- For the 1998 storyline or the 2015 series, go to Teen Titans (1996) or Titans Hunt (2015).
Titans Hunt was a loooong story arc of The New Teen Titans (although at that point, it was called New Titans)
It began when the Titans were about to celebrate their anniversary. None of them got to the party in time: the Wildebeest attacked and captured all of them. Not knowing what else to do, Steve Dayton hired Deathstroke to rescue the Titans. Deathstroke headed to Grayson's apartment, found the Wildebeest and... another Wildebeest? He managed to escape. Those two attacked Danny Chase, and killed him. Arella joined them, and things got increasingly complicated with two newcomers, Pantha (a savage cat girl) and Phantasm. All of them manage to break into the society of Wildebeests, and find Nightwing (who took the suit of the Wildebeest that tried to capture him, and infiltrated the society, until he was discovered) about to be killed by the main Wildebeest... who happens to be Jericho? Who can talk now? Who is now evil? Who can summon a soul self, like Raven? What the hell? And yet, he used his trademarked trick of getting inside and outside of people: it IS him.
The improvised team goes to Russia to rescue Cyborg, who was almost dead and repaired with outdated tech, and now he's a complete robot. Troia, who was out of town during the attack, joins them as well. The team returns to the base of the Wildebeest society, and the results were too complicated to enumerate. Let's just say that many people die at the end of the story.
Some plotlines of this event would get followed up in Total Chaos.
Titans Hunt contains examples of:
- Animal Motifs: Whenever the Azarath-possessed Jericho releases his powers, it takes a leonine shape.
- Ascended Extra: Arella and Steve Dayton. They were usually just side characters, but the action forced them to fight in the front lines.
- Asshole Victim: Jericho kills the Wildebeests who bother him, including Number 8 when the latter asked for their current goals. While this is to show Jericho as a Bad Boss, so far Number 8 had been the Hate Sink of the arc due to undermining and then discovering Nightwing's infiltration, which caused his capture.
- Back from the Dead: Terra at the end of The New Titans #79, until the following issue reveals she's actually a cosmetically-altered teen from the future.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Starfire helps save an elderly woman from a thief. It was all a trap organized by the Wildebeest Society, and the elder woman was secretly working for it.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Wildebeest are defeated, Pantha and Red Star join the Titans, though Deathstroke grieves the loss of his son that he had to kill, a corrupted Raven is presumed dead (though not for long), Aqualad is in a coma, Golden Eagle is dead (though his death was later retconned into a Good Thing You Can Heal), Danny Chase and Arella sacrifice their lives to allow the creation of Phantasm and Cyborg is now a complete robot.
- Chekhov's Gun: The penny thrown to Danny Chase by Wildebeest, which turns out to be a Titans communicator pin thrown by a Wildebeest-suit-wearing Nightwing.
- C-List Fodder: Golden Eagle, Aqualad, and Danny Chase, though Aqualad survived and Golden Eagle was later revealed to be alive and well, see Good Thing You Can Heal below.
- Decoy Protagonist: Phantasm. Danny Chase actually survived, and made up the "new guy" by moving a sheet, a pair of gloves and a hockey mask with his telekinesis, however later subverted as the new Phantasm was formed after Danny and Arella sacrifice their lives to defeat a corrupted Raven.
- Dying as Yourself / Death Equals Redemption: Jericho was being controlled by the evil spirits of Azarath. He manages to get free from them long enough to ask his father for a Mercy Kill.
- Enemy Mine: Deathstroke teams up with Nightwing in this story.
- Epigraph: The destruction of the Titan's base ends with one of those.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Wildebeest defeated Raven by sending her against Emil Sorda, a psycho killer that was so evil, not even Raven could influence him, and she collapsed trying. But the Wildebeest was glad Sorda and his killing spree were finally stopped; it was too much even for him.
- Expy: Pantha. Half human and half savage animal, got her powers in a lab experiment, does not remember her previous life, she has sharped claws, she jumps and goes for blood, she's a complete jerk... sounds familiar?
- Face–Heel Turn: Jericho and Raven. Jericho gets stabbed to death by his father Deathstroke in the end, while Raven remains a villainess for the remaining run of the series until an act of Death Equals Redemption in the very last issue of New Titans, when her evil side is obliterated and is redeemed as a golden spirit.
- Good Thing You Can Heal: Golden Eagle, who dies here but shows up 14 years later in Hawkman, having been miraculously saved from death by the healing powers of his Thanagarian armor's Nth metal.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Danny Chase and Arella sacrifice their lives in order to defeat a corrupted Raven and then their souls merge to become Phantasm.
- I Am a Humanitarian: Emil Sorda, cannibalistic serial killer.
- It's Personal: Deathstroke is a mercenary, and Dayton was willing to pay him whatever fee he asks for. But no, he will do it for free: his son Jericho is also among the captured Titans. "Deathstroke, Terminator, accepts the case... and this time It's Personal!"
- I Want Them Alive!: The Wildebeests had instructions to capture the Titans alive, because they are needed for experiments. But it's not a big deal if one of them can not be reasonably captured and has to be killed during the fight.
- When the Titans were returning from Russia, Jericho decided to just kill all of them, except Nightwing.
- Jedi Mind Trick: Arella did this with one of the Wildebeests.
- Leave No Witnesses: Wildebeest had help to capture Starfire, but also had to keep his secrecy, so he rewarded the elder woman that acted as a victim just like a traitor deserves.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: When Danny Chase hears that the Wildebeest Society killed the Titans, he stops playing with them and tries to kill them. He doesn't do it very well...
- Not Me This Time: When Donna returns from her vacation and discovers that all the Titans were attacked, she is sure that Deathstroke is behind it all since he knows their secret identities and made a similar attack during The Judas Contract.
- Not So Stoic: Deathstroke when he realizes the main Wildebeest is his son.
- You Are Number 6: All the Wildebeests have numbers for identification.
- You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Pantha doesn't think Deathstroke will actually break her spine like he said he would. He points out that the Titans won't do it... but he can.
