And he says,
“I’ve got you written in a black book by the railroad tracks. You see, I know your fate.”
❝ — ° is that Russell Roth? he is a hero and known as their alias Raven by the public and affiliated with Titans. Russell has been described as Selfless, Intelligent, Perceptive but has also been described as Sarcastic, Brooding, Withdrawn, he is currently working as a librarian. the aesthetic often associated with Russell is shadows, old tomes, ravens, black robes, glowing red eyes, the calm of meditation, dark shades of indigo and midnight blue.
And I said, “You’ve got to listen, I’m a songbird with a brand new track, you underestimate.”
— HISTORY
Raven’s story begins with a woman who had never known an easy life, someone who knew what it was to feel unwanted, and was on an endless search for fulfillment and belonging. Angela Roth ended up in a Satanic cult, something that led to her being chosen to be the bride of Satan himself, a being that presented himself as beautiful and alluring to her, only to realize that he was actually the inter-dimensional demon, Trigon. Trigon took her by force, and left her with child, destroying the rest of the cult and leaving her broken and alone.
Angela not being able to live with the horror, tried to commit suicide, but was approached by beings from Azarath, a pacifist world that existed in another dimension. They had long chosen to leave Earth behind, and live a more peaceful, harmonious life. Azar and the Azarathians believed they could help guide Angela’s child on a good path, away from Trigon’s influence. They knew it would be best for the sake of the world.
Within Azarath, Angela took on a new name, Arella, and gave birth to her son, Raven. Once Raven was born, he was raised and trained by Azar and the monks of Azarath, the leaders feeling that the less emotional ties there were between Raven and his mother, the better. The main focus was to suppress Raven’s emotions as much as possible in order to not unleash his demonic powers.
Growing up without emotions is a strange life, Raven had never known true fear for most of his childhood. Not until he was a teenager, when he was ambushed by Trigon at the gates of Azarath, finally unleashing his soul self, and giving Trigon the knowledge that he was what he needed to carry out his plans on Earth and the universe.
Raven in desperation, fled Azarath and went to Earth in search for anyone that could help him stop Trigon. He went to the Justice League and was swiftly turned away, not being able to gain their trust due to his demonic parentage. Not knowing where else to go he consulted his powers and magic and that led him to the Teen Titans. That is when Raven formally joined the team, vowing to fight beside them, hoping that they could help defeat Trigon.
Eventually, the team did defeat Trigon, sealing him in an inter-dimensional prison. This, however proved to be a temporary fix, as his influence over Raven and his mind still lingered. Trigon made it his mission to find a way to break free, and chip away at Raven’s mind so that he could be under his influence and destroy the Earth.
Trigon managed to break free, but he needed to break Raven further, once he was free he went to Azarath and destroyed it completely, killing everyone. Once that was done, he sent his daughters after Raven and tried to influence him into giving into his demonic side. It was relentless, and Raven knew he needed to face him head on. Raven tried to ask the team to aid him in taking down Trigon once again, but he knew that he needed to do this on his own.
Raven with the full power of his soul self, aided by all of the souls of Azarath trapped Trigon in a crystal shard, one that was a better prison than the one he had been in prior. Raven keeps it on his forehead, making sure that Trigon is trapped. He still battles with his emotions, his demonic powers, and if he will ever lose himself completely and become the evil he feels deep inside. Raven understands the fear people feel when they see heroes with their unbelievable abilities, he fears himself and the power he holds, the destruction it could cause.
Just give me something to believe in
— POWERS
Soul-Self/Astral Projection: The basis of almost all of Raven's powers are derived from his soul-self. He is able to project his own spirit from his body into a ghostly form, using it to interact with the physical world, affect others mentally, and to traverse through time-space. His soul-self takes the form of a double of his own body, or more commonly, a large black raven. He is capable of changing its shape and mass at will, and can alter his own appearance with his soul-self, like increasing his size or making his face hideous. He is able to project his soul-self into the minds of others to communicate, facilitate calm or to force people into submission with a devastating mental attack. Though normally composed of energy that is colored black, Raven's soul-self can change color depending on his emotional state, manifesting as red or white.
Empathy: The psionic ability to sense the emotions of others, allowing him to gain insight into their thoughts and intentions, and even experience their own feelings. This also enables him to sense the mental state of others. However, this does not work if his own mind has been tampered with. Raven can absorb the pain of others into his own body in order to induce rapid healing for them, and can heal himself by going into a trance of emotional calm. He can also receive precognitive flashes of the future when exposed to extreme emotion. By using his empathy to guide him, he can track others with his soul-self.
Advanced Telekinesis: Raven can merge a small part of his soul-self into objects in order to take control of them, with the object essentially becoming an extension of his soul-self. Whenever he takes control of something, it is covered in the same dark energy that composes his soul-self.
Telekinetic Constructs: With his soul-self able to be molded into any shape, Raven can create simple domes or walls that act as barriers against attack. He can project solid bolts to be used as projectiles, or a steady stream of solid force.
Telekinetic Force-Fields: He can erect shields of sheer telekinetic and dark energy around himself and others for protection.
Telekinetic Teleportation: In conjunction with his telekinesis, Raven's soul-self is able to envelop him (along with a max of about four other people) and travel to other dimensions. He can use this technique to travel vast distances on Earth or to teleport by momentarily displacing himself and then re-appearing in another location. He can pass through walls and obstacles by simply teleporting past them, giving the illusion of intangibility.
Flight: Raven is able to levitate without the use of his soul self.
Spell Casting: He can cast powerful spells, and is always reading new grimoires to expand his knowledge.
With all of Raven’s abilities and more importantly, his emotional state, there comes a need for self-control. He cannot allow himself to ever give into his demonic tendencies, so he has to be careful and know how and when to show restraint.
Promise me...
