Blackfire is Starfire's older sister, and former Grand Ruler of Tamaran.
Personality
Though she is Starfire's older sister, the two are polar opposites. Blackfire loves thrills and causing trouble and does not seem to be remorseful about anything she's ever done. The two do not exactly get along well, as Blackfire is constantly trying to, in some way, do away with Starfire, first with getting her arrested and then trying to marry her off to an ooze monster. Blackfire loves fighting her sister, and not just fighting her, but rubbing in the fact that she is older and stronger in her little sister's face. The two of them are poster children for sibling rivalry.
Background
Blackfire first appeared when she arrived on Earth in the episode Sisters. She gave Starfire a jewel and pretended to enjoy being reunited with her. Blackfire won the Teen Titans's support by having fun with them and telling them stories of adventures she had throughout her travels in the galaxy. The Titans seemed to like her so much, Starfire was beginning to think they wouldn't need her around anymore. She was especially unhappy with her sister's attempts at flirting with Robin. When Starfire thought of leaving Earth, the Centauri Police showed up and captured her.The Titans rescued her and explained to the Centaurians that they have captured the wrong Tamaranean. The Titans then discovered that Blackfire had framed Starfire for crimes by giving her a stolen jewel from the Centauri System. Blackfire, who was leaving Earth at that exact moment, was defeated by Starfire and taken to prison, swearing revenge on her sister.
Blackfire later broke out from prison and wrested control of Tamaran as its new Grand Ruler. Blackfire attempted to get revenge on Starfire by forcing her to marry Glgrdsklechhh, a hideous alien. This was actually part of an elaborate plot between Blackfire and Glgrdsklechhh; by marrying Starfire to Glgrdsklechhh, he would reward Blackfire with a very powerful jewel. When her ruse was uncovered, Blackfire was once again defeated by Starfire and banished from Tamaran.
Powers and Abilities
Superhuman Strength: Being a Tamaranean, Blackfire is much, much stronger than she looks. She could damage Cyborg's mechanical hand with just a simple handshake. In "Betrothed", she seemed to be physically stronger than Starfire, but it is unknown if that strength came as a result of the Jewel of Charta.
Invulnerability: Like her sister, Blackfire has moderate invulnerability to physical harm, heat, cold, and high-intensity radiation.
Flight: Like her sister, Blackfire can fly under her own power at the speed of light. In the comics, however, she does not possess this capability like her younger sister does.
Bright-Purple Energy Projection: Blackfire can project incredibly strong and powerful bright purple bursts of "blackbolt" energy from the palms of her hands (instead of "starbolts", which are named after Starfire). This is a trait unique to her, as all other Tamaraneans project green energy. Blackfire also went through the Tamaranean puberty (referred to as the "Transformation"), Blackfire is mentioned to have turned purple for two days. She also has the power and ability to channel her starbolt energy as thin narrow beams from her eyes similar to Heat Vision. Blackfire's blackbolts turned red when she had the Jewel of Charta which greatly strengthened and enhanced her Tamaranean powers and capabilities to even greater levels.
Self-Sustenance: Blackfire also has the ability to survive in the hostile conditions of space without any sort of protection or special gear.
Alien Martial Arts: She demonstrated some alien martial arts to Robin in her first appearance.
Trivia
- In the comics, Blackfire has the same hair color and eye color as Starfire.
- Blackfire is the only Tamaranean in the DC comics that could not fly; however, in the animated series, she can fly.
- Blackfire is much more lethal in the comics.
- It is unknown how Blackfire learned English, but she seems to be able to speak English in a much more natural way than her sister, implying that, since Starfire only kissed Robin to get a grip on the English language, Blackfire, during her visit to Earth, has probably kissed a lot of boys to get such a grip on the language.
- Blackfire and Starfire are almost identical, except for their hair color, eye color, and eye shape.
- Blackfire's Tamaranean name, Komand'r, sounds like "commander," and Starfire's, Koriand'r, sounds like "coriander" which is a flowering herb. Yet Ryand'r (the Tamaranean name of their younger brother, Wildfire) has no same-sounding word.
- Unlike the other Tamaraneans, the whites of Blackfire's eyes aren't colored.