| “ | C'mon, kids. X marks the spot! | „ |
| ~ Red X to the Titans. |
| “ | Not everybody likes to play the big villain, kid. I'm a thief. I'm not threatening your precious city, just looking out for number one. | „ |
| ~ Red X discussing his alignment |
Red X is an anti-hero and a former "villain identity" employed by Robin.
He was Robin's rival and Archenemy in the Teen Titans TV series, and made reappearances in the Titans Go! comic based on the series. He is voiced by Scott Menville, who also voiced Robin, Nightwing, and Witch in the same franchise.
History
Robin (Dick Grayson)
Red X was originally a villainous cover identity Robin had conceived for an attempt to get closer to Slade. Mystified by the enigma the shady villain presented, Robin approached Professor Chang for the necessary items - particularly Xenothium for a power source - to create the Red X suit, and posing as a superpowered master thief, Robin stole several computer chips Slade was after and offered them with a proposition to enter a partnership.
However, Robin's haste in trying to get too close exposed his identity to Slade, and in fear that if he told his teammates about his plans, they wouldn't play their parts convincingly, he chose not to tell them. But the plan went awry; Slade revealed his knowledge of Robin's identity, and while Robin managed to retrieve the chips, Slade managed to elude him yet again. Robin was back at square one, with one additional step backwards: he had lost the trust of his friends.
Since the Xenothium power core could not be disposed safely, Robin stored the suit inside a vault in Titans Tower, never to be used again.
The New Red X
| “ | Face it, Red X could be anyone. Anyone smart enough to get the suit, and dumb enough to take it for a joyride. | „ |
| ~ Raven |
Some time later, however, the suit came into the possession of an unknown culprit who intended to use it for his own financial gain. Because the Xenothium supply in the suit's power belt was nearly exhausted, Red X stole a scanner which could locate the substance. Not knowing where to look for him, Robin coerced Professor Chang into revealing the most likely location where Red X could get his hands on more Xenothium: a highly secured tech company at the city's south end. Red X managed to penetrate the facility, with the Teen Titans in pursuit - but Professor Chang's henchmen were following them; Chang intended to swipe the Xenothium for his own to power a gigantic disintegrator cannon of his own construction. In order to ensure no interference from Robin, he captured the other Titans and held them hostage.
Robin confronted Red X about his self-serving attitudes, while Red X kept taunting Robin about the one mistake which helped create him. Unimpressed and willing to make amends, Robin went after Chang himself, but almost ended up his victim as well. At the last moment, Red X saved Robin from certain death and aided him in freeing his teammates and bringing down Chang. When the Titans intended to do the same with him, he escaped by detonating a tube of Zynothium at their feet, though he had to leave his power belt in Robin's hands.
Later on, Red X was seen as a recruit among the ranks of the Brotherhood of Evil. With his power belt replaced, he participated in a race initiated by Ding Dong Daddy for Robin's most prized possession, in order to sell it to the highest bidder. A bomb dropped by Daddy blew him off the road, but he was saved by Robin at the last instant. Because of this, and because he realized how desperate Robin was, Red X attacked the other villains participating in the race, thoroughly disabling their vehicles. His last target was a bus driven by Raven and Starfire, from which he withheld; he told the two girls "Tell Robin we're even ... for now", and disappeared.
Red X briefly in the final confrontation with the Brotherhood, before changing sides to aid the Titans to serve his own needs, and later disappeared afterward, implying he quit both teams. His current whereabouts and activities are unknown.
Physical Appearance
While wearing the suit, Robin/Red X's appearance is that of a person dressed in a completely black bodysuit that features a red 'X' (with the lower-right point elongated to stretch across the chest to the bottom of the right pectoral muscle) placed over the top of the left pectoral muscle, an ash-gray utility belt that features a silver/light gray buckle, a concealed teleportation button (shaped like a circle that features a red 'X', when revealed) in the middle of the buckle, a pair of vertical cylinder-shaped tubes on the back of each pouch and a thin, horizontal red stripe through the middle of the backside, a pair of serrated ash-gray gloves that feature black outlines around the "serrated" portions, a single, large red 'X' on the palms and the back of the hands, a pair of black boots that feature an ash-gray outline around the edge of the soles (which feature an ash-gray version of the skull on the mask, but with red eyes that lack a thick black outline, and a red 'X' below it, on the heel), a black cape that features an ash-gray interior, a black helmet-like mask that features a white skull (that lacks the lower jaw) and a red 'X' placed in the middle of the "face", with the lower-right point of the 'X' elongated to end beneath the right eye. The "eyes" of the mask are white reflective lenses that seem to act like Robin's mask (in terms of expressing emotions) and are thickly outlined in black.
The new wearer of this outfit is also shown to be of similar build, yet a couple of inches taller than Robin.
Personality
Red X is quite the enigma. He does have similarities to Robin (the first X), they are both extremely trained martial artists who can easily overpower even more experienced foes however the major difference is that underneath the Red X mask Robin's obsession over bringing Slade to justice was amplified even more and he became twice as serious and stoic, this X possesses a sense of humor, normally making sharp quips during a battle. For some reason Red X took pleasure in antagonizing Robin such as calling him "kid" and even flirting with his crush, Starfire.
Additionally, the new X's personality claims to be a thief who is "just looking out for number one", stealing purely for his own gain. He is far less serious than Robin (to the point of commenting that Robin is "taking life way too seriously"), finding his battle with the Titans amusing and voicing numerous quips as he immobilizes them with his gadgets (though when push comes to shove, he too, can be serious). He is also quite bold: while being confronted by Robin in the Zynothium vault, he threatened to "trip the power core" of his suit, and cause an explosion, despite the obvious fact that he would be disintegrated in the process. Also, when revealing his motives to Robin, he claims to be "not such a bad guy, once [he] gets to know [him]". Despite primarily being a self-serving thief, he is not without noble qualities: he rarely performs acts of true evil and, when the time comes for him to use his powers to prevent certain disaster, he tends to rise to the occasion. In his initial appearance, he ends up helping Robin against Professor Chang and freeing the rest of the Titans. Later, in "Revved Up", he enters the race for a briefcase containing Robin's most prized possession, but after Robin saves his life, he repays the favor by taking out the other villains participating in the race and disappears right afterwards.
Powers & Abilities
Physically, Red X is an accomplished acrobat and martial arts fighter on par with Robin. In fact, their combat techniques and physical abilities are quite similar.
- Equipment/Battle Training:
- Red X does not technically have any superpowers, but the equipment of the battlesuit combined with his exceptional combat skills more than make up for it. Most of them are derived from his suit's power belt which relies on a (possibly artificial) element called Zynothium.
- Cloaking Device:
- The suit is fitted with an invisibility or cloaking device, allowing for maximum stealth.
- Teleporter:
- The teleporter has been demonstrated on multiple occasions to make for clean getaways with limited distance. And on rare occasions, sneaking past top-of-the-line security.
- Attack Constructs:
- Red X's most famous means of offense is his arsenal of X-shaped weapons. The red 'X' insignias located on either side of the hands of his gloves are used to physically manifest X-shaped constructs that can have any conceivable function (see Gallery, below, for known effects), enabling him to near-effortlessly solve any problem he's confronted with.
Robin noted that he created Red X's main weapon systems as specific ways to beat each of his fellow Titans.
In the episode "X", Robin reveals to Red X that he secretly swiped his belt, to which Red X compliments him before smashing the Zynothium tube he had on the ground, and diving off a nearby cliff of Chang's hideout to escape; however, in Red X's next appearance, he somehow had stolen it back or possibly created his own.
In the episode "Revved Up" he participates in a race set up by Ding Dong Daddy, with the prize being a briefcase containing precious contents to Robin.
Gallery
Images
Trivia
- Red X was eventually introduced into the mainstream DC Comics during the events of Infinite Frontier. The identity was used by three characters: Dick Grayson was the original who used it briefly, an unnamed second incarnation who claims Dick Grayson ruined his life, and a third called Brick Pettirosso who was a student at Titans Academy.
