Headcase

History

Barney Venton was a orphan with a poor set of social skills, thus making him the perfect test subject for the villain Dr. Caligan . Caligan carries himself as Mr. Carter, an ordinary professor of biology at a San Francisco high school but he was really a devious geneticist that manipulates teenagers like the Feral Boys, into becoming his dark experiments. Barney Venton was a student at the high school that Dr. Caligan taught at and he was easily persuaded to sign up for the experimental procedures. Dr. Caligan performed his experimentations on Barney at his home in order to avoid prying eyes.

After enduring grueling tests and experiments, Barney emerges with Dr. Caligan with heightened mental capabilities. He has the ability to absorb knowledge and manipulate things around him in a gravitational way. Barney is taken to a tech expo in Silicon Valley to begin his knowledge consumption but he comes into conflict with the Teen Titans. Damian saw news footage of Barney’s destruction at the Tech Expo so within minutes, Wonder Girl assembles the Teen Titans and Raven teleports the team to the expo. During the battle at the expo, Raven convinces Barney to give up but Barney is attacked further by Robin who brands Barney as Headcase. Barney responds with force and flees the expo.

Later on, at the Titan Tower, Kid Flash picks up some intel on Headcase. As it turns out Headcase goes to Kid Flash's high school. The Teen Titans then head to Walker High School but before they arrive at the school, Barney confronts two high school bullies of his. One of the students is a jock while the other is a blond girl that rejected Barney's romantic advances but Barney soon realizes that they are also experiments of Doctor Caligan. Caligan has transformed the high school into one big experimental Petri dish which is filled with unique specimens for the good doctor to study.

The Teen Titans arrive at the school, only to be trapped inside of it because Barney has caused the school to submerge into the Earth. They come under attack by the Feral Boys but they were easily defeated. Kid Flash searches the school for any signs of survivors and to his misfortune, he finds Caligan's blond girl aka Doll Face . Within moments, the Teen Titans hear Bart screaming for help. Doll Face knocks Kid Flash unconscious while Wonder Girl and Raven engage Prom Queen head on. Unfortunately, Prom Queen's steel-like skin made her impervious to any attack.

Elsewhere, Superboy and Beast Boy head toward the school’s gymnasium where they find Headcase along with Jock . Raven thinks fast by using her powers to transport Wonder Girl and Prom Queen to the gym. Headcase gets agitated and begins to make the floor boards in the gym shake. The sudden quake opens a deeper void into the Earth and Jock along with Prom Queen fall in. The Teen Titans avoid falling in and quickly regroup.

Wonder Girl contacts Damian and orders him to take Ravager with him so that they can continue Bart's search for injured students. Damian and Ravager agree but they are unaware that Doctor Caligan is watching them thanks to the school's security surveillance system. Damian and Ravager make their way to the cafeteria where they find a posse of Feral Boys waiting for them. The dysfunctional duo defeat ninety members of the Feral Boys while the other Titans contend with Headcase in the gym.

In the gymnasium, Raven was able to reach out to Barney and convince him that he doesn't need to act this way in order to not feel alone. However, Damian's impulsive nature disrupts Raven's pep talk with Headcase. After being attacked by Damian, Headcase feels betrayed by Raven who tried to get his guard down. Headcase then activates a machine he constructed from his newfound knowledge which creates a black hole. As Wonder Girl tries to keep Superboy from being sucked into the black hole, Kid Flash proclaims he can run around the black hole in order to destabilize the machine. It won't be an easy for Kid Flash since Headcase maintains a telekinetic wall around the black hole.

Headcase then begins to taunt Raven over her use of emotions and her lack of mental control that keeps Trigon, her father at bay. Headcase then tells Raven that he will become a God and the world will be destroyed because she failed to stop him. Raven's anger overcomes her and she unconsciously summons the darker side of her powers. Her powers causes Headcase to lose his concentration over the telepathic wall he made thus allowing Kid Flash to break through to the machine and shut down the black hole. Headcase falls to the gymnasium floor in the fetal position. Raven pities Headcase and she kneels over his body to gently stroke his head.

In the aftermath, the Teen Titans arrest Doll Face and Jock, while the feral students are lead off to S.T.A.R. Labs for Dr. Mid-Nite to work on. As for Dr. Caligan, he escapes in a getaway car without divulging his master scheme. He expresses his disappointment that things did not go as he predicted so he decides that he must start his experiments again from scratch. In the backseat of his car, he has a young girl gagged and bound for a brand new installment of pain and suffering.

Later in the series, Superboy Prime returns and recruits Headcase to bring fight against the Teen Titans.

Abilities

Knowledge absorption; Barney posses the capabilities of absorbing the knowledge of people he touch, along with the nessesary skills to apply them properly, as he went from a mid-level student to being able to construct advanced machines and robots after touching a man presenting his inventions at a science expo. However there seems to be ill effects from his touch as the man stumbled to the ground and began drooling uncontrollably. So far the only other victim of his touch is Raven, who escaped unharmed.

• Telekinesis; Headcase has in combination with his Knowledge absorbation shown enough finess with his telekinetic powers to assemble numerous functioning robots in a short span of time, while also possesing enough power to flatten both Super Jock and Doll face, the former having enough strength to go toe to toe with Superboy.