Let's talk about the lore in MK11.

[Krankk]

QUESTION 1) Who or what are the Titans in the Mortal Kombat universe?

So far we were told that in the Mortal Kombat universe there was only the One Being at the beginning and the elder gods. The One Being was feeding off of the elder gods, who then used powerful weapons to destroy the One Being and split it into various realms. Gods were created to protect those realms and those gods only wielded power in their own realm. We were told that this was the hierarchy. And out of nowhere comes Kronika and throws that knowledge on its head.

So, what do we know about Kronika?

In the story mode Kronika introduces herself as a titan to Fire God Liu Kang and tells him that he stands no chance against her.
In Scorpions arcade ending we're told that Kronika is only one of many titans, who are all more powerful than elder gods. It's safe to say that Scorpion has obtained Kronikas power and become a titan himself, since he is able to go up against other titans and beat them:

In Sonya Blades arcade ending we're told that by killing other gods, new gods are created. Sonya killed Kronika and became a titan. She then travels around together with her family and kills other malevolent titans, so that her family could slowly but surely also turn into titans:

(Just real quick: I'm a big fan of Lovecraftian horror, so seeing one of those titans being portrayed and described as an Eldritch Abomination is an awesome easter egg for me.)

Now the questions and theories begin:

1. Was the One Being a titan as well?

We've been told in the past, that the One Being was feeding off of the elder gods, which isn't something they were too fond off. That's why they killed him. And in the MK11 story mode, Kronika absorbs Cetrion and her power into herself, almost as if she was feeding off the energy as well.

2. Was the One Being the Alpha and the Omega and he / she / it only gave birth to titans, who then gave birth to elder gods (Kronika is Shinnoks and Cetrions mother), who then created gods to protect the various realms?

To me this theory is kinda out there, since the plot (and lore extension) in MK11 is a retcon of the past. I highly doubt that NRS had this story in mind, when they were rebooting the franchise with MK9. But if they did, then hats off to them. Anyway. I read through a couple of wikis and I didn't really find all too much information on the origin of the elder gods.

QUESTION 2) Just how powerful is Raiden?

I grew up reading superhero comics and spent a lot of time on various battle boards. There tiers were suuuper important. They established that someone like Spider-Man (meta human) couldn't really defeat someone like Thor (high herald). The power difference is simply too vast between those two characters.
Mortal Kombat on the other hand always felt super weird with their tiers. Like for example... Should Jax / Jacqui be able to beat Noob Saibot? I would argue 'No', but he still lost to them in the story. So either the magic in the Mortal Kombat universe is simply not as potent as one might think... or weapons are straight up far more powerful and dangerous than we give them credit. I mean, Stryker defeated Kintaro and Ermac, right? And he is just a trained dude with guns. But these guns seem to be more than enough to shoot Kintaro a couple of times and it's done.

So in theory... even Kronika might get seriously hurt by a shot in the head. She wouldn't die, but it would affect her.
And in the GameInformer interview Ed Boon stated that the only Mortal Kombat character (probably mainstream mainstay character), who would survive a bullet to their head, was Raiden. I assume because even if he died, he would simply reform again. Kintaro? Dead. Ermac? Dead. Goro? Dead. I don't care how many tournaments you've won in the past. If someone shoots at you, you're dead according to MK tiers.

With all of that being said, the power level difference between gods / elder gods and titans doesn't seem to be a physical one. It seems to lie in their magical damage output, versatility and influence over realms.

Which leads us to the question:

1. How much of a power level difference is there between titans and elder gods? Or elder gods and regular gods?

Could Kronika simply kill Raiden in a straight up fight? I don't think she would have ever attempted it, since he would probably simply reform again. He is immortal after all. But if she felt like it, would she have been able to kill him?
Kronika had absorbed Cetrions power and was wearing her crown, which was amped by Shang Tsungs souls, yet she still ended up losing to Liu Kang, who was amped up by Raiden. She was fearing the combined power of Liu Kang and Raiden. And rightfully so. She had her amps and she still lost in a straight fight. And while Liu Kang is powerful without a doubt, I don't know how much of Fire God Liu Kangs actual power came from the mortal Liu Kang. I feel like Raiden was the main deciding factor.

So how powerful is Raiden compared to elder gods, or even titans? If Raiden and Shinnok or Cetrion or whomever fight 10 times, is Raiden destined to lose all 10 matches by tier list default... or does the power in Mortal Kombat simply not scale that way and a god like Raiden can still be far more powerful than an elder god? And that his limitations come from him only being at his most potent in Earthrealm.

2. How powerful is Raiden compared to other mainstream MK characters like for example Liu Kang or Scorpion or Sub-Zero?

I mean, it's clear that Raiden is very powerful compared to the other ones, but Mortal Kombat 11 went all in on him. To me it always looked like Shao Kahn was supposed to be at least Raidens equal, if not more powerful, but oh boy... was I wrong on that one. Now it feels like Raiden would bitchslap Shao Kahn into oblivion, if he didn't have to follow certain rules. Or if Shao Kahn was not hiding in Outworld.

In Mortal Kombat 11 Raiden only stumbles for a moment, when Scorpion "defeats" him, but there it didn't look like Raiden was done at all. Later on Raiden easily beats the living shit out of Geras, who at that point died 1000 times in order to gain more power. Raiden also easily beats the living shit out of Revenant Liu Kang, who had been amped by Young Liu Kangs spirit. And with Raidens power Liu Kang is able to beat the living shit out of Cetrion, an elder god. One can argue, that Cetrion was holding back, since she was unsure of her mothers cause... But Liu Kang was still able to beat an massively amped titan in Kronika. Young Liu Kang also defeated Shao Kahn, yet he kinda never stood a chance against Raiden. Like at all. Raiden killed Liu Kang with one attack, while defending himself.

Kronika was also trying to pull in as many followers as possible and they aaaaall had the same goal: Wiping Raiden from existence with an universal time reset, so that he wouldn't interfere with their business. And all of them were more than willing to jump onto the ship, instead of trying to face Raiden in kombat.

Feel free to share your opinions on the Titans, Kronika, Raiden, power levels and also other topics, if you found something to be interesting in the story mode. I love me some lore discussions!

 

[Syd Barrett Lives]

I love MK lore too, as kids me and my friends spent hours discussing every bit we could infer from the games and comics. But now, at this point, nothing makes sense anymore.
The fact is that since they started with this cinematic story modes it has become a mess of retcons, plot holes and stuff that doesn't make sense just to put together a story.

Anyway, here we go:

1- just the latest retcon thrown in regardless that it conflicts with all the lore we had so far.
a - until this game the only explanation was that the One Being was a "one true god" in a biblical sense that created the Elder Gods who then rebelled and destroyed him. Titans are just the new retcon shohorned in, so it could even be revealed that the One Being was a Titan but I wouldn't think so.
b - could be this way too, as I said the "parents of Elder Gods" stuff doesn't make any sense with what we knew so far so we'll see.

2- canon tier levels in these games are all over the place. Lorewise Raiden is supposed to be way stronger than any other earthrealm Kombatant, probably even unkillable with mortal means, but in these story modes as you said we've seen cops beating magical otherdimensional beings with guns and a stick. So the correct answer would be "whatever the plot demands"
a- this, unless I missed an explanation, is what bugged me the most about this story mode. Kronika is supposedly more powerful than the Elder Gods, who are obviously stronger than Raiden but when he pass his powers to Liu Kang he's suddenly more powerful than Kronika. It's like Galactus giving a small part of his power to Silver Surfer who then uses it to destroy Galactus. Doesn't make sense.
b - as I said above, at this point these story mode don't have anymore a "canon tier", it's just whatever the plot needs without too much thought put into it. Personally I always believed Raiden to be way stronger than mortal warriors, a good chunck stronger than magical beings like Scorpion, Noob or Ermac and more or less on level with other mystical beings like Shao Kahn, Fujin, Shinnok and Onaga.

 

[Saint Op Omen]

I think as far as lore we are learning what we need to as we go...the characters aren't too forthcoming with information & we are at Johnny Cage levels of understanding whats going on... so big world view unveilings are always like wtf...
Tier level wise I think 2 things come into play...

1. It seems a lot of rock, paper, scissors comes into play with power types, different power levels in different realms & states, amulets & powered items...
2. I actually think fighting skills matter a great deal & can overcome power gaps...

 

[FlawlessVictory127]

Been following this site for awhile and decided to finally create an account and join in. I honestly think we (myself included) have given this more thought than the writers themselves. They have now decided to introduce the idea of Titans, who are above Elder Gods when previously in MK lore it was only The One Being and the Elder Gods in the beginning.

According to Wikipedia, in Greek mythology, Titans were often considered to be the second generation of divine beings, succeeding the primordial deities and preceding the Olympians, but also included certain descendants of the second generation. Primordial deities or Protogenoi as they are sometimes known, are the first gods and goddesses born from the void of Chaos. Chaos is the first being to ever exist. Chaos is both seen as a deity and a thing, with some sources seeing chaos as the gap between Heaven and Earth.

My head canon for MK lore with all that's been introduced over the years and now including the Titans is: Before time and existence there is just a blank canvas of nothingness. Similar to the concept of The Overvoid, introduced by Grant Morrison: (The Overvoid is where creation exists. An infinite conscious, living void, a stretch of pure white. The Overvoid exists beyond all understanding and levels of reality, and is the canvas of all possible creation.) Similar itself to Chaos. Born from this void, are either 1. Primordial deity/deities who give birth to the Titans who then give birth to the Elder Gods or 2. No Primordial deity/deities and only Titans who give birth to the Elder Gods. As I see it, The One Being is either the Primordial deity who gave birth to the Titans or The One Being is an anomaly born of the void but not giving birth to the Titans as in this scenario the Titans and The One Being are born of the void. So, The One Being strikes at the Elder Gods either as a Primordial deity or as an anomaly. I prefer to think of The One Being as being an anomaly born of the void.

Kronika is described as "the Keeper of Time who created existence at the dawn of history" on the official game info page for MK11. It would seem that Kronika was the one Titan who, either because she was the first or last of the Titans born of the void or born of the Primordial deity, to start time itself. The starting of time leads to the existence at the dawn of history.