Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!
- ―Raven
Raven is a young super-heroine and one of the five founding members of the Teen Titans.
Personality
Raven reading a book, or at least trying to.
Raven is one of the most mysterious characters throughout the Teen Titans series. She is cold, quiet, emotionless, studious and sarcastic. She can always come up with a witty remark, specifically in reply to most of Teen Titans' antics and attempts at humor. Her appearance and attitude appears to be that of a typical modern goth female. However, as much as she may seem distant and anti-social, producer Sam Register describes her as, "She's a dark character - but a character everyone can relate to. She's a recluse and sort of to herself. We thought that would be a good dynamic with the rest of the team. She does have a dark background in the comic."
Raven is often portrayed as the most mature member of the group, often giving sage advice to the others about various subjects, and generally staying calm even in desperate situations. She is, however, also the most emotionally-restrained of the Titans, appearing secretive and distant; she initially does not allow any of her fellow Titans into her room and spends most of her time by herself, usually meditating or reading one of her numerous books. The reason for her emotional restraint is due to the adverse effects her emotions have on her powers. If her emotions become out of control, her powers can become erratic and spontaneous, becoming active without her will. In the course of the series, however, she gradually, if only slightly, seems to warm up to her teammates. As shown through her quick suspicion of Terra, it is difficult for Raven to build trust for anyone, and even more difficult to truly forgive if that trust should be broken, even not hesitating to kill (or at least attempt to do so to the very best of her ability) the one who had betrayed her trust.
In several instances throughout the show, contrary to her usual behavior, she does show more emotion - such as making "heart eyes" along with Starfire at the appearance of Aqualad in "Deep Six" (though this is mostly used for comedic effect). Furthermore, Raven is known to sometimes be shocked at trivial things. One occasion on which this happens is the episode Overdrive, when Cyborg defeats Raven in a game of chess after installing the Maximum 7 in his brain. At this occasion her entire face and outfit turns white (also probably for comedic effect). Another instance is in the episode "Winner Take All", where Raven, while playing a game of cards, comically gasps at the impressive sets of cards the rest of the Titans have in their disposal.
Despite her seemingly unfriendly attitude, Raven does indeed care greatly about the people she is attached to, as prominently displayed in the episode "Hide and Seek". Initially having little or no patience with Melvin, Timmy Tantrum, and Teether, Raven grows to love (or at least, enjoy their company) them, risking her own life to protect them from the Brotherhood of Evil, even calling them her kids. She also comes to regard the rest of the Titans as her closest friends and family. Finally, there are many instances where Raven is portrayed as the most understanding friend among the Titans. In the episode "Car Trouble", while seemingly uninterested towards Cyborg's T-Car initially, Raven is ultimately the only one who approaches and comforts him, even going as far as to assist in rebuilding the destroyed car. Overall, Raven is not coldhearted, it just simply takes longer for her to open up and show her true colors.
Raven is often portrayed as the most serious and pessimistic member of the Titans, and she generally regards everything in a "black and white" manner. For example, in the episode "Final Exam", when Beast Boy desperately asks Raven for words of comfort after their crushing defeat against the members of the H.I.V.E Academy, Raven tersely states that the Titans have to accept the situation, no matter how grave it is. In the episode "Divide and Conquer", she reacts to Cyborg's leaving of the Titans with little to no resentment, stating that people come and go by. In the continuing episodes of "The End", Raven surrenders herself in to her demonic father Trigon in order to fulfill the prophecy that she thought she had no way to prevent. However, Raven also appeared to still have retained hope to certain degree that the lord of evil could be stopped, as she forcibly injected each of her friends with a portion of her own power to shield them and give them one last chance to save the world. It is then, ironic, that it was what had motivated her to surrender nearly all hope that ultimately destroyed Trigon.
After banishing away Trigon from her soul and from the world, Raven's personality seems to change for the better, as she grows to be less pessimistic and less anti-social. However, she still despises Beast Boy's corny jokes and enjoys reading in solitude, implying that her personality was not affected very much by her semi-demonic origin.
Character History
Little is known of the precise circumstances in which Raven was conceived by Trigon and Arella, her birth parents in the Teen Titans series, but at some point, Raven left the safety of her birthplace, Azarath to go to that of her mother's, Earth. Apparently Trigon had already mated with Arella, who somehow reached Azarath to help herself and her daughter and to spare Earth, likely with the aid of the benevolent monk Azar, part of the ancient mystic order who first banished the demon. Raven's childhood on Azarath was mostly spent training with the monks in the art of meditation and magic in order keep the dark powers she inherited from her father under control, as such she was forced to repress any intense emotion resulting in a stoic demeanor and unemotional personality.
At some point in her childhood, Raven learned of her dreadful destiny connected to her birth, and eventually seeking to flee it, she arrived in Jump City, where she met several super-powered youths fighting a rampaging alien girl. Raven managed to discern the girl's true reason for her demolition work and convinced the others into a more peaceful approach, which won them the alien's friendship. Despite Raven's obvious insecurity, the others invited her into joining them defeat the truly hostile aliens in this game - namely the Gordanians, who had attempted to enslave the girl , and her presence proved ultimately essential to the motley crew's triumph over the Gordanians. Afterwards, the group decided to stay together and formed the original Teen Titans.
Though Raven, still feeling alienated from her new friends, remained distant to them, the other Titans soon came to learn more about her origins. First, Beast Boy and Cyborg inadvertently ended up stranded inside Raven's own mind, where they met the personifications of her separated emotional aspects and also encountered and fought the manifestation of Trigon's heritage inside her. Soon afterward, a backfired plot by the Puppet King left Raven and Starfire stuck in each other's body, creating a new sense of empathy between the girls. Finally, when Robin was haunted by a drug-induced hallucination of his enemy Slade, Raven linked with his mind and saw glimpses of Robin's past, including his initiation by Batman and the death of his parents.
Raven helped the Titans for years, working alongside the other four to protect Jump City from villainous menaces. She was consistently invaluable to their success. Eventually, however, Raven's past caught up with her: On her birthday, Slade (who had been presumed dead) reappeared, wielding new powers and marked with a symbol which Raven could not fail to recognize. Slade deliberately led the Titans to the place where Raven's true destiny was to be fulfilled to serve as a living portal for Trigon to conquer Earth. Seeing no other choice, Raven finally told her teammates the truth about her past - but instead of being rejected, the other Titans remained with her and took the greatest pains to prevent this from happening.
Raven fighting Slade
Slade and an army of Trigon's fire demons attacked Titans Tower to fetch Raven. The Titans decided to fight him, but Raven, unwilling to see her dearest friends hurt on her behalf, knocked them out of the fight and secretly imbued them with some of her powers to protect them from the apocalypse to come. When the portal was opened with her powers, Raven was apparently consumed, but in fact her human half remained alive in Trigon's domain, regressed to childhood and left powerless.
Left in a world turned into a living horror, the Titans still refused to give up without a fight. With some help from Slade (who had been betrayed by Trigon) Robin made his way to Trigon's underworld, found Raven and took her back to the surface, even though she was spiritually shattered by her role in the shaping of events.
Finally, the Titans and Slade faced Trigon in a final onslaught. But even as they were struck down, Raven realized that all was not hopeless, and this sparked her low spirits back into life and let her regain her powers and her true age. Under her new-found righteous wrath, she used the sum of her powers to destroy Trigon, reverting Earth back to the way it was and finally ridding herself from the last vestiges of her dreaded heritage.
White Raven
White Raven
White Raven is a special form that Raven has assumed under unique circumstances, four times throughout the series for multiple reasons. White Raven is Raven's most primal, significant and powerful version of herself, mostly shown as a symbol of her highest hidden power and her inner purity against the consuming evil of her father.
Powers and Abilities
My power is controlled by emotion. The more you feel the more energy you unleash.- ―Raven[src]
Raven has many potent magic powers, the most commonly employed being telekinesis, which manifest as Dark Energy, and serves as her primary means of attack and defense. She is shown to singlehandedly defeat many formidable villains, such as Malchior, Slade, and even her all-powerful father, Trigon.
Telekinesis: Raven can move objects with her mind, projecting her Dark Energy upon them, once telling Cyborg that she places a part of herself into the object she moves, implying this may be an extension of her soul-self. Though the upper limits of this ability has not been explicitly shown, Raven is capable of lifting and throwing objects many dozen times her own body weight, up to nearly two tons of rock, on one instance.
Empathy: Raven can sense and manipulate the powers of others to glean an idea of their thoughts, control her own emotions, and heal people.
Levitation: Raven can levitate off the ground and fly, without visible projection of her dark energy as is shown when she utilizes telekinesis. Her power is also sufficient to enable her to counter the gravitational pull of other planets.
Astral Projection: Raven can project her soul from her corporeal form at will, usually in an energy form of her physical shape or as a black raven (which she is named after). In her soul-self, Raven is capable of traversing through dimensional boundaries, transporting herself and four others over vast distances, phase through almost all kinds of physical barriers, ranging from solid obstacles to walls of fire, disperse visions of the future, dispel physical manifestations of suppressed fears, overwhelm projectors of vast psionic energies, mentally attack and stun another, enter and see into the mind of another, including observing their emotions and memories and communicate to the person, take control temporarily over a willing person’s body and experience whatever the person is experiencing, escape from perilous situations by flying away, physically grasp others in midair or assail others, reach back in time through a swirling lightning-filled vortex-portal back five millennia to return another back to the time and place he originated from, project the soul-self as a physical solid barrier capable of deflecting rain (a form of energy-umbrella), while simultaneously retain her own soul within her body. The soul-self has been known to gain red [1] and black [2] when Raven releases a particularly great surge of power through it or when she is unleashing emotions of intense rage or fear, as well as appear in a shape identical to that of Raven’s physical form, albeit composed of pure dark energy. A smaller version of the soul-self in green can be conjured by Raven without projecting her own spirit after an intense positive emotional upsurge and being tutored in centuries of potent mystical lore. Raven’s powers can take on the form of white energy, as shown in four separate occasions, from the breaking of her inner mind from insanity without friendship, Raven’s soul-self takes on a pure-white form to envelop Trigon, forever cleansing his stain on her world and Arella’s, undoing all the harm he had wrought, her greatest feat in the entire series. Furthermore, Raven is capable of extending the soul-self’s individual body parts through her own corporeal body. Raven at times uses her mantra to project the soul-self, yet many times has been shown to be capable of projecting it through mere will alone.
Teleportation: Raven can teleport herself and other long distances in the shape of a giant raven or by simply traveling through dark energy using portals.
She uses the incantation "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" as a focus in battle. However, Raven has displayed far greater powers, but seems reluctant to make use of said powers; On one occasion, Slade taunted her with his knowledge of her terrible destiny; to escape him, she halted the passage of time.
Raven is the most emotionally withdrawn of the Titans, due to her formidable powers being directly controlled by her every emotion - in order to use her powers without causing excessive collateral damage, she must exercise intense control over her emotions. To maintain this control, she makes use of potent magical artifacts such as her mirror, which enables her to directly manipulate her complex mental landscape, and spends much of her time in meditation.
Some of the other powers not mentioned are:
Intangibility: In the movie "Trouble in Tokyo" as well as certain episodes throughout the seasons, including the first one, it is shown that Raven could go through objects.
Dark Energy Constructs: In many episodes, it is shown that Raven can make a variety of energy constructs from her dark energy, ranging from walls to flying platforms to claws to projectiles to shields (usually dome-shaped), with these constructs temporary and subject to her will. In the episode "Trouble in Tokyo", it is also showed that she can make these fields into platforms and move them. Raven is able to raise shields with an extremely high degree of invulnerability to damage from nearly any kind of assault, be it physical or energy-based (magical or not) in nature, though the durability of these shields have been shown to vary due to a variety of unclear factors.
Above-Average Physical Condition: Though not the most physically talented of the fivesome, Raven is nonetheless a fairly skilled hand-to-hand fighter, having received at least some degree of physical training and reasonable human physical capabilities, as she has displayed in several episodes during combat, such as Forces of Nature, Switched and Hide and Seek. In Titans East - Part 2, when the brainwashed Speedy attacked Raven, with physical might at the peak of mankind's due to his extreme athletic prowess, Raven was able to catch his bow and even hold it back against Speedy's own strength, until Speedy managed to catch her off guard with a sweeping kick that unbalanced her. In Final Exam, Raven is able to nimbly and swiftly evade the quick jabs and strikes of the athletic Jinx as the two fought. In Apprentice - Part 2, Raven also jumped into the air and did a single rotating flying kick at Beast Boy, easily smashing him away. In Hide and Seek, Raven quickly delivers flying kicks to Monsieur Mallah in an attempt to protect Melvin, Timmy Tantrum, and Teether.
Raven’s powers have been shown to be equal to that of Psimon’s when the two fought.
Multilingualism (Septilingualism) In Trouble in Tokyo, Raven reveals that she is a skilled polyglot, capable of fluently speaking English, German, Latin, Romanian, Ancient Sumerian, and Sanskrit.
Abilities
Raven meditating to control her powers
Raven often says the phrase "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" as a primal focus for her vast powers, which can cause untold havoc if completely unleashed with no control. Though Raven has been shown to be rendered powerless when unable to complete this incantation, Raven has also been shown at certain times to activate her mystical abilities even without resorting to such means; for example, in Fear Itself, when technologically animated video-tapes wind rolls of tape to bind her, restricting movement and serving as gags, Raven appeared to be capable of dispelling them using her powers through sheer willpower.
Azarath is the dimension in which she was born and raised, and where she learned her powers from the monks. Apparently it serves as at least one source of her power, as implied when David Slack commented "Whenever Raven was in trouble, she called on the power of Azarath; So when Raven is in the greatest trouble of her life, it seemed like we should take her to Azarath."[3] The words "Metrion" and "Zinthos" were created by Glen Murakami for the spell, and do not have any meaning. These words also serve as her mantra for her daily meditations, which she performs to keep her emotions in check so they do not clash with her conscious self control.
When Raven is highly upset, her soul-self can also transform her half-demon body's physiology to alter her appearance to a variety of demonic forms and sizes. When she cannot control her anger, she transforms into a demonic Raven, usually with four glowing, red eyes (a trait inherited from her demon father, Trigon, with two glowing red eyes were only seen in the episode "Nevermore") and sprouting black tentacles from under her cloak. She has little control over her actions in this state, shown especially in the episode Nevermore when she was attacking a terrified Dr. Light even after he was begging for mercy. Somewhat oddly, when Cyborg was infected with a virus, she threatened Gizmo into helping by lifting and then pulling down her hood. The face was not shown, but, judging by the shadow, it appeared to be a dragon's head with tentacles, though this could be a mental manipulation. However, in the battle against Terra in the first part of Aftershock, her form stretches similarly to the attack on Dr. Light.
Raven also possesses a number of powerful mystical items, such as books detailing many subjects from Earth's ancient history to doomsday prophecies, as well as a "magical mirror, a personal meditation tool used as a portal into the multidimensional world of her mind." It is unclear what the circular red gem at her neck is of, but it seems to flash with light when there is trouble or an alert (Terra and Birthmark), though it appears to be from Azarath, as she had it before she even met the other Titans. It is functional even two decades into the future, as shown in How Long is Forever?, used by Nightwing to unite the Titans once again.
In Fear Itself, Raven so fiercely suppressing her own feelings of intense fear and terror, even to herself, was subconsciously spawning so much more of it that it found another way out: through her powers. Raven was unable to connect with them until she admitted to herself that she indeed had felt true fear, yet also realized fear alone could not prevent her from fighting back, undoing all the supernatural chaos inflicted upon herself and her friends by symbolically expunging her own soul and absorbing the darkness she had unknowingly freed.
Though Raven had an affinity for mysticism, possessed reasonable arcane lore with many books and items of occult nature, and her powers stemmed from demonic magic, Raven had yet to immerse herself with more extensive and complex spell-casting for a greater variety of effects. Raven has shown herself capable of piling up many dozens of boulders to impede a Radiation Monster’s path while simultaneously levitating herself and a dozen more boulders. After purging Trigon’s impurity from her soul and the world’s, Raven has yet to demonstrate the incredible amount of power she used to easily wipe away Trigon from existence (though she had given herself a chance to heal, the evil of her father would stain her soul forevermore, if but in a less primal form) and undo all the damage he had caused. Raven’s dark energy constructs vary in degrees of strength, shape, size and durability. Raven’s quickly made shields in Switched and Snowblind were easily pierced by the physical assault of a tiger Beast Boy and intense amounts of radioactive energy, while her larger barrier just prior to her assumption of her destiny of the Portal could not be damaged by the combined efforts of all the other Titans together.
The limited abilities include teleportation (both of people and objects), telepathy, time manipulation, summoning and merging with her other emotional forms within her mind, precognition, rapid healing (of herself and others, though this ability cannot fully mend severe injuries, as shown when, despite her ability to reduce Robin's broken arm into merely a minor fracture, she could not completely enable it to recover), extremely powerful magic spells (mostly with the aid of a spellbook), temporary biological manipulation of herself (increasing her own size) and the (accidental) creation of various monsters under the denial of fear. Raven’s magic appears to be incompatible with the reality-bending power of the enchanted finger of “Larry” (the extra-dimensional version of Robin), for she stated that a mixing of the two forces “could destroy the dimensional boundaries and nullify all existence.”
Raven also possesses powerful extra-sensory abilities along with her telepathic power. Though unable to detect the unnamed creature that was the last new opponent shown in the series, she could sense the nearby presence of Starfire, as well that nothing controlled Robin’s mind when he was forced to defect over to Slade. Raven also appears to possess some form of precognition, though relatively vague, for though she became more wary upon experiencing a short vision flashing through her mind as Terra ran by, she was unable to tell its entire true meaning and what it forewarned, even becoming friends with Terra despite it, because of its unclear meaning.
Tutored in what she deems "dark magic" by the master of sorcery known as Malchior (disguised as Rorek) for an entire week and mystically having been given millennia of magical knowledge through hundreds of arcane tomes and scrolls, Raven's powers were magnified to heights unimagined, bringing out her tremendous innate magical potential to vast scales, enabling her personal abilities to be greatly enhanced and for her to gain new powers.
Raven demonstrating her enhanced skill in ancient sorcery
Raven once transformed Beast Boy from a fly into a rat through mere concentration, without spell, gesture or artifact, upon being tutored for a week and having millennia of magical knowledge (with over six thousand pages of spells, charms, and incantations, ranging from rudimentary magic from the Book of Nord, the Endreal Verses, the Romanomicon and the Bursean Chronicle to more advanced and powerful magics from the Galleon Scrolls and the works of the ancient and potent mystic O'Riordan the Strange) being transferred into her chakra and through it, her mind, in extensive ancient magic of various kinds that considerably augmented her own abilities (though not to a point that she could directly use them to overpower Malchior alone) and allowed her to produce a greater variety of magical effects, including transfiguration of other super-powered individuals. Raven again uses magic in the episode The Prophecy with a spellbook, a ring of mystical sand, and lit candles arranged around the ring, opening a dimensional aperture enabling her to transverse dimensional boundaries to realms such as Azarath, though after the destruction of Trigon Raven demonstrates the ability to reach other dimensions she has never been to through projecting her soul-self. It is assumed that Raven has retained her skill in this brand of pure magic, though she does not utilize such magic ever again. This indicates Raven's abilities are indeed primarily mystical in nature, and all come from such a source.
Spells, Incantations and Artifacts
- Azarath Metrion Zinthos (Main spell and mantra commonly utilized by Raven to help focus, control and enhance her tremendous yet dangerous mystical powers, usually followed by projection of visible dark energy and any of a vast number of feats; if Raven is prevented from uttering this spell, at times she apparently is unable to activate her powers; also used by Raven and others in meditation)
- Necronom Hezberek Mortix! (A form of wild, uncontrollable but incredibly powerful dark magic taught to Raven by Malchior disguised as Rorek)
- Hezberek Et Morine...Gost Wenthen Verbis Nex...Ind Obrium Bis Pendrule...Paran Sic Cortis Rex! (An extremely potent spell taught by Malchior to Raven to revoke the binding enchantment that sealed him within Rorek's enchanted book; performed within a ring of open tomes and volumes while simultaneously gesturing over the spellbook that contains this spell, causing the books to shine with blinding white light which will enfold the one in mystical captivity and release him within seconds)
- Aldruon Enlenthra Nalthos Sola Narisnor! (A curse more ancient than Malchior himself used by Rorek to entrap him into his enchanted book by projecting a stream of white energy that overpowers Malchior's fiery breath and locked his entire being, body and soul, into the book, a lock neither Rorek's own magic over a millennia nor Raven's own powers before her training could unravel or bypass; Raven uses the same ten centuries later through her dark energy to again seal Malchior into the book)
- Azarath Metrion Zinthos...Carazon Rakashas Endere...Vaserix Endrien Azararth...Azarath, AZARATH! (An incantation utilized by Raven while sitting in a circle of magical sand from two flasks in her possession and a ring of lit candles around the circle, with bluish-white light pouring from the ring of sand and forming into a cylindrical barrier that reaches all the way to the ceiling of Raven's room, opening a swirling vortex-portal, which will bring Raven into a dimensional tunnel leading directly to Azarath, with this tunnel still susceptible to Trigon's attacks, though a magical seal will bar out all threats; Raven claimed even Trigon could not prevent her from "leaving", at least thus)
- Ciro...Enyawd...Vasarix...Zinthos...Metrion...Azarath! (A spell from a passage in one of Raven's spellbooks in Teen Titans Go! #24, which she believed would reverse the effects of the damaged mystic gem of the Master of Games, which had sowed great chaos amongst the Titans by switching their powers and costumes with one another; however, instead it caused even more chaos by further changing all the Titans, including her, inciting such ire that Raven was forced to flee at speed in order to escape their rage-fueled clutches)
- Azarath Metrion Zinthos...Kalazon Racashos Endarath...Vasirix Zendrien Azarath...Azarath! (A spell used by Raven in the Teen Titans Go! #44 issue, spoken while opening a mystic door in her bedroom in Titans Tower, leads at first into a white void, then into the dimension Azarath exists within)
Items and Artifacts
- Raven's mirror
- Book of Azar (an ancient book from Azarath having some connection to the peaceful monk Azar, which came into Raven's possession and was carelessly used by Larry to fly around the living room of Titans Tower, to Raven's displeasure and her angry claims it was not a "toy")
Relationships
Raven & Beast Boy
Raven hugging Beast Boy after dealing with their struggling friendship
Raven and Beast Boy have the strangest, most complex relationship from all the Titans. Raven is the least similar to Beast Boy and it was stated that they are "opposites" in terms of personality due to the fact that Raven is collected, down to earth and cold, while Beast Boy is cheerful, laid-back and energetic. They have an odd "love/hate" connection, as they always fight and get on each other 's nerves: Raven's cold demeanor and "creepiness" annoy Beast Boy and she is often irritated by his bad jokes and immaturity. Although, in the beginning, they have a rough relationship, they become closer later and certain episodes like "Nevermore", "The Beast Within" and "Spellbound" focus on their developing friendship. In spite of the fact that she constantly mocks him and he constantly riles her, they care deeply for each other and help one another when necessary, laying aside their differences. Their real friendship begins in "Nevermore", when Beast Boy and Cyborg are trapped into Raven's mind. There, they meet several sides of Raven's personality, represented by Raven's replicas that wear variously colored cloaks and Beast Boy finds out that the happy side of Raven actually finds him funny, while the sad Raven regrets and apologizes for being so mean to him. The two of them discover that they like each other as friends and Beast Boy and Cyborg help Raven defeat Trigon inside her mind. Later, in "Spellbound" Raven's heart is broken by an evil sorcerer named Malchior and she finds comfort in Beast Boy, who tells her that she is not alone.
There have been romantic implications in Beast Boy and Raven's relationship based on the theory that "opposites attract", despite that the writers denied such claims, even though, in the latter seasons, they wrote more and more into their relationship, deepening their connection. In the DC Comics, Raven and Beast Boy were in a romantic relationship and that strengthened the fans' speculations about the nature of Beast Boy and Raven's relationship, many of them believing that Beast Boy and Raven would initiate a romantic affinity. However, their affection has remained platonic, although Raven shares with Beast Boy a special bond that she doesn't have with the other titans.
Raven hugging Robin after she defeats her father
Raven & Robin
Raven and Robin also have a complicated relationship, although not near as complicated as hers and Beast Boy's. Robin is, undoubtedly, seen as Raven's "hero", whether that delves into romantic feelings is up to the audience to decide. She has shown to be considerably less withdrawn and reclusive towards Robin. This is depicted several times throughout the series, perhaps most notably in one instance in which Robin states there is a special bond between them, due to the fact that Raven has been, literally, inside of Robin's mind (in the episode Haunted). In "The End" Parts 1, 2 and 3, Robin and Raven are the two prominently featured characters, in which Robin attempts to journey into a figurative "Hell" in order to save Raven from being wiped from existence. Another such instance is shown when Raven unfreezes only Robin from the stopping of time, in order to help her escape from Slade's relentless pursuit.
Robin's feelings for Raven, however, obviously don't reach past friendship, because of his very close relationship with Starfire. He is shown as being very protective of her in multiple episodes, especially "The Beast Within", which melds well with her seeing him as her "hero". Viewers often describe Robin and Raven's relationship as "brother and sister" because of their interactions in "The End - Part 3".
Raven & Cyborg
Raven smiling while working with Cyborg on his car
Cyborg, more than Robin, fits the role of "big brother" in Raven's life. They had very few episodes dedicated to mostly the two of them (in fact, only one, which is "Car Trouble"), but Cyborg had a major (or at least more major than Robin and Starfire) role in many Beast Boy-Raven episodes, including "Nevermore" and "Spellbound".
A fan of Cyborg and Raven as a romantic couple could say that Cyborg makes Raven smile more than anyone else in the series. Her biggest smiles, at least, are in "Car Trouble" and "Crash", two episodes centering around Cyborg's troubles.
Raven and Starfire meditating together
Raven & Starfire
Initially, Starfire and Raven had no relationship besides "teammate". Starfire wanted to be friends with Raven, but Raven dismissed all of Starfire's requests to hang out or do stereotypical "teenage girl stuff". In the episode "Switched", their relationship is dealt with when the two girls have to switch bodies, and then, in order to get their bodies back, have to learn everything about each other's powers and origins. This ordeal helps them become closer and have a better understanding of one another.
This is the only episode focused on Starfire and Raven's relationship. Their friendship is never threatened again during the series, so it is implied that they got along just fine after "Switched". Starfire is also one of the few people that Raven lets into her room.
Raven & Terra
Raven and Terra bonding
When Terra first showed up in "Terra", Raven dismissed her as nothing more than a temporary nuisance; since she didn't like any sort of change or the idea of having to develop a relationship with yet another female, she barely reacted to Terra leaving as suddenly as she did.
The episode "Titan Rising" was focused on Raven and Terra's relationship, showing that Raven really hated the idea of adding someone else to their team, especially when Terra gained control of her powers as easily as she seemed to. In this episode, Raven confronts Terra about her feelings, and vice versa, and in the end they work together to save Titans Tower from destruction.
In "Betrayal", Raven isn't seen much in the episode, however at the end of the episode, she is shown feeling angry (as are the other Titans, excluding Beast Boy) and betrayed, hence the name of the episode.
When Terra returns in "Aftershock - Part 1", and when she and Raven fight one-on-one, Raven confesses angrily that she honestly did trust Terra, and that Terra's betrayal hurt her (and the rest of the team) deeply. She loses her cool and scares Terra, being defeated because of her anger. In "Aftershock - Part 2" it's implied that Raven (and the rest of the team) forgave Terra after she sacrificed herself to save everyone from a volcano.
Weakness
Raven's main weakness is letting go of her emotions, especially anger. Terra found this out from Beast Boy and used it to her advantage in Aftershock - Part 1 to drown Raven in mud. Even though her anger seems powerful, it could potentially corrupt her, leaving her very vulnerable to attacks with more power than her own.
It also seems she can keep perfect control of her powers while exhibiting her emotions, as seen in Spellbound. Raven is radiant with happiness and love, yet she is still able to control her powers with ease. As seen in Fear Itelf, if Raven supresses her fear, she is unable to connect with her powers until she admits she is truly afraid.
Her ultimate weakness is her anger. Other emotions aren't as earth trembling as Raven's temper. Her anger is in the form of Trigon inside her mirror in Nevermore, then after defeated (to a point) the anger turns to another one of her, with her father's eyes and a red cloak. Anger is what changes her from her regular self to her demonic side practically every time.
Another weakness is her dependence on her main spell. If a gag is placed over her mouth, she cannot connect with her powers until the gag is removed.
Character Facts from the Comics
- Some time after her joining with the Titans, Raven was corrupted by the soul of Trigon, and became an enemy of the Teen Titans. In their last battle, Raven's physical body was destroyed and her soul freed.
- In the original DC comics, Raven had relationships with Beast Boy and Kid Flash. The most notable and deep relationship was with Beast Boy. Her relationship with Kid Flash however was the result of her using her powers to manipulate him into joining the team. She once had a romantic fixation on Robin, and a deep friendship with Jericho.
- Raven sometimes uses the alias "Rachel Roth" in the comics, which she invented so that she could anonymously attend high school. While Roth does happen to be her mother's original last name, it's unclear where she took the name Rachel from.
- Raven has 6 brothers, who were summoned by Trigon, are named after each deadly sin: Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Sloth and Wrath. Each were sent out to attack the Teen Titans.
- When Raven was in league with her brothers all of them had the names of the deadly sins, Raven was Pride.
- When she is mad, her eyes will glow white.
- Raven originally could not fly (except when she was Evil Raven under her father's control) nor had telekinesis in the comics. These were later added following Raven's re-introduction into the comics after the TV show had already been on the air.
- In the comics Raven wears a long skirt, not a leotard. They decided to change it due to animation problems.
Trivia
- She is voiced by Tara Strong, who also voices Bubbles from The Powerpuff Girls, Timmy Turner from Fairly Odd Parents and Ben Tennyson from Ben 10.
- Raven affectionately calls Melvin, Timmy Tantrum, and Teether "her" kids.
- She enjoys waffles, and, to a lesser extent, pizza.
- Raven's gray skin tone may be explained with her ethnicity being half-demon.
- Raven dislikes chickens, as she considers them a mere annoyance. However, she was once gifted a giant chicken doll from Beast Boy, who won the prize for her.
- Not too surprisingly, her favorite color is blue.
- Raven is the only character to have her birthday celebrated or mentioned in the series.
- Beast Boy and Raven were intentionally written by David Slack, the Titans head writer, as a "married couple", hence the relationship was one of deep loyalty and affection, but also laced with conflicting personality clashes. This "tough love" relationship between Beast Boy and Raven is continued in Trouble in Tokyo, also written by Slack.
- Raven has lost her boot just like Starfire, both of the reasons that they lost one of their boots is because of Beast Boy.
References
KEY EPISODES
- Nevermore
- Switched
- Fear Itself
- Spellbound
- Bunny Raven .... or How to make a Titananimal disappear
- Birthmark
- The Prophecy
- The End (Parts 1, 2 & 3)
- Hide and Seek
- Go!