Jewel of Darkness: Difference between revisions

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An [[Alternate Universe Fic]], it diverges from canon when Raven is banished to Earth not as a teenager trained in her powers, but as a child who has only just come into her powers and has next to no control over them. Treated with disdain by humanity and forced to live on the streets, she eventually catches the interest of Slade, who takes her in and raises her as his daughter and apprentice. Years later, the newly formed Teen Titans find themselves facing the threat of the mysterious villainess known as Midnight...

* [[Affably Evil]]: Guerra is a pretty friendly person when he's not hired to fight you, and even then he's rather polite, complimenting people who he views as putting up a good fight.

** Midnight, meanwhile, is debatably either this or [[Faux Affably Evil]] -- she can be cruel and vindictive, but at the same time can be quite polite and kind (and she's like this around her minions too, so it's not just an act).

** Though we don't see it, Mad Mod somehow infiltrates the Tower in order to capture the Titans when they're off guard. Afterwards, Robin swears to upgrade the security with Batman's help.

* [[Alternate Continuity]]: Diverges from canon well in the [[Backstory]], though so far the plot has followed a mostly similar path.

* [[Animal Motifs]]: [[Doctor Fate]] has a vision of the future at the beginning of the second arc, which begins with a cat and a bird fighting in the shadow of a tiger. [[Word of God]] has confirmed that they represent Terra, Midnight, and Slade, respectfully.

* [[Arch Enemy]]: Midnight has taken Slade's place in this universe as Robin's archenemy.

* [[Author Appeal]]: Raven is shown to admire the Japanese historical figure Hideyoshi Toyotomi. The author happens to be quite the fan of Japanese history and culture.

* [[Badass Abnormal]]: Guerra's mutation grants him strength well beyond that of a normal person, but that's all the power he has. And he puts it to good use -- at one point, he pulls an [[Atlas Pose]] while holding up the crumbling remains of a ''parking complex''.

* [[Badass Normal]]: Robin, of course.

** Raven's bodyguard Donald, who appears to be completely human, but is willing and able to go toe-to-toe with Cyborg if necessary.

* [[Badass Spaniard]]: Guerra, again, of the Mexican variety.

* [[Batman Gambit]]: Midnight, after studying the Titans extensively, knows exactly how to manipulate them so she can {{spoiler|capture Robin}}. Of course, this is followed by the Titans carrying out a rather literal one of these -- {{spoiler|they figure Midnight is as afraid of Batman as every other villain, so during the fight in her lair, Beast Boy turns into a gorilla, puts on a copy cape and cowl, and attacks Midnight from the shadows with some spare batarangs Robin had}}. This works well enough to distract Midnight from the Titans real purpose {{spoiler|of saving Robin}}.

* [[The Berserker]]: Starfire becomes one when she enters an [[Unstoppable Rage]].

* [[Berserk Button]]: It is a ''[[Unstoppable Rage|very]]'' bad idea to threaten Starfire's home or friends.

* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: As per canon, Starfire repeatedly proves herself to not be someone you piss off.

* [[Big Bad Ensemble]]: One seems to be shaping up, as while Slade is the [[The Man Behind the Man|man behind Midnight]] and seems set to be [[The Heavy]] in the second arc, there's also the mysterious "Good Man" who leads [[The Conspiracy|the White Glove]]. Plus, Trigon is the [[Bigger Bad]] working to make his way down into this role.

** Don't forget Mammoth, and arguably Susano, to an extent.

* [[But for Me It Was Tuesday]]: Inverted. Midnight remembers killing Cyborg's father, describing it as the only life she regrets taking, and a key moment in her life.

* [[Cassandra Truth]]: A flashback shows that Amanda Waller was highly distrustful of Stephen Wilson (Slade's public persona), but her superiors wouldn't let her investigate him, because they viewed his business as a more trustful ally then the Justice League.

* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]: A very mild example -- during Guerra's raid on the prison to free Plasmus, it's offhandedly mentioned that he freed Mumbo as well as part of the riot. A few chapters later, Mumbo shows up and releases the [[Eldritch Abomination]] that causes trouble for the rest of the chapter.

* [[The Chessmaster]]: The leader of the White Glove conspiracy is a literal one, as we at one point see him playing with {{spoiler|[[Vandal Savage]]}}, who reminds him to be careful, because people aren't as predictable as a chess game.

** Meanwhile, in a flashback of Beast Boy's, it's shown that Mento has a great distaste for people like this.

** This gets a [[Call Back]] in the first chapter of the second arc, when the mine they're fighting in starts to collapse from Terra's power overload, and Beast Boy complains about them not having even beaten her yet (of course, Midnight's quick to point out that it's not her doing).

* [[Combined Energy Attack]]: The Titans finish Midnight off in their climatic fight by hitting her with a combination of all their ranged attacks (Beast Boy complains about not being in on it).

* [[The Conspiracy]]: {{spoiler|The White Glove group that Jinx is working for, who have also managed to infiltrate the Justice League.}}

** This group is so far-reaching that {{spoiler|its leader can walk in and out of the Watchtower whenever he wants.}}

* [[Crazy Prepared]]: After the Red X incident, Cyborg calls Robin out on having a way to take down each of the Titans, comparing it to how Batman supposedly has ways to take down every known hero.

* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: Midnight vs the Titans, every time they fight, is always in her favor, including the climatic one in her lair, {{spoiler|until Starfire's [[Berserk Button]] is pushed, at which point Midnight ends up on the receiving end}}.

* [[Dark and Troubled Past]]: We get a glimpse of Jinx's in the "Fear" chapter; apparently, she fell in with a gang that tried to sell her talents to some villain group, and when it failed the gang leader cut her eye out for messing up his reputation.

* [[Dark Fic]]: Not quite yet, but well on its way to becoming one.

* [[The Dragon]]: Raven/Midnight to Slade.

** And Guerra, being a mercenary, is an on-and-off Dragon for Midnight.

* [[Flying Broomstick]]: Jinx eventually settles on one of these as her method of transport, after enchanting literally everything else and having it blow up her face.

* [[Gadgeteer Genius]]: Cyborg, naturally. And Midnight, of the [[Evil Genius]] variety.

* [[Heel Face Turn]]: Jinx had one at some point prior to the series, allowing her to take Raven's place as the fifth Titan.

* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Cyborg completely freezes up when he realizes that Midnight is the same girl who killed his father when they were both children.

** Cyborg also brings this trope up when the Titans are considering walking into what appears to be a trap; Beast Boy doesn't seem to quite get it.

* [[I Lied]]: {{spoiler|After Midnight's defeat, Slade tricks [[The Starscream|Ai]] into thinking he'll let her serve him, then runs her through; this is his response to her final protest.}}

** Interestingly, Midnight is the one who insists on making her rivalry with Robin personal, since she views them as [[Not So Different]], and wants to prove she's better than him.

* [[Just Between You and Me]]: Midnight explains to Robin exactly what she's been planning throughout the first story arc, but she makes sure he's completely at her mercy when she does so.

* [[Karma Houdini]]: {{spoiler|Unlike canon, Mad Mod isn't captured by the Titans when they escape his "school", instead escaping and promising to return.}}

* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: Jinx gets what may be one of the funniest examples of lampshade hanging ever when, after a string of failed attempts to find of method of flight, she utters this gem:

** While explaining to Ai how she intends to turn the Titans [[Divided We Fall|against each other]], Midnight points out how heroes normally use the same tactic [[Enemy Civil War|against villains]].

** Beast Boy lampshades the [[Collapsing Lair]] trope when Midnight's lair begins to self-destruct:

** Same chapter, Robin explains why he thinks Midnight survived:

** When Terra expresses surprise that Jump City has a diamond mine, Cyborg states that the city has a lot of stuff, and that he sometimes still gets surprised. This most likely is in reference to the fact that the city's layout on the show often seemed to change depending on the needs of each episode.

* [[Literally Shattered Lives]]: A variant occurs when {{spoiler|Slade kills Ai for her betrayal; after he stabs her with Excalibur, its holy power exorcises Trigon's essence, which causes Ai to blow apart, leaving only her head.}}

* [[Lzherusskie]]: In-universe: part of Raven's public identity is that she's an orphan from "one of the former communist states" that Slade adopted.

* [[Mega Corp]]: The ARES Group, Slade's weapons manufacturer company, that he and Raven run under their public identities.

* [[The Messiah]]: Superman's status as the world's savior has apparently reached the point where people are actually ''building religions around him.''

** After their encounter with Mad Mod, Jinx decides to upgrade her magic skills, as she's starting to see herself as [[The Load]]. This apparently includes a new costume.

* [[Mind Rape]]: How Mad Mod's "reeducation" skills are presented in-universe, especially when he's probing Jinx's mind {{spoiler|for information on the White Glove.}}

* [[Mook Promotion]]: Ai started out as one of Midnight's robot duplicates, but developed sentience and was promoted to somewhere between [[Mook Lieutenant]] and [[The Dragon]].

* [[My Greatest Failure]]: Apparently, the [[Martian Manhunter]] feels this way towards Razor; no details have been given yet, but it seems he was involved in whatever incident reduced her to a mindless beast.

* [[My Name Is Inigo Montoya]]: Cyborg introduces himself this way to Midnight just before the climatic fight in her lair, using his real name.

* [[Mythology Gag]]: When the Titans first meet Guerra, he and Beast Boy get into an argument over the necessity of needing a secret identity when you don't look human. During this argument, Cyborg brings up how Beast Boy wore a mask when he first met the Titans, as shown in the canonical show's origin episode.

* [[Never My Fault]]: At first, Robin blames Midnight for him having to stoop so low during the Red X incident. However, he eventually admits that it was his own fault.

* [[NGO Superpower]]: As Slade points out, the Justice League is one -- if any other private organization (or government for that matter) put a [[BFG]] in orbit, they'd be subject to immediate sanction by the U.N., but not the League.

* [[Noodle Incident]]: During Jinx's repeated attempts at enchanting a means of flight, she tries a toboggan. We then cut to her, Beast Boy and Starfire running from an enchanted ''bed''; she and Beast Boy argue over whose fault it is, and Beast Boy says that at least it didn't ''explode'' like the toboggan did.

** Something happened between Jinx and Beast Boy that he refers to only as "the plushie incident".

** For a more serious example, there's Razor's mysterious past -- all we know for certain is that the Brain apparently experimented on her, and that the Martian Manhunter's attempts to help her is somehow connected to her lack of sentience.

** These two also both get an example during the lair fight; Starfire head butts Razor only for it to do more damage to her than Razor, while Midnight effortlessly blocks a strike from Beast Boy (in the form of a grizzly bear) with ''one arm.''

** Guerra has a tendency to No Sell attacks, due to his body mass and super strength.

** Robin realizes that despite his attempts to be different from Batman's stricter method of heroism, he's really still very much like him.

* [[Oh Crap]]: Robin's literal reaction when he realizes Midnight's returned at the beginning of the second arc.

* [[OOC Is Serious Business]]: At the end of the first story arc, Beast Boy, of all people, rallies the Titans together to {{spoiler|save Robin from Midnight}} on their own, without having to ask the Justice League for help. Afterwards, he wonders if he can still get away with being the [[Comic Relief]] after the display of seriousness.

** There's also Starfire when she gets mad (especially during the big fight in Midnight's lair) -- when this normally happy-go-lucky girl gets pissed at you, ''run.''

* [[Physical God]]: Susano, who claims to be descended from the actual Japanese storm god.

* [[Platonic Life Partners]]: Jinx and Beast Boy (thought there are plenty of [[Ship Tease]] moments between the two).

* [[Public Domain Artifact]]: It's strongly implied that Slade's sword is actually {{spoiler|Excalibur}}.

* [[Punch Clock Villain]]: Guerra only fights the Titans because Midnight pays him to. As soon as their contract expires, he loses all interest in them (except [[Worthy Opponent|Cyborg]])

* [[Punny Name]]: Ai, which is obviously [[AI]] pronounced as a single word.

** Starfire's eyes (and starbolts) turn red when she enters an [[Unstoppable Rage]].

* [[Religious and Mythological Theme Naming]]: The American government has a secret program codenamed "Project [[Classical Mythology|Prometheus]]", whose goal is (like [[Justice League Unlimited|CADMUS]] before it) to level the playing ground between the government and the Justice League (and any other similarly powerful threats).

* [[Robot Me]]: Like Slade, Midnight creates duplicates of herself, including one that develops self-awareness (that would be Ai).

* [[Sanity Slippage]]: Midnight starts to suffer from a mild case of this at the climax of the first arc, due to a combination of stress, nightmare/vision-induced insomnia, and {{spoiler|Ai's prodding}}.

** Mad Mod does this as well {{spoiler|in his "[[We Will Meet Again]]" message to Robin.}}

* [[She Is Not My Girlfriend]]: Beast Boy's reaction when Robotman refers to Jinx as his girlfriend.

** At one point, the Titans attend a costume party (for League members and affiliates) dressed as the gang from [[Scooby Doo]].

** See [[My Name Is Inigo Montoya]] above. All Cyborg was missing from that was "Hello" and "[[Prepare to Die]]" (and Midnight lampshaded it asking if that's what he was going to say next).

** During one of the [[World Building]] chapters, we see the President talking with his advisors. One of the things they discuss is the case of a Metahuman girl with spider-like abilities, who is the daughter of a Congressman. The Congressman's name? [[Spider-Man|Parker.]]

{{spoiler|"No," Midnight shook her head, smiling.}} }}

* [[The Starscream]]: {{spoiler|Ai, as it turns out, is working for Trigon, and has been plotting behind Midnight's back for awhile. This finally culminates in her leading the Titans to her lair, and cutting off any chance of backup.}}

* [[Superman Stays Out of Gotham]]: This trope is deliberately invoked by the Titans, who absolutely refuse to ever call the Justice League for help, as they figure doing so would mean they can't take care of themselves and need the big time heroes to take care of them. The only times they consider asking for help is when the HIVE trio seemingly kill Robin and take control of the Tower, and when {{spoiler|Midnight kidnaps Robin}}. The first time, Robin comes back and regroups them, and the second time, Beast Boy rallies them together (see [[OOC Is Serious Business]] above).

** After the latter example, Robotman calls Beast Boy out on this being a stupid attitude to have for a superhero.

* [[Sword of Damocles]]: The original story is used in one of Slade's lessons to Raven.

* [[Teen Genius]]: Raven's public identity is viewed as one -- and she is, to the point that she builds a robot (in her own image, no less) that develops from A.I. to an actual living being.

* [[Visionary Villain]]: Unlike canon, where his motives were never made entirely clear, this story makes Slade into one. As he lectures to Raven at one point, he firmly believes that mounting tensions between the [[Justice League]], the villain organizations, and the governments of the world are going to lead to a [[World War III|war that will devastate the world]], and that the only true victors will be those who have managed to gather enough influence to stay independent of the power struggle.

* [[Villain Cred]]: Midnight's whole motivation in the first arc for destroying the Titans is to prove herself as a true villain, and establish a reputation for herself.

* [[We Will Meet Again]]: {{spoiler|Slade subtly promises this to the Titans on behalf of himself and Midnight at the end of the Jump City Arc.}}

** When {{spoiler|Mad Mod}} escapes from the Titans in his first appearance, he leaves behind a message for Robin, mocking him and promising to return.

** And then of course there's everyone's reactions to the whole Red X situation.

* [[Whip It Good]]: Midnight [[Dual Wield|Dual Wields]] a pair of metal whips that she channels her power through. They're alluded to a couple of times during the story, but are only actually used during the fight in her lair {{spoiler|until Jinx blows them up}}.

** Beast Boy actually lampshades what an unusual weapon choice this is.

* [[Wicked Cultured]]: Midnight takes the time, before initiating her master plan, to toast it with her minions.

** In a flashback, Raven is shown attending a production of "[[Faust]]" and reading "[[The Count of Monte Cristo]]" while waiting for it to start.

** She then ends that second situation with a classic [[Batman Gambit]]: she tells Robin that one of the Titans is a traitor, knowing that Robin will either a) waste his time and energy searching for a nonexistent spy, leaving him vulnerable to her, or b) alienate the other Titans, thus dissolving the team and removing them as a threat.

* [[You Killed My Father]]: Subverted. At first it seems like Cyborg is going to have this attitude towards Midnight, but ultimately decides it's not what his father would have wanted.

 

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[[Category:Fanfic]]