- Patience, my children. Soon, you shall wreak the havoc you crave. Soon, I shall have the power I deserve. Soon, the entire city will bow before its new master: Killer Moth!!! HAHAHAHA!!!
- ―Killer Moth[src]
Killer Moth is a supervillain and an enemy of the Teen Titans and Batman. He is much more competent than any of his other portrayals, and is one of the Teen Titans' most powerful rivals, as they admitted themselves. Despite being threatening, Killer Moth has genuine redeeming qualities, and has a soft side for his daughter, Kitten. He also cares for his moths, as he feeds them and makes sure they stay in shape.
Character history[]
Killer Moth first clashed with the Titans as he intended to execute his plan to conquer Jump City with an army of giant mutant moths. His plans were slightly altered, however, as his daughter Kitten, who had just been dumped by her boyfriend Fang, was unwilling to go to her Junior Prom alone and therefore decided to blackmail Robin into accompanying her in order to drive Fang jealous. While attending the ball (with an increasingly jealous Starfire in tow), Robin sent out Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy, who discovered Killer Moth's secret laboratory in the basement of his house and were attacked by him, though eventually he, Kitten and Fang were taken down and the mutant moths rendered harmless.
Killer Moth later somehow escaped from jail and fled to a desolate rocky island. Starfire was later forced to abandon a grossly mutated Silkie on this very island, where he was instantly seized by Killer Moth and turned into a giant monster moth, with which Moth proceeded to attack Jump City. Starfire, unwilling to harm Silkie, attempted to persuade him to return to her, and Killer Moth did the same; the stress over two conflicting loyalties caused Silkie to burst, shedding his adult form, and he was retrieved alive by Starfire and became the Titans' official pet. Killer Moth and Johnny Rancid, who had happened to be on the scene, were taken to jail once more.
Killer Moth and Kitten later joined the Brotherhood of Evil in their plan to eliminate young superheroes all around the world. When the Brain executed his plans, Killer Moth and Kitten, along with a swarm of new mutant moths — all of them similarly enlarged as Silkie had been—ambushed Starfire as she attempted to help Argent. Starfire, however, managed to escape, and when the remnants of the Titans assaulted the Brotherhood's base in Paris, Killer Moth and most of the assembled villains ended up as the Titans' flash-frozen prisoners.
Personality[]
Killer Moth is a typical villain. He is arrogant, threatening, and wants to destroy cities. He finds that his plans are the best, and that he is worthy to rule an entire city. However, Kitten seems to be the only person who can break that barrier. He is shown to have a soft spot for his daughter, and he treats her like a genuine daughter, and she seems to really care for her father as well, and despite how she sometimes tends to use his fatherly care to get what she wants, it appears to only be temporary. However, this fatherly side does not apply to his creations, even though he calls them by affectionate terms as he truly only sees them as a means to take over the city.
Powers and abilities[]
Chiefly, Killer Moth is a scientist specialist in genetics and bio-engineering who is capable of breeding, cloning and mutating insects according to his desires. Perhaps as the result of an experiment performed on himself, he too possesses various moth-related powers, including enhanced strength, wall-clinging abilities, and winged flight. Killer Moth is also a fair hand-to-hand combatant, and occasionally uses a plasma whip instead of a cocoon gun as a weapon and control device for his creations.
Appearances[]
Teen Titans[]
Season 2[]
Season 3[]
Season 4[]
- "Birthmark" (Mentioned)
Season 5[]
- "Homecoming - Part 2" (Cameo)
- "Calling All Titans!"
- "Titans Together"
New Teen Titans shorts[]
Teen Titans Go![]
- "Pop Quiz"
- "When Chibis Attack" (Cameo)
- "Who Wants Pie?" (Cameo)
- "The Strangest Sports Story Ever Told"
- "Bad Girls"
- "Red Raven"
Gallery[]
Click here to view the gallery.
Background information[]
- In the comics, Killer Moth was a D-list supervillain who used a cocoon gun in his crimes, but who later sold his soul to a demon called Neron for greater power. This resulted in a form named Charaxes, an actual moth creature whose appearance served as the basis for his Teen Titans design.
Trivia[]
- Two of his quotes in "Can I Keep Him?" parody Darth Vader of Star Wars (specifically The Empire Strikes Back), along with his electronically distorted voice, when he tries to make Silkie join his side, saying "Larva M3-19, I am your father" and "Join me and together, we shall... Go on a picnic... Of some sort...".
- Killer Moth was originally an adversary of Batman and Robin.
- After the final battle in "Titans Together", Killer Moth seemed to change his ways. This is shown in the comic series Teen Titans Go!. He has made a few appearances and in one issue ("Bad Girls"), Robin knocks on his door and asks where his daughter Kitten is. Also, when Killer Moth was complaining about how these "kids" would not leave him alone, he stated that he "paid his debt to society".
- Derrick Wyatt designed Killer Moth, and Glen Murakami drew some sketches.[1]
- His design was inspired by Kamen Rider and Mothra.[2]