| “ | Terra - A Teen Titan. A true friend | „ |
| ~ The engravings on Terra's grave |
| “ | You were the best friend I ever had | „ |
| ~ Terra's final words to Beast Boy before she sacrifices herself to save the city from destruction |
Terra is a character of Teen Titans 2003 series, whom are based of character with the same name in Teen Titans Comics.
In this incarnation, unlike her comic book counterpart whom portrayed as irredeemable psychopath, she was a symphathetic character whom was a former member of the Teen Titans, whose role as a hero or villain is complicated. Until the events in episodes Aftershock Part 1 and Aftershock Part 2, she was confused, and wished to be a heroine and friend of the Teen Titans.
She is voiced by Ashley Johnson, who also voices Ellie, Tulip, Renet Tilley, Gretchen Grundler and Gwen Tennyson.
However, she was led astray by various factors:
- Slade (whom actually also known as Deathstroke but simply called Slade in the 2003 series due to his mainstream name deemed too scary for younger audience) who tempted her by promising her that he could teach her to control her powers in return for her unwavering loyalty and apprenticeship.
- Misunderstanding with Beast Boy after the others discovered that she had problems in controlling her powers in which the promise that Beast Boy made proved waste because she cannot hide it from the rest (especially Robin), and;
- Terra's own desperation to do anything so she could to control her powers.
Personality
Geo-Force explained about Terra's past
In her childhood, Terra was always a "hard-headed child", confused about who she was and who she was supposed to be. She always had people telling her what to do and how to act.
As result of the lack of existent control of her powers which usually proves them to be a danger instead of a benefit, Terra is quite insecure. Before Terra became a Titan, this lack was very evident and surfaced through her weak control over her powers and emotions. She had tried to put up a front of confidence, but was actually extremely afraid of people finding out how unstable she was until she met Slade whom trained her.
Among the Titans, she is closest to Beast Boy. He feels he knows the most about her and so is the most understanding towards her. At first, she gets along well with all the Titans except Raven. Later, Raven develops a respect for Terra. After her return, Terra seemed to command much, much more control over her incredible earth-controlling and manipulating powers and capabilities. Terra is also a bit manipulative, as seen in when she pretended to cry so the Titans would let her join them. She may learned the skill from Slade.
Biography
Background
According to her brother Geo-Force, Terra was princess whom, along with him, are members of the house of Markov, and their father was the king of Markovia. Scientists experimented on Terra and Geo-Force, giving them their powers, then attempted to exploit them. General Immortus was seen monitoring the experiment, which suggests that he was involved with the human experiment. Geo-Force fought them off, while Terra, unable to control her powers, ran away from home in fear of hurting her loved ones and travels a lot since then. Slade also pointed out that Terra did try to help others over the course of her journey, but on each occasion, something even worse happened as a result of using her geo-kinetic abilities and her own inexperience with her said powers. These troubles, that caused by her by accident ultimately frustated her, in which the said frustation later released on Robin where she stated that she did not want to be rescued and that she was "not some sad little girl".
Teen Titans
Upon meeting Terra, the Titans quickly welcomed her into their ranks. At first, it seemed like the hip, funny, young hero might make a great addition to the team, but Terra had a secret: she was unable to control her incredible powers and abilities over the earth and had accidentally caused natural disasters on several occasions. She felt betrayed when it appeared that Beast Boy shared her secret with the team (even though Robin actually realized it on his own). Feeling betrayed and alone, Terra turned to Slade, who trained her to fully control her abilities. Terra returned to the Titans and joined the team - but was secretly working with Slade to destroy the Titans from within. Despite her mission, Terra began to doubt her loyalties; Just as romance with Beast Boy blossomed, Terra was exposed as a traitor. Hardened and isolated, friendless and emotionally hurt, Terra turned to the only one who would accept her, Slade, and shortly the two united to launch their plans in full motion. Caught off guard and still holding some affection for their former friend and teammate, the Titans were nearly defeated in the first round, with Terra brutally showing far less mercy and restraint, and in the second, due to reinforcements sent by Slade under her control, Robin was forced to make a retreat back to Titans Tower, knowing this battle could not be won. Soon, Slade assails three different points of Jump City with Overload, Plasmus and Cinderblock, seeking to lure the Titans out of hiding and eliminate their divided forces using Terra.
Raven managed to defeat Overload with the aid of nearby water, but was quickly engaged in further fierce combat by Terra, each clearly seeking to kill the other to the best of their abilities. Despite this, analysis of Raven made during Terra's time on the team had enabled Slade to realize her dark powers and abilities were controlled by emotion, and should the emotions run loose, so too would her focus on her own immense abilities. Terra's taunting of Raven eventually causes her to lash out in sheer fury against her, her sheer anger and rage manifesting in Trigon's form, if but partially, and Terra seized this chance to finish off Raven. A boulder projectile intended for Robin was instead the bane of Starfire, which knocked her out and sent her plummeting into the ocean. A sudden yet deadly fissure through the ground (combined with the element of surprise) was sufficient to overwhelm both Cyborg and Beast Boy, who told Terra she could not kill them, but a smiling Terra merely replied, "Watch me," and four Titans were no more. Terra next tried to face off Robin, who, driven with a desire to avenge his friends, yet also honor Beast Boy's wishes to give her a last chance, brutally assaulted her. While the battle was fierce and neither could gain the upper hand initially, eventually Robin knocks her to the ground and has his staff at her neck. However, he tells her it does not have to be this way instead of finishing her, which allows her to get up and finish him with a boulder. Terra presents Robin's badge to Slade, who begins to launch his plans to seize the city. However, the Titans had each survived Terra's assault and were bent on taking her down, no longer concerned with second chances.
When Trigon was destroyed at the hands of Raven, everyone in the world that was turned into stone was changed back. It is possible that Trigon's death also managed to free Terra from her stony prison but it is still unclear what could have erased her mind.Despite her victory, Terra still felt lost and alone. As the hardened Terra is reminded of her past experiences with the Titans, she appears to be subtly swayed, but claims she has "no regrets" for the horrible things she has done. The Titans furiously and brutally attack her, each showing no mercy, just as she believed they were truly all gone, and with their combined and united forces Terra is quickly defeated by the fivesome, despite her best efforts to strike back at the team. Terra then attempted to retreat, but Slade angrily demanded her staying to continue to fight, and Terra tried her best to do so, but after many near-calls with death at the hands of the now-merciless Titans, runs back to Slade, who begins to physically abuse her in fury and disgust at her defeat. By the time she decided to leave Slade, from both the buried remnants of her conscience and his cruel treatment of her, it was too late. Never truly losing faith in Terra, Beast Boy stepped in between her and Slade and finally made her realize the error of her ways. Events were eventually set in motion leaving the city in danger from an erupting volcano. In a final act of friendship, she ultimately sacrificed herself to save the city. Now merged with the Earth she controlled and manipulated, the Titans searched for a way to restore her.
Upon returning from a globe-trotting adventure, Beast Boy was shocked to discover a school girl who looked exactly like Terra. Finding Terra's petrified tomb empty, Beast Boy was convinced that Terra had indeed returned - and he pleaded with her to return to the team. None of the other Titans actually met this girl in person, yet each offers separate opinions and theories concerning her, as well as acknowledging neither Cyborg's chemical analysis or Raven's magical mystical spells were effective in reversing the process. (It was never mentioned, but it is possible that after Trigon took over the Earth and turned everybody except the Titans to stone, when Raven defeated her father and everybody reverted from stone to human flesh that Terra reverted back to normal as well.) But the girl insisted that "things change" and she was not the girl he knew, and respecting her wishes, Beast Boy was able to let go of the past and look toward his own future, with the girl to walk down her own path, her back to a past that would be forever lost to her. It was never revealed whatever if the girl that Beast Boy saw really was Terra, it remain unknown since the Teen Titans TV series was cancelled.
In "Teen Titans Go!", a comic book series based on the animated TV series, she makes a few appearances. For example, she appears in Issue #51, which is set after the series finale of the animated series. Terra's brother, Geo-Force, arrives at Titans Tower and relates Terra's origin: she was the Princess of Markovia, and along with her brother was experimented on by sinister interests within the royal court, which gave them both earth-based superpowers. Feeling exploited, Terra ran away, leading to the events of the animated series. At the end of the story, Geo-Force and Beast Boy consider visiting Terra at her school, but decide to leave her be, as she is the happiest she has ever been.
Relationships
Beast Boy
Beast Boy and Terra had a complicated romantic relationship. Beast Boy had a crush on Terra the moment he saw her while Terra had been charmed by his sense of humor since she first started talking with him. While Beast Boy has carried a lot of resentment and rage towards Terra, he never failed to forgive her and offer her support when it mattered. Terra found a confidence in Beast Boy, and shared her emotions and certain details of her past with him. Beast Boy and Terra shared one last embrace before she stopped the volcano and was petrified. During the last episode of Teen Titans, Beast Boy was positive that Terra was back. Beast Boy followed Terra to the school and had to find out. He eventually accepted that, even if the girl was Terra, she just wanted to live a normal life.
Raven
Raven and Terra got off to a "rocky start" (according to Terra). Raven had reservations over Terra's arrival as a new Teen Titan, however over time Terra proved herself a worthy and capable ally. Soon after, Terra betrayed Raven and the Teen Titans. While Raven claimed she never trusted Terra, it is later revealed that she did in fact trust Terra completely and considered her a friend, and was deeply upset over her betrayal. It was implied that after Terra sacrificed herself to save the city, Raven, along with the other Titans, forgave her.
Robin
Robin and Terra's relationship wasn't the best. Robin started out actually accepting Terra and told her that her powers could be used for good. After Terra ran off, Robin knew she was heading to Slade. After that, Robin and Terra fought. Robin told her that she still had time to join the Teen Titans and that she was still a friend and a Titan.
Starfire
When Starfire heard Terra tell the Titans that she didn't have a home, Starfire was extremely affectionate towards the young blond girl. One thing Starfire liked about Terra was that Terra actually ate one of Starfire's Tamaranean dishes and liked it.
Powers & Abilities
Terra retained her trademark earth manipulation that allowed her to manipulate earth in any form, from solid rock to mud for numerous effects, both offensive and defensive in capabilities. Unlike her comic book counterparts however, Terra's 2003 incarnation is at first lack of proper control over her powers due to have no mentor figure that capable to train her, at least until she met Slade whom offered his guidance with a terrible price. Slade, who seemingly knew how her powers worked, gave Terra a special suit that also allowed her to summon golems that fought for her side.
While using her powers, Terra's hands usually glowed a yellow aura and her eyes occasionally became completely yellow. During her sacrifice to save the city, Terra's entire body began to glow a bright yellow, suggesting that she was using all of her power to stop the volcano. Terra usually used hand movements to maneuver her abilities, however, she was shown several times using her abilities without any movement at all.
Character Facts and Trivia
- Terra was created to be, as Marv Wolfman stated, "an evil version of X-Men's Kitty Pryde."
- Due to cancellation of the series, the miracle that caused Terra restored to normal remained mystery, but some fans implied that this had something to do with Trigon's defeat.
- The tv series portrays Terra as having a twisted father daughter relationship rather than a romance.
Gallery
