Raven (comics)

For the Ace Comics character, see Raven (Ace Comics).

Raven
Art by Ed Benes.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	DC Comics Presents #26 (October 1980)
Created by	Marv Wolfman George Pérez
In-story information
Alter ego	Raven
Species	Half-demon and half human
Team affiliations	Teen Titans Sentinels of Magic
Notable aliases	Rachel Roth
Abilities	Empathy Astral projection Teleportation Flight Sorcery Telepathy Telekinesis Time manipulation

Raven is a fictional superheroine who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in a special insert in DC Comics Presents #26 (October 1980), and was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez. Raven is an empath who can teleport and control her "soul-self," which can fight physically, as well as act as Raven's eyes and ears away from her body. Raven's chronology is typically^{[citation needed]} separated into three lives. Her first life, 18 years, was spent in the Temple Azarath and creating The New Teen Titans. Her second life began once she started wearing the garb of White Raven, and lasted under two years. Her third life is her current form. Unlike the transition between her first and second lives, with her third life came a new, younger body.

Publication history

The character was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. The description from Wolfman to Pérez was of a female Phantom Stranger type character. Pérez notes that:

“

...the hood - which I designed to look like an actual bird's head - was my contribution, along with the fact that I wanted to give her a dress. She did not look like an action character, because she was wearing an impractical costume for action.

”

Fictional character biography

First life

A character with a morbid past and origins, Raven is the half-breed daughter of a human mother named Arella and the interdimensional demon Trigon. She grew up in an alternate dimension called Azarath, with pacifistic inhabitants whose spiritual leader was the mystic Azar. She was taught to "control her emotions" by Azar, in order to suppress her inherited demonic powers. Essentially, it was feared that if Raven was allowed to feel any strong emotion, she could become a demon like her father.

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, Raven's demonic heritage was revealed, as she met her father face to face for the first time. Soon after her 16th birthday, Raven learned that Trigon planned to come to her dimension; she vowed to stop him.

Cover of Tales of the New Teen Titans #2 (July 1982). Art by George Pérez.

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

Trigon soon kidnapped Raven to his home dimension. The team defeated Trigon and sealed him in an interdimensional prison with the help of Arella, who stayed at the interdimensional door as Trigon's Guardian. 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.

Popular storylines such as "The Judas Contract" took place during this period. Eventually, Trigon escaped his prison, came to Earth, and took control of Raven, destroying Azarath in the process. The Titans came together and were forced to kill Raven, thereby allowing the souls of Azarath 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.

Absent during Crisis on Infinite Earths

Between the periods that we know to be Raven's first and second lives, Raven's whereabouts were unknown. This suggests that during this period, Raven transcended Earth into a non-parallel dimension.

Second life (White Raven)

The minions of the Titans' enemy, Brother Blood, captured Raven to control Nightwing (the former Robin) as part of Blood's plans of resurrection. The Titans rescued them both and prevented Brother Blood from returning. Raven then donned a white cloak to represent freedom from her father's influence.

After being free to feel, Raven found she was able to not only sense, but control others' emotions. She learned to handle this power only after unintentionally making Nightwing believe that he loved her when she thought that she was in love with him. Raven also fostered a relationship with technopath Eric Forrester, who was using the life force of women he seduced to regain some of his lost humanity. Forrester knew that Raven's soul-self could help him to permanently retain his humanity. This attempt was cut short by the intervention of Joseph Wilson (Jericho), who helped Raven overcome her love for Forrester by destroying him and saving herself.

Evil Raven makes her appearance in the "Terror of Trigon" storyline, which began The New Teen Titans (vol. 2). Art by George Pérez.

Raven was later kidnapped by the Wildebeest Society during the "Titans Hunt" storyline. The Wildebeest, led by the Trigon-possessed souls of Azarath, were going to use several Titans to bring about the return of Trigon. During a massive battle, Raven was possessed by the evil souls and once again became the evil doppelgänger of her father. Arella, along with Danny Chase, used the power of Azar's soul to cleanse Raven; however, her body was destroyed, and Arella and Danny joined the cleansed souls of Azarath to become Phantasm.

Dark Raven

The evil energy of Trigon in Raven's soul possessed a metahuman. Raven appeared possessed by her evil conscience and attempted to implant Trigon's seed into new bodies. She interrupted Nightwing and Starfire's wedding, and implanted a seed of Trigon into Starfire. Instead of corrupting her, she actually implanted the soul of the good Raven. This caused Starfire to leave Earth in order to escape from the evil Raven. The Titans were able to defeat her only because of the help they received from Phantasm. Raven later returned, still evil, in order to destroy the good version of herself implanted in Starfire.

Third life

In her spirit form, Raven wandered Earth when Brother Blood came to claim her. Her spirit was reincarnated in the body of a teenage girl by the Church of Blood. A new incarnation of the Teen Titans discovered that the Church of Blood were worshippers of Raven's father, Trigon. They also found a prophecy that told of the marriage between Brother Blood and Raven that would result in Armageddon. The team interrupted the wedding, and Raven forced the cult to escape. She then joined the Teen Titans and enrolled at a high school as "Rachel Roth" in honor of her mother's birth name.

After her rebirth, Raven began developing romantic feelings for her teammate, Garfield Logan (a.k.a. Beast Boy), and the two became romantically attached.

"One Year Later"

Main article: One Year Later

Raven's new look in "One Year Later".

Raven quits the team after she and Beast Boy end their relationship. Letting the others think she is leaving because of Garfield, Raven actually leaves because she has uncovered a secret of one of the other Titans.

Raven runs from unseen pursuers, with a book of unclear significance. Raven has a diskette containing Jericho's soul. She performs a cleansing ritual over his soul and transfers it into a new body before returning to the team as a full member.

Without warning, the Titans are captured by the villainous Titans East and transported to the original Titans Island in New York, where Raven is placed in the "care" of Enigma and Duela Dent, who took to torturing her psychologically. Raven manages her escape. After beating the Titans East, she gives hints that she still loves Garfield, but he refuses to dwell on the matter, leaving their relationship uncertain.

Following the death of Bart Allen, Raven, along with the other adult Titans, decides to leave the team. Raven decides to pursue her chance at attending high school, having never had the opportunity before.

Raven stars in a five-issue miniseries written by Marv Wolfman, with art by Damion Scott. It takes place during the missing year, following Raven's attempts at living as a normal teenage girl and attending high school. Unfortunately, she gets inadvertently drawn into a mystical fight for the lives of her classmates. In the Wizard #177 magazine, Wolfman briefly described the series, saying, "She needs to be on her own and in charge of herself for the first time in her life. This is more than just a 'tale of Raven'; it sets up her new life."

Titans

Raven discovers that Trigon had more than one child, and that a trio of children devoted to her father are behind the attacks. She is affected along with many of the other Titans by these three beings. Raven's three half-brothers use her and Beast Boy as keys to open a portal to Trigon's realm. Raven uses her own power to influence greed in others to make her half-brothers steal what little power Trigon had left. The portal is closed and Trigon's sons, believing they have gained great power, leave.

Raven's half-brothers later return and provoke her demonic side, causing her to leave the Titans and join them. However, the team was able to track them down and convince Raven to join the side of good once more. She later provided a number of other artifacts, all capable of killing her, to the Titans as terms for her staying with the team.

Wyld

With the Titans in a state of disarray in the wake of Justice League: Cry For Justice, Raven left the team and was promptly attacked by a demonic being calling itself Wyld. Battered and dazed, Raven arrived at Titans Tower, where she was rescued by the newest roster of Teen Titans. While she was recovering, Beast Boy stated that he was still in love with her and would remain so, despite whatever difficulties were involved.

Raven decided to stay with the Teen Titans, now acting as a mentor to the younger members. When the Teen Titans attempted to return home, Raven was kidnapped and taken to another dimension by Wyld. Wyld reveals that Raven was the one who created him. When Raven was traveling dimensions looking for her father, her soul self caused all of the animals she visited to merge into one being: The Wyld. The Wyld is eventually destroyed by Static.

Raven has remained with the Titans. She admits that she has been fleeing from the darkness within for too long, and vows to find balance between both the dark and the light. She confirms her feelings for Beast Boy, with whom she finds the most reason to experience a life beyond her dark upbringing. They cement their love with a passionate kiss.

Powers and abilities

The Titans, Beast boy, and Koriand'r inside Raven's soul-self. Art by Mike McKone.

Raven has the psionic ability of empathy, enabling her to feel the feelings of others. She can use her empathy to steal emotions from others, rendering them emotionally "numb". She is also able to force outside emotions into other people. Additionally, Raven seems to be able to absorb another person's knowledge with a touch, such as the language spoken by that person. She was shown to have the power and ability to project mental illusions into someone's memory. This power and ability is usually forgotten.

Raven can absorb the pain of injured people to ease their suffering, and induce rapid healing. She has the ability to heal herself and others. She can manifest her "Soul-Self" through a form of astral projection. Through the use of her soul-self, Raven can project her consciousness into the mind, for therapeutic purposes. It also serves as a way to travel into other dimensions. In many instances, her soul-self has also functioned as a shield. Using her soul-self, she can convert her physical body into her 'soul-self' and carry/teleport herself and others over vast distances.

Raven has also displayed the ability to manipulate and or generate shadows and darkness. This ability comes in different variations, from having destructive capabilities to causing pain, tension, and fear-based illusions. In a number of instances, Raven has also displayed sorcerous abilities. In The New Teen Titans Annual #4 (1988), a villain called Muse forced the Titans into individual murderous nightmares. In her dream, Raven retaliated by flying out of his reach and then releasing energies from "within the folds of her cape" that caused him to be consumed by fire.

Like her brothers, Raven can induce and amplify one of the seven deadly sins (in her case, pride) in any living being, however doing so will cause her to suffer spells of nausea and vomiting for several days afterward. Raven expertly combines her fighting skills with her teleportation ability.

In other media

Teen Titans animated series

Raven, with her hood down, meditating.

A much younger version of Raven appears in the Teen Titans animated series (2003–2006), where she was one of the program's breakout characters. Her costume is relatively the same as her comic counterpart, but her skirt is replaced with a leotard to avoid several animation complications. Raven is depicted with light gray skin, violet-blue eyes, and shoulder-length violet-blue, bobcut-styled hair. Her origin as the daughter of the human Arella and the interdimensional demon Trigon is the same as in the comics.

The animated version of Raven (voiced by Tara Strong) chiefly employs powers which resemble telekinesis/psychokinesis encased in dark-colored mystical energy. She accomplishes this by putting a little piece of her spirit/soul into everything she telekinetically controls. She occasionally 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 and power of levitation, as she cannot actually fly like Starfire.

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, 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 spellbooks 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 focuses 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 seven-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 starts to become more open and friendly.

Raven's only definitive romantic interests within the television series was with the dragon Malchior in the episode "Spellbound", which ended at the end of the episode when it was revealed that he was simply using her. She had shown attraction towards Aqualad in the episode "Deep Six", though this was mainly for comedic effect. Although she is with Changeling/Beast Boy in the comics, they do not progress past being extremely close friends in the show.

In the episode "How Long Is Forever?", Starfire travels to the future via a museum artifact. During Starfire's attempt to return home, Raven is seen in her second incarnation, wearing the white robe.

In an interview, Tara Strong said, "I love playing goth characters. Out of all the goths I've played, Raven is my favorite and I love it how she is half demon and half good girl which is so different from all the other goths I have played."

Live-action television series on The CW

On December 3, 2010, it was announced that The CW has ordered a live-action television series script focusing on the Raven character. Describing her as "a half-demon also known as Rachel Roth," the pilot script will be written by Diego Gutierrez, who will also be executive producer.

DC Universe Online

Raven appears in the video game DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. She has been possessed by her father Trigon, who has begun a demonic invasion of Metropolis and Earth, using Raven. Hero and Villain players will fight with, or against the Titans to either free or keep Raven under Trigon's control. If she is freed, she will join Hero players along with Zatanna, and Doctor Fate in battling Brother Blood, who is the catalyst for Trigon's invasion.

Other Ravens

There has been six other characters named Raven in DC Comics.

• Unknown (Flash Comics Miniature (April 1946)) - A hangliding criminal who fought Hawkman.
• Joe Parker (Detective Comics #287 (January 1961)) - Pitted against the Wasp (Willie Blaine), the pair are used by the aliens Kzan and Jhorl to seek out a meteorite and do battle with the Dynamic Duo.
• Joey Makk (Hawkman vol. 1, #17 (January 1967)) - A bird trainer that battled Hawkman when he tried to steal a valuable book.
• Dave Corby (Batman Family #18 (July 1978)) - An agent of MAZE who fought Robin and Batgirl.
• Unknown (G.I. Combat #228 (April 1981)) - An agent in the O.S.S.
• Tros Samoth (Hawkworld vol. 2, #12 (June 1991)) - The Shadowlord, a winged assassin of the high priests that orchestrated a rebellion against Thanagar.

External links

• DCDP: Raven DC Database Project
• Titans Tower Biography
• Overview of Raven
• Profile of Raven as she appears on the animated series
• Raven Teen Titans Animated Database Project