A superhero created by
George Perez and
Marv Wolfman and published
by
DC Comics. Raven first appeared in
DC Comics Presents #26 in
October 1980.
Raven is the daughter of Arella, a human woman, and Trigon, an extra-dimensional
demon. Arella became caught up in a cult who worshipped Trigon, who is called
Trigon the Terrible. Arella was made his bride and became pregnant by him.
Arella became despondent, believing that the child she carried would be some
type of inhuman monster. Deciding death would be better than allowing the
child to live, Arella contemplated suicide.
However, before she could carry out her own death and that of her unborn child,
Arella was taken to Azarath, another dimension, where a peaceful group
of humans had gone to live. When her daughter was born, Arella called her
Raven and she was raised by the poeple of Azarath. They taught this daughter
of Trigon to suppress her emotions, fearing that they would release her to her
father's influence. They also taught her to heal others by absorbing their injuries
into herself. She was also capable of releasing her soul from her body for a time.
Believing that Trigon would attack Earth, Raven returned to her home and
tried to gain aid from the heroes of earth. The members of the Justice League of America
refused to help her, so Raven turned to the members of the original Teen Titans for help.
Robin, Wonder Girl, & Kid Flash along with Changeling, Cyborg, and Starfire joined
Raven in battling her father. The group were able to turn Trigon back and trap him
in his own dimension.
The group continued to adventure together, with Raven becoming an active
member of the group. Eventually, Trigon's influence on Raven began to grow
and he corrupted her. He came to Earth and with his daughter's help, began to
overtake the world. Guided by the souls of Azarath, the Titan Lilth and Raven's
mother Arella were able to cleanse Raven's body of the influence of her father.
The souls of Azarath were then able to use Raven's body to attack Trigon, cleansing
him of evil, by taking their corruption upon himself. The battle ended with
both Trigon and Raven disappearing.
Months later, Raven reappeared, having lost her memory for a time. She resurfaced
in the hands of the Titan's villain, Brother Blood. Brother Blood and his
henchmen used Raven's powers to elicite loyalty from his followers. Raven
eventually rebelled against Blood and helped the remaining Titans defeat him.
Unbeknownst to the Titans, the souls of Azarath had been corrupted during their
battle with Trigon. They gained control over Joe Wilson, the Titan known as
Jericho. Using Wilson's ability to possess people, the souls of Azarath began
to harry the Titans in the guise of the Wildebeests.
Eventually, the Titans were all hunted down and captured to serve as vessels
for the souls of Azarath to use. Wilson was killed destroying the body the souls
were using. They possessed Raven and used her body which was destroyed by
her mother Arella and the Titan Danny Chase, who were both killed in the ensuing
battle.
Raven's soul which was no longer hindered by her body returned, having been
completely corrupted by her father's nature. She attacked the Titans, attempting
to implant what she believed to be children of Trigon in the Titans. In fact, what
she believed to be children of Trigon, were in fact, parts of Trigon that would eventually
reform to resurrect Trigon. The evil part of her soul and the resurrected Trigon
were opposed by the Titans and the pure part of Raven's soul which had been implanted
inside her teammate Starfire. Trigon and her evil soul were destroyed, leaving
her pure soul free to explore the universe.