TERRA I (Tara Markov)
Created By: Marv Wolfman & George Perez
First Appearance: The New Teen Titans #26 (Dec. 1982)
Role: Geokinetic, The Judas
Group Affiliations: The Teen Titans
PL 12 (200)
STRENGTH 0
STAMINA 3
AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7
DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1
AWARENESS 2
PRESENCE 3
Skills:
Deception 13 (+16)
Persuasion 6 (+9)
Intimidation 4 (+7)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Expertise (Mercenary) 4 (+5)
Perception 5 (+7)
Insight 4 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Earth) 4 (+11)
Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Benefit (Markovian Princess), Fearless, Improved Critical (Earth Attacks) 2, Improved Initiative 3, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5, Seize Initiative, Startle, Taunt
Powers:
"Suffocating Snare" Affliction 10 (Strength; Hindered, Vulnerable & Dazed/Immobile, Defenseless & Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Reversible) (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative, Extra Condition +2) Linked to Blast 6 (Extras: Concentration Duration) (69) -- [95]
- Dynamic AE: Snare 12 (Feats: Obscures Senses, Reversible, Dynamic) (Extras: Perception-Ranged) (Drawbacks: Requires Earth -1) (50)
- Dynamic AE: "Area Snare" Snare 11 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (45)
- Dynamic AE: "Earth Control" Move Object 13 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range) (Flaws: Limited to Earth) (27)
- Dynamic AE: Borrowing 8 (Feats: Dynamic) (9)
- Dynamic AE: "Toss Sand" Dazzle Visuals 8 (Feats: Dynamic) (17)
- Dynamic AE: "Earth to Mud" Environment 5 (Feats: Dynamic) (Impede Movement 2) (11)
- Dynamic AE: "Groundstrike" Affliction 12 (Dodge; Hindered/Prone) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Ranged, Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery, Limited to Grounded Targets) Linked to Blast 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to Grounded Targets) (39)
- Dynamic AE: "Shockwave" Damage 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Target Must Be Grounded) (11)
- Dynamic AE: Earth Blast 11 (Feats: Dynamic) (Feats: Extended Range 2) (25)
- Dynamic AE: "Flinging Boulders" Blast 8 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Multiattack) (25)
- Dynamic AE: "Stone Shape" Transform Stone to Stone 12 (Feats: Dynamic) (25)
- Dynamic AE: "Stone Shield" Create 10 (Extras: Continuous) (30)
- AE: Magma Blast 11 (Feats: Indirect) (Extras: Perception Range) (35)
"Stone Shields" Enhanced Advantages 5: Defensive Roll 5 [5]
Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Suffocating Snare +11 (+10 Ranged Afflicton & +6 Ranged Damage, DC 21 & 21)
Snare +11 (+12 Ranged Affliction, DC 22)
Area Snare +11 (+11 Ranged Affliction, DC 21)
Groundstrike +12 Area (+12 Ranged Affliction & +10 Ranged Damage, DC 22 & 25)
Earth & Magma Blasts +11 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Flinging Boulders +11 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3
Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+8 Stone Shield D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +7
Complications:
Secret (Spy)- Terra is not a super-heroine at all, and her backstory is mostly a lie- she is actually an agent of The Terminator, and seeks to give up the Titans to him.
Responsibility (Sociopath)- Terra is insane, and can be driven into a furious rage with just the right amount of antagonizing. She once nearly killed Changeling because he taunted her during a practise battle (and this was while under cover), and finally went completely bonkers when she tought The Terminator had turned on her (he was being controlled by Jericho). She went so fully-nutso that she brought the H.I.V.E. Headquarters down on herself.
Enemy (The Teen Titans)- Terra despises the Titans for their goody-goody nature, stating "I just want to kill 'em all". She carries a special enmity for Raven, who nearly sniffed out Terra's secret with her empathic powers, and demanded that she be the one to bring Raven in.
Relationship (The Terminator)- Tara & Slade Wilson are TOTALLY getting it on, despite her being sixteen and him being an old man. You may commence shuddering.
Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 100 / Defenses: 18 (200)
The Judas Contract:
-Oh, Terra. Such a beautifully done storyline. Marv Wolfman frequently comments with absolute glee how easy the comics fans of the 1980s were to lead on. See, the Titans at the time were always being compared to the X-Men, and Wolfman was often accused of ripping them off (Chris Claremont even denied the link- he merely stated that both books were once lower-tier runs now made popular with new creative teams). So he realized that by adding an awkward-looking teenage girl to the
Teen Titans book, she would be compared to the sweet-natured awkward-looking Kitty Pryde, who had debuted only a few months earlier in
The X-Men, and fans would automatically assume she'd turn out the same- a happy, spunky "Normal Girl" teen character. The half-sister of the Outsider known as Geo-Force, she was illegitimate royalty, giving her a bit of a rebellious attitude.
-By introducing a mouthy, ignorant, physically-flawed (buck teeth, flat-chested and short) girl onto the Teen Titans, he realized that fans would quickly grow on the little brat as an endearing sort of funny character, thus making it a perfect storyline when she's revealed as a spy all along, working for the man trying to capture them for the H.I.V.E. ("Not a traitor" Marv points out, "because she'd been working for Slade THE ENTIRE TIME"). She acted like a snot, but the youngest Titan Changeling took a liking to her, and they had an adversarial flirtation that resulted in Gar falling head over heels for her. The other team members found her annoying, but powerful and with some potential- her jabs at them were met with equal teasing. Meanwhile, Raven was the only one who had her doubts, but because she could not trust her own empathic powers (due to Trigon's growing influence over her), she could not be sure. For MONTHS fans refused to believe that Terra was actually evil all along, and searched for reasons and excuses why she was just being used by The Terminator. Never mind that in her last moments, she absolutely went INSANE with rage, trying to smash up her boyfriend, the Titans, and the entire H.I.V.E. base, merely because she was pissy and fooled into thinking Slade had betrayed her.
Terra Goes Bad:
-Terra, of course, was working for Slade the entire time... AND was his lover! The sight of this teen girl in a skimpy dress and wearing lipstick is as shudder-inducing and off-putting as anything in comics- they make it PERFECTLY clear that the two were banging ("if you got the STAMINA for it, you can thank me later" she says!). With Slade in charge of delivering the Titans to H.I.V.E., Terra works as his "mole", intercepting the entire team, learning their secrets, and more. The Titans are EASILY defeated, struck down in their homes where they least expect it (hilariously, Changeling is brought down by fake fan mail with poisoned postage stamps). Terra, pissed off over Raven's mistrust ("Witch- YOU I'm savin' for myself.") absolutely goes to war with her- Perez, in a masterwork of design, showcases Titans tower being ripped apart by stone... AFTER THE FACT. All we see is the aftermath of what nonetheless looks wordlessly like an epic battle for the ages, as stone pillars crisscross every room in the Tower.
-Terra helps the Terminator beat the Titans, but her growing madness (Slade frequently doubts himself for teaming up with her, as her power and personality seem to be way too out of control for someone was calm as himself) gets the best of her- she feels betrayed by Slade (who was possessed by Jericho, unbeknownst to her), and IMMEDIATELY turns on him, lashing out at him alongside the other Titans. Some people criticized Wolfman for basically stating that Terra was insane and thus "by fault of no one but herself, she is insane" was a rotten person, who deserved her fate, but hey- it was the early 1980s, and it's not like people go "well you have to forgive The Joker & Carnage, because they can't help being nuts".
-In any case, mad with rage, Terra brings the entire H.I.V.E. Headquarters down on herself- the Titans and the Terminator escape. But she does not. We see her dead body on-screen, cradled by a shaking Changeling, mourning and in disbelief.
The Aftermath:
-To say this story had repercussions for years is an understatement. The team never recovered from the "betrayal", always wondering if the next new member would be another one. Changeling especially was messed-up, falling in love with the rebellious young girl quickly, and he went into Terra-like bouts of rage at the Terminator frequently until they finally had a man-to-man about it. The creepy sexual nature of the relationship was more or less swept under the rug (it was probably part of their "handsome older man" thing Wolfman & Perez were trying to target towards teen girls reading, but comes off as SOOOOOOOOOOO gross today)- his push as an anti-hero in the '90s doesn't really work with that in his past.
-And to their credit, DC never REALLY brought Terra back. A second "Terra" appeared with the Team Titans, but Marv was smart enough to make this some parrallel universe/clone dealie, so it didn't crap on the initial story, but we had this weaker, wussier, less-interesting Terra II running around
Titans pages for a while. She eventually got killed by Black Adam in
52 to the cries of none, at which point we got a new Amanda Conner-drawn ultra-chesty dark-haired cutie instead. A retcon many, MANY years later indicated that the original Terra went nuts because of Deathstroke (as he was now called) giving her a serum. The cartoon managed to use Terra as more of a "Manipulated Innocent" thing, which was more fitting for some fans, who found Wolfman's "it's her fault that she's nuts" thing a bit... negative towards people with actual mental problems.
-DC's "New 52" introduced the original Terra on The Ravagers, a team that included Beast Boy. She is now a good-natured character, which of course wrecks the whole appeal of the character in the first place. Instead, she's just Some Snarky Chick- more or less the character she was "disguised" as in the original comics.
-
The Judas Contract remains the high water mark of the
Teen Titans run, and is still a legend to this day. It's legitimately VERY harrowing, exceptionally creepy, and features a fascinating villainess whose legend is all the greater because she debuted and flamed out so quickly. We never got the "Endless Terra Arcs" so similar to what makes other comic book villains drop in significance. The arc was re-done in the
Teen Titans cartoon, making teen girls happier by making Terra much more sympathetic- a legitimate pawn of Slade who is tragically frozen in stone by the end.
Terra's Powers:
-Terra is a dominant, terrifying PL 11-12 build, mainly because she's got incredible range, can demolish an entire base in a few rounds, defend herself adequately, and hit an entire team with her attacks. While kicking around on the Titans, she was more of a PL 9 or a 10, but that was all fakery: this is her pure, unadultered form. Note that she's physically a wimp, however, and Gar Logan was able to trounce her in melee by Form-Shifting over and over again (at one point knocking her face into the snow by Beaver-Tailing her into it). Without her Stone Shield, she's basically an easy target, but her range meant that most of the Titans could never even get close to her. Also, she's one HELL of a liar- I mean, she's so good at lying that she kept DICK GRAYSON (P.S. Slade should totally know who Batman is if he's not stupid, since Terra told him all the Titans' Secret I.D.s) in the dark as to her motives. Though that's a good point on Deception in Comics versus Deception in Games- in the comics, bluffs nearly ALWAYS work. In M&M terms, it's basically like the heroes failed 9 million Insight Saves in a row as they knew this character for months. One hell of a GM Fiat.