Why was Raven gray in the animated series?

#1 Posted by HannahRoth (27 posts) - 2 years, 11 months ago - Show Bio

In the animated Teen Titans series both Raven and Jinx had a gray skin complexion instead of there usual light brown hue, is there a reason for that? I know that there were modifications made to suit a younger audience and prevent animation glitches like Gizmo not having a beard and Jinx actually having hair but why would Raven or Jinx's skin color change?

#2 Posted by RedHood16 (50 posts) - 2 years, 11 months ago - Show Bio

They had to make things different for kids. For example; they gave Starfire more clothing because of her... less clothing. For Raven and Jinx, I believe they wanted two gothic kind of teen girls, and to have an opposite to the colorful Starfire (figuratively and literally)

#3 Posted by reaper2923 (2778 posts) - 2 years, 11 months ago - Show Bio

Because it's anime and anime and superheroes never mix well, in my opinion

#4 Posted by WHiTEWiNG (47 posts) - 2 years, 10 months ago - Show Bio

@RedHood16 said:

"They had to make things different for kids. For example; they gave Starfire more clothing because of her... less clothing. For Raven and Jinx, I believe they wanted two gothic kind of teen girls, and to have an opposite to the colorful Starfire (figuratively and literally) "

And they chagned Deathstrokes name to his real name Slade.
Because it wasn't good for the children.

#5 Posted by jagged glass (47 posts) - 2 years, 10 months ago - Show Bio

@WHiTEWiNG:
I reckon it's the reaction to 9/11 and the following wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Before then you had all these cartoon masterpieces with Batman, Superman, Static Shock and Batman Beyond. You notice they were intended for kids, but were unafraid to take on topics like death, guns and drug abuse. After 9/11, Teen Titans comes out all "kiddified," and not following in the veins of, say, Static Shock. Same goes for all other cartoons. It was a psychological scar that Americans will never get over, and so they are trying to relive a fictionalised past where everything is rosy, green and candy flavoured, where all ends well, nothing is complicated, and all shadows are banished.
My opinion, anyway. Could b e wrong, but to me, it's beyond coincidence.

#6 Posted by Redtha (58 posts) - 2 years, 10 months ago - Show Bio

The cartoon made plenty of random changes, most of which made no sense. Raven and Jinx aren't the only ones that changed looks. Some others were altered quite a bit as well.

Pantha went from being a catgirl to a wrestler. I heard it was because they didn't want to use a 'furry' despite already having (Baby) Wildebeest. Not to mention they created a catgirl for the movie so there's no reason they couldn't have used a pre-existing one in the cartoon. Wildebeest himself was also changed quite a bit.

A huge change in appearance was Killer Moth. Which was actually good IMO.

#7 Posted by ComicMan24 (146836 posts) - 2 years, 10 months ago - Show Bio

I think they did it to look more inhuman.

#8 Posted by DH69 (4003 posts) - 2 years, 10 months ago - Show Bio

cause she was deep.

#9 Posted by Redtha (58 posts) - 2 years, 10 months ago - Show Bio

@ComicMan24 said:

" I think they did it to look more inhuman. "

But Jinx is human. And for Raven why not red skin like in the comics?

#10 Posted by ComicMan24 (146836 posts) - 2 years, 10 months ago - Show Bio

@Redtha:
For Jinx, I don't know maybe they wanted to make her look something like goth. As for Raven, I remember reading somewhere that they did it to make her look more inhuman.

#11 Posted by Tomokata (461 posts) - 2 years, 10 months ago - Show Bio

It call comes down to the same question raised when people ask "why did they change x?"

Because the creators thought it would be cooler.

#12 Posted by Redtha (58 posts) - 2 years, 10 months ago - Show Bio

@ComicMan24 said:

" @Redtha: For Jinx, I don't know maybe they wanted to make her look something like goth. As for Raven, I remember reading somewhere that they did it to make her look more inhuman. "

The goth thing is stupid. At least Raven's change makes sense if that's the reason, though makes me wonder what they'd have done to give the other half-human Titans inhuman appearances.

#13 Posted by aztek_the_lost (30738 posts) - 2 years, 10 months ago - Show Bio

Maybe it's just me but to me the skin color of the Raven whose page this is attached to is the same as the Raven of the animated series and I fail to see what anyone's talking about.

On a side note, I absolutely loved the Teen Titans animated series, along with JLU it was my favorite superhero tv show.

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#14 Posted by scourgexlvii (124 posts) - 2 years, 10 months ago - Show Bio

I think its done more to be 'interesting' and sets her as non-human, off the bat, without having to go into her rather convoluted background, so that when they did get into the deal with her demonic father, the viewers would buy into it quicker, rather than scratching their heads, and thinking 'Wait a minute! I thought she was human? or if not human, some simple 'no explanation needed' alien, like starfire.'

#15 Posted by zero man (237 posts) - 2 years, 10 months ago - Show Bio

thats not grey

#16 Posted by Cherry Bomb (3189 posts) - 2 years, 9 months ago - Show Bio

Giving her a pale and grey-ish complexion made her more of a 'teen goth' like they were going for. I liked the fact she was change in that way, her character looked more magical and cool.

#17 Posted by Eyz (3094 posts) - 2 years, 8 months ago - Show Bio

Anime tend to have lots of random colors anyway, be it on the skin or the hair of characters..
So they turned her into an anime goth, you know, with blue hair and grey skin! :P

#18 Posted by babywix (91 posts) - 2 years, 8 months ago - Show Bio

I really don't mind the gray skin. I actually think it suited Raven in the animated series. You know, there's that whole emo feel to here because she can't feel anything because then her powers go out of control... so I think the gray skin is pretty much due to her dark persona. It actually looks pretty artistic (I know, weird use of adjectives, but I used this word solely because nothing else can come to my mind right now).
Again, I don't mind the changed skin at all, because Teen Titans was one of my favorite animated series.

#19 Posted by Outside_85 (4649 posts) - 2 years, 7 months ago - Show Bio

This it had soemthing to make her claim her own niche of the color spectrum, so she wouldnt have to share with Robin, note that none of them actually share anything in that regard, unlike say, X-Men. You could say the colors they have are all telling of their personalities, Raven is calm and depressed, fitting with the blue and grey (think of how her emotions were colored in her head).
While i believe the animators thought that Raven's skin could be explained because of her heritage, since her dad was a red skin and her mother pink, what are the odds she would get normal colored skin anways?
Also it could be the animators perception of Goth's, but not wanting to make them bone white, settled for grey instead.

Regarding the comic, the altered skin color would not work, not now at least, if it was to be, it would have needed to have been part of the NTT as well. Now it would just be seen by old time fans as more catering for the cartoon audience, which has already made of both Beastboy and Raven by pairing them together. Something that never existed before the cartoon, but then again post-ressurection Raven only acted like NTT Raven in the panel where she was about to leave teh team after they saved her from Brother Blood the first time.

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Raven

Raven battles the forces of evil alongside her adoptive family, the Teen Titans, while trying to control her baser, antagonistic instincts she inherited from her demonic father, Trigon.

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