Richard Grayson's Soulmate

[Rac7d*]

He proposed and she accepted but I don’t think they got married

raven screwed it up
but in some cont they have been married, it doesn't work out...

[oasis1313]

raven screwed it up
but in some cont they have been married, it doesn't work out...

I can't imagine a young woman in the four-color world who wouldn't love to be married to Dick Grayson. They should be chasing him around like the Beatles in 1964.

[Jackalope89]

I can't imagine a young woman in the four-color world who wouldn't love to be married to Dick Grayson. They should be chasing him around like the Beatles in 1964.

Well, at least the younger ones like Jessica Cruz try and match up with him on Tinder-esque sites.

[oasis1313]

Well, at least the younger ones like Jessica Cruz try and match up with him on Tinder-esque sites.

Who's Jessica Cruz?

[Jackalope89]

Who's Jessica Cruz?

Woman Green Lantern from Earth. Been part of the Justice League and currently with Justice League Odyssey. She and another new Lantern, Simon Baaz, are fairly recent to being Green Lanterns. And during Rebirth, both were on the League at the same time.

[Starrius]

Woman Green Lantern from Earth. Been part of the Justice League and currently with Justice League Odyssey. She and another new Lantern, Simon Baaz, are fairly recent to being Green Lanterns. And during Rebirth, both were on the League at the same time.

I like the Justice League Odyssey.
I think of Starfire as one of the highly underrated superheroes in DC.
I would like to see her in a comic book that features her well.
I think that this comic could be it.
It's only been 2 issues, but I like it so far.

[oasis1313]

I like the Justice League Odyssey.
I think of Starfire as one of the highly underrated superheroes in DC.
I would like to see her in a comic book that features her well.
I think that this comic could be it.
It's only been 2 issues, but I like it so far.

I actually liked the Starfire solo book--especially when Dick showed up.

[Gurz]

Do i remember wrong ? may be... I don't have my new teen titans omnibuses with me to check for sure. I read only 4 issues or something anyway... it wasn't that good. After all the praises that i heard, i was really expecting something extra ordinary but it wasn't that. Geoff Johns Teen Titans were much better. And i'm sorry for saying Starfire is crap...i meant Starfire & Dick relationship is crap, not the character... Poor choise of words. But it seem there is more to Starfire & Dick relationship, yet i don't think i will go back to reading New Teen Titans.

[Starrius]

Do i remember wrong ? may be... I don't have my new teen titans omnibuses with me to check for sure. I read only 4 issues or something anyway... it wasn't that good. After all the praises that i heard, i was really expecting something extra ordinary but it wasn't that. Geoff Johns Teen Titans were much better. And i'm sorry for saying Starfire is crap...i meant Starfire & Dick relationship is crap, not the character... Poor choise of words. But it seem there is more to Starfire & Dick relationship, yet i don't think i will go back to reading New Teen Titans.

I understand that you meant that Starfire and Dick relationship is crap.
Yes...there is more to Dick and Kory's relationship ......a lot more
Reading only 4 issues of New Teen Titans is very little to judge Dick and Kory's relationship as crap with it being an actual slow burn romance.


I was clearing up that they didn't just started dating after the one first kiss.
The kiss wasn't about establishing a relationship.
The kiss was more about leading Dick to view of Kory is not an enemy that he should fear but totally the opposite.
Before Kory kissed Dick, he saw her as being too dangerous to be let free and that she relished violence.
He didn't that Kory was trained by the Warlords of Okaara and went through horrible slavery for 6 years.
He really didn't see her as a person until she gave him a kiss that he gave into, were able to communicate with each other,and she showed that she liked him.
It was only the beginning of the slow build up of the love story between Dick and Kory.




In New Titans issue #71
(New Titans was first published in 1988)


Dick's thoughts about Kory:


I've ASKED for so much...asked you to CHANGE when I probably didn't have the RIGHT to.
And you've worked so hard to do it since you ESCAPED from your Gordanian SLAVERS.
You always ACCEPTED me the way I am. I...I think I should have done the same for you.
Your homeworld had been INVADED...but you fought to SAVE it.
And for all your efforts, you were put through HELL as a SLAVE.
Yet you still EMBRACE life without anger.
You came to Earth not knowing what to expect.
You risked your LIFE trying to get here.
And you were almost KILLED when you landed.
Then the Gordanians tried to retrieve you...to take you back to their SLAVECAMPS..
A life filled with hardships would have reduced OTHERS to hopeless DESPAIR, but not you.
You fought back, looking at life as a CHALLENGE.
You're TEACHING me a lot, Kory.
When I first saw you in action, I was HORRIFIED at the way you fought.
I thought you were too BLOODTHIRSTY.
But then without knowing WHO--or even WHAT--you WERE...I couldn't decide if you were friend or FOE.
Hard to believe that one little KISS changed everything...
I spent my first EIGHTEEN years living with Batman, learning how to CONTAIN my feelings.
THREE YEARS with Kory changed all that.

[oasis1313]

I hated how Kory was written as promiscuous, but I've liked her the past couple of years in her "earth mother" personality. She brought some much-needed warmth into Dick's life at the time. I think he could use some nowadays. One of the (many) reasons Shawn didn't work was because everything was entirely focused on HER needs; in a stable, healthy relationship, the partners care for each others' needs.

[Starrius]

I hated how Kory was written as promiscuous, but I've liked her the past couple of years in her "earth mother" personality. She brought some much-needed warmth into Dick's life at the time. I think he could use some nowadays. One of the (many) reasons Shawn didn't work was because everything was entirely focused on HER needs; in a stable, healthy relationship, the partners care for each others' needs.

I am confused about her written as promiscuous.

Before she ended up having a relationship with Dick, she'd only been with Franklin Crandall and that was just one issue , Starfire Unleashed ...it was about how far Kory would go to use her power.....fortunately, she didn't kill Franklin's killer

The 1 month relationship was only in that one issue.
There was no hint of them having sex.
In that comic, he revealed to her that he knew that she was Starfire even though Kory was hiding her identity from him with her sunglasses.
Even if they did have sex, they were in a relationship at the time.

After Dick broke up with her after the marriage of state with Prince Karras to prevent a civil war that led to loss of millions of lives.
Kory had a hard time concentrating on her war training because of her heartbrokenness about Dick.
She was trying to move on with Karras and make it a real marriage of love which was what her mother, Queen Luand'r wanted.
When Karras was making love to her, she was thinking that it was Dick making love to her.
She didn't emotionally move on.
She straight up told Karras that she didn't love him after he said that he would move with her to Earth after Kory said that she was going back to Earth because Komand'r being allowed to be Queen of Tamaran.
Of course, she ended up reunited with Dick later on.
The marriage was something that she didn't even want and was wanting Dick to speak up and stop the wedding. Misunderstanding Kory's reason for smiling led to Dick letting the wedding go on. Queen Luand'r talking to Dick didn't help matters either.


Before she even met the Titans, she was in slavery for 6 years since 12 years old and then escaped to Earth , got recaptured, and was rescued by the Teen Titans.
She was very likely raped during her time in slavery.


She had consensual sex with only two or three people from 1980 to 1994.
I don't see how that makes her promiscuous.

[oasis1313]

She wasn't standing at the altar with a gun aimed at her head. What's Dick going to do--yell "Please stop this ROYAL wedding!!!!!" Could you imagine if the recent wedding in England if some guy had started hopping up and down, shouting that he's Meghan's one true love and she can't marry Harry? Dick wouldn't be so bad-mannered. If Kory didn't want to get married, she should done like Kitty Pryde did recently and just say she's not going through with it, stuck up for herself. Dick told her flat out that the Tamaranean "Paradise" was built upon her misery and to quit being a doormat for everyone else. She thinks it's okay for her to close her eyes and pretend Karras was Dick, but breaks up with Dick because his hormones told him that Mirage--a very accomplished shapeshifter--was Kory. I am on Team Dick 1000%.

[Starrius]

She wasn't standing at the altar with a gun aimed at her head. What's Dick going to do--yell "Please stop this ROYAL wedding!!!!!" Could you imagine if the recent wedding in England if some guy had started hopping up and down, shouting that he's Meghan's one true love and she can't marry Harry? Dick wouldn't be so bad-mannered. If Kory didn't want to get married, she should done like Kitty Pryde did recently and just say she's not going through with it, stuck up for herself. Dick told her flat out that the Tamaranean "Paradise" was built upon her misery and to quit being a doormat for everyone else. She thinks it's okay for her to close her eyes and pretend Karras was Dick, but breaks up with Dick because his hormones told him that Mirage--a very accomplished shapeshifter--was Kory. I am on Team Dick 1000%.

I am not on Dick's side nor Kory's side.


I understand Dick's perspective which you just told.
I understand that Dick believed strongly in monogamy, and that he couldn't accept Kory being married to another man based on his values.
I noticed the emotional pain that Dick had over Kory's marriage. It was evident during the wedding, lashing out at Kory and breaking up with her, and his lashing out at Donna.
I really felt very bad for him, but I also felt very bad for Kory.
I felt very bad for both.


I understand Kory's perspective too.
Her father sacrificed her by giving her to be a slave to save the planet and she greatly suffered for six years.
After knowing what her daughter went through as a slave, her father wants her to make another sacrifice by having her marry Prince Karras to save the planet again even though Kory wants to be on Earth with the man that she loves which she straight up told her father.
She was torn between doing for others and doing for herself.
It was a struggle between duty and personal life.

Her father, King Myand'r strongly emphasized her duty as Princess of Tamaran with these words:
all of this is from New Teen Titans, Volume 2, issue #15
a lot of this is from separate dialogues

That may be true, my daughter, but your heart's desire no longer matters.
Only the continued peaceful existence of Tamaran does!
Your time on Earth has CHANGED you, daughter.
But how can you have forgotten the LAWS of Tamaran?
How can you forget there are SACRIFICES to be made for the good of the people?!
Sacrifices WE must make!
WE ARE THE ROYAL FAMILY!
NO, my dear ...I am king, I...I will tell Koriand'r her duty...and pray that she understands her refusal will mean the END OF PARADISE!
Please, Earthling, I have HEARD all the tales...and more. and I SUFFERED as she suffered.
Do you believe I wish to hurt the daughter I LOVE?
But you must hear me out...you must know WHY I have to ask for one last sacrifice.
The war with the Citadel had taken its toll on most of Vega's Twenty-Two worlds...
Untold BILLIONS died...can you not see why I wished to spare Tamaran the bloodshed and tears?
Yes...I agreed to let the Citadel take my daughter...in exchange for PEACE.
And yes, my family suffered...but not one drop of Tamaranean blood was lost.
One life...The life of my daughter...for MILLIONS.
Can you see the JUSTICE in that?
Now the War is over and there are MANY who think as you do...
They think to save lives I sacrificed our PRIDE!
Tamaraneans are born warriors..
And I refused to let them die gloriously in war.
The end of the Citadel War brought about a CIVIL WAR on Tamaran.
Our southern states REBELLED...
Demanding INDEPENDENCE from Tamarus...and all because I did what I felt best for ALL Tamaran.
Once again, my world was imperiled, but this time from within...
And all those many lives I SAVED from the Citadel murderers were LOST in battle.
Brother killed Brother and I CRIED.
Was I wrong not to fight the Citadel War..
Or want our people or our paradise untouched by war?
What I did for LOVE of all.
In the months since the Citadel War ended, one hundred thousand Tamaraneans have DIED in useless fighting.
But I have worked out a solution with Tharras, King of the Southern States of Kalapatt.
Koriand'r, the blood spilled on Tamaran PAINS me more than you can know...
I would do ANYTHING to stop the deaths of any son or daughter.
Tharras will agree to PEACE only if we rule Tamaran TOGETHER...
Only if our two houses are UNITED!
Only if YOU, Princess of Tamarus, MARRY THE PRINCE OF KALAPATT
Do so, Earthling and you doom Tamaran to a long and bloody battle.
MILLIONS will die.
Koriand'r, you know your duty.

Hearing all that her father said, it was very difficult and even impossible for Kory to say "No" to her father.
I have read people use the marriage as an argument against her for why she's not right for Dick compared to Barbara and say stuff like "her marrying to please daddy", but it wasn't like that. She married to save millions of her fellow Tamaraneans from dying.

Of course, Kory went along with the marriage. She cares about her planet and people.
She even told Dick that the marriage is to save millions of lives.
New Teen Titans, Volume 2, issue #16
The narration shows how torn apart Kory was after Dick told her that it was over between them if she marries Prince Karras even though it would save millions of lives.

narration says:
Until now Princess Koriand'r had learned to live with the HORROR her life had become.
Born to ROYALTY, then abruptly, mercilessly, rejected. Humiliated by slave master, subjected to physical and mental abuse, probed, examined, twisted apart by cruel Psion torturers...
They had torn her FLESH, but her SPIRIT had never been touched ...never been broken.
Until now Princess Koriand'r had learned to live with the HORROR her life had become...until now
Kory was crying and unleashed all her starbolt power and blew up a mountain during that narration.

Afterwards, she was crying and talking to Joey:
Joey?
What's WRONG with me?
I don't know how many times I've told him that I LOVE him....What am I doing wrong?
X'hal! I've tried not to let everything that's happened RUIN my life like it did Komand'r's.
I've tried so hard to make things GOOD.
What's wrong with me that he can't understand how much I need him now?
Joey, help me...PLEASE help me.

Wolfman and the illustrators put great effort into showing that six years of horrible slavery didn't break Kory but the thought of losing Dick over the marriage did. That's how much Kory loves him.

Even when Kory decided to do her duty as Princess of Tamarus, she had some selfish desires like any normal person has.
She thought she could just marry Prince Karras and then go back to Earth and still be with Dick.
After she realized that she had stay on Tamaran to fight against Komand'r, she wanted Dick to stay on Tamaran to be with her.
Of course, Dick understandably couldn't agree with either of these scenarios with his monogamous values.

She even protested going through with the marriage on the day of the wedding.
New Teen Titans, Volume 2, issue #16
While being dressed for the wedding, Kory said to her mother, Queen Luand'r:
Mother, I don't want to do this.
I don't love Karras.
I don't want to marry him.
There MUST be some other way.
I don't love him and I NEVER WILL.

After the stuff that she said to her mother, Kory thought:
Why isn't Dick here?
Why didn't he say anything to STOP this?
WHY? WHY? WHY?

Kory said to Prince Karras moments before the wedding:
New Teen Titans, Volume 2, issue #17
There MUST be another way, Karras.
I don't WANT this marriage.
I'm SORRY, but I don't.
Why, US, Karras?
We DESERVE more now...
We deserve happiness.
This civil war wasn't caused by us.
Why do WE have to suffer for it?

I wanted to make a correction to a mistake that I made.
It wasn't Queen Luand'r who had talked to Dick during the wedding ceremony.
It was Prince Karras' lover, Taryia that had talked to Dick during the wedding ceremony.
She whispered to him:
I understand your feelings, Earthling.
I have lost my love too.
Once married, they will be one.
Loyalty is fierce among our people and the bonds of marriage unbreakable.

[Starrius]

Dick did have thoughts about stopping the wedding.

When he and Joey escaped from Komand'r to warn King Myand'r about her, he thought:
And maybe to STOP Kory's wedding.
That's what I REALLY want. Or is it?
Kory's MORE than I could have expected, but she FRIGHTENS me.
The longer I stay with her, the more I'm forced to COMMIT with her.
I don't know if I want to...
I don't know if I CAN!

During the wedding ceremony, Dick said to Joey:
I...I can't do it, Joey...
I want to shout out "STOP!" but I can't. And I can't watch any longer.
Let me know when the ceremony is OVER.
I have to speak with Myand'r.
I'll be all right.
Kory WANTS this.
This is BEST for her.
She never really fit on Earth.
It's best for ALL of us.

Of course, Kory didn't want the marriage. She straight up said so to her mother and Karras. She wanted Dick to speak up and stop the wedding. It wasn't just Kory that wanted Dick to speak up and stop the wedding, her brother Ryand'r did too.

Ryan said to Dick after saying about got to warn his father:
Is that ALL you are concerned with Dick Grayson?
You've said nothing about my sister's MARRIAGE.

Dick said:
What CAN I say?
It's up to her, isn't it?
I don't control Kory's life.
She KNOWS what she's doing.

Ryan thought:
Oh, my friend, if only you could be as FREE with your true emotions as we are on Tamaran.
Unless you speak up, you will forever LOSE the woman you love.

Ryan knows that Dick and Kory are in love with each other, and so he didn't want Kory to marry Karras.






When Kory had sex with Karras, Dick had broken up with Kory. She wasn't in a relationship with Dick at the time. She was trying to move on. She had to for the sake of Tamaran.

When Dick broke up with Kory, he told her:
And be your lover behind Karras' back?
I can't do that, not even if you people can.
Don't you see there's nothing for us any more?
My God, you belong here where you can fly off the handle at the slightest provocation...
Go kill anyone you want, Kory.
It's okay here. It's NOT okay on Earth.
It never WILL be.
NEVER!
For Heaven's sake,....do what's BEST for you.
LEAVE ME ALONE.
FORGET YOU EVER KNEW ME!
I know I...
I have to forget...
I EVER knew you.

Dick was furious and totally went off on Kory.
Kory was crying the entire time.
She repeatedly was yelling that she loves him.
Those scenes were some of the most touching breakup scenes that I have ever read in comics. I was definitely in tears.
Keep in mind that I was a 20 year Dick/Barbara fan when I was reading these comics and gradually changing to Dick/Kory fan.
Even though I didn't like the marriage storyline, the drama of it strengthened my interest in Dick/Kory. I saw that they love each other and are suffering, and I wished that they'd get back together. I am glad that they had reconciled and had that iconic kiss high up in the sky.

New Teen Titans, Volume 2 , Issue #34
When Dick reconciled with Kory, he did tell her:
No...I wanted to say something before that.
I understand WHY you got married.
I understand now that you HAD to.

even after Dick told her that, Kory expressed her being at fault with her response:
Maybe I could have FOUGHT my father...or refused

but Dick responded to that:
No, you couldn't have.
Listen, I've been a stubborn jackass long enough, sometimes more dedicated to being right than doing what's right.

Even later on, Kory expressed her being at fault and even apologized
New Titans, issue #57
When Dick went to talk to a therapist after Jason Todd's death,
He recalled Kory trying to help him and saying to him:
I know it's OVER now, but if what happened between Karras and me in ANY WAY still bothers you...
I want you to know how SORRY I am.
I should have been stronger.
I should have said NO.
I love you, Dick, and I don't want that MISTAKE to still become between us.
I'm SORRY.


As for Mirage,
Kory was upset that Dick didn't understand why she hated that he didn't know he'd been with Mirage and not her.
Kory was also angry with Mirage doing stuff to mess up her reputation including how she posed tasteless nude shots as her for a porn magazine.
Of course, she was also insecure about Dick's love for Mirage.
Kory did reconcile with Dick after he poured out his heart, admitted he made a mistake with Mirage, and proposed.
Kory didn't get back together with Dick because he proposed.
It was more about his reassuring her that she's the woman that Dick wanted to be with.

In Titans issue #100
After Dick and Kory went through trouble getting the marriage license and experiencing anti-alien bigotry, Kory said:
Dick, I don't understand?
Why are they calling me these NAMES?
They ALWAYS liked me before!
Maybe we should POSTPONE the marriage, Dick.
At least for awhile.
We're still YOUNG.
There's TIME.
With the Titans having so many PROBLEMS--

Dick responded:
NO! Nobody's stopping us from doing what we want to.
We're getting married NOW!

While preparing for her wedding with Dick in her wedding gown,
Kory said to Donna:
Maybe it's just NERVES, but I'm not sure Dick and I should be getting married now.
I mean, I LOVE him completely.
I really do.
I want to be with him, but am I imagining things or has Dick been on edge lately?
And I don't know if he wants to marry me because he loves me as much as I love him--
Or because he thinks getting married is something he SHOULD do.
I guess the trouble is after all this time, I'm still not sure if I understand Earth People.
My first wedding, on Tamaran WAS SO different.

Donna responded:
No, Hon--
You hit it right on the head.
I know Dick maybe BETTER than you, and I've seen the same signs, and I've wondered the same questions.
What do you want to do?

Kory responded:
If I was sure he wanted to marry me because he LOVED me, I'd hold onto him SO tight it would be like we were ONE person.
I LOVE him, Donna.
I ache whenever we're apart.
But last week, Dick couldn't even understand why I hated that he didn't know he'd been with Mirage and not me.
He doesn't understand me and I'm not sure I understand him anymore.
Maybe that's why I'm afraid.

[Starrius]

I understand Dick's perspective, and I haven't thought bad of him in Dick/Kory's problems.
However, I understand Kory's perspective, and I haven't thought bad of her in Dick/Kory's problems.
I haven't thought bad of either of them.
Both made mistakes, and both were sorry for them.
Both suffered a lot through the obstacles in their way and were in a lot of emotional pain.
These ups and downs factored into my liking Dick/Kory a lot.
They weren't a boring couple that was all sunshine and roses.
They were greatly challenged just like my favorite comic book couple, Peter/Mary Jane.
I do admit that I like Dick/Kory because of mainly Kory.
I like Kory in the relationship more than I like Dick in the relationship, and so I feel more for Kory than Dick in the relationship.
I have grown to like Kory so much that she's my favorite Titan and my favorite DC character.
I have grown to like Dick more too.

I totally converted from being a Dick/Barbara fan that voted for Barbara as Dick's true love on this thread's poll to being a Dick/Kory fan that wished that he had voted for Kory instead.

I still like Barbara, but I strongly dislike Dick/Barbara after learning and reading about the retcons and other things done to elevate Dick/Barbara as true love at the expense of degrading Dick/Kory into lust.
I respect and accept both Dick/Kory fans and Dick/Barbara fans.
I even understand that Barbara is the more sensible and safer choice for Dick as a relationship partner, and I have pointed out that including going over the secret identity issues.
With Dick being a Batfamily character, I understand that Dick/Barbara winding up being endgame is likely.
I wish that Dick/Kory is understood, accepted, and respected a lot more.

Right now, I can settle for Dick/Kory being a couple in Teen Titans cartoons, DC New52 Animated movie universe, and live Titans live action show.