The nature of MK's godly pantheon has gone through a radical shift in MK11 and I'd like to clarify
the matter. So, let's go back to the beginning and see if we can untangle this yarn ball of a canon.
We can't.
Welcome to Canon Ball.
Raiden was our first god, introduced in MK1 as the God of Thunder.
His ending alluded to other gods existing.
MK1 and 2 also made reference to "the Furies",
which was an idea that never came up again. Whether this was supposed to be
another type of deity or a primordial aspect of reality remains unknown.
The MK3 series established the existence of Elder Gods.
Raiden was thus established as a Lesser God. The other Lesser Gods introduced since are
Fujin and the other temple guardians from MK Mythologies, and Argus from Armageddon;
while the only named Elder Gods are Shinnok from MK4 and Cetrion from MK11.
Not much is known about the distinction between the two classes, except that Elder
Gods predate the realms, having been in existence alongside the One Being,
splitting its essence to create the realms in a very cool, very Asian-style creation myth;
and that, as of MKX, Elder Gods cannot be killed, despite claims to the contrary in MK4.
Lesser Gods seem to be assigned to certain realms, since Raiden and Fujin are regularly
referred to as Earthrealm Gods. Whether or not other realms have their own gods of thunder,
wind, etc. is unknown. We know Lesser Gods can die, as the Earth, Water and Fire gods were
all killed in MK4 and presumably MKX, and Raiden died at the end of Deadly Alliance.
And one last detail is that each realm seems to have a Lesser God assigned as its
protector. Raiden famously serves this role for Earthrealm, which was the original plan for MK1,
before the story got overhauled and he no longer had that role,
before being retconned back into it in MKII. Argus is Edenia's protector, a title Taven
takes in his Armageddon ending. There is also Lucifer, who may be the Netherrealm's protector,
since he rules the realm for the duration of Shinnok's imprisonment, up until Quan
Chi helps Shinnok to overthrow him around the time of MK4. No, I'm serious, that's canon.
Shao Kahn is claimed to be of the same race as Raiden in some backwards dialogue in Deception.
NPC: Shao Kahn, Lucifer and Raiden are of the same race of beings.
In the same game, Damashi claims Kahn served a role like Raiden once: an advisor. Whether
this is supposed to indicate Kahn was a protector god, or just that he was Onaga's advisor before he
betrayed him, in unclear; especially since the one giving this information is Onaga himself.
The third classification of god in MK is Demi-God. As in any other mythology,
a Demi-God is a simply the child of a god and a mortal. The only known instances of
this are all the result of Argus sleeping with non-deities. Taven and Daegon are his
sons with his wife Delia, while Rain is the result of an extramarital affair.
It's also known that ascension to the next rank is possible for all three ranks. Lesser Gods
can become Elder Gods, as seen with Raiden from the end of MK4 to the start of Deadly Alliance.
Demi-Gods can become Lesser Gods, as seen in Taven's Armageddon ending;
and so can mortals, as seen in numerous endings across the series, and with Liu Kang in MK11
(though you could argue he's only a Demi-God due to being a fusion of mortal and god).
This is all pretty simple, right? Well, MK11, as MK11 is wont to do,
had to go and fuck this all up.
First off, it proposes that there is a kind of being that is above the Elder Gods: the Titans.
Only Kronika is named, but others appear in various endings. The One Being still exists,
but whether or not the Titans are positioned above the One Being in
the pantheon is something MK11 co-writers Shawn and Dominic can't seem to agree on.
I do not like this idea, partly because you'd think the subject would have come up before now,
especially since their existence isn't a secret, with Kahn having heard rumours about Kronika.
Additionally, one has to question how beings that are above Elder Gods are shown to be killable,
when Elder Gods are known not to be since MKX. Or, has MK11 changed that? Then, why is
Shinnok's severed head still alive? Why can't this fucking game ever be consistent about anything?
The other alteration was that Raiden and Fujin are repeatedly referred to as Demi-Gods.
Kronika: "A demi-god's power cannot rival that of an Elder God."
Cetrion: He is only a demi-god.
D'Vorah: Earthrealm's demi-god.
D'Vorah: Earthrealm has more than one demi-god.
Shang Tsung: Mind your role, demigod.
I don't know that definition of Demi-God the writers are going off, but Raiden is
a full god and always has been. I've heard that one of the writers tried to justify the
use of the term by saying it's just Kronika and Cetrion using it in a disparaging way,
like a slur. However, this doesn't explain why Kitana also calls Raiden a Demi-God.
Kitana: I haven't fought a demi-god.
Or why Cassie does.
Cassie Cage: How are you a demi-god like Raiden?
Are they using the term like a slur too? Or, how about this exchange between Fujin and Sheeva?
Sheeva: What other wisdom can you offer, Fujin?
Fujin: Never fight a demigod.
Is Fujin referring to himself with an inaccurate slur, fellas? Honestly, I'd like to see an excuse
for poor continuity from these guys that actually holds up to the most basic level of scrutiny.
And are they suggesting that Raiden and Fujin are now on the same level as the sons of Argus?
How can that be, if Argus is the same class as Raiden and Fujin?
Are his sons Demi-Demi-Gods? No, because Rain is still referred to as a Demi-God in MK11.
It's quite clear that they were taking inspiration from Greek mythology for this one,
what with Titans being above the gods and even having two Elder Gods as Kronika's children.
I mean, they even put Kharon in as the ferryman of the underworld, in case you
were too dumb to see what they were going for. But, this analogy would make the Elder Gods
the Olympians and the Lesser Gods, well, the Lesser Gods, not Demi-Gods. This is just bad.
And just when you thought the worst thing MK did with its gods was repeatedly try
to make them all related. MK Annihilation made Raiden and Shao Kahn Shinnok's sons,
which MKvsDCU acknowledged for some ungodly reason over a decade later;
some promotional materials for MK4 call Raiden and Fujin brothers, which was then canonised in MK11;
Kronika is the mother of Shinnok and Cetrion; and Kid Thunder is referred to as Raiden's
nephew somewhere. This all raises the questions of whether or not Fujin is also a son of Shinnok,
whether or not the other temple guardians were Raiden's brothers, and which of Raiden's siblings
produced a thunder-based child when none of them have that element. This would mean that
Kronika has two children, and at least three grandsons and one great grandson. Honestly,
every time Raiden's hypothetical family tree comes up, it just gets dumber and dumber.
And on the subject of family, I'd like to know how Kronika created her kids.
I mean, she fucks a lot, but only in one direction: up.
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Today's recommended video is The History Behind
Kidd Thunder by tabmok99. It's a video that's exactly what it says on the tin,
and is by someone who actually knows what he's talking about with MK.