Her name was Terra. She was gifted with tremendous power, and cursed with it as well. She was a dangerous enemy, and a good friend. And she was one of the bravest people I have ever known.
- ―Beast Boy
Personality
Terra is quite insecure. She wishes to do good with her powers, but her lack of control usually proves them to be a danger instead of a benefit, thus making her reluctant to use them. Before Terra became a Titan, this lack was very evident and surfaced through her weak control over her powers and emotions. She had tried to put up a front of confidence, but was actually extremely afraid of people finding out just how unstable she was.
Among the Titans, she is closest to Beast Boy, whom she tells everything. He feels he knows the most about her and so is the most understanding towards her. She gets along well with all the others except Raven, who never hides her suspicions. After her return, Terra seemed to command much more control over her incredible powers. However, as Raven warns, this doesn't make her any less a danger.
Pre-Teen Titans
Not much is known about Terra's life before she joined the Titans, except that she traveled around very frequently. However, there are some clues to her past. When Slade had Terra alone with him in the episode "Terra", he stated that Terra did try to help others. He then said that on each occasion, something even worse happened as a result of using her Geo-kinetic abilities. This is possibly her reason for traveling so much. She had also made a brief cameo in Winner Take All but didn't talk or use a superpower because she was only seen for seconds.
In the episode "Aftershock - Part 1", Terra fights Robin as he tries to reason with her. She angrily told Robin (while trying to kill the Boy Wonder) that she did not want to be rescued and that she was "not some helpless little girl", expressing a vast and deep-rooted anger that was not entirely towards Robin. This may be a clue to her earlier life (possibly childhood).
An issue from the comic series "Teen Titans Go" does provide some insight into Terra's past life. The comic explains that Terra was in fact a princess and had a brother, called Geo-Force. They were members of the house of Markov, and their father was the king of Markovia. Later, it reveals that Terra was always a "hard-headed child", confused about who she was and who she was supposed to be. She always had people telling her what to do and how to act. Scientists experimented on Terra and Geo-Force, giving them their powers, then attempted to exploit them. Geo-Force fought them off. Terra, unable to control her powers, ran away from home for fear of hurting her loved ones.
Teen Titans
Upon meeting Terra, the Titans quickly welcomed her into their ranks. At first, it seemed like this hip, funny, young hero might make a great addition to the team.
But Terra had a secret. Unable to control her awesome powers, she felt betrayed when it appeared Beast Boy shared her secret with the team (even though Robin found out on his own and told everyone). Angry and alone, Terra sought out Slade, who helped her control her abilities.
Terra returned to the Titans and joined the team - but was secretly working with Slade to destroy the Titans from within. Despite her mission, Terra began to doubt her loyalties; Just as romance with Beast Boy blossomed, Terra was exposed as a traitor. Hardened and isolated, friendless and emotionally hurt, Terra turned to the only one who would accept her, Slade, and shortly the two united to launch their plans in full motion. Caught off guard and still holding affection for their former friend and teammate, the Titans were nearly defeated in the first round, with Terra brutally showing far less mercy and restraint, and in the second, due to reinforcements sent by Slade under her control, Robin was forced to make a retreat back to Titans Tower, knowing this battle could not be won. Soon, Slade assails three different points of Jump City with Overload, Plasmus and Cinderblock, seeking to lure the Titans out of hiding and eliminate their divided forces using Terra. Raven managed to defeat Overload with the aid of nearby water, but was quickly engaged in further fierce combat by Terra, each clearly seeking to kill the other to the best of their ability. Despite this, analysis of Raven made during Terra's time on the team had enabled Slade to realize her powers were controlled by emotion, and should the emotions run loose, so too would her focus on her own abilities be. Terra's taunting of Raven eventually causes her to lash out in fury against her, her rage manifesting in Trigon's form, if but partially, and Terra seized this chance to finish Raven. A boulder projectile intended for Robin was instead the bane of Starfire, which knocked her out. A sudden yet deadly fissure through the ground (combined with the element of surprise) was sufficient to overwhelm both Cyborg and Beast Boy, who told Terra she could not kill them, but a smiling Terra merely replied, "Watch me," and four Titans were no more. Terra next tried to face off Robin, who, driven with a desire to avenge his friends, yet also honor Beast Boy's last wishes to give her a last chance, brutally assaulted her. While the battle was fierce and neither could gain the upper hand initially, eventually Robin knocks her to the ground and has his staff at her neck, but tells her it doesn't have to be this way instead of finishing her, which allows her to get up and finish him with a boulder, presenting his badge to Slade, who begins to launch his plans to seize the city.
Terra, while working for Slade.
Despite her victory, Terra still felt lost and alone. As the hardened Terra is reminded of her past experiences with the Titans, she appears to be subtly swayed, but claims she has "no regrets" for the horrible things she has done. The Titans attack her, just as she believed they were truly all gone, and with their united forces Terra is quickly defeated by the fivesome, despite her best efforts to strike back at the team. Terra then attempted to retreat, but Slade angrily demanded her staying to continue to fight, and Terra tried her best to do so, but after many near-calls with death at the hands of the now-merciless Titans, runs back to Slade, who begins to physically abuse her in fury and disgust at her defeat. By the time she decided to leave Slade, from both the buried remnants of her conscience and his cruel treatment of her, it was too late; Events were set in motion leaving the city in danger from an erupting volcano. Never truly losing faith in Terra, Beast Boy did finally see her realize the error of her ways - before she ultimately sacrificed herself to save the city. Now merged with the earth she once controlled, The Titans searched for a way to restore her.
Upon returning from a globe-trotting adventure, Beast Boy was shocked to discover a school girl who looked exactly like Terra! Finding Terra's tomb empty, Beast Boy was convinced that Terra had indeed returned - and he pleaded with her to return to the team. None of the other Titans actually met this girl in person, yet each offers separate opinions and theories concerning her, as well as acknowledging neither Cyborg's chemical analysis or Raven's spells were effective in reversing the process. (It was never mentioned, but it is possible that after Trigon took over the earth and turned everybody except the Titans to stone, when Raven defeated her father and everybody reverted from stone to human flesh that Terra reverted back to normal as well.) But the girl insisted that "things change" and she was not the girl he knew. Respecting her wishes, Beast Boy was able to let go of the past and look toward his own future, with Terra to walk down her own path, her back to a past that would be forever lost to her. Some fans of Teen Titans believe that Terra may still have her powers and her memory, however she may just be trying to live a normal life in order to forget her past.
"Things Change"
Powers & Abilities
A Lost Soul? A Forgotten Past? Or the natural result of an inevitable change?
Terra has the superhuman ability to manipulate earth in any form, from solid rock to mud, which she uses with increasing skill (due to growing experience and tutelage with Slade) for numerous effects, both offensive and defensive in capabilities, such as flying through the air by riding on a boulder moved through her powers, hurling rocks of various sizes (even multiple rocks simultaneously) as projectiles at opponents to drive them back or outright crush them, form a gigantic stone fist out of many smaller rocks to attack an opponent, change earth from one state to another (such as shifting mud to a more solid version), and many other effects.
Terra's power
Sources
Character Facts
- Terra was created to be, as Marv Wolfman put it, "an evil version of X-Men's Kitty Pryde."
- It is curious that Terra speaks of the urgency to be home, and of her supposed parents, as well as her attendance in her school if indeed they do not exist; Beast Boy also does not investigate more deeply into her current life.
- The name "Terra" means "earth" in Latin.
- Terra is voiced by Ashley Johnson; she voices a similar character named Jinmay in Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, a series which reunites her with Greg Cipes, voice of Beast Boy.
Terra is a playable character on the Teen Titans (Video Game) .