What makes the Teen Titans so good is that you pair any two members and describe their relationship differently
Robin & Cyborg: Best friends, but also kinda rivals. They support each other and push the other to always improve
Robin & Starfire: Dating, but also they reassure the other when they feel alone. Reminding them that they are never alone
Robin & Raven: Inspiring hope in each other without realizing it
Robin & Beast Boy: Robin grounds Beast Boy, but weirdly, Beast Boy grounds Robin too
Cyborg & Starfire: Take turns as the other's confidante and comfort
Cyborg & Raven: Raven is often at her kindest when with Cyborg and Cyborg is often the most respectful about her boundaries
Cyborg & Beast Boy: Shares one brain cell
Starfire & Raven: Unironically the closest pair of friends. Not even in an opposites attract kind of way. They really bonded after the switching episode
Starfire & Beast Boy: Big sis and little bro energy. Also, youngest siblings in a family energy
Raven & Beast Boy: Personalities may clash. A lot. But don't mess with the other. EVER
I am SO mad about this penny, because it was such a sweet gesture of Beast Boy to give it to her, and it clearly had some amount of emotional value for her. She held onto it LITERALLY as long as she possibly could. It was with her until what she thought could be her last breath. And to add to this, this is one of the very few moments between them throughout her whole arc, and I think one of the best moments in the whole series.
And then we never see it again.
Ever.
It's like it got forgotten about.
So my comfort headcanon is, idk if that's a thing, but it is now, ever since that penny was lost, every time Beast Boy finds one, he always gives it to Raven, and she keeps them all.
It's a really sweet way to remind her that they would never give up on her, even when her dad is Satan himself, even when she was born to destroy the world and even when she herself lost all hope.
YES!!! she had no hope and she STILL held on to this last little symbol, thinking this was her last moment. 100% agree with the headcanon. i like to believe they found the penny in the end part two and gave it back to her, and she carries it around with her as a reminder of hope and the love of her team :)
The Teen Titans show adding "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" as trigger for Raven when her powers were largely nonverbal in the comics is actually so good for her character building though.
So one thing about the phrase is that she uses it for everything. It doesn't have a specific application, it just feels like it lets her tap into her powers.
And another thing about it is that it's very long and easy to cut her off because of it. Dr. Light even makes fun of her by saying "next time, choose shorter magic words"
But that's the point. She probably picked a long phrase for herself as an additional safeguard. She's terrified of herself and her powers. By having a long trigger phrase, she knows that one, she has to always channel her intention, so she can't accidentally do something horrible, and two, even if she does begin to do something horrible, it gives everyone just those few seconds longer to stop her from following through.
The moment when she takes down Trigon she doesn't use the phrase because she's finally mastered her fears. She won't be him. And she has people who won't let her be him either.
Y'all ever think that with Teen Titans 2003, after the whole Season 4 Trigon Incident, that they come home from the pizza place a week later and it finally hits them collectively that Raven was literally dead for like 48 hours and they all survived a hellscape apocalypse like it was another Tuesday, and they all just sat in the car like:
I reiterate, Raven was technically dead in the season finale, and Robin had to travel to the underworld to bring what was left of her soul, which had taken the form of a little girl and she had absolutely no memory of her time as a Teen Titan, back to the surface, where the memories flooded back when she was reunited with her "family" and returns to herself
I mean, why do you think my online pseudonym is "RaeLogan", and has been since I started interacting with people on the internet in 2003?
It's combining Raven's nickname with Beastboy's real last name. My entire internet legacy began with this series, ha ha.
Such a good quality episode ratio, too.
Let me gush about like... a bunch of them under the jump there
"Haunted"? The one where Robin is literally fighting for his life against a mental attack that may or may not be real?
Amazing episode, one of my favorite to rewatch, especially around October
"How Long Is Forever?" was such a memorable episode. Starfire gets launched 20 years into the Future, and finds that her fears of the team drifting apart has come true in a timeline where she disappeared. Beastboy is a sideshow freak staying in a cage for his own safety, Cyborg can barely leave the Tower because he's obsolete, Raven had a mental breakdown and isolated herself in an abandoned asylum, and Robin gets to be Nightwing. They finally reunite to get her back home to fix all this.
A nice twist on the "It's a Wonderful Life" concepts.
"Fear Itself", where Raven's refusal to admit that a scary movie spooked her keeps making the problems worse when the movie appears to come to life and hunt her and her friends down until she's the last one standing?
Sound design was really good and the pacing is so solid that you forget it's a 22 min episode!
The entirety of the Terra arc?? A very good adaptation of "The Judas Contract" from the original 80s comics???
Absolutely a solid second season plot line, and a fantastic deconstruction of the team dynamics as we see them really pushed to thier limits for the first time while dealing with the betrayal!
"Hide and Seek" introducing the idea of even YOUNGER superheroes in the universe, in which Raven is the one tasked with getting them to the safety checkpoint before they're attacked by the massive team of villians trying to wipe them all out?
Post-Trigon-Incident Raven gets a chance to shine here in not only having to sharpen her social skills in dealing with those outside her bubble, but gosh darn, she eventually gets a chance to show a more maternal side with Melvin, Timmy and Teether, to the point that she ends up calling them her "kids". Heck, her trying to figure out what exactly Melvin's powers are had her misunderstanding that they're similar to her's and attempted relating to the little girl by using reality check terminology that makes me wonder if Raven used to blame her power surges as a kid on an "imaginary friend" as well. 👀
"Birthmark", "The Prophecy" and for that matter, the entire Season 4 arc, was basically "Raven has the absolute worst milestone birthday, and now she's having a silent panic attack that does not stop for the next few months", but oh my God, oh my God, I cannot condense my thoughts of "Birthmark" or "The Prophecy" into a few sentences, but aaaaaaaaaaaah, these are great episodes that set the stage for the season finale!
Like... The heavy allegory implications of Raven being a victim of a very specific circumstance is not lost on me, and this is not the first time Raven was used as a stand-in for vulnerability. Also, Raven giving Slade the beatdown to the point that she terrified everyone at just how much anger and power she was showing was *chefs kiss* to the setting of the stage of what's to come ahead.
Let's jump back to Season 3 when Raven got groomed by a dragon in a book in "Spellbound"
She got groomed. I'm not just using buzz words, she was manipulated and her emotions and insecurities were preyed on, and she fell victim to it because she felt alone and unable to fit in. She cried. She nearly shut down when she realized she was used, and blamed herself. Raven got groomed by an ancient being trapped in a spellbook that called her beautiful after she was upset that Beastboy called her creepy in a fit of frustration. I think we need to just say it: Raven was a vulnerable teenage girl that got groomed.
"Go!" being aired near the end of the series before the finale was a great choice. Finally dropping us the lore as to HOW the team came to be and how they all met.
Who knew it was because Starfire was an alien prisoner escaping her captives who were now threatening this city JUST as soon as Robin arrived to branch off from Batman, Beastboy wandered into town after leaving the Doom Patrol, Cyborg just after his accident that made him who he is, and Raven having just run away from her home dimension? Absolute destiny that these five would become the family we know and love today.
Gosh darn, Tumblr image limit strikes again, but "The End" Parts 1-3 are easily one of the most solid season finales for a kids cartoon I have seen, and a phenomenal adaptation of the "Terror of Trigon" arc in the original 80s comics.
I know you can figure that Raven is my absolute favorite character in the whole franchise, and of course, OF COURSE, the episode that focus on her are in my top favorites, and yes, you can definitely guess that I love the Season 4 Arc so much that I wish I could physically gnaw on it with my teeth because it absolutely was a cornerstone of my formative years as this show was airing. I remember that Canada got the episodes a few weeks early for a while, so I had to trawl through the forums for anyone sharing screens and translations of the scripts because it was airing in French Canadian, and the absolute hype I felt while waiting for it to grace the TVs in my house while I tuned in, wearing some blue wristbands I got at SeaWorld that I still have to this day that I wore often, especially to school, to imitate Raven's style a bit because I absolutely was a little Autistic nerd who had accessories inspired by my favorite things
A THREE PARTER episode. 22 minutes times 3. A whole HOUR of the same storyline. This was practically a TV special or a short movie back then.
Everything built up came to a head, every seed planted as far back as Season 1 finally had its chance, the sound design, the voice acting, oh giddy gosh goodness, THE VOICE ACTING is phenomenal in this, this arc was on part with something out of late series Batman: The Animated Series, on par with Justice League Unlimited, on par with Return of the Joker or The Mask of Phantasm-!
And this, this is why I just don't like "Teen Titans Go!" that much. The characters may have the same voices, but they're just absolute little jerks and creeps to each other. The Teen Titans I know went to the ends of the galaxies to save thier own multiple times. The TTG versions of them will sell each other out for a sandwich. 😬
It's been a hot minute since I have watched Teen Titans anything so this was a nice trip down memory lane ;o; I mostly saw them out of order so I was kinda confused when I was presented with the finale but I did really enjoy the series
Honestly, I didn't exactly understand there was a specific order until like Season 3, since they had like... Four different time slots airing on different timeblocks throughout the week on different parts of the lineups for the first two seasons, so I'm pretty sure I saw "How Long Is Forever?" at least four times as much as I've seen any other episode, to the point that, despite being a great one, it's just been too oversaturated in my memory that I usually skipped it during TV airings and just watched it whenever I loaded the DVDs. 👀
Pretty sure Teen Titans was running on CN Fridays, Toonami, Miguzi, AND the Kids WB blocks back in the day, so that's like four rotations in different points at any given week. Especially if it was a Back-to-Back rerun. 😅
If it helps to explain anything, the absolute first episode I remember ever seeing was Episode 5, "Nevermore", and this was my first impression of the entire series:
Needless to say, little 13 year old me was like
And was like "What show is this and when did it get here?? Wasn't Robin with Batman?? Green kid animal boy?? Who they??"
I cannot remember what my first episode was but I absolutely remember that scene!! It is very burned into the brain mush xD It certainly did play a LOT. In our area, they also played the uhm... the prom episode a lot. Where the moth guy's daughter, Kitty I think?, was being a royal brat and Robin had to take her to prom to anger her situationship. I loved the moth babbies
Ha ha, such a good episode. Close enough, her name is actually "Kitten" :P
I love the part where Robin just rips the tux off like a paper doll outfit, complete with paper tabs, such a good visual gag, all I could find online was a looping gif of it
Apparently, if I remember, as a fun factoid: Killer Moth's house is heavily modeled after the Brady Bunch House, which is such a random choice to do, even for a cartoon in the 2000s, lol
Those larvas were so cute, and I love how like a season later we find out that Beastboy snuck one home to keep as a pet, and Silkie became like an unofficial mascot/family-pet/bumgorf to them
Even better is that like three episodes before the official introduction of Silkie, we can see him cameo as something sneaking around the Tower before he's actually acknowledged. Then he just sort of blended into the crew after Robin gave Starfire the okay to keep him, and it's always fun to see where Silkie pops up as a cameo any time after that.
I don't know why they never made plushies of Silkie in his 2003 series form. He would have been perfect as one of those rounded decor pillows or a pre-squishmallow era type cuddle toy. 😍
Several things I would like to say as a partial fan of this show:
I appreciate a fellow Beast Boy/Raven shipper
I love the show for not being afraid to show serious topics like racism and abusive relationships. Even my favourite episode Spellbound was, like you said, about grooming and predatory manipulation.
I had no fucking clue that they fought Killer Moth. Like that's the one villain I reconize from outside TT and it's because I'm a Batman fan first.
My first episode was the one where Cyborg when nuts and TT had to grab a villain kid to do some body exploration.
The show had a lot of good villains! Mad Mod, Slade, that russian elasticgirl, etc. Even the one-shots were great!
I have a weird reason for liking Spellbound so much and it has to do with the dragon.
See at the same time TT was on, What's New Scooby Doo was also on tv and dvd. One of the WNSD episodes, "Large Dragon At Large", had a dragon that was... well
familier
I think it was the eyes but yeah love me some dragon villains
Yeah, he's in a couple of episodes, probably more times than most of the other "one off" villians, actually. Dude had a solid design for the series and also, interestingly, a pretty good dad, because he was willing to put off his city takeover so his daughter, who was about as bratty as Princess Morbucks from Powerpuff Girls, could one-up her boyfriend by taking Robin to her prom by force
Then we got some other great additions to the Rogue's Gallery, which include, but not limited to:
((Condensed to a Read More because I value y'all's dashboards))
SLADE.
Dude was honestly THE best villain in a DC related program since Joker in BTAS. Slade's motivates were quite simple, actually: Test the limits of himself and the Titans, make one of them his apprentice, take over the city, keep the status quo.
Always in the shadows, always watching, always bringing the weight of dread down on the episode once he shows his masked face. He's the most consistent of the villains, and every single episode with him is easily tops, especially when you got Ron Pearlman giving the guy his voice. An interesting thing about Slade is also that he's the only surviving villain that didn't join up the Brotherhood of Evil in Season 5, which is explained away easily by his words to Robin during "The End Part 2" about how he'd essentially rather return the status quo to how it was before his death and resurrection, and that he even expresses delight in the idea of Robin reciprocating (("This doesn't change anything. If I EVER see you again-!"/"... I wouldn't expect any less."))
Also, Slade really came in clutch during "The End" Parts 2 and 3. Let's all collectively thank him for not only giving the Titans a chance to find Raven, but also straight up taking on Trigon himself to cause a distraction. Also, him giving Beastboy solid healthy advice to just move on from Terra in the series finale added so many extra layers to the guy, like... He has a specific plan as to how he wants his dynamics to be, and he's not going to let that deviate. He just wants a basic Heroes vs Villain set up. He doesn't want Joker and Batman, he wants Eggman and Sonic.
Also, other villains, like
Actual cultist Brother Blood, voiced by John DiMaggio, who is also a fantastic version of a character who would otherwise never even be anywhere NEAR a children's cartoon.
Mumbo Jumbo, voiced by the legendary Tom Kenny, is easily the most entertaining AND potentially most dangerous villain in the lineup. Not only does he have magic, he's got straight up performance showmanship type magic and does it all with flair and acts like a kid on Creative Mode. Also, the only villian, and character for that matter, to get a full blown musical number that slaps:
Okay, now, what about Control Freak?
Actual Pop Culture Geek that's not only living the dream when it comes to being able to use his extensive knowledge of nerd media to his advantage, but responsible for three highly entertaining episodes. Bro is so self aware that he expresses absolute disgust and offense at not making the list of the Titans most wanted charts, but that he was also beaten on the list by Puppet King and Killer Moth (("They're like a one time thing! I'M A RECURRING CHARACTER!")
What about Trigon, Raven's own father???
The Space Devil, basically. Dude showed up via transforming his kid into a conduit, laid waste to the planet in a blink, and used the Titans' home as a throne to chill on. Literally the only thing that Raven genuinely fears and has panic attacks over. Got his butt whipped by a buncha determined teenagers, satisfying so, but the point still stands: Remember the time the Titans fought the Devil and won??
Blackfire
Starfire's evil older sister who has attempted multiple times to pull a Scar vs Mufasa on her, and yet, Starfire can't bring herself to hate her own sis. Blackfire has sold Starfire off to another alien race as a prisoner, attempted to steal her life and frame her for her own crimes, and has even tried to marry off Starfire using the customs of thier people to another planet just to get huge payday for it. Blackfire is rotten to the core, and clearly just evil by nature, and yet... Starfire is always willing to hug her and express gratitude in just seeing her again. Blackfire doesn't deserve Starfire's unconditional love. 🥺
The Brotherhood of Evil
Where do I start? Absolutely brought a serious tone to the last stretch of the series. They had the Titans trapped in a corner, practically. You couldn't trust anyone because maybe it was them in disguise. They were willing to KILL.
i like that raven rides in cyborg's car when they're all going to crime scenes. starfire and beast boy fly, and raven could easily do the same. but she just doesn't for some reason
been thinking about her arc a lot lately and this moment always crushes me bc what do you MEAN she held on to the penny until the last possible moment??? that she was so defeated but still held on to the slightest bit of hope???? actually sobbing
