Based on the New Teen Titans series from Marv Wolfman and George Pérez in 1980, which introduced fans to characters like Raven, Nightwing, Starfire, and Deathstroke, Titans has taken bits and pieces of the comics and adapted them. In the wake of Perez's passing, it's interesting to see how the series tweaked the characters for their own version of these stories.
One of these characters is Tamaranian princess Blackfire, Starfire’s antagonistic sister. After a brief appearance in season two, she took on a more prominent role in season three, which revealed some major changes to the character and her backstory.
Blackfire was revealed to be the younger sister of Princess Koriand'r of Tamaran in the Titans streaming series. Her animosity towards Kory and their family is a result of being the overlooked second child, and never quite living up to her sister.
In the comics, Blackfire is actually the elder sister. Passed over for the line of succession, Princess Komand'r is forced to watch her little sister taking the throne during a period of war for their planet. This also results in a more strained relationship between Starfire and Blackfire, as it highlights Starfire’s favoritism by their family and subjects.
As one of the characters that debuted in The New Teen Titans comics, Blackfire possessed the majority of her powers, except a childhood illness robbed her of her ability to fly. In the eyes of the Tamarian people, this deemed her unfit to rule, especially combined with her dour personality compared to the lighthearted and cheerful optimism of her comics sister.
Blackfire eventually gained the power of flight after she was the subject of many experiments. In Titans, neither princess possessed the power of flight, which meant nothing significant to their people. However, Starfire did eventually levitate in the series.
In the comics, Blackfire's powers included the ability to harness and wield energy, agility, stamina, and other skills she and Starfire obtained after being subjects of experimentation. This is significantly different from Blackfire's powers as seen on Titans.
Rather than sharing a majority of powers except for flight, Blackfire possesses no powers in Titans. Her lack of power is caused by the transference of her abilities to Starfire, making her older sister more suitable to take the throne. Her powers are restored after Starfire heals her in season 3, instead of from Psionic experimentations, rendering Starfire powerless for a time.
The ability of the two princesses of Tamaran to harness and wield bolts of radiation as weaponry is a very visual aspect of the characters' designs in the comics and the animated versions of their characters. Blackfire's "blackbolts" are purple blasts of ultraviolet radiation.
In Titans, these blasts are based in a more realistic setting. Not specifically designated as radiation-based, the powers seem to be fire and heat-based. This resulted in a design choice that eliminates the bright colors of the blasts, rendering them as firey orange-red explosions instead of the color traditionally associated with the power.
In Titans, Blackfire uses a slug-like microchip developed from Tamaranian intelligence to control others into doing her bidding. Her ability to manipulate and control using this technology is her main source of power in season two of the series, during the time in which she has no other abilities after their parents transferred her powers to Starfire.
In the comics, Blackfire's ability to manipulate and control is a result of her ability to fake empathy. Her political position in Tamaran and its relations with other planets has left her the ability to manipulate and deceive by trade, not power.
Blackfire's alienation from her family in Titans is a direct result of her parents' actions. she killed her parents in self-defense after riots in Tamaran called for her execution. The subjects of Tamaran assumed she had driven Starfire away so she could claim the throne, just as Starfire assumes Blackfire killed their parents for power.
During her quest for power in the comics, Blackfire is responsible for the deaths of her parents, but in retaliation for their treatment of her. Her anger at being passed over in favor of her younger sister led to the murders of their parents.
The love that the Titans incarnation of Blackfire holds for her planet is a vast departure from her comic origins. It was Blackfire's intel and betrayal that led to war on her planet, and in her quest for power, she seems to care very little about how much Tamaran has to suffer for her gain.
In the streaming series, Blackfire speaks often of unifying her planet, how she misses it, how she doesn't understand why Kory is hesitant to return, and her desire to do the right thing for her subjects. Power is not her main motivation, instead, it’s doing the best for Tamaran's subjects.
Unlike her comic counterpart, Blackfire in Titans is more empathetic and forges a romance with Superboy. The two related to one another's feelings of alienation and isolation, and this sparked a romance than brought needed depth to both characters.
Even though Blackfire brought out Connor's darker side for a while, their relationship grounded her characterization and made her more relatable and likable through her unexpected openness and vulnerability with him. The unexpected character development and depth helped make the Titans' near anti-hero version of Blackfire a surprising standout among Titans' season three characters, instead of a one-dimensional villain.
It may be in an unofficial capacity, but Blackfire proved she can work alongside the Titans during the third season of the show. Even though her Titans character origins were as an antagonist to the team at the end of season two, they've all mostly put their differences aside to save Gotham and help get Blackfire back to Tamaran.
In the comics, Blackfire is far more self-centered and malicious, which leaves no place for her alongside the Titans. Instead, she dedicates her energies to maintaining her own rule. When she forms alliances, it's to ensure her own power and benefit.
The main aspect of Blackfire's character in the comics was to exist as a foil to her sister. Starfire's kindness, empathy, and compassion were the opposite of Blackfire's vitriol and anger, cast toward her younger sister. In the comics, Blackfire is responsible for selling Starfire into slavery, and all the horrors that came along with her servitude.
In Titans, Blackfire's animosity towards her sister sees Starfire representing Blackfire’s anger rather than being the cause of her anger. Blackfire's desire to rule Tamaran together and see Kory treated as royalty speaks to the level of respect Blackfire has for her sister.
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