Azarath Metrion...ZINTHOS!
- ―Raven's frequent magic spell
Raven is a half-demon, half-human hybrid who is one of five founding members of the Teen Titans.
Character History
Arella, Raven's mother, was chosen to become the bride of the demonic Trigon. Abandoned by the demon rather than her becoming his queen, Arella was bent on suicide when she was taken in by the pacifistic disciples of Temple Azarath, a group who had centuries earlier forsaken life on Earth to pursue their own nonviolent lifestyle.
In their inter-dimensional world, Raven, Arella's daughter by Trigon, was born. Fearing that the child would bring evil among them, Juris, a magistrate of Azarath, attempted to cast the infant Raven into Limbo, only to be destroyed himself. Azar, the spiritual leader of the temple, then took the young Raven under her personal tutelage, instructing her in the truth of her parentage, and in pacifism, meditation, and the submergence of her emotions to resist Trigon's influence, while perfecting her powers of teleportation, astral projection, and empathic healing.
Later, after Azar's death (in which she entered another plane of existence), when Raven was plagued by prophetic dreams of Trigon and, defying her teachers, she confronted her demon father in Limbo at his bidding. Trigon spared her and Arella after satisfying himself that, upon his return when she reached adulthood, he could seduce Raven into becoming his ally. When Raven turned fourteen, she sensed Trigon's power returning and fled to Earth.
She arrived at 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 to join them in defeating the truly hostile aliens 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.
A furious Raven displays a great amount of her dark powers
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 realization sparked a new hope within her soul, allowing her to regain full maturity along with her powers. Under a 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.
Physical Appearance
Raven's appearance is seen as dark and mysterious throughout the series. Her superhero outfit is mostly made up of her favorite color, dark blue/indigo. She usually wears a blue cloak with a hood, with matching blue ruffled ankle-boots with black/gray soles, with a leotard-like long-sleeved shirt that is blue/black with cuffs at her wrists of the same blue of her cloak. On her cloak, she has a circular black/red jewel set in a gold plate that attaches the whole thing together; it covers her T-communicator and it's fixed to beep/glow when there is trouble as seen in some episodes. The jewel also sometimes has a raven head shape in the jewel. Around her waist she has a red and gold belt with the same jewels around it and no pants. the belt ties at the back like a cord. Her hair and eyes are violet, and as seen in the episode "Birthmark", Raven cuts off the extra hair that she had grown. In "Switched", Raven despises Starfire's long hair, which may conclude she likes to keep it short. On her forehead, she has a red and black bindi, that she was born with. She is seen to be very pale (gray skin), which makes her appearance somewhat demonic. She tried to wear Robin's uniform as seen in "The Quest". When Mother Mae-Eye infiltrates the Tower and puts the Titans under her control, she turns Raven's blue cloak into a yellow Shirley Temple dress with matching bows in her hair, but her boots remain blue in color. Mother Mae-Eye then says, "Just because you're evil on the inside doesn't mean you can't look pretty on the outside." This outfit puts her a disadvantage fighting Jinx, contributing to the team's defeat by the H.I.V.E. Five. However, despite her demonic appearance, she is shown to be quite attractive and beautiful, as Adonis took a liking to her, and in the Teen Titans Go! issue "The Great Race", Kid Flash considers her pretty and stops in the middle of the race to flirt with her. When she is in 'demonic' state a second pair of eyes appear where her eyebrows are.
Raven wearing Robin's costume
Personality and Traits
Raven reading a book
Raven is one of the most mysterious characters throughout the series. She is quiet, nearly 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 slightly distant and anti-social, producer Sam Register describes her as 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." Robin also said that she is "the most hopeful person he has ever known."
Raven in front of the Tower.
Raven scaring Gizmo
Raven is often portrayed as the most mature member of the group, often giving her own advice to the others about various subjects, and generally staying cool and 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. Even though she is serious and cautious about her emotions, just like she was trying to say to Doctor Light saying "don't come even closer." 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 was to be broken. But she was able to forgive Terra.
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 in which this occurs is in "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). In "Revved Up", she is also shocked at the sudden drop-in of Red X on the bus she is driving but quickly regains her monotone and determined stature when she realizes who it is. Another instance is when Raven, while playing a game of cards, comically gasps at the impressive sets of cards the rest of the Titans have in their disposal during "Winner Take All". She can lose her temper easily, most of the time, with Beast Boy.
Despite her seemingly unfriendly attitude, Raven does indeed care greatly about the people she is attached to, as prominently displayed when she is put in charge of three children.[1] Initially having little or no patience with Melvin, Timmy Tantrum, and Teether, Raven grows to love (or at least, enjoy) 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. While seemingly uninterested towards Cyborg's T-Car, Raven is ultimately the only one who approaches and comforts him, even going as far as to assist in rebuilding the destroyed car.[2] Overall, Raven is not cold-hearted, merely introverted, caring deeply about those close to her.
Raven is often portrayed as the most insensitive and pessimistic member of the Titans, and she generally regards everything in a "black and white" manner. For example, 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.[3] She also reacts to Cyborg's leaving of the Titans with little to no resentment, stating that people come and go by.[4] When 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 a 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.[5] She also was rather rude when Cyborg introduced his new car.
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.
Cloaked White Raven
Pure White Raven in the three-part fourth season finale "The End"
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 to fight, and thus free herself of the consuming evil influenced by her interdimensional-demon father.
The first instance occurs within the multidimensional realm of Raven's own mind, an ethereal place where Raven's separate emotional forms are capable of independently existing.[6]Ravens emotions unbalanced and her rage unleashed from within during the Titans' brief but powerful clash with Doctor Light. The second when she was being tutored by Malchior, nkowingly being taught dark magic. The third instance occurred whilst and after she defeated her father and freed herself from his control. The fourth time actually occurred in the Titans Go! comics wherein Beast Boy (whilst babysitting Melvin, Timmy and Teether) breaks her mirror and causes the several aspects of her personality to manifest in the real world; for a time Red Raven (who represents her father's influence and her own anger) is separate from the rest of Raven, and to symbolise her cheerfulness she dons a white cloak and leotard instead [issue #44 - Red Raven].
Powers and Abilities
My powers are driven by emotion. The more you feel, the more energy you unleash.- ―Raven to Starfire in "Switched"[src]
As the daughter of a supremely powerful and dangerous interdimensional demon, Raven has a host of unique abilities that are tied to her feelings and emotions, and as such, she has trained herself to calm all strong feelings to contain them. She has achieved this through daily meditation, mantra[7] and utilizing chakra. She also uses a special mirror, described as "a personal meditation tool used as a portal into the multidimensional world of [her] mind". Total suppression of her emotions, though, can result in her powers subconsciously manifesting - as such, she constantly struggles to express herself while still maintaining control. Raven often uses the incantation Azarath Metrion Zinthos as a focus for her telekinetic powers. Though Raven has been shown to be rendered powerless when unable to complete this incantation, she has also been shown at certain times being able to access her powers through sheer willpower. Raven's power fluctuates throughout the series; she has been shown gaining incredibly in strength, like when she was tutored by Malchior [8] or when she was empowered by her positive emotions during the battle against Trigon,[9] as well as being stripped of her power completely, as when she was regressed to the form of a child following the opening of Trigon's portal.[10] She has also portrayed hidden abilities like stopping time.[11]
When Raven is highly upset, she can transform into her half-demon self, usually with four glowing red eyes (a trait inherited from her demon father, Trigon) and sprouting black tentacles from under her cloak. She has little control over her actions in this state, shown when she was attacking a terrified Dr. Light even after he was begging for mercy.[12]
She has also temporarily swapped bodies with Starfire in one episode, and swapped powers with Robin in the comics based on the TV series.
- Soul-self: The basis of almost all of Raven's powers are derived from her soul-self. She is able to project her soul from her body into corporeal form, using it to interact with the physical world, affect others mentally, and to traverse through time-space. Her soul-self takes the form of a double of her own body, or more commonly, a large black raven. She is capable of changing it's shape and mass at will, and can alter her own appearance with her soul-self, like increasing her size or making her face hideous. [13] She is able to project her soul-self into the minds of others to communicate, facilitate calm or to force people into submission with a devastating mental attack. Though normally composed of energy that is colored black, Raven's soul-self can change color depending on her emotional state, manifesting as red [14] or white.
- Advanced Telekinesis: Raven can merge a small part of her soul-self into objects in order to take control of them, with the object essentially becoming an extension of her soul-self ;[15] this may be the reason why she prefers to take control of inanimate objects rather than people. The limit to how much matter she is able to control is unknown, though it ranges well into hundreds of tons, allowing her to hurl city buses, mounds of rubble or even uprooting whole slabs of pavement. Whenever she takes control of something, it is covered in the same dark energy that composes her soul-self.
- Telekinetic Constructs: With her soul-self able to be molded into any shape, Raven often creates simple domes or walls that acts as barriers against attack. She can project solid bolts to be used as projectiles, or a steady stream of solid force. She has been shown making razor sharp blades[16] to cut through obstacles, claws that can restrain foes, and floating platforms to ride on.
- Inter-Dimensional Travel: Raven's soul-self is able to envelop her (along with at least four other people) and travel to other dimensions, primarily Azarath. She can use this technique to travel vast distances on Earth, or to teleport by momentarily displacing herself and then re-appearing in another location. She can pass through walls and obstacles by simply teleporting past them, giving the illusion of intangibility. At times, Raven has been shown creating portals with her dark energy in order to travel, rather than utilizing her soul-self.
- Empathy: The psionic ability to sense the emotions of others, allowing her to gain insight into their thoughts and intentions, and even experience their own feelings. This also enables her to sense the mental state of others, as she has stated that she would know if someone's mind had been tampered with. [17] Raven can absorb the pain of others into her own body in order to induce rapid healing for them,[18] and can heal herself by going into a trance of emotional calm. She can receive precognitive flashes of the future when exposed to extreme emotion.[19] By using her empathy to guide her, she can track others with her soul-self. At one point, she had used this ability to empathically enter Robin's subconscious mind; therefore giving the two an unusually strong physic link afterwards.
- Levitation: Raven can levitate off the ground and hover, 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.
Other Skills
Raven frequently mediates in order maintain further control over her psionic abilities.
- Superhuman Condition: Though not the most physically talented of the quintet, Raven is nonetheless a fairly skilled and proficient hand-to-hand combatant, having received at least some degree of physical training. She has been shown briefly overcoming the peak-human Speedy,[20] engaging Jinx in hand-to-hand combat[21] and also quickly delivering flying kicks to Monsieur Mallah in an attempt to protect Melvin, Timmy Tantrum, and Teether.[22]
- Multilingualism: Raven is a skilled polyglot, capable of fluently speaking English, German, Latin, Romanian, Ancient Sumerian, and Sanskrit. She can even speak the language of her own people, Azaranian.
Raven's half demonic form in the fight against Dr. Light
- Magic: Though only occasionally used, Raven has displayed a wide arcane knowledge, possessing a vast library of mystic tomes, spellbooks and ancient scrolls. She has been shown making potions, using mystical objects like charms and talismans, and has performed elaborate magical rituals.
- Spell-casting: The high-level spells she casts are usually spoken out loud; though she does have some practice in casting nonverbal spells to give herself more of an advantage over her opponents.
Weaknesses
Raven's main weakness is letting go of her emotions, especially rage. Terra learned it from Beast Boy and took advantage of it in Aftershock - Part 1 to using it to finish her off. Even though her rage 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. If Raven suppresses her fear, she is unable to connect with her powers until she admits she is truly afraid.[23]
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 4 red 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 incantation, Azarath Metrion Zinthos. If a gag is placed over her mouth, she cannot complete her incantation and she cannot connect with her powers until the gag is removed, however, she has occasionally overcome this weakness through sheer will.[24]
Spells and Incanations
- Azarath Metrion Zinthos: Main incantation 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 incantation, 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 Enlenthranel Vosolen Lirus-nor!: 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 Enderez...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).
- The gem was born of evil's fire, the gem shall be his portal, he comes to claim, he comes to sire, the end of all things mortal: An incantation used by Raven to summon Trigon in the episode, The End - Part 1.
- 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 showed 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.
Mystical Artifacts and Magic Books
- Raven's mirror: Raven has a sinister-looking hand mirror, which is a portal into her own subconscious mind. It was seen only once in Nevermore.
- The Book of Azar: an ancient book from Azarath having some connection to the peacefully pacifist 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."
- Magical Lore: Raven possesses an affinity for mysticism and occultism, and has numerous magical items of an occult nature and an extensive library dedicated to sorcery.
- Spellbooks: She can also read runes, which is the written language of magic, and cast increasingly powerful spells inside certain spellbooks she has in her room. One of her large spellbooks even contained an extraordinarily strong "sorcerer" trapped within one of its pages; whom she was determined to work with and release into the real world.
Relationships
Beast Boy
Raven finding comfort in Beast Boy.
- If it wasn't for that beast, I might not be here right now. Having that thing inside doesn't make you an animal. Knowing when to let it out is what makes you a man.
- ―Raven to Beast Boy about the werewolf-like beast inside of him in "The Beast Within."
Raven and Beast Boy have a love/hate relationship. 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. Plus Raven likes to read, while Beast Boy really doesn't. He is a video game kind of guy.
They often 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 focus on their developing friendship.[25][26][27]
In spite of the fact that she constantly mocks him and he constantly riles her, they care for each other and help one another when necessary, laying aside their differences. Their real friendship begins when Beast Boy and Cyborg are trapped inside 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 are indeed friends and Beast Boy and Cyborg help Raven defeat Trigon inside her mind.[28] Later, when Raven's heart is broken by an evil sorcerer named Malchior, Beast Boy comforts her, telling her that even though she is different he still likes being her friend and saying that she's not alone.[29] Sometime after, Raven's life was endangered by Adonis, who was turned into a werebeast. Beast Boy undergoes the same transformation and despite having no awareness he had an instinct to save her, while the other Titans thought Beast Boy was the one who attacked her. Raven later expressed her gratitude for saving her, and reassured Beast Boy that his werebeast form wasn't something to be feared, but something that made him valuable to her and the team. In episode "The End-Part 1,"[30] Beast Boy found a 1-cent coin and gave it to Raven saying, "For Luck." Raven holds on to the coin until she chanted the spell to open the portal. The coin falling off her hand is perhaps a hint at the close friendship between the two. They have a relationship that they can hate eachother sometimes and sometimes they can be nice to eachother.
Robin
"That's what friends do."
Raven and Robin have an extremely tight bond and she claims that he knows her better than anyone. The two have a very healthy relationship and actively respect each other's privacy and interests. As partners, they really care about the other's safety and well being; as evident in Birthmark.
They have deep and finely interwoven friendship due to similar personalities and instincts and the two seemed to get along well from the very beginning. Robin was also able to give Raven enough hope and courage for her to defeat Trigon and he told Raven that she was the most hopeful person he knew. It is obvious Robin cares a lot about Raven, as he willingly traveled into a literal "Hell" created by Trigon in order to save her. Robin is the only one serious enough to truly understand her even after having been through the psychological labyrinth that is her mind. Robin helps her out whenever he can and always puts her well-being and consideration before his without a moment's hesitation. When they first met, Raven told Robin, Beast Boy and Cyborg, "If you knew what I really am, you wouldn't want me around." Robin responded by saying, "I know enough," implying that he didn't care what Raven was or if she was different and knew that she wasn't evil or bad.
In attempt to help rid him of his self-imposed curse of obsessing over Slade and the danger to his team, Raven has also entered Robin's mind, seeing parts of his life ranging from his traumatic memory of the death of his family to his oath before Batman, establishing thereafter between she and him a powerful psychic bond. They are two of the closest people on the team and as such Raven often finds comfort in Robin, telling him about things no one else knows. Raven is seen by Robin as a very close friend/companion as they can understand each other and are on extremely good terms. Even when the other Titans are unsure of Raven's attitude, disposition and intentions towards others, Robin often dismisses their apprehensions and respects Raven for who she is.[31]
Cyborg
Raven smiling while working with Cyborg on his car
- When I use my powers, I have to put a little of my soul into whatever I'm moving. I become a part of it and it becomes a part of me. That's kind of what happened here. It wasn't just a car. It was... your baby.
- ―Raven to Cyborg about his car in "Car Trouble."
Raven and Cyborg have the most complex relationship from all the Titans. They had very few episodes dedicated to mostly the two of them[32]. This is likely because the two of them have always been fairly close and comfortable around each other, as Cyborg seems to appreciate Raven's preference for peace and quiet, but still tries to include her. Raven, for her part, seems to reciprocate this, as she is more patient with Cyborg than she is the more childish Beast Boy.
On Christmas, in the Teen Titans Go! comics, Cyborg bought Raven an antique bookcase he knew she wanted, causing Raven to become uncharacteristically elated and showing an appreciation for her tastes and hobbies.
When Raven is feeling out of place and lonely, Cyborg comforts her and makes her feel better, almost taking on the big brother role.[33] Cyborg is shown to often be more understanding of Raven than the other Titans, when he does not press the issue of Raven playing Stank Ball with him and Beast Boy when she clearly didn't want to play, and attempting to make an angry Beast Boy leave her be. Raven, in turn, seems to accept Cyborg as he is without question and accepts his enthusiasm for his hobbies, even if she does not share it.[34]
Cyborg makes Raven smile more than anyone else in the series. Her biggest smiles, at least, two episodes centering around Cyborg's troubles.[35][36] Cyborg often looks out for Raven. They appear to get along well and have a good friendship.
Starfire
Raven and Starfire meditating together
Initially, Starfire and Raven had no relationship besides being teammates. Being the only girls on the team gave them a special bond from the beginning. 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 a rather rude manner. 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.[37] Starfire called Raven out on her rudeness during that episode.
In "How Long is Forever?", after Starfire returns from the twenty-year future, Raven is the first one to openly suggest to continue their celebration, which makes Starfire extremely happy.
Terra
Raven and Terra bonding
- I have to meditate every day to keep my powers under control! And I’m supposed to believe that you can just suddenly control yours? Trust is something you have to earn! (...) You can start by trusting me!
- ―Raven to Terra in "Titan Rising."
When Terra first showed up, 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.[38]
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.[39] Once they first met, Raven accepted her, but when Terra arrived once again, she had her suspicions. She wondered why she had just appeared out of nowhere, and where had she learned how to control her powers so easily. When Terra bumped into Raven while on her way out the door, she sensed Slade, hinting at what was to come. 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.
Terra mimicking Raven in Aftershock - Part 1
When Terra returns (once again), 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.[40] It was also implied that Raven (and the rest of the team) forgave Terra after she willingly sacrificed herself to save everyone from a massive volcane she herself created.
Killowat
Raven rescuing Killowat
Raven and Killowat's relationship isn't exactly touched upon in the animated series due to Killowat's minimized screen time. However, in the Teen Titans Go! issue #48 Wrong Place Wrong Time, it is shown that Raven is the one who pulled him into her universe and rescued him.
Eventually, Raven tried sending him home, but failed and sent him to the evil universe of the Teen Tyrants. When he was captured, Raven was at Titans Tower, resting. However, she suddenly woke up because she could sense that Killowat was in danger. She urgently opened the portal to that universe in an attempt to rescue him once more.
Cyborg stated that Killowat's electromagnetic abilities greatly strengthen Raven's own, and the two could sort of communicate with each other telepathically. Killowat was surprised but relieved when he saw Raven, and when he was dragged back to the Teen Titans' universe and Raven opened multiple portals to try and send Killowat to the right universe, Killowat had a hard time saying good-bye.
Episodes focusing on Raven
- Final Exam
- Nevermore
- Switched
- Car Trouble
- Fear Itself
- Titan Rising
- Spellbound
- Revolution
- The Beast Within
- Bunny Raven... or ...How to Make A Titananimal Disappear
- Birthmark
- The Prophecy
- The End, Part 1
- The End, Part 2
- The End, Part 3
- Hide and Seek
- Go!
Episode Appearances
Teen Titans
Season One
- 1. "Divide and Conquer"
- 2. "Sisters"
- 3. "Final Exam"
- 4. "Forces of Nature"
- 5. "The Sum of His Parts"
- 6. "Nevermore"
- 7. "Switched"
- 8. "Deep Six"
- 9. "Masks"
- 10. "Mad Mod"
- 11. "Car Trouble"
- 12. "Apprentice - Part 1"
- 13. "Apprentice - Part 2"
Season Two
- 1. "How Long Is Forever?"
- 2. "Every Dog Has His Day"
- 3. "Terra"
- 4. "Only Human"
- 5. "Fear Itself"
- 6. "Date with Destiny"
- 7. "Transformation"
- 8. "Titan Rising"
- 9. "Winner Take All"
- 10. "Betrayal"
- 11. "Fractured"
- 12. "Aftershock - Part 1"
- 13. "Aftershock - Part 2"
Season Three
- 1. "Deception"
- 2. "X"
- 3. "Betrothed"
- 4. "Crash"
- 5. "Haunted"
- 6. "Spellbound"
- 7. "Revolution"
- 8. "Wavelength"
- 9. "The Beast Within"
- 10. "Can I Keep Him?"
- 11. "Bunny Raven or How to Make A Titananimal Disappear"
- 12. "Titans East - Part 1"
- 13. "Titans East - Part 2"
Season Four
- 1. "Episode 257-494"
- 2. "The Quest"
- 3. "Birthmark"
- 4. "Cyborg the Barbarian"
- 5. "Employee of the Month"
- 6. "Troq"
- 7. "The Prophecy"
- 8. "Stranded"
- 9. "Overdrive"
- 10. "Mother Mae-Eye"
- 11. "The End - Part 1"
- 12. The End - Part 2"
- 13. The End - Part 3"
Season Five
- 1. "Homecoming - Part 1"
- 2. "Homecoming - Part 2"
- 3. "Trust" (no lines)
- 4. "For Real" (no lines)
- 5. "Snowblind"
- 6. "Kole"
- 7. "Hide and Seek"
- 9. "Revved Up"
- 10. "Go!"
- 11. "Calling All Titans!"
- 12. "Titans Together"
- 13. "Things Change"
Movie
Video Games
- 1. Teen Titans
- 2. Teen Titans (GBA)
- 3. Teen Titans 2
Other
- 1. "The Lost Episode"
Trivia
- 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."[41] 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.
- Raven has affectionately called Melvin, Timmy Tantrum, and Teether her "kids".
- She enjoys waffles, and, to a lesser extent, pizza.
- Even though she does not allow anyone in her room, by the end of the series, all four Titans have entered her room at least once and Jinx and Slade's robots have also been in there.
- Raven's pale 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. The reason for this is because she is allergic to their feathers.
- Raven is the only character to have her birthday celebrated or mentioned in the series.
- Raven is the only Titan whose mother and father make an appearance on the show (excluding Robin's parent's silhouettes in "Haunted").
- 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 relationship between Beast Boy and Raven is continued in Trouble in Tokyo, also written by Slack, but Beast Boy and Raven are not a couple romantically.
- Most of the time when Raven is upset about something Beast Boy was the only one who successfully made her feel better, he was also the first to be hugged by Raven out of comfort.
- Raven has lost her boot just like Starfire. Both of the reasons why they lost one of their boots is because of Beast Boy.
- Despite Raven's sarcasm and her emotionless state, she treats all the other four members as friends and never intends to harm them emotionally.
- When she was transformed into a bunny by Mumbo, her powers are ineffective inside Mumbo's hat.
- When Raven stopped time, her powers briefly became blue-and-black instead of usual black-and-white.
- Raven's powers have changed colors from black-and-white to bright-green to blue-and-black and to glowing white.
- In "Birthmark", Slade ripped off Raven's clothes with the symbols under them. But in "The Prophecy", the symbols appeared on her clothes.
- Although Starfire is usually the Titan found attractive by most people, Raven has been flirted with by two boys: Adonis and Kid Flash.
- In "The Beast Within", Adonis pins Raven on the ground and she angrily orders him to let her go. He flirtatiously purrs and calls her feisty, but she uses her powers to escape much to his surprise.
- In Teen Titans Go! issue #34, "The Great Race", she is manning an arctic checkpoint. Kid Flash stops at the checkpoint for a bit to flirt with Raven (much to Jinx's anger and jealousy), saying "Can't a guy stop and chat with a pretty girl for a second?" In both instances, Raven appeared to be uncomfortable.
- In "Winner Take All", Raven is seen knitting.
- In the DC Comics books, Raven and Beast Boy have a romantic relationship, though the characters were at a somewhat later point in their lives than they are portrayed in the cartoon.
- Her real name is Raven, but, in the comics, she temporarily creates the alias Rachel Roth.
- Raven actually does find Beast Boy funny, despite her countless claims against it, as stated in "Nevermore", and "Go!". Although it is likely she finds his behavior funny, rather than his jokes.
- In Teen Titans Go! issue #42, Jericho and Raven are seen coming from the movies with Robin and Starfire, the 4 of them appeared to be on a double date.
- In the movie Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo, it is revealed Raven can read in English, German, Latin, Romanian, Ancient Sumerian, and Sanskrit.
- Raven was turned into a little girl in "The End" by Trigon, the same thing happened in the comics.
Quotes
- "Not gonna happen. How else am I supposed to keep your toenails off the coffee table?" - "How Long is Forever?"
- "That's my room! Nobody goes into my room!" - "Betrayal"
- "Aliens." - "Can I Keep Him?"
- Why am I in a dress? - "Mother Mae-Eye"
- Any chance we can replace Beast Boy with a robot too? - "Deception"
- You may have created me, but you were never my father. - "The End - Part 3"
- Let's just say I have some issues with my father. - "Nevermore"
- A magician never reveals her secrets. - "Bunny Raven...or...How to Make a Titanimal Disappear"
- I respect that you don't eat meat; please respect that I don't eat fake meat. - "The Sum of His Parts"
- Just because you glued the controller to my hands, doesn't mean I want to play. - "Titans East"
- Where did you learn history, a cereal box? - "Revolution"
- Lesson three: your secret base isn't very secret. - "Titans Together"
- Wow, Beast Boy's jokes are too immature even for babies. - "Hide and Seek"
- If it wasn't for that beast, I might not be here right now. Having that thing inside doesn't make you an animal. Knowing when to let it out is what makes you a man. - "The Beast Within"
- I'm not afraid! I'm not afraid! I'm not afraid! I. . .I am afraid. I'm afraid, but that doesn't mean I can't fight back! - "Fear Itself"
Gallery
Main article: Raven/Gallery
References
- ↑ Hide and Seek
- ↑ Car Trouble
- ↑ Final Exam
- ↑ Divide and Conquer
- ↑ The End
- ↑ Nevermore
- ↑ Switched
- ↑ Spellbound
- ↑ The End - Part 3
- ↑ The End - Part 2
- ↑ Birthmark
- ↑ Nevermore
- ↑ Crash
- ↑ Aftershock Part 2
- ↑ Car Trouble
- ↑ The Sum of His Parts
- ↑ X
- ↑ Final Exam
- ↑ Titan Rising
- ↑ Titans East - Part 2
- ↑ Final Exam
- ↑ Hide and Seek
- ↑ Fear Itself
- ↑ Masks
- ↑ Nevermore
- ↑ The Beast Within
- ↑ Spellbound
- ↑ Nevermore
- ↑ Spellbound
- ↑ "The End - Part 1"
- ↑ Nevermore
- ↑ Car Trouble
- ↑ Go!
- ↑ Spellbound
- ↑ Car Trouble
- ↑ Crash
- ↑ Switched
- ↑ Terra
- ↑ Titan Rising
- ↑ Aftershock - Part 1
- ↑ http://titanstower.com/source/animated/behinddavids4.html