This page contains the interview for the Featured Article of November, 2019 Raiden. The interview was done on November 2, 2019. CrimsonFlame2K was interviewed.
The Interview[]
Q1: Why isn’t he called Raiden the Lion and just Raiden?
- A) I kinda got tired of using "the [insert whatever species]" here as part of the full name for my characters; that's really it. Nowadays, I usually reserve that for when the character has a moniker of sorts, such as Zagan the Gravebringer.
# Q2: Was Raiden trained by someone or educated somewhere to achieve this level of swordsmanship or is he an autodidact?
- A) He received most of his sword training from his now-deceased father. He has gone down the self-taught route in recent years, given that he's mostly been a lone wanderer until the events of Clash of Mythics: Genesis.
# Q3: Did he experience any hardships in life as a child that may have acted to his benefit now as a fighter?
- A) As far as early childhood is concerned, the most I can give you at the moment is that he has some lingering questions about his mother that remain unanswered. Apart from that, I can only imagine that reaching his level of skill with the sword was not an easy journey for him.
# Q4: How would you describe his fighting style?
- A) Essentially similar to the likes of Vergil from Devil May Cry or Jin Kisaragi from BlazBlue, in that he has quite a bit of "quick draw" techniques with his weapon. Naturally, Raiden is quite deft and nimble in his movements as well while still leaving room for techniques that give him a generally well-rounded skill set.
# Q5: What is Raiden’s most powerful ability?
- A) The Mythic Enchant would be a close contender, as it greatly bolsters his capabilities - but I wouldn't call it the most effective trump card ever either for reasons that will be further elaborated on in the future. There's also his finishing move, Raitei no Kamihandan - excuse the greatly-butchered Romaji, which instantly finishes the opponent if it hits, as a finishing move should, though he only really busts it out when the opponent has been sufficiently weakened.
# Q6: Who are some of the enemies he has faced? Who was his most formidable?
- A) It shouldn't come as a surprise that Zagan gets this honor for reasons that have already been revealed in his story route in Clash of Mythics: Genesis. The two wouldn't be the main protagonists and have an heated rivalry with one another (mainly from Raiden's end, sure, but still) otherwise. That's not to say that Zagan feels the same, however, especially later into the series.
# Q7: In brief, what are his relations with Zagan the Gravebringer?
- A) Zagan was the one behind the murder of his father and fellow comrades in their assassin squad, the history of which I have not fully-developed as of this moment. Naturally, Raiden would want nothing more than to exact revenge against the Gravebringer, but the mercenary has eluded him ever since until the events of Clash of Mythics: Genesis roll around.
# Q8: What does his sword’s name mean in Japanese?
- A) It pretty much translates to "Thunder Demon King", more or less. I'll leave it at that.
# Q9: Does he do lion things when no one’s looking?
- A) While I assume that would be funny, I don't imagine him doing so.
# Q10: Does he possess any dark secrets about his personality, his past or even his motives or allegiance?
- A) You just had to ask the one question that would spoil everything about Raiden's character. (No joke tho, I need time to think about this one). I'll just sum it up that it is very possible that his sword, his mother, and possibly even his past allegiances (such as to his now-defunct assassin squad) will have quite the influence in the direction of Raiden's character development. I can't say any more than that without diving right into spoiler territory.