When it comes to famous DC Comics couples, Dick Grayson and Koriand’r, aka Nightwing and Starfire, are untouchable. First meeting in the pages of The New Teen Titans, the couple soon became the series’ flagship relationship. They maintained an on-again-off-again relationship over the years, although their paths seem to have finally diverged recently.
Still, Dick and Kori remain one of the best and most compelling couples in the medium’s history. Comic book fans know all about these two and their complicated relationship. They’ve share decades of history and have gone through enough trouble to last a lifetime, cementing their place as one of DC’s most iconic relationships.
They Are The Ultimate Star-Crossed Lovers
Dick and Kori have a complicated relationship. Their physical connection is too strong to deny, and they can barely keep their hands off each other whenever they’re together. However, their affair isn’t easy, as there always seem to be obstacles that complicate or outright prevent their love.
After they separate, seemingly for good, it becomes clear that their tortuous relationship left them with too many psychological scars for them to ever work out. Dick and Kori still love each other, but their romance seems impossible. In many ways, they are DC’s most tragic couple, a pair of star-crossed lovers, at times separated by entire galaxies, doomed to care for each other from a distance.
Dick And Kori Are Friends Before Becoming Lovers
Contrary to popular belief, Dick and Kori didn’t become a couple straight away. Instead, they remained platonic for a considerable time before attempting to form a relationship. However, their connection was always apparent, making them one of the best relationships in the Teen Titans comics.
Kori’s passionate personality makes her very emotional and prone to expressing her love in every way possible. For his part, Dick’s attraction towards Kori is too intense for even him to control. During the early days of their relationship, the two were the walking embodiment of hormonal teenagers during their first love. The two characters even shared a bed in one of the most infamous comic book panels in DC history.
Kori Gets Married In Tamaran
Kori has been married twice, both times to Tamaranean men. Her first husband was Prince Karras, the son of the King and Queen of Tamaran’s Southern States and a high-ranking noble and general. To unite the war-torn planet, Karras and Kori’s fathers arrange a political marriage between their children. They reluctantly agree.
Dick takes the news rather badly, but he still attends the ceremony. Eventually, Kori returns to Earth with Dick, while Karras stays in Tamaran with his lover, his lieutenant Taryia. They both perish during an attack by the terrorist aliens Xyannis and Zorgan, leaving Kori a widow.
The Shapeshifter Mirage Messes With Their Relationship
Miriam “Mimi” Delgado, aka Mirage, was a shapeshifter who came back in time to kill Donna Troy before she gave birth to the son who, in Mimi’s future, would become the evil dictator Lord Chaos. Mirage infiltrates the Teen Titans, taking Starfire’s form, and engages in sexual relations with Dick. She later reveals her deceit, prompting Starfire to infamously call Dick a “slut.”
DC has done many messed-up things to Nightwing over the years, but this instance is one of the worst. The fact that Starfire slut-shames him afterward makes things worse, but the comic’s treatment of the incident is even more reprehensible.
Dick And Kori Almost Get Married
Dick and Kori’s relationship was at its height during the New Teen Titans’ original run in the 1980s. The romance eventually led to a proposal after many fights and misunderstandings. The wedding day arrives, and it seems like these two will finally tie the knot.
However, in true telenovela fashion, a now-evil and scantily clad Raven crashes the ceremony and kills the priest before the I do’s. Dick and the others ultimately defeat Raven, no small feat considering she is one of the Teen Titans’ most powerful members, but the event leaves Kori traumatized, and she flees to Tamaran, effectively ending her relationship with Dick.
Kori Marries A Second Time
Once back in Tamaran, Kori meets General Ph’yzzon. The two join the Titans against the still corrupted Raven, who arrives at Tamaran to kill Kori. Kori’s parents die during the attack, and Tamaran gets destroyed, killing thousands. Still, the Titans manage to cure Raven, and Kori and Ph’yzzon lead the surviving Tamarans to a new home, New Tamaran.
Throughout the ordeal, Kori and Ph’yzzon fall in love and get married. At one point, Raven even hints that Kori is pregnant. Future issues declare their relationship a political arrangement, creating major inconsistencies in its portrayals. Ph’yzzon would later sacrifice himself to defeat the Sun Eater, leaving Kori a widow.
Dick And Kori Have A Daughter
Kingdom Come is one of the best Superman story arcs from the 1990s. It presents an ideological and practical clash between traditional albeit out-of-touch superheroes and a new generation of reckless and amoral vigilantes. In this world, Kori is dead, and Dick serves as Batman’s replacement on the Justice League under the identity of Red Robin.
Kori and Dick also have a daughter in this Elseworlds storyline, Mar’i Grayson, aka Nightstar. She disagrees with her father and prefers to join Batman, her de-facto grandfather, in his group of Outsiders. Nightstar plays a pivotal role in the story, even helping Bruce and Dick reconcile at the end. In a later issue, she marries Damian Wayne, keeping things in the extended Bat-Family.
Dick And Kori Get Back Together, Then Break Up Again
After decades separated, Dick and Kori find their way back to each other. In the Teen Titans Academy series, the original team creates the titular academy to mentor new heroes. Nightwing and Starfire reconnect in the first issue, hinting that their relationship might rekindle.
However, there was a slight complication named Barbara Gordon. Fans will forever be divided about who Nightwing’s true love is, Starfire or Batgirl. For a while, it seemed like DC wanted to keep its options open and have Dick go back and forth between them. However, Dick is not a player, and Teen Titans Academy revealed that Dick and Kori are back to being just friends and colleagues, opening the door for him and Babs to finally get together in DC’s main continuity.
