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Zefferro, better known as Rain, is a major antagonist of the Mortal Kombat franchise. He is the son of Argus and half-brother to Taven and Daegon, he is the self-appointed Prince of Edenia and a Demi-God. Rain is a treacherous schemer who is obsessively ambitious.
He was voiced by John Turk in Mortal Kombat 3, Rino Romano in Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, John Podlasek in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, an unknown voice actor in 2011's Mortal Kombat, Andrew Bowen in Mortal Kombat X, Dempsey Pappion in Mortal Kombat 11, and Norshir Dalal in Mortal Kombat 1. For live action portrayals, he was portrayed by Tyrone Wiggins in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation and Percy Brown in Mortal Kombat: Conquest.
Biography[]
Past[]
Rain was born in Edenia and when he was very young, he watched as his realm was invaded by Shao Kahn and the forces of Outworld. As chaos enveloped the realm, he was smuggled away at the behest of his adopted father, a general in the Edenian army who stayed behind to perform his duty. However the realm's forces were crushed and Rain's father was killed by Shao Kahn.
Mortal Kombat 3[]
Millennia later, Rain resurfaced during Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm, but was attacked by the emperor's extermination squads. He was given a choice, fight for Kahn or die, and chose to join Shao Kahn, either out of fear or ulterior motives, turning his back on Edenia. Rain fought against Earthrealm's forces, until Princess Kitana of Edenia confronted him and told him that Shao Kahn had killed his father. Enraged, he turned on the emperor and embarked on a mission to bring him down.
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon[]
As the final battle of Armageddon drew closer, Rain found out about his true origins from Quan Chi, an emissary of the fallen Elder God Lord Shinnok who told him that his true father was actually Argus, Edenia's protector god.
He began to refer to himself as prince of Edenia and sought to kill his two half-brothers, Taven and Daegon, and then claim the ultimate prize and power promised for defeating Blaze. He eventually tracked Taven to Artika within Earthrealm and fought him, only to be defeated and disappeared in a watery portal. He would be among the Forces of Darkness in the Battle of Armageddon and died in the conflict.
In his ending, Rain was revealed to be Taven and Daegon's half-brother and Argus had tried to keep his identity secret. He defeated Blaze and gained full godhood with Argus declaring him the new Protector god of Edenia. But Rain instead used his power to enslave the realm of Edenia and due to Argus' position as an Elder God, he could not do anything about it.
Mortal Kombat (2011)[]
Rain is a playable character in Mortal Kombat (2011), his backstory as an Edenian orphan, as the biological son of Argus and the mortal Amara, is still retained but it was revealed that he was taken as a refugee by the Edenian Resistance. While he fought for them and quickly rose the ranks, his arrogance grew along with him and when he demanded leadership of its forces and was denied, he willingly betrayed his realm for power by allying himself with Shao Kahn who promised Rain leadership of his own army.
In his MK9 ending, Rain defeated and crushed the Edenian Resistance, but was later denied of his own army by Shao Kahn. He then drowned the Emperor in his own blood. The thunder god Raiden was impressed, he then took Rain to his old home of Edenia. While there, he shown Rain the source of his origins when they approached the ancient statue of Argus, a god of Edenia who was Rain's biological father. But with his divinity confirmed, Rain's path was clear: he would later assemble and lead a massive army of followers including those of Shao Kahn's militia to not only take over Outworld, but to conquer all the realms including, to Raiden's surprise and horror, Earthrealm as his first target.
Mortal Kombat X comics[]
Though unseen, Rain was revealed to have joined Reiko and Mileena in their war against Kotal Kahn. Rain proves to be an essential part of Reiko's plan in their ambush of Kotal K'etz and his forces, using his control over the weather to block out the sun, weakening the Osh-Tekk's powers before his confrontation with the Shokan Prince Goro.
Rain makes his first physical appearance standing alongside Goro as the Shokan rallies the Red Dragon soldiers. Upon spotting Kotal Kahn approaching, Goro orders Rain to once again manipulates the weather by blocking out the sun to deny Kotal Kahn his primary power source. Rain complies and summons clouds to block out the sun.
But Kotal Kahn, armed with the power of Blood Magik granted to him by his Kamidogu, was not affected and calls down a beam of solar fire to burn the Edenian alive. Rain is last seen on the ground, badly burned but groaning in pain, indicating he survived his injuries.
Rain's scorched body was collected by the Red Dragon and brought to Mileena's keep in Setian Valley. Mileena watched over him while he recovered and Rain eventually regained consciousness. Still weak and covered in burns, Rain was confused over his whereabouts and after Mileena explained what happened to him, he asked where Reiko was before revealing to Mileena that he overheard the Red Dragon discussing Reiko's true loyalty to the 'spiritual advisor' Havik.
Mortal Kombat X[]
After Shao Kahn's death, he allied himself with "Empress" Mileena alongside Tanya, serving as a strategist for her forces against Kotal Kahn. When Mileena gained the sacred Amulet of Shinnok, Rain saw an opportunity to deal with her, knowing that using it would slowly kill her, which would allow him to take the throne for himself.
He later fought with Kotal Kahn, but he ended up defeated and was forced to escape. Rain reappeared fighting and trying to kill the Kytinn creature D'Vorah. However, D'Vorah defeated him, and was about to kill him and Tanya. However, Cassie Cage stopped her, sparing them. After losing to D'Vorah, Rain is not seen again.
In Tanya's arcade ending, she betrays Rain and hands him over to Kotal Kahn who kills the male Edenian for his crimes.
Mortal Kombat 11[]
Although originally only appearing as a random easter egg (Being found fighting Blaze in Shang Tsung's Island and in Shang Tsung's move set as a transformation, Rain himself appears as a playable DLC character in Mortal Kombat 11. In intro dialogues, he wishes to dispose of Kitana Kahn and become the ruler of Edenia despite staying neutral. In his non canon ending, he defeats Kronika and takes the hourglass, using it the discover the full truth of his heritage. He discovered that Argus had lied to Amara that he was stillborn, leaving her to die of grief. Determined for vengeance for himself and his mother, he killed Argus and his half brothers Taven and Daegon, leaving Delia alive to mourn the loss of her family.
Mortal Kombat 1[]
- Main article: Rain (Union of Light)
Fire God Liu Kang confiscated Rain's divine lineage in his New Era to humble this new incarnation. Now an ambitious mage blessed with an innate talent for hydromancy, Rain through the imperial ranks to become the High Mage of Outworld, but was tempted into darkness by Shang Tsung.
But in the final Armageddon battle, a pure, noble, and incorruptible heroic version of Rain aids Liu Kang and the Forces of Light on defeating Titan Shang Tsung and the Forces of Darkness.
Other Media[]
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation[]
Rain is a minor antagonist in the 1997 film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. He is the general of Shao Kahn's forces and his second in command. He defeats the Earthrealm warriors Kabal and Stryker but doesn't finish them which angers Shao Kahn who kills him and replaces him with Queen Sindel as his new general.
Mortal Kombat: Conquest[]
Rain is a former antagonist in the 1998-99 TV Series Mortal Kombat: Conquest being a major antagonist of the episode "Shadow of a Doubt". He is sent by Shao Kahn to kill Kung Lao. Rain manages to defeat Kung Lao and injure him badly due to his brainwashed state but he is also injured and retreats when Siro and Taja arrive. Siro chases him down and is easily defeated by him but he is saved by Kitana who wounds him with his steel fans without knowing who he is initially. Kitana the recognizes him and Rain retreats. She then explains that he is an Edenian and that she was close with him once. Rain is not seen again after this.
Powers and Abilities[]
Rain is a skilled fighter and possesses great power due to being a demigod. However unlike the other sons of Argus, Rain does not control fire, he can manipulate water and lightning. Rain is able to fire a powerful blast of water from his hands or feet that he can use to propel himself forward or to blast opponents, call down a lightning bolt on his foe, fire an orb of water that allows him to stun his opponent and move their body around, and submerge himself in water then reappear behind them. Rain can also perform a powerful roundhouse kick that knocks the opponent to the other side of the screen.
Powers[]
1st & 2nd Timelines[]
- Divine Empowerment: Rain is a Edenian who was the first-born son of the Edenian God, Argus. Being the half-God he is, Rain wields immense power.
- Superhuman Strength: Through mysterious means, he enchants the strength in his legs, distorting space to strike them so hard that they would reappear opposite to his direction.
- Superhuman Speed: Rain can move at extreme speeds more than what normal Edenians could. With his water magic he can increase his speed as well.
- Superhuman Agility
- Superhuman Durability
- Superhuman Endurance: Rain can tolerate high amounts of physical pain and can still survive or stand after that.
- Immortality: Being a half-god, Rain barely seems to age.
- Magic: Rain can control two things that involve weather: water and lightning. His powers being related to such, he is able to pressurize jet streams of water to either propel himself or slice his opponents like a blade. Rain's control over water and lightning is so powerful he can create massive storm clouds to block out the sun from the sky. He is most noted for his ability to trap opponents in a spherical prison of water that gives him limited control over their body. In addition, he is able to conjure up lightning blasts from the sky to blast his opponents into the air. He also possesses the ability to liquefy himself, turning himself into water and reconstituting behind them in a swift manner akin to teleporting. His powers and the backstory behind most of them have been heavily expanded on as well. He now has the ability to open dimensional rifts into the previously unexplored water realm. This allows him to create two different kinds of portals: a portal made out of water and one that has a purple color with a yellowish outline. The latter is often used in combat to teleport opponents after being launched by an attack, but he can also use it as a deadly projectile as well as imbue his attacks with it. Even his Hydrokinesis has been expanded, as he can now create deadly weapons out of highly pressurized water and even summon tidal waves to wash away his opponents. His ability to turn into water has also been expanded considerably, being able to reshape himself into an orb to snag his enemies into the air and slam them into the ground or shift into his liquid state to either slip past his opponents or allow attacks to pass through his form harmlessly.
- Hydrokinesis
- Electrokinesis
- Weather Manipulation
- Weapon Creation
- Portal Creation
- Intangibility
- Teleportation
- Flight
3rd Timeline[]
- Edenian Physiology: In Liu Kang's new era, he has stripped Rain of his divine empowerment and is now a normal Edenian. However, he still has his high levels of strength, speed, agility, stamina, and endurance. He also has longevity instead of immortality. His real name is now, Zeffero.
- Superhuman Strength
- Superhuman Speed
- Superhuman Agility
- Superhuman Endurance
- Superhuman Stamina
- Longevity
- Magic: In Mortal Kombat 1, Rain is now a High Mage, born with an incredible aptitude for water magic which was further honed under both the Outworld Academy of Sorcery and the tutelage of General Shao. He still has his similar powers and abilities like his other selves in prior timelines. Wielding a scepter that lets him control water magic as a hydromancer, he can now create portals of water that he can pass through with ease, create whirlpools on the ground that can entrap foes, and, in his arcade ending, even create floods powerful enough to level the entirety of Seido's capitol.
- Hydrokinesis
- Electrokinesis
- Weather Manipulation
- Intangibility
- Teleportation
- Flight
Abilities[]
- Expert Martial Artist: Rain is very proficient in the Edenian martial arts and is known to be quite a powerful foe. He still has his Edenian martial art skills in Liu Kang's new era, but he now uses another fighting style when wielding his scepter. He was instructed under General Shao.
- Zi Ran Men
- Bojutsu
- Master Acrobat: Rain does have impressive acrobatic skills. He can leap great distances and has impressive reflexes.
- Weapon Proficiency: Rain is known for wielding certain kinds of weapons. He has proficiency in using a Storm Sword and a Jamadhar/Katar. In Liu Kang's new era, he now wields a magic scepter in combat.
- Swordsmanship
- High Intelligence: Rain does have some keen intelligence in earlier appearances. He is great at formulating strategies and even advise his allies with ideas.
- Tactical Analysis
- Indomitable Will: Rain has proven to be quite a headstrong warrior. He has a burning desire of gaining power over an entire realm and would not dare to be denied. He has sought to take Edenia's or Outworld's throne for his own even if he was denied by other warriors. Other than his burning desire, he can be disrespectful and mocking to his allies and his foes without showing any fear or regret.
Trivia[]
- Rain appeared in the animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, Rain was once engaged to Princess Kitana, causing tension between him and Liu Kang before he was revealed as a traitor. He also had a former relationship with her in the TV series Mortal Kombat: Conquest.
- Despite Rain originally being considered somewhat of a joke character due to his pointless role in the arcade games and having only a few appearances, he has a large number of fans.
- Rain appears in the Dark Prison stage of Mortal Kombat: Deception along with many other characters. He also appears in the Konquest Mode and if the player speaks to him, he asks them to find an ancient Shokan Dagger.
- Rain was based on the late singer Prince, in particular one of his most popular songs, "Purple Rain".
- Rain’s actions in Mortal Kombat X were mentioned several times by Mileena in Mortal Kombat 11, as she felt she was used by Rain and presumably left Tanya dead.
- While the mainstream version of Rain has redeeming qualities such as a sympathetic background because he lost his mother and was stolen away, and his New Era counterpart redeemed himself, Dark Rain from Titan Shang Tsung's Timeline has no redeeming qualities.
- It is a true possibility that Rain could have PTSD and/or bipolar disorder.
External Links[]
- Rain on the Villains Wiki
- Rain on the Antagonists Wiki
- Rain on the Mortal Kombat Wiki