Superhero Origins: Raven

Superhero Origins: Raven

She is the mysterious magical hero that united the New Teen Titans. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we will explore the comic book origins of Raven.

As with most comic book characters, there are often re-imaginings and different versions to a character’s past. We have chosen to primarily follow the storyline that unfolded in 1980’s DC Comics Presents #26, which was expanded upon in The New Teen Titans #1 and 1984’s New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #1.

In her debut appearance, a special Teen Titans preview, Raven was first encountered when she gave Robin a vision of the future. This involved transporting him to the to the yet-unfounded New Teen Titans team at their “base of operations, called the Titans Tower.

There, Robin met his future team, who were unaware that he was from the past, before the future version of Raven appeared in dramatic fashion, bursting forth from fire. Wondering if she was another member of the team, while making a snide comment abut her resembling the wicked Witch of the West, she cryptically warned that a new danger had appeared.

A magical hero, Raven used her powers to put an image of the danger in their minds. This was that of a scientist in a laboratory who had opened a portal to another dimension. In his haste, he accidentally allowed a dangerous alien life form to cross back to Earth.

Raven then warning the team that the creature must be returned to its home dimension as it has begun altering Earth’s atmosphere, changing the oxygen to methane.

Finding the alien, Raven instructed the team to hold off until she could investigate how to defeat the foe. This involved Raven shifting into her astral form, using her bird-like soul to locate its weakness.

However, she was taken by surprise when the creature managed to grab on to the soul’s aura. With her body collapsing, she told the team that she didn’t have long to live unless they could save her soul.

With the team battling the creature, Cyborg used his technology to zap it with a zillion decibels of sound, causing the alien to flee. As it was stunned, Raven’s soul was given the opportunity to return to her body.

Following this, the Teen Titan Team found the S.T.A.R. labs facility where the creature was pulled into their dimension, and used its equipment to send it back where it came from.

With Robin believing it was all a nightmare, Raven stood watching him, whispering to herself that the future he saw was closer than he could possibly imagine.

Shortly afterwards, the New Teen Titans were officially formed as Raven personally visited each of the young heroes, gathering them together to fight evil aliens who had begun to launch an attack on Earth.

This process began with Raven appearing to Robin as he slept at the Wayne Foundation, during one of many reoccurring nightmares reliving his visit to the future.

Finally meeting the hero in the present, Raven formally introduced herself, and explained that she was not a witch, but rather his friend. She explained that she shared their future to understand the importance of the team and to recognize and trust her. She also revealed that the time had come to assemble the New Teen Titans team, as evil forces were at work.

Following this, Raven continued to serve with the team, giving them valuable insight and guiding them towards dangers, while avoiding combat when possible as she was a pacifist.

Throughout the comics, Raven was eventually revealed to actually be a half-demon, half-human hybrid, the daughter of an evil demon named Trigon the Terrible, which caused her to flee her home dimension of Azarath to protect Earth from his evil. It was also revealed that she had three lives, as well as various hidden selves, not all of which were pleasant.

In the years that followed, Raven became a favorite of the comics, as well as the Teen Titans animated adventures, taking on a much younger angst-filled persona making use of her powers of teleportation, astral projection and healing to assist the team.

Are you a fan of this powerful Teen Titan? For more entertaining comic book origins, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.