Trigon (comics)

Not to be confused with the Yasuhiro Nightow manga Trigun.

Trigon
Trigon as depicted in Teen Titans #23.1 (November 2013). Art by Eber Ferreira and Eddy Barrows.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	New Teen Titans #2 (December 1980) (cameo) The New Teen Titans #4 (February 1981) (full appearance)
Created by	Marv Wolfman (writer) George Pérez (artist)
In-story information
Species	Demon
Place of origin	Unspecified dimension
Team affiliations	Church of Blood
Notable aliases	Satan Lucifer The Devil The Lord of Madness Skath Ddrez
Abilities	See list Demonic physiology Superhuman strength, speed, agility, reflexes, stamina, senses, durability, and intelligence Dimensional travel Flight Immortality Shapeshifting Teleportation Electromagnetic spectrum vision Regeneration Molecular manipulation Spiritual manipulation Weather manipulation Pyrokinesis Telekinesis Telepathy Superpower bestowal

Trigon (/ˈtraɪɡən/) is a supervillain appearing in media published by DC Comics. He is one of the most powerful beings in the DC Universe, having enslaved many worlds and dimensions. He is an adversary of the Teen Titans and the Justice League, the father and arch-enemy of the superheroine Raven, and husband of the human Arella.

Trigon has appeared in several DC Comics-related media, such as Teen Titans (voiced by Keith Szarabajka in the first season and Kevin Michael Richardson in the fourth) and Titans (portrayed by Seamus Dever in the first two seasons and by Craig Burnatowski in the fourth).

Publication history

Trigon first appeared in a cameo in New Teen Titans #2 (December 1980), and made his first full appearance is New Teen Titans #4. He was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.

Fictional character biography

Centuries ago, a pacifistic group following their spiritual leader Azar fled Earth to escape its violence. The group established a colony that exists between dimensions called Azarath. In the process of creating their new world, they underwent a ceremony that purged every member of their evil natures. The people of Azarath thought the evil they had expelled would be gone forever, however, they were mistaken. In another dimension, the evil they had purged was summoned by a cult seeking to have a demon mate with one of their female members. Nine months later, Trigon was born. He immediately killed every person around him, including his own mother. He went on to rule the world of his birth by the age of one, and destroyed it when he was six. By the time he was thirty, he ruled over his entire home dimension.

Trigon later forcefully impregnates Arella, a member of the Church of Blood, a cult that worships him. She is found by an extra-dimensional cult and is brought to Azarath, where she gives birth to Raven. During Raven's upbringing, Trigon is aware of her whereabouts, but rarely intervenes and allows the cult to care for her.

Raven learns of Trigon's intentions to conquer the Earth and vows to stop him; she initially approaches the Justice League, but they refuse her on the advice of Zatanna, who senses her demonic parentage. In desperation, she reforms the Teen Titans to battle Trigon, eventually sealing him in another dimension.

Trigon eventually escapes and comes to Earth, taking control of Raven and destroying Azarath. The Titans attempt to fight Trigon, but are contaminated by his demonic influence and kill Raven. This allowed the souls of Azarath to possess her and use her as a channel to kill Trigon with purifying light. Although Trigon is gone, his followers, led by Brother Blood, have tried to revive him several times.

The sons of Trigon as depicted in Titans (vol. 2) #3 (2008).

The Sons of Trigon

Trigon is later resurrected under unspecified circumstances, but his sons, Jacob, Jared and Jesse, betray him and steal his powers. They corrupt Raven before being defeated by her and the Titans.

The New 52

In The New 52 reboot, Trigon is a minor demon of an unspecified species targeted for extermination by an alien group calling themselves the Divine. They control an entity called the Heart of Darkness which feeds on evil beings, destroying them in the process. However, when it attempts to feed on Trigon, he gains control and manages to absorb all of its power, thus granting him the power to conquer worlds.

Once he absorbs all the power from the Heart of Darkness, he kills the Divine and attempts to cross over to a new dimension, but is blocked by a lingering spell by the Divine. To circumvent this, he summons a woman from the realm he attempted to cross over to and impregnates her, before sending her back to her home world. Later, she gives birth to Trigon himself, giving him access to her dimension.

Trigon begins a quest to sire as many children as possible to aid him in his conquests, however, only three boys survive, and he considers them failures. Eventually, he impregnates a woman from Earth named Arella, who gives birth to Raven, finally giving Trigon a child he views as a worthy heir.

Trigon's only true rival is a woman named Alazandria, who possesses a magical suit of armor known as the Silent Armor that was enchanted specifically to resist Trigon. She battles him to a standstill, but neither are able to kill the other. Her armor is eventually inherited by Wonder Girl.

He has four children: Raven, Belial, Raskoff, and Suge.

Trigon rules six kingdoms known as the Under-Realms, but has grown bored with the responsibility of ruling them, and attempts to pass leadership to Raven. Raven, feeling lonely at the prospect of one day ruling Earth alone, begins to magically spy on the Titans. Trigon allows her to go to Earth to infiltrate the team to learn their secrets before betraying them and conquering Earth. However, Raven ultimately loses the ability to contact Trigon and finds joy in the fact that she no longer has to obey him.

During the DC Rebirth event, Trigon is killed by Bizarro, but is eventually resurrected.

Powers and abilities

Trigon is a demon who possesses vast mystical abilities. He has superhuman physical abilities and can fly, generate energy blasts, teleport, manipulate matter, resurrect the dead, shapeshift, devour souls, control the minds of others, and generate illusions.

Other versions

• An alternate universe variant of Trigon appears in DC Bombshells. This version is Das Trigon, a German mountain spirit, who is later killed by Faora.
• An alternate universe variant of Trigon appears in Tiny Titans. This version is a silly, bumbling, but devoted father and friend of Principal Slade.

In other media

Television

Trigon as he appears in Teen Titans (2003).

• Trigon appears in Teen Titans (2003), voiced initially by Keith Szarabajka and subsequently by Kevin Michael Richardson. Due to his vast abilities, Trigon was difficult for the series' creators to write, which led to them adapting the "Terror of Trigon" storyline since its writers faced a similar problem and were able to devise a solution. Following a minor appearance in the first season episode "Nevermore", in which a mental projection of Trigon appears in Raven's mind, Trigon proper appears in the fourth season, in which he resurrects and tasks Slade with forcing Raven to release him. In the three-part season finale "The End", Trigon destroys Earth, though Raven secretly saves the Teen Titans, whom Slade joins in fighting Trigon after being betrayed by him. They mount an assault against Trigon until Robin rescues Raven, allowing her to kill him and undo his destruction.
• Trigon appears in the "New Teen Titans" segment of DC Nation Shorts, voiced again by Kevin Michael Richardson.
• Trigon appears in Teen Titans Go! (2013), voiced again by Kevin Michael Richardson. This version is a bumbling father figure who wants what is best for his daughter, which involves her accepting her demonic heritage and joining him in destroying universes.
• Trigon appears in Titans, portrayed by Seamus Dever in the first two seasons and voiced and motion-captured by Craig Burnatowski in the fourth season. This version created the "Organization" to locate his daughter Rachel Roth. In pursuit of his quest, he traps Dick Grayson in an illusionary world where Batman kills his enemies to make the former embrace his inner darkness and breaks Roth's will by making her believe her friends had beat Gar Logan to death. With Roth under his control, Trigon starts to destroy Earth until Gar helps Roth break his control, save Grayson, and defeat her father before sealing him in a jewel. In the fourth season, the Church of Blood release Trigon so their leader Brother Blood can steal his heart and drink his blood.

Film

• Trigon appears in the DC Animated Movie Universe (DCAMU) film Justice League vs. Teen Titans, voiced by Jon Bernthal. This version can create and send demons to possess others, such as Ra's al Ghul, and created the Lazarus Pits. Trigon battles the Teen Titans and Justice League until they join forces to defeat him, with Raven sealing him in a crystal shard.
• The Teen Titans Go! (2013) and Teen Titans (2003) incarnations of Trigon appear in Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans, with both voiced again by Kevin Michael Richardson. The former disguises himself as the "Master of Games" (voiced by Rhys Darby) to pit their respective versions of the Teen Titans against each other and use the battle to absorb his version of Raven's powers so he can resurrect his 2003 counterpart and join forces to conquer the multiverse. However, 2003 Trigon belittles his 2013 counterpart, causing the latter to absorb him and transform into Hexagon. With help from their multiversal counterparts, the two Titans groups take Raven's powers back, destroy the 2003 Trigon, and trap 2013 Trigon in a zombie-infested universe.
• Trigon appears in the DCAMU film Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, voiced by John DiMaggio. Despite his imprisonment, he helps Raven survive Darkseid's invasion of Earth, gradually weakening her in the process. After Robin is killed trying to save Batman, Raven inadvertently frees Trigon, who possesses Superman, kills John Constantine, and battles Darkseid until Superman breaks free upon witnessing Lois Lane's death. Raven and a revived Constantine combine their powers to restore Trigon's body before Cyborg sacrifices himself to transport Trigon and Darkseid into oblivion.

Video games

• Trigon appears in Teen Titans (2005), voiced again by Kevin Michael Richardson.
• Trigon appears as a playable character in Teen Titans (2006).
• Trigon appears in DC Universe Online. This version is served by numerous demonic minions: Demons, Embodiments of Sin, Soul Reavers, Soul Screams, Soul Shadows, Soul Strikers, Possessed Students, and Volatile Succubi. Additionally, the Sons of Trigon appear via a self-titled DLC, consisting of Jared, who possesses Jacob's powers, and original characters James, Jack, and Julius, who can respectively induce greed, sloth, and gluttony.
• Trigon appears in Injustice: Gods Among Us. In the game's story, Raven succumbs to his influence, assumes a demonic appearance, and becomes an enforcer in Superman's Regime. He also appears as a boss in the S.T.A.R. Labs side missions and in Raven and Scorpion's non-canonical arcade mode endings.
• Trigon appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.
• Trigon appears in Teeny Titans.
• Trigon appears as a playable character in Lego DC Super-Villains, voiced by Darin De Paul.

Miscellaneous

• The Sons of Trigon appear in Smallville Season 11: Harbinger.
• Raven's mental projection of Trigon appears in Teen Titans Go! (2004) #5.
• A human character based on Trigon named Roger Trigon appears in the Arrow tie-in novel Arrow: Vengeance. This version is the founder and head priest of the Church of Blood and the head of Starling City's Zandia Orphanage who personally recruits Sebastian Blood and Cyrus Gold before dying prior to the events of Arrow's second season, with Blood and Gold respectively taking over the Church of Blood and orphanage.
• Trigon appears in DC Super Hero Girls, voiced again by Kevin Michael Richardson. This version is more forgiving than other incarnations, allowing Raven to attend Super Hero High and eventually taking part in various parent boards and activities as well.
• Trigon appears in the Injustice: Gods Among Us prequel comic.