OF in-between the events of MKX and MK11 (though we did see a little bit of him in MK11).

[@undead4500]

can't wait for Dark Liu Kang.

[@Matthias.74]

Tell me if I'm wrong but dark raiden shouldn't be a possible timeline in mk 1. This is because the multiple timelines were created at the final fighting 11 but Raiden technically wasn't living and couldn't fight as he was in liu kang.

[@xavierhouston4650]

You’re right.

[@Undone545]

Dark Raiden need not even have been the antagonist. Most of the series hes been the defender of earthrealm and constantly consulting elder gods that range from apathetic. When he said to the other realms fuck around and find out. That should have been the raiden moving forward. Offensive. Ruthless but primarily conserned with earthrealms safety

[@seanragsdale5636]

At least we got a watered down version of it in MK1’s Invasions

[@dalestevenson8947]

The4thSnake. Dark Raiden would've shredded Shao Kahn, not even allowing Liu Kang to fight him. He'd have been an even match for Shinnok.

[@StudentOfKasumi]

11:23 perfectly said as always ❤💯

[@dajonmagee5882]

I feel like if they don’t use him story wise, use him as a player. Like you can have a stance that’s called Dark Raiden and it can change his moveset and finishers.

[@sebastianyoshikage6352]

Dark Raiden is my favorite Raiden.

[@YoooAwp]

The thing is dark raiden doesn’t even have to be evil

[@whyareyoureadingmynickname8158]

It's my headcanon that Raiden's "Deception" ending canonicity would have depended on fan reception of Shujinko. Basically, if he's received well it's not canon. If he isn't - than it is. It's crazy to think that, even though I like "Armageddon", I now kinda wish that it never happened and series instead continued with ideas from "Deadly Alliance" and "Deception". So much wasted potential.