Titans’ Beast Boy Has Become DC’s Most Tragic Hero (Despite His 2000s Status as Comic Relief)

Despite the large role the Teen Titans played in DC animation in the 2000s, any fans of that era will likely have a hard time recognizing Beast Boy now, especially in the comics. In both the Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go! cartoons, Beast Boy played the comic relief role, bringing humor and hijinks to the darkest scenarios. Now, however, Beast Boy is unwillingly vying for the role of most tragic hero in the DC Universe.

In late 2023, DC released Titans: Beast World by Tom Taylor, Ivan Reis, and Lucas Meyer, a large event which saw the Titans face their first big test of leadership as Amanda Waller manipulated Beast Boy into infecting the globe with spores that transformed their hosts into raging animals.

Though the main series concluded after six issues, the aftermath was handled in the ongoing Titans series by Taylor and Meyer, giving a full look at the impact on the Titans’ – and specifically Beast Boy’s – mental health. All this comes after Gar’s brutal almost-death in the pages of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths by Joshua Williamson and Daniel Sampere, when Deathstroke shot Beast Boy in the eye in order to announce his war on all heroes.

Beast Boy Bears the Brunt of Tragedy in the Current DC Universe

Titans: Beast World Changed Everything for Garfield Logan

While the Titans have never been without suffering, the violence brought to Garfield’s arcs has almost seemed personal. Garfield was still recovering from Deathstroke’s Titans Academy attack from Dark Crisis when Titans: Beast World happened, obliterating much of his sanity and sending him once again down a path of physical and mental injury. Though the Titans book has sought to help Garfield come to terms with the lives lost during the events of Titans: Beast World (and failed due to Raven’s mental tampering), the true impact on his character as a whole has yet to be seen.

In 2003, the animated Teen Titans soared in popularity, making characters like Beast Boy, Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven household names. Today, its legacy still exists through Teen Titans Go!, whose humor is designed for an even younger audience. But there’s no denying that certain characters on the show are lent an extra childish touch for comedic effect, Beast Boy being one of them. It’s to the point where Beast Boy’s current comic state and the version of him that young kids are familiar with are nearly unrecognizable just based on the tone of the stories alone.

Beast Boy Is Still the DC Universe’s Silliest Hero – Especially for Kids

The Contrast Between Different Versions of the Character Is Stark

Characters shouldn’t stay exactly the same when switching between creators and mediums, as each story deserves its own take on these icons, but the contrast between how Beast Boy is represented in kids’ media versus the central DCU is notably different from other DC characters. The amount of pain Beast Boy has gone through in the comics, specifically in the last few years, is so different from how he’s depicted in animation that it makes his comic arcs that much more tragic. DC has certainly affirmed the amount of range the character has when it comes to storytelling.

Garfield Logan’s role within DC continuity as a whole might have started out as comic relief, but there’s no doubt that Beast Boy has become much more of a tragic character, with the contrast between his iterations showcasing just how far he has unwillingly fallen. Titans: Beast World caused a lot of suffering within the DCU, but it was Beast Boy who suffered the most. While Titans seems ready to finally give Beast Boy the reprieve he deserves, it’s good to know there’s a large universe where Beast Boy isn’t always the plot’s sacrificial (green) goat.

Titans: Beast World is available now from DC Comics.