Koriand’r, aka Kory Anders, aka Starfire, made her comic debut in 1980 in DC Comics Presents #26. The warrior princess from the planet Tamaran was brought to life by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. This duo revolutionized the Teen Titans, creating the incarnation of the superhero team that fans know and love today - the original lineup was quite different. Kori may be the Starfire that most people are familiar with, but she wasn’t the first hero to go by that name. Former Teen Titans member and Russian hero Red Star’s comic journey began under the moniker of Starfire in 1968. The name was seen again in 1976, as the title of a sword-wielding alien whose series lasted a mere eight issues.
Kori is certainly the most well-known character to don the mantle, due in no small part to DC’s beloved Teen Titans cartoon, which ran from 2003-2006. Her adventures have continued in Teen Titans Go!, which began airing in 2013. She is also a main character in DC’s first original series to air on their new streaming platform, DC Universe. Starfire is portrayed in Titans by Anna Diop. Despite the fact that every version of Kori is markedly different from one another, Starfire remains a fan favorite.
Koriand’r is an orange-skinned - or golden, depending on what you read - alien princess, so naturally, she’s not exactly built like us mere mortals. There are many aspects of Starfire’s physiology that are distinctly Tamaranean. She is even unique among her race due to some incredibly cruel experiments that she suffered at the hands of the Psions.
Here are the 20 Craziest Details About Starfire's Anatomy.
She is incredibly tall
Starfire is an alien warrior princess. She has green eyes, orange skin and auburn hair. Kori is also taller than most people at 6’4”. Of course, this doesn’t translate to every adaptation of the character. Apparently in the Teen Titans cartoon, she is only 5’6”. Titans star, Anna Diop, is 5’8”. To be fair, finding an actress who is as tall as the comic book version of Kori wouldn’t exactly have been easy. Plus, Diop is doing a great job of bringing her to the small screen.
Starfire isn’t human, so her physiology is quite different from ours. Perhaps Tamaraneans are just taller than humans in general, or maybe Kori is above average in height even amongst her own people.
She has connections to more than one Robin
Although Dick Grayson had a major romantic connection to Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, he also had a very serious relationship with Starfire. The two were almost married, but some shenanigans involving a Trigon-possessed Raven brought their nuptials to an early end. Many fans are still rooting for, partially because they were one of DC’s most beloved comic couples, but also due to their adorable relationship in Teen Titans.
Dick isn’t the only Robin that Starfire has history with.
Post-New 52, she was also involved with Batman’s second sidekick, Jason Todd, as well. They grew quite close in Red Hood and the Outlaws, although Kori initially had no idea about the bad blood between the two former Robins. She also somewhat served as a mentor to Damian when he took over the Titans as Robin.
She absorbs ultraviolet radiation
A hallmark of Starfire’s people is the ability to absorb ultraviolet radiation. This is what gives Kori her incredible set of powers.
She converts this radiation to pure energy, which enables her to fly at supersonic speeds.
Kori could pass through entire solar systems in mere moments. After the Psions performed experiments on her, she was able to convert that energy into “starbolts” as well, or even release it all at once in an extremely powerful, explosive burst. However, the latter leaves Kori in a much more vulnerable state. She can also weaken Kryptonians in her vicinity by absorbing the ambient solar and ultraviolet energy. Starfire’s immense stores of energy also allow her to survive without eating, drinking or even sleeping. She is even capable of breathing without an atmosphere, provided she has absorbed enough previously.
She can learn any language through physical contact
All Starfire needs to do learn any new language is touch someone who speaks it, which is a pretty handy skill. However, this power has proven confusing to more than one Robin due to Starfire’s preferred method of acquiring this information. For Kori, the most fun way of assimilating languages is through kissing.
This has left some feeling baffled, but Kori remains unfazed. She could learn the languages just by touch if she chose to - in the comics, at least. Where’s the fun in that, though? Plus, it’s not like Kori made out with Dick just to learn English. She has also been known to use language as an excuse to kiss someone that she simply wanted to kiss.
Her skin can melt metal
Starfire doesn’t just burn bright, but also very hot. Her body reaches such high temperatures, in fact, that she is capable of actually liquifying metal. This was briefly demonstrated in the Titans premiere when Starfire melted bullets before they could penetrate her skin, but there are instances in the comics as well.
Kori melted Jason Todd’s gun when it came into contact with her flesh.
Like most heroes, Starfire was changed in DC’s post-New 52 landscape. She traded some abilities, such as being able to fly with or without gravity, for a better mastery over her immense powers. Regardless of what iteration of Starfire we are talking about, the character is always incredibly powerful.
She is a middle child
Starfire has a very complex history with her siblings, particularly with her sister, Komand’r, aka Blackfire. Due to an illness that she suffered as a child, Blackfire was unable to harness ultraviolet light like her fellow Tamaraneans. This led to the princess losing her title, which was instead given to her younger sister, Koriand’r. From there, Blackfire’s rage only intensified, with her attempting to destroy Kori every chance she got. Like her sister, Komand’r later received a major power boost due to the Psions’ cruel experiments.
Kori also has a younger brother, Ryand’r, aka Darkfire - the writers really didn’t strain any creative muscles coming up with these names, did they? Ryand’r followed in the footsteps of his heroic sibling, joining the famed group of Freedom Fighters, Omega Men.
She is 156 years old
Starfire’s ability to harness ultraviolet light grants her a host of amazing powers, not the least of which is decelerated aging. Sometimes Kori’s demeanor - especially in the cartoons - makes it seem like she is the youngest member of the group. However, in Tamaran years, Starfire is actually 156!
It’s unclear exactly how old that makes Kori in Earth years, but her power set will keep her looking far younger than she is for the rest of her life.
However, thanks to the seemingly ageless world of comics, the rest of the team are looking pretty spectacular for their ages as well. Regardless of her actual age, it’s probably safe to say that the Titans' most optimistic member will always be young at heart.
She is allergic to metallic chromium
Starfire is immensely powerful, but you could say that metallic chromium is her Kryptonite - although her reaction to it isn’t as dire as the Man of Steel’s prolonged exposure to the green space rocks. This allergy may seem strange to us Earthlings, but many Tamaraneans don’t mix well with this substance.
Metallic chromium gives Starfire flu-like symptoms. Aside from the fact that this is no fun for Kori, her sneezes can actually be quite dangerous, considering the starbolts that have been known to come flying out of her nose and mouth. Not even the Tamaranean herself is immune to those! It’s best to steer clear of Kori when she comes down with a case of the sniffles.
She has nine stomachs
Most superheroes have pretty unrealistic physical proportions and Starfire is no exception to this rule. Despite her perfect form, Kori loves to eat and she can fit quite a lot of food into her body. However, this is thanks to more than just an incredibly fast metabolism. Starfire actually has nine stomachs. Kori admits as much in Teen Titans, and it explains her impressive eating skills.
The only question is, where in that tiny waistline does she have room for all those stomachs?
Are they all just super small? If that were the case, they probably still couldn’t hold that much food. Either way, thanks to her Tamaranean physiology, Star can eat whatever she wants and still maintain her figure.
Her cartoon look is very different
While many comic characters go through a variety of costume changes over the years, Starfire’s has remained largely unchanged until fairly recently. For the longest time, she was clad in the skimpiest superhero costume ever, leaving very little to the imagination. It’s unclear if this is a personal fashion choice for Kori or if her people simply aren't particularly modest. Blackfire has often been depicted in more clothes than her sister, but Darkfire, not so much.
Meanwhile, Kori’s cartoon counterpart sports a skirt, crop top, and some thigh high boots. In recent years, her comic book appearance seems to have drawn some inspiration from this. Starfire’s Titans look has also been quite different thus far.
She has been married twice
We all know that Kori’s heart belongs to Dick, but the pair are still separated in the comics. Starfire never quite managed to seal the deal with Nightwing - although they did have a child together in the Kingdom Come universe. However, she has taken two trips down the isle.
Both men were from her native Tamaran and she married each of them for very different reasons.
Starfire married Prince Karras in order to seal a piece treaty. She later tied the knot with General Phy'zzon, who she was actually in love with. Sadly, neither of these men lived long enough to enjoy married life. The former lost his life in battle, while the latter did not survive his attempts to protect New Tamaran from the Sun Eater. In Teen Titans, Blackfire also almost tricked her sister into an arranged marriage.
She and Princess Bubblegum are voiced by the same actress
It’s not too strange that many Teen Titans fans also have an affinity for Adventure Time. Both are ostensibly aimed at children, but have loyal adult followings as well. They are incredibly clever animated shows that can be appreciated on multiple levels by kids and grownups alike. Interestingly, the two cartoons share more than a fanbase, but an actress as well.
If you’ve ever watched Adventure Time and felt that Princess Bubblegum’s voice sounds familiar, you won’t be surprised to learn that the same woman is behind both Adventure Time's Bonnie and Teen Titans' Kori. Hynden Walch has reprised her role as the latter in both Teen Titans Go! and DC Superhero Girls as well.
She appears human in Titans
Most fans are used to Starfire’s orange skin, fiery auburn hair, and bright green eyes. Not surprisingly, DC chose to go in a different direction with the character in Titans.
For the majority of the premiere, Kori appears as human, only reverting to her more familiar form in order to repel gunfire.
She also has amnesia, so it’s unclear how much Kori even knows about her own abilities at that point. Fans were anxious Starfire’s actual TV origin would turn out to be, wondering if she will maintain her origin story from the comics. She did not appear in the 2nd episode, so not much had been revealed about her backstory there either.
Anna Diop put up with racist fan backlash
Fan reactions to the early Titans images weren’t all positive. Anna Diop was faced with the brunt of these negative responses to photos very much taken out of context. Sadly, several vocal racists came out of the woodwork to complain about a woman of color playing Starfire.
It’s unclear why they felt that casting a white actress to portray an orange-skinned alien would’ve made more sense.
Diop remained calm and classy. She pointed out that disliking the character’s new look was no excuse for hate speech. The actress explained that she was unfazed, but made a point of reminding fans not to let themselves be defined by the hateful words of others, stating, “it is always a reflection and revelation of themselves”. This was the perfect response to people who don’t deserve a place among Titans fans.
Her design was partially based on Red Sonja
We’ve already established that Starfire’s costume doesn’t consist of much actual fabric. Those wondering about where her outfit came from might not find it hard to believe that George Pérez‘s concept for the character was “Red Sonja in outer space.” Once you know this, it’s pretty easy to see the similarities between Kori and the woman who inspired her look.
Red Sonja, who was partially based on Robert E. Howard characters, was created in 1973 by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith. She was written into existence for Marvel as a contemporary of Conan. Aside from her incredible prowess as a warrior, the character is also known for her fiery red hair and bikini armor.
Her people are descended from a race of cat-like creatures
Starfire is from the planet Tamaran, which is populated by a race of golden-skinned humanoids who worship the goddess X’Hal. They enjoyed long periods of peace due to their incredible capacity to embrace love over hatred. Despite this, Tamaran is a planet of great warriors. Although it has been played for comic relief in the cartoon, the strange lineage of Kori’s Tamaranean ancestors can actually be traced back to the comics.
At one point, the Titans find themselves in a “devolving pit” that reverts them back to their Neanderthal states. For most of the team, that means shifting into ape-like versions of themselves. However, the creature that Starfire transforms into is distinctly feline, because Tamaraneans descended from a race of cat-like creatures.
Much of her powers are based in emotions
Starfire is a warrior through and through. Just because her capacity for love trumps her capacity for hate doesn’t mean that she’s easily defeated. Tamaraneans may be a race of formidable fighters, but there is one thing that ultimately decides how much of Kori's power can be accessed in any given moment: her emotions. Starfire’s people may draw their literal strength from ultraviolet radiation, but they focus this immense energy through their feelings. Tamaraneans are an incredibly emotional race in general, often driven more by their feelings than reason.
This can be a strength or a weakness and has proven to be both for Kori, as her powers are affected by her mental state.
That is not to say that it’s only happiness that makes Starfire a force to be reckoned with. Emotions are complex and so are Tamaraneans.
She is super strong
The ultraviolet radiation that powers Starfire does more than keep her looking young. It is also makes her incredibly strong and durable. She is not only much stronger than a human, but she is also tough when compared to other heroes. Sure, she may not be Superman-level strong, but in a fit of rage, it did take the combined efforts of both Donna Troy and Mon-El simply to restrain her.
The partial invulnerability, in particular, is helpful considering the amount of skin that Kori shows. She may not be bulletproof like the Man of Steel, but she can put up with her fair share of damage before it really begins to affect her. The fact that she doesn’t actually really need armor at least sort of explains her costume.
She is very skilled in hand-to-hand combat
Kori may be incredibly powerful, but she’s not just some brawler. The Tamaranean was trained in both armed and unarmed combat by the Warlords of Okaara. Those guys are kind of renowned for their skills in battle. Unfortunately, Blackfire also became quite proficient in hand-to-hand combat, thanks to the Okaarans.
Starfire has fought Donna Troy and even managed to hold her own against Wonder Woman for a brief period of time.
Of course, she could never actually emerge victorious over the Amazonian, but even going toe to toe with her, however briefly, is pretty impressive. Donna Troy is no slouch either and Kori has beaten her in battle on more than one occasion.
Her comics accurate costume in Titans
Fans who were less than thrilled with Starfire’s debut outfit should have been happy to learn that a more comics accurate costume makes its appearance in season 1. Sure, it would be cool to see Titans pay homage to Starfire’s original look, but if everyone’s being honest, improvements to her ensemble could be made.
Recent images show the series doing just that. It’s difficult to get much of an idea from the out of context photo, but most fans feel that it’s truer to the character than the look that she debuted with. Whether you like Kori’s outfit in the premiere or not, there is no denying that it makes way more sense in the context of the story. Hopefully, viewers can reserve judgment until this costume makes an appearance in Titans.
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Do you know any other strange facts about Starfire's anatomy in Titans? Let us know in the comments!