Rain



"The Edenian race is descended from the gods. That is the reason for our longevity, our nobility, and our strength. But I am more than a distant relation to the deities of old. I am a direct descendant of Argus himself."

- Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Bio

Rain is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He made his debut in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

About Rain
Rain was originally meant to appear in Mortal Kombat 3, but didn't actually appear until Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Rain was originally a red herring inserted by the game developers; a character shown in the game's intro sequence who did not actually exist within the game itself. Many MK fans searched for him in vain, with the eventual realization of his status as a joke character (named after a Prince song, Purple Rain) dawning. The joke expands further when it is revealed that Rain is a "prince" himself. He would, however, soon make an actual appearance in the console versions of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat Trilogy as a full-fledged character with his own history (that of a traitor to his realm), and move set, to the delight of many fans, as well as the chagrin of others. His popularity is mixed within the MK fanbase.

Storyline
Rain is from the ancient realm of Edenia. As a little boy, he bore witness to the invasion of his home world at the hands of Shao Kahn. During the chaos that ensued, Rain was smuggled away while his father stayed behind to perform his duties as a general in the Edenian army. Edenia's armies were crushed in the Outworld invasion, and Rain's father was subsequently killed by Kahn.

Thousands of years later, Rain mysteriously returned during the invasion of Earthrealm and was attacked by Kahn's extermination squads. Given the choice to fight for Kahn or be killed, he knowingly turned his back on his homeworld, and he chose to side with Shao Kahn. Either out of fear, cowardice, or ulterior motives, he aided Kahn in his plans for the conquest of Earthrealm. Trained in the art of kombat, Rain fought whole-heartedly to destroy Earth's warriors.

As Rain has not appeared as a playable character in years, and Deadly Alliance offered no insights to his current whereabouts, details about Rain's fate remain unknown. His Mortal Kombat Trilogy ending stated that Kitana confronted Rain and was able to turn him against the Emperor by informing Rain of his father, an Edenian general's stand against Shao Kahn leading to his subsequent death. After learning this, Rain was furious, and embarked on a one-way suicide mission to stop Kahn.

Rain appears as a non-playable character in Mortal Kombat: Deception, in Konquest mode. He can be found in both Edenia and Outworld, and is involved in two separate sub-quests to be undertaken by Shujinko. In the second sub-quest, Rain is shown to have been slain by Jade. It is uncertain how many different events taking place in Konquest mode are canon.

During the events of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Rain learned of his true Edenian heritage. Quan Chi informed Rain that he is actually a direct descendant to Argus, the protector god of Edenia. Rain then started to refer to himself as a prince of the realm, as seen in Armageddon's Konquest mode, but he still chooses to fight on the side of evil, although he no longer serves Shao Kahn. He wishes to kill both Taven and Daegon in order to be able to win the ultimate prize and power promised from defeating Blaze. Rain confronts Taven in Arctika, but he is beaten in battle, eventually escaping in a watery portal.

In Rain's Armageddon ending, it is revealed that he is actually the half-brother of Taven and Daegon, being the son of Argus whose identity his father had tried to keep hidden. Imbued with the power of Blaze after defeating him, Rain becomes a full god, and Argus proclaims him as the new Protector of Edenia. However, Rain instead uses this power to enslave the realm. Argus, having ascended to the status of Elder God after Rain's own ascension, is unable to stop him.

Biographies

 * Mortal Kombat Trilogy: "Born of Kitana's former world of Edenia, Rain was smuggled away from the realm as a small child shortly after Shao Kahn's take over. Thousands of years later he resurfaced. His allegiance belonging to Kahn, he chose to betray his homeland rather than suffer at the hands of Kahn's extermination Squads."


 * Rain06.jpgArmageddon Bio Kard: "Although the blood of Edenian royalty flows through his veins, Rain is a traitor to his realm. When faced with the prospect of death at the hands of Shao Kahn, he offered his allegiance to the emperor and betrayed his homeland."


 * Armageddon: "The Edenian race is descended from the gods. That is the reason for our longevity, our nobility, and our strength. But I am more than a distant relation to the deities of old. I am a direct descendant of Argus himself. Only recently have I discovered my royal heritage. Quan Chi, an emissary of Shinnok, revealed to me that I am entitled to great power and control of Edenia. My father hid my identity for fear it would complicate his plans for succession. He favored his sons Daegon and Taven and groomed them to one day replace him as Protector of Edenia. But he foolishly tied this plan to a quest to save the realms from Armageddon, leaving open an opportunity for me to seize the power that is rightfully mine. Though it seems the Forces of Light seek to steal the prize from me, Quan Chi has made plans to assure my victory. He and his allies will help fend off the Forces of Light as I make my way to Blaze. But before this final battle, I must ensure that Taven and Daegon cannot challenge my ascension. I will finish them both before they complete their quest."

Power and abilities
Being the half-god he is, Rain wields immense power. Rain can control two things that involve weather: water and lightning. His powers being related to such, he is able to fire jet streams of water to either propel himself or attack opponents. In addition, he is able to conjure up lightning blasts from the sky to blast his opponents into the air.

Memorable moves

 * Mind Control Orb: Rain projects a light-blue sphere at his opponent, which shatters as it hits. A successful hit allows Rain to move his opponent's body in any direction for a brief time. (MKT)
 * Shocking Bolt: Rain raises his arm and summons a blue lightning bolt to strike his enemy. This attack was borrowed by Nightwolf in Deception. (MKT, MK:A)Bscap0024.jpg
 * Super Roundhouse: Rain roundhouses his opponent clear to the other side of the screen. Connecting with a second Super Roundhouse immediately after the first will not send the opponent back across the screen, meaning an infinite Super Roundhouse combo is impossible, despite rumors to the contrary. However, if a punch is landed on the midair opponent, then the effects of the Roundhouse return, allowing for an infinite combo all the same, if timed correctly. (MKT)
 * Water Blast: Rain shoots a high-pressure stream of water at his adversary, similar to the MKBscap0025.jpg comic warrior Hydro, knocking them down. (MK:A)
 * Mystic Vapors: Rain submerges himself in a small pool of water and emerges behind his opponent. (MK:A)
 * Windy Feet: Rain propels himself forward with a blast of water from behind, kicking his opponent in the chest with both feet. (MK:A)

Fatalities

 * Upside Down Uppercut: Rain uppercuts his opponent into the air in several sections and they fall back down upside down. (MKT)
 * When Lightning Strikes: Rain sends a bolt of lightning that strikes the opponent over and over until they explode to pieces. (MKT)

Other finishers

 * Friendship: Rain makes it rain around his opponent causing a few flowers to grow at their feet. (MKT)
 * Friendship # 2: Rain lets out an umbrella and starts flying straight up. This can be only done in the Game Boy Advance.
 * Animality: Rain turns into an elephant and blows his opponent's skin off their body by yelling out of its trunk. (MKT)

Endings

 * Mortal Kombat Trilogy: (Non-Canonical) "Rain fights valiantly for the emperor Shao Kahn. But it would be Kahn's own step daughter, the Princess Kitana, who turns Rain against him. Like Kitana, Rain's origins also come form their former realm of Edenia. He learns that his father was once a general in Edenia's army and died at the hands of Shao Kahn himself. Enraged at the truth of his history, he joins Kitana in aligning with the Earthrealm warriors. But his allegiance comes under question when he mysteriously disappears during an extermination squad attack. To prove his loyalty, he embarked on a suicide mission to destroy Shao Kahn and end the menace once and for all."


 * Armageddon: (Non-Canonical) "The half-brother of Taven and Daegon, Rain, absorbed the power of Blaze and became a full god. I had not anticipated that the victor would be the son whose true identity I have hidden for so long. I bestowed the title of Protector of Edenia on Rain, but my pride in my son was misplaced. He uses his power to enslave Edenia. And now that I have ascended to Elder God status, I am forbidden to stop him.

Movie appearance


Played by Tyrone Cortez Wiggins, Rain made a brief appearance in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. He was killed by Shao Kahn at a relatively early stage in the film, for allowing Kabal and Kurtis Stryker to live, when Shao Kahn knocks him into a fire pit using his Wrath Hammer. This abrupt end, before any display of Rain's fighting or magical abilities, was seen by fans as an example of the film's inability to deal properly with the large number of characters introduced within its running time. It is implied that Rain was the general of Shao Kahn's extermination squads, ranking higher than Motaro, Sheeva and Ermac, as all three contend to fill the role after Rain's death (a role eventually awarded to Sindel). This, however, contradicts Raiden's threat of killing all four of Kahn's "generals" at the start of the movie. Stock footage of Rain's demise is used for Baraka's death in a later scene.

TV appearance
Rain made an appearance during one episode of Mortal Kombat: Conquest where he was played by Percy Brown. Shao Kahn sends him to kill Kung Lao so as to eliminate Earth's Grand Champion before the next tournament. Rain does battle with the monk, whom he is able to damage greatly, but Rain also becomes injured during the fight. As Kung Lao's friends arrive, Rain escapes in his weakened state. He appears later in the episode after being trailed by Siro. While the two are in combat, Kitana intervenes, forcing Rain to flee once again. Kitana then reveals that she and Rain were once 'close', but he had become seduced by the power offered by Shao Kahn and chose to betray his homeland of Edenia.

Rain has also appeared in an episode Skin Deep of the animated Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm series. He was portrayed as Kitana's ex-fiance who was thought to have been killed in battle against Shao Kahn thousands of years ago, sparking jealousy in Liu Kang. He went unmasked throughout this entire episode.

Trivia
Mortal Kombat: Deception:
 * Rain_mkdk.jpg Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, Rain was once engaged to Kitana, causing Liu Kang to become jealous whenever he made an appearance. Rain's former relationship with Kitana was also included in Mortal Kombat: Conquest. The relationship between them has never existed in the games.
 * One of the codes activated the message: "Rain can be found in the graveyard."
 * Although Rain could be considered a joke character, considering his pointless role in the arcade version and the fact that he has appeared Unmasked-rain.jpg only a few games, he has a large fanbase..
 * Rain's roundhouse kick sends the opponent flying off the screen and back on the other side. However, it only does about one-third as much damage as anyone else's roundhouse kick.
 * His bio, before it was retconned, had him as an ex-member of the Lin Kuei who left to work for Shao Kahn. This bio was allegedly given to Tremor, a difference being that Tremor went to work for the Black Dragon instead of Shao Kahn.
 * In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Rain's Primary costume depicts him carrying a dagger on his waistline. This could be a reference to Mortal Kombat: Deception's Konquest mode, where Shujinko finds and delivers a ceremonial dagger to Rain. 
 * Despite making a cameo appearance in the new Mortal Kombat game, it is unknown if Rain will appear in that game on the initial roster. However, Ed Boon has mentioned the possibility of Rain as DLC on multiple occasions, indicating he may be among the first DLC characters released in Mortal Kombat (2011).
 * Rain's Fighting Stance is version of Reptile (in UMK3 Arcade and MKT N64), however, in MKT PC is version of Scorpion.
 * In a Top 10 list hosted by Screwattack.com, Rain was placed at #7 of the worst characters in the Mortal Kombat series.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon:
 * He is one of the characters that appear in a cell in the Dark Prison stage, while being trapped there, he sounds like a female character.
 * He is one of the characters that can be found running around and hiding in the krypt graveyard.
 * In konquest mode in the Chaosrealm, one of the chaos people has a backwards speech which states "Rain is purple, get it?"
 * In konquest mode in Edenia, when Jade defeats Rain, she says "Purple? Rain chooses his wardrobe most curiosly." This may be a play on "Purple Rain", or a humorous reference to Prince's wardrobe.
 * In Konquest mode, he can be found in Outworld, when you speak to him, he will ask you to search for a dagger.
 * A koncept art shows Rain battling what appears to be Sektor in one part of Liu Kang's tomb.
 * In early versions, Karate was supposed to be his unarmed fighting style.
 * Rain was shown with daggers but never used them in the game.
 * In gameplay, after Rain is defeated in the first round, he gets back up the same way as Noob except Rain uses a water teleport and Noob uses a shadow teleport.
 * He uses the same fighting style; Zi Ran Men that Tanya had in Deception.
 * His alternate costume is somewhat similar to his UMK3 appearance.

Character Relationships

 * Son of Argus.
 * Half-brother of Taven and Daegon.
 * Adoptive son of an Edenian general who was killed by Shao Kahn.
 * Joined Shao Kahn's forces.
 * Informed by Quan Chi that he is actually the son of Argus.
 * Tried to kill Taven and Daegon but was unsuccessful.
 * Joined the Forces of Darkness in the final battle in Armageddon.
 * Killed during Armageddon.

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