Raiden (Metal Gear)

"It's my turn to protect you."

- Raiden to Snake

"I learned young that killing your enemies felt good. Really good. In America, my friends, my family...they helped me forget the devil inside...but who am I kidding? I was born to kill! The bit about my sword, that "means of justice" stuff? I guess I just needed something to keep "the Ripper" in check when I was knee-deep in bodies..."

- Raiden embracing his "Jack the Ripper" persona

Raiden, real name Jack, is a Liberian-American special forces soldier responsible for resolving the 2009 Big Shell Incident as a new recruit to the reformed FOXHOUND unit. A former child soldier under Solidus Snake, Raiden had been selected by the Patriots to test the S3 Plan at the Big Shell. He later worked alongside the Paradise Lost Army in their anti-Patriot activities, but was captured and forced to undergo heavy cybernetic experimentation. After successfully escaping, Raiden went on to assist Solid Snake during Liquid Ocelot's Insurrection. He later joined the PMSC Maverick as a means to support his family, but re-entered the battlefield once more after Desperado ruined one of their missions, leaving him injured.

After which he became a cyborg, determined in bringing down Desperado, including quitting Maverick especially after they discovered that they were using the same AI training program on kidnapped children, like the one that was used on him in Liberia. Over the course of his quest, Raiden slowly begins to embrace his war criminal side, "Jack the Ripper" and becomes emotionally unstable and quite frankly, sadistic.

He is voiced by Quinton Flynn, who also voices Henry Cooldown.

History
Jack was born on a rainy day in Liberia. During his youth, in the turbulent period that was the Liberian Civil War, Jack was adopted by Solidus Snake, who became his godfather after he killed his parents. Jack was subsequently raised as a child soldier and later fought in the country's Civil War in 1989. He and other children were shown Hollywood action films daily for "image training," and were given food mixed with gunpowder containing toluene to make them more controllable. On one occasion, Jack was injected with an unknown substance during a physician's experiment. On another, Jack witnessed Solidus demonstrate to him that blades were a "noble weapon" compared to guns, by slitting another soldier's throat in front of him. Under Solidus Snake, Jack became a killing machine, known alternately as the "White Devil" and "Jack the Ripper" due to his incredibly high kill rate compared to other boys his age, as well as a reference to his being one of the few Caucasians born in Liberia. Armed with a gun at the age of six (he would later remember it as an AK rifle), as well as a knife, he proved to be a superior soldier, rising to become captain of the Small Boy Unit at ten. His skills with a bladed weapon, as well as his cruelty in dispatching enemies with them, was another reason for his "Ripper" nickname.

After the war ended, Solidus had him placed in a relief center, although the relief center was reluctant to put Jack into a foster family because they feared he would be too much trouble for the family. Eventually, without Solidus' knowledge, he was later removed by a non-governmental organization and taken to the United States. Raiden (and presumably other surviving members of the Small Boy Unit) then underwent extensive amounts of counseling before becoming at least outwardly stable. There, Jack came into the hands of the Patriots, who implanted his cerebral cortex with a high concentration of nanomachines, in order to have him function as a back-up system for an optic-neuro AI. The Patriots chose him out of the other child soldiers in his unit because unlike the others, who would live up to their pasts and pay dearly for it, Jack did not accept his past and hated it. The same nanomachines were also capable of memory manipulation by connecting or stimulating synapses, primarily nerve sections in the dormant part of the brain. In addition, Raiden was not listed under any of the United States databases (e.g. the FBI, NSA, CIA, etc.)

Jack would grow up to suppress the memories about his terrible childhood, burying the memories of his bloody past, though he still suffered from nightmares of his past nearly every night. Now living a life in the United States, Jack joined the military where his admirable skills were at first recognized by the U.S. Army's Task Force XXI, although unlike other members of Force XXI, he was not involved in the Genome trials. From there he participated in three hundred VR simulations, including re-creations of the Shadow Moses Incident and the Tanker Incident. He had eventually left the Force XXI group by January 20, 2007.

On April 30, 2007, Jack met Rosemary after transferring to Fort Hamilton at New York City, and had an argument about King Kong. After they parted ways, they met again afterwards, shocked that they worked in the same place. Eventually, Jack grew to love Rose deeply, but his harsh experiences had left him melancholic and emotionally distant, and he constantly shut her out of his problems. In large part because of his PTSD-induced nightmares, he also refused to sleep next to Rose out of fear of hurting her. Most times when they did get together, he either stayed awake all night or otherwise left Rose's place, and he wouldn't let her in his bedroom. This eventually cumulated in Rose entering his room without his permission, which was devoid of any personal objects save for a bed and a desk. However, all of this drama was a ruse by the Patriots to gain more control over Jack's life, with Rosemary acting as a spy.

Sometime prior to the Big Shell Incident, Jack was recruited into the supposedly reformed FOXHOUND, a special forces unit that no longer officially existed. One of his "training sessions" at "FOXHOUND" was at Fort Polk, within a mock Afghan village.

Sons of Liberty
At the beginning of the Big Shell mission, Jack was briefly referred to as "Snake" before his codename was changed to "Raiden" by the Colonel, as the leader of the terrorists was also referring to himself as Solid Snake. Prior to being dispatched, Raiden's superiors also removed his natural blood, placed it in cold storage, and replaced it with a nanite filled blood substitute instead. On his way to the Big Shell, he also found that the oil fence had a recently-cut hole, implying that someone other than him had managed to sneak in. He later revealed this to the Colonel, who was surprised, since there wasn't supposed to be anyone other than Raiden who should have infiltrated the base. His suspicions that there was another intruder were quickly confirmed, as he entered a room full of knocked out guards and caught a glimpse of the man as he ascended in an elevator. Raiden took to the mission with some hesitation, claiming to have only been trained in VR missions (some of which didn't cover vital materials such as disposing of C4).

Raiden later met up with Iroquois Pliskin, a Lieutenant Junior Grade with the U.S. Navy SEALs, who had saved Raiden from being ambushed by Vamp. He later witnessed the deaths of Seal Team 10's Bravo Unit at the hands of Fortune. Raiden later met Peter Stillman, although their meeting occurred awkwardly when Raiden mistook the latter for a bomber at work and held him up, and was tasked alongside Pliskin to freeze the detonators of C4 to ensure they at least weren't an immediate threat. After quelling the C4 threat (an event that ultimately cost Stillman his life), he later encountered the bomber responsible for the C4 plantings, Fatman, and defeated him as well as quelled his ultimate C4 package, although not before the latter hinted at the $30 billion ransom being false information planted by the Patriots for the S3 Plan. Raiden later was told to seek out Richard Ames in the Shell 1 core, and ultimately found him after bypassing security measures and disguising himself, although Ames eventually died from a heart aneurysm, and was nearly captured until the cyborg ninja known only as Mr. X attacked the soldiers. During an encounter with Solidus Snake, Pliskin was revealed to Raiden and Solidus to be the real Solid Snake, who had faked his death two years prior during the Tanker Incident. Raiden eventually learned of the Patriots' existence, as well as the development of Arsenal Gear, an enormous warship for which the Big Shell acted as a disguise. He also rescued Arsenal's AI engineer Emma Emmerich and attempted to escort her to safety, although she was later killed by Vamp despite his best efforts. Throughout the mission, Raiden also harbored some suspicions that he may enjoy killing people, although he did not know why. Raiden and Snake were able to join forces to take down Dead Cell and upload a virus into GW, Arsenal's AI. He was then seemingly betrayed by Snake and was subsequently captured by Olga Gurlukovich. Taken aboard Arsenal, Raiden was later freed by Olga, telling him that they had needed to use him so that Snake could sneak on board. He also learned of Olga's motivation for aiding him: The Patriots forced her to participate by holding her child hostage, after her kid was kidnapped shortly after delivering her. However, he also had to endure some physical abuse by Olga to ensure her cover was remained intact. Rosemary then called him, to which he eventually admitted to her his past as one of Liberia's child soldiers, also revealing this was why he was very distant towards her. He also speculated that Solidus' role in his life may have been the reason why the Patriots selected him for the S3 Plan.

As Raiden snuck through Arsenal Gear's interior, the Colonel began to act strangely during Codec transmissions. Pressing on, Raiden made his way to rendezvous with Snake, and was eventually contacted by Rose. She admitted to him that she was actually a Patriot spy sent to keep tabs on him, though she insisted that she had genuinely fallen in love with him. This greatly angered Raiden, but her transmission was cut off, just as she revealed that she was pregnant with his child. Raiden then met with Snake, who gave him most of his equipment back, along with Olga's high-frequency blade. Suspicious about his C.O.'s odd behavior, Raiden had Snake's partner Otacon investigate, who eventually learned that the Colonel was actually an AI construct of GW, partially based on the manipulation of Raiden's memories. After the Colonel claimed that Rose was being held hostage, Raiden began to fear that Rose didn't exist either, and that all his memories of her might have been falsified. After some reassurance from Snake, the pair battled through the Arsenal Tengu commandos before encountering Dead Cell's leader Fortune. Snake told Raiden to go on ahead, with Fortune claiming that Snake was the root of all her misery. Raiden, hesitant at first, left Snake to face her alone.

Raiden went on to battle against a 3 to 25 mass-produced Metal Gear RAY units, managing to defeat several of them before collapsing from exhaustion. Just as Raiden was about to be killed, Olga came to his aid. By doing this, she revealed herself as an enemy of Solidus Snake, who angrily killed Olga. Olga's final words were for Raiden to live. As Solidus ordered the remaining RAYs to kill Raiden, the virus uploaded into GW went into effect, disabling the RAYs. Solidus then destroyed them out of frustration.

After Arsenal crashed into Manhattan, it was revealed that Raiden was merely a puppet of the Patriots, and that his entire mission on the Big Shell had been carefully scripted. AI representations of the Colonel and Rose told Raiden that he was just a weapon, a creation of the Patriots with no purpose but for what they made him. The AI instructed Raiden to kill Solidus, which he had no choice but to do so, for his own sake and for the sake of Olga's daughter and Rose/their unborn child. Raiden, however, also expressed disgust towards the Patriots' actions, and made it clear beforehand that he will not follow their commands anymore. Solidus also desired to kill him so he could access the backup data of the Patriots that was stored in his cerebral cortex in order to track them down, to compensate for the apparent destruction of GW. A fierce battle on top of Federal Hall ensued, and ended with Raiden emerging victorious over Solidus. He was reunited with Snake, who assured him that he was not the puppet of anyone, and that he could shape his own destiny. Raiden offered his services to Philanthropy, but Snake told him to take care of his personal affairs first. Raiden then met with Rose, and he solemnly forgave her, with the two ultimately deciding to continue their lives together.

After the Big Shell
Raiden and Rose began living together. At some point, Raiden, in large part because of his having to utilize a HF blade weapon late in the Big Shell Incident, became fascinated with the art of Japanese swordsmanship, training himself with the HF Blade and studying in various Japanese swordsmanship and the samurai code, and even going as far as to watch samurai movies. In addition, largely because of his encounter with the Patriots AIs late into his mission, he also did extensive research on the subject of AIs, and wondered whether the Patriots AIs were actually sentient, or simply programmed to be that way. Despite the loving relationship between him and Rose, the tragic memories of his days as a child soldier started to resurface, causing tension in their relationship. He began drinking heavily, getting into fights and eventually decided to leave her. In addition, he was also led to believe that his child had died from a miscarriage.

Raiden learned from Big Mama, in exchange for the location of Big Boss that he obtained from GW, that Olga's daughter, Sunny, was being held in Area 51, and successfully rescued her with the help of Big Mama and the Paradise Lost Army. It was during his rescue of Sunny that he met the former Soviet soldier Boris Vyacheslavovich Popov, who was the war buddy of Sunny's grandfather, Sergei Gurlukovich, who aided him out of the realization that the Patriots were a threat to the world, not just America. After hearing of Rose's miscarriage and subsequent marriage to Roy Campbell, Raiden became despondent. He left Sunny in the care of Otacon and Snake anonymously. Afterwards, he left to wander the Earth. Raiden studied scouting techniques under a Native American shaman living in Alaska, and learned to hunt. He then began work on retrieving Big Boss's remains from the Patriots for the Paradise Lost Army, leading to his capture. As a prisoner, the Patriots used Raiden as a test subject for experiments in exoskeletal enhancement surgery, during which he had his head and spine excised from his body from his lower jaw down and subsequently grafted into an enhanced synthetic body.

With the help of the Paradise Lost Army, Raiden managed to escape his captivity. After undergoing surgery to clear his body of nanomachines and being saved by Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar, he was successful in reclaiming Big Boss's remains from the Patriots. The enhancements implanted throughout Raiden's body, however, were too severe to allow him to live a normal life again. He chose to disappear from the life of his fiancée.

Guns of the Patriots
In 2014, Raiden reappeared in South America, revealing himself to Solid Snake by Codec to warn him of an enemy PMC ambush. Disavowing his identity as Jack, Raiden updated Snake as to his dealings with the Paradise Lost Army, before the call was interrupted due to a firefight. Shortly after Snake defeated the PMC commander Laughing Octopus, Raiden contacted him again to provide help in tracking down Naomi Hunter, using his knowledge of scouting. Raiden later assisted in Snake and Naomi's escape by helicopter, by fighting off several Gekko units at a local marketplace. Removing the black duster that somewhat concealed his cyborg appearance, Raiden was able to disable the attacking Gekko using his enhanced agility and swordsmanship, employing a high-frequency blade.

Gekko reinforcements were eventually able to restrain Raiden on behalf of their commander, Vamp. Vamp proceeded to stab his old foe twice with his combat knife, tasting Raiden's artificial white blood from the blade. When Vamp commented on his apparent "immortality," Raiden replied that he simply didn't fear death, before being freed from the Gekko's tethers by Solid Snake's gunfire. Upon becoming free, Raiden fought off the remaining Gekko and engaged Vamp in an intense knife fight, the contact between their weapons becoming so fierce at one point as to cause his sword to glow red hot. Their battle eventually resulted in Vamp standing at Raiden's back and locking him in his grip. Raiden's decisive attack would prove his earlier statement that he did not fear death, running his sword through his own abdomen, but impaling Vamp as well. With each of them having inflicted serious injuries to the other, their battle ended when Vamp succumbed to his wounds and collapsed to the ground. Raiden then jumped up towards the helicopter hovering overhead, which Snake and Naomi had earlier boarded, and after being helped inside, was transported away from the area by its pilot, Otacon. Shortly thereafter, Raiden himself collapsed from the injuries afflicted by Vamp, urging Snake to find Big Mama in Eastern Europe.

Taken aboard the aircraft Nomad, Raiden continued to suffer and his chances of survival became bleak. Naomi recognized that he required a white blood transfusion and dialysis, which they procured for him while in Europe, with help from his former acquaintance, Dr. Madnar. After recovering somewhat, Raiden later attempted to join Snake on his mission to Shadow Moses Island, wishing to defeat Liquid Ocelot and break free of the Patriots' hold on his life, the events of his past ultimately causing him to break down emotionally. Snake consoled Raiden but refused his request due to his incomplete blood dialysis, and urging the younger soldier not to follow the same path that his own life had taken.

After making sufficient progress in his recovery, Raiden eventually headed to Shadow Moses, saving Snake's life from attacking Suicide Gekko. Raiden then faced Vamp once more atop the original Metal Gear REX, after Snake had returned the latter to a vulnerable state via nanomachine suppressors. While Snake warded off more approaching Gekko, Raiden engaged in another blade fight with Vamp and ultimately emerged the victor, defeating his enemy once and for all. After the immediate threat had passed, due to the actions of Otacon's Metal Gear Mk.II, Raiden relayed a coded message from Sunny to Naomi, regarding the completion of the FOXALIVE computer virus. Naomi then used nanomachine suppressors to both euthanize Vamp and commit suicide, much to the group's shock. When the Gekko commenced another assault, Snake and Raiden departed the area via a supply tunnel, within the recently reactivated REX. To slow down their pursuers, Raiden fell behind to hold them off, later being caught under debris caused by the Suicide Gekko's detonation, while Snake escaped to the port area. After Snake was forced from REX, following a grueling battle with Liquid Ocelot's RAY, Raiden set himself free from under the debris by cutting off his right arm, and headed to assist his ally. With an exhausted Snake about to be crushed by Liquid's Outer Haven, Raiden placed himself in the warship's path of destruction through the small pier, holding back its immense bulk with his enhanced strength, and giving Snake time to clear the area. Raiden was himself caught beneath the vessel, however, screaming Rose's name as his strength gave way, and recalling memories of their time together, before he lost consciousness. Following Haven's departure, Raiden's body was later recovered, his survival testament to his extreme resilience, though according to Otacon, he was in no condition to help them further.

Even after his recent physical ordeal, Raiden later boarded Haven during Snake's infiltration of the ship, missing both arms and wielding his sword between his teeth. Preventing a group of Haven Troopers from reaching an immobilized Snake, Raiden demonstrated lightning-like powers, with which he struck down several of the would-be attackers. Raiden then intended to upload the FOXALIVE virus into Haven's on-board AI in Snake's place, since his cyborg body was immune to the microwave defenses ahead of them, but an emboldened Snake convinced him otherwise. Instead, he decided to hold the Haven Troopers off and buy Snake enough time to reach the AI and upload the virus. Though Raiden was able to kill several of his assailants, he was eventually overwhelmed and forced to the ground. Backed to a wall and at the enemy's mercy, Raiden was saved at the last moment by the successful virus upload, the AI's destruction disabling his opponents' internal nanomachines and incapacitating them.

Afterwards, Raiden was sent to a hospital where his cybernetic body was repaired and had both arms replaced with new ones, and has been upgraded with artificial skin, giving him a somewhat more human appearance. Following Raiden's surgery, Rose and her son John paid him a visit, though Raiden igno red them both, believing that the child was Campbell's, who Rose had married during Raiden's estrangement from her. Rose told Raiden that the child was in fact his, and her miscarriage had been a lie. Her marriage to Campbell had actually been a ploy to protect herself and their son from the Patriots, so that he could not be used as leverage against Raiden. In other words, Raiden's lack of awareness of his son and his disdain for Rose meant that both would serve no purpose to the Patriots, as their suffering would not move him in any way. Stunned, Raiden forgave Rose once again, as she felt desperately guilty from being unable to tell him from the danger it presented. She proceeded to introduce their son as and the three huddled together in reunion. To him, at that moment, it felt like a scene from Beauty and the Beast. But Rose reassured him that he was no beast, but her husband. Raiden then vowed that he was done running, while Rose vowed that she was no longer afraid.

Civilian Life
Following the end of the war economy, Raiden attempted to return to a normal, civilian life with his wife and son. During this time he attempted to look as normal as possible, but the technology behind his artificial skin was imperfect and still looked unnatural. He also continued to suffer from paranoia, stemming from being manipulated by the Patriots in 2009. His inhuman appearance caused him to be ostracized from society and made securing employment even more difficult during the post-SOP economic recession, when even non-cyborgs had difficulty finding work.

Joining Maverick
In time, Raiden decided to return to the military sector, seeking a non-combat position so that he could provide for his family. Raiden encountered Boris again and, after discussing Maverick Security Consulting, Inc., accepted Boris' request to join the PMC as a full-time employee, forgoing the typical contraction method. At this time, Raiden had his original cyborg body upgraded, outfitting it with a more natural jaw using artificial skin, the visor was removed and it retained the remaining left-side Solid eye device (The right-side Solid Eye device was destroyed at Shadow Moses as Raiden was buried from rubble by the collapsing supply tunnel in 2014) and replacing its outdated organic electropolymer muscle fiber with modern carbon nanotube artificial muscle fiber. This allowed him to pass for a normal human, at least while clothed, and gave him the capacity to carry out bodyguard work and other missions that didn't require serious combat.

His first missions for Maverick had him working with Kevin Washington, where they were hired by the Carabinieri to track down three Albanian mafiosos that fled Italy for Montenegro, with orders to retrieve them. The mission grew complicated in spite of his claims of having reviewed the mission details, due to the three mafiosos having undergone cybernetic upgrades, with Kevin being the main reason he got through the mission. Kevin will later reference this mission when Raiden ended up going to Abkhazia nearly three to four years later, when Raiden mentioned going through the materials. He rarely got to see his family because of his line of work, but the few times he did see his family always put a smile on his son.

For three years starting 2015, Raiden was part of Maverick's recovery efforts to help rebuild an African country that had undergone a bloody civil war. Raiden himself did VIP protection, military training, and other related jobs. He eventually met up with the African country's prime minister N'mani, where the latter congratulated him on Maverick's contribution in the rebuilding of the country. Because his real name still painfully reminded him of his past, he still went exclusively by the name of Raiden. However, N'Mani had a good sense of humor to jokingly call him "Mr. Lightning Bolt" when he learnt what Raiden's name translated to.

Desperado Incursions
However, plans abruptly changed in 2018 when cyborg soldiers belonging to the Desperado Enforcement LLC. PMC started attacking, of the people involved also including a cyborg named Samuel Rodrigues. With Maverick unable to identify their affiliations, Boris ordered Raiden to take out the cyborgs. Although the prime minister was to be protected, the Desperado leader Sundowner had managed to abduct him after several cyborg soldiers ambushed his limo near the port along with a modified Metal Gear RAY unit. Raiden and Sundowner then encountered each other, with the latter also referring to him as "Jack." Raiden then learned that Desperado wanted N'mani dead because Africa's been getting "too peaceful" under his reign, as Sundowner wanted to restart the war economy due to feeling that it was his livelihood. Raiden was forced to confront the PMC's modified Metal Gear RAY while Sundowner made his escape, which he fought three times due to its persistence and eventually cumulated to Raiden running his HF Blade down its spine. After tracking the Desperado leader, Sundowner, the Prime Minister, as well as Sam down to a train, Raiden was forced to watch Sundowner kill N'mani. Raiden then attempted to follow through with N'mani's last words to stop Sundowner, but Sam prevented him from getting to Sundowner. Raiden then did battle against Sam within the train tunnel. However, he was unable to keep up with Sam's cyborg enhancements which were superior to Raiden's cyborg outfit. The result was Raiden would end up having his left arm amputated and having his left eye irrepairably damaged, the former of which he lamented having lost one again. Nonetheless, he managed to buy enough time for the train to pass through the tunnel before Sam could kill him. He managed to crawl back up onto the train, and passed out while witnessing Sam escape. Ultimately, he was unable to stop Sundowner from killing N'mani.

His arm was later retrieved from the battle site and analyzed by Maverick, as well as having to undergo a weekly retrieval of files stored on the arm, due to the files being corrupted. During the procedure, they also had to replace memory units in his nervous system, and he was also losing a lot of blood due to his earlier wounds, forcing the doctors to put a clamp on him, which also resulted in Raiden flashing back to his time as a child soldier in Liberia, where he was injected with something. The doctor then managed to resuscitate Raiden and ordered the beginning of the optical implant, with Raiden wondering what happened to him. Afterward, they had to remove his left eye, as his optical nerve was completely destroyed, resulting in him flashing back to his watching war footage as a child soldier. The memory bank procedure is then interrupted when a mysterious figure arrives in the OR with the doctors denying him entry before Raiden demands who it is and for the person to come closer. Upon the realization of who he is, he angrily demands to know where "he" is to the figure. At some point, both as a direct result of the attack and Raiden's injuries, and under his personal request, Raiden underwent a full-body cybernetic conversion, as he felt the Patriots "didn't leave him much of a body to begin with." This, alongside Maverick's previous cybernetic maintenance person going into hiding resulted in him being performed on by a German cyberneticist nicknamed "Doktor" (which was also the latter's first time doing full-body conversions). After his surgeries were finished, the mysterious figure then presented Raiden with his new sword, to which Raiden later flashed back to witnessing Solidus slitting a soldier's throat. Raiden was originally supposed to get a completely cybernetic eye to replace the one he lost, but Doktor was unable to create it before the surgery, so he had to wear a makeshift eyepatch for a while.

Upon acquiring his new Cyborg Ninja body, Raiden was instructed to undergo a VR Training simulation that Doktor created so he could get used to his new body before redeployment. Under the guidance of Boris, Raiden honed his new body's blade, developed various attacks against cyborgs, became affluent in tracking as well as acquiring an enhanced running capability. Raiden, upon returning to active combat, aggressively chose Maverick missions that directly related to Desperado's activities. Afterwards, he was deployed to Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia, on an MQ-133C flying wing on loan to Maverick, where he was then launched when nearing insertion by a rocket platform, in order to quell a military coup that resulted in the Abkhazian president and most of his cabinet being killed. He also was requested by Doktor to retrieve the left hands of any cyborgs that he defeated, largely due to the valuable data stored on their arms, in exchange for both the surgery and any future upgrades. Raiden's new body was powered by a Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell which needed frequent recharging via Electrolytes extracted from enemy cyborgs during battle. Upon arrival, Raiden was ambushed by several Desperado soldiers via stealth camouflage, although his upgrades effectively made their efforts to kill him fruitless.

Making his way through the old city crawling with cyborg patrols and Gekkos, he also encountered the IF Prototype LQ-84i unmanned weapon that was deployed to assassinate Raiden. However, he managed to subdue it and have it delivered to Maverick in order to have the "Doktor" repair the weapon as well as make some adjustments to the K-9000, known as the Bladewolf, which included the disabling of its remote piloting program and its AI wiping program. Raiden eventually managed to reach Desperado's main base in Abkhazia, a production plant near the coast. He then fought with the leader of the forces stationed at Abkhazia, Mistral. After a grueling fight that descended to the bottom level of the plant, he eventually disarmed her of her weapon, which eventually cumulated in him finishing her off after she was doused in liquid nitrogen while she backed away. Afterwards, when Andrey Dolzaev called Mistral upon her death, Raiden picked up the radio and told him to surrender. However, when Dolzaev refused, Raiden deduced from his reply that he was actually intending to blow himself up near a power pylon as his final act, but was unable to stop him in time. Informing Boris of this development, he was then instructed to find a landing zone, as they were sending a chopper to extract him from the area. Raiden later received a copy of the Etranger from Maverick and Doktor, having developed it from careful analysis of Mistral's combat data.

Eventually, as a way to "throw him a bone," he allowed the Bladewolf to accompany him in his missions as a scout. At some point later, he and Bladewolf were dispatched to Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco, one of 32 states within Mexico, to infiltrate a research facility. After crossing south to the border, Raiden stopped by a souvenir shop and purchased a Mariachi uniform (traditional garb for Mexican folk musicians) in a misguided attempt to blend in with the locals. He then drove a black convertible until he spotted a sewer grate, to which he then entered the grate, although he was briefly spotted by two bewildered pedestrians.

Afterwards, he, under the cautions of the Bladewolf, carefully navigated the cyborg-infested sewers before being ambushed by a Mastiff cyborg. Although willing to go through the sewers if it meant finding a Desperado lab, Raiden nonetheless felt uncomfortable doing so, especially after his briefing referenced the gas explosions in the Guadalajara sewers back in 1992. After eliminating it, he then used the catwalks to evade being spotted by the Mastiffs. He later rescued a Guyanese boy named George who had escaped from the facility. Learning that the facility removed brains from human children, and also the exact method of escape the boy went so he could narrow down the location, he placed him in a safe place while also issuing Maverick agents to retrieve George.

Upon finding the facility's entrance, Raiden, taking Doktor's advice of using a DOOMP to access the facility's video records regarding their development, decided to hijack a Dwarf Gekko. While attempting to locate a Dwarf Gekko, he stumbled upon a room containing cyborg brain casings, and after defeating several enemies, he reported his findings, causing them to deduce that the brain surgeries on the trafficked children related to cyborg development somehow. After finding a Dwarf Gekko and having it locate a mainframe system to access, he had the files forwarded to Doktor. He then learned that most of the kids have likely had the brains removed and sent to a facility in America, and also noticed that Sundowner and another VIP, whom Kevin recognized, inspecting the facility in the video files. He later learned from Courtney that the agents couldn't find George. As he made sure the calculations based on the GPS data were correct, he deduced that Desperado had beaten him to it. He then encountered a Grad that was blocking his way and defeated it.

Afterwards, Raiden learned from Kevin the identity of the VIP: Colorado Senator Steven Armstrong, and also deduced that World Marshal, the PMC he had previously been investigated by a Grand Jury over in 2016, was involved in Desperado's activities, and acted as their supplier of cyborg personnel. Raiden wanted to expose Armstrong and World Marshal for their actions, but Kevin suggested against it. He later stumbled upon a blood cryogenics chamber, and deduced with Doktor that this was what allowed them to preserve the brains for transport, and presumably the rest of the bodies that weren't needed. He later found the kids, but was then forced by the head researcher to not rescue the children (who were being exposed to chloroform) with George at gunpoint. Raiden then cut down the scientist after George temporarily overpowered the scientist. He then had George sent to Doktor to watch over him, after saving George's life by using the cryopreserver (as he had to cut through George in the process of cutting down the scientist), and also managed to save the other children from the chloroform gas in time.

Deducing that Maverick is not going to go after World Marshal for their actions due to the illegal nature of going after them, Raiden sent a resignation letter to Boris. He also decided to have Doktor arrive with a transport chopper when he's inside the building so they'd carry out all of the cyborg heads so he'd do surgeries on them that would ensure they at least had a relatively normal life outside of combat. He then made his way to downtown Denver to their headquarters building to rescue the brains, feeling that, even if he wasn't able to save them from becoming cyborgs, he can at least prevent them from experiencing the same childhood as he did during Liberia. He received a call from George, and he reminded him that he didn't want to kill, and that war isn't fun and games when explaining why he won't let George tag along.

Shortly after the call, he was ambushed by cybernetic Denver cops under World Marshal's payroll, as they effectively had control over the city. He then received a call from Boris, who angrily demanded an explanation for his resignation. Raiden explained his motives, before having to abruptly end the call due to squad cars blocking his path. Upon reaching a barricade vehicle, he decided to speed up enough to have the RPG blast flip the car over the barricade. The police then surrounded Raiden. Bladewolf scouted ahead, while he took on the police, wiping them out. He then made his way to the balcony to access the rooftops via an elevator, as the highways were coroned off by the police. He then explained to Boris regarding his actions that he doesn't want more "Jack the Rippers" throughout the world, hence why he has to do it. He also didn't have to worry about Rosemary and John being targeted by Desperado, as they were in New Zealand. As such, Maverick still supported him, albeit unofficially.

After traversing the rooftops, he then was instructed by Bladewolf to access an abandoned rail system dating back to the 19th Century. However, as it was abandoned, he also had to navigate the UG-infested area while in the dark. Afterwards, he then navigated his way through an abandoned district that was heavily armed with various cyborgs and UGs, including mass-produced versions of Bladewolf's LQ-84i form, the Fenrirs. He then arrived in the vicinity, where Sam utilized the banners to tell Raiden about how he has killed severals soldiers. He then reminded Raiden that the cyborgs, adults as they may be, had in fact felt forced to participate due to costs to gain cybernetics to even have a livelihood and not beg on the streets, even in America. With that knowledge, Raiden also heard the cyborgs' panicked inner thoughts, which gradually caused him to become emotionally unstable. Bladewolf then explained to Raiden that people are different. He then revealed that he knew Sam from three prior wars. He later made his way, with his emotional state being volatile, to the immediate premises of World Marshal HQ, but was beaten down just outside of the front door, with Sam and Monsoon greeting him and informing him about it being peoples' natures to kill and be violent. Raiden then released his Jack the Ripper persona, even going as far as to have his pain inhibitors deactivated to fully unleash it. He then killed Monsoon, although he vowed to Kevin after the battle that he won't utilize it for anyone else.

Raiden entered the lobby and also heard Sundowner's announcement congratulating Raiden on killing Monsoon and telling him to "go wild." He then wiped out the soldiers guarding the area, after triggering alarms. The Elevators were deactivated because of Raiden's intrusion, although Doktor managed to hack into the elevator systems to ensure Raiden got in. Upon reaching the 20th floor of the lower half of the building (the regular workplace area), he then proceeded to destroy three power supply generators, including a backup supply, to deactivate a security gate for an elevator for the top half of the building where the research and development center was located. He also insisted that he keep his pain inhibitors off as he needed it. He then proceeded to rush through the enemy resistance, eventually jumping across several Sliders and run up a building to reach the top. After making his way through a Japanese Garden-styled room, he then proceeded to take a freight elevator to the top, although he had to fight several Desperado cyborgs and UGs before reaching the top.

Afterwards, he ended up reaching the floor containing the server room, although he had to fight body doubles of both Mistral and Monsoon before confronting Sundowner at the room. He then learned that they were subjecting the children to VR training because the real thing wasn't getting the results they needed, and also learned that there was an event that would happen that would render Raiden's efforts naught even if he saved all the children in three hours that Mach 2 would have him stop it in time, and would have reignited 9-11 style warfare. He then pursued Sundowner to the heliport, and fought against him. He then killed Sundowner after having a Slider crash into his Hammerhead late into the duel. Sundowner then informed him that the event was the beginning of Operation Tecumseh, but elaborated no further. Raiden and Maverick, when discussing it, then deduced that Operation Tecumseh involved ruining the peace talks at Pakistan to ensure another War on Terror. They then deduced from Courtney that they could stop the situation at Mach 23 speeds, which would take half an hour to get there, with Raiden requesting that they contact Solis.

Raiden then boarded the helicopter with Doktor as the pilot, having procured the brain canisters in the transport chopper. However, before they could get out of Denver airspace, they were ambushed by a pair of MQ-320s. The transport chopper had limited defenses, including an EMP generator that could deflect missiles, but not the drones themselves. Raiden then proceeded to jump out to hijack a drone so he could defend the chopper. After hijacking the drone by impaling his sword in its brain, he told Doktor to turn the chopper around (as it was being tailed by the other drone), which he then did, with Raiden then proceeding to cut down the other drone just as it was passing by him via his sword. However, the close proximity to the second drone also caused it to be damaged as well. Raiden then jumped to board the chopper, but the railing broke from the weight of his body. Raiden then fell into the cityscape. Doktor was forced to leave him due to cyborgs shooting anti-air rockets at the chopper, but he honored Raiden's sacrifice.

In actuality, Raiden survived the fall, although he had to fight through several cyborgs. Doktor, having learned of Raiden's survival, then contacted Raiden after Raiden took care of some cyborgs. Because the portion of Denver that World Marshal was at was evacuated, there were a lot of abandoned cars, so Raiden was going to borrow a vehicle. He also told Doktor to worry about delivering the brains, and also vowed that he'll keep his distance from what remained of World Marshal while heading to the Solis launch pad, which was fortunately also in Colorado. Bladewolf later stated that it will depart with Raiden for Pakistan after finding a way off the chopper. After Raiden cleared the final barricade, Raiden proceeded to take a motorcycle that caught his eye (coincidentally, the same one that Sam rode into Denver two years earlier), although not before leaving a "note" etched into the ground stating that he needed to borrow the vehicle to its owner.

Making his way to Solis via motorcycle, he re-encountered Sam. Afterwards, Raiden and Sam decided to have a duel to the death, largely to see whose view will be remembered in history. After an intense duel, Raiden managed to kill Sam by impaling him through the chest. He also realized that Sam barely possessed cybernetics. He also supplied Bladewolf with Sam's sword, at the unmanned gear's request. Boris then reminded him that he had less than an hour to get to Solis. Raiden and Bladewolf then proceeded to leave for Solis.

Upon arrival at Solis, Raiden and Bladewolf met up with the check-in guard for their appointment with Sunny. However, Raiden, in the process of getting into Solis, accidentially broke the electronically locked gate, thinking it was open. After a brief exchange, Sunny then showed them the device she built. Raiden and Bladewolf boarded, thanking Sunny. Because of the limited time, they had to undergo ignition without a countdown. Less than half an hour later, Raiden arrived at close proximity to the Shabhazabad Air Base. After verifying with Kevin that it was the location of Operation Tecumseh, he proceeded to raid it. Sunny later informed Raiden about the gate, and informed him that she'll send an invoice requiring Raiden to pay for the repair and reinforcement costs, causing Raiden to lament that Rose will most likely "kill" him for the expenses.

After wiping out the security at the base, he and Courtney discovered that World Marshal's XIFF ID came up as "unaffiliated;" the same XIFF ID that Desperado had during the African ambush. Deducing that World Marshal intended to frame Desperado with the attack on the President, Raiden decided to destroy the control tower, hoping to cause enough damage to get the United States Military to realize something was wrong.

However, by the time he got to the control tower's vicinity, he discovered Bladewolf's prone body. Suspecting that an ambush awaited him, he carefully scanned for any potential enemies nearby, although the ground gave way underneath him. Jumping back to stable ground, he saw that the cause of the pit was a new Metal Gear called Excelsus. Senator Armstrong then stepped out of the cockpit and explained his motives regarding the fall of SOP and the ruin of the American economy. In addition, he also learned from both Boris and Armstrong himself that he currently didn't plan on assasssinating the President. Instead, Armstrong had framed the jihadi rebels for attacking the base itself via Desperado and had the President rerouted back to America. As Raiden was one of the few people who could expose the truth, Armstrong decided to kill Raiden with Excelsus. Raiden managed to defeat Excelsus by cutting off its front legs, throwing it onto stable ground, engaging it in battle with one of its blade arms, chopping up its head, and then impaling it with its own sword.

Afterwards, he had a fistfight with Armstrong, who had used Excelsus's wires to activate his nanomachines. Armstrong's nanomachines gave him the upper hand and he easily snapped Raiden's HF Sword in half with his bare hands. As Raiden was on the verge of defeat, Armstrong continued to elaborate on his full motives. Armstrong believed that America had rotted to the core, so he intended to remake America so the citizens will all fight, die, and kill for whatever they individualy believed in. He also expressed the sentiment that the weak needed purging. This prompted Raiden to stand back up and call Armstrong insane. Despite the best of his abilities, he was unable to defeat Armstrong, let alone do sufficient damage. However, Bladewolf had gotten back up, and after playing back a message Sam recorded before his death, supplied Raiden with Sam's sword. Raiden then reengaged Armstong, gradually overpowering him. Eventually Raiden plunged his arm into Armstrong and ripped out his nanite-altered heart, crushing it. Though he was considered by the public to be a person who hurt a lot of people, Sunny still viewed Raiden as a hero.

Afterwards, Raiden decided against rejoining Maverick, having resolved to fight his own war (fighting to protect his family.), albeit against more cyborg mercenaries contracted out to kill him. He also had his body restored to a more human looking body, complete with a new cybernetic eye to replace his left eye.