Jon Hancock
Apr 11, 2004, 08:05 pm
<img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/headshots/dc/raven5.jpg" align=left alt="Raven VI">Known Aliases: Rachel Roth
First Appearance: DC Comics Presents #26
Known Relatives: Arella (mother), Trigon (father)
Group Affiliation: Teen Titans IV, formerly Teen Titans II, Titans II
Known Allies: Flash III, Nightwing II, Starfire III, Cyborg I, Beast Boy, Minion
Major Enemies: Trigon, Brother Blood
Height: 5'5
Weight: 110lbs
Hair: Black
Eyes: Indigo
Raven's life began with an unholy tryst between Trigon the Terrible, a powerful, demonic, extra-dimensional being, and Arella, a woman used by a satanic cult trying to bring Satan to Earth. to earth. At the culmination of the ceremony Trigon returned and took Arella as his bride. Shedding his image of a handsome young man, Trigon revealed the monstrosity of his real appearance. Pushed to the brink of suicide, Arella was rescued by an extra-dimensional pacifist cult who took her to an other-worldly dimension known as Azarath. Whilst there she gave birth to a daughter who she named Raven.
As soon as Raven was born, her father's influence of evil was felt through out Azarath. Worried about the evil he sensed among them, Juris, a magistrate of Azarath, attempted to cast the infant Raven into Limbo but was destroyed himself. Raven was instructed by the spiritual leader of Azarath, Azar who instructed her in pacifism, meditation and the suppression of her emotions, whilst also helping her to perfect her powers of teleportation, astral projection and emotional healing. However, Raven still seemed different and apart from the rest of Azarath. She preferred meditating to praying and avoided the priests of Azarath. Whilst her upbringing was one of peace, she still held a heritage of hatred from Trigon.
Azar entered another plane of existence and left Raven under the care of Arella, giving her a leaving gift of two rings that Raven always wears, rings which contain Azar's essence. Raven was plagued with dreams of Trigon this entire time and found out the secret of her parentage from her mother. Against her teachers' wishes, Raven went to Limbo to confront Trigon on his bidding. Trigon's influence on Raven caused her to reveal her soul self for the first time. Trigon chose to spare Raven and Arella in the knowledge that he could return to reclaim Raven when she reached adulthood. Trion returned to plague Raven on her 18th birthday but, Raven sensed her father's power returning and fled to Earth in order to find a band of heroes that could stop Trigon's evil.
Choosing first to appear before the Justice League, Raven was rejected when Zatanna sensed the evil that was present within Raven. Instead Raven was forced to recruit her own team. A team of heroes close to her own age that became the Teen Titans. Raven recruited Cyborg, Wonder Girl, Changeling, Starfire, Robin and Kid Flash. The Titans turned against Raven for a short time when they discovered that she had manipulated Wally into joining by making him fall in love with her. They also felt uncomfortable with her being Trigon's daughter as she had kept this from them. Eventually they agreed to help Raven and journeyed with her to Azarath. The disciples at Azarath refused to help Raven due to their pacifistic nature but Arella wanted to see her daughter triumph. Trigon managed to capture Raven but Arella freed her and then, after the Titans defeated Trigon by using their powers against him, stood as the gatekeeper to the inter-dimensional realm called the Nether-Verse, where Trigon was banished to.
Following Trigon's defeat, the Teen Titans chose to remain a team and included Raven in their ranks. However, despite his defeat Trigon's influence over Raven was strong and as she revealed more of her emotions she became steadily darker. This dark side frightened Kid Flash who still loved Raven thanks to her previous manipulation of him. As it became more and more difficult for Raven to contain her dark side, she chose to leave active duty with the Teen Titans. Remaining with the team inside Titans Tower, team member Jericho tried to reach out to her but had only limited success as Raven continued to try to shut off her emotions
Eventually the inevitable occurred and Trigon's influence over Raven grew to an untenable level. Exerting his full control over Raven, Trigon possessed her body giving Raven the same red skin and four eyed appearance as her father and discarding the rings containing Azar's essence. The Titan Lilith conducted a séance with the Teen Titans using Raven's rings as a focus. The Titans saw Raven's image but she rejected their help and the Titans were then transported to what appeared to be Azarath in the throes of destruction. Despite the Titans best efforts Azarath appeared to be destroyed along with its inhabitants. The Titans returned to Earth thanks to Lilith along with Arella only to find that the entire planet was under the control of Trigon. At full strength, Trigon had managed to possesses all the life on Earth and had grown to many times the size of Titans Tower. Fighting on despite the apparent hopelessness, the Titans rushed to confront Trigon. Arella also aided in the fight after she heard Lilith speaking with the voice of Azar. Trigon opened a gateway to his home universe, intending to recreate it after letting it absorb the dimension containing Earth. Whilst the Titans fought Trigon, Lilith and Arella managed to place the rings back onto Raven's fingers. Raven's soul-self, which had now become an angelic pure white, rose from her still form and, serving as a conduit for Azar's power, enveloped Trigon and ultimately destroying him. When Trigon was killed, Raven's body disappeared and she was presumed dead. However, this was untrue. Her body, purged of Trigon's evil rose from the ashes of the battle vanishing without her team mates realising. Arella left the team to search for her daughter.
Raven was eventually captured, along with her mother, by Brother Blood's minions and she was used to control Nightwing during Brother Blood's resurrection. Eventually the Titans rescued Raven after Robotman and Azrael found her and her mother. Raven shattered Brother Blood's mind, stopping his evil. Free of the influence of her father and others for the first time, Raven was free to explore her emotions. Raven had a brief crush on Dick Grayson before realising that there were different kinds of love. She also had a brief affair with Eric Forrester before she discovered he was a soul vampire who was using her in order to drain her soul self. Raven was rescued by Jericho
A group called the Wildebeest Society began hunting down former and current members of the Titans. Raven was amongst those captured. After the captives were freed by Nightwing, Pantha, Deathstroke, Phantasm, Arella and Red Star, they were shocked to discover that the mastermind behind the Wildebeests was their own team mate Jericho. After Trigon was defeated the second time, the souls of Azarath had not been destroyed but had merged with Jericho, using him as a vessel. The souls needed new, powerful vessels in order to survive and Jericho, influenced by this force, was seeking to acquire super humans for this purpose. During the procedure to transfer the souls from Jericho into the captured Titans, Jericho's own personality surfaced and he begged his father to kill him. Beyond help, Deathstroke obliged Jericho, driving his sword through his son in order to save the Titans and stop the souls of Azarath. As the conflict continued, Phantasm, who was revealed to be Danny Chase, and Arella were slain as the Titans defeated the Wildebeests but not before they, along with Raven, destroyed Azarath itself for good. No one was sure what had happened to the souls of Azarath or any of the heroes. Their absence at the time of victory led the Titans to believe they had died.
In reality Raven had changed. Re-emerging as a dark and twisted version of herself, Raven's evil consciousness had survived her disappearance and found a mortal vessel to inhabit. Raven was planning to plant the seeds of Trigon's unborn children into new vessels. Raven returned to confront the Titans at Nightwing and Starfire's wedding. Brutally attacking the bride and murdering the minister, Raven changed not only Nightwing and Starfire's relationship but also implanted a Raven seed within Starfire, causing her to leave Earth, embarking upon a spiritual journey. It was the Raven seed which influenced Starfire to leave Earth. This seed represented Raven's good side and was removing Starfire from the danger of the evil Raven.
Raven continued her reign of destruction, planting Trigon seeds in Supergirl, Changeling, Magenta, Deathwing and Thunder and Lightning. Raven formed her demon allies and confronted the Titans again. Beating the team, Raven was only defeated when Phantasm returned to help them. Phantasm had become an amalgamation of Arella, Danny Chase and the souls of Azarath, finally giving them a place to rest. Evil Raven was defeated and appeared to have finally died. The evil version of Raven resurrected itself in an attempt to destroy its good self, which lay dormant inside Starfire. In order to find Starfire, Raven caused a conflict within the Vegan star system, where Starfire's home planet of Tamaran was located During the conflict the planet was destroyed, along with the Technis race that Vic Stone, now known as Cyberion, had merged with in an attempt to save them. The Titans finally managed to defeat Raven's evil side and it was destroyed
The Titans restored Raven, thanks to the seed within Starfire, to a new, golden, spiritual body finally freeing her soul from evil influences. Raven then left the group with the heroes Minion and Changeling, to accompany Cyberion as he travelled through space. Raven left her friend soon after though when she became frightened by Cyberion's total embrace of technology to the detriment of his emotional side. Returning to Earth, Raven aided the Titans when it came to defeating Cyberion who's Technis Imperative had led him to believe that the Earth should be the new home world for the alien race. After the conflict Raven's spirit form left again on a journey to reassess her place in the world.
Raven's soul self continued to roam the universe aimlessly, trying to find where she belonged and where she could help. However, a new form of evil managed to capture her soul again, tying it to an Earthly host. Brother Blood now holds Raven captive, in an attempt to transfer her powers onto him. Raven has managed to alert the newly formed Teen Titans that she is at risk.
After her attempt to escape and warn the Titans of her predicament, Raven was chained up and suspended above the pool of blood she was reborn from. Brother Blood ripped the jewel from her forehead and tasted her blood, adding her strength to his. Raven secretly continued her attempts to reach the Teen Titans, but with her abilities amplified and out of control, her attempts led to some problems. She incapacitated several psychics in San Francisco, manipulated the emotions of the newer Titans, transformed Beast Boy into a mindless Raven, turned all the water in the city into blood, caused Krypto to regurgitate a flock of ravens, and resurrected the mindless bones of Trigon.
When the Titans finally pinpointed her location, the arrived just in time to prevent Brother Blood from marrying Raven. Beast Boy was finally released from his raven form and at Cyborg’s order, he made off with Raven in order to protect her. When Raven came out of her trance, she healed Gar of his injuries and admitted that she was frightened, ashamed, and angry.
Ravager and Deathstroke arrived with Starfire and Robin, and as per their agreement, they tried to leave with Raven. Fortunately, Starfire double crossed the duo and took Raven back. Unfortunately, Blood used his control over Raven to suck everyone present into herself, where she had previously sent Jericho. Blood then had Raven open up the portal inside herself that led to his demon followers. When Gar procured her Chakra, her stone, from Blood and placed in back on her forehead, she was once again in control of herself. She sucked Blood and his followers into another portal and transferred herself and the Teen Titans back to Titans Tower in San Francisco.
Though Raven was now in control of herself, she noted that apart of her would forever be tied to Brother Blood. She took up residence in the Tower and even shared an intimate hug with Beast Boy. With her soulself attached to a younger physical body, Raven sought to find new ways to express herself. She began wearing clothing that Wonder Girl picked out for her and she even got a raven tattoo on the small of her back. Raven accidentally sapped Cassie’s ominous feelings regarding Superboy from her, and began to realize that some of her abilities were outside of her control. When a number of San Francisco parents were angry regarding their children being turned into beast boys and girls, Raven revealed to the Titans that she is now able to swallow emotions.
Raven decided that she needed to start her life again outside of the Titans, so with Wonder Girl’s help, she enrolled in high school as Rachael Roth and she needed Cassie to teach her how to dress like a teenager. When a member of the Fatal Five, from the 31st century, attacked Titans Tower, Raven attempted to use her soulself to stop him, but he used his axe to slice right thru it and the feedback caused her tremendous pain. This fight caused the Titans to travel to the future in order to help the Legion with the Fatal Five Hundred. Saturn Girl telepathically showed Raven a secret Legion base location, and she used her abilities to teleport the Legionnaires and the Titans to the location.
Their adventures in the future led to the Titans being sent ten years into their future in the 21st century. In this future, most of the adult heroes had been killed during a crisis and the Titans were forced to take on their mantles. Raven’s futureself was named Dark Raven and she seemed very pliable to Batman’s commands. A battle ensued, and Raven tried to use her soulself against her futureself, but the attempt backfired and she injured herself. Eventually things calmed down and the Teen Titans were allowed to stay in Titans Tower until they were able to figure out a way back to their proper time and place.
Sadly, the future Titans were evil dictators and the Teen Titans were forced to flee. At Kid Flash’s insistence, Raven began to teleport her team to Keystone City, but Dark Raven used her soulself to short circuit the teleportation effect and the Teen Titans arrived without Robin. When they tried to flee Keystone, the Teen Titans were saved by the benevolent Titans East, led by the future Cyborg.
With Titans East’s help, the Teen Titans were able to battle with their futureselves and save Robin. With Robin safe, the Flashes were able to start the Cosmic Treadmill and they were returned to the past, where they belonged. Beast Boy found Raven trying on clothes Wonder Girl picked out for her and we he laughed at her, she used her abilities to throw him out of her room.
After Doctor Light captured Green Arrow, the Teen Titans went to the Franklin Institute to confront Light. When they arrived, they were ambushed, and Raven was taken out from behind. As the battle was waged, Raven attacked Light with her soulself, stating that she just could not consume anymore hate. Light shrugged off her attack and fired a light blast into Raven’s mouth, incapacitating her. When she came to, she joined all the past and present Titans in a full on assault on Doctor Light. Raven took on the duty of healing everyone that was injured in the fight. Afterwards, the present Titans revealed their deepest secrets to each other, and Raven told her friends that while they slept, she could not stop feeding off their emotions, and sometimes their dreams became hers.
When Superboy attacks the Titans, Raven is the first person to sense that something is wrong, and she is the first one that he takes out. Raven and the others are rescued by the Outsiders, but both teams are attacked by an army of Superman Robots. Raven survives the battle with Brainiac, Brainiac 8, Lex Luthor and Superboy, but Indigo, one of the Outsiders, did not.
Given his current troubles, Superboy took a leave of absence from the Titans and Raven came to see him. She put him through a lot of mental therapy before showing him the true reason she had come. Superboy had previously asked her if she could sense a soul within him, and she had not replied. She reveals to Superboy that he really does have a soul, but it had been hidden. Raven felt exactly the way Conner felt everyday; as if there was a darkness in her that would destroy everyone she cared about unless she kept herself in check.
Later, Supergirl also visited Conner, and the Titans arrived to intervene. Raven sucked Supergirl into herself and sensed great darkness within her before she was released. The Teen Titans later battled Kestrel and his minions, and it ended with him ripping Raven’s soulself from her body and capturing it. With her soulself, he hoped to become a Lord of Chaos by offering it up to the other Lords of Chaos and Order. Kestrel tortured Raven’s soulself before the Titans were able to rescue it and return it to her. Raven wanted to be alone but Wonder Girl, feeling as if Raven was her sister, came to comfort and hold her.
With Specter raging war against the realm of magic, Raven’s abilities were slightly diminished. Brother Blood used this sign of weakness to escape from limbo with the dead Titan, Omen and his demon minions. With Gar’s interference, she was able to escape his clutches and teleported them to a morgue in Los Angeles. While hiding, they shared an intimate kiss and then gathered the other Titans.
Brother Blood eventually summoned several other deceased Titans and Raven released that the door between the dead and the living was open. Raven ventured into Limbo with Beast Boy and they used their time together to bond and to set free Kid Eternity, who had been chained between the door and preventing it from closing. Eternity ended the fight and the Titans were summoned to another battle by Superboy.
Superboy Prime had attacked Conner in Smallville and he summoned the Doom Patrol, the JSA, and all past and present Titans to his aid. Unfortunately, the battle ended horribly. Several Titans were killed, the Flashes disappeared into the speedforce with Superboy Prime, and Superboy was critically injured. After the battle, Raven’s empathic abilities raged out of control and she could feel all the pain and suffering coming from the people of earth.
Assisting in the cleanup of Bludhaven, Raven was contacted by Psimon. Superman arrived and defeated Psimon, leaving Raven to try to come to terms with all the suffering she was feeling. After the Infinite Crisis was stopped, Raven attended the memorial service with the other remaining superheroes.
Sometime during the next year, Raven and Gar began a relationship, but at some point, they broke up, and Raven left to discover somethings about the whirlwind of Titans that joined the team during the year. Raven’s current whereabouts, a year after crisis, is unknown.
Raven is an empath who's powers include broadcasting her emotions onto others and being able to discern other's emotions when hidden, dispersing pain through contact, flight and teleporting large groups of people over long distances and through other dimensions. Raven also projects a soul self which is her spirit made visible to others. Raven has also exhibited emotion manipulation and low level precognitive abilities. Following her resurrection in a younger body, Raven gained the ability to heal wounds and she constantly absorbs strong emotions from those around her.
APPEARANCES:
Action Comics #546
Batman and the Outsiders #5
Blue Beetle (2nd series) #11-12, 14
DC Comics Presents #26
Infinity. Inc #45
JLA/Titans #1-3
Legends of the DC Universe #18
Marvel and DC Presents #1
New Teen Titans (1st series) #1-37, 39-40
New Teen Titans (2nd series) #1-6, 13-15, 21-22, 26, 28-49
New Teen Titans Annual (1st series) #1-2
New Teen Titans Annual (2nd series) #1-5
New Teen Titans (Drug Awareness Giveaway) #1-3
New Titans #50-69, 82-84, 100-101, 114, 118-121, 127-130
Outsiders (3rd series) # 24-25
Outsiders/Teen Titans: Secret Files and Origins #1
Secret Origins Annual #3
Showcase '94 #11
Showcase '95 #2
Supergirl (5th series) # 2-3
Tales of the New Teen Titans #1-4
Tales of the Teen Titans #41-48, 50, 56
Tales of the Teen Titans Annual #3
Teen Titans #5, 8-34, 37
Teen Titans Annual #1
Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files and Orgins 2005
Titans East Special (2008) #1
Wonder Woman (1st series) #287, 293
World's Finest Comics #300
First Appearance: DC Comics Presents #26
Known Relatives: Arella (mother), Trigon (father)
Group Affiliation: Teen Titans IV, formerly Teen Titans II, Titans II
Known Allies: Flash III, Nightwing II, Starfire III, Cyborg I, Beast Boy, Minion
Major Enemies: Trigon, Brother Blood
Height: 5'5
Weight: 110lbs
Hair: Black
Eyes: Indigo
Raven's life began with an unholy tryst between Trigon the Terrible, a powerful, demonic, extra-dimensional being, and Arella, a woman used by a satanic cult trying to bring Satan to Earth. to earth. At the culmination of the ceremony Trigon returned and took Arella as his bride. Shedding his image of a handsome young man, Trigon revealed the monstrosity of his real appearance. Pushed to the brink of suicide, Arella was rescued by an extra-dimensional pacifist cult who took her to an other-worldly dimension known as Azarath. Whilst there she gave birth to a daughter who she named Raven.
As soon as Raven was born, her father's influence of evil was felt through out Azarath. Worried about the evil he sensed among them, Juris, a magistrate of Azarath, attempted to cast the infant Raven into Limbo but was destroyed himself. Raven was instructed by the spiritual leader of Azarath, Azar who instructed her in pacifism, meditation and the suppression of her emotions, whilst also helping her to perfect her powers of teleportation, astral projection and emotional healing. However, Raven still seemed different and apart from the rest of Azarath. She preferred meditating to praying and avoided the priests of Azarath. Whilst her upbringing was one of peace, she still held a heritage of hatred from Trigon.
Azar entered another plane of existence and left Raven under the care of Arella, giving her a leaving gift of two rings that Raven always wears, rings which contain Azar's essence. Raven was plagued with dreams of Trigon this entire time and found out the secret of her parentage from her mother. Against her teachers' wishes, Raven went to Limbo to confront Trigon on his bidding. Trigon's influence on Raven caused her to reveal her soul self for the first time. Trigon chose to spare Raven and Arella in the knowledge that he could return to reclaim Raven when she reached adulthood. Trion returned to plague Raven on her 18th birthday but, Raven sensed her father's power returning and fled to Earth in order to find a band of heroes that could stop Trigon's evil.
Choosing first to appear before the Justice League, Raven was rejected when Zatanna sensed the evil that was present within Raven. Instead Raven was forced to recruit her own team. A team of heroes close to her own age that became the Teen Titans. Raven recruited Cyborg, Wonder Girl, Changeling, Starfire, Robin and Kid Flash. The Titans turned against Raven for a short time when they discovered that she had manipulated Wally into joining by making him fall in love with her. They also felt uncomfortable with her being Trigon's daughter as she had kept this from them. Eventually they agreed to help Raven and journeyed with her to Azarath. The disciples at Azarath refused to help Raven due to their pacifistic nature but Arella wanted to see her daughter triumph. Trigon managed to capture Raven but Arella freed her and then, after the Titans defeated Trigon by using their powers against him, stood as the gatekeeper to the inter-dimensional realm called the Nether-Verse, where Trigon was banished to.
Following Trigon's defeat, the Teen Titans chose to remain a team and included Raven in their ranks. However, despite his defeat Trigon's influence over Raven was strong and as she revealed more of her emotions she became steadily darker. This dark side frightened Kid Flash who still loved Raven thanks to her previous manipulation of him. As it became more and more difficult for Raven to contain her dark side, she chose to leave active duty with the Teen Titans. Remaining with the team inside Titans Tower, team member Jericho tried to reach out to her but had only limited success as Raven continued to try to shut off her emotions
Eventually the inevitable occurred and Trigon's influence over Raven grew to an untenable level. Exerting his full control over Raven, Trigon possessed her body giving Raven the same red skin and four eyed appearance as her father and discarding the rings containing Azar's essence. The Titan Lilith conducted a séance with the Teen Titans using Raven's rings as a focus. The Titans saw Raven's image but she rejected their help and the Titans were then transported to what appeared to be Azarath in the throes of destruction. Despite the Titans best efforts Azarath appeared to be destroyed along with its inhabitants. The Titans returned to Earth thanks to Lilith along with Arella only to find that the entire planet was under the control of Trigon. At full strength, Trigon had managed to possesses all the life on Earth and had grown to many times the size of Titans Tower. Fighting on despite the apparent hopelessness, the Titans rushed to confront Trigon. Arella also aided in the fight after she heard Lilith speaking with the voice of Azar. Trigon opened a gateway to his home universe, intending to recreate it after letting it absorb the dimension containing Earth. Whilst the Titans fought Trigon, Lilith and Arella managed to place the rings back onto Raven's fingers. Raven's soul-self, which had now become an angelic pure white, rose from her still form and, serving as a conduit for Azar's power, enveloped Trigon and ultimately destroying him. When Trigon was killed, Raven's body disappeared and she was presumed dead. However, this was untrue. Her body, purged of Trigon's evil rose from the ashes of the battle vanishing without her team mates realising. Arella left the team to search for her daughter.
Raven was eventually captured, along with her mother, by Brother Blood's minions and she was used to control Nightwing during Brother Blood's resurrection. Eventually the Titans rescued Raven after Robotman and Azrael found her and her mother. Raven shattered Brother Blood's mind, stopping his evil. Free of the influence of her father and others for the first time, Raven was free to explore her emotions. Raven had a brief crush on Dick Grayson before realising that there were different kinds of love. She also had a brief affair with Eric Forrester before she discovered he was a soul vampire who was using her in order to drain her soul self. Raven was rescued by Jericho
A group called the Wildebeest Society began hunting down former and current members of the Titans. Raven was amongst those captured. After the captives were freed by Nightwing, Pantha, Deathstroke, Phantasm, Arella and Red Star, they were shocked to discover that the mastermind behind the Wildebeests was their own team mate Jericho. After Trigon was defeated the second time, the souls of Azarath had not been destroyed but had merged with Jericho, using him as a vessel. The souls needed new, powerful vessels in order to survive and Jericho, influenced by this force, was seeking to acquire super humans for this purpose. During the procedure to transfer the souls from Jericho into the captured Titans, Jericho's own personality surfaced and he begged his father to kill him. Beyond help, Deathstroke obliged Jericho, driving his sword through his son in order to save the Titans and stop the souls of Azarath. As the conflict continued, Phantasm, who was revealed to be Danny Chase, and Arella were slain as the Titans defeated the Wildebeests but not before they, along with Raven, destroyed Azarath itself for good. No one was sure what had happened to the souls of Azarath or any of the heroes. Their absence at the time of victory led the Titans to believe they had died.
In reality Raven had changed. Re-emerging as a dark and twisted version of herself, Raven's evil consciousness had survived her disappearance and found a mortal vessel to inhabit. Raven was planning to plant the seeds of Trigon's unborn children into new vessels. Raven returned to confront the Titans at Nightwing and Starfire's wedding. Brutally attacking the bride and murdering the minister, Raven changed not only Nightwing and Starfire's relationship but also implanted a Raven seed within Starfire, causing her to leave Earth, embarking upon a spiritual journey. It was the Raven seed which influenced Starfire to leave Earth. This seed represented Raven's good side and was removing Starfire from the danger of the evil Raven.
Raven continued her reign of destruction, planting Trigon seeds in Supergirl, Changeling, Magenta, Deathwing and Thunder and Lightning. Raven formed her demon allies and confronted the Titans again. Beating the team, Raven was only defeated when Phantasm returned to help them. Phantasm had become an amalgamation of Arella, Danny Chase and the souls of Azarath, finally giving them a place to rest. Evil Raven was defeated and appeared to have finally died. The evil version of Raven resurrected itself in an attempt to destroy its good self, which lay dormant inside Starfire. In order to find Starfire, Raven caused a conflict within the Vegan star system, where Starfire's home planet of Tamaran was located During the conflict the planet was destroyed, along with the Technis race that Vic Stone, now known as Cyberion, had merged with in an attempt to save them. The Titans finally managed to defeat Raven's evil side and it was destroyed
The Titans restored Raven, thanks to the seed within Starfire, to a new, golden, spiritual body finally freeing her soul from evil influences. Raven then left the group with the heroes Minion and Changeling, to accompany Cyberion as he travelled through space. Raven left her friend soon after though when she became frightened by Cyberion's total embrace of technology to the detriment of his emotional side. Returning to Earth, Raven aided the Titans when it came to defeating Cyberion who's Technis Imperative had led him to believe that the Earth should be the new home world for the alien race. After the conflict Raven's spirit form left again on a journey to reassess her place in the world.
Raven's soul self continued to roam the universe aimlessly, trying to find where she belonged and where she could help. However, a new form of evil managed to capture her soul again, tying it to an Earthly host. Brother Blood now holds Raven captive, in an attempt to transfer her powers onto him. Raven has managed to alert the newly formed Teen Titans that she is at risk.
After her attempt to escape and warn the Titans of her predicament, Raven was chained up and suspended above the pool of blood she was reborn from. Brother Blood ripped the jewel from her forehead and tasted her blood, adding her strength to his. Raven secretly continued her attempts to reach the Teen Titans, but with her abilities amplified and out of control, her attempts led to some problems. She incapacitated several psychics in San Francisco, manipulated the emotions of the newer Titans, transformed Beast Boy into a mindless Raven, turned all the water in the city into blood, caused Krypto to regurgitate a flock of ravens, and resurrected the mindless bones of Trigon.
When the Titans finally pinpointed her location, the arrived just in time to prevent Brother Blood from marrying Raven. Beast Boy was finally released from his raven form and at Cyborg’s order, he made off with Raven in order to protect her. When Raven came out of her trance, she healed Gar of his injuries and admitted that she was frightened, ashamed, and angry.
Ravager and Deathstroke arrived with Starfire and Robin, and as per their agreement, they tried to leave with Raven. Fortunately, Starfire double crossed the duo and took Raven back. Unfortunately, Blood used his control over Raven to suck everyone present into herself, where she had previously sent Jericho. Blood then had Raven open up the portal inside herself that led to his demon followers. When Gar procured her Chakra, her stone, from Blood and placed in back on her forehead, she was once again in control of herself. She sucked Blood and his followers into another portal and transferred herself and the Teen Titans back to Titans Tower in San Francisco.
Though Raven was now in control of herself, she noted that apart of her would forever be tied to Brother Blood. She took up residence in the Tower and even shared an intimate hug with Beast Boy. With her soulself attached to a younger physical body, Raven sought to find new ways to express herself. She began wearing clothing that Wonder Girl picked out for her and she even got a raven tattoo on the small of her back. Raven accidentally sapped Cassie’s ominous feelings regarding Superboy from her, and began to realize that some of her abilities were outside of her control. When a number of San Francisco parents were angry regarding their children being turned into beast boys and girls, Raven revealed to the Titans that she is now able to swallow emotions.
Raven decided that she needed to start her life again outside of the Titans, so with Wonder Girl’s help, she enrolled in high school as Rachael Roth and she needed Cassie to teach her how to dress like a teenager. When a member of the Fatal Five, from the 31st century, attacked Titans Tower, Raven attempted to use her soulself to stop him, but he used his axe to slice right thru it and the feedback caused her tremendous pain. This fight caused the Titans to travel to the future in order to help the Legion with the Fatal Five Hundred. Saturn Girl telepathically showed Raven a secret Legion base location, and she used her abilities to teleport the Legionnaires and the Titans to the location.
Their adventures in the future led to the Titans being sent ten years into their future in the 21st century. In this future, most of the adult heroes had been killed during a crisis and the Titans were forced to take on their mantles. Raven’s futureself was named Dark Raven and she seemed very pliable to Batman’s commands. A battle ensued, and Raven tried to use her soulself against her futureself, but the attempt backfired and she injured herself. Eventually things calmed down and the Teen Titans were allowed to stay in Titans Tower until they were able to figure out a way back to their proper time and place.
Sadly, the future Titans were evil dictators and the Teen Titans were forced to flee. At Kid Flash’s insistence, Raven began to teleport her team to Keystone City, but Dark Raven used her soulself to short circuit the teleportation effect and the Teen Titans arrived without Robin. When they tried to flee Keystone, the Teen Titans were saved by the benevolent Titans East, led by the future Cyborg.
With Titans East’s help, the Teen Titans were able to battle with their futureselves and save Robin. With Robin safe, the Flashes were able to start the Cosmic Treadmill and they were returned to the past, where they belonged. Beast Boy found Raven trying on clothes Wonder Girl picked out for her and we he laughed at her, she used her abilities to throw him out of her room.
After Doctor Light captured Green Arrow, the Teen Titans went to the Franklin Institute to confront Light. When they arrived, they were ambushed, and Raven was taken out from behind. As the battle was waged, Raven attacked Light with her soulself, stating that she just could not consume anymore hate. Light shrugged off her attack and fired a light blast into Raven’s mouth, incapacitating her. When she came to, she joined all the past and present Titans in a full on assault on Doctor Light. Raven took on the duty of healing everyone that was injured in the fight. Afterwards, the present Titans revealed their deepest secrets to each other, and Raven told her friends that while they slept, she could not stop feeding off their emotions, and sometimes their dreams became hers.
When Superboy attacks the Titans, Raven is the first person to sense that something is wrong, and she is the first one that he takes out. Raven and the others are rescued by the Outsiders, but both teams are attacked by an army of Superman Robots. Raven survives the battle with Brainiac, Brainiac 8, Lex Luthor and Superboy, but Indigo, one of the Outsiders, did not.
Given his current troubles, Superboy took a leave of absence from the Titans and Raven came to see him. She put him through a lot of mental therapy before showing him the true reason she had come. Superboy had previously asked her if she could sense a soul within him, and she had not replied. She reveals to Superboy that he really does have a soul, but it had been hidden. Raven felt exactly the way Conner felt everyday; as if there was a darkness in her that would destroy everyone she cared about unless she kept herself in check.
Later, Supergirl also visited Conner, and the Titans arrived to intervene. Raven sucked Supergirl into herself and sensed great darkness within her before she was released. The Teen Titans later battled Kestrel and his minions, and it ended with him ripping Raven’s soulself from her body and capturing it. With her soulself, he hoped to become a Lord of Chaos by offering it up to the other Lords of Chaos and Order. Kestrel tortured Raven’s soulself before the Titans were able to rescue it and return it to her. Raven wanted to be alone but Wonder Girl, feeling as if Raven was her sister, came to comfort and hold her.
With Specter raging war against the realm of magic, Raven’s abilities were slightly diminished. Brother Blood used this sign of weakness to escape from limbo with the dead Titan, Omen and his demon minions. With Gar’s interference, she was able to escape his clutches and teleported them to a morgue in Los Angeles. While hiding, they shared an intimate kiss and then gathered the other Titans.
Brother Blood eventually summoned several other deceased Titans and Raven released that the door between the dead and the living was open. Raven ventured into Limbo with Beast Boy and they used their time together to bond and to set free Kid Eternity, who had been chained between the door and preventing it from closing. Eternity ended the fight and the Titans were summoned to another battle by Superboy.
Superboy Prime had attacked Conner in Smallville and he summoned the Doom Patrol, the JSA, and all past and present Titans to his aid. Unfortunately, the battle ended horribly. Several Titans were killed, the Flashes disappeared into the speedforce with Superboy Prime, and Superboy was critically injured. After the battle, Raven’s empathic abilities raged out of control and she could feel all the pain and suffering coming from the people of earth.
Assisting in the cleanup of Bludhaven, Raven was contacted by Psimon. Superman arrived and defeated Psimon, leaving Raven to try to come to terms with all the suffering she was feeling. After the Infinite Crisis was stopped, Raven attended the memorial service with the other remaining superheroes.
Sometime during the next year, Raven and Gar began a relationship, but at some point, they broke up, and Raven left to discover somethings about the whirlwind of Titans that joined the team during the year. Raven’s current whereabouts, a year after crisis, is unknown.
Raven is an empath who's powers include broadcasting her emotions onto others and being able to discern other's emotions when hidden, dispersing pain through contact, flight and teleporting large groups of people over long distances and through other dimensions. Raven also projects a soul self which is her spirit made visible to others. Raven has also exhibited emotion manipulation and low level precognitive abilities. Following her resurrection in a younger body, Raven gained the ability to heal wounds and she constantly absorbs strong emotions from those around her.
APPEARANCES:
Action Comics #546
Batman and the Outsiders #5
Blue Beetle (2nd series) #11-12, 14
DC Comics Presents #26
Infinity. Inc #45
JLA/Titans #1-3
Legends of the DC Universe #18
Marvel and DC Presents #1
New Teen Titans (1st series) #1-37, 39-40
New Teen Titans (2nd series) #1-6, 13-15, 21-22, 26, 28-49
New Teen Titans Annual (1st series) #1-2
New Teen Titans Annual (2nd series) #1-5
New Teen Titans (Drug Awareness Giveaway) #1-3
New Titans #50-69, 82-84, 100-101, 114, 118-121, 127-130
Outsiders (3rd series) # 24-25
Outsiders/Teen Titans: Secret Files and Origins #1
Secret Origins Annual #3
Showcase '94 #11
Showcase '95 #2
Supergirl (5th series) # 2-3
Tales of the New Teen Titans #1-4
Tales of the Teen Titans #41-48, 50, 56
Tales of the Teen Titans Annual #3
Teen Titans #5, 8-34, 37
Teen Titans Annual #1
Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files and Orgins 2005
Titans East Special (2008) #1
Wonder Woman (1st series) #287, 293
World's Finest Comics #300