Yes, I've been watching you children misbehave, and I hate misbehaving children!
- ―Mad Mod[src]
Mad Mod is a recurring villain and an enemy of the Teen Titans who has no superhuman powers, but remains a formidable enemy through setting up entire worlds of dangerous false realities for the Titans to survive. He does so through technology and the worlds he sets up purposely mocks known physics, history and human principles, while also making references to 1960's British Mod culture, hence his name.
Original Character
He was a fashion villain in the original DC comic books the animated cartoon was based on, as he used fashion in order to steal goods for himself. While this was different from his character in the animated cartoon, the Teen Titans Go comic issue Naked City references his DC comic book character when he tries to use fashion to hypnotize the citizens.
Character History
Mad Mod's first appearance was in the episode Mad Mod. The Teen Titans woke up, locked in chairs and confused. Mad Mod introduced himself and claimed that the Titans needed a lesson in respecting hardworking villains, and he needed to teach them one. However, the Titans managed to escape, but they were still trapped in Mad Mod's doozy dimension. At first, they struggled to keep up because Mad Mod controlled the entire place and he would do things that none of the Titans would have guessed he could do. However, the Titans figured out that this whole thing was a trap, and they hit a wall, which crumbled (it was actually a curtain). Behind the curtains, Mad Mod's real self (an old man) was controlling the dimension with his controls, however, the Titans managed to break his controls and capture him.
His next appearance was in Revolution. It was the Fourth of July, and the Titans were ready to have some relaxation while watching the fireworks show, but Mad Mod had other plans. He hypnotized the entire city into believing that he was king, and he transformed Jump City into an early 1900s London. The Titans, of course tried to stop him, but Mad Mod captured Robin and stole Robin's youth, rendering Robin old and useless. The other four Titans tried to devise plans, but all four of them had different and clashing opinions, whether they should do a sneak attack or a full frontal assault. All four of their plans failed, and they were defeated time after time. They managed to escape and hide in a courtroom, but they were all discouraged. However, Starfire took a look at how democracy works and concluded that they were failing because they were trying 4 seperate plans instead of putting them together into one solid plan. They were captured by the robot warriors and subdued, but this was part of their plan. Beast Boy got hold of Mad Mod's cane and threw it up into the air, and just as Mad Mod was about to catch it, Robin grabbed it, reversed the aging effects and broke it, reverting the city back to normal. After a get together, they saw Mad Mod out of Robin's hold, and they chased after him. It is unknown if they captured him and threw him into jail, or if he escaped.
In Revved Up, Mad Mod (now a young man again) was one of many villains who took part in a major desert race, driving a white car modeled after the Big Ben clock tower.
He appeared as one of the recruits of the Brotherhood of Evil at the end of Homecoming - Part 2. When the Brain unleashed his plans and sent his pawns to capture Titans and Honorary Titans, Mad Mod was not seen capturing anybody. When Beast Boy led Herald, Mas, Pantha and Jericho in an assault to the Brotherhood's base, Mad Mod participated in the first and second phase of the battle, but he wasn't seen getting hurt or attacking anybody. He was later seen as a flash-frozen enemy at the end of the battle.
Personality
Mad Mod speaks with a British accent and is utterly anglophilic and a special fan of British popular culture of the '60s and '70s, including the Beatles, A Clockwork Orange and Monty Python. Moddie, as he often calls himself, is bitter about his old age and thus envious of the Titan's youthful vitality, while also believing they should leave criminals alone instead of interfering with their plans. He has an odd habit of calling them "my duckies".
A couple of Mad Mod's various artworks depicting himself in popular styles
In the "Know Your Foes" series, Rob Hoegee mentions that Mad Mod wishes to remake the world in his own image, which is the main motivation for his crimes; in the episode Mad Mod, he wishes to reshape the Titans minds, while in Revolution he wishes to take over a portion of the country and make it his way, with himself as king. Mad Mod creates his false realities how he sees fit, and they usually contain various artworks featuring himself, showing his large ego.
Appearance
Both as a young man and an old man, he is thin, has small ears, and crooked teeth that tend to jut out.
Young Man
As a young man, Mad Mod has cherry red hair in a mod cut with sideburns, is tall and skinny, and wears blue shades. He, like most mods, is very fashion conscious, and can be seen in the following outfits:
- A Union Jack (British Flag) Mod Jacket with a black shirt underneath, white pants, tan Chelsea Boots, and a white neckerchief
- A black Mod suit with a white shit, black tie, black pants, and black Chelsea Boots
- Same black Mod suit, but with an Army Parka, 3/4 riding helmet with the mod logo on it, and some riding goggles
- Briefly, a school uniform reminiscent of AC/DC guitarist Angus' Young's favorite outfit.
- A King of England outfit (with a powdered wig in some scenes) that is all red with a crown, knee socks, and black colonial shoes, all accompanied by a royal fur-lined cape.
Old Man
As an old man, Mad Mod's skin is darker, almost greyish in color. His eyes are more yellowed, his hair is grey, and he has a notable bald spot. His shades are replaced by reading glasses, and his outfit is replaced by a more comfortable sweater, loose pants, and some dark grey walker shoes. His eyebrows are thicker, and he is a bit shorter.
Powers and abilities
Mad Mod has no superpowers of his own, but he is a master of technological trickery and employs robots and holographic projectors, which he controls with a ruby-handled cane. In one circumstance, he was able to use such a cane to drain the youth from someone (Robin), making them old and himself young again. He also habitually employs optically induced hypnosis to make his victims submit to his will. Through his hypnosis and holograms, it looked as if he could control both matter and the laws of physics.
Appearances
Season 1
Season 2
- Fear Itself (robot sentinel cameo)
- Fractured (cameo)
Season 3
Season 4
- Birthmark (mentioned)
Season 5
Special Episode
- The Lost Episode (cameo)
Teen Titans Go!
- Naked City
- When Chibis Attack (Cameo)
- The Strangest Sports Story Ever Told
- It's a Mod, Mod, Mod, Mod World
- Bad Girls (Mentioned)
Teen Titans Go!
Mad Mod made an appearance in the DC Kids and Cartoon Network comic 'Teen Titans Go!'. In issue 8 (#8), Mad Mod used his fashion designer mentality (which was absent in the animated series) to hypnotize the citizens of Jump City, Beast Boy and Starfire. He deployed robots to attack the banks so as to attract citizens of Jump City when he (disguised as D.D. Ammo, fashion designer) persuade Starfire and Beast Boy to be spokesmodels for his retro clothing. As the citizens of Jump City followed suit, it was revealed that the clothes contained hypnotizing effect. They attacked Raven, Robin and Cyborg but ultimately their clothes was destroyed by Cyborg's special sonic vibration, leaving everyone else naked.
Trivia
Mad Mod
- Mad Mod is one of only three (the others being Ding Dong Daddy and Andre Le Blanc) villains from the original Teen Titans series that made the transition to the animated screen in the 2003 to 2006 Teen Titans TV series.
- Mad Mod's name and outfits are a reference to 1960's Mod Subculture
- He's an unlockable character in the video game.
- The design made for the Teen Titans cartoon was later resued in the Batman The Brave and the Bold comics.
Gallery
See Mad Mod/Gallery