New Teen Titans and Pacifism

Though later iterations across media would lose touch with it, one of the most unique and compelling aspects of Marv Wolfman and George Pérez’s founding take on the character Raven is her commitment to pacifism and non-violence as categorical imperatives. #TeenTitans 1/8

After the team’s first encounter with Deathstroke, Starfire chastises Raven: “You’re letting them go? But they attacked us – they tried to kill us.” Raven responds: “If there is a difference between his kind and ours, it must be in our compassion for an enemy.” 2/8

In response to this, Robin immediately worries that this schism is enough to end the fledgling Titans, thus sign-posting the transgressive potential of Raven’s pacifism within the entirety of the superhero genre. 3/8

Raven’s conviction represents a direct challenge to the fundamental power fantasies that inform the superhero genre and its depiction of righteous justice through violent resolution. She becomes an antithetical element within the superhero team she’s a part of. 4/8

Reconciling Raven’s place on the team amid her unwillingness to fight even to save her friends’ lives can be read as a subversive deconstruction of the genre, long before Moore & Miller undertook their famous deconstructions in “Watchmen” and “The Dark Knight Returns.” 5/8

Raven’s pacifism also plays a key role in distinguishing her from her tyrannical father, Trigon, and the dark inheritance predicted for Raven. By providing a clear example of an opposing extreme, Trigon signals the value of Raven’s devotion to pacifism. 6/8

At the same time, Raven’s Azarath-Priestess mother, Arella, in her commitment to peaceful atonement, offers contrast to Trigon’s masculinist conqueror portrayal, thus exploring essentialist societal gender divides within a highly abstracted story. 7/8

The fact that pacifism is not consistent in later iterations might be read as a metatextual disappointment: despite symbolizing a femininized grace within a patriarchal system or simply the more compassionate way within any system, Raven often becomes a power fantasy herself. 8/8