Raven

### Allies

Robin/Nightwing, Starfire, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Jericho, Arella

### Enemies

Trigon, Dr. Light, The Brotherhood of Evil, Mother Mae-eye, Slade, Brother Blood, Malchior, Blackfire, Control Freak

### Voice

Tara Strong (Teen Titans, Teen Titans Go!, DC Superhero Girls)

## Origin and Teen Titans

Raven is the half-human/half-demon daughter of interdimensional demon Trigon and Gotham City-born human Angela Roth (known as Arella). Raven was conceived as the result of Trigon's marriage to Arella. Raven grew up in an alternate dimension called Azarath with pacifistic inhabitants whose spiritual leader was the mystic Azar (Pagon). She was taught to "control her emotions" by Azar in order to suppress her inherited demonic powers. Initially, it was feared that if Raven were ever to feel any strong emotion, she could then become possessed by her father's evil demonic energy inside of her.

During this time, Raven rarely saw her mother and grew detached from her. Upon Azar's death, Arella began the task of raising and teaching Raven. Around this same time, she met her father face to face for the first time. Soon after her 18th birthday, Raven learned that Trigon planned to come to her dimension; she vowed to stop him.

Raven initially approached the Justice League for help, but they refused her on the advice of Zatanna, who sensed her demonic parentage. In desperation, she reformed the Teen Titans as the New Teen Titans to fight her father. The team consisted of Robin, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy. Raven and her new friends later came to think of one another as family.

Trigon soon took Raven to his home dimension. The Titans defeated Trigon and sealed him in an interdimensional prison with the help of Arella, who stayed at the interdimensional door as Trigon's Guardian.[3] However, Raven continued to fight her father's influence, as he was not completely destroyed. For a period of time, Raven lost control several times in stressful situations, but managed to regain control before Trigon could assert himself.

Eventually, Trigon escaped his prison, came to Earth, and took control of Raven, destroying Azarath in the process. The Titans were manipulated to kill Raven, thereby allowing the souls of Azarath contained inside the ring of Azar to possess her and use her as a channel to kill Trigon. After this battle, Raven rose from the ashes, purged of Trigon's evil, and vanished.

## Movies, Televison, Flims

A teenage version of Raven appears in the *Teen Titans* animated series. One of the program's breakout characters, she was so popular that her later portrayals in comics made attempts to be closer to this version of her. Her costume is relatively the same as her comic counterpart, but her blue dress is replaced with a purple, hooded cloak and a black leotard in order to avoid several animation complications. Raven is depicted with light gray skin, violet-blue eyes, and shoulder-length violet-blue, a-line-styled hair. Her origin as the daughter of human Arella and interdimensional demon Trigon is the same as in the comics. This version chiefly employs powers which resemble telekinesis/psychokinesis encased in dark-colored mystical energy. Raven's power is displayed under various forms. She accomplishes this by putting a little piece of her spirit/soul into everything she telekinetically controls. She often chants the incantation "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" to focus her abilities even further, allowing her to perform much greater feats; she also uses this phrase as a mantra while meditating. She has the ability to fly and levitate. Raven has also been seen as a fairly good hand-to-hand combatant, although she only occasionally uses this skill during battle. Another of Raven's chief abilities is her "soul-self", which allows her to detach her soul and spirit from her body in the form of a dark-energy Raven. This ability can be used to enter the minds of others, teleport herself and others across great distances, pass through solid matter or through fire, and even alter her own appearance. Raven has displayed a number of seldom-used abilities. She can heal herself and others (to an extent), stop time, and manifest her fears as monsters unintentionally. She keeps a library of numerous spell books in her room on the occult, as well as a number of immensely powerful items, charms and talismans. Raven's powers are entirely tied to her emotions, becoming more powerful and more unstable with the intensity of the emotions fueling them. Raven is often giving sage advice to the others about various subjects, and generally stays calm even in desperate situations. She is also the most emotionally restrained of the Titans, appearing secretive and distant. The reason for her emotional restraint is due to the adverse effects her emotions have on her supernatural abilities. However, she eventually warms up to her teammates and comes to see them as her family. The fourth season serves as an adaptation of the "Terror of Trigon" arc in the *Teen Titans* comics, and has five episodes that focus heavily on Raven. Over the course of the season, Raven tries to avoid her destiny of becoming the portal that will release Trigon into their dimension. However, with Slade having been empowered by Trigon, Raven loses hope and resigns to her fate. She leaves her teammates with a small fraction of her powers to protect them from Trigon's petrification blast when he emerges. Raven regresses into a small five-year-old child, and is rescued from the depths of Trigon's prison by Robin. Robin and the other Titans decide to fight anyway, though they are ultimately incapable of defeating Trigon. Their efforts convince Raven to step out of her father's shadow, and she vaporizes Trigon with a pure-white version of her soul-self, returning the world to normal in the process. In the fifth season of the show, she becomes more open and friendly, although her disposition to Beast Boy does not change.

Raven reappears in *Teen Titans Go!*. While her appearance remains mostly unchanged from the original *Teen Titans* series, it is later shown that her short hair is now black with purple streaks instead of violet purple. Also, in the episode "Hey Pizza", her leotard is jokingly referred to as a "bathing suit". This version of Raven is significantly more chatty and social than in her original series appearance, although she does occasionally show her dark side (though mostly when she is provoked or agitated). In "Legendary Sandwich", it is revealed that she loves the show *Pretty Pretty Pegasus* (a parody of *My Little Pony*, for which Strong voices Twilight Sparkle) but is afraid of any other "girly" thing (flowers, hearts, chocolates, and rabbits). Similar to the comics, she has a crush on Beast Boy which culminates in an actual mutual attraction in "Rocks and Water". They formally become a couple in the double episode "BBRae", which is titled after their "ship name" used by their fans as a couple. She has another superhero identity called "Lady Legasus", a superhero clad in gold and has powerful legs, as her name suggests.

Raven appears as one of the main characters of the TV series *Titans*, portrayed by Teagan Croft. As her "mother" was murdered by an unknown male assailant, she displays her exceptionally strong telekinetic abilities out sheer fury and flees town. She is quickly abducted and taken to the police station, where she meets superhero Robin, whom she recognizes from her nightmares, and asks for his aid.