Silkie

Silkie
Background information
First episode	Date with Destiny (unnamed, cameo) Can I Keep Him? (introduction)
Voice	Dee Bradley Baker
Character information
Real name	Larva-M319
Other names	My little Bumgorf (Starfire) Larvae M319 (Killer Moth)
Species	Mutant Moth
Affiliations	Killer Moth's mutant moth army; Teen Titans (pet and mascot)
Place of Origin	Killer Moth's Laboratory
Residence	Titans Tower (Starfire's bedroom)
Relatives	Killer Moth (Father/creator) Starfire (Adoptive mother) Beast Boy (Adoptive father)
Allies	Starfire Robin Beast Boy Cyborg Raven Más y Menos
Powers and abilities	In any form: tremendous appetite; as adult moth: flight; as gargantuan: slime-spitting
Weapons	None

Silkie is one of the several thousand mutant moth larvae created by Killer Moth who later became the Teen Titans's official pet/mascot.

Character History

Silkie was created as Larva M3-19 by Killer Moth for use in an army of giant mutant moths to overthrow and dominate Jump City. However, Killer Moth had to set back certain parts of his plan when his spoiled daughter Kitten, angry about her recent abandonment by her boyfriend Fang, decided to blackmail Robin into becoming her date for her Junior Prom. The plan failed spectacularly, and upon the destruction of the moth control device by Robin, all the mutant moths reverted from adult into larva state. Taken by their cuteness, Beast Boy decided to keep one as a pet, but since the other Titans would not approve, he did so secretly.

Silkie's enlarged form

This went well until the Titans returned from a clash with Johnny Rancid to find Ops in shambles. Cornered, Beast Boy decided to confide in Starfire and entrusted the larva, whom he had named Silkie, into her care until the Titans' search for the culprit was completed. Starfire took an immediate affection to Silkie and agreed to take care of him, but in order to ease his hunger, she fed him Zorkaberries, a type of fruit from her home planet. The alien nature of the berries caused Silkie to grow to grotesque size almost instantly, and this, coupled with his tendency to eat anything which roused his appetite (which included the Tower's furnishings), made him a hazardous pet to keep.

Starfire was forced to abandon Silkie on a deserted rock island, where he was promptly found by Killer Moth, mutated into adult state yet again, and used as a steed in the villain's attack against the Titans. Starfire was reluctant to harm her beloved Silkie, even though he was harming her friends, and she attempted to persuade him to return to her, as did Killer Moth. The stress in his confusion over two conflicting loyalties caused Silkie to burst, literally. But in fact he only shed his adult body, reverting back into a larva, and was retrieved by a jubilant Starfire, who managed to persuade Robin to accept him as a pet. Silkie has resided in the Titans Tower as the Titans' official pet and mascot ever since.

Personality

Silkie is usually a peaceful easygoing creature. However, it has a gluttonous appetite and will not hesitate to eat anything in its path even at the annoyance of others evident in the episode "Silkie" (though he never seemed to try to eat anybody besides Cyborg's leg). By his next appearances, he seems to have been tamed as he only eats regular food now. He is friendly towards others and seems relatively intelligent being able to understand what the others say. He is particularly affectionate towards Starfire as shown when she quickly bonded with him. He also shares a close bond with Beast Boy who raised him. However, when hurt or aggravated, he will attack whoever caused him harm. He can also be hurt when others abandoned or harm him such as when Killer Moth abused him while training him and when Starfire was forced to abandon him. This caused him to be divided between his loyalties to Killer Moth and Starfire, both of whom nurtured and hurt him though he eventually forgives and returns to Starfire's side.

In "For Real", he did not like being accused by Bumblebee of eating the wires that triggered an alarm (when the alarm was actually set off by Control Freak and she was using Silkie as an excuse) being hurt by the accusation, implying he is sensitive and dislikes being blamed for stuff he doesn't do. He can also be easily scared by dangerous events, though can just as easily be calmed down.

Powers and abilities

In both his larva and moth form, Silkie displays a bottomless appetite and can consume substances both edible and inedible to biological lifeforms, in the latter case including plastics and steel, in volumes far exceeding his size. As an adult moth, he also had the ability to fly, and as a gargantuan moth he could spit globs of a substance which consisted of saliva and zorkaberry residue.

Appearances

Since his introduction, Silkie has several cameo appearances in the series, mostly for comical purposes.

Teen Titans

Season Two

• 6. Date with Destiny (unnamed)

Season Three

• 2. X (unnamed)
• 3. Betrothed (unnamed)
• 5. Haunted (unnamed)
• 10. Can I Keep Him?

Season Four

• 1. Episode 257-494
• 2. The Quest
• 7. The Prophecy
• 8. Stranded
• 10. Mother Mae-Eye (episode)
• 11. The End - Part 1
• 13. The End - Part 3

Season Five

• 4. For Real
• 11. Calling All Titans

Movie

• 1. Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo

Teen Titans Go!

• 37. Winterlude
• 55. When There's Trouble...

Other

• 1. The Lost Episode

Trivia

• In Season 3, Silkie appears in some episodes (as above) long before the events in which he was properly introduced, leading to a (albeit minor) plot hole for the season. Of course, Beast Boy explained that he adopted Silkie soon after the events of Date with Destiny. Plus, these cameos were likely a way to show that the larvas were never completely disposed of.
• A moth larva resembling Silkie made a cameo appearance in another WB series called Batman: The Brave and the Bold in the teaser for an episode called "The Last Patrol!"
• Silkie has not mutated ever since Can I Keep Him?
• It is unclear as to what happened to the rest of Silkie's brethren.