Raiden

Raiden (ライデン, Raiden) is a character from the Fatal Fury series who originally appeared in the first Fatal Fury.

Development
He was long considered for The King of Fighters series and he finally made his debut in The King of Fighters XII. Developers wanted to add him as the big burly guy for the cast. The reason they didn't choose his face counterpart was due to the overall insistence to add a giant, evil character. His official nickname is The Out-of-Control Giant. He is based on the late professional wrestler Big Van Vader, who was quite popular in Japan in the 1990s.

Fatal Fury
Raiden is an Australian professional wrestler known for his ruthlessness in the ring. He is very strong and is known to manhandle his opponents. He moved to South Town to get involved with strong fights. He was eventually hired by Geese Howard as one of his henchmen. He entered The King of Fighters tournament created by Geese, but was eventually defeated by Andy Bogard. He eventually chose to redeem himself under his face persona.

The King of Fighters
His profile story in The King of Fighters XII mentions that his loyal fan is Kain Goldman, who lived in Second Southtown and idolized Raiden since his childhood days. Raiden enters The King of Fighters tournament to mainly relive his glory days of pro wrestling.

In the series' backstory, he hasn't entered a The King of Fighters tournament in years. His past history with Geese is summarized when he meets Hwa Jai in South Town, stating that he left Geese to live a new life back in his home country. Content with his heel and face personalities in the wrestling ring, he is surprised when Kim believes that he is still working for Geese. In spite of the misunderstanding, he convinces Hwa Jai to join since teaming with Kim will boost their reputations as fighters, as well as secretly to prove Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge that they are better on fooling Kim than Kim's first teammates.

Personality
Raiden has a fighting spirit and wants to fight strong opponents. During his time as Raiden, he was portrayed as a ruthless man who cared little concerning his opponents' well-being.

Powers

 * Fire/Poison Breath- As his desperation move, Raiden can turn his breath into fire/poison. It is unknown if this is actually a power or if he uses a 'trick' to do this.
 * Power lifting- Raiden is able to lift 3 times his own weight over his head.

Fighting Style
Raiden is a heel Pro Wrestler. He uses several pro wrestling moves and also uses heel tactics, like spitting yellow mist in his opponents eyes.

Music

 * Yuusha Raiden (Raiden the Brave) - Fatal Fury
 * Call From the Earth - Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition
 * Tame a Bad Boy - The King of Fighters XIII
 * Seoul Road - The King of Fighters XIII (when the music is set to "Type B", console version only)

Voice Actors

 * John Hulaton - Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition, SNK vs Capcom series
 * Daisuke Gōri - The King of Fighters XII (Japanese voice)
 * Iain Gibb - The King of Fighters XIII
 * Hisao Egawa - animated films (Japanese voice)
 * Robert O. Smith - animated films (English voice)

Game Appearances

 * Fatal Fury
 * Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition
 * Capcom vs. SNK
 * Capcom vs. SNK 2
 * The King of Fighters XII
 * The King of Fighters XIII
 * Garou Densetsu The Legend of Wild Wolf - as one of Joe's arm wrestling opponents
 * Garou Densetsu Special - as one of Joe's arm wrestling opponents
 * Garou Densetsu Sougeki - VS character
 * Garou Densetsu Premium

Cameo Appearances

 * The King of Fighters '99 - in the Fatal Fury Team's ending (with anyone winning besides Mai); defeated by Terry
 * The King of Fighters '94: Rebout - background cameo

Anime Appearances

 * Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf

Similar Characters

 * Big Bear

Gallery
Raiden