10 Video Game Transformations Nobody Saw Coming
8. Cyborg Ninja Raiden - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots
Few video game characters have been received with as much vitriol as Raiden, the secret protagonist of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, who was sneakily subbed in to replace Solid Snake by Hideo Kojima for the majority of the game.
Fans expecting to play another Snake adventure unsurprisingly didn't respond kindly to Raiden, widely mocking his whiny voice and effeminate appearance, despite the fact he was actually a pretty fun character to play overall.
Even so, Kojima took the hostile reaction onboard and planned a shocking redemption arc for Raiden in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
In a move nobody could've seen coming, Raiden showed up in the game with a radical redesign, now wearing a cybernetic exoskeleton and fashioning himself as a badass cyborg ninja, in a clear homage to Gray Fox.
As it turns out, Raiden's head and spine were grafted onto an exoskeletal body by the Patriots, while his blood was replaced with a special white blood.
Ultimately Raiden's transformation was largely well-received by fans, with the consensus being that a punching bag character had been successfully reimagined as a hero to root for.