The True Identity Of The Teen Titans Character, Explained

“Teen Titans” is one of the best and most celebrated superhero animated shows ever made, one that, alongside “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” helped change kids’ shows forever with its anime-inspired look and engagement with subjects like disability and racism. It had character arcs that developed throughout each season, fantastic animation, and a tone that balanced lightheartedness with moments of gravitas and character drama. Plus, in essence, it was a show about teenagers. This last part is important, because the change from very episodic storytelling of the (still masterful) Bruce Timm shows like “Batman: The Animated Series” or “Justice League” to adding more serialized elements and character development paved the way for darker, edgier shows like “Young Justice.”

Inspired by ’80s storylines by Marv Wolfman and the late, great George Pérez“Teen Titans” follows Robin (Scot Menville), the capable leader of the group; Starfire (Hynden Walch), an alien princess from Tamaran who is endlessly curious; Beast Boy (Greg Cipes), a jokester that can turn into any animal; Cyborg (Khary Payton), a half-human/half-robot cyborg with incredible technological prowess; and Raven (Tara Strong), a powerful psychic and a generation’s first introduction to the goth girl archetype. The show follows their adventures as they deal with their friendships, the horrors of adolescence, and menacing villains like Slade (Ron Perlman), the evil supergroup known as H.I.V.E., Raven’s evil demon father Trigon (Kevin Michael Richardson), and many more.

Much like “Justice League: Unlimited,” “Teen Titans” brought many comic book characters to the screen that hadn’t gotten the spotlight in the past, like Bumblebee, Más y Menos, and Brother Blood. But the show also introduced some intriguing characters of its own that later made the jump to the page, like the mysterious and alluring Red X, one of the greatest recurring characters on the show and also one of its biggest mysteries. If you ever wondered who was behind the mask or what happened to the character, this is the guide for you.

One interesting thing about “Teen Titans” is that it never really concerned itself with secret identities. Even if most of the team members have actual names, they only really refer to each other by their superhero monikers. They don’t care about their outside lives; they know each other enough that it doesn’t matter. That’s not the case with Robin, who always felt like the one member of the team who was hiding something and who kept his friends at arm’s length. (It’s because of Batman. It’s always because of Batman.) Throughout the entire run of the show, we never find out which Robin is the one under the mask, but that’s not the only secret he holds.

Indeed, Robin’s biggest secret is that he has yet another secret identity. In episode 9 of the first season of “Teen Titans,” Robin decides to go out on his own to finally catch his archnemesis, Slade. To get closer to him, Robin dons a new uniform, and becomes the villain Red X in order to become Slade’s accomplice. Because he didn’t care to share this plan with the rest of the team, it caused a breach of trust between them once they found out.

The Red X suit Robin wore was powered by a chemical compound named Zynothium that gave him greater powers and strength than he has as his Robin persona — he could even teleport! Most importantly, the Red X identity gave audiences great insight into Robin as a character. It shows the inner darkness that Robin struggles with, revealing what he’d become if he let himself go too far in crimefighting. Because “Teen Titans” never properly identifies Robin, meaning we can’t for sure say this is Jason Todd giving a tease of his Red Hood personaRed X makes for a unique take on the iconic sidekick that makes him stand out from the other heroes and even the rest of the Bat-family.

Two seasons after his debut, Red X returned to “Teen Titans” when a mysterious thief broke into the supposedly super secure Titan Tower and stole the Red X suit from Robin. Then, in the appropriately titled “X,” Robin actually teams up with Red X for a bit before departing as enemies once again. This new Red X is not at all like Robin: He’s self-centered, out for fame, and far less serious than Robin (which is a difficult thing to be). He seems to be older, too, by the way he treats Robin like a kid and constantly flirts with Starfire.

Sadly, “Teen Titans” never officially revealed the identity of Red X, leaving some mysteries unanswered when the show ended. Still, that didn’t stop Beast Boy from drawing up a list of potential suspects. There was the idea of a long-lost brother or evil twin coming back for revenge, or an interdimensional imp or a time-traveling goon (the show did once deal with an episode set in the future where Robin took the identity of Nightwing). There’s even the possibility (according to Beast Boy and Cyborg) of Red X being a bionic monkey infused with Robin’s DNA.

And then there’s Jason Todd. Jason has always been the darker, angrier version of Dick Grayson, who is quite sarcastic and prone to quips. Given Red Hood’s slightly villainous tendencies and his penchant to use guns and brutally beat up people, he seems like a reasonable culprit for stealing the Red X suit.

The Red X character, and the mystery of his identity, proved so compelling and popular that the character has appeared throughout different media in the past 20 years. He showed up in an episode of “Teen Titans Go!” where it was once again theorized that he was Jason Todd. Most recently, Red X also made an appearance in season 5 of “Harley Quinn.” In that show, he’s back to being Robin/Dick Grayson, who was killed by Harley in season 4 and then revived using the Lazarus Pit. Donning the Red X suit, Robin is seeking revenge on Harley.

Just like Harley Quinn got her start in animation before being introduced in the comics, Red X has also made the jump from the screen to the page — specifically in 2009’s “Terror Titans” comic before making an appearance in Tim Sheridan and Rafa Sandoval’s “Future State: Teen Titans” from 2021 as part of an alternate possible future.

The character most recently got a proper recurring role in the mainline comics continuity in “Teen Titans Academy” by Tim Sheridan, Tom Derenick, Alex Sinclair, and Rob Leigh. In that comic (which is basically the underrated superhero movie “Sky High” but for DC heroes), Red X describes himself as a thief seeking revenge on Dick Grayson.

Much like in “Teen Titans,” there were actually two Red X characters in the comic. First, there was a student named Brick Pettirosso who has electromagnetic powers and believes to be the son of Dick Grayson. But in issue 12 of the comic, another Red X shows up, executes Brick, and reveals that he’s been out to get vengeance on Grayson for the past decade, even raising Brick to be a part of his plot.

What makes the character so compelling is that it doesn’t matter who is under the mask. It can be a way for a hero to move closer to the side of violence and villainy, or it can be a villain seeking revenge on heroes. Whatever it is, the suit is cool enough to be intriguing while remaining vague and mysterious.

We’ve argued before that DC desperately needs to bring the Teen Titans to the big screen, and if/when they do, we hope the studio brings Red X along with them.