The mighty Thor from Norse mythology is long hailed as the God of Thunder, but there is yet another contender in the arena. Lord Raiden from Mortal Kombat, the Japanese Thunder God.
While Thor is your arrogant, never-say-never Godling, Raiden, on the other hand, is the exact opposite, being wise and meticulous. What happens when you put the two of them in a one-of-a-kind duel to the death? Who will come out victorious?
Thor Odinson (Marvel) is much stronger and more versatile than Lord Raiden (Mortal Kombat) and will win the fight. While Lord Raiden does have the upper hand in speed and intelligence, Thor has the mighty Mjolnir and has consistently defeated clever opponents like Loki in the past.
1. Thor: How Powerful Is the Son of Odin?
Thor is the Son of Odin, a member of the Asgardian race and the God of Thunder. He eventually became the King of Asgard and New Asgard and one of the founder members of the Avengers.
Throughout his life, Thor did not get all of his titles on a silver platter. Being impulsive and causing a conflict between Asgard and Jotunheim, Thor was stripped of his future title as king and exiled to Midgard (Earth) by Odin.
Thor was forced to live as Donald Blake, a medical student with all his memories stripped. As he learned humility, he started to regain his past as well as his godly powers.
Thor’s heritage is a crucial key to his strength. He is half-Asgardian and half-mutant as his mother is an avatar of the cosmic entity called the Phoenix Force. This, in turn, sets him apart from others of his race, who are, truth be told, already superior to their counterparts in the rest of the universe.
Apart from having a superiority complex, Thor has superhuman strength, speed, durability, supernatural breath, inexhaustible stamina, and immunity to most ailments.
- Strength: Apart from being the Asgardian God of Thunder, Thor is one of the strongest Asgardian gods. The one who can resist the gravity of a Neutron Star, can destroy a planet and survive, needs no further introduction in terms of strength.
- Durability: Thor has battled and sustained many powerful entities, including the Asgardian Destroyer, Odin, The Hulk, The Silver Surfer, among others. So I’d say yeah, the guy from Asgard can hold his own.
- Stamina: Thor’s advanced body mechanics allow him to extend beyond the strongest beings of the universe while sustaining himself without exhaustion. His Belt of Strength doubles this limit, taking his already insane stamina even further.
Thor is only half complete without his weapon, Mjolnir. The enchanted Uru hammer is Thor’s weapon of choice and allows him to channel his godly superpowers along with Odin’s Force. With Mjolnir, Thor can control weather elements, creating massive storms and blizzards, grant flight powers, project mystic energy beams, teleport and control cosmic powers. If you thought Thor had superpowers, I would say Mjolnir increases them tenfolds. And did I mention, it is unbreakable and has anti-force energy?
2. Lord Raiden: How Strong Is the Elder God?
Hailing from the Mortal Kombat Universe, Lord Raiden is the Japanese God of Thunder, protector of the Earthrealm, and one of the most powerful characters in the universe. Raiden is tasked to protect the planet from otherworldly threats.
Apart from protecting the Earthrealm, Raiden also mentors the champions of Earthrealm, specifically Liu Kang and Kung Lao. Thanks to being a God, Raiden is formless and eternal for the most part but has many times appeared in his mortal form.
Lord Raiden possesses many supernatural abilities. Raiden can teleport, control lightning, has supernatural speed, and can fly. His superhuman intelligence and an enhanced outlook on life, thanks to his eternal lifespan, mark him on a different rung than other fighters.
After defeating Shinnok, Lord Raiden ascended to an Elder God, which further attained his divine status.
- Electricity/Lightning: Being the God of Thunder, Raiden can control electricity and lightning to send concentrated blasts, bolts, and torrents at his opponents. Similar to Thor, he can bend thunder to his will.
- Teleportation: Lord Raiden can vanish and reappear at his will, usually behind his enemies but can extend this power to any limits he wishes.
- Wisdom/Intelligence: Lord Raiden has eternal wisdom and intelligence skills thanks to his years of experience protecting Earthrealm. A brilliant strategist, he would always find a way to claim victory.
- Fighting Styles: Lord Raiden has a vast arsenal of fighting styles ranging from Jujitsu to Taekwondo. Be sure not to take this one in hand-to-hand combat!
- X-Ray Shock Therapy Move: Perhaps the finishing move we all are familiar with. Raiden will bind his foe with a beam, teleports behind them, delivering an elbow to damage their spine, heart, and ribs. Teleports again to face them and demolishes their head with a chop.
Lord Raiden’s choice of weapons is his lightning staff and the war hammer. The staff, much like Thor’s hammer, channels the power of lightning and thunder.
3. Who Is the Ultimate God of Thunder?
Let the battle begin! In one corner, we have Asgard’s strongest, none other than the son of Odin, the mighty Thor. On the other side of the ring, we have the eternal protector of Earthrealm, the all-wise Japanese God of Thunder, Lord Raiden!
Though both Thor and Lord Raiden use lightning as their main force, it will be useless in this case as both of them are immune to it. Thor will just absorb the lightning strikes in Mjolnir while Raiden will bend them back towards Thor.
Thor will be susceptible to Raiden’s Teleport attacks, as Raiden vanishes and appears behind him to land some dropkicks, but Thor being Thor, will just face them head-on. Using his powerful Mjolnir attacks, Thor will try to send in powerful beam attacks towards Raiden, which he can dodge easily, or worse, reflect back!
All in all, the battle is evenly matched, where Thor’s strength trumps; Raiden’s speed and intelligence counter it. But as the fight moves on, we do get a clear winner.
Thor is stronger than Lord Raiden and will win the battle. Lord Raiden is fast and Intelligent, but Thor is much tougher and stronger. Where Lord Raiden’s lightning attack fails, Thor uses the heavenly power of Mjolnir to trump the fight as he does not rely solely on electricity.
4. About Mortal Kombat (2021)
Mortal Kombat (2021) is an American martial arts action fantasy film directed by Simon McQuoid. It is based on the video game franchise of the same name and serves as a reboot.
Hunted by the fearsome warrior Sub-Zero, MMA fighter Cole Young finds sanctuary at the temple of Lord Raiden. Training with experienced fighters Liu Kang, Kung Lao, and the rogue mercenary Kano, Cole prepares to stand with Earth’s greatest champions to take on the enemies from Outworld in a high-stakes battle for the universe.
The film stars actors like Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Tadanobu Asano, Mehcad Brooks, Ludi Lin, Chin Han, Joe Taslim, and Hiroyuki Sanada in various roles. It was released on HBO Max on April 23, 2021. A sequel is currently in development.
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