Raiden (Metal Gear)

Raiden
Metal Gear character
Raiden's original Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty design as illustrated by Yoji Shinkawa.
First game	Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001)
Created by	Hideo Kojima
Designed by	Yoji Shinkawa
Voiced by (English)	Quinton Flynn (MGS2, MPO+, MGS4, MGR:R, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale) Charlie Schlatter (MGS3 Secret Theater)
Voiced by (Japanese)	Kenyu Horiuchi
Motion capture	Eiji Morisaki (MGS2) Takeshi Yoshioka (MGS4)
Fictional profile
Real name	Jack
Nationality	Liberian-American
Affiliations	Pseudo-FOXHOUND operative unknowingly employed by The Patriots (MGS2) Free agent (MGS4, Post-MGRR) Cyborg private military contractor (MGRR)

Raiden (Japanese: 雷電^?), real name Jack (ジャック, Jakku^?), is a fictional character and protagonist from Konami's Metal Gear series. Created by Hideo Kojima and designed by Yoji Shinkawa, Raiden was introduced in the series as the main player character of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. In Metal Gear Solid 2, he appears to be a member of the U.S. special operations unit FOXHOUND, participating in his first mission. Despite coming across as rookie, he is a young soldier who is later revealed to have been a Liberian child soldier. Raiden reappears as a supporting character in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and returns as the main character of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance dealing both with his past and his present life as a combatant.

The idea of creating Raiden originated from Hideo Kojima's desire to view the Metal Gear series protagonist Solid Snake from a different point of view, inspired by the Sherlock Holmes stories. Raiden's inclusion remained a secret to gamers before his debut; despite some players' reactions, the staff liked his character. Raiden's debut role as the protagonist of Metal Gear Solid 2 became controversial for a reason: the unexpected substitution of the established hero Solid Snake. Some critics have defended the character, stating that fans were merely angered by the former's removal and that the latter was appealing. Despite this mixed reception, Raiden has been highly praised for his role and Metal Gear Solid 4 redesign and even more for his role and design in Revengeance.