Sadness, Regret, Despair, Tragedy and Doubt

As the House of Emotion continued to expand, it was a matter of time before a few of its Halls had to be splintered off to eventually form their own Houses. So it was that the Hall of Sadness was separated due to its massive cast of deities. However, in a shocking display of events, the Hall of Regret also chose to join in as the concepts of Sadness and Regret are those that mingle with one another constantly and thus have a strong association. Henceforth, a new House was formed to represent the various perspectives of melancholy.

While it can be considered the most depressing House in the Pantheon for obvious reasons, it's not as miserable or dramatic as it is made out to be. As demonstrated, most of the deities in the House are capable of emoting a lot more than just sadness. Some of the deities here made it a point to showcase as much liveliness and determination as they could, so to the uninitiated, it can be an unexpected (and pleasant) surprise.

The House's architecture is rather simplistic and ordinary; just a collection of contemporary buildings and a good deal of open space to allow deities who reside here or from other Houses to attend and take some solitary time here. There are therapy services installed in various spots in the House and an ever-updating list has been established to document and find anyone, be it a deity, herald or mortal who is undergoing depression and anxiety and seek to help them out. Given the expanding numbers and the list of deities, it may be a lot more stressful than it seems.

This House is also considered to be a Sub-House for the House of Emotion, alongside fellow Houses of Love and Affection, Madness and Insanity and Hatred and Rancor as the four of them are considered to be notable and influential emotions in their own right. Even since the Halls of Sadness and Regret have merged, it seems that the other three Houses have begun to be further associated with the House of Emotion.

The Guardians are divided into two groups of three; the first one represents different aspects of depression and grief and the second one is an establishment of how one's sadness can push one into becoming forces of good. Both groups are in a solid partnership with one another as they've taken it upon themselves to make the House accommodating for the residents and a shelter for those who seek help.

Junko Enoshima expressed a desire to become a representative, but because she represented the desire to destroy and taint the hope of others and was native to the House of Villainy, she was considered ineligible. This declaration caused Junko immense despair and ended up killing herself which she highly enjoyed. While Junko would eventually earn membership to represent the House, she remains the most unliked and untrusted deity there for various reasons.

open/close all folders

The Melancholia Matrons

Despair of the Endless

Despair of the Endless, Goddess of Despair (Aponia)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/despair_sandman.jpg

Overdeity
Symbol: A hooked ring she wears on her right hand. Alternatively, a wall with several mirrors on it.
Alignment: True Neutral
Portfolio: Cosmic Entity, Failure Is the Only Option, Anthropomorphic Personification of Despair, Destroying Hope, Being Ugly, Full-Frontal Assault, Being A Positive Entity Of Ennui, Cutting Herself, Magic Mirror, Surveillance as the Plot Demands, The Mirror Shows Your True Self
Domains: Despair, Mutilation, Tragedy, Failure, Mourning, Memory, Mirrors
Special Relationship with: The rest of the Endless (her siblings)
Allies: Destruction of the Endless (her brother), Nurgle, Sadness, Junko Enoshima, The Dementors
Tolerates: Most Hope Crushers in spite of their morality like AM, Big Brother, the Anti-Spiral and the Flood
On speaking terms with: Joshua Norton, Tulip Olsen
Opposed by: Yuuki Terumi and Darkseid oddly enough, along with Tzeentch, Madoka Kaname, Team Dai-Gurren (mostly one-sided), the Auditors of Reality, Cyrus
Dislikes: Bloody Mary and anyone who travels through mirrors.
Complicated Relationship with: Hope Bringers like Saint Walker and Auriel
There are entities that are not gods, yet stronger than them. A family that represents the most basic patterns in the cosmos, they are the Endless. Out of them is Despair, said to be created from an aspect of another Endless (likely Desire). She is true to her name, embodying despair, dread, along with longing, mourning, grief and memory.
As the personification of despair, it is her purpose to spread and maintain such emotions for all it entails. That doesn't make her evil though, just having a different code. While she represents ennui and hopelessness, she also represents memory and mourning, and deeply cares for her siblings (especially Destruction). Because of her overwhelming presence, power and neutral stance, she was accepted by the House of Sadness, though few deities there like her.
Usually withdrawn, but has some straight-up allies. Because they represent the positive aspects of sadness and despair, she gets along with the emotion Sadness. Some say she is an aspect of herself. She also gets along with Nurgle, much to the discomfort of many, due to Nurgle's kind side and value of other people. This has further angered Tzeentch, who as the embodiment of hope and change hates Despair.
It is believed that she directly created the Dementors, given they are the living embodiments of depression. While the Dementors would feed on just about anyone, she is the only entity they show complete and absolute respect and have Undying Loyalty to her. Voldemort doesn't really care so long as they still work for him, and given how his attempts to escape Death went he's best not bothering with Despair.
Takes the form of a hideous and obese woman, not wearing clothes to expose her flabby grayish flesh. She takes this form with the explicit purpose of terrifying other women, showing them the exact appearance that would utterly smash them to smithereens forever if they ever were to look like her. She still doesn't bother wearing any, much to the discomfort of many. She is associated with rats and is known to inflict injuries on herself with her hooked ring. It is unknown what Twitch thinks of her.
Her domain is full of mirrors, which allow her to peer out into any mirror in the universe. She uses them as a tool to inflict dread, and it seems this includes mirrors in the Trope Pantheon. People are understandably paranoid, but she doesn't really interfere with much of the pantheon's business. Bloody Mary once made the mistake of intercepting Despair's usage of the mirrors, coming out utterly traumatized. She won't speak about what happened.
She has a complicated relationship with hope bringers. Most dislike her due to what she represents, though some recognize she has an important purpose. However, it's all one-sided due to the importance of her job, and as all Endless, she also defines her opposite-hope. There are those that actively want to get rid of her without understanding/caring about her purpose like Cyrus. The White has accused her of being the source of the hopeless, inescapable cycle the SMT multiverse is trapped in and the fact there's a Cosmic Entity of despair is further validation in their eyes to destroy all creation. And yet, the White's despair over the state of creation is under her domain as well.
Has a hand in many a Hope Crusher. She's one of the few non-evil hope crushers, but given how vile many of them are, it gives her a bad reputation. AM is rather close due to being incredibly skilled at both inflicting and being consumed by despair-it hates humanity and tries to make sure its victims can NEVER escape, yet is dominated by self-loathing and despair over its Creative Sterility and inability to be anything more than a destroyer. Big Brother, the Flood and the Anti-Spiral have made grand usage of despair as well.
While loving to crush hope, Yuuki Terumi has zero fondness for Despair of the Endless. He considers her "a shitty, terrible despair deity who's too soft for her own good". Also, he wants to inflict his own brand of despair and hers is not up to his tastes. Darkseid has similar reservations about the Cosmic Entity. His desire to break the spirit of the universe and replace meaning with "worship Darkseid" means he's not interested with what she's selling. That being said, he was at least courteous enough to tend to her brother's funeral. Junko Enoshima was much more positive, practically lusting at her despair and enjoying being given it. The latter fact confuses Despair somewhat.
She's the second Despair. The first Despair was responsible for Krypton developing life only to be doomed because of its unstable nature, resulting in a single survivor to mourn in utter despair. This failed miserably since the(more or less) sole survivor Kal-el was but an infant at the time, and has become one of the greatest sources of hope out there. How the first Despair died is unknown, however the culprit is doomed to suffer until the end of time. Many believe this is how the second Despair came to be.
Was surprised to hear of Emperor Norton being in the Pantheon, having tried to give him visions of despair to break him down again and again only for him to cling onto that dream of being an Emperor and avoiding not only her but also Desire and Delirium. She doesn't show that much respect to humans, but she did say this to him:
"I hoped that you would come back to me, Joshua. But no. I would seem to have failed. You're a pitiful madman, a Tom O'Bedlam, dying in the gutter, in the rain. But you never despaired."
Was once visited by a girl with red hair who, oddly enough, didn't have a reflection. The girl, Tulip Olsen, had heard stories about the entire House and wanted a personal talk with Despair herself. Tulip had gone through a difficult time with her parents' divorce to the point that she ended up running away from home and onto the Infinity Train, having to accept that what happened was unfair, but it wasn't her fault. Despair calmly talked about how the aspects of despair aren't all about anguish, but also of memory and mourning. Tulip pondered about those aspects, since it was only by looking into her memories did she find the truth and would later help Amelia Hughes (aka the Conductor) move on. She thanked Despair for the talk before leaving, to which Despair gave a bittersweet smile.

The Knight of Despair

The Knight of Despair, Goddess of Unusual Tears (Magical Girl, The Magical Girl of Justice, O-01-73)

^{Despair state}

Intermediate Goddesss (WAW-class).
Symbol: Her blade, The Sword of a Forgotten Knight
Theme Song: Abnormality Second Warning (LOR ver.)
Alignment: True Neutral
Portfolio: Fallen Magical Girl, Two-Faced, Perpetual Despair Event Horizon, Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette, Black Tears of Remorse (becomes Berserker Tears once set off), Celestial Body, Teleportation, Mighty Glacier, Storm Of Soul Cutting Blades, Pale Damage, Human Pincushion, Guest-Star Party Member in Floor of Natural Sciences Realization
Domains: Magical Girls, Fallen Heroes, Despair, Swords, Stars
Allies: Isomer Black
On Good terms with: Broly (DBS)
Enemies: The Grineer, The Global Occult Coalition
Pitied by: Various Magical Girls in general with a particular regard to Sayaka Miki (also disturbs, the Knight pities her in turn) and Snow White/Koyuki Himekawa, Dr. Zalost
Pities: Kiritsugu Emiya
Respects: Artoria Pendragon, Shirou Emiya
Opposed by/Opposes: Archaon the Everchosen
Conflicting Opinion: Malekith
Avoided by: The Mage of the Beginning
Under observation by: The SCP Foundation
Interests: Chaos Insurgency, Hope Crushers
There lived a knight who served as a protector of justice, once upon a time. She lived and fought for the virtues of valor and chivalry and dedicated her very existence to the kingdom and its people. The state, the city, the weak, and of course the king himself. Overtime, she'd bear witness hardship and conflict and in the end came to the awful realization that everything she fought for was all for naught and, like her friends, fell victim to corruption and retreated from the world. In the knight's case, her aspiration turned to despair though her pride as a knight was not totally lost and still seeks to protect others, but she was otherwise forgotten in memory. This desire of hers manifests as a blessing that shields the person in question from harms way but should this ever fail (through either death or Sanity Slippage) the knight will be driven into a manic despair that proves destructive to anyone unfortunate enough to be around her.
The fallen magical girl was first found lamenting by herself within an isolated part melancholic deepwoods of the House of Plants. Initially left alone, one god not native to the House somehow made their way to her presence. Lost, they tried to ask the tall ominous woman for directions but she remained silent, wanting to be left alone. After some more failed attempts at starting conversation the person left the knight alone to lament. As they left, however, they felt a peculiar aura envelop them and if acting on instinct they found a way out of the deepwoods safe and sound.
- As they left, they had the misfortune of blundering into an attacked against the House of Plants conducted by the Grineer. They of course went to help repel them alongside the denizens. Despite their mysterious boost of strength they ended up being killed in the middle of battle by stray Grakata fire. As they died, their chest cavity torn asunder, wailing echoed throughout the House for the Knight of Despair had arrived, distraught from their blessed being slain. In a fit of rage she directed her blades against everyone in her path, turning all those within her wake into pincushions. She was eventually suppressed, but her rampage was a sight to wince at — all those slain by her hand shared in her sorrow, their leaking sockets equally dark as hers.
Once, she was one of the many Abnormalities contained and researched by the Lobotomy Corporation for the sake of utilizing the Enkephalin produced before the facility was shut down. Following those events, she became one of the many Abnormalities trapped within the Library of Ruina that must be suppressed to continue forward. The SCP Foundation, after having looked into her and the corporation, have decided to put the knight under observation as they do with the other SCPs. The decision was met with skepticism by those within the Court of Gods and other neighboring deities though after it was brought up that the Global Occult Coalition and Chaos Insurgency would also have taken interest in her they let the foundation have their way. Due to some long, legal circumstances the foundation doesn't have complete jurisdiction over the cases involving Abnormalities as it would be shared with other Pantheon authorities but they still have a strong enough claim for responsibility to intervene whenever possible.
With the ascension of Lobotomy Corporation itself, a new cell has been made for the Knight, and at least three Agents are always on standby every morning, with one of them to receive her Blessing before going to the main facility; circumstances are more controllable by X inside there.
- The other two Agents are always on standby after the Knight is suppressed following a breach, and one of them is to receive the Blessing afterward, unless another deity desires it. If that's the case, one Agent will tail them to protect them from death/insanity and to warn if the Knight's breach is impending. The remaining Agent is always present to take over when that happens, and another agent is called over in case anything happens to the blessed one('s tail).
In regards to that protective boon the Knight of Despair conferred, it takes the form of a blue veil that halves any damage on the body and mind, but at the cost of being unable to do any meaningful work that isn't "Suppression-type", as well as being 50% more vulnerable to Percent Damage Attacks. It goes away at the end of the day or when the blessed one loses their life or loses their mind. Additionally, she will only confer the blessing to one person at a time, and is only able to confer it again when the blessing is lost for any reason.
- Even if the blessed one is revived or brought to their senses just a second after (which was not possible in the Corporation), the veil will be gone, and the Knight will continue her rampage. So if one finds themselves blessed by the Knight after meeting with them, one should take care not to die or go insane even if the protection can make one particularly hardy, at least until the end of the day.
After someone visits the Knight of Despair, three percent of the time, they can end up with a black tear drop on their cheek just like the one on her. It confers a little more mental fortitude, as well as a significant increase in agility. It goes away when the gifted one dies, however.
- With the new containment unit, there is now a way to acquire her E.G.O. Weapon and Suit as well, which consist of a thrusting sword that requires a strong sense of Justice to wield without losing your mind, and a blue-and-black protective Suit that also needs as much Justice to wear safely.
Being a magical girl, it come natural that she would interact with others of her kind. As a whole, the Knight of Despair's existence elicits pity for her situation and would like to help her if at all possible but they also won't shy away from stopping her. As for the knight herself she respects many of them but do to her nature she depressingly places them on a pedestal of glory and ideals that's no longer accessible for someone like her. Now, in the case of the Puella Magi it's something far more special. The knight's fall to despair is eerily reminiscent of the magical girls of their world and how they can be corrupted into becoming Witches. And among them her story greatly mirrors Sayaka Miki's when she was also unable to live up to her heroic ideals through many, many different ordeals with the first of which being her discovery of what magical girls really are. It didn't take long for Sayaka to put two and two together to be really rattled by that.
- Koyuki Himekawa, otherwise known by the moniker of Snow White, is a magical girl dedicated to hunting down those who have gone rogue and is very good at that job of hers. While the Knight of Despair falls into that category and Snow White's ruthlessness means that the Magical Girl Hunter doesn't shy away from stopping her even she has to admit to finding considering she isn't really evil like the other one's she has fought. She's not willing to kill, but Snow White has to really wonder if leaving her like this is better for her. Of course, in the hypothetical event that a Mercy Kill absolutely, without any questions or doubts, had to be done that would be easier said than done. Setting aside the soul-shaving swords and the knight durability where she can be repeadidly impaled by them she, being an Abnormality, cannot perish for good no matter how badly she is destroyed.
While on the topic of heroes who fell from grace she shares this quality with Archaon and Malekith who lived through some tragic instances that shaped them to who they are in the present. Considering his goals, even if it is against the Chaos Gods themselves, the knight doesn't take kindly to the Everchosen though given her circumstances she hasn't taken a proactive role in opposing as others have, being too caught up in the past to do so beyond her enchantments. As for Malekith while she won't argue the fact that the Witch-King of Naggaroth has displayed some valor she's still lucid enough to not overlook the more unpleasant qualities he has.
She sees a lot of herself in both Artoria Pendragon and Shirou Emiya. For Artoria, archetypal Knight in Shining Armor she may be, had also went through similar ordeals regarding her chivalry and ideals through a combination of her own flaws and doubts alongside some external factors as well. As for Shirou, he also has a obsession with helping and protecting everyone that has caused him a lot of pain as a result. Even so, considering how they turned out in the end compared to herself she displays some reverence towards them, though like with the magical girls it's partly warped by her psyche. She also pities Shirou's father Kiritsugu (who was responsible for imparting said hero complex onto Shirou) for all the shit he went through that turned him into the cynic he is in the present.
Ever since she was relocated to the House of Sadness she hasn't tried to go out all that much. For someone like herself, she considers it only fitting. Considering how she goes berserk should those blessed by her protection be slain it's probably a good thing that she shuts herself out from everyone. Dr. Zalost, another denizen of the House, is a scientist that was once overcome with a depression who tried to weaponize such feelings to make everyone else feel as miserable as he was. Such a period would end when he ingested a plum recipe that cured his depression, to the point where he restored those who were affected by him. As a new man, he pitied the Knight of Despair for being in such a situation. At one point did he manage to nail her with a cannonball when she was once again rampaging in the Pantheon. Though it did not cure her of the abyss in her heart it did snap her out of her rampage and incapacitate her for a while before retreating back into her house.
- While staying away House like that in Sadness has become a general rule of hers the Mage of the Beginning has payed special attention to not be in the general vicinity of the knight. As she's able to sense the feelings of just about everyone with her Infinite Empathy the misery stemming from those like the knight does little help to her already terrible psyche. Of course, given that her ultimate goal is to put an end to all misery forever it only encourages her to fight for that world even harder than before.
- Rare are the times where she does venture out of her House, though given her nature they tend to be isolated areas. At point did she venture out back into the House of Plants this time walking out into a strange large field of flowers, their azure blue colors made especially mesmerizing under the moonlit sky. It was here the knight met a mysterious woman in a black and tattered dress who began to ask her what drew her to the place and when she replied that it was their appearance the woman began to explain their significance. There's no changing the fact that the knight prefers to be alone but even so she can make an exception for Isomer Black and the rest of the Isomer having sense a similar sadness in them.
Believe or not she's actually fairly amicable with Broly who, like her, has issues going berserk. For him, it stems from a mutation that while allowing his power to soar to astronomic heights at the cost of his self-control. He's actually quite the quiet and chill person when he isn't losing it otherwise (especially compared to his other self), and also doesn't enjoy fighting like other Saiyans. Plus, he can understand the kind of intense grief and anguish though it came from realizing his father had just died rather than just failing to serve one's king as he in fact was exiled by one. Neither of them are very verbal so don't expect any deep conversations when they're both around. At point, someone suggested that since they're on friendly terms Broly should be one of the people who could also deal with her should the knight go out of control. Said someone received a stern lectured and a bruised cheek for that suggestion.
The nature of the Knight of Despair perplexes the Pantheon's various hope crushers. The fallen magical girl is indeed quite in an ideal state, but they feel like more could be done with her than just simply screwing with those she enchants and watching the world burn. They'd try and experiment for themselves but doing so without a proper plan of attack would put them on the radar of the Foundation, the GOC, and' the Insurgency, and that's considerably less ideal.
Nothing was truly upheld on my watch... All of it has perished.

Yuri Nakamura

Yuri Nakamura, Goddess of Survivor's Guilt (Yurippe)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yuri_vn.png

Lesser Goddess
Symbol: The SSS Logo
Theme: Brave Song, Theme of SSS
Alignment: Chaotic Good, formerly with Chaotic Neutral leanings
Portfolio: Leader of the SSS, Survivor Guilt Due to the Murder of her Three Siblings, Immensely Driven to her Goal, Action Girl, Rage Against the Heavens, Crazy-Prepared, Bitter Anti-Hero, (Presumably) Committed Suicide, Resentment towards God, Deeply Cares about her Organization members, Magnificent Bitch, Rank Scales with Asskicking, Defrosting Ice Queen
Domains: Rebellion, Leadership, Self-Acceptance, Determination
Heralds: The rest of the SSS Members.
Allies: Yuzuru Otonashi and Kanade Tachibana, The Main Charlotte Cast, Joseph Joestar, Raiden, Houkago Tea Time, Bruce Wayne/Batman, Luke Skywalker, Akame, Night Raid, Naruto Uzumaki, Jim Raynor, Tomoya, Nagisa and Ushio, Shirou Emiya, The Killzone Squad
Odd Friendship: Scorpion, Frank Castle/The Punisher
Enemies: Big Brother, Arcturus Mengsk, Madara Uchiha, Regime Superman, Napoleon, Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious, Esdeath, The Helghan Empire (Scholar Visari, Colonel Mael Radec)
Opposes: Darkseid, YHVH, Qin Shi Huang
Pitied By: House of Siblings
Normally, the afterlife would diverge into three different pathways; Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. Now in the case of the latter, its now a high school occupied and rub by teenagers who have died with regrets and failed expectations still strong in their minds. They can still die there, but would eventually come back completely intact. The students can move on from this afterlife once they accept their grievances and accept their struggles. In the case of one Yuri Nakamura, its a lot hardened. The eldest of four siblings in her life, Yuri was held by gangsters in a home invasion where they would kill her siblings one after another if Yuri didn't provide them with a valuable item on time. All of her siblings died. Now in Purgatory, settling her anger towards God for letting an event like this occur, Yuri sought retribution, forming the SSS Battlefront Afterlife.
Ascended into the pantheon with "Goddess" as an additional moniker, Yuri felt confused and went on to ask what to do with her situation. She was approached by Raiden, who empathized with her tragic past and admitted to his own struggles. He offered to be Yuri's mentor for the time being, citing her incredible leadership and planning skills. Yuri has since accepted and is taking strides to prepare for combat on behalf of the Grand United Alliance of Good.
Bruce Wayne took a good interest in Yuri and decided to help her out regarding loss and angst. He is advising Yuri to not succumb into the despair caused by her siblings's death and has given her access to some of his gadgets and weaponry for Yuri to use. Yuri sees Bruce as a good friend in need and is more than welcome to help him out, though she personally sees his Batman persona as rather weird.
She gets along well with the Charlotte Cast and seeks to fight alongside them, though they have their own issues to deal with. Yuri is also helping out with Tomoya Okazaki and Nagisa Furukawa and their struggles in maintaining their school activities. Although she is a Rebel Leader, Yuri also feels tempted to try sorting out issues with her friends.
Surprisingly found good company under Joseph Joestar. Joseph, in turn, likes her for being smart, talented and a capable fighter, but is also a goofball just like he is. Joseph is thinking about training Yuri to use Hamon, although she isn't really interested, instead wanting Joseph to use his own smarts more often rather than lacking out.
Formed an alliance with Akame due to their approach in leading their teams (Although Akame tends to be a leader regarding combat-based situations). As a result, Yuri found acquaintances with Night Raid and would often spend time with them. Night Raid enjoys Yuri's company, though she is not above teasing and belittling them for a quick gag. She also likes Naruto Uzumaki for his determination and for keeping true to his character.
Found good company under Jim Raynor with both of them leading a rebel team. Jim seeks to discipline and teach Yuri about improving her combat and leadership skills, which she is happy to accept. Yuri also takes the time to visit Luke Skywalker, becoming good friends with him. She wants a lightsaber partially for extra offense, but also how cool it is, though Luke suggests training with it first before going off to combat.
Yuri found someone to relate to with Shirou Emiya, the latter reciprocating the feeling. Both were motivated by the death of his loved ones, although Emiya was able to fight pass his grief and become a hero in his own right whereas Yuri (presumably) committed suicide due to said grief and later rebelled under that emotion. They do however agree in that their grief has made them a better person overtime, with Yuri expressing praise for the kind of person Emiya grew to be. That said, she finds his approach in heroism to be problematic and wishes to help him out on that.
Shockingly managed to become friends with Scorpion and Frank Castle. All three of them were driven by the loss of their loved ones and vengeance, although Scorpion and Yuri have since managed to move on from it, whereas Frank still feels the need to exert punishment on criminals. Scorpion and Yuri occasionally help each other out, with the former mentoring the latter. Frank is hesitant on allowing Yuri on borrowing some of his weaponry, but relented seeing how dedicated she is in her goals and her experience in combat.
As a proponent of freedom, Yuri normally opposes those who instill forced control and monitoring to their subjects. Regime Superman, Napoleon and Darth Sidious became noted enemies which Yuri continues to fight against. Esdeath and Madara Uchiha have been a thorn to Yuri, just like her other enemies, though they tend to be a lot more persistent.
Opposes the Helghan Empire due to their aggressive approach on others and the very nature of their troops and their leaders Scholar Visari and Colonel Radec. Yuri has formed an alliance with the Killzone Squad to take them on. This culminated with a battle between Yuri and Radec, which ended in a stalemate with both retreating after wearing each other down. They've since sworn to take on each other again at some point.
Yuri's Arch-Enemy in the Pantheon, Arcturus Mengsk is someone who she would consider a total antithesis to a rebellious leader. Whereas Yuri earned the support and admiration of her followers and allies, Arcturus would backstab anyone if it meant furthering his goals. Yuri also treasured her loved ones and companions whereas Arcturus didn't care for anyone save for himself. As a result, Arcutus is the one being Yuri despises the most. Arcturus, seeing another rebellion leader like Jim, has decided to fight it out. The two have been battling ever since their first encounter and it's not going to die out soon.
Big Brother eerily reminds Yuri of the time students in the afterlife were assimilated by a supposed God and is quick to declare opposition. Big Brother, unlike Arcturus, sees Yuri as inconsequential, although it will not hesitate to eliminate her if it need be. Yuri always seeks out allies whenever she rebels against Big Brother.
Was not happy to learn of the actions of Qin Shi Huang. Yuri believes that everyone should live their life how they want it to be, and believes that Quin Shi Huang negates this by stripping away education and freedom. Yuri also finds its intentions of protecting humans to be counterproductive, given her experience with tragedy.
Yuri firmly opposes YHVH, seeing him as a clearly evil God, similar to Melkor and seeing him as someone who would want to put individuals in what she deems an "NCP" state. However, she finds Darkseid to be far worse, given the fact that slavery and forced reverence is part of his job and that he personally killed his brother for Godhood. While Darkseid doesn't have much to comment about Yuri other than simply being another threat, she is preparing a plan to take him on alongside her allies.
Fond of the Houkago Tea Time band and would occasionally rock out on their music. Yuri tells them that they remind her of a good friend, namely Masami Iwasawa and the Girls Dead Monster band back in her afterlife. The band members are planning on writing a song based on Yuri and her experiences in the afterlife.
Due to the incident regarding siblings, Yuri is rather hesitant to visit the House of Siblings. She couldn't even walk near it without getting nervous and often breaking down. While she has accepted their deaths and thus, able to move on, Yuri could never truly forget her siblings. Yuri is thinking about trying therapy in an effort to be more resilient, but also knows that her emotions are just as important as her leadership. The House of Siblings are highly sympathetic of Yuri and offer her condolences and support, especially those who wholly under how it feels to lose a close sibling.

We have no choice but to accept the one and only life we're given, no matter how cruel and heartless it might be.

The Mediators of Grief

Elliot Alderson/Mr. Robot

Elliot Alderson, The Broken Heroic God (Mr. Robot, The Mastermind)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wp4464499.jpg

^{Mr. Robot}

Demigod
Symbol: The fsociety logo
Theme: Mr. Robot Main Theme
Alignment: Chaotic Good (Mr. Robot alternates between that and Chaotic Neutral)
Portfolio: Depressed and flawed Hacker with Massive Emotional Baggage, Crusade Hacker in the Night, Founder of ''fsociety'', Wants to benefit and save the World, Often talks to the Viewer, Able to effectively understand People with his Words, Master Hacker, Excellent Liar (Can fail at times), Keeps Himself Socially Isolated, Not Good at Socializing but will Do the Right Thing Regardless, Puppy-Dog Eyes, Cynical but Well-Intentioned, Went through numerous critical and endangering situations, Surprisingly Cute
- Mr. Robot: Elliot's Alter-Ego and Split Personality, Massively Deranged, Elliot's Subconscious Opponent, Not Afraid of intruding Personal Space, Believes his morality to be the basis of a new Society, Anarchistic Anti-Villain, Having Similar, but more Drastic goals to Elliot, Has his moments of Kindness, Eventually comes to terms and an alliance with Elliot
Domains: Hackers, Rebellion, Depression, Anxiety, Identity Crisis
Herald: Darlene Alderson (His sister)
Allies: Hackerman, Bruce Wayne/Batman, Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, Bentley Turtle, Sheina Kenmochi, Otacon, Neo, Morpheus, TRON, Wreck-It Ralph, Fix-It Felix, Vanellope Von Schweetz, Robert E.O. Speedwagon, Pollyanna Whittier, Lisbeth Salander, Radical Ed, Frank Pritchard (All of them have trouble dealing with Mr. Robot)
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Aiden Pearce, San Francisco DedSec (Both are allies under the Mr. Robot persona), Tony Stark/Iron Man, Norman Jayden, Neal Caffrey, Peter Burke, Will Graham and Clarice Starling
Enemies: Mr. Burns, Lex Luthor, Eliza and Neil Reagan, The Corpus, The Sundowner, The Slavers, Handsome Jack, Patrick Bateman, Walter White, Gustavo Fring, Norman Osborn/Green Goblin, Penelope Mouse
Additional Relationship: Freddie Mercury
Opposes: The Assimilation, Sombra
Visitor of: House of Canines
An unsocial security worker in day and a hacker at night, Elliot Alderson lived a life confined in struggling to communicate with others and battling severe depression and anxiety. Then one day, he encountered an enigmatic anarchist, Mr. Robot, who offered him a chance to join an organization called fsociety for a grand ambition; to Save the World from top global conglomerates, particularly E Corp. Elliot, a naturally gifted and skilled hacker, managed to commit 5/9, a hack that plunged much of the world into a Class-5 Societal Disruption, resulting in a grand economical depression around the world. Unfortunately, while E Corp was affected by the damage, what was to come later was far worse and drastic than Elliot hoped to be...
Mr. Robot; the enigmatic and caustic leader of fsociety is in truth, a darker, more extreme-driven persona of Elliot taking the guise of his deceased father, Edward Alderson. Whereas Elliot was restrained by his morality regarding his actions, Mr. Robot is far more willing to commit dangerous and life-ruining acts if it meant achieving his goals. They would often battle against each other for supremacy, neither of them fully triumphing over the other. Elliot sees Mr. Robot as insane, whereas the latter sees the former as too weak and frail to really push onto achieving their goal. Not helping matters is the fact that Elliot was once thrown out of his house window by his father when he announced Edward's leukemia diagnosis to their family. And with Mr. Robot being supposed an idealized version of his father, their situation gets even worse.
- Ultimately, Elliot found out he flung himself out of the window after undergoing a psychotic breakdown, and Mr. Robot found out that his efforts regarding 5/9 Stage 2 would only benefit his opponents and that there was nothing he could do. Elliot came to terms with his Split Personality, with Mr. Robot reciprocating the feeling and deciding to work with Elliot in taking down the Dark Army.
No one is sure how Elliot managed to ascend into the Pantheon. There are rumours that Elliot hacked his way into it, whereas others have stated maybe Mr. Robot's influence had something to do with it. As of now, Elliot has remained quiet about this. His first signs in the Pantheon was simply him prodding around with his hoodie on before entering a building and working on his computer desk, presumably ready for a hack.
Elliot is really good at deducting and revealing a person's personality and feelings by the use of his own words. Unfortunately, because his beliefs in people tend to be pessimistic, he mainly talks about the negatives and causes himself to isolate. However, he is a good person in heart and likes the company of genuine and morally upstanding individuals.
Met up with Pollyanna Whittier, and immediately became friends due to Pollyanna's sweet nature and Elliot seeing her as a good soul, something which he expressed towards his late employer Gideon. Whenever Elliot seeks company, Pollyanna is among the first he visits, seeing her occupation as serene and optimistic. It also helps in that Pollyanna serves as a subversion to Elliot's views on people.
Is on good terms with the House of Canines. He blackmailed his therapist's ex-boyfriend, "Michael Hansen" (real name Lenny Shannon) who uses a fake profile to meet underage women to have sex with and abused his dog, Flipper. Elliot did this because "Hansen" was cheating behind behind his therapist's back and the idea of his having sex with underage prostitutes was disgusting on Elliot's mind. Alongside incriminating him, he also took Flipper from him, after which Elliot treated her a lot better than "Hansen" ever could. He occasionally takes visits to the House of Canines for Flipper to visit.
Hackerman was greatly intrigued by the amount of energy and skill Elliot has in hacking. Elliot sees Hackerman as a good soul and gets along with him pretty well, although his Mr. Robot persona would much rather prefer Hackerman to be more militant in his work. Elliot also found company under Bentley Turtle, Sheina Kenmochi and Otacon as all of them are skilled in hacking and technology. They would all want Elliot in the GUAG White Hats, although Mr. Robot seems to be making things difficult. Only time will tell if Elliot will be able to convince Mr. Robot to join the White Hats. Elliot also found friends with fellow hackers Radical Ed and Frank Pritchard, the two of them being keen on supporting Elliot out.
- Managed to make friends out of Wreck-It Ralph, Fix-It Felix and Vanellope Von Schweetz. Not much is known about how they got along, though rumor has it that Vanellope thinks Elliot is cute. Bentley's experience with Penelope Mouse is not different to when Elliot himself was blackmailed and used by his closest friends for their own goals. Alongside opposing Penelope for an understandable reason, Elliot took pity towards Bentley and has the biggest relation with him in regards to the hackers.
- He made contact Lisbeth Salander during a hacking session. Agreeing to meet in person under the plans of hacking their enemies, the two were surprised to learn they were pretty similar to one another. Despite working together, Elliot and Lisbeth tend to keep each other anonymous in an effort to keep up with their unpredictability in their work. Mr. Robot sees potential in her, thinking about bringing her into fsociety.
Sees Bruce Wayne as one of the more accepting rich people in his views. Hacking into his information was tough, though he hacked enough to uncover his identity as Batman. Seeing this, Bruce paid a visit as himself, sympathising with Elliot and offering him therapy and guidance. He was surprised to see Elliot's ambition in saving the world to be larger in scale compared to his goal in defending Gotham, although Bruce reprimanded that Elliot seeks company and allies should he proceed. He also became fast friends with Barbara Gordon as both of them are master hackers, although the two of them differ in their personalities. Barbara is willing to help out Elliot whenever possible, although Mr. Robot is a lot more problematic, seeing Bruce as another vigilante, although he does admit that his tech would be useful in regards to their skills.
Aiden Pearce took notice of Elliot and offered him an alliance to take down those who exploit people using money and technology. Elliot is respectful of Aiden, but the extremity of his methods and his willingness to sometimes have innocent people involved in his crusade makes Elliot rebound in doubt. Mr. Robot however is more than willing to join Aiden, believing that destruction and damage is inevitable when it comes to revolution. The same sentiments go for the San Francisco DedSec, although they are less morally ambiguous than Aiden for Elliot to only be slightly more comfortable working with.
Gets along with Neo, seeing as he was a hacker and ultimately built himself up to be a hero. Elliot also sees Morpheus as a good influence for Neo and has stated that he would like to help regarding the Matrix if possible. He also seems to be rather respectful about Tron, viewing him as benevolent for a program.
Elliot has a rather complicated history with the FBI. As a hacker who exploits personal information and scandals, he gets some degree of flak from FBI agents. To further this mess, Elliot's sister Darlene had a relationship with one, Dominique "Dom" DiPierro. Seeing as Elliot has good intentions, some of the agents get to sympathize with him, especially Norman Jayden as both of them undergo a drug issue that they try to overcome. Others, such as Will Graham, Clarice Starling and Peter Burke, while sympathetic are more hesitant to work with him due to Elliot's criminal history. And that's not even getting into his Mr. Robot persona, who can't bring himself up to trust FBI agents in any way. Neal Caffrey is more amicable and has befriended Elliot rather easily, though he himself would get into arguments should Mr. Robot ever show up.
Elliot normally tends to oppose giant corporations, seeing as them leeches that feed on other people, draining them off of their money and caring only for themselves. Its no wonder he dislikes Mr. Rogers for that aspect. Elliot also hates Eliza and Neil Reagan for being incredibly entitled and only caring about themselves. And while Elliot doesn't have much to say about Superman, he hates Lex Luthor because he is able to tell that Lex is fixated on a petty grudge against the Man of Steel and for someone with a vast amount of resources, wastes it only for himself. Mr. Robot agrees with Elliot about them, which says a lot.
- Once met Patrick Bateman in his Mr. Robot persona. Patrick's egotism and pretentiousness were incredibly grating, escalating to the point where Mr. Robot prompted to punch him in the face just to shut him up. The two had a hard brawl, with Patrick driven to kill and Mr. Robot managing to knock him out for a time. Elliot sees Patrick as corporate scum, though doesn't recall the experience with him. Same thing goes for Handsome Jack, whom Elliot would like to hack one day just to drive him nuts, in addition to benefiting the Vault Hunters. Elliot and Mr. Robot also took notice of Norman Osborn and with a hack, figured out his Green Goblin identity. They've agreed on a reluctant alliance with Tony Stark in regards to combating him, with Tony thinking about training Elliot as a hacking protege of sorts, though he isn't interested.
- Elliot however, does have one commerce-based individual in the Pantheon who he likes; Robert E.O Speedwagon. He is able to deduct that Speedwagon is a humble and caring person who invests his money on topics that matter and Speedwagon has decided to try helping Elliot out about his mental health issues. Its tough, but Speedwagon will try to manage.
Above all, Elliot hates massive corporations that benefit in the deaths of people, and it has been a major contributing factor in his views on people. The Corpus and the Sundowner are among those that Elliot despises with a passion, being individuals who seek war for the sole intent of profit, and he is willing to team up with anybody in the House of Law and Justice if it means bringing them down. The Slavers are another group that Elliot loathes, to the point where upon hacking their tracks and their objectives of extorting a group of children, he immediately notified the House of Heroism about it, prompting an a quick and well-deserved beatdown. Also dislikes Walter White and Gustavo Fring for their pride and indulgence in crime, in addition to Elliot's struggles with drugs.
Was shocked upon hearing about the The Assimilation and their intentions to robotize the Pantheon for their own needs. He's been trying to convince Mr. Robot to join the GUAG White Hats solely to combat against them, thinking his hacking skills can be used to good use for the general public in this occasion. Mr. Robot, understanding the Machine Council being something way beyond even their minds and skills has agreed to join the GUAG in combating against them.
During a hacking session, he came across Sombra, who's hacking skills were beyond what Elliot and Mr. Robot are capable of. Elliot does sympathize with Sombra over their tragic pasts, but he can't bring himself to associate with her due to Sombra's allegiance and harming innocents. Mr. Robot has admitted to stating he needs help in dealing with Sombra, but his extreme methods make him difficult to trust in the wider Pantheon.
For all their tension and struggles, Mr. Robot does care for Elliot. Ever since finding out the true circumstances of Elliot's accident, they've been getting along much better, though its a long road before Elliot will begin to treat Mr. Robot like his father.
A lot of Pantheon residents think Elliot is adorable. He hasn't made a comment about this yet, though he feels relieved to see there are those who genuinely like him. Its thought Elliot's experiences and nature are what make him so endearing.
He is surprised to see he looks a lot like Freddie Mercury. And like everyone else, Elliot enjoys his music a lot. Freddie was initially surprised by his look-alike but accepts Elliot as a fan nonetheless.

This is the world we live in. People relying on each other's mistakes to manipulate one another and use one another, even relate to one another. A warm, messy circle of humanity.

Korra

Avatar Korra, Goddess of Harsh Personal Growth (Water Tribe Stallion)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pvvggom4fp7a1.jpg

^Pre-timeskip

Greater Goddess
Symbol: The Silhouette of Raava
Theme Music: Fresh Air, Harmonic Convergence (NASB2 vers.)
Alignment: Neutral Good (formerly Chaotic Good)
Portfolio: Naïve Newcomer, Cute Bruiser, Instant Expert, Good With Kids, All-Loving Hero, Being a Tomboy, Elemental Powers, revealed to be bisexual, Amazonian Beauty, Big Sister Instinct, Heroic Blue, Broken Ace to actual Ace, Becoming Kinder and More Cheerful
Domain: Nature, Combat, Balance
High Priest: Calvin's Dad (former holder, willingly stepped aside for her when she changed her position)
Allies:
- Avatarverse: Asami Sato, Mako, Bolin, Avatar Aang, Toph Beifong, Katara, Lin Beifong, Ten zin, Iroh, Sokka, Zuko, Varrick,
- Other Allies: Touta Konoe, Ahsoka Tano, Simon the Digger, Edward and Alphonse Elric, Tidus, Ryuko Matoi and Senketsu, Satsuki Kiryuin, Yusuke Godai/Kamen Rider Kuuga, Asura, Commander Shepard, Naruto Uzumaki, Jotaro Kujo, Kamina, Issei Hyodo, Yang Xiao Long, Mothra Leo, Kara Zor-El/Supergirl, Greed, Shizuku Ashuu/Weiss Winterprison, Nana Habutae/Sister Nana, Kuroumaru Tokisaka, Winry Rockbell, Ling Yao, Gandalf
- Odd Friendship: Godzilla, The Maiden in Black
Enemies: Amon, Zaheer, King Ghidorah, Melkor, Lucifer, YHVH, Gigan, Mecha-Godzilla, Number 96: Black Mist, Cho'gall, Megatron, SpaceGodzilla
Pities: Hansel and Gretel (Black Lagoon)
She was originally ascended alongside Touta Konoe due to being a practically polar opposite of her predecessor at first glance. They've since split as she was offered a seat of her own to acknowledge the growth of her person and legend through overcoming many brutal hardships in a short time span. Despite no longer being in the same house, Korra still gets along well with Touta and considers him a good friend.
Despite the reason she was called up initially, Aang was rather happy to hear of Korra's ascension since her connection with Raava was severed, leaving him stuck in the Pantheon and unable to reach her. Korra was surprised to see Aang in the Pantheon in his younger form, but adjusted quickly enough and shared how her story went after the link to Raava was severed. Upon hearing of her achievements in the mortal plane that exceeded even his, Aang couldn't be more proud of her. For this reason, he thinks her new placement in the Pantheon suits her much better than her old one.
Korra and Aang have been known to race one another on their Air Scooters.
Has been seen training with a much younger Toph to improve her metalbending. Toph remarks how her fighting has improved since that last time she whooped her butt. But only a little. She also has been battling with a much younger Katara just using their waterbending. She was amazed by how agile Katara was at her prime and has enjoyed their training.
Aside from her precedessors, Korra has furthered her training with other members of the Pantheon to better improve her fighting style. In particular, she has found great use of Jotaro Kujo's technique.
Was once mistaken by both Kamina and Simon to posses Spiral Energy after seeing her fight against Unalaq/Vaatu. Korra corrected them but did mention doing their signature ''Giga Drill Break''◊ once.
Korra has shown interest in the sport of Blitzball. Tidus was more than happy to teach her about the game. Of course, old habits die hard as Korra still showed her competitive streak and used her Waterbending in training, though she avoided using her bending in actual matches.
Even though Godzilla is a well known Chaotic being, Korra has befriended the Kaiju King and they have been seen relaxing with one another in the Spirit World.
Since allying herself with the King of Kaijus, she too opposes King Ghidorah, seeing the three-headed dragon as a destructive force just like Vaatu. It became personal when the Terror King and the ogre Cho'gall entered the Spirit World and Ghidorah proceeded to suck the souls out of some of its inhabitants. While she, Aang, Godzilla, and Mothra Leo were able to stop the two monsters from entering her world, she found out that they were used as a distraction while members of GUAE harvested Spirit Vines for their own use. She wasn't happy about this.
- Megatron has found his way onto Korra's shit list for doing most of the vine cutting while shapeshifted into a drill tank. He still is despite ultimately joining the GUAM instead of GUAE, as neither is much better.
Along with Aang, Korra has been attempting to teach Commander Shepard and his/her crew the bending arts after discovering a universe where Shepard was the Avatar. So far, if any progress has been made it's been kept secret.
At one point the Court of the Gods had awarded her with a second seat in the House of Nature to honor her contributions to rebuilding the Air Nation and preserving/expanding the Spirit World. That seat was eventually decommissioned after members of the Court called it out as a retitled version of a pre-existing seat in the House of Power and Abilities that had been filled by someone whose soul manipulation power was far stronger than Korra's own spirit-bending.
- One day she visited this temple and found a sad maiden with wax-baked eyes and black hair and clothes in the midst of deadwood and leaves. She also happened to be surrounded by a strange assortment of demonic hordes; however she managed to lull every last one of them to sleep with her power. Amazed by this, Korra introduced herself and held a brief chat with the Maiden in Black, who was surprisingly easy to talk with as well. She left the dreary temple strangely at peace.
Korra's been hanging around with Ryuko Matoi. The two found common ground with the fact that they went through a bunch of crap before finally finding peace and happiness.
- She's also been hanging with Ryuko's sister, Satsuki Kiryuin. After hearing about how she conquered every school in her area, it reminded Korra of Kuvira. Though, she realized that the two differed in approach and reason for their actions.
While she has long since moved past her bad experiences with both Amon and Zaheer, she still is very uneasy that the two have ascended. Zaheer in particular because even though he did help her reconnect with the Spirit World, she isn't a hundred percent trusting of him.
Tends to goof around with many of the younger kid deities, and they like the fact the she shows them respect. Except for Roanapur's Hansel and Gretel; she couldn't help but cry when she learned their tragic backstory after seeing the little monsters they had become.
Was absolutely happy when she learned that Asami ascended, welcoming her girlfriend with a big hug. The two still go on their trips to the Spirit World. When questioned about how was their vacation, the two only blush and look away.
- They were also both among the welcoming parties to greet Chief Beifong and Tenzin when they later separately ascended to the Pantheon.
Was weirded out when she was told that there was an alternate version of herself that had the had the voice and personality of Tommy Wiseau.
Gets along fairly well with the Elric Brothers, who remind her somewhat of the Fabulous Bending Brothers back home in Republic City as well as herself and Aang. She and Ed will butt heads in the occasional disagreement or bout of competition, but ultimately have a healthy respect for one another; at times she goes back and forth whether she thinks he's more like Mako or herself. As for Al, he's precious and easygoing, which she liked about Bolin, but also a bit more serious and responsible than her earthbending friend, which also causes her to think of child Aang. All in all, she knows they have her back and vice versa if faced with any common enemies.
Asami has told her about the man called Greed who approached the heiress offering a connections deal in exchange for a stake in her future profits. Then she heard Lin Beifong talk about how the same man attempted to hit on her while she was working. She's since been anxious to meet the homunculus trying to encroach on her personal inner circle.
- After training with Jotaro one day, she returned to Republic City only to find out that Raditz attacked the place…but was fended off thanks to the efforts of the police led by Beifong and Greed.^* Now it's a hat-trick and she knows she wants to see what this guy's all about.
Korra immensely sympathizes with Yang Xiao Long after Yang lost her arm and was abandoned by one of her best friends in an attack on her school, having faced a similar and also-depressing experience namely being paralyzed and almost killed by the Red Lotus' mercury poison.
As the female successor of her world's greatest hero, Korra naturally gets along well with Supergirl. It certainly helps that her experiences have mellowed her into further adopting many of Kara's traits.
Seeing how happy she was about her new seat transfer, Asami decided to throw a party to celebrate. Guests included the good Avatar-verse deities (with the Gaang in their adult prime forms◊), Touta and his ascended UQ Holder! buddies, Weiss and Nana, the Elric Brothers and their father, Asami's housemate and Lin's former high priestess Olivier Armstrong, Illya von Einzbern, Hercules, Teddie, and yes, Greed. Several small events occurred during this party:
- Korra and Asami ended up talking with Kuroumaru about his gender and attraction issues, advising him not to try to force things with Touta but to make the best decision in his heart.
- She was also one of the unfortunate "victims" of Teddie's lame attempts to "score", and kindly but firmly told him thanks but no thanks.
- Korra finally met the chief's suitor for the first time. She liked his cool easygoing demeanor but was a bit leery when Greed declared he would be the "future King of the Pantheon" with Lin as "his Queen".
- Ended up having a conversation with Winry when Ed tried to introduce Winry to Asami, unaware that they'd already met. She cleared up some things about her sexual orientation and relationship with Asami which Winry had been confused about at first. They get along just fine now.
- When the party deduced that Hercules and Illya's black giant Berserker were one and the same, Korra, as well as Touta, decided they wanted to spar with him in that form in the future.
- The Krew and Toph conversed with Greed and the Elric brothers after the party in order to learn more about him. In the process, they gained valuable information on his homunculus siblings and father, got a good laugh when Ed revealed that Greed was once fused into a prince with a similar name to Lin's, cooled him down as he got upset about learning that Amon had de-bended Lin and targeted Tenzin's family, and saw him look pleased that Lin had not only recovered from this with Korra's help, but also later reconciled her own family's issues. He even praised Toph as being "pretty cool", and speaking of whom, Toph found no lies in anything he said. Korra came away with enough good spirits to approve of giving Greed a chance.
Ling Yao was introduced to her and Aang through Zuko and Greed after he ascended. He's friendly and ambitious like Greed, but more openly dependable like the Elrics. They also really appreciate the concept of alkahestry and the Dragon's Pulse, being able to relate more to it through their Avatar duties and especially their travels in the Spirit World.
"No matter what happens, no matter how crazy things get, I'll always try to restore balance."

Raiden (Mortal Kombat)

"Tremble before Earthrealm's Protector!"

Raiden, God of Guilt Complexes (Rayden, God of Thunder, Earthrealm's Protector, Haokah (by Nightwolf), Dark Raiden, Defender of Earthrealm, Broden, formerly God of Blunder, Raidude, One-Point-Twenty-One Gigawatts, ThunderCat)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/klassic_mk11_raiden.png

^{Dark Raiden}

^{Mortal Raiden}

Greater God (Overdeity with his full power unsealed, Lesser God as a mortal)
Symbol: His hat, covered with thunder, atop the White Lotus Society logo
Theme Songs: Raiden's Theme by 9th Wonder, Mortal Kombat Anthem (MK11 Trailer Mix); Techno Syndrome and Eternal Life were heard when he returned to the Pantheon; Sky Temple when meditating
Alignment: Neutral Good
Portfolio: Earthrealm's God of Thunder, Earthrealm's Mentoring Figure, Electrokinetic Powers that can Provide a Lot of Abilities and Functions, Blue Is Heroic, Immensely Skilled yet Has to Endure Multiple Failures and Tragedies, Feels Burdened and Regretful of Failing his Warriors and Apprentice, Is the One to Decide the Chosen One for Earthrealm, Amiable and Polite, Mentor Archetype, Chooses to Take On a Humanoid Shape to Participate in Mortal Kombat and is Still Incredibly Powerful, Benevolent Deities, Not Afraid to Use Lethal Force, Improvised Lightning Rod, Eventually Rebuilds his Relationship with Liu Kang, Time Abyss, Always With a Conical Rice Hat
Domains: Good, Godhood, Thunder, Kombat, Mentoring, Guidance, Protection, Tragedy, Guilt, Remorse
Followers: Miranda Lotto, Zerocalcare, Professor Ozpin
Allies:
- The Kombatants: Kung Lao, Kitana, Kuai Liang/Sub-Zero, Jax Briggs, Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Kenshi Takahashi , Cassie Cage, Jacqui Briggs, Takeda Takahashi, Kung Jin, Geras
- Other Allies: Clark Kent/Superman, Bruce Wayne/Batman, Diana of Themyscira/Wonder Woman, Dick Grayson/Nightwing, Damian Wayne/Robin V, Cassie Sandsmark Wonder Girl III, Izaya/Highfather, Orion, Virgil Hawkins/Static, Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning, Thor Odinson, Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Miles Morales/Spider-Man II, Gwen Stacy/Spider-Gwen, The Doctor and his Companions, Asura, Cosmos, Crono's Party, Kratos, Son Goku, Son Gohan, Vegeta, Piccolo, Future Trunks, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Luke Skywalker, Madoka Kaname, Ryu, Ken Masters, Kasumi, Ragna the Bloodedge, Kouta Kazuraba/Kamen Rider Gaim, Shinji Kido/Kame Rider Ryuki, Ren Akiyama/Kamen Rider Knight, Futaba Sakura, Sumire Yoshizawa
- Partner: Raikou
Rivals: Zeus, Beerus
Arch-Enemies: Shao Kahn, Shinnok
Enemies:
- The Kombatants: Kronika, Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, Cet rion, Mileena, Kano, Bi-Han/Noob Saibot, Ermac, Skarlet, Frost
- Other Enemies: Darkseid, Zamasu, Cell, Chakravartin, The Devourer, Xehanort and his Incarnations, Galeem and Dharkon, Rugal Bernstein, Nagash, Brainiac, Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash, Mongul, The Master, Rassilon, Lavos, Griffith and the Godhand, Takeshi Asakura/Kamen Rider Ouja, Max Dillon/Electro, Eneru, The Joker, Heihachi and Kazuya Mishima, M. Bison, Shermie, Gill, Urien, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Kyubey
On Good Terms With: Baraka, Kotal Kahn, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
Odd Friendship: The Other Raiden, Mr. Satan, Connor MacLeod, Joseph Joestar, Pikachu, Applejack, Gunvolt, Ghaleon
Respects: Mr. Miyagi, Daniel LaRusso
Pities: Homura Akemi, Shiro Kanzaki, Jin Kazama
Disapproves: Wiz and Boomstick, Akuma
Special Relationship: Liu Kang (his protege), Fujin (his brother)
Raiden is the God of Thunder and the longtime Protector of Earthrealm, being a guiding figure to all the warriors from the realm and an active figure in saving it. Having been elected to represent Earthrealm in the Mortal Kombat tournament hosted by Outworld, Raiden would gather various warriors from his realm to compete for centuries until finally finding an apprentice and surrogate son in Liu Kang, training and raising him to be Earthrealm's champion, and ultimately succeeding. Unfortunately, conflicts between the realms persisted when his arch-rival, Shao Kahn, demanded another tournament, followed by an all-out invasion when even that failed. Despite defeating Shao, Raiden would then have to contend against Shinnok, a fallen Elder God who sought the dominance of the Netherrealm by destroying all other realms, but although Raiden led his forces to defeat him too, his plights weren't finished due to the looming occurrence of Armageddon, where every kombatant would fight and die in an attempt to either save the realms or gain ultimate power. Unfortunately, Shao Kahn won and taunted Raiden of his own victory as the Thunder God was left wrecked and defeated without a chance to fight back.
- Before dying, Raiden used his amulet to send a message to his past self to let him know that "he must win", but although the message was received, Raiden would find difficulty trying to decipher just who was the person his future self was referring to. With those three words, Raiden and Liu Kang worked together with their allies to change the flow of events and consequences, even if a few were doomed to be repeated. Unfortunately, Raiden’s trouble in understanding what his future version meant by “he must win” caused him to make several judgemental and misplaced errors in his plans to avert Armageddon, and by the end, nearly every warrior from his side was killed, followed by Liu Kang losing his faith and trust and even after that, The Chosen One would be accidentally killed, his last words condemning Raiden for being the cause of all the disasters he was trying to avoid. Though Raiden realized that who "he must win" actually meant Shao by allowing him to merge Outworld and Earthrealm without consent, thus incurring the Elder Gods’ wrath and later defeating and killing the invasive tyrant, Raiden was left broken and jaded by all the mistakes and tragedies he went through, not helped by now having to prepare for a future invasion by Shinnok years later. Although he would also successfully stop the fallen Elder God with the help of old and new defenders, he would be corrupted by the Jinsei’s tainting via Shinnok attempting to use it to destroy the realms and decided to remodel himself as Dark Raiden, a lethal defender who would destroy other realms if they so much as threatened Earthrealm in any way. However, events perpetrated by Kronika, the Titan Keeper of Time, caused Dark Raiden to be erased from existence and be replaced by a past version who was in the midst of Shao’s Mortal Kombat tournament in Outworld. Realizing the stakes of the situation Kronika had created, Raiden opted to help out defenders, old and new as much as he could, ultimately culminating in his decision to merge with Liu Kang both to eliminate his Revenant iteration in the present and to bestow his apprentice with the powers of a god necessary to defeat Kronika, causing the emergence of Fire God Liu Kang. Although the process rendered him a mortal, Raiden was nevertheless happy and proud of his mentor for succeeding him and doing the best he could to ensure the peace and safety of the realms and is content to oversee his former apprentice and serve his role as a protector.
Given his primordial nature as a Thunder God, it is unclear when and how Raiden ascended into the Pantheon, but given his involvement in grand battles against Good, Evil, Chaos, and Order before an eventual ceasefire, it is clear that the Thunder God was one of the divine realms’ earliest deities to be properly recognized. As far as Raiden is concerned, so much time has passed since his involvement in the titanic wars the Pantheon endured that he is at peace with how there are now new developments and advancements going on, a welcoming sign of societal progress and peace, one that he is dedicated to overseeing and keeping preserved. Befitting of his status as a veteran warrior and possessing great knowledge over worlds, the Thunder God has been a close confidant of Cosmos, seeing her as a fellow deity worthy of praise and commitment, and continues to take Cosmos’s orders and advice in urgent situations. Regardless of whether they’re in an era of peace, dangers, and threats of growing villainous powers keep Raiden alert and he is determined to put a stop to them before they get out of hand, though fortunately, an ever-growing rate of heroes and defenders means Raiden can take some stress off and focus on his own needs, namely as a mentor who could look after and train them in the ways of kombat and discipline. The Thunder God hopes that his teachings and influence play a big part in the Pantheon and is more than willing to look after and mentor his newfound allies whenever he can manage it as a way of atoning for his past mistakes.
Befitting his reputation and status as a god, Raiden is a powerful warrior with incredible power and mastery of his electrokinetic capabilities. He is a proficient martial artist with centuries of combat experience and is quite flexible in using his electrical powers ranging from forming blasts and shockwaves to creating blades and barriers and even allowing for flight, though as someone who has chosen a physical avatar to interact with the realms directly, Raiden has much of his full power sealed, only being released if a situation proves too dire for him to manage, but as demonstrated earlier, the Thunder God gets around with his creativity and experience. Outside of kombat, the Thunder God, despite his awesome might and reputation, is a humble and polite man when met in person. He would normally either seek the least aggressive way of ending conflicts and troubles, regardless of whether he needs to use violence, take the time to contemplate and praise his allies, offer them advice and suggestions, and be willing to be on the front lines if it means protecting them. Overall, he is an honorable and considerate deity who has done enough to win the respect of many in the Pantheon, though Raiden makes it clear that regardless of his successes, his vast list of failures means that he still has a good deal to work on if he ever truly needs to feel that he's improved himself. Still, he is glad of the support he's had in the Pantheon and makes it clear that despite his ferocity in kombat, his first desire is to protect and mentor, above everything else.
On the subject of kombat, Raiden would personally see it as something that one must partake in if they feel the desire to protect the realms from threats and destruction, and considering his centuries-long experience, he has gathered a lot of allies from this as well as many enemies. Of course, he is proud to see that Liu Kang is willing to honor his master’s influence and actions upon becoming Fire Lord, though Raiden is still willing to fight and work alongside his apprentice to make the Pantheon a safe and better place. Along the way are further kombatants, defenders of Earthrealm, Outworld, Edenia, and other realms, chief among them being his younger brother and Wind God, Fujin. Raiden is happy to learn that he isn't alone and that most of his chosen warriors have a place in the divine realms and seeks to look after them anytime he can and while he is aware that many of his more personal foes, especially Shao and Shinnok are also in the Pantheon, Raiden can take solace in that he has far more allies capable of driving them back from causing further destruction and subjugation. On the other hand, former enemies like Kotal Kahn and Baraka have been working to rebuild and develop a working relationship with the Thunder God respectively, and while the latter admits that it would take some time to get adjusted due to his Tarkat influence, Raiden has confidence that Baraka can hopefully turn out to be a force for good in the future.
The Pantheon was all too familiar with the concept of fighting tournaments and competitions; Mortal Kombat happened to be among the more famous ones due to the grand scope of its result, something that Raiden has no pride in expressing despite being a notable combatant in. The House of Fighting and Combat was a major distributor for tournaments and was a place that many fighters would often compete and train in, a very quick observation Raiden made during its early years. Fortunately, the House, alongside most tournaments, was settled non-lethally and Raiden is sometimes called to observe battles and to offer his thoughts. He's since become a notable and popular presence thanks to his words of encouragement towards most fighters and for being fair and reasonable in conversing about how battles should be settled. He likes the World Martial Arts Tournament for being genuine and authentic about their fighters and even struck an Odd Friendship with Mark Satan, finding his goofy attitude to be humorous and sensing that beneath his nervous and shrewd demeanor, he has a good heart, something that the champion has greatly appreciated.
- While he is aware that there are enthusiastic and good-hearted tournament announcers and hosts, Raiden is disgruntled at how many in the Pantheon are still malicious and cruel figures who only host them for either self-serving or ruinous purposes and being reminded of Shao makes the Thunder God incredibly irked. Of the villainous hosts he's met in the Pantheon, he despises Cell above most, seeing him as an abomination far worse than anything made by the Cyber Lin Kuei and makes it clear that he intends to destroy the omnicidal bio-android before he even tries to host tourneys and follow them up of terrifying and killing people for enjoyment’s sake. Cell merely scoffed at Raiden, though admitted that he could pack a punch when the latter did confront and do battle against the former at one point and looks forward to meeting the Thunder God again for another good fight, a sentiment that Raiden does not share kindly. He also disliked Rugal Bernstein, Heihachi Mishima, and M. Bison for being overly ambitious in their evil, feeling that Rugal and Bison were unnatural threats that were too depraved to be left out at any moment and just being disappointed at Heihachi for being an awful parent and paying the price for it through his son, Kazuya, whom the Thunder God treats with wary and caution due to his connection to the Devil Gene. Finally, while not necessarily tournament Hosts nor truly evil, Raiden wasn't a fan of Wiz and Boomstick’s battle simulations, finding them uninspiring and too juvenile, considering the premise of “who is the most powerful combatant”. He doesn't care that he lost to Thor in one such simulation, but he does feel that Wiz and Boomstick are too obsessed with their supposed research to do anything else that would be more productive in his eyes.
- Suffice it to say, Raiden is not fond of gladiatorial hostings and matches, given how they're almost exactly like the Mortal Kombat tournaments he participates in. To him, it's just over-glorifying the idea of killing others and making yourself feel superior, and given how Shang and Shao were much like this, his critical judgment about it is understandable according to many. Raiden immediately felt disdain and revulsion towards Mongul, finding his gladiator matches to be disgusting and not unlike the tourneys Shao held, and given the vast depravity the ruler of Warworld has shown, the Thunder God has no compunctions about killing him if necessary. Similarly, while he pities Shiro Kanzaki for wanting to save his sister, he feels that the Rider War held in 2003 was rather excessive and makes it clear that he doesn't approve of it. Takeshi Asakura, a participant said Rider War was worse, being a serial killer who only joined for the sake of fighting and killing others. In a way, Asakura reminded Raiden of Kano thanks to their remorselessness about their actions and for being opportunistic fiends, except Asakura wanted nothing in the way of an alliance, only blood and glory and the Thunder God, again, is willing to kill him if he ever dares to endanger lives to satisfy his murderous urges. Fortunately, Raiden has found new friends in two other Rider War participants, namely Shinji Kido and Ren Akiyama, citing the two as brave and capable warriors and while fighting isn't everything they focus on, the Thunder God supports their desires to lead a normal and healthy life, even if they're willing to use their Rider powers if necessary. Raiden does hope to mentor and support Shinji and Ren as much as he can, however.
Given what he has gone through and what he has witnessed, Raiden has a great deal of respect for warriors who were just as compassionate and charitable as they were powerful and skilled, seeing them as worthy of their reputation. Fujin and Kuai Liang did tell him that he was likely projecting his view towards Liu Kang based on this, to which Raiden confirmed such as stating that if this was the case, then he would have a reason for why he would approve of them. One figure that Raiden came to really like was Son Goku, a Saiyan with a passionate streak of fighting, yet had a level of charm and enthusiasm that won him many friends and has built himself up to be a defender of Earth and even his universe. Although Raiden found his desire for battle a little bit awkward, especially considering Goku did want to fight Raiden and Liu Kang on their first visit, they still got along rather well and Raiden desires to instill some lessons for Goku to ensure he doesn't make the same mistakes he did. The Saiyan warrior affirmed that he was aware of the dangers being a defender can entail, but thanked the Thunder God for his concern. It helps that both he and Goku are on good terms with Mr. Satan and are willing to fight against Cell together if need be. Raiden also has a level of respect for fighters like Ryu and Kasumi for their spirited nature and a desire to do the right thing, even if he expresses caution for the former struggling to keep hold of the Satsui no Hado. While not fond of gladiatorial games, the Thunder God has given his approval to Shinji Kido and Ren Akiyama for their combat capability and striving for a good cause even with all the hardship that came with being a participant in a deathmatch.
Given his own experience as a mentor, Raiden is seen as an honorary patron for the House of Legacy and Influence and he enjoys his time there as it means he can relax and even find a few warriors he could impart some advice to. He is aware that there are evil deities who dwell in the House, but they're fortunately too absorbed in their ambitions to be of direct interference and Raiden can personally deal with them elsewhere. He became very good friends with Obi-Wan Kenobi thanks to their relatability as powerful and trustworthy mentors and even bonded over being burdened by their failures. There's also the fact that the two of them were members of an influential and powerful order that wound up becoming incredibly flawed, to which Raiden and Obi-Wan admitted that had they been a bit more proactive, they likely would have been able to stop the threats they were fighting against for so long. As for the Skywalkers, Raiden is one of the few to be on good tabs with Anakin, even if he's aware of his alter-ego of Darth Vader, believing that his redemption is genuine and he can prove it to the Pantheon and is a staunch supporter of Luke as he reminds the Thunder God of Liu Kang and is willing to help him in imparting some wisdom, rebuilding the Jedi Order, and protecting the divine realms, with Luke being thankful for Raiden's support. Finally, having personally met Batman before, Raiden, in addition to knowing of his true identity as Bruce Wayne, has approved of his support of his sidekicks, namely Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne. The Thunder God is a bit wary of their occupations, especially given Gotham City's corrupted nature, their nature of getting into incredibly dangerous situations, and the latter's precocious youth, but given how they've proven themselves to be capable and effective in their heroic actions, Raiden is confident that they could prove themselves worthy of being the Dark Knight's successors.
Despite being a god, Raiden admits that he is far more attuned to humanity than a usual deity would, helped by the fact that he opted to directly participate in Mortal Kombat and take a human guise to do so. While Fujin is more open about his interest in humanity, Raiden supports his younger brother for his stance and he sees a lot of potential in humanity despite his godhood. To that end, he has a great deal of appreciation for the Houses of Death and Postmortem and Life and Vitality as both of them have a theme in mortality means Raiden can interpret such as a reminder of how valuable a human life can be. He's also aware of the responsibilities godhood can have and respects some deities for trying to hold on to that. This is how he became friends with Asura as despite his fearsome reputation of being someone defined by his absolute rage, he was a being who sought justice for his daughter Mithra and would sacrifice his own life if it meant giving his little girl a happy life, and the Thunder God saw that as a noble attribute. A similar sentiment is also shared with Sigmar Heldenhammer, a man who started as a noble barbarian before he became a source of hope for his tribesman and proved enough influence to create an Empire and later become a powerful god with powers over lightning. Both warriors commend each other for their bravery and while Sigmar is sympathetic to the sacrifices Raiden went through, the God-Emperor asserts that he still has people counting on him, which the Elder God nodded with approval.
- Having seen the apathy and inactivity of the Elder Gods one too many times and feeling that their lack of action has led to much strife and misery throughout the realms, Raiden developed a very critical perspective on his kin in at least two timelines, both of which saw him snap and becoming Dark Raiden, feeling that he needs to take a proactive stance in defending Earthrealm, even if it meant threatening the destruction of other realms to ensure such. This cynicism towards the gods is something he would have in common with Kratos, the Ghost of Sparta, who would not agree with Dark Raiden’s methods given how oppression was something very much used by the Greek Gods Kratos knew. Fortunately, Raiden and Kratos were unlikely friends as the former was one of the few who sympathized and offered a measure of respect for the latter, a gesture the Ghost of Sparta was surprised by. With more recent events seeing Kratos take on a more active approach to heroism and benevolence, his friendship with Raiden has since strengthened and both have supported each other for taking steps to better their worldview perspectives and defending the Pantheon. On the other hand, Zamasu was a former Kai who, like Raiden, developed grievances for his fellow kind for their inactivity, but instead of reeling back and realizing the extremity of his ways, he doubled down on them becoming a genocidal, deluded narcissist who wouldn't stop his ambitions until all whom he deemed mortals were exterminated, though he admitted that Dark Raiden impressed him to some degree by taking matters into his own hands. Raiden was shocked and disgusted by Zamasu for multiple reasons, most of all how he thought that genocide would genuinely lead to peace as well as the possibility of Dark Raiden being compared to him. Needless to say, Raiden has made it clear that the fallen Kai would die by his hands if they ever met while Zamasu considers the Thunder God a lost cause for simply taking up support for mortals when he should ideally be punishing them for “abusing” their gift of intelligence, which Raiden wasn't to listen to.
- Raiden is glad to see that not only does the Pantheon have a collection of benevolent gods who are more than supportive of their followers and many of the divine realm’s heroes, but also be willing to take action and be on the front lines if they can if it means they need additional support and a winning hand. Given how he's one of the Pantheon’s earlier beings, the Thunder God serves as one of Cosmos’s earliest and most trusted allies and has been a key participant in a good deal of battles where the Goddess of Good served as the main leader. With the Pantheon now in an age of relative peace and further development, it was through Cosmos’s advice that Raiden took to mentoring a new generation of warriors to prepare them for battle, but he also intends for them to lead lives of their own and hopefully, one where battles and wars don't mean everything. Among other gods who have gained the Thunder God’s favor and support were Mata Nui, Palutena, and Highfather, all of whom have aided Raiden at various points in the Pantheon and have worked together as a unifying force for fellow heroes and innocent civilians. Orion, the New God of War, similarly sees Raiden as a potential mentor and seeks to train under him as a way to better control his inner rage and bloodlust, and though the Thunder God retains his caution, he is more than willing to help a fellow god out in overcoming their personal issues and the two are confident that they could work well as comrades in arms, given their dedication to fight for a better world and sharing a good deal of mutual allies.
- If there were going to be benevolent deities in the Pantheon, then there was no shortage of malevolent gods either, and Raiden knew this would happen and took the time to prepare for the occasion he had to encounter and battle against one. While he has met Darkseid before and is aware of the vast power he holds, the Thunder God also had to contend against someone like Chakravartin, a supreme god who was completely apathetic and careless about the strife of the world, even being willing to destroy the universe and recreate it if he felt bored. The sheer lack of concern and care he held for creation, especially given his occupation as a creator, infuriated Raiden as this was something unexpected and completely against the line for a creator deity and although Chakravartin generally doesn't care much for the Thunder God, this is not a mutual feeling for Raiden as he is in support of Asura for putting a stop to Chakravartin’s actions as quickly as possible. He also sees Griffith and the Godhand as a perversion of godhood, given their origin of becoming one, and cites them as a dark parallel for Liu Kang, as while his protege became a god out of necessity and proved to be a benevolent force of good, the Godhand, especially Griffith, only did so for more power and influence and eagerly enjoy bringing misery to the world, and lastly, Nagash, despite his mortal origin, is more similar to Shinnok than anything else, namely wanting to destroy all life just to make themselves feel superior and uncaring of anybody, regardless of loyalty or opposition. Thankfully, Raiden’s growing list of allies meant that more enemies didn't make his presence in the Pantheon too stressful, even if he makes it clear he is more than willing to fight them if necessary.
As a God of Thunder, Raiden is inclined to serve as an honorary patron for the Hall of Electricity and serve as an overseer there in the hopes that he could keep in check anyone with similar powers as he does. Raiden personally has no objections to such and generally visits the place to either train himself or to meditate and clear his mind, feeling that he must temper his wisdom and balance it with positive emotions like love and trust to be the best version of himself. Generally, most deities stay clear of the Thunder God, except for Eneru and Electro, both of whom feel that their presence is being intimidated and disturbed and the two have tried to attack Raiden on separate occasions. The Thunder God himself has nothing to say but disappointment towards Eneru for being an abusive and uncaring ruler much like Shao and towards Electro for failing to realize his potential and wasting his life on petty crime like Kano. On the other hand, Thor, a fellow God of Thunder, has nothing but respect for Raiden as do the electrokinetic superhero duo Static and Black Lightning, all of whom either see him as a worthy ally to work and fight alongside or as a potential mentor and teacher. Finally, despite their vast differences, Raiden respects Gunvolt for valuing compassion and trying to do the right thing despite his occupation as an assassin and even finds Pikachu to be an endearing creature given its playful nature and expressing loyalty towards anyone it sees as a compatible partner, with the Thunder God sometimes offering the Mouse Pokémon company in his domain.
- Sometime during the advancement age of the Pantheon, Raiden once discharged a strong electric blast during a battle against Cell, its power being vast enough to shock the skies for a brief moment. Although the battle ended in a stalemate with Cell retreating and Raiden recuperating from his wounds and exhaustion, he would receive a visitor who came to him after noticing said blast and catching its curiosity. As it turned out, the visitor was the Legendary Pokémon, Raikou, who while trotting through an open field, recognized that such an attack could only be released by someone worthy of submitting to as a partner and decided to investigate. Sensing the Thunder God’s power and authority, the Thunder Pokémon very quickly judged Raiden to be someone worthy of siding alongside and gave him a growl of approval. Raiden himself was surprised by the beast’s gesture, but accepted the Legendary Pokémon nevertheless, and once he recovered from his prior battle, the Thunder God decided to train and travel alongside his newfound companion, hoping to learn more about Raikou as well as further their potential bond. Over time, Raikou and Raiden became close partners, with the Thunder Pokémon very openly being affectionate and loyal towards his partner and the two have been noted to be a very powerful duo capable of shattering the skies with their electrical powers if they so desired, causing them to inspire an aura of awe and dread towards many.
The weight of losing his friends and potentially almost dooming the world due to poor decision-making and lack of foresight weighed heavily on Raiden's mind, even if most of his allies were alive and well in the Pantheon. Even if some of his newfound allies, such as Thor could share this mutual grief, the Thunder God of Earthrealm stated that he needs to be very much careful and considerate about his comrades and his actions. It's one thing he shares with anyone who dons the Spider-Man mantle with Peter Parker being all too familiar with having to deal with enough suffering and develop a Guilt Complex over not stopping his foes in time and saving his loved ones. Raiden himself was observant enough to realize Spider-Man’s usually annoying wisecracks were one of his ways to deal with his issues and the Thunder God has since been one of the more tolerant figures regarding this, and though he is t one for humor, he and Peter have a measure of respect for each other and he’s also placed his faith and support for Miles Morales and an alternate version of Gwen Stacy, though he does want to make the effort of then having to grow past their feelings of guilt. Of course, Raiden is all too aware that there are many deities in the Pantheon who struggle to deal with excessive guilt and while he does seem to at least offer words of advice to help them out, knowing that he can't be within his company all the time, he is worried whether he's doing enough, which is something that Liu Kang told him not to stress on it too much and to simply put enough faith in himself and do the best he could.
While Dark Raiden isn't seen (or at least recognized) in the Pantheon most of the time, Raiden himself does worry about the possibility of either encountering or becoming a more unscrupulous version of himself who will unhesitantly kill his oppressors and destroy an entire world to keep his own realm safe. He understands that his desire to protect the realms and acknowledge his comrades would remain, but he doesn't condone outright destruction and death as punishment nor resurrecting fallen souls solely under his servitude as Dark Raiden is shown doing and in the event a certain version shows up in the divine realms, Raiden will make it an effort to either convince them to step down or stop Dark Raiden with brute force if kombat is the only way to settle their dispute. This is also a reason why Raiden keeps tabs on Ryu and Jin Kazama as being all too familiar with one’s darker side means he wants to genuinely help Ryu and Jin out in managing and controlling their bad seeds. While Ryu is open to accepting Raiden’s help and support, Jin was more difficult to deal with as he is willing to kickstart a war to see if anyone possesses enough power to kill him and his father, Kazuya, all in the hopes of destroying the thread of the Devil Gene that both possess and is normally aloof and distant from Raiden’s advice and desire to help. Despite their inner demons, the Thunder God does desire that Jin may find peace and overcome the Devil Gene at some point.
Given the situation regarding timelines and his situation with one thanks to the actions of Kronika, Raiden often visits the House of Time and Temporality to look out for any potential time divergences that could threaten the Pantheon and closely works with the Pantheonic Time Police as their dedication to keeping the main timeline secure and their reputation reminds the Thunder God of Earthrealm’s Special Forces. Befitting of their circumstances, he and Future Trunks have a good friendship and the latter is eager to work alongside a powerful and benevolent god who understands the stress and importance of protecting one’s world and similarly sharing the grief of losing their realms and friends, allowing the half-Saiyan and god to understand one another better than others would. The feeling is also mutual for Barry Allen and while the events of Flashpoint were of his own doing, he realized his mistake and tried to rectify it as much as he could and he is in support of Raiden’s efforts of protecting Earthrealm, even if he prefers to try ending conflicts without casualties. The Thunder God has seen himself battling against the Time Breakers on more than a few occasions though his main concern lies on The Devourer who acted much like Kronika in supposedly trying to keep the timeline stable but was trying to create a timestream that only ‘’he’’ liked, destroying and killing anyone who either dared to oppose him or cause some kind of alteration The Devourer didn't like, which caused enough concern for Raiden to confront and fight the omnicidal beast a couple of times. This was also the case with Lavos, a Planetary Parasite that judges life and morality through a twisted belief of strength and believing all life to be undeserving to live before they're all weaker than itself and proved invasive enough to be inhabiting and projecting its consciousness through several versions in different timestreams. Such was Lavos’s threat that Raiden opted for desperate to travel back in time specifically to combat the parasite and ensure the threat Lavos poses is neutralized.
Even without the Pantheon, Raiden has been through different worlds with completely different kinds of figures, events, and deities. It's this way that he became acquainted with the DC Universe and is a frequent contact with the Justice League, even acting as an honorary member of its Dark iteration. Of course, this was how he came to learn about Darkseid, who collaborated with and eventually merged with Shao to become Dark Kahn, threatening two different sets of multiverses and forcing the League and realm defenders to work together to defeat him. With Darkseid still projecting an ominous presence and influence throughout the cosmos and inevitably, the Pantheon, Raiden is more than willing to either destroy or banish the Lord of Tyranny, clearly aware of his terrifying power and his endlessly dark ambitions of subjecting all of existence to his control and rulership. Darkseid personally sees the Thunder God as one of his more notable foes outside the New Gods and the Justice League and is eager to crush Raiden to get back at his loss of conquering Earthrealm. Although they haven't met before, Raiden intends to keep track of Galeem and Dharkon after learning of their aim to envelop a collection of merged worlds through absolute light and darkness respectively, and figuring that they want conquest and destruction for their own sake, not to mention correctly guessing that they wouldn't stop there either, and are all too willing to target Earthrealm, the other realms, and the entirety of the Pantheon if they can. For that, the Thunder God is preparing for the moment he has to face off against Galeem and Dharkon in the future, knowing that it would be a difficult endeavor for him and his allies to go through, but would carry on anyway for the safety of the Pantheon and all of its inhabitants.
After the formation of Fire God Liu Kang and the defeat of Kronika, Raiden has since been reformed as a mortal. While a lot weaker, this iteration was given a normal, healthier life allowing him to stand out in comparison to his previous godly self despite being a martial arts master who still possessed electrokinesis. The mortal Raiden was Liu Kang's chosen champion who proved himself the best fighter Earthrealm has after defeating Outworld's strongest warriors in a tournament to prove the former realm as a worthy world who could prove themselves capable in combat. It was a strange paradox that two versions of Raiden existed, but it seems nothing troublesome has come out of it, much to the relief of both. Both iterations have a good friendship with Madoka Kaname who, surprisingly, had an inversive tale, namely a mortal becoming a god. The Thunder God has known the Magical Girl goddess for a good while and has always been supportive of Madoka's desires and ability to spread hope, while mortal Raiden senses that while she is a benevolent deity, he seeks Madoka to mentor him in the ways of wisdom, hoping to further understand why she was loved and revered in the Pantheon as well as personally learn more about Madoka's kind and the Pantheon at large. On another note, while the Thunder God pities Homura Akemi for taking a darker approach to her actions out of love and desperation, something he knows all too well regarding the latter, mortal Raiden is understandably more cautious and seeks to better train and strengthen himself before he could consider fighting against the fallen Magical Girl, even if he also pities her motives and desires. On a related note, versions of Raiden have also become well-acquainted with the Radiant Goddess and Ghaleon, the former having been through both mortality and godhood and the latter for seeing potential in humanity after initially being aloof towards them and choosing to guide them in his way, with Raiden being open to working alongside them.
- While the Thunder God was commanding and authoritative despite being rather cordial and nice for a deity, the mortal Raiden, in stark contrast, is an incredibly humble man. So humble that when Liu Kang approached him with the invitation to become his champion, Raiden stated that he was content enough with just working on an ordinary farm, despite possessing great talent. He's so humble that he doesn't really enjoy victories and becoming popular all that much. Still, he does disagree with his patron god's reason for giving him an ordinary life, namely to wash away the anger within him that could turn him into Dark Raiden, even if he understands why Liu Kang did it, feeling that it is better to train and channel that anger when necessary than to be completely away from it. His background has a lot in common with a few well-known heroes in the Pantheon, namely Superman and Grandmaster Skywalker, with the former having known Raiden even before the Pantheon and the latter being supportive of either version for their desire to help and retain their integrity for good. The mortal Raiden greatly enjoys Clark and Luke's company and admits that he would like to learn from the two of them to see how much could his powers and awareness of the divine realms increase, though efforts have been made by Raiden's friends to be a little indulgent and prideful for his actions, though not to a selfish degree, and to varying results at that.

"I look forward to meeting again, in the next timeline."

Pantheon / Despondency

The Melancholia Matrons

The Mediators of Grief

Previous

Index

Next

Pantheon / Despondency

Edit Locked

The Melancholia Matrons

The Mediators of Grief

Previous

Index

Next