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Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Teen Titans

Teen Titans is a hyper-stylized, character-driven, American cartoon produced for Cartoon Network that covers the exploits of one version of the DC comics "super teen super team." The series lasted an impressive five seasons and sixty-five episodes. This team is led by Robin, the former ward of the legendary Batman. Robin leads Cyborg (an African-American cyborg with the real name of Vic Stone), Beast Boy (an always-green shapeshifter limited to animal forms), Starfire (a powerhouse alien princess with powers including flight and energy blasts), and Raven (an emotionally sterile empath with mystical powers) in a quest to save their home city of West Coast City.

As the series progresses, new members are added to the team (enough to create a branch team, Titans East, and later a global organization) and recurring threats beyond a simple villain-of-the-week formula make themselves known. One notable addition to the team, Terra (a geokinetic able to manipulate earth, stone, and metal), proved to be an unstable girl used by Slade (see below) to defeat the Teen Titans from the inside out.

The recurring antagonists of the show include Control Freak (an overweight teenager whose crimes and weapons are based on cult television shows), Overload (a malevolent circuit board capable of harnessing and controlling electronic and technological devices), Mumbo (a blue-skinned criminal with a stage magician motif and a magic hat that leads into an extradimensional space), Red X (voiced by the same actor as Robin, considered an evil counterpart of Robin and quite an adept tactician and fighter), and the Puppet King (a sentient marionette with a thing for capturing and replacing souls, he also has a sinister voice akin to Peter Lorre).

The most menacing of them all, simply known as Slade (implied to be Slade Wilson, better known to comics fans as Deathstroke the Terminator) has been a constant threat to the Teen Titans, even from beyond the grave. Slade has an especially keen interest in corrupting Robin to his side. Not only does Slade possess impressive martial arts and weapons training, he later becomes a demonic thrall.