Phobia (comics)

Superherobox|

caption= Phobia , from the cover to "Manhunter" #18.
Art by Shawn Martinbrough.
character_name=Phobia
real_name=Angela Hawkins, III
publisher=DC Comics
debut=New Teen Titans # 14
(December 1981)
creators=Marv Wolfman
George Pérez
alliances=Brotherhood of Evil
Secret Society of Super Villains
Injustice League
aliases=
supports=
powers=Human psychic with an ability to control the fear centers of the human mind to create life-like illusions of the person's greatest fears. |

Phobia is the name of a DC Comics supervillain of the New Teen Titans.

History

Born a member of the British aristocracy with the power to make people experience their worst fears, Angela Hawkins III was a "bad seed" who rejected any help from her family.

When the Brain came to London to recruit her for the reformation of the Brotherhood of Evil, Angela readily agrees. She joins the New Brotherhood of Evil in the hopes of conquering her own fears by unleashing those of others. Sometimes, man-hating tendencies rise up in her. Angela suffers from the fear of being alone. Since then, Phobia and the Brotherhood have opposed the Teen Titans on numerous occasions.

Phobia travels to New Zealand and in the course of murderous crimes, coincidentally encounters the beastial super-hero Tasmanian Devil. Sensing her killings, Tas and his New Zealand contact and confidante Raylene Mackenzie tail her. A fight ensues. Tas is initially immune to Phobia's powers, because his bestial nature is so near the surface. She digs deeper, uncovering his fears of his dominating and abusive mother. Tas relives a particular incident where his father was degraded and hit. Raylene attempts to help and is hit with her own fear, drowning. Despite this, they manage to work together, subduing Phobia with blows to the head.

A later encounter with Raven makes Phobia confront the fears and insecurities that lay within herself which was stemming back to issues with her childhood and her father, Lord Hawkins. It appears Phobia might reform and abandon her criminal ways following this encounter.

Phobia later resurfaced back with the Brotherhood, now calling themselves the Society of Sin. She also accepts an invitation to join the Secret Society of Super Villains in Villains United #1, though those who do not accept such invitations tend to wind up dead. Phobia was seen as a member of the Injustice League and is one of the villains featured in "Salvation Run".

Phobia appears in two story arcs in MANHUNTER (Mark Andreyko), first as one of the supervillains recruited by Calculator to take out the Shadow Thief. In this storyline she accidentally bumps into Kate Spencer and awakens her fear of having caused the death of her son, Ramsey (who at this point in time was still recovering from injuries that were inflicted on him by Kate's staff). The Manhunter has psi-shielding in her costume, however, and is able to overpower Phobia in a battle in the LA District Courthouse. In her second appearance, Phobia is assisting Kate Spencer's father in some illegal medical procedure. Manhunter tracks down her father and encounters Phobia on the first floor of the house they are occupying, and after a pitched battle, defeats her again.

Powers and abilities

Phobia's natural born psychic powers allow her complete and total mastery over the fear centers of the human mind. She is able to probe into the psyches of her victims, discovering the things they most fear and then manifesting those fears in their minds with illusions, which cause them to be consumed with terror.

Teen Titans Animated Series

In the "Teen Titans" animated series, Phobia appears in Season 5 as one of the villains brought into the Brotherhood of Evil by its main members in the episode, "Homecoming (Part 2)". She appears in the last battle against the Titans in "Titans Together" and is later frozen at the Brotherhood of Evil's base.

Phobia was also in the last Teen Titans Go! issue, #55. She appears in Titans Tower twisting the Titans' dreams into nightmares in order to paralyze them with their own worst fears. Once all five Titans have been subdued, Phobia contacts the Brotherhood of Evil to report her success, but Silkie sets off an alarm to wake them up.