The Crystals

Ambient red Crystals in Raiden DX, stage 6

The Crystals (Japanese: ザ・クリスタルズ Za Kurisutaruzu) are the main antagonists of the Raiden series. They were first seen active on Earth in the year 2080, and began attacks on humanity a few years after, setting off the events of the rest of the series. For most of the series up until the end of Raiden V's story, it was assumed that the attacks by the Crystals were an extraterrestrial invasion, and the true purpose of the Crystals' attacks was not known until then.

For most of the series, the only idea of the presence of an "alien force" was through a Red Crystal that is released when a boss is defeated. These Red Crystals gather at the end of each game to attack all at once, with a larger Red Crystal serving as the focal point of the final boss.

The Crystals also appear as ambient background elements in some stages of the games, serving the purpose of a narrative element or foreshadowing of events when they appear.

Characteristics

The Crystals are often seen embedded in large military machinery, like this walking tank from Raiden II.

Strange crystals recovered from the remains of the first malfunctioning machines were analyzed. It was discovered that these crystals emit a type of energy with a strange wavelength that triggers reactions to anything powered by electricity. Humanity called this phenomenon "Crystal Contamination."

In order to fight against the Crystal Contamination, new weapons were developed from fallen Crystal-controlled machines to produce the Fighting Thunder line of fighters, starting with the Raiden and Raiden II attack fighter craft. Raiden V introduced a weapon that uses a blue Crystal to refract a laser in multiple directions.

In the Raiden games, the Crystals' most common appearance is that of a red octahedral crystal embedded in the machinery they contaminate.

Magenta Crystals discovered deep within a cave in the 2nd stage of Raiden V. The Azuma Fighting Thunder craft uses a new weapon derived from Crystal technology against the Crystal military.

By the events of Raiden V, additional properties of the Crystals began to be more apparent, such as their signs of intelligence and their ability to wage organized military operations which suggests a "core" is controlling the actions of others. Helga Lindenbaum concluded that the Crystals exhibit behaviors similar to Carl Jung's theory on the collective unconscious.

Near the end of Raiden V, a new type of Crystal was discovered deep within the mother planet of the Crystals. This type of Crystal had the same composition as water, serving a much different purpose than the Crystals humanity had been facing up to that point, and resulting in a realization of the true nature of the Crystals' purpose.

Role as antagonists

More information: Timeline of the Crystal War

Blue Crystals discovered deep within the home planet in the 8th stage of Raiden V

Humanity's war with the Crystals spans 17 years of history, from the first signs that their military machines were malfunctioning, to the development of a line of fighter craft designed to fight back in the war.

For most of the Raiden series, it was assumed that the attacks by the Crystals were an invasion of Earth by a hostile extraterrestrial race. As humanity gained more information about how the Crystals behave, and how they exhibit signs of intelligence, the true purpose of the Crystals was realized by the end of the events of Raiden V: Their attacks on Earth were not a normal alien invasion, but were an extermination. The Crystals annihilate all life on any planet they encounter through contaminating their weapons, render the planet inhospitable by polluting the atmosphere and changing its composition, and cleaning it all up to make the planet habitable again.

Other names

The Crystals received their official name in Raiden V. Previous games did not give a name to the antagonists, but most Western localized game manuals of the different ports of Raiden and Raiden II briefly described their intent and role as an antagonist in the games, never describing their form or appearance. The Japanese manuals also did the same, referring to the antagonists as "creatures from outer space" and simply "the enemy."

• Technologically advanced, alien "exological" beings: North American manual of The Raiden Project, PlayStation
• Militant aliens: Atari Jaguar port of Raiden
• Aliens from outer space: Sega Mega Drive (Genesis in North America) port, Raiden Trad
• Cloaked Alien invasion force: MS-DOS port of Raiden
• Carnassials: The name given to the aliens from the manual of the US localization of Raiden Trad for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. This name is the source of the "Cranassians" fan name, via a misread of this name. From the blurb on the back of the USA box of Raiden Trad for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the antagonists are referred to as the tyrannical and imperialistic forces of Carnass. "Carnass" appears to be a play on the word "carnage".

The Cranassians fan name

The source of the "Cranassians" name. This is page 2 of the SNES Raiden Trad US English manual, here spelled as "Carnassials". This is the only localized manual to give a name to the enemies. The name "Cranassians" is a corruption of this name.

The fan names "Cranassians" and "Cranass" are misspellings of the names "Carnassials" and "Carnass", as given by material from the US localization of the 1992 Raiden Trad port on the Super NES. This is the only Western localization of Raiden that gives a name to the antagonists.The Raiden fan (Skynight) who coined the "Cranassians" name stated that he misread the name for the planet "Carnass" on the back of the box in a YouTube video comment.

The fan name started to gain traction in the early 2000's on an early American Raiden fan website. That website, named [RAIDEN], was one of the first English-language Raiden fan websites on the internet from 2000 to 2004, before the age of Wikimedia software. This March 1, 2004, snapshot from the Wayback Machine of the fan site shows the fan-made names for the bosses of Raiden II, some of which are names once used on this very Wiki before being changed to reflect their official names. The name given for the final boss? "Cranasian Headquarters." The name has since been used as the official name by the Western Raiden fanbase. The "Cranassians" have even been merged with the Raiden Fighters continuity to make both series share the same universe.

Gallery

The Raiden II battling the second boss, Albatross, in Raiden II.

The final boss Nodule in Raiden DX's Mission Charlie game mode.

The first boss from Raiden III.

Crystals dotting the entire surface of the mother planet in the 8th stage of Raiden V.

The Crystals as they appear most often in the games.

External links

• Article on the Crystals on the Villains Wiki