Key Highlights:
- Complete guide covering Raiden’s Fatalities, Animality, and Brutalities in Mortal Kombat 1.
- Platform-specific inputs with Input Distance and Execution Difficulty ratings for Fatalities and Animality.
- Brutality requirements include Fighter Mastery ranks, final-hit conditions, hidden variations, and Seasonal Store Brutalities. Features mastery tips, platform controls, and video guide.
Quick Links:
In Mortal Kombat 1’s New Era, Raiden is a mortal warrior from Fengjian who becomes one of Earthrealm’s champions under Liu Kang. His fighting style retains the lightning, teleportation, Electric Fly and other electrical abilities traditionally associated with the character.
Raiden has two character-specific Fatalities, the Eelectrifying Animality, The Klassic, five Brutalities unlocked through Fighter Mastery and two additional Seasonal Store Brutalities. This Mortal Kombat 1 guide covers every current finisher along with their platform inputs, working distances, Final Hits and activation conditions.
How to Perform Raiden’s First Fatality in MK1 (The Storm’s Arrival)
Input Distance: Close to Sweep Distance
Execution Difficulty: Easy
- PlayStation: ⬅️➡️⬅️🔺
- Xbox: ⬅️➡️⬅️🅨
- Nintendo Switch: ⬅️➡️⬅️🅧
Raiden launches his opponent into the air before calling lightning down through their body. He then propels himself through the victim’s torso, splitting them in half, before using electricity to suspend and slam the separated sections together.
The Storm’s Arrival is usually labelled simply as a Close Fatality, but when I played, it had a much larger activation window extending from Close through to Sweep Distance.
That extra margin makes it considerably less strict than a point-blank Fatality. There is no need to stand directly against the opponent before entering the input.
How to Perform Raiden’s Second Fatality in MK1 (Ride The Lightning)
Input Distance: Jump Distance to Full Screen
Execution Difficulty: Easy
- PlayStation: ⬇️➡️⬅️⬜
- Xbox: ⬇️➡️⬅️🅧
- Nintendo Switch: ⬇️➡️⬅️🅨
Raiden traps his opponent inside a field of blue electricity. The sustained current strips away their flesh before Raiden launches himself through the remaining body and shatters the electrified skeleton.
Ride The Lightning has an unusually forgiving working distance. Although simpler movelists describe it as Mid-Range, my current finisher testing places its activation window from Jump Distance all the way through to Full Screen.
This makes Ride The Lightning the easier of Raiden’s two Fatalities to position for if the fight ends with plenty of space between both characters.
Important: Raiden can also perform the Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Winter Fatalities if they are unlocked on the player’s account. These seasonal Fatalities are not unique to Raiden and can be performed by other playable fighters.
How to Perform Raiden’s Animality in MK1 (Eelectrifying)
Input Distance: Sweep Distance to Full Screen
Execution Difficulty: Easy
- PlayStation: ⬇️⬅️⬇️🅾️
- Xbox: ⬇️⬅️⬇️🅑
- Nintendo Switch: ⬇️⬅️⬇️🅐
Raiden transforms into a giant electric eel and coils around his opponent. The eel bites into the victim before flooding their body with electricity until the opponent’s head explodes.
Eelectrifying works from Sweep Distance through to Full Screen, giving the Animality an even broader activation window than The Storm’s Arrival.
The electric eel is also a deliberate callback to Raiden’s original Animality. Raiden transformed into an electric eel in the Mortal Kombat 3 era as well, making Eelectrifying one of the Mortal Kombat 1 Animalities that modernises the fighter’s original transformation rather than replacing it with a different animal.
For the animal transformation used by every other playable fighter, see our complete Mortal Kombat 1 Animality guide.
All Raiden Brutalities in Mortal Kombat 1
Raiden has The Klassic and five character-specific Brutalities unlocked through Fighter Mastery. That’s A Shocker, Overload, Inside Out, Headed Nowhere and Excess Energy become available at Mastery Ranks 3, 5, 7, 10 and 15 respectively.
Two more Brutalities were later added outside Fighter Mastery. Stunning! and Up Up Zap are Seasonal Store unlocks introduced during the post-launch finisher additions.
The Klassic
Unlock Requirement: Available by default
- PlayStation: ⬇️ + 🔺
- Xbox: ⬇️ + 🅨
- Nintendo Switch: ⬇️ + 🅧
Final Hit: Uppercut
Additional Condition: Hold Back Punch during the Final Hit.
Raiden performs an Uppercut that removes his opponent’s head with the spine still attached.
The Klassic is available without progressing Raiden through Fighter Mastery and uses the same basic activation requirement as the universal version available to the rest of the roster.
That’s A Shocker
Unlock Requirement: Fighter Mastery Rank 3
- PlayStation: L1 or ⬜ + 🅧
- Xbox: LB or 🅧 + 🅐
- Nintendo Switch: L or 🅨 + 🅑
Final Hit: Exposed Wires (Back Throw)
Additional Condition: Rapidly press Front Punch or Back Punch six times during the Final Hit.
Raiden grabs his opponent during Exposed Wires, strikes both sides of their head and channels electricity directly through the victim until their head explodes.
Start pressing either punch button immediately after the Back Throw begins. All six inputs must register during the finishing throw, so waiting until the electrical effect becomes visible can leave too little time.
Brutality Variation: Instead of rapidly pressing Front Punch or Back Punch, hold Up + Back Punch immediately after initiating the Back Throw to trigger the universal MK11-style Screen Throw Brutality. The opponent is thrown towards the camera and cracks the screen.
Because both Brutalities begin from a Back Throw, the follow-up input determines which version activates.
Overload
Unlock Requirement: Fighter Mastery Rank 5
- PlayStation: ⬇️⬅️🅧
- Xbox: ⬇️⬅️🅐
- Nintendo Switch: ⬇️⬅️🅑
Final Hit: Electromagnetic Storm
Additional Condition: Hold Up during the Final Hit. The finishing Electromagnetic Storm must either be Enhanced or performed while Electric Charge is available.
Raiden surrounds the opponent with Electromagnetic Storm and lifts them above his head using electrical energy. The sustained charge destroys the victim before electricity continues through the severed remains.
NOTE: There are now two valid ways to activate Overload.
The first is to use Enhanced Electromagnetic Storm:
- PlayStation: ⬇️⬅️🅧 + R2
- Xbox: ⬇️⬅️🅐 + RT
- Nintendo Switch: ⬇️⬅️🅑 + ZR
This consumes one bar of Super Meter.
The second is to use the regular Electromagnetic Storm while Raiden has Electric Charge available. Current 2026 finisher documentation specifically recognises both routes.
This is more important now because NetherRealm changed Electric Charge in the December 2025 hotfix. Electric Charge now builds passively over time instead of draining, making the non-enhanced Overload route considerably more practical than it was under the older version of Raiden.
From trying out the two variations myself, I found the Enhanced version remains the simplest option when Super Meter is available because it removes the need to judge whether enough Electric Charge has accumulated. The regular version is useful when Raiden has charge ready and you want to preserve meter.
Inside Out
Unlock Requirement: Fighter Mastery Rank 7
- PlayStation: ⬅️➡️🅧
- Xbox: ⬅️➡️🅐
- Nintendo Switch: ⬅️➡️🅑
Final Hit: Electric Fly
Additional Condition: Hold Down during the Final Hit.
Raiden performs Electric Fly and disappears after passing through the opponent. The victim drops to their knees before Raiden erupts from inside their body, destroying them as he reappears.
Inside Out uses Raiden’s standard Electric Fly input, so there is no additional directional sequence to memorise beyond holding Down as the finishing attack connects.
The requirement applies to the Final Hit rather than the initial movement of Electric Fly. Enter Back, Forward + Front Kick normally, then maintain Down as the attack finishes.
Headed Nowhere
Unlock Requirement: Fighter Mastery Rank 10
- PlayStation: ⬜, 🔺, 🅧
- Xbox: 🅧, 🅨, 🅐
- Nintendo Switch: 🅨, 🅧, 🅑
Final Hit: Micro Burst
Additional Condition: Hold Up during the Final Hit.
Raiden completes the Micro Burst Kombo before finishing with a spinning kick that destroys the opponent’s head.
Headed Nowhere is one of Raiden’s simpler Brutalities because it does not require Super Meter, a particular distance or an existing Electric Charge.
Enter the full three-hit Kombo and transition into holding Up as the Front Kick finishes the sequence.
Excess Energy
Unlock Requirement: Fighter Mastery Rank 15
- PlayStation: ⬇️➡️⬜
- Xbox: ⬇️➡️🅧
- Nintendo Switch: ⬇️➡️🅨
Final Hit: Electric Orb
Input Distance: At least Jump Distance
Additional Condition: Hold Back during the Final Hit.
Raiden fires an Electric Orb through his opponent, with the projectile passing directly through their torso and leaving a large opening through the body.
Distance is the important requirement for Excess Energy. The Brutality will not trigger if Raiden is standing too close even when Electric Orb delivers the Final Hit. Current documentation places the minimum at Jump Distance.
I would use the space between the fighters as the setup rather than trying to move backwards after starting the input. Establish Jump Distance first, then perform Electric Orb and hold Back as the projectile connects.
Seasonal Store Brutalities
Raiden received two additional Brutalities through the Seasonal Store. Stunning! and Up Up Zap are separate from Fighter Mastery progression and remain usable once acquired.
Stunning!
Unlock Requirement: Seasonal Store
- PlayStation: ⬇️⬅️🔺 + R2
- Xbox: ⬇️⬅️🅨 + RT
- Nintendo Switch: ⬇️⬅️🅧 + ZR
Final Hit: Enhanced Razzle Dazzle
Additional Condition: Hold Back Punch during the Final Hit. Requires one bar of Super Meter.
Raiden uses Enhanced Razzle Dazzle to channel electricity directly into the opponent’s head. The concentrated current destroys the victim’s face and leaves the skull exposed as the attack finishes.
Unlike Overload, Stunning! specifically requires the Enhanced version of its special move. A normal Razzle Dazzle will not activate the Brutality even if it removes the opponent’s remaining health.
Enter Down, Back + Back Punch and Block together, then continue holding Back Punch as Enhanced Razzle Dazzle connects.
Up Up Zap
Unlock Requirement: Seasonal Store
- PlayStation: ➡️ + 🔺, ⬜
- Xbox: ➡️ + 🅨, 🅧
- Nintendo Switch: ➡️ + 🅧, 🅨
Final Hit: Electric Charge
Additional Condition: Hold Back during the Final Hit.
Raiden completes Electric Charge and launches his opponent into the air with a circular electrical burst. He continues shocking the airborne victim until the body is destroyed.
Up Up Zap uses the two-hit Electric Charge Kombo rather than a special move. Enter Forward + Back Punch followed by Front Punch, then hold Back as the second hit connects.
The December 2025 Raiden changes also made Electric Charge more important to his overall moveset. The same hotfix that changed the passive Electric Charge mechanic reduced the recovery of the Electric Charge Kombo and increased its blockstun.
Raiden Fatalities and Brutalities Video Guide
CJR Gaming’s current Mortal Kombat 1 Definitive Edition showcase demonstrates Raiden’s complete finisher collection in one video, including The Klassic, all seven character-specific Brutalities, both Fatalities, Eelectrifying and the three universal Seasonal Fatalities.
The video is particularly useful for comparing the timing of That’s A Shocker, the minimum spacing required for Excess Energy and the animation differences between Overload and the later Seasonal Store Brutalities.
In Mortal Kombat 1’s New Era, Raiden is chosen by Liu Kang to represent Earthrealm alongside his lifelong friend Kung Lao, while Johnny Cage becomes one of his fellow defenders during the fight against Shang Tsung’s forces. You can explore our Liu Kang, Kung Lao, and Johnny Cage finisher guides for their Fatalities, Animalities, and Brutalities.
