Raven

Codename: Raven
Nickname(s): Raerae
Age: Uncertain
Race: Half-Azarathean, Half-Demon
Alignment: Lawful Good
Is this a canon?: Very canon


Hair Color: Purple
Eye Color: Varies (default blue, red when angry, white when using powers)
Gender: Female
Height: 5'4''
Weight: 117 lbs
Other Traits:



Main Power Origins: Half-Demon

Powers

• 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, allowing her to use it to interact with the physical world, 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. It can fly twice as fast as she normally does, reaching speed of around 200 mph. Raven's soul-self is able to envelop her (along with at least four other people) in order to phase through obstacles, or through the ground. Though normally composed of energy that is coloured black, Raven's soul-self can change colour depending on her emotional state, manifesting as red or white.
  
  Raven can merge a small part of her soul-self into objects so as to take control of them, with the object essentially becoming an extension of her soul-self; 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 a couple dozen 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. However, her control over objects is not limitless, and she cannot lift things that are over 20 tons in weight, and even closing that limit would be pushing it.
  
  With her soul-self able to be moulded 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 to cut through obstacles, claws that can restrain foes and floating platforms to ride on. The claws that hold people are strong and would be able to effortlessly hold anyone short of super-strength within grasp, and would vanish upon a strong hit, like Cyborg's sonic cannon. A person-sized dome can withstand up to 20 tons of force. Dome strength depends on its size, it diminishing the bigger area she has to protect. A dome that she would use to protect only herself would easily hold a direct missile hit or two without shattering, however if she has to protect a large area, or a party, the dome would break from a single hit. The blades she could summon differ in strength and size - the smaller ones are compatible with a powerful punch, and big ones could slice a car in two. Lastly, Raven can levitate off the ground and fly, 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
  
  
• Dimensional Travel: She can open portals to Azarath, by reciting an incantation. Theoretically, she can open portals to other planets, but it would require different incantations.
  
  
• Telepathy: The power to sense the emotions of others, allowing her to experience their own feelings is also through her soul-self. Raven can remove the pain of others in order to induce a trance of emotional calm. It also enables her to sense the mental state of others, as she stated that she would know if someone's mind had been tampered with.
  
  
• Magic: Raven is capable of traditional spellcraft, including casting various spells and hexes. However, it requires her to know the spells in question or possessing them in written form.
  
  
• Half-Demon Form: When Raven is highly upset, she can transform into her half-demon self, growing 3 times in size, usually with four glowing red eyes (a trait inherited from her demon father, Trigon) and sprouting a dozen of black tentacles from under her cloak. Those tentacles can reach for around 30 meters, and easily constrict anybody of average or enhanced strength, with only very strong individuals able to easily break out. She has little control over her actions in this state.
  

Skills

• Hand-to-hand combat: As shown on many occasions, Raven is a proficient martial artist, and can defend herself in case she has no time to use her powers.
  
  
• Multilingualism: Raven she is a skilled polyglot, capable of fluently speaking English, German, Latin, Romanian, Ancient Sumerian, and Sanskrit.
  
  
• Magical Lore: Raven possess' an affinity for mysticism, and has numerous items of an occult nature and an extensive library dedicated to sorcery. Raven had yet to immerse herself with more extensive and complex spell-casting for a greater variety of effects, though when tutored by Malchior, she was able to achieve feats previously not within her power. Raven’s magic appears to be incompatible with the reality-bending power of the enchanted finger of Larry, for she stated that a mixing of the two forces “could destroy the dimensional boundaries and nullify all existence.”
  
  
• Avid chess player: Her analytic and tactical abilities show through mastery of the ancient board game. She can beat most people in it, and is stressed when someone outmatches her.
  

Abilities

• Endurance: Although Raven never demonstrated any particular feats of strength or speed, she has taken a hit in her line of duty more than once. While not as durable as the likes of Robin and Starfire, she is not as squishy as she looks, able to take a few superpowered hits before going down.
  

Physical Weaknesses

• Close combat: Despite being a good fighter, she fights only with strength of a normal human. Anybody wearing armor, and/or having superior physical strength and endurance should overpower her.
  
  
• Human(ish) body: Poisons will poison her, fire will burn her, electricity - electrocute her, and punches will hurt her too.
  
  
• Demonic Blood: Raven is a very powerful half-demon. As such, she can’t hold or use anything that would be dangerous to demonkind. Magic seals, holy water, holy symbols, light-based magic, and similar demon-fighting weapons are all dangerous to her. Although she displayed an amazing amount of power in Light Magic in her final fight with Trigon, she has no control over the transformation or its use.
  

Mental Weaknesses

• Emotions: Her powers rely on self-control and restrictions of emotion. Should she be made afraid or angry, it would incapacitate her powers completely or make her lose control, entering a state in which she would attack friend and foe without any restraint.
  
  
• Magic words: Many of her powers can be activated only through reciting incantation like "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" and the like. Should she be robbed of ability to speak, this would render her practically powerless, able to use only simplest of spells through sheer strength of will, like levitating and tossing objects, or using simple constructs as projectiles, but their strength is halved.
  
  
• Distractions: While Raven certainly is adept at keeping it cool and focused during most dire situations, hitting her during performing a spell would effectively disrupt it.
  
  
• Predictability: As proven by Dr. Light, you know something is coming at you as soon as she starts saying "Azarath...", which would give her opponents a few split seconds to react, or launch a counterattack.
  
  
• Astral Projection: Her body is defenseless while using it.
  
  
  

Equipment

• Personal communicator.
  
  
• Meditation mirror - the mirror that is used for meditation, and also is a gateway inside her mind. Touch it without care, and you may get sucked in, like Beastboy and Cyborg once.
  

Personality

Raven is, and always was, one of the most serious member of the Teen Titans. Being a super-hero is serious business, and must be treated as such, not a hobby to do in spare time. She believes that power must be used responsibly, and control over it must be exerted at all times - a philosophy she represented through constant meditation and self-discipline. Not allowing emotions to hinder her better judgment, Raven is ready to do what must be done, regardless of how she feels about it.

This is a quality she demands in others, and when people are showing doubt or weakness she would often straighten them up with a portion of harsh truth, which leaves little chance of compromise. However, that doesn't mean she cannot be gentle in her approach, and would often offer a sage advice that would allow a person choose the right path when standing on a crossroad. Whenever she uses the former or the latter depends on the person and situation.

Raven is good at teamwork when during battle, but outside of it, she tends to keep to herself, being self-reliant in all matters which are considering her and her only. Despite helping others dealing with their own emotions, she would rarely allow someone help her out with her own demons, and would never talk about it first herself. Even if she needs to.

The girl also has trouble fitting in groups due to her solitary status. It takes her time to warm up to people, and she feels much more comfortable in a tight-knitted group of people she knows and trusts, and can be outright hostile to strangers wishing to join. Though, this problem has since been improved on, there is still an air of coldness that surrounds Raven whenever speaking to someone outside of her comfort zone.

Friends are a very important part of her life. She doesn't have that many, and cares deeply about each, and would defend them ferociously with all the powers of her magic, and would sacrifice herself for them, if need be. If anything, she's the kind of person to say: "Follow without me, I will cover you." as been proven on occasions. Absence of even one of them could have severe impact on her mood.

Raven is kind of a bookworm-y kind of girl, who would rather spend her time drowning in a book, especially when it tells of powerful mages and wizards of old, rather than indulging in noisy, loud, obnoxious, or outright repulsive ways of having fun. She doesn't say a word against people having it, unless they distract her personally, or someone is being obnoxious with making her join. She respects other peoples' wishes, and if you respect hers - you will get along.

Finally, Raven is no longer haunted by her past and her family matters, which managed to lighten up her attitude on things, as well as solving problems with 'fitting in'. However, it is a page of her past that cannot be closed so easily, and Raven is adamant about fighting all things evil, seeing in them shards of her father, who was the embodiment and essence of cosmic evil.


Family Members: Trigon, Arella
Place of Origin: Azarath

History

I am Raven.

Daughter to Arella of Azarath, and a demonic entity I will not soon forget. Ever since birth, I knew I was destined to bring death and destruction everywhere I go. So said the prophesy, so said the people who wanted to destroy me to prevent it from happening. For good or ill, they did not succeed, but instead paid with their lives for their failure. I was too young back then to remember it now, but I understand why they tried to do what they did. I would probably do the same, in their place...

Fate has been kind to me, more so than I deserve. I was raised by monks of Azarath, and in a way, saved by them, just like they saved my mother in time of her greatest need. I still remember the name. Azar, spiritual leader of the temple. A kind, gentle soul, she took me under her wing, and taught me what I know, things that made me who I am. Her teachings were giving me hope that perhaps I was strong enough to resist my Fath... no. That thing is not my father.

I tried confronting Him. It first happened shortly after death of my teacher. I thought I was strong enough. And I was a fool to think that. But the demon did not destroy me. Instead, He was much more cruel. I was meant to be His portal, through which He would return, and exterminate all life, big or small, young or old. I sensed his presence becoming ... stronger. It was then when I knew I had to leave Azarath ... forever. Find a new home, and hope that His influence would weaken... somehow.

For once, I did not choose wrong. I came to a world called Earth. I met people who became my friends. Good friends, who kept faith in me even in their world's darkest hour. It did not happen immediately, they were ... strange, their habits, flaws, visible to me. But they were good people, and they treated me as their friend despite me being cold and unfair towards them, at times. Though, most of the times they deserved it completely. I do not tolerate shenanigans on a daily basis. Or corny jokes, for that matter.

It was a chance to prove the prophesy and everybody wrong of my nature. We did good things, saving people and fighting numerous villains. In each, I saw a shard of Him, the darkness in their hearts. I was fighting Him, through fighting them. And they were different too. From someone merely driven by desire to be rich without working for it, to people that just want to see the world burn. There was ... is one that strikes chills down my spine.

Slade. Doesn't have super-strength, magical powers, no lasers, energy shields, other crap. No nothing. And yet strongest blows against us belong to him. Not to H.I.V.E,, the Brotherhood, not to anybody else, but to him. Motives, motives. I doubt he has any. He did not want to conquer the world, steal money, oh no. Whenever he did that was that just so he could lure US out. That man is poised to make us suffer. He made us fight each other, he managed to sneak a spy in our ranks, a spy that almost killed us all. He wanted to break us, and not just physically. And when he died, he couldn't just stay dead.

I worked hard to protect Jump city from threats on a daily basis for years. But heritage eventually caught up to me. It was something a self-imposed exile from Azarath did not manage to protect from. On my birthday, the threat we presumed dead returned. And things went to hell from there, literally. It was time when He was supposed to make return. And He sent a Herald to signify the incoming apocalypse. He chose Slade to be that Herald, bringing him back from the dead to fight us.

And we couldn't stop him. I had to surrender, for my friends, to keep them alive. They deserved it, none turned on me after the secret was revealed. They had to live, if this world were to have any hope. Before taken away by Slade and his demonic minions, I placed a bit of my power into each, to save them, and give Earth a chance... this was the least I could do.

At that moment, it all seemed to be over. Trigon set foot on Earth, turning people into stone, and leaving a charred ruin of once beautiful Jump City. I barely remember what happened in between, up to the point when Robin found me, alone, in catacombs of the demon's realm. He saved me, and made me remember. They all did. It was impossible. Despite all odds, they kept fighting against a being of unimaginable power. It was they, who gave me strength to rise up, and destroy that what was plaguing me and my existence since the beginning...

Now that I look back at it, I still can hardly believe that we did it. It seems like a ... very convenient happy ending. And yet, here I am, and the deed is done. There's no Trigon. The prophecy was proven wrong. I am alive, and so are my friends... But villains still exist ... somehow, despite the source of all evil vanquished. I am not going to rest, until these shards of evil are dealt with.

Permanently.



Raven's room was often compared to a museum.

A very creepy museum. Filled with various artifacts, books, tomes, and parchments, all of the days gone by. The predominant color was blue, as the lights were rarely turned on, especially in the evening. She rarely let people enter her room, as it was her inner sanctum. The place of solitude, reflection, and rest, from the rest of the world. It was were the recluse was at this time, sitting at the table, hands on a magic crystal ball.

"Quaero de terra obruta magna. Ostende mihi signum. In loco est..." - Raven muttered an incantation, as her fingers passed over the crystal ball. There was a fog inside, forming images and silhouettes, but with each passing, each word spoken, was making the imagery clearer. She tried to figure out what they were, eyes locked unto the ball, unblinking. Just as she was about to get a clear imagery, a knock to the door ruined her concentration. Raven's hair flared up, angrily, as she slowly turned her head over her shoulder.

"HEY RAVEN! RAVEN! ARE YOU IN THERE?!"

The obnoxiously childish voice could not have belonged to anyone else but Beastboy. Or... Garfield, as Raven often called him inside of her mind. His tone was extremely irritant to the ear, making her cringe a bit. She sighed.

"Yes, Beastboy, what is it? - the voice came from behind the door.

"Oh, so you are there! We're gonna watch a movie together! It's the Return of the Protozoids, gonna be awesome! Do you want to come?"

Raven rolled her eyes at the choice of the movie. But... she did want to come. Being huddled in a couch with her friends surrounding her, and offering stingy movie criticism was kind of fun. But... she looked back at the crystal ball, which froze her progress, but could only keep it for so long. No... this is more important... For their own sakes...

"No, I am busy right now."

"Oh c'mon Rae! You've been behind that door ever since last week! You're not talking to another book, are you?"

Raven frowned, at that reminder.

"I already said I am busy. Go away."

With that, the conversation was over. She heard him leave, feet thumping loudly. He was obviously not happy. And neither was Raven. But ... some things were more important than momentary distractions. I'll have plenty of time for that later... When villains are defeated and all evil is banished from the Realm...

With that, the hooded girl returned to her sorcery. Chanting an incantation and warping the mists inside the ball. Until it would reveal a location to her. A bird's eye view, of what looked like an ancient Mayan Temple. And inside of it, a jagged knife, with a bright red gem in its handle, surrounded by plants slowly growing closer and closer to it. An odd glint appearing in Raven's eyes.

"There you are."

Why so serious princess destroyer of worlds? All dressed up for the pool with no swimming to be done? BY THE POWER INVESTED IN ME- BY ME, I DECREE THIS LITTLE ANTI-CHRIST TO BE GOOD! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!