You know him as one of the founding fathers of Mortal Kombat and the creator of the series' most enduring icons. John Tobias has revisited one of his famous creations, sharing an all new drawing of a klassic Raiden!
Raiden first donned his trademark blue in Mortal Kombat II (1993), where Carlos Pesina appeared as the actor digitized for sprites. This remained the iconic look for the character for many years, appearing animated for the 1996 cartoon, and rendered in three-dimensional polygons for the first time in Mortal Kombat 4 (1997). It continues to inspire even his most recent designs.
MK4 was the last game completed before Tobias departed Midway Games. He recently shared a hand painted character sheet from Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm that showed the cartoon versions of Raiden and the other characters [full story].
The Raiden digital drawing, shared via Twitter, is a "semi-recent" piece made using Cintiq: HD Wacom graphic tablet that allows artists to draw directly to the pad with vivid detail.
Need more John Tobias in your diet? You can read his own words in a 2-part interview published in the MK Online Interview Archive! You can also follow @therealsaibot & @MK_Online for more updates!
Got your own art to share? Register to submit your work for feature alongside thousands in the Fan Submission forum and archive! You can also revel in all things retro MK in the 2D Kombat Klassics & 3D Kombat Klassics forums!