Starfire (Koriand'r)

Publication history

The design of the character (Koriand'r) incorporated aspects of many existing characters. Artist George Pérez, in explaining the creation of the character, stated:

...I figured based on the description, was Red Sonja in outer space, so she ended up having a visual cue from that. When Joe Orlando passed by and saw the character sketches he suggested that maybe her hair should be longer. That I took to the ninth degree and gave her the Mighty Mouse contrail.

Fictional character biography

Koriand'r, Starfire's given name, is a princess of the fictional planet Tamaran in the Vegan system, and was in line to rule the planet as Queen. Komand'r ("commander", also known as Blackfire), her older sister, developed a bitter rivalry with her after suffering a disease in infancy that robbed her of the ability to harness solar energy to allow her to fly, and by extension, her right to the throne. This rivalry continued and intensified when the siblings were sent for warrior training with the Warlords of Okaara. Things came to a head during a sparring exercise in which Komand'r attempted to kill her sister. As a result, Komand'r was expelled and she swore vengeance.

That revenge came in a plot where Komand'r betrayed her planet by supplying detailed information about Tamaran's defenses to their enemies, the Citadel. They conquered Tamaran with ease, and the surrender conditions included the enslavement of Koriand'r, who was never permitted to return, since that would mean the Citadel would devastate the planet for abrogating the treaty. To Kory's horror, she learned that Komand'r was her master; Koriand'r's older sister made the most of her sibling's years of horrific servitude. When Koriand'r killed one of her captors, Komand'r decided to execute her as punishment, but the sisters were attacked and captured by the Psions, a group of sadistic alien scientists. While performing deadly experiments on the sisters, the Psion were attacked by Komand'r's forces. Koriand'r broke free using her starbolts, destructive blasts of solar energy which were a result of the experimentation. She freed Komand'r, who was still absorbing energy. Far from grateful, Komand'r struck her sister with the same, but more intense, power, and had her restrained for later execution.

Koriand'r escaped by stealing a spacecraft to flee to the nearest planet, Earth, where she met the first Robin and his compatriots; she joined them in forming the Teen Titans. She became a charter member of this team and remained a member for years, finding work as a professional model using the name Kory Anders.

Marriages and similar relationships

While a member of the Teen Titans, Koriand'r was frequently romantically involved with Robin (Dick Grayson). She has been married twice, both times to Tamaranean men: once to the Prince Karras to seal a peace treaty; and once to General Phy'zzon out of love. Karras died in battle, while Phy'zzon died trying to defend new Tamaran against the Sun Eater.

In between these, she nearly married Dick Grayson, but their wedding was interrupted by Raven (who was evil at the time). Raven murdered the priest before he could pronounce Dick and Koriand'r husband and wife. The relationship was already on unsteady ground, with Koriand'r fearing that Dick was rushing into marriage and also concerned about the anti-alien sentiments that sprang up in response to the news of the impending nuptials.

In the Titans of Tomorrow storyline, Batwoman said that Starfire would have a wonderful future with Nightwing. The half-blood Mar'i Grayson was born from their union in the Kingdom Come timeline. However, during Infinite Crisis, an image from the Titans Tomorrow timeline shows a gravestone implied to belong to a deceased Dick Grayson.

Infinite Crisis

During Infinite Crisis, Starfire joined Donna's New Cronus Team that went to investigate a hole in the universe that was found during the Rann-Thanagar War. They arrived at the reset center of the universe and with the help of assorted heroes aided in the defeat of Alexander Luthor, who was attempting to recreate the multiverse and build a perfect Earth from it. She is reported missing at the end of the crisis.

52

On the seventh day of the fifth week of 52, Starfire is shown to be stranded on a paradise-like planet with Animal Man and Adam Strange. In the same issue, it was revealed that energy ripples caused by Alexander Luthor, Jr., altered the Zeta Ray Beams the space heroes were going to use to return home; among other things, it caused the trio to be teleported together to the planet.

A week and some time later, Starfire is seen eating an odd narcotic native fruit. Luckily, Adam's tough love seems to snap her out of it, or at least make her stop eating the fruit. Two days later, Devilance, a being whose presence Buddy had sensed earlier, appears to Starfire. A week, two days, and two nights later, Adam and Buddy go looking for her. Unfortunately, they find her caught in a large net, hanging from above. Just as Buddy realizes it is a trap, he and Adam get caught in a similar net, with Devilance staring at them. Three days and two nights later, Starfire awakens and works together with her comrades to distract Devilance. She pays Devilance back for capturing her by stealing his staff and striking him with it before catching up with Buddy and Adam. As the trio head back to the ship, hoping to use the staff as a power source, Devilance broods, bound by the same vines he had used to restrain his captives.

At the end of week 16, the repairs on the ship are completed and the trio take off for Earth. Devilance later suddenly attacks the ship and takes back his lance. Just as Devilance is about to destroy the ship, he is torn apart by Lobo. Believing he is going to attack them next, Starfire convinces Lobo to help the trio by offering payment, but not before he rips her top off. She returns to the ship to explain the situation to her companions while Lobo hitches the ship to his space bike. They follow Lobo in his new stronghold in Sector 3500, a sector of space mysteriously ravaged, and ruled by Lobo acting as religious man. To save him, and the inhabitants, from a swarm of strange creatures, Starfire is forced to use the Emerald Eye of Ekron, alerting Ekron himself. The ragtag team is then forced to flee, with Lobo acting as their guide, gaining Ekron's help and discovering their real enemy, Lady Styx, bringing havoc and mayhem in the entire Galaxy. Starfire agrees to fight her, and she is brought as a prisoner of the galactic villainess by Lobo, in an attempt to foil her defences. The attempt succeeds, but Buddy is seemingly killed, and Lobo leaves.

Starfire and Adam are left alone in space, their ship slowly breaking apart, still pursued by angry Lady Styx followers. Starfire is badly injured, and a blind Adam Strange, who is reliant on machinery which is no longer useful, cannot do anything to help her. Just as they are going to crash into a sun, however, Mogo and a rookie Green Lantern come to their rescue. Cured, but still recovering, she travels to Earth in order to return Buddy's jacket back to his wife Ellen, unaware that Buddy was resurrected and arrived on Earth shortly before her. Upon her return, she manages to destroy two of Lady Styx's followers who were attacking Buddy and his wife. She then returns Buddy's jacket to his wife, before passing out from exhaustion and is left in the care of the Baker Family.

Countdown to Adventure

Starfire, Adam Strange, and Animal Man are fated to join forces again in the coming Countdown to Adventure eight-issue miniseries. In issue one of the series, Starfire discovers her powers have gone but decides to make an attempt at a normal life. Buddy invites her to stay with the family as an after-school sitter despite Ellen's discomfort with how close Buddy and Starfire seem. This worsens when Buddy's son attacks Kory whilst under the effects of Lady Styx's virus. Animal Man's decision to follow Starfire rather than watch over his son in the hospital leads Ellen to ask if he is in love with her, to which Buddy does not reply. Despite the loss of her powers, Starfire demonstrates her combat abilities as she and Animal Man fight off crowds of people infected by the virus.

They are later trapped in San Diego with the infectees where they are joined by the Teen Titans who are trying to break through a force field to get to the Healers ship. After Buddy is captured, Ellen joins Starfire to save Animal Man from dissection. They are then interrupted by more victims of the Lady Styx virus. Alanna and Adam Strange arrive at the scene via the Zeta Beam and meet up with Starfire and Ellen Baker. They then save Buddy and teleport with the aid of the Zeta Beam to Rann to restore Starfire's powers. After being teleported to Rann, Starfire recharges her powers and rids Rann of the Lady Styx virus.

The team finds out that the sterilization is taking place in San Diego. Starfire uses her powers to heal the people, and is later seen leaving the Baker household for parts unknown. Starfire, Animal Man, Ellen, and Adam Strange are teleported by a broken Zeta Beam to Earth. Starfire attempts to rid the disease but is soon tackled by Champ Hazard into the ground. Adam Strange blasts Champ off Kory and she cures San Diego of the Lady Styx virus. She then leaves the Baker's household to return to the Titans.

Rann-Thanagar Holy War

The trio again join forces in the Rann-Thanagar Holy war. After a meeting at Titans Tower, Adam Strange Zeta Beams Starfire and Animal Man to Rann. Apparently the belief of Lady Styx still remained even after the virus has been eliminated. Their plan is to use a telepath to show the horror of Lady Styx.

Titans Together

After the apparent defeat of Lady Styx, Starfire once again returned to Animal Man's home. One afternoon, she and Animal Man's son were attacked by a water demon in Buddy's swimming pool. Meanwhile, her old Titan teammates had also been attacked by assorted demonic entities. This led to Starfire, Nightwing, Troia, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, Kid Flash, and Red Arrow, to reassemble as a team, when they realized that the attacks are the result of a resurrected Trigon and his newly discovered three sons. While investigating, the Titans began to experience unexplained mood-shifts. Starfire and Nightwing were overwhelmed by lust, and ended up having abrupt sex in the middle of their investigation.

Soon after, the team met up in New York's Central Park, where they attempted to recover from these mood-shifts and realize that each shift coincided with one of the seven deadly sins. The team was then approached by the Sons of Trigon. They battled the villainous prodigy, and drove them away. Starfire and Nightwing then discuss their actions while under the influence of Trigon's sons. While Nightwing shows hints at wanting to renew their relationship, Starfire questions his commitment to the relationship and goes so far as to ask Nightwing whether or not he truly still loves her. Nightwing to his own surprise and reluctance admits he does not, leading to them for now leaving their reunion in doubt.

Most recently, she has been captured and turned into a Justifier, as seen in Final Crisis: Resist. She has since been freed, although the loss of control she gathered from the Justifier helmet distressed her severely. She was more than happy to destroy a warehouse full of them when Mister Terrific offered her and Cyborg to destroy them.

Blackest Night

During Hero's Day, a time when the heroes of the DC Universe join together in remembrance of dead comrades, Starfire and the Titans were attacked by Black Lantern versions of their fallen teammates. During the battle, Starfire and Cyborg were subjected to a psychic attack by the Black Lantern Omen, putting them both in a euphoric state as they experienced their greatest desires (for Starfire, marrying Dick Grayson). Both she and Cyborg were rescued by Beast Boy.

Justice League & R.E.B.E.L.S.

Following the dissolution of the current JLA after Blackest Night, Starfire is invited by Donna to join Kimiyo Hoshi's new Justice League. After a short time with the team, Starfire quit the team and left a note to Dick explaining why. She then returns to where Tamaran used to be, to find that it had mysteriously returned. It is REVEAL that Vril Dox of Legion has moved the planet Rann where Tamaran used to be. Starfire agrees to join Legion and enters into a relationship with Captain Comet. Soon Tamaranean refugees, led by Blackfire, attack Rann believing that since the planet was in Tamaran's orbit they had claim to it. The violence was ended when Vril Dox, who was off-world at the start of the conflict, arrived with Thanagarian warships and stopped the fighting without bloodshed on either side. The tension between the Rannians and the Tamaraneans was resolved by allowing the Tamaraneans to live on Rann's uninhabited southern continent. Although her relationship with Comet was only physical for her, Comet thought different thus ending their relationship. She also assisted the Green Lantern Corp in battling Psions. Starfire helped create an alliance between Rannians, Tamaraneans and L.E.G.I.O.N. after defeating Starro the Conqueror, ensuring security for Rann, the Vega System and the galaxy.

Red Hood and the Outlaws

In 2011, DC Comics cancelled all of their monthly titles and rebooted the DC Universe continuity with 52 new titles in an initiative dubbed The New 52. As part of the relaunch, Starfire became the cast member of the series Red Hood and the Outlaws. In the new continuity, the character appears to have a similar origin, though she is now a member of that titular group, in which Jason Todd (Red Hood) and Roy Harper (Arsenal) are her teammates. As in the previous continuity, she has a past relationship with Dick Grayson. One significant change to her backstory is that she was sold into slavery by her sister to save Tamaran from the Citadel. Another is that her ship, which crashed on a tropical island, appears to be her primary home, where she keeps a number of articles of Dick Grayson's clothing - which eventually serve to become part of Jason's "Red Hood" uniform.

Aliens of all sorts, but especially Tamaraneans, are hunted after on Earth as a man called Crux finds a picture of her, then attacks her and attempts to drain her powers away. After she is attacked by Crux, it is revealed she was experimented on to some measure by The Citadel, which allowed her to retain her power through unconventional means after being hit with technology designed to drain her powers.

Starfire, at first, seemingly no longer remembers the Teen Titans when asked about them. However, it's later shown that she does retain her memories and recalls Dick Grayson and Roy's full name. Her sexual desires are brought up very casually when she offhandedly offers Harper a chance to sleep with her. Kory tells Jason and Roy that Tamaraneans are said to have a short attention span when it comes to "all things Earth", seeing humans as little more than sensory experiences. Later, it is shown that Koriand'r lied about her species' characteristics for personal reasons, and that her race in fact processes romantic feelings very deeply.

In a flashback, Jason reveals that Koriand'r is the one who found him and nursed him back to health on the island she has made her home (after her ship crashed on it). The two attempted a romantic relationship, but Jason later notes that "[they] just friend-zoned each other". However, he considers her a dear friend, and narrates that if he ever gets used to Koriand'r kissing him, to shoot him.

It's soon revealed that Koriand'r is Commander of a Spaceship named Starfire, the crew consisting of slaves she helped free when she herself escaped slavery. The Starfire has returned to earth for Kory because that Tamaran has been taken over by The Blight, a parasitic alien race. Starfire talks to Roy and Jason in private and explains that she and Komand'r, her sister, were always not on the best of terms, though they tried. This is mainly because Kory blames her sister and the people of Tamaran for her enslavement, so she is torn on if she should help them now. Roy is then kidnapped during an attack on the ship and taken to Tamaran, driving Star to go to her home planet. Eventually, Starfire decides she cannot leave her people and her sister helpless, so after they rescue Roy, the Outlaws and the crew of the Starfire help Blackfire take back Tamaran, and Kori reconciles with her sister.

Later on, Kory's memories are forcefully returned, which leads Roy Harper to discover that she lied about her nonchalance towards relationships. Roy breaks up with her because of his own trust issues (particularly towards Oliver Queen), but the two reconcile later on, resulting in a much more tender relationship, since Kory is able to be emotive as she normally is, and no longer has to hide her emotions. Roy openly admits to Jason several times that he loves her, and later on, the pair confess their love to one another.

Right at the end of the series, Tamaran is invaded again by Helspont, and, to ensure the safety of her people, Blackfire sides with him on the condition that Tamaran be spared. Koriand'r is devastated, but eventually, however, Blackfire hears her sister's pleas and betrays Helspont, destroying him and nearly killing herself in the process.

This leads Kory and Roy to break up - though purely out of necessity - as Koriand'r is forced to return to Tamaran, so that Blackfire can get the medical attention she needs. The two share a kiss, and Koriand'r promises to remember Roy for "forever and a day". After Starfire departs, Roy announces to Jason that he, too, will now go his separate way, too, thus leaving Jason on his own. Rose Wilson, who was hired to kill Koriand'r (but eventually decided not to when she realised she was hired by Helspont), asks if Jason needs a minute after losing his team. He replies that they were not a team, they were friends.

Starfire

In 2015, Koriand'r was given a new solo on going series titled Starfire, wherein she returns to Earth (presumably by this point her sister is healed) - specifically, to Key West, a small coastal town. She befriends the local Sheriff, Stella Gomez, and a super-powered woman whose civilization lives inside the Earth's surface, called Atlee. As of issue #5, she has also befriended Stella's widowed brother, Sol (who bears a striking resemblance to Dick Grayson), and appears to not be particularly interested in heroism.

DC Rebirth

In DC's new status quo, DC Rebirth, Starfire will be in the Teen Titans book.

Powers and abilities

Starfire is a Tamaranean and as such her physiology is designed to constantly absorb ultraviolet radiation. The radiation is then converted to pure energy, allowing her to fly at supersonic speeds. Originally, Starfire was capable of using this power to fly in space and even go fast enough to cross several solar systems in minutes to seconds. However, it is established in Red Hood and the Outlaws #2 and #27 that the rebooted Starfire is unable to fly without the effects of gravity, leaving her unable to travel in space unaided. This energy also gives her incredible superhuman strength and durability. This strength, combined with her fighting skills, allowed her to defeat the much stronger Donna Troy about two out of three times during purely hand to hand matches. She later proved strong enough to fight against Wonder Woman for a short period of time and, during a fit of rage, was so strong that Donna Troy was unable to restrain her without the help of Mon-El and in the TV series she was strong enough to shake the whole city with a single hit. After being experimented on by the alien Psions, Starfire gained the ability to release her absorbed energy into incredibly powerful blasts called "starbolts." As shown in the "Insiders" crossover story arc (Teen Titans and Outsiders), Starfire can also release nearly all of her stored energy as a powerful omni-directional explosive burst, many times stronger and more powerful than her standard blasts. The released energy leaves her in a weakened state. Starfire also demonstrated more control over her powers in the New 52 reboot, having used her internal energy to melt the metal of Jason Todd's gun when it came into contact with her skin. Starfire, and all Tamaraneans, are capable of assimilating languages through physical contact with another person. When Starfire attempts to do so with a male, she typically does so by kissing because it is "more fun" for her. Starfire is also proficient in hand-to-hand combat, having been trained by the Warlords of Okaara. She also doesn't need to eat, drink, sleep and doesn't require an atmosphere to breathe, though she has to if she is low on energy.

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