Red X

Red X is a former "Anti-Héroe identity" which Robin temporarily used as part of an "undercover" operation. The identity was later assumed by a mysterious anti-hero whose real identity remains unknown.

Red X
In-story information
Species	Human
Team affiliations	Himself The Brotherhood of Evil (formerly) Teen Titans (Allies Briefly) (Teen Titans Academy)
Notable aliases	X
Abilities	Proficient martial artist and acrobat Olympic athlete-level strength Enhanced speed Enhanced agility and reflexes Enhanced durability and endurance Biking intuition

Character history

Robin

Red X was originally a cover identity that Robin had conceived as part of an attempt to get closer to Slade. Bent on stopping the threat that the madman presented by any means necessary, Robin approached Professor Chang for the necessary items - particularly Zynothium to use as a power source - to create the Red X suit and, posing as a ruthless master thief, Robin stole several computer chips that Slade was after and offered them with a proposition to forge a partnership between the two.

However, Robin's haste in trying to get too close somehow exposed his identity to Slade, and in fear that if he told his teammates about his plans, they would not play their parts convincingly, he chose not to tell them. The plan eventually 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 Zynothium power core could not be disposed of safely, Robin stored the suit inside a vault in Titans Tower, never to be used again.

The New Red X

Some time later, however, the suit was stolen from the vault by an unknown third-party who intended to use it for his own selfish agenda. Because the Zynothium Ore in the suit's power belt was nearly exhausted, Red X stole a handgun-like scanner which he could use to locate it. Not knowing where to look for him, and with Chang's supplier having been revealed to have skipped town, Robin "coerced" Professor Chang into revealing the most likely location where Red X could get his hands on more Zynothium: a highly secured tech company at the city's south end which has a generous supply of Zynothium stored in their vault. Red X managed to penetrate the facility, with the Teen Titans (minus Cyborg) in hot pursuit, but Professor Chang's henchmen were following them, with Chang himself intending to swipe the Zynothium to power a gigantic disintegrator cannon of his own construction, and in an attempt to ensure no interference from Robin, he captured the other Titans and held them hostage.

Robin eventually confronted Red X and questioned him about his intentions for stealing the suit, his answer was that he was a thief, not a villain, causing Robin to realize he was not psychotic, just selfish. After being knocked out by Chang's henchmen, and subsequently captured by Robin, he confronted 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 though, Red X saved Robin from certain death and aided him in freeing his teammates, including preventing Chang from attacking the Titans with his disintegrator, and eventually helped Robin bring him down. With Chang defeated, the Titans and Red X were back to being enemies. Red X attempted to abscond with enough Zynothium to last him for "quite a while", until Robin showed Red X that he had secretly swiped his power belt, rendering the Zynothium useless to him. Momentarily surprised by this revelation, Red X complimented him by saying "not bad, kid, not bad", then threw the Zynothium tube onto the ground to create a small explosion to act as a diversion for him to jump off the edge of a nearby cliff and quickly get away.

Later on, Red X was seen as a recruit among the ranks of the Brotherhood of Evil though its unknown why he joined.

Eventually, with his power belt replaced, and somehow acquiring his own "X-Cycle", he participated in a race initiated by Ding Dong Daddy for a briefcase containing Robin's most prized possession. His intention was to sell it to the highest bidder. All throughout the race, he and Robin attacked one another, until a bomb dropped by Daddy blew him off the road, though he was saved by Robin at the last instant. Red X ungraciously remarked that "saving me was a mistake" but then asked if recovering the briefcase was really important to Robin. When Robin confirmed this, Red X told him to "go get it" and proceeded to use his teleportation system, agility, explosives and other gadgets to attack the other villains participating in the race and destroy their vehicles. His last target was a bus driven by Raven and Starfire, from which he withheld after recognizing them. He told the two girls to "Tell Robin we're even... For now", and disappeared.

Red X did not appear in the final confrontation between the Titans and the Brotherhood, implying he quit the organization. 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

Robin: I thought you didn't like playing the hero!
Red X: Doesn't mean I don't know how.

— Robin and Red X

The personality of the wearers of the Red X suit is the first of two major differences between them:

While Robin was Red X, he was even more serious than normal and kept his goal of capturing Slade as his top priority (under the false pretense of forging a partnership with the villain).

The new X's personality, however, is a near-complete opposite of Robin's: he 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 also flirted with Starfire on one occasion, indicating that he and Robin both share similar tastes when it comes to girls (though it might also be an example of his flippant sense of humor). 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 and abilities

I created Red X. Every system, every weapon.

— Robin

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.

Identity

Many fans of the series believe Red X's identity to be Jason Todd, who served as Robin after Dick Grayson, the current Robin in the series, left Batman and became Nightwing. In the episode "X", a humorous reference to this possibility is made through a theory table set by Beast Boy about the identity of the new Red X, which includes Jason Todd as a candidate.

BB's other theories included: an evil twin; "a bionic monkey infused with Robin's DNA"; Larry, the inter-dimensional imp that the Titans had met in "Fractured"; or a time-traveling version of Nightwing, Robin's future identity. (In DC comics, Dick Grayson gave up the identity of Robin in Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (July 1984) and became Nightwing.)

These theories were poked fun at in the New Teen Titans short "Red X Unmasked", in which they capture him and tie him to a chair. At first, it appears that Beast Boy may be correct, as removing his mask reveals him to be Jason Todd. But this also turns out to be a mask covering a mask of Speedy. As more masks come off, the Titans see the faces of Newfu, Alfred Pennyworth, Batman, Silkie, Larry, and Slade, at which point the body turns out to be a bomb which detonates. As the Titans recover from the shock, the real Red X appears and tells them to "Keep guessing, kids!" before making his escape. Beast Boy sticks to his theory by indignantly shouting at Red X, "I still think you're Jason Todd!" Upon which X throws a gag into his mouth to shut him up.

Relationships

Robin

Red X seems to respect Robin, despite their difference in morality, and the fact that they are very much alike and hate losing; this is perhaps the one reason why Red X finds himself supporting Robin during confrontations with other villains.

Starfire

In one of their battles, Red X flirted with Starfire after pinning her to the wall with one of his restraints. He addressed her as "cutie" and remarked that the "only crime" between them was that they had not gone on a date, but before he could finish his quip, she angrily blasted him away with starbolts from her eyes.

Brotherhood of Evil

At the end of the episode "Homecoming - Part 2", Red X is among the many recruits of the Brotherhood of Evil, joining forces with the Brain in order to destroy the Titans and their allies. Later in "Revved Up", he and many of the other villains participate in a race for Robin's most prized possession, organized by Ding Dong Daddy. However, when Robin saves his life, X returns the favor by attacking and disabling his fellow Brotherhood members and their vehicles. When Gizmo angrily demands "Whose side are you on, barf-brain?!", X simply answers "Mine!", before destroying Gizmo's own vehicle. He is not present at the final battle between the Brotherhood and the Titans.

Appearances

Season 1

• "Masks" (Robin in disguise)

Season 3

• "X" (As his own character)

Season 5

• "Homecoming - Part 2" (Cameo)
• "Revved Up"

New Teen Titans shorts

• "Red X Unmasked"
• "Mayhem at First Sight" (Cameo)

Teen Titans Go!

• "Knockoff!" (Robot doubles)
• "Bad Girls" (Mentioned)

Teen Titans Academy

• Tentitans Academay #1 & Others Now

Video game appearances

• One-On-One
• Teen Titans (video game)