Introduction
The name Raiden is actually that of a deity known as the Thunder God. It is rumored he received a personal invitation by Shang Tsung himself and took form of a human to compete in the tournament.
Move List
Lightning Bolt: D, F, LP | Damage: 14%
Torpedo: B, B, F | Damage: 17%
Teleport: D, U
Electric Decapitation (Fatality): F, B, B, B, HP (close)
Advanced Strategies
I'm falling a sleep now so its possible i miss some stuff lol. Officialy #5 in the tier list. The ninjas can be very annoying against Raiden, but less challengable against the other characters, thats why Raiden is higher. People often mistake because this fact. Even because Raiden have troubles and is very vulnerable to jab pressure he could be very dangerious if played right. Cage and Kano will have very hard time vs pro Raiden player. Anyway, he has very good tactics using his lightening and teleport (yep!). Raiden has long but bad JK, its easy punishable and hard to get in close distance. His uppercut is one of the best. Using the Block cancel trick allows you to cound every JK in the game where Sonya's, Liu's and Raiden's JKs will even dont need the block to be counted. Like Cage and Kano, after uppercut in corner you can get massive combo damage even in revision 5.0. His uppercut can be useful for escaping jab pressure against everyone but it will be very difficult to get it vs ninjas. If you manage to get one of the broken throws near the corner and the opponent holds block after it you can get unblockable uppercut against some characters followed by a combo for resulting huge damage.
His duck LK is the worst in the game. You can still use it for an aa or escaping jab pressure after whiff jab but dont count on it. His HK is ok but try not using it much because it can lie you sometimes and you will think that it will count jump kick for example but it wont, for punishers after blocked grounded stuff better use his LK. Something interesting about Raiden's HK is that in PC DOS version of the game it had ridicilious damage - about 20%. Raiden can from other hand do good jab pressure because of his teleport if used right which will lead the opponent into throw or counter or his torpedo which will hit ducked opponents, but use it as a last hit of the round only because its punishable even if it hits. Use HP for retalation or cancel it with block for eventually aa torpedo after it. His RH is very fast but with short hitting area, can be used as a aa sometimes. His sweep is slow and easy punishable, i will advice to not use it much. Raiden has an awesome Jump Punch, its like Kano's and Cage's but with bigger hitting area. You can use it as a wakeup close early JP followed with Lightening, or countered JK followed with combo. Its also the best setup after uppercut in corner. Raiden had infinite in revision 3.0 with JP in corner but it is removed in 5.0.
The Torpedo is a very dangerious move for the opponent but for you too. Even if you hit someone with it its punishable by canceling the animation fall with a special move. Its punishable even after broken throw setup, the only way it cannot be punished if its an aa Torpedo. Often you will be able to get it in a jab pressure but you will risk so much if its not a last hit of the round because scorp can tp, spear; sub can freeze combo you and etc. I personaly dont use this special move much but if you want to use it do it i will say again only if its aa or as a last hit lol.
The Lightening is a very usefull move. Its the perfect move for zonning because the lightening itself is a long fireball and often can hit people who just try to straight jump it and its very fast. Use it as more as possible from full screen, watching for jumps also and count them with it. After aa Lightening you can get teleport and some jab pressure, then again lightening often the opponent will jump after this mix up and you will be able to count it or teleport. There is not much to say about this special move too but you can try to get the lightening after broken throws because it can hit some characters in his duck pose. If you get near the corner aa Lightening that hits enough you can get JP or aaLP, combo after it if you are close enough.
The Teleport can be deadly if used right. Most people dont know how or when to use it and thats where Raiden is the most vulnerable. The most famious strat was with Jab Pressure mixed with Teleport but most people do it so haotic that it opens them for a free hit. Here are few just an example tactis for using teleport in jab pressure, they are not 100% safe but hard to predictable: 1. Jab, Jab x2, Teleport; 2. Jab, Teleport, Jab x 2, Torpedo and etc, just mix with it. After the teleport in jab pressure you have few options: tap the knee if your opponent late with the d+lk or whatever counter he will use, holding block or canceling LP with block. Its a very usefull move for escaping from jks, fireballs and etc, it can be used as a transport move too and can help a lot if used with the lightening as a zoning for escaping and placements. This special move opens many variations in early revisions for big combo possibilities and infinite variations but they arent too much in Revision 5.0. Another weakness for that special move is that Raiden cant block after the teleport. You have to make a move, step forward or back and then cancel it with block. The opponent can easy unblockable sweep you after you teleport so whatch out when using this move.
Raiden has two infinites in revision 5.0 which works on some characters. The first Is almost impossible to get it in a vs match because its very difficult to get it unblockable. What you have to do is Uppercut, JP, Repeat in corner. So far i tested it on ninjas and Raiden and managed to get it unblockable only vs him ;]
The second infinite is more like "pseudo" infinite and have to be done by frames and its very difficult but i got it few times vs ninjas and cage. What you have to do is do uppercut (mid-screen) then cancel it with teleport and cancel the teleport animation with another uppercut (because you can cancel the moves earlier while you are in teleport recovery animation). So what you basicaly have to do is Uppercut X Teleport X Uppercut, Repeat lol. If the opponent just duck the uppercut will whiff but if they try to block and you done it right its unblockable.
Raiden's latest infinite is his most dangerious. Seems that if a torpedo interrupts a opponent's special move it opens your victim for one of the unblockable frames like those from the throws setup. So what you basicaly have to do is interrupt a move with a torpedo and do next one without any useless frames, that will cause the second to be completely unblockable. Torpedo after torpedo and your opponent is done.
Combos
Basic Juggle
1. JK, Torpedo
2. aaHPx2, Torpedo
3. (in corner) Uppercut, JP, aaHP, Torpedo
Advanced Juggles
1. JK, JP, Torpedo
2. aaHPx2, Teleport, aaHP, Torpedo/Lightening
3. Uppercut, RH/HK/LK, JP (that oppens the opp for a good corner jab pressure)
4. JK, Uppercut, JP, aaHP, Torpedo
