Who is Raiden?

[MACO]

Been playing through MGS3 and have been wondering who is Raiden from MGS2 and where does he fit in with the Boss/Snake geneaology?

[SuperBeatBoy]

hes not linked to boss/snake in anyway. except you play as him through metal gear solid 1, i mean metal gear solid 2.

[hogwart]

Forget Raiden, you don't really want to know him, trust me...

[Wools]

hes the biggest fagcake in gaming history. just find yourself relieved not knowing who this bender is.

Ahh shut up you idiot!

[SuperBeatBoy]

but its true. hes a gay in denile.

[MACO]

so no answers then. Is he a descendent of the Capt who is a special friend of Volgin in Snake Eater? Looks the same.

[Chadruharazzeb]

He was the main guy (/ girl) you controlled in MGS2. A new Snake as it were. Folk didn't like him cos he just wasn't Solid Snake. He spends a good deal of the end of the game running around completely naked.

He's nothing to do with Volgin. Having that Raidenovich character as his gay lover in MGS3 is just an in-joke by Konami.

[Duddyroar]

Taken from the quite excellent MGS FAQ by 'AR':

As effeminate and vaguely annoying as the whole world may find Raiden to
be, his place as a character in the MGS saga is far more critical than
first glance reveals.

Raiden enters the story as an altogether 'green' operative, trained
entirely in virtual reality simulation and hopelessly inexperienced in
real-life situations. The questions raised by his skills are deeply
troubling, as even he isn't completely confident that he has had genuine
'training.' Faced with 'war as a video game,' he is constantly
attempting to draw the line between what is 'combat training' and what
might just be electronic brainwashing.

As technology progresses, the ability to 'program' soldiers rather than
'teach' them becomes more and more viable. The dilemma raised is that,
unlike hands-on training, virtual 'programming' can alter skills along
with a person's entire mindset. More than teaching them how to handle a
gun, it can create entirely different situations for their mind, teaching
them to abandon fear and compassion on the battlefield, potentially
warping their humanity beyond repair. Again, where is the line between
training and brainwashing? Wherever it may be drawn, technology
continues to blur it with its advancements.

Raiden spents most of the story as we see it as a sort of blank slate;
'programmed' but not experienced, he adds a sort of 'tabula rasa'
characteristic to the MGS story that does not appear anywhere else. This
apparent lack of depth, whether or not we like to admit, makes him
frighteningly relateable to the player; he is HIMSELF a 'player' in a
'video game' as he sees it, and he has nothing of 'real life' to offer to
his situation.

While at this point in the mythos, Solid Snake is a certifiable badass,
Raiden is the blank character that we can still find ourselves in the
shoes of. To play as Snake at this point would disintegrate the story;
MGS is first and foremost an interactive experience. Snake would be less
'playing' and more 'suggesting,' as the force of his character and
decisions would overwhelm the player, leaving him less a participant and
more a spectator. Raiden's sheer lack of personality, though somewhat
pathetic, helps define the gameplay and experience. As a player we
control Raiden and we are Raiden, unraveling his situation despite our
own weaknesses.

Now, despite this character setup, Raiden's actual identity carries
importance. Raiden was, in the mid-eighties, a child soldier fighting
under Solidus' command in the infamously vague 'civil war.' Somehow
after the war's conclusion, Raiden found himself alone, making a life for
himself in America. Despite the atrocities he faced and learned to
accept in his childhood, he made the choice to repress his life up to
that point, and try to live a 'normal' life of his own.

Raiden was always followed closely by the Patriots. They likely spotted
him by extension from Solidus during the war, and monitored him from that
point. His efforts to live a simple (but empty) life were ended shortly
after the incident at Shadow Moses. The Patriots recruited him to be an
operative in the vein of the now-defunct FOXHOUND. Raiden, opting to
follow the opportunity, underwent his extensive 'training' for the months
(perhaps years) to follow.

Trained in VR, Raiden did not end up thinking much of the impersonal
nature of his career; he recieved orders by network and radio, equipment
and materials by delivery and middlemen. His CO was never more than a
voice, but after his length in simulacrum, he saw nothing to it.
'Officially' an operative of FOXHOUND, Raiden was finally deployed in
2009 to deal with the crisis at the Big Shell. His mission was to
neutralize the 'Sons of Liberty' and recover a number of hostages from
the facility, including the American President.

Again, Raiden's existence is an archetype crafted out of the various
aspects of growing military technology. He is without identity, without
urgency or human distinctions such as fear or devotion. He is simply
carrying out his task, as blandly and efficiently as possible. For the
majority of his story, he does as told and has as few opinions as
possible.

While Metal Gear itself is touted as an overglorified 'missing link'
between the power of long-range artillery and the mobility of human
infantry, Raiden is an embodiment of a 'missing link' himself; the hybrid
of human intellect and mechanical precision. He is a human, programmed
as if a machine. Thought pleasant-tempered and blonde, he's in reality
one of those horrific Orwellian/THX1138/Equilibrium sort of robot-men at
heart.

Raiden is granted character once he confronts Solidus and his old
identity is brought to surface. His real combat experience and morbid
childhood breathe a bit of life into his character that was not there
previously, giving him personal motivation to see the ordeal through to
the end, and defeat Solidus.

Raiden's motivation at first is lacking; he simply follows his orders, as
it his little more than his job. Nothing so devoted as 'duty;' it is
simply his job to eliminate Dead Cell and Solidus. Raiden likely clings
so tightly to his orders as they help compensation for his lack of
identity. Feeling that fulfilling his 'duties' will bring him personal
fulfillment is a tiny but effective driving force.

By the end of the story, Raiden has become self-aware. Raiden defeats
Solidus, destroying 'Sons of Liberty' and in effect striking that much of
a blow against his inner demons. He realizes the deceptions he has been
surrounded with, and knows that he cannot define himself through such
shallow means. He leaves the fighting behind to find a life and identity
of his own, accepting his past and now his present.

The most miserable manipulation of all is still the final revelation he
reaches. The entire scenario, from Solidus to Raiden, was arranged and
Orcastrated by the Patriots. The entire incident at Big Shell was
meticulously planned to parallel the events of Shadow Moses. The
combination of VR combat training, and this real-and-yet-not experience
were the Patriots' "S3" plan.

S3 was the concept of a hybrid of both virtual and real experiences that,
properly orcastrated, could turn any Soldier into the hardened hero that
Solid Snake had become. The only thing that kept the entire scenario
from being fulfilled, and Raiden becoming a battle-hardened,
now-experienced national hero akin to Solid Snake... was the appearance
of the real Solid Snake.

[anephric]

What was that excellent Kojima quote about him banning the modellers from making Raiden's arse as shapely as Snake's?

[mid]

So what you're really saying at great length is that Raiden is Jason Bourne.