Raven from ‘Teen Titans’ Has Daddy Issues (and You Would, Too)
She’s dark, she’s broody, and her demonic powers can stop time and go virtually anywhere. Teen Titans’ Raven is our favorite goth queen.
She’s one of the most well-known members of DC comics’ headlining teen team—and a badass in her own right. Rachel Roth, known best as Raven, is the dark, magical presence of the New Teen Titans. She’d also be a (metaphysical) blast to bring to a D&D campaign.
Who is Raven?
In the comics, Trigon tricked Raven’s mother Arella into sleeping with him. He’s a real character. More on him later. In the animated Teen Titans series, the two are married and we find out a little more about Raven’s life as a child. It starts when Trigon abandons his wife, who’s pregnant with Raven, and they’re both raised by the non-violent cult living at the Temple of Azarath.
The disciples of the temple feared that Raven’s demonic parentage would steer her toward violence and destruction. It was decided that she would be taught the ways of pacifism. Using tools like philosophy, meditation, and emotional control, Raven was taught that losing control of her demon abilities would be disasterous. She was also taught to nurture the abilities her parentage gave her.
The New Teen Titans
In the comics, her character was born on the pages of New Teen Titans #1 in 1980. When she reached her teen years, Raven escaped to Earth. She sought to fight and destroy her father with the help of other super humans. After appealing to the Justice League for help defeating Trigon, she was turned away because of her own demonic DNA. Thanks, Zatanna. In desperation, she reformed the Teen Titans into a new team. Robin, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven became the New Teen Titans.
Trigon, Inspirer of Teen Angst
Raven, very reasonably, has a complicated relationship with her father, the demon Trigon. He was aware of her existence and kept tabs on her growing up. He believed that he could tempt her to go all Big Bad, and the two have a chat in Limbo about it. Raven isn’t feeling in, and in a dark and darkly powerful show of the “I’M NOT YOUR LITTLE GIRL ANYMORE” trope, Raven resists him.
Sensing his power growing, she came to Earth. In the comics, she essentially forms the Teen Titans when she asks for help to defeat him. But if your dad was incredibly evil and your only real link to him is the power that makes him so… you’d be angry, too.
Personality
As you can imagine, Raven is a bit dark. She’s quiet, does a lot of brooding, and is sarcastic. She’s quite stoic and can also be secretive. You know—your typical teenage goth girl. It gives her an interesting dynamic with the team that she helps to form.
Raven’s reason for being so emotionally distant is understandable. She grew up with the fear that losing control of her emotions would turn her into a scary demon monster. Losing control of her powers means giving in to the darkness that connects her to Trigon. Her powers are directly connected to her emotions, so her need to control them is deeply tied to her personality.
Depending on which Raven you’re looking at (comic books, the Teen Titans show, or Teen Titans Go!), she’s still a teenage girl. Meaning that despite her stoicism, she gets giddy over things she enjoys. Softer portrayals of Raven illustrate this really well.
Raven’s Powers
As an empath, Raven is usually the first to pick up on vibes in the room. Specifically, she can sense how people are feeling, their presence, and she even gets flashes of the future if she’s exposed to extreme emotion. She’s also able to heal people by taking on their pain or disease and then basically meditating it away.
She can also project herself using her soul-self, which separates her spirit from her body, she can travel to all sorts of places. In some iterations, she can only be outside of her body for a short period of time (like five minutes.) It also gives her a kind of telekinesis and allows her to change the shape of her soul-self.
She’s also super durable, which is to be expected of a half-demon. Raven is gifted with magic and knows her way around a spell. She also speaks multiple languages. You go, girl.
Raven in RPGs: DnD & More
Raven has reached a point where she’s a well-known figure. Thanks to two popular animated series and a live-action show, Rachel Roth isn’t a stranger to Earth. As for RPGs and board games, playing Raven has a few options.
DC Comics has its own deck-building game that allows you to collect and play with Raven. The Teen Titans Go! Mayhem board game is a great way to bring Raven to your family’s game table.
Playing Raven in DnD
According to our expert homebrewer Meaghan, Raven would be a Tiefling or a Drow. Her parentage makes it’s pretty straightforward there. When it comes to her class, she would be “a Warlock, I think. Her dad is her patron and she’s mad about it.”
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