Raven is a DC Comics character, the daughter of Trigon the Terrible, the DC Comics equivalent of Satan. Because of her parentage, she frequently slides around on the hero-villain spectrum. She was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez in Teen Titans, the comic and team which she is still most associated with. Raven has grown in popularity due to her dark nature, particularly thanks to her appearance in Teen Titans (2003), where she is voiced by Tara Strong.
Raven was born when a human woman named Angela (or Arella) became involved with a cult and was raped by Trigon. To protect the world from her and her father, Raven was raised in the distant land of Azarath, where the Goddess Azar taught her to control her emotions to suppress her demonic powers. After Azar's death, Raven tried and failed to mobilize the pacifistic people of Azarath against Trigon. Still swearing to stop him, Raven traveled to Earth for help. She first went to the Justice League, but due to Zatanna sensing the evil power within her, she was rejected. Still desperate, Raven instead sent telepathic messages to previous Teen Titans members Dick Grayson/Robin, Wally West/Kid Flash, and Donna Troy/Wonder Girl, and new heroes Koriand'r/Starfire, Victor Stone/Cyborg, and Garfield Logan/Beast Boy, uniting them as the new Teen Titans. While at first distant, Raven eventually began to accept them as her new adoptive family and began opening up to them.
Trigon is a recurring foe of the Titans, as he cannot be killed. Raven keeps Trigon's influence within her, and eternally struggles not to let him free by accident. Partially because of this, Raven is extremely prone to the Heel–Face Revolving Door and fluctuations between life, death, and undeath, even for a comic book character.
In the New 52, Raven first appears as a confused normal girl the Phantom Stranger hands over to Trigon. She reappears later as "The Black Bird of Terror", and eventually prayed for both the Gods of light and dark to grant her and her friends strength that Justice Will Prevail.
Between the New 52 and Teen Titans (Rebirth), Raven had a self-titled miniseries (see below for tropes from that series). A direct sequel to that series, Raven, Daughter of Darkness, received a 12-issue run in 2018.
In Infinite Frontier Raven and her teammates Dick Grayson/Nightwing, Donna Troy/Wonder Girl, Koriand'r/Starfire, Victor Stone/Cyborg and Garfield Logan/Beast Boy are now teachers for the young students at the new Teen Titans Academy, created in honor of Roy Harper/Arsenal.
Raven is prominently featured in the Teen Titans cartoon, which made her a fan-favorite. She is also a prominent character in Teen Titans Go! and its movie. She is one of the playable Titans in Injustice: Gods Among Us (along with Nightwing and Cyborg) and appears in the prequel comic of the same name. She made her live-action debut in the DC Universe series Titans, played by Teagan Croft.
Raven provides examples of:
- Alliterative Family: Sisters Angela and Alice Roth.
- Alliterative Name: Raven first goes by the name "Rachel Roth" in in this title.
- Amnesia Loop: When Raven attempts to enter and take down the White Carnival, her narration repeats as the carnival tries to force her out via Laser-Guided Amnesia.
- Amusement Park of Doom: Technically a traveling carnival.
- Christianity is Catholic: Aunt Alice and her family don’t define their religion outside of “Christian,” but they have crucifixes in their home and talk about midnight mass on Christmas Eve, implying that they are indeed Catholic.
- Enemy Mine: Defied. To quote Raven’s thoughts: “sometimes the enemy of my enemy is still my enemy.”
- Ferris Wheel of Doom: Features prominently in the carnival of doom
- Girl Posse: Raven meets with the usual squad of flat mean-girl characters. She makes them believe their worst nightmare has come true.
- High School: According to issue #3's cover, "The Most Dangerous Dimension!"
- Hippie Parents: Dude says he got saddled with his unique given name because of this.
- Light Is Not Good: the carnival is mostly bright white light, causes its victims to have glowing blue-white eyes, and sends out tendrils of light.
- Muggle Foster Parents: Aunt Alice and her family take in Raven. Raven outright calls them “Muggles” at one point in her narration.
- Nephewism: Raven, an established character, goes to live with her never before mentioned aunt’s family.
- New Transfer Student: Raven is the new girl at school, although where exactly she's supposed to be transferring from is never clarified.
- Overly Long Name: “Antt” is an abbreviation.
- Teen Pregnancy: The Girl Posse's worst fear.
- Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World: The elders of Azarath did not prepare Raven for normal high school. As a result, normal conversation, fun, and friendship are rather puzzling to her.
- Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: An extremely literal example: one of Raven’s new friends is legally named “Dude,” thanks to his Hippie Parents.
- Your Tradition Is Not Mine: The reason Alice and Raven don’t know anything about each other: Angela/Arella broke completely with the family over this as a teenager.
