Blackfire
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Blackfire (real name Komand'r) is a fictional character in the DC Universe. She is the sister of the Titans member Starfire. Blackfire first appeared in Tales of the New Teen Titans #4, and was created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez.
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[edit] Character history
[edit] Birth and exile
Komand'r was born the eldest child of Tamaran's royal family. The first princess born in over a hundred years, she should have been courted and showered with honors. On the day she was born the Citadel Empire attacked and destroyed the western Tamaranean city of Kysarr and killed three thousand citizens in her name. Though she was in no way at fault for what had happened Komand'r was for all time inextricably linked with the terrible day. To make matters worse, Komand'r was crippled by a childhood illness that left her unable to absorb ultraviolet radiation to fly as most Tamaraneans did.
Because of Komand'r's naturally grim disposition, a stark contrast to the royal family's generally contented outlook, the subjects of Tamaran hated her. As a result, though first in the line of succession, was denied her birthright to be the next Princess of Tamaran to maintain respect and prestige of the royal family. Her privileges, honors, and her royal style and dignity were transferred to her younger sister, Princess Koriand'r (who would later become known as Starfire). Inwardly, Komand'r's rage grew and her resentment turned to hatred for her planet, her people, her family, and lastly her younger sister who, in Komand'r's eyes, made the fateful mistake of being born.
Komand'r's rivalry continued and intensified when she and her siblings were sent, per Tamaran's warlike custom, for warrior training with the Warlords of Okaara. Komand'r's true feeling were exposed, when during a sparring exercise she attempted to kill her sister, the Princess Koriand'r. As a result, she was expelled by the Warlords. Humiliated by her own transgression Komand'r swore vengeance and joined the Citadel, quickly rising through their ranks to become a warrior fighting against the forces of her own planet and, ultimately, her own family.
[edit] Betrayal
Komand'r later betrayed her planet with detailed information about Tamaran's defenses to the Citadel. They conquered Tamaran with ease, and the surrender conditions included the enslavement of Koriand'r. Koriand'r was never permitted to return, since that would mean the Citadel would devastate the planet for abrogating the treaty.
Komand'r was her sister's master and made the most of her younger sister's bondage with years of horrific servitude and torture. When Kory killed one of her rapists, Komand'r decided to execute her as punishment, but not before the sisters were attacked and captured by the Psions.
Psions, largely a species of sadistic scientists, performed a deadly experiment on both of the sisters to see just how much energy their Tamaranian bodies could absorb before exploding from the overload. During the procedure, Komand'r's forces attacked the Psion ship to rescue her and while the Psions were distracted, Kory broke free with the starbolts, destructive blasts of solar energy, which were a result of the experimentation. Against her better judgment she decided to free Komand'r, who was still absorbing energy. However, far from grateful, Komand'r struck her sister down with the same (but more intensified), power and had her restrained for later execution. Kory escaped and stole a space ship to planet Earth, where she met a young group of heroes and helped form the new Teen Titans.
[edit] Infinite Crisis and aftermath
Komand'r recently appeared in the Rann-Thanagar War limited series, during which she killed Hawkwoman in her pursuit of a New Tamaran. She formed an uneasy alliance with the surviving players of the War, in order to deal with more pressing concerns (Infinite Crisis). She was not seen during the Crisis itself, and has recently appeared in Hawkgirl and JSA Classified, attempting to kill Hawkman and Hawkgirl. The Hawks defeated Komand'r, after which Hawkman used Psion technology to strip the villain of her starbolt powers.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Komand'r possesses the biologically enhanced ability to channel stored solar power through a concussive force from her hands known as starbolts. Since she was in the experiment for a marginally longer time than her sister, Komand'r's ability is accordingly superior in strength.
[edit] Teen Titans animated series
In Teen Titans, Blackfire is an infamous galactic criminal who attempted to frame Starfire for her crimes. Fortunately, her plan was thwarted and Blackfire was arrested by Centauri police forces with the help of the Titans. She eventually escaped, seized control on Tamaran, and attempted to marry Starfire to a swamp alien in return for the Jewel of Charta. The jewel gave Blackfire unlimited power, until Starfire took the jewel from her sister by force and crushed it during a duel for the rulership of Tamaran. Blackfire was defeated by Starfire, who then forced Blackfire into exile and turned over her newly-won position as Grand Ruler of Tamaran to her childhood caretaker, Galfore. Blackfire has not been seen since and has not joined the Brotherhood of Evil. Blackfire has similar powers to her sister, including the ability to fly (unlike Komand'r in the comics), but Blackfire's starbolts are purple. In the episode "Transformation", Starfire said that Blackfire turned purple for two days as part of her transformation (Tamaranian puberty).
Unlike the comics Blackfire, the Blackfire in the animated series has black hair and can fly.
Like Starfire, Blackfire was also voiced by Hynden Walch, but with a much lower vocal pitch.
[edit] Trivia
- George Perez on Blackfire: In Comics Interview #50, 1987, George Perez was interviewed on the various villains in Teen Titans. He jokingly said Blackfire was his "tribute to women in leather. (Laughter.) I like the look of that woman, you know?" He also said, "The one thing I regret from other artists' points of view is that I gave her such a harsh face; I wanted it attractive yet strong, and many people, if you don't get those angles of that face just right, she comes out ugly - and Blackfire is not an ugly woman, she's just very harsh looking."
- In the console game based on the animated series, Blackfire's star bolts are green as a result of being a virtual skin for a fully upgraded Starfire. Oddly, Blackfire is the only organic character without any dialogue, despite her voice actress being present.
