| Raiden the Moon King | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Vital statistics | |
| Title | Raiden the Moon King, The Moon King, Raiden |
| Gender | Male |
| Film | Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) |
| Status | Alive |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Eye Color | Brown |
| Family | Sariatu (Eldest Daughter; deceased), Karasu and Washi (Twin Daughter; deceased), Hanzo (Son-in-Law; deceased), Kubo (Grandson), Gashadokuro and the Garden of Eyes (creations; deceased) |
| Friends | |
| Enemies | Sariatu/Monkey, Hanzo/Beetle |
- “You will be immortal. You will be infinite.”
- ―The Moon King to Kubo
Raiden the Moon King is the main antagonist of Laika's 4th full-length animated feature film Kubo and the Two Strings (2016). He is the oppressive and totalitarian ruler of the night and the father of The Sisters and Sariatu. After defeating Hanzo, he seeks to kill Kubo's mother for betraying his family and to blind Kubo in order to make his grandson live with him.
Appearance[]
Personality[]
On the surface, the Moon King presents himself as a wise, composed, and imperturbable elder with nothing but his family's own good in mind. Even Sariatu, who has been on the run from him and his other daughters, claim that they do love her and her son, and that they simply want to do what is best for him. This displays an incorruptible and moral complication to his character.
However, despite this, the Moon King is shown to be much crueler, despotic, and authoritarian than he lets on, this nature slipping occasionally as he talks to Kubo. He seems to be remorseless, unmerciful, and heartless for all three of his daughters, all of whom died, and seems to view his daughters and grandson not as actual family to cherish, but as possessions for him to have. When Kubo denies him, he turns into a Moon Beast with the intent of slowly and painfully killing him. It is also worth mentioned that, according to Satiaru, these negative personality traits of his, combined with the way he rule Heaven as the blasphemous tyrant were reasons why Heaven become cold and dark place during his reign.
The Moon King's opinion of the mortal realm and the people that dwell in it is very low, even describing it as being like "Hell" for the various flaws and horrors that dwell in it (despite being directly responsible for many of these horrors). He is metaphorically blind to humanity's goodness, something he wishes to make Kubo by taking his eyes, and was known to directly antagonized any human that questioned his rule (like Hanzo).
After his defeat, the Moon King was left with no memory of who he was, lost and confused of where and who he was. The villagers then go on to explain how he was a kind, caring, nonjudgmental, and open-minded man, a standard that he himself now lives by with his grandson. He may actually have been this positive before, until he became consumed with bigotry and corruption later in life.
Powers and Abilities[]
The Moon King acts as the standing ruler of the Heavens, and thus holds authority over both the Heavens and the Earth, though how far this authority reaches is never seen in full detail.
As his name suggests, the Moon King has powers relegated to the night. He was able to locate his daughter and grandson when Kubo accidentally stayed out after sunset, and was able to project his form through the moonlight. He was able to curse Hanzo into the form of an anthropomorphic beetle with the loss of his memories, and he was able to communicate with his grandson through his dreams. It can even be assumed that he was responsible for the creation of the Gashadokuro and the Garden of Eyes used to guard Hanzo's armor, and was even able to turn into a draconic monster himself. Despite being physically blind, the Moon King is fully capable of physical sight. Given the dark nature of his daughter's powers, it can be assumed that he is capable of all of the various forms of magic that Sariatu and the Sisters are capable of.
Raiden's monster form
Despite all of this immense power, he does have his limits. The Moon King is vulnerable to the power of Hanzo's magical armor, the Sword Unbreakable managing to permanently blind him in his right eye. With the help of the townspeople and the memories of their loved ones, Kubo was able to defeat the Moon King, turning him human with no memories of who he was.