A surprising amount of time ago, eight years ago to be exact, Cartoon Network aired a hit superhero show that managed to find an audience in every age group, and became a phenomenon that swept across the internet, spawning hundreds of thousands of fanfics, fansites, roleplays, and couple worshipping message boards. This cartoon was the animated adaptation of Teen Titans, a show that couldn't really decide what demographic it wanted to cater for.
The show spawns a slew of original characters, some of which have even shown up in the main DC Universe. Few of these original characters were as interesting as Red X, an anti-hero counterpart to Robin, who didn't have enough screen time in the series itself, and has yet to make a return as part of the main universe. Which is peculiar, because DC has a thing for adapting characters from other media.
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| But not this guy! |
It's not like Red X was an unpopular character. On the contrary, actually, fans couldn't get enough of him! Red X was like a more powerful, darker version of Robin. He could single-handedly take out the entire Titans team, partially because that's what his suit was designed to do, but also because he was simply better than them. And by that logic, he was also better than Deathstroke, the series antagonist, which makes Red X possibly the most powerful villain the team ever encountered.
Not only did Red X defeat the Titans at every opportunity, for kicks, he also managed to walk away from the Brotherhood of Evil. You simply do not walk away from the Brotherhood of Evil, but this guy did it. Either that or he was killed in the process, which isn't really likely, especially when you consider that he was probably this universe's version of Jason Todd.
Jason Todd, as some might know, was the second Robin. He met an unfortunate end at the hands of the Joker in one of the most iconic Batman story lines to date. Todd was eventually resurrected after a reality-shattering punch by Superman Prime. After being reborn, Todd became a much darker person, and took on the persona of the Red Hood. As Red Hood, Todd was filled with rage and vengeance and other dark emotions, essentially becoming an evil Robin... like, y'know Red X, who already existed by this point.
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| Red HOOD?! |
Todd even beats the hell out of Tim Drake, the current Robin, whom he loathes to some extent. Kind of like.. well, you get the picture. It doesn't really help that Teen Titans even made a small reference to the notion that Red X could be Jason Todd. Here DC was, presented with the best opportunity to introduce a really bad ass character into their main universe, further cement the connections between the DC lore and the animated series, and they practically had a plausible explanation served to them on a silver platter.
And they didn't take it.
Not that I have any problems with Red Hood, he's perfectly fine and all... if he would maybe just choose an alias and stick with it, though, that would be nice.
Ah well. Here's to the future prospects of an in-universe Red X!
