Red Star

Red Star was formerly a young recruit in the Russian armed forces. Originally frail and weak, his strength and muscular physique were bestowed to him in a government experiment for creating super-soldiers, but his powers were fueled by intense and dangerous radiation, which would sometimes go berserk under emotional stress. For this reason Red Star had been living in voluntary exile in an abandoned Siberian nuclear power plant, where he used the facilities to funnel his excess radiation into water capsules whenever his frustration and, therefore, the energy would build up too much. A leakage in the containment unit made the radiation melt up the snow outside, which seeped into a pond and eventually created a plasma monster which wreaked havoc on the surrounding settlements, acting out Red Star's latent resentments. Red Star got blamed for the creature's actions, partly because of the destruction he had inadvertently caused when his powers went berserk the first time.

In response to the damage the plasma creature was causing, the Teen Titans began pursuing it. After chasing it into a snowstorm, Starfire succumbed to the temperature extremes but was found by Red Star before she froze to death. Encouraged by Starfire to embrace his power instead of fighting it back, Red Star joined the Titans, fought the creature and destroyed it by pumping it full with an overdose of radioactive energy. However, the energy within his body thus rose to uncontrollable levels, and he asked Starfire to take him into space, where his power was released in a gigantic explosion. Before his departure, however, the Titans made Red Star an honorary member, and his fellow people, who have previously shunned and feared him, now viewed him as a hero.