~In Western pop culture, Raijin is usually known as Raiden (rai (雷, thunder) + den (電, lightning)), and depicted as a tall monk wearing a large straw hat (these hats are used widely throughout Asia to keep off rain), with the power to create storms, thunder, and lightning. The first use of this archetype was an appearance with other Eastern elemental gods in the film Big Trouble in Little China, released in 1986. It entered mainstream pop culture via the 1992 fighting game Mortal Kombat, which contained a character called Raiden somewhat similar to the version in Big Trouble In Little China, and repeated depictions of the character in multiple games in the same series have by now made him widely recognizable in the United States. There is a character in Hideo Kojima's epic video game Metal Gear Solid 2, who also appears later in Metal Gear Solid 4, called Raiden. He does not wear a hat, but does have long white or yellow hair and extraordinary physical abilities, also he has the use lightning to some extent. He is also in the popular American video game Warcraft 3 mod Defense Of The Ancients, which is popular worldwide, as a thunder-based hero. In the popular video game franchise, Pokémon, the Pokémon Voltolos is based on Raijin and/or Lei Gong, a similar Chinese thunder god. Voltolos is an Electric/Flying type, reflecting Raijin's abilities.~(excerpt from wikipedia) hey peeps, thanks again for visiting.hope you're all doing well out there. this image is kind of a milestone for me.i've created some 250 images, well 251 with today's,and posted them throughout the web.it's taken quite a while to get to this point artistically so as you might think i'm real proud.nonetheless i've set my sights on 300 and beyond lol! i hope you'll all be along for the ride. take care,and as always *till the dragon flies again,hugs and regards*, lee ps. special thanks to my sweetz karla in texas for the fab texas storm backgrounds.