LogFAQs > #972879464

#78 - TNTeena
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/8/1/AAAe4tAADozt.jpg
By preestablished metrics, one of the most effective heroes.

TNTeena was among the first generation of post-superhero children, and as such, grew up in a society that praised those children who desired lives of service and activism. From the time she was a toddler, Tina dreamed and delighted in the ideas of superheroics. Tina begged her mother to test her for the metagene, and despite her mothers misgivings at catering to her autistic daughters delusions of herodom, she nevertheless relented and shelled out the $2500 necessary to perform a genetic study. Tina was delighted when the results returned, determined that Tina indeed possessed a unique meta-deviation in her DNA, although it didnt manifest until age 13. Tina instead was foisted in the meantime on the super-pageant circuit by her mother, desperate to find some profit in the new, unawakened abilities of her daughter. When at last the abilities did manifest, Tina destroyed her familys home. Left homeless, Tinas mother was able to convince a local news anchor, through sex, to air a puff piece about the sorry family and the state they were left in by a bright-eyed, autistic hero wannabe. Somehow, the story crossed the desk of Cyborg, and, understanding the difficulties that Tina faced and dealing with challenges himself, felt that Tina, now under the pseudonym of TNTeena, deserved an opportunity to live out her dream. Cyborg created an outreach program for at-risk youth with metapowers, and using some of his fathers fortune, outfitted the Titans with a non-profit wing called the Titans Auxiliary, a program Vic would run in his off-time to teach the next generation of potential heroes. TNTeena was one of the first recruits, and her mother happily pushed her into a functional boarding school that specialized in taking care of meta-youth in order to be done with her. Tina remained in their care until A-Day, when she was finally called upon to help protect Titans Tower. Instead of victory, the gathering of green rookie heroes was defeated, and TNTeena was captured by the Society, imprisoned on Alcatraz until rescued by her new cellmate, Saoirse Aebischer, and whisked away to freedom in Zonn Zorr.

As the players will likely be quick to mention, Teena is a character for which I have a great personal attachment. I have tried to be very careful not to make her too gruesomely over-the-top in this regard, but Teena has been my attempt to present an autistic superhero who suffered under the "Mommie Dearest" mentality of being used and abused for a spot in the limelight by a cruel and callous mother. The truest tragedy, I believe, is that Teena does not really recognize the various social cues that would tip her off to the nature of her mother's greed and the lack of compassion for Teena's challenges. It's a sad, complicated story, and one that feeds into some really great scenes with a few of the player characters as they learn to communicate with Teena and understand her.

Honestly, in my mind, Teena has the potential to be one of Z'onn Z'orr's most brightly shining stars. She's industrious, perseverant and mostly kind, even if she is often blunt and has more than a hint of arrogance over her status as a Titan Auxiliary member. There's a sweetness to Teena's nature, but tinted with just enough spice to make her imperfect. And as for her autism, I think it brings a new perspective to every character she interacts with. It's an opportunity to explore a very different approach to each PC - and also Bart Allen now. Instead of the stories of Bart that focus on his manic approach to... everything in life, an inability to sit still for a half-second, Teena has found herself attracted to the Kid Flash, finding his own bluntness and inability to recognize social nuance as refreshing and endearing, rather than annoying.

In any event, I really, sincerely hope that Teena worms her way into the hearts of every player by the end of the campaign. In particular, I'd love to see scenes with Bloodfruit and/or Data 7 and Teena. I think their unusual walks of life would complement Teena well, and I'm curious how those relationships would form and where they would take both respective characters.

I was surprised War didn't draft this next character.