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Raven |
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| Alias: Rachel Roth |
Titans Member
joined: DC Comics Presents #26 [1980] |
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| Raven Quick Bio: Daughter of an earth woman and the demonic Trigon, Raven constantly fights to keep her evil side in check. The empathic mystic sometimes fell to the dark side, but valiantly found her own inner light - oftimes at the expense of her own happiness. |
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Evil Raven destroy's the wedding of Nightwing
& Starfire in NEW TITANS #100 [1993] |
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| Trigon aims to claim his daughter in TALES OF THE TEEN TITANS mini series #1 [1982]. |
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| Raven seeks the aid of Dick Grayson in NEW TEEN TITANS #1 [1980] |
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Demon's Daughter
Raven is the daughter of a union between Trigon the Terrible, a powerful extra-dimensional being, and Arella, a woman who was seduced by a satanic cult to try to bring Satan to earth. Instead, Trigon came and took Arella as his bride.
Almost at the point of suicide, Arella was rescued by an extra-dimensional pacifist cult and taken to the other-worldly dimensional world known as Azarath. There, she gave birth to Raven. The moment Raven was born, Trigon's evil influence was felt in Azarath. The grand-daughter of the original Azar herself raised Raven and trained her to keep her emotions in check, lest Trigon's evil side within her would be set free.
At the age of ten, Arella once again cared for her daughter, as Azar passed away. Before Azar died, however, she gave Raven a pair of rings that she herself had always worn. The rings held Azar's essence.
Three years later, Trigon appeared in Azarath in an attempt to reclaim Raven as his own. As a defense mechanism, Raven unleashed her soul self for the first time. The manifestation of the soul self confirmed that Raven was indeed the daughter of Trigon. Trigon instilled more of his essence into Raven's soul self and left without her, promising that she would eventually belong to him.
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| Raven gathers the team in NEW TEEN TITANS #1 [1980]. |
Gathering the New Teen Titans
When Raven turned 18, she sensed Trigon's evil growing, so she left Azar and traveled to earth to gather together a band of heroes that would be able to stop him. She first appeared to the Justice League, but was rebuffed when Zatanna sensed an evil within Raven. Undaunted, she gathered together the New Teen Titans, a new incarnation of the old team with Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Cyborg, Starfire and Changeling.
When the Titans learned that Raven was the daughter of Trigon and had also manipulated Kid Flash into thinking he loved Raven, the Titans abandoned her cause out of mistrust. Eventually, the team helped Raven and was able to defeat Trigon. He was thrown into an inter-dimensional prison with Arella acting as a gatekeeper.
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| JUST LIKE DADDY: Trigon transforms Raven in NEW TEEN TITANS (second series) #3 [1985] |
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After Trigon was defeated, The Teen Titans decided to remain a team. And despite this defeat, Raven still had to fight Trigon's dark influence over her. This dark side grew as she exposed emotions. Kid Flash, although he loved Raven, was also frightened by her evil side. This, along with other factors, led him to eventually leave the group. It also became increasingly more difficult for Raven to contain her dark side.
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| Jericho tries to reach out to Raven in NEW TEEN TITANS (second series) #1 [1985]. |
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Trigon Unleashed
Jericho tried to reach out to Raven, but with limited success. Eventually, Trigon came beckoning to Raven and she could no longer resist. Trigon's presence was unleashed! During Trigon's resurgence, Azarath was destroyed and Raven fell under her father's control, taking on her father's appearance as well (red skin and four eyes). When the Titans battled Trigon and Raven, they were transformed into evil personas, which turned around and killed Raven. Actually, it was necessary for her to die so that all the souls of Azarath could destroy Trigon by using Raven's body as a channel for their power. Lilith and Arella assisted in the defeat of Trigon, and with the Titans help, he was at last defeated.
When Trigon was killed, Raven was presumed dead. This, however, was untrue. Her body, now purged of Trigon's evil, actually rose from the ashes of battle. Raven vanished, and her mother Arella went in search of her.
The dazed Raven was captured by Brother Blood's minions and used her to help control Nightwing during Brother Blood's staged ‘resurrection.' The Titans eventually rescued Nightwing and Raven and put an end to Brother Blood for good. After these events, Raven wore a white cloak - reflecting her new cleansed persona.
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The end of Brother Blood and a new life for Raven- from
NEW TEEN TITANS (second series) #31 [1987]. |
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Eric Forrester's secret exposed!
From NEW TEEN TITANS (second series) #67 [1990]. |
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| Arella and Danny Chase perish to defeat the evil Raven - but merge with the souls of Azarath to be reborn as Phantasm - in NEW TITANS #84 [1992]. |
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Free of Evil Influence
Raven was at last free to explore her emotions. At first, she thought she was in love with Dick Grayson, but came to discover there are different kinds of love. She briefly had a relationship with Eric Forrester, but it turned out Forrester was manipulating her. Forrester was actually a soul vampire and wanted Raven's soul self to sustain himself.
Shortly after this, current and former members of the Titans - including Raven - were hunted and captured by the Wildebeest Society. Deathstroke, Nightwing, Troia, Pantha, Phantasm, Arella and Red Star joined forces to track them down. Upon locating the captured Titans, the heroes were shocked to learn the identity of the leader of the Wildebeests was their own teammate, Jericho.
It seems the tainted souls of Azarath regained their strength and merged with Jericho shortly after Trigon's second defeat. The souls now needed powerful vessels for each of them to survive. Now possessed by this force, Jericho sought to acquire superhuman beings as vessels for the souls of Azarath. He used the Wildebeest Society as a front to kidnap the Titans to house the tainted souls of Azarath.
During the soul transfer process, Jericho resurfaced briefly, begging his father to kill him; He was beyond help and killing him might destroy the twisted souls of Azarath. To spare his son any more pain and save the remaining Titans, Slade Wilson was forced to drive a sword through Jericho, killing him instantly.
As the conflict continued, Phantasm was revealed to be Danny Chase, who was himself slain along with Raven's mother, Arella, as the Titans defeated the Wildebeests. Raven was transformed during this battle and mysteriously disappeared.
Raven: Evil Avatar of Trigon
Soon after, an evil version of Raven emerged; Her evil consciousness survived, and she found a mortal vessel to house her form. Raven - now a leather-clad emotional vampire - was intent on planting the seeds of Trigon's unborn children into new vessels.
Afterwards, the Titans entered into tumultuous times, where members came and went, longtime friends were maimed or destroyed, as Nightwing tried to hold the team together. Impulsively, Dick proposed marriage to Starfire. The two almost wed, but the ceremony was interrupted by the dark incarnation of their former teammate, Raven. Her brutal attack on Starfire triggered startling changing in the alien princess - causing her to leave Earth and go on a spiritual journey. Unknown to Starfire, she was actually implanted with the ‘seed' of the good Raven, who influenced Starfire to leave earth – away from the clutches of evil Raven.
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| The Evil Raven disrupts Kory and Dick's wedding plans in NEW TITANS #100 [1993] |
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Raven is reborn as a golden spirit in
NEW TITANS #130 [1995] |
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Evil Raven continued her reign of terror; She planted Trigon seeds in Supergirl, Changeling, Magenta, Deathwing, and Thunder and Lightning. Eventually, Raven and her demon allies came into conflict with the Titans. With the help of Phantasm, the Titans finally destroyed this evil incarnation of Raven - or so they thought.
Meanwhile, Cyborg had merged his consciousness with the alien race known as Technis, in an effort to save the dying race. Cyborg was reunited with his former teammates as evil Raven returned to destroy her good self - which lay dormant in the body of Starfire. To ferret out Starfire, Raven incited a conflict in the Vegan star system. As a result, Tamaran was destroyed along with the Technis.
Raven: Golden Spirit Guide
The Titans were able to destroy evil Raven utterly, and restore good Raven into a new spiritual golden body. Raven, Minion and Garfield Logan elected to remain in space as traveling companions to Cyborg. Frightened by Cyborg's total embrace of technology, Raven left her friend and returned to earth. Raven aided the Titans during the Technis Imperative conflict, which involved the Justice League as well as all Titans, past and present. The two teams eventually worked together to save Cyborg from alien influence.
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Brother Blood woos Raven in
TEEN TITANS (third series) #11 [2004]. |
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Following that, Raven's golden spirit form went on a journey to reassess her place in the world.
Raven Reborn
Without a body to inhabit, Raven's soul-self wandered the world aimlessly until a new form of evil came to claim her... an evil known as Brother Blood. Blood's acolytes summoned a new vessel to serve as the Bride of Blood - a teenage body occupied by the Titan known as Raven. Blood kidnapped Raven with the intention to wed the empath. When the Teen Titans attempted a rescue, they also found a scripture that revealed The Church of Blood was founded on the worship of the demon, Trigon: Raven's father. They also learned of an ancient prophesy that told of the marriage between Brother Blood and Raven - a marriage that would bring armageddon and 'cleanse the earth.'
Blood's attempt to wed Raven was interrupted by the Teen Titans - along with Deathstroke and Ravager - who sought to slay Raven. Raven unleashed a flock of demons on the cult, forcing them to flee and ending Blood's plan - for the time being. Raven decided to remain with the latest group of Titans following these events. Raven has even decided to enroll at a local high school - in the alias of Rachel Roth - to experience life as a normal teenage girl. She has also become close to Wonder Girl, who has helped Raven adapt to her new life.
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Beast Boy and Raven share a kiss in
TEEN TITANS (third series) #30 [2006]. |
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Upon rescuing a reborn Raven from the clutches of the new Brother Blood, Beast Boy discovered a burgeoning attraction to his former teammate. But before Raven and Gar could fully explore their relationship, Beast Boy was called upon to help the Doom Patrol in Prague. With the Titans in disarray after the events of the Infinite Crisis, Beast Boy elected to remain with the Doom Patrol while Raven embarked on a mysterious mission of her own to bring back Jericho's lost spirit in a new human body. After successfully restoring Jericho by using a ritual originated by Brother Blood, both Raven and Jericho rejoined the Teen Titans.
Blue Raven's abilities include broadcast empathy, pain dispersion through contact and long-range teleportation. Raven can also project a spirit entity known as a 'soul self'. Raven has exhibited other abilities as well, including emotion manipulation and low-level precognitive abilities.
White Raven had the same abilities as Blue Raven, but had greater control over emotion manipulation.
Evil Trigon Avatar Raven had the same abilities as both Ravens, but often used her abilities to twist and implant emotions. She also had the ability in implant the seeds of Trigon's unborn children into live host bodies - through physical contact.
The current Raven has broadcast empathy, pain dispersion through contact and long-range teleportation. Raven still retains her soul-self as well. With her rebirth, she has gained a few new abilities: she can fly; she is able to remove the emotions of people around her - leaving them feeling nothing at all; she herself serves as a doorway to other dimensions. Raven is still learning to explore and control these new abilities.
DC Universe Role-Playing Games: Sourcebooks and Manuals [ West End Games], DC Secret Files, supplemented by titanstower.com
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DC Comics Presents #26 [1980]: featuring a 16-page preview to New Teen Titans! The mysterious empath Raven invades Dick Grayson's dreams and shows him a glimpse of his near-future as part of the Teen Titans. First appearances of Raven, Cyborg & Starfire. Beast Boy now known as Changeling.
New Teen Titans #1-6 [1980]: After invading his dreams, the mysterious empath Raven incites Dick Grayson to form the New Teen Titans for the eventual purpose of defeating her demonic father, Trigon. Despite their displeasure with her methods, the Titans rally to help Raven defeat Trigon. By combining their magical and scientific powers, the Titans are able to banish Trigon through a dimensional doorway. Arella sacrifices herself as eternal guardian of the gateway against Trigon's escape.
Tales of the New Teen Titans #2 [1982]: 4-issue mini series. As the Titans take a break on a camping trip, the new members reveal their origins. When Raven is wakened screaming by a nightmare during their camping trip, the other Teen Titans persuade her to share with them the story of her childhood and origin. The origin of Raven.
New Teen Titans #29-31 [1983]: The New Brotherhood of Evil kidnaps Raven and her dark side is revealed to Kid Flash; Terra suddenly decides that she wants to be a Titan.
New Teen Titans (second series) #1-5 [1984-1985]: With Trigon's evil growing inside her, Raven decides to leave the Titans; Jericho tries to help by entering Raven's soul-self, where he meets Trigon; Jericho returns, and Raven disappears; The Titans, Kid Flash and Lilith are transported to Azarath, where they are helpless to thwart its destruction; A transformed Raven arrives in New York, announcing the coming of Trigon the Terrible, who appears atop Titans' Tower; When Raven makes the Titans confront their worst nightmares, the heroes rally to defeat and kill the now-evil empath; Trigon dies when Raven's soul-self (now white) engulfs him; Titans' Tower is destroyed in the battle, and Raven's soul-self disappears. Death of Trigon. Raven cleansed of Trigon's evil and disappears. Arella reappears and aids the Titans to defeat Trigon.
New Teen Titans (second series) #22 [1986]: Dick Grayson speaks with Raven and Arella; Raven, now dressed in white, has been brainwashed by the Church of Blood.
New Teen Titans (second series) #28-31 [1987]: Azrael is the opening act for Brother Blood's resurrection; Frances Kane arrives at Titans' Tower just before the Titans head for the Church of Blood in Washington D.C., where Nightwing and Raven are being held; Brother Blood, his acolytes and a brainwashed Raven battle, defeat and capture the Titans; Meanwhile, Frances Kane recruits several heroes to aid her in a rescue attempt. Brother Blood is channeling the emotions of his followers through Raven; A jealous Mother Mayhem wants Brother Blood dead; Raven returns to normal and attacks Brother Blood with all her might; Azrael saves Brother Blood from certain death and flies him to a monastery in Virginia; Brother Blood defeated in issue #31. Azrael finds a new calling as his 'caretaker' in issue #31.
New Teen Titans (second series) #39 [1988]: Starfire convinces Raven that the empath does not love Dick Grayson in the manner that she thinks she does.
New Titans #66-67 [1990]: Eric Forrester romantically pursues Raven, ending in disaster. Raven makes amends with her mother, Arella, who started a ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
New Titans #84 [1992]: "The Jericho Gambit" part three. Danny Chase is revealed as Phantasm, having used a sheet, hockey mask and voice box to masquerade as the mysterious Phantasm. Danny and Arella try and contain a demonic, red-skinned Raven. Arella, channeling the spirit Azar, joins with Danny and vanquishes Raven. Their own energies combined with the force from Azarath drive away the evil of Trigon's lingering influence. This new force inhabits the garb once worn by Danny Chase and takes on the identity of the new Phantasm. The remaining Titans defeat the remains of the Wildebeest Society and escape the collapsing Dimension Azarath. Final part of the Titans Hunt storyline. Death of Jericho. Danny Chase and Arella die, merge with souls of Azarath and become Phantasm. Raven seemingly dies.
New Titans #93 [1993]: The Titans respond to their newfound fame, as Titans-mania sweeps the country. Approached from behind by an unseen person cloaked in gray [actually Evil Raven], the startled Phantasm is informed that Trigon's evil can never die, and is struck down with an energy bolt.
New Titans #100 [1993]: Nightwing and Starfire's wedding is interrupted by the return of Raven, now a villainous avatar of Trigon. Starfire is viciously attacked and implanted with a demon "seed" by Raven, as Dick Grayson watches helplessly. Evil Raven is assisted by the corrupted Deathwing and Judge & Jury. Sarge Steel begins his plans to assume control of Titans.
New Titans #118-121 [1995]: Raven , now reborn as an avatar of Trigon, is intent on planting the seeds of Trigon's unborn children into new vessels. She plants ‘Trigon seeds' in Supergirl, Changeling, Magenta, Deathwing, and Thunder and Lightning. Eventually, Raven and her demon allies come into conflict with the Titans. With the help of Phantasm (who reforms himself, sensing he is needed), the Titans finally destroyed this evil incarnation of Raven (or so they think).
New Titans #127-130 [1995]: The Titans aid Starfire, who is danger from evil Raven (now resurrected once more). Evil Raven is trying to destroy her good self (which lay dormant in the body of Starfire). To ferret out Starfire, evil Raven incites a conflict in the Vegan star system. Tamaran is destroyed, killing many inhabitants including Starfire's parents. The Titans are able to destroy evil Raven utterly, and restore good Raven into a new spiritual golden body. Starfire decides to rebuild her culture on a new planet; many Tamaraneans were off-world during the explosion – enough to settle on a new planet dubbed New Tamaran. Changeling, a reformed Raven, and Minion stay with Cyberion, while Darkstar, Green Lantern, and the others return to Earth. Mirage has her baby. Raven is cleansed of evil and given a new golden body in issue #130. Chronologically, the Titans appear next in Titans Secret Files #1, where the dissolution of Arsenal's team is told.
JLA/Titans: the Technis Imperative #1-3 [December 1998 to February 1999]: The original Titans were reunited in a mini series that also featured the Justice League of America. With a story by Devin Grayson and Phil Jimenez, and art by Phil Jimenez, everyone who had ever been a Titans was reunited.
Titans #9 [1999]: Raven returns [interrupting a private moment between Roy and Donna] as the Day of Judgment wreaks havoc on the DCU; The team's former resident empath seeks Troia's help to reach the gates of Heaven. Plus, Deathstroke faces off against Tartarus. Meanwhile, Goth takes advantage of the mystical chaos Day of Judgment has brought.
Teen Titans [third series] #8-12 [2004]: the 5-part "Raven Rising!" The Teen Titans seek out the Cult of Brother Blood in an attempt to learn where Raven is being held against her will. But there's someone else on the trail: Deathstroke and the Ravager! The Titans learn that The Church of Blood originally worshiped Trigon and a prophesy foretells the marriage between Raven and the Eighth Brother Blood. The team repels Blood and Raven joins the Titans once more. Raven's origin retold in issue #8. Raven joins the team in issue #12.
Teen Titans [third series] #20 [2005]: The Titans return from the future as Dr. Light plans his attack. Raven enrolls in high school under the alias Rachel Roth.
Teen Titans [third series] #30 [2006]: During a rematch with Brother Blood, Raven and Beast Boy share a kiss.
Raven Timeline: Closing the “One Year Later” Gap
DC's "One Year Later" event occurred March of 2006. In Teen Titans #33, Superboy and Nightwing are in the thick of the Infinite Crisis world-shattering event. With Teen Titans #34, a full year has passed since the Crisis. The events of that "missing year" were revealed in various DC books throughout 2006-2007. Here’s a list of major events revealed during the “Missing Year:”
 The Titans aid the heroes during the Infinite Crisis. While saving the universe from Superboy-Prime and Alexander Luthor, Superboy is killed in battle. [IC #1-7] With Superboy, Wonder Girl, Robin, Kid Flash, Starfire and Cyborg gone, Raven and Beast Boy try to keep the Teen Titans together. [TT #34]
Raven and Beast Boy have adopted new costumes. [52w21]
Beast Boy's rag-tag team of Titans - Raven, Power Boy, Little Barda, Zatara and Hotspot - meet Luthor's new Infinity, Inc. team of "heroes." During the battle, Infinity member Eliza Harmon dies. At Eliza's funeral, Hotspot, Little Barda and Power Boy quit the team. Unknown to the heroes, Eliza's death was caused by Luthor himself. Sensing something is awry, Gar offers his help to Steel in investigating Lex Luthor. [52w21]
Raven and Beast Boy hold a membership drive for the Teen Titans after their ranks have been depleted. Outside Titans Tower, many would-be Titans and current-Titans gather for the team, including Argent, Flamebird, Mirage, Red Star, Joker's Daughter, Captain Marvel Jr., Aquagirl II, Kid Devil, Talon, Miss Martian, Bombshell, Offspring, Young Frankenstein, Mas Y Menos, and Molecule. Osiris arrives to join, only to have Captain Marvel Jr. doubt his intentions. After pleading his case, Osiris is granted probationary membership. [52w32]
Osiris mentions that Argent and Molecule just went through an "awful break-up." He also mentions a recent Titans mission where the team helped Kid Eternity stop the Keeper's plans for controlling the dead. [52w34]
The Titans - Beast Boy, Raven, Offspring and Aquagirl - assist a group of heroes to contain the destruction caused by the "Rain of Supermen." Offspring recovers at Plastic Man's side after saving over 20 people. [52w35]
The Titans - Beast Boy, Raven, Offspring and Aquagirl - assist Steel in assaulting Lexcorp and exposing Lex's manipulations. [52w40]
Black Adam ignites World War III. [52w49]
The Titans - Beast Boy, Raven, Offspring, Talon, Young Frankenstein, Hawk & Dove and Terra - confront a rampaging Black Adam in Greece. Black Adam brutally kills both Young Frankenstein and Terra. [ WWIIIp3: Hell is For Heroes]
The Titans gather with Donna Troy, Arsenal and all the heroes to battle Black Adam. [WWIIIp4: UNITED WE STAND, 52w50]
Having joined the team as a spy for Deathstroke, Bombshell leaves Titans Tower with the stolen Jericho disk. [TT #40-41]
Raven and Beast Boy break up. [TT #34]
Raven leaves the team after learning there was a traitor in their midst. The traitor is later revealed as Bombshell. [TT #34, 38, 40-41]
For a complete timeline of the "one year gap," click here.
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Marv & George Talk About Raven |
 Lone Star: What gave you the ideas for Cyborg and Raven?
Pérez: When I came to DC I came in strictly to do the Justice league. At the time Dick Dillin was still alive, so I Just wanted to do one issue of it. Marv had asked me to do something for DC and suggested the Teen Titans. You know how hard it was to tell the people at Marvel what I was going to do at DC? "Oh, they finally got you doing work there, what are you going to be doing?" "Well, I'm doing the TEEN TITANS... (very low, embarrassed voice)" (laughter.) I did not think that book was gonna go. I loved the original, I hated the second version... and I thought it was going to die. Marv had already decided on Cyborg. Basically, he had all the things worked out on him. Same thing with Starfire. Raven... while Marv conceived the character, it was Len's idea to put a mystical character in there. Marv didn't want Raven in.
Wolfman: Len didn't specify Raven, he wanted a female mystical character. I Just didn't want to do that because my first thought was Dr. Strange and my second thought was the Phantom Stranger. I didn't want to do anything like that. Len said, "Come up with something different." This was before Zatanna became a member of the JLA. And there were no mystical type characters in any group book. I had to figure Out a character that would be completely different. from Dr. Strange, Dr. Fate or Zatanna. The name Raven came from the comic strip that I had done with Ross Andru. There was a girl in there named Raven Winters. And the last name went on to become the Baron's last name in NIGHT FORCE. Raven sort of appeared that way.
The characters held no interest for me until a George did a visual. We talked about it and I was still very reluctant. While I knew about her background, I still didn't care about her because I don't like writing about mystics. He did the visual and I Just went... "Wow." I knew what the face looked like, but at that point we had no intention or showing what her face looked like.
Pérez: We thought we'd wait at least a year before Raven's face was revealed, but initial reaction was negative. It was the fans. They thought she was too mysterious, and couldn't identify with her.
Wolfman: This is an example of when fan comments actually affect the book. It was so overwhelming that fans thought she was A) The Phantom Stranger's daughter - - which we knew all along she wasn't - - or. B) that they didn't like that kind of character. We decided by issue four to reveal her face.
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| A 2004 convention sketch of Raven by Phil Jimenez. |
Pérez: Which has been totally changed since issue four. In number eight, her face was totally redrawn.
Lone Star: Did you get any feedback on that?
Pérez: No. everyone accepted it. Her face was pretty well covered up, her whole gimmick was that her costume covers up her face no matter what. No lighting effect will change those shadows. When I changed that face in issue eight, it was deliberate. At the time, Romeo Tanghal was doing finishing and I was doing breakdowns. And we were still trying to blend our styles at that point. He thought that I goofed and redraw the face back again. I made a xerox and repasted it in over what he had done. The face was drawn three times.
Wolfman: George's style is still evolving and Raven's features have changed the most. Physically, she is completely different than what George envisioned. George designed individual physiques for every one of the characters, including individual faces for all the women, which is totally uncomic book - like because most people draw women to look alike. They may draw men looking differently but usually all the women look exactly alike. It's the Betty and Veronica syndrome: the hair is different, but everything else looks alike. Right now all the girls in the Titans not only have individual faces, but have completely individual bodies and the men are like that, too.
Pérez: Before, if you shaved the heads of Robin and Kid Flash, they'd look exactly alike. Now, they do look different. Basically, I took the molars off Kid Flash, and now he has a very drawn Jaw. He became angular and now they have very distinctive faces. Those two are the hardest to draw because they both are All-American boys.
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 Creating the Dynamics of the New Teen Titans
"Raven was shy and introverted and found it difficult to confide in others. Starfire was outgoing and pure, lusty emotion. Wonder Girl, once again, was directly in the middle. The same kind of triangle was created for the guys. Robin, later Nightwing, was the level-headed and capable leader who, because he was kept on a tight leash by Batman, often felt inadequate for the task at hand. He also had a need to prove himself to Batman. Because everyone in his life had died on him, Changeling believed he had very little to offer anyone and covered it up with an outward bravado. Cyborg was a logical scientist type who rejected that approach to become an angry young man. Nightwing's logical approach to life and anger toward his "parent" was shared by Cyborg while his feelings of inadequacy were shared by Changeling. Cyborg and Changeling had also been physically altered by their parents, and that helped bring them together."
"The characters were created so they would play off each other, but they were still only words on paper. They needed to have real life breathed into them. That happened when George Pérez came onto the scene.
Creating Raven
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| A 2006 con sketch of Raven by Mike McKone |
ORION: Regarding the New Teen Titans, could you give us a little background detail on the characters themselves? How were they created and so on.
WOLFMAN: Basically Len Wein and I sat down and created them. Len wanted a mystic character, I didn't, but Len said he really wanted one, so I came up with Raven.
ORION: Why didn't you want a mystic character?
WOLFMAN: Because I didn't want to do the Phantom Stranger, and I didn't want to do Doctor Strange, yet the descriptions he kept giving me were that. He said the challenge is to find another way of doing it. Raven came out of being challenged by Len. which is the way I work best. Cyborg was mine, as was Starfire.
Raven's Powers
MacDONALD: Raven's powers are very vague.
WOLFMAN: Not to me. She's the empath who can cure some illnesses, some problems. She can't cure death, or any major disease. She failed when trying to cure the Russian Starfire's girl friend. If it's small pains or hurts at least she can cure them, but it affects her. She can move through dimensions, which is the effect of teleportation
MacDONALD: How far can she go with that?
WOLFMAN: I would say about 100 miles. That's about it. We really haven't played with it or have her go more than 10 miles at any given point. But I'd say 100 is about the most. But it's not really teleportation, I was trying to get away from that. If Raven comes from an inter-dimensional place, I wanted to play on her origin. What else can she do? Her soul-self, that's the part of her that's Trigon, her father, the evil part of her, and that's also the part that's the aggressor, the one that actually stops all the villains. She's not able herself to fight. But the soul self does most of that for her, because it has all her aggressive tendencies.
MacDONALD And just what happens to those people when they get inside there?
WOLFMAN: Usually they are either sent away, teleported away, or they fall down and faint, or she learns something from them.
MacDONALD: lt's nor very nice in there is it?
WOLFMAN: No. It's awful (laughter]. In fact, in issue #29,1 believe, because of what happens to the Brotherhood of Evil, the character Phobia who sets up her greatest fear - she sees Kid Flash as her father and the soul self goes after Kid Flash and virtually kills him. Raven's not very happy about that.
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 The Art of Raven
"Raven is very angular, very high cheekbones, very straight-nosed, with an upper lip slightly larger than her lower lip, and, of course, an incredibly large forehead. "
"Raven has developed, recently, a dancer's body in which her breasts have gotten smaller. I gave Raven a body based on a young lady, Fran McGregor, who's built with a very attractive dancer's body. She goes to the same school as my wife, Carol."
Changing the Face of Raven
"When we received a letter from someone saying "Hey, you know, I've noticed that the face has been changing, you're making her look almost demonic, was that deliberate?" It wasn't, then, but it became that way from that point on! (Laughter.) That's when we decided to use that scene inside TITANS #1, based on that one letter. lt started as something I was doing because I was adapting my style. Then I suddenly decided to use a story element. The face was changed, but it wasn't because George Pérez style was changing, it was because it was a deliberate change. So it was an accidental deliberate change."
"Raven? Interesting to draw. Without Trigon it's going to be interesting to see how to handle her. Now that she's open to emotion, it opens up the character. We can do a lot more of her opening up to a society that she had closed off for so many years. I think she's going to have a lot of potential."
George Pérez on Developing Raven
[From Amazing Heroes #156, January 1, 1989]
"I'd like so deal with she religious aspects of her. She was a high priestess, so she has a certain feeling toward religion. She probably even disagrees with a lot of it. I guess after doing Wonder Woman for so long, religion is something I've come to understand more. I was dealing with somebody who I had to infuse with a religious belief based on some things I did not know about. I've never been a Pagan."
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| A 2004 convention sketch of Raven by George Pérez. |
"I'd like so deal more with Raven's mother. What was her mother's real name? I figure it's not Arella, as that was the name she took. Does Raven have any other relatives? Where is her mother now? One thing we'd like so deal with in the Titans-and Raven is a part of it as is Joey, although most of the others have shown is already-is sex. To her, sex is rape. She grew up with that, constantly reminded her entire life that she was a child of a rape. A thing like that can scar someone. I'd like so work a little more on investigating her rationale. It's not unusual. There have been lots of children who have had to go through that, but in this case we have Raven, who was not only the child of a rape, but was the daughter of a demon who tried to destroy everybody and corrupted her!"
"Now that she doesn't have that influence, maybe she'd like to have a relationship, but it will always stop when sex becomes involved. It's something she cannot handle. Realize that a woman like that, to give up her virginity, is would have to be someone she could trust so implicitly that that memory of a rape could be eradicated, or at least ignored. Bus having seen so many other people, including Titans, go through relationships that were more frivolous or hurt when the break-up occurred, it's not going so be easy for Raven to open up so someone that way."
"Things like that, and other investigations into Raven's personality, will be fascinating. Having done so many female characters from Wonder Woman and the Titans, that type of delving into the female psyche I find fascinating, particularly when there are certain things that no man can really identify with. Even if a man was the child of a rape, he would not have so worry about himself being caught pregnant, even if he were raped. Raven's is a totally different point of view, and I look forward to delving into that."
"If more men would try to understand that, that would be the only way to truly understand why a woman would take such pride in the things that make her unique. It would explain what happens when we as a male species corrupt that, violate that. It's like someone coming in and cutting off our penises. We don't know what we've lost until we've lost it. Virginity is something that a woman either treasures or abandons as quickly as she wants to, but it should always be her choice to do so. When a man takes away that choice I can imagine that it is an incredible violation of one of the things that makes women feel unique. "
- George Pérez
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The Faces of Raven
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Blue-Cloaked Daughter of a Demon:
New Teen Titans #1 to Tales of the Teen Titans #58
New Teen Titans [second series] #1-2 |
After invading his dreams, the mysterious empath Raven incited Dick Grayson to form the New Teen Titans for the eventual purpose of defeating her demonic father, Trigon. Marv Wolfman comments, "Len didn't specify Raven, he wanted a female mystical character. I Just didn't want to do that because my first thought was Dr. Strange and my second thought was the Phantom Stranger. I didn't want to do anything like that. Len said, "Come up with something different." "
Raven, a mysterious dark-haired girl whose cloaked costume resembles a bird, is the child of a union between Trigon, a merciless demonic being, and Arella, a misguided Earth woman. Unable to convince the heroes of the Justice League of the truth of her story, she used her mystic abilities to coerce Robin, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Cyborg, and the Changeling, together with the alien Starfire, to form the New Teen Titans to aid her in combating Trigon.
After Trigon was defeated, The Teen Titans decided to remain a team. And despite this defeat, Raven still had to fight Trigon's dark influence over her. This dark side grew as she exposed emotions. Kid Flash, although he loved Raven, was also frightened by her evil side. This, along with other factors, led him to eventually leave the group. It also became increasingly more difficult for Raven to contain her dark side.
Wolfman notes, "We thought we'd wait at least a year before Raven's face was revealed, but initial reaction was negative. It was the fans. They thought she was too mysterious, and couldn't identify with her." Raven's face was first revealed in New Teen Titans #4. But it changed over time.
Pérez adds, "When we received a letter from someone saying "Hey, you know, I've noticed that the face has been changing, you're making her look almost demonic, was that deliberate?" It wasn't, then, but it became that way from that point on! (Laughter.) That's when we decided to use that scene inside [New Teen Titans (second series)] #1, based on that one letter. lt started as something I was doing because I was adapting my style. Then I suddenly decided to use a story element. The face was changed, but it wasn't because George Pérez style was changing, it was because it was a deliberate change. So it was an accidental deliberate change."
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Evil Red-Skinned Daughter of a Demon:
New Teen Titans [second series] #2-5 |
Although she was attracted romantically to both Kid Flash and Jericho, Raven constantly fought to suppress any strong emotion, for fear her evil self would come to the fore and she would be seduced into joining her demonic parent. When Trigon attacked the Earth a second time, he succeeded in transforming Raven into his accomplice. In this incarnation, Raven was transformed into a red-skinned, four-eyed demon similar in appearance to her father.
Trigon was ultimately destroyed, and a transfigured, angelic Raven vanished in the aftermath of his final battle with the Titans.
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A White Cloak and a New Beginning:
New Teen Titans [second series] #20 to New Titans #84 |
Raven's greatest victory came when she succumbed to her father's power, then fought back and won, forever freeing her-self of his evil and at long last allowing herself to experience emotions of her own.
When Trigon was killed, Raven was presumed dead. This, however, was untrue. Her body, now purged of Trigon's evil, actually rose from the ashes of battle. Raven vanished, and her mother Arella went in search of her. The dazed Raven was captured by Brother Blood's minions and used her to help control Nightwing during Brother Blood's ‘resurrection' [New Teen Titans (second series) #20-21]. The Titans eventually rescued Nightwing and Raven and put an end to Brother Blood for good [New Teen Titans (second series) #28-31].
Raven was at last free to explore her emotions. At first, she thought she was in love with Dick Grayson [New Teen Titans (second series) #35-39], but came to discover there are different kinds of love. She briefly had a relationship with Eric Forrester, but it turned out Forrester was manipulating her. Forrester was a soul vampire and wanted Raven's soul self. She was rescued by Jericho [New Titans #66-67].
Raven's snow-white cape cloaked the evil that once lurked within her soul, a pestilent darkness that was a gift from her father, the demonic Trigon. With the help of her friends, the New Titans, Raven cleansed this horror from her soul and was free to use her powerful empathic powers to cure others of their ills.
Presumed Dead:
New Titans #84 to New Titans #92
The Trigon-possessed souls of Azarath took over the Wildebeest Society in an attempt to create bodies to house their energies. Jericho is possessed, takes control of the Society, and kidnapped and nearly destroyed the Titans before being killed by his own father, Deathstroke the Terminator. In the ensuing battles, Golden Eagle is slain, Cyborg is nearly destroyed, Titans Tower is demolished, and Phantasm is revealed to be Danny Chase, who is himself slain along with Raven's mother Arella as the Titans defeat the Wildebeests. Raven is transformed utterly and disappears. This event is catalogued as "Titans Hunt."
The Hunt culminated in New Titans #84: Danny Chase and Arella tried to contain a demonic, red-skinned Raven. Arella, channeling the spirit Azar, joined with Danny and vanquished Raven. Their own energies combined with the force from Azarath drove away the evil of Trigon's lingering influence. This new force inhabited the garb once worn by Danny Chase and took on the identity of the new Phantasm. The remaining Titans defeated the remains of the Wildebeest Society and escaped the collapsing Dimension Azarath.
In New Titans #85, The Titans attended a funeral for their fallen comrades - including Raven. At this point, she is presumed dead.
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Wild-Haired Leather-Clad Vamp:
New Titans #93-130 |
In New Titans #93, approached from behind by an unseen person cloaked in gray [actually Evil Raven], the startled Phantasm is informed that Trigon's evil can never die, and is struck down with an energy bolt. The mysterious gray-cloaked figure continued to plot against the Titans in New Titans and Team Titans.
In Team Titans #8, the future-Nightwing has been attacked by the mysterious figure [later revealed to be a transformed Raven, having corrupted future-Nightwing with a 'Trigon seed']. This triggers startling changes in him, as he adopts the name Deathwing. Deathwing, Judge & Jury and the mysterious cloaked figure [actually Raven] plot against the Titans teams in Team Titans #9-10.
Meanwhile, in New Titans, Liz Alderman is visited by a mysterious presence [later revealed to be Raven] who warps her emotions.
In New Titans #100, Nightwing and Starfire's wedding is interrupted by the return of Raven, now a villainous avatar of Trigon. Starfire is viciously attacked and implanted with a demon "seed" by Raven, as Dick Grayson watches helplessly. Evil Raven is assisted by the corrupted Deathwing and Judge & Jury.
Raven's evil consciousness survived, and she found a mortal vessel to house her form. Raven was intent on planting the seeds of Trigon's unborn children into new vessels. She was a twisted version of her former self: Wild, black hair... tan skin... clad in leather and a gray cloak - her vampish attitude was a sharp contrast to the shy and reserved Raven of the past.
Evil Raven continued her reign of terror in New Titans #118-121; She planted ‘Trigon seeds' in Supergirl, Changeling, Magenta, Deathwing, and Thunder and Lightning. Eventually, Raven and her demon allies came into conflict with the Titans. With the help of Phantasm (who had now reformed himself, sensing he was needed), the Titans finally destroyed this evil incarnation of Raven (or so they thought).
Meanwhile, Victor Stone (formerly Cyborg) had merged his consciousness with the alien race known as Technis, in an effort to save the dying race. Vic (Cyberion) was reunited with his former teammates as an evil version of Raven (now resurrected once more) tried to destroy her good self (which lay dormant in the body of Starfire). To ferret out Starfire, evil Raven incited a conflict in the Vegan star system. As a result, Tamaran was destroyed along with the Technis. The Titans were able to destroy evil Raven utterly, and restore good Raven into a new spiritual golden body. It all happened in New Titans #127-130.
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Glowing Golden-Skinned Spirit Guide:
New Titans #130; JLA/Titans #1-3; Titans #1-50 |
Raven's story continued in JLA/Titans #1-3; Frightened by Cyberion's total embrace of technology, Raven left her friend and returned to earth. Jarras Minion also had doubts about Cyberion's new attitude and decided to leave as well. Jarras, a sworn pacifist, made Victor a gift of his Omegadrome war suit before he left. The Omegadrome allowed Victor to try to carry out his Technis Imperative: To recreate the planet Technis at all costs!
Raven aided the Titans again during the Technis Imperative conflict, which involved the Justice League as well as all Titans, past and present. The two teams eventually worked together to save the earth and former Titans teammate, Victor Stone (Cyborg).
Following that, Raven went on a spiritual journey to reassess her place in the world. As detailed in Titans #9, she counseled Donna Troy on her identity problems and embarked for parts unknown.
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Raven Reborn
Teen Titans (third series) #1-present |
Without a body to inhabit, Raven's soul-self wandered the world aimlessly until a new form of evil came to claim her... an evil known as Brother Blood. Blood's acolytes summoned a new vessel to serve as the Bride of Blood - a teenage body occupied by the Titan known as Raven. Raven faces new challenges in the days ahead. Her new form makes her forever bound to Brother Blood. And her rebirth also carries new abilities that may prove more a curse than a blessing.
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