Friday, October 1, 2010

Dark Heroines

There are a lot of comic books out there with heroines of dark powers, but I'll be just narrowing it down to those who made it to animated series. There are quite a number of them. Some are even new and didn't start in a comic book.

Raven from Teen Titans The daughter of the demon, Trigon, Raven inherited powerful dark abilities such as psychokinesis, teleportation, magical spells, empathy and "soul self" and has three incarnations. When she found out her father will come to our world, she joined the Teen Titans to stop him. Her powers and looks retained in the animated series, and voiced by Tara Strong, who voiced many other goth girl characters. Raven is of course the silent one in the team. She's emotionally restrained and mysteriously secretive. She spends her spare time reading occult books, meditating in mid-air and hiding in her dark room. As for romance, she only has a love-hate relationship with Beast Boy, who would try to make her laugh (but fails). And on some parties, Raven mopes around with an unnamed emo boy. She's the most awesome goth heroine around, not only is she from the dark side, but she still stays in the good side. Her favorite words are "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" (so Lovecraft).

Rogue from X-Men: Evolution Now we're in Marvel comics. In the series, Rogue is re-imagined as a rebellious and cynic, yet insecure and emotionally needy teenager (very stereotypical for a goth). But it's because of her power to involuntarily absorb energies of others when touched. It keeps her distant from friends and love ones. I mean, if she kisses her boyfriend, he might die. Indeed, she considers her mutant power as a curse. In the cartoon, her power is very strong that it almost drove her insane. She has romantic feelings for Cyclops, but dislikes Jean Grey because she's pretty and popular. So typical for an outcast, considering she was raised by Mystique. Now, which side is Rogue now?

Liz Sherman from Hellboy Animated She looks awesome in the comics and films, but in this animated series, they could have gotten better with the character design and story. Yet I did like the second one "Hellboy: Blood and Iron." Liz was born normal, but when she was 10, she discovered her power of pyrokinesis! She's Catholic (cross necklace there) and thought it resulted from her sins. She tried to control it with prayers, but soon destroyed houses and killed her family. The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense then took her in, helped her control her pyrokinetic powers and made her into an agent. Like the other dark heroines, it's her power that makes her bitter and gothy. She ran away from BPRD thirteen times but soon came back due to Hellboy.

Yumi Ishayama from Code Lyoko. Being the oldest in the group, Yumi often seems distant and cold, but her outward appearances belie a generous, sensitive and loyal friend, which she only lets people see on rare occasions. Tough as nails but with a heart as soft as a plum, Yumi is the product of a traditional Japanese upbringing. Her natural charisma also has friends looking to her as the leader of the group. She is also very close to Ulrich, but this strong and complex relationship is often threatened when William is around. In the virtual world of Lyoko, Yumi is a profound gymnast with unimaginable capabilities. But of course, even on Earth, she has great oriental martial art skills. Her choice of weapon  is a pair of metal fans, which she uses to deflect monsters' missiles and as a deadly discus. It can slice off the slimiest of giant insect heads. Another awesome of hers: telekinesis!

Violet Parr from The Incredibles She has the power of invisibility, the ability every angsty teenager wants to have. Though I don't have angst back in high school, I sure needed it for mischief. Anyway, her other power is creating force fields. She's more of an emo girl in the movie. She has a deep crush on the popular boy, tries to blend in (but only to turn invisible) and mopes about her abnormal family. Her long hair is even emoish. At the end of the movie, she wore a headband, symbolizing the end of her shadowy emo life.

Kylie Griffin from Extreme Ghostbusters The series was made after the animated "The Real Ghostbusters." Dr. Egon Spengler recruited new and younger members. One of them is Kylie Griffin, a goth girl genius and of course, an expert of the paranormal.  She usually wields the Ghost Traps and claims to be the unofficial leader. She's usually calm among her teammates, especially Eduardo (like the relationship of Raven and Beastboy), and keen towards their awesome job. But she's afraid of maggots. 
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