Beast Boy

Garfield Mark Logan, better known as Beast Boy, is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He has also gone under the alias Changeling. Created by writer Arnold Drake and artist Bob Brown, he is a shapeshifter who possesses the ability to metamorph into any animal he chooses. The character first appeared in "The Doom Patrol" #99 (November 1965) and is usually depicted as a member of the Doom Patrol and the Teen Titans.
Beast Boy has appeared in numerous cartoon television shows and films, including as one of the Teen Titans in Cartoon Network's eponymous series, voiced by Greg Cipes. Gar Logan makes his live adaptation debut in the DC Universe and HBO Max series "Titans", played by Ryan Potter.
Publication history.
The first DC Comics shapeshifter named Beast Boy, unrelated to Garfield Logan, first appeared in the "Legion of Super-Heroes" feature in "Adventure Comics" #324 (September 1964). He was one of the young super-heroes of the planet Lallor, who turned villain and was killed off in #339 (December 1965), just after Garfield Logan's first appearance in the November 1965 issue of "Doom Patrol". This Beast Boy was allowed a last-minute reformation and heroic death.
Created by writer Arnold Drake and artist Bob Brown, the Garfield Logan with whom readers would become more familiar made his first appearance in "Doom Patrol" #99 (November 1965).
Beast Boy started out as an impolite teen who spoke his mind and wouldn't do what he was told. Drake explained that "we wanted to have a character who could assume many different animal forms, and also wanted a kid in the strip, someone the kids could relate to. They were starting to talk back to their elders. They were starting to make their elders "earn" their respect. So Beast Boy was an attempt to picture what I thought was happening among some of the young people."
Fictional character biography.
As a young child, Garfield Logan lived with his scientist parents in Africa, who were developing "reverse evolution" to bring back extinct creatures. He received a certain amount of abuse from his parents, consequently becoming increasingly reclusive. Garfield contracted a rare illness called Sakutia, which is lethal to every species except the West African green monkey. To save his life, his father used an untested science experiment to change him into a West African green monkey for 24 hours so that the virus could die out. The serum had the unintended effect of turning his skin, eyes, and hair green and granting him the ability to metamorph into any animal of his choice. His parents later died in a boating accident; to this day, Garfield believes he could have prevented their deaths. After he is rescued from two kidnappers who forced him to use his powers to help them in their crimes, Garfield is left under the care of a court-appointed guardian, the despicable Nicholas Galtry. Galtry realizes that his embezzlement from the Logan estate will be exposed when Garfield reaches maturity and receives his inheritance, and thus plots to kill Garfield. The villains he hires to kill Garfield are stopped by the Doom Patrol; Elasti-Girl and her husband Steve Dayton expose Galtry's embezzlement and adopt Garfield. Garfield later joins the Doom Patrol. His uniform includes a purple cowl, and he takes the code name Beast Boy. During his tenure with the Doom Patrol, Garfield has a romantic relationship with a girl from his high school named Jillian Jackson. After he saves her from Galtry (then using the alias "Arsenal"), the relationship dissolves. Later, Beast Boy is deeply affected by the deaths of the Doom Patrol.
Joining the Titans.
He later uses both his lime green skin and shape-shifting powers to play an extraterrestrial character on a science-fiction television series, "Space Trek: 2020", but it is soon cancelled due to lawsuits from both "Star Trek" and '. During its run, Garfield joins the West Coast team of the Teen Titans (known as Titans West) and is later part of the New Teen Titans assembled by Dick Grayson and Raven. By this time, Garfield has taken the name Changeling"'. This name change is not explained until a later flashback revealed that a new version of an old Doom Patrol enemy, the Arsenal (from "DP" #113, August 1967), the identity this time assumed by Gar's ex-guardian Nicholas Galtry, mocked the name "Beast Boy" so much that he ruined it for him. He remains with various incarnations of the team and forms a close friendship with Cyborg.
Garfield's character is often used as comic relief through his joking and "wise cracking". However, this is only a facade, as he uses humour to hide a deep inner pain. Logan has suffered many hardships in his life, some described previously. Other notable incidents include; during his time with the New Teen Titans, Garfield's stepfather was discovered to have been driven mad by the helmet which was central to his powers, and when Garfield fell in love with Terra, a girl with earth-manipulating powers and fellow Teen Titans member, who turned out to be a spy working for the assassin Deathstroke the Terminator and who is eventually killed. Despite all his struggles, Garfield is friendly, humorous and upbeat. Like most of the other founding members of the New Teen Titans (including Nightwing), he considers the group to be his family and the people to whom he will always be closest. Though he often grapples with being taken seriously and an inferiority complex, Garfield loves and trusts his former teammates completely.
Limited series and Titans West.
Seeking to resume his acting career, Changeling leaves the Titans and moves to Los Angeles in order to live with his screenwriter cousin Matt. Failing to find any serious work, Gar attempts to clear his name after having been framed for a series of murders around the city. He eventually discovers that the real culprit is Gemini, the daughter of his old Doom Patrol foe Madame Rouge. Blaming Gar for her mother's death, Gemini reveals that she has hired a pair of mercenaries known as Fear and Loathing to kidnap Tim Bender and Vicky Valiant, Gar's former "Space Trek: 2020" co-stars. With the bound and gagged actors in tow, Gemini attempts to flee, only to be defeated by the combined might of Beast Boy (who had decided to return to this code name at this time) and his former Titans West teammate Bette Kane. Once again in the public eye, Gar decides to ignore his newfound celebrity status and resume his superhero career. Along with Bette and Matt, Gar purchases a new apartment. While accompanying Bette to Tokyo for a tennis match, Gar is possessed by a Tengu, but is freed by Japanese superhero Bushido. Following a failed attempt to recreate "Titans West" as "Titans L.A.", as recounted in "Titans Secret Files" #2 (October 2000), Garfield rejoins the main team.
Mentor.
Following the apparent death of Donna Troy, the Titans and Young Justice both disband. Moving back to San Francisco, Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy decide to form a new team of Teen Titans, acting as mentors to the former members of Young Justice. During the events of the Infinite Crisis, Beast Boy assembles a team of past and present Titans to battle Superboy-Prime. Despite a valiant effort, the Titans are easily defeated by the impossibly powerful Superboy-Prime.
"Infinite Crisis" and "52".
Beast Boy is present as a member of the team during the events of the 2005–2006 storyline "Infinite Crisis".
In the 2006 - 2007 weekly series "52", following the death of Superboy, Wonder Girl and Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire leave the team, and Beast Boy takes the role of leader. Beast Boy recruits new Titan members, but the new teenage superheroes are more interested in their fame than seeking true justice. When Steel calls the Titans for help, most of the Titans abandons the team, leaving only Beast Boy, Raven, and Zatara. Beast Boy manages to recruit Aquagirl, and Offspring, and the new team aid Steel on a raid on Lexcorp. Beast Boy also participated in World War III. Due to Beast Boy's effort, the Teen Titans returns to its normal state after Wonder Girl and Robin's return.
"One Year Later".
While the events of "Infinite Crisis" unfold, details of Beast Boy's life "One Year Later" are revealed in the current Teen Titans comic book. "Teen Titans" vol. 3, #34 (May 2006) shows scenes from the year between the conclusion of Infinite Crisis and One Year Later, from the damaged Cyborg's POV. Garfield leads the Teen Titans, before quitting the team following his breakup with Raven. He then rejoins his original team, the Doom Patrol, saying that the team doesn't need his help and that Robin can handle leadership. He is also feeling uneasy about remaining in a team without Cyborg. After Cyborg awakens, Beast Boy and the rest of the Doom Patrol help the Titans fight off the Brotherhood of Evil, who have managed to clone the Brain. The clone is a failure, however, and Monsieur Mallah ends up tearing his head off so that he can preserve his master's brain.
After returning, Beast Boy is infuriated to discover that the Chief has been manipulating them and trying to do the same to Kid Devil. Garfield and his partners stand up to the Chief and make him step down as the Doom Patrol's leader. Beast Boy stays with his old team, saying that they still need him; however, he does answer a call from Raven to help the Titans combat Titans East. Raven later hints that she still loves Garfield and offers to help him heal after the battle with Deathstroke, but Garfield remains uncertain.
Titans.
In "Titans" #1 (2008), Gar is attacked by Trigon, who floods his room with fire and brimstone. In retaliation, Gar joins the new Titans team, wearing a costume similar to his old Changeling uniform. In later issues, the group is attacked by the Children of Trigon, who use Garfield's suppressed anger and rage against Raven, who is also affected in the same manner. The two attack the other, but the fight is eventually broken up when the Titans begin to recover from the attack.
Raven's three half-brothers then use her and Gar, transforming him into a demonic beast, to act as keys to open a portal to Trigon's realm. Raven uses her own power to influence greed in others to make her half-brothers steal what little power Trigon had left. The portal is closed, and Trigon's sons, believing they have gained great power, leave the scene, returning Gar to normal.
Following this, the team has settled themselves down at Titans Tower (supposedly the New York base), where they attempt to recover from recent events. Raven and Beast Boy go out together on a "not-a-date". During this, Raven reveals that since she faced her brothers, she has begun to feel as if she is losing control and slipping back under the thrall of her father's powers. Although Beast Boy rejects the idea, he is blind-sided as Raven gives in to her darker side, under the influence of her half-brothers' coaxing. Using her teleporting powers, she and the Sons of Trigon vanish, leaving a distraught Beast Boy behind to warn the others.
The Titans are later able to save Raven, using a gem that she had entrusted to Donna Troy. The gem carried a piece of her pure-soul self, which then cleansed the evil of Raven. Afterwards, Raven gave Beast Boy and the rest of the team similar magical items in case she should ever be corrupted again. Raven later turns down Beast Boy's attempts to reconcile completely as a couple, although there are hints that she deeply regrets this but views it as a necessity for Beast Boy's safety.
Return to Teen Titans.
After Beast Boy is once again rejected by Raven, Cyborg gives him a talk about his need to act like a clown while around his old friends, telling him that if he ever wants to get on with his life, he needs to forget about the past and move forward. Still depressed, Gar goes to San Francisco after being asked to fill in for Owlman at a superhero convention. After causing a scene by attacking a man dressed in a Deathstroke mask, Gar leaves the convention in a huff, only to stumble upon a massive battle between the Teen Titans and Cinderblock. Despite protests from the team's struggling leader Wonder Girl, Beast Boy shows true leadership by saving the life of Bombshell and stopping Static from making a suicidal charge against the seemingly unbreakable villain. With Beast Boy's help, the Teen Titans defeat Cinderblock, with Gar leaving and telling them to take all the credit. Upon returning home, Beast Boy decides to take Cyborg's advice about moving forward, resolving to move to San Francisco and take over the leadership of the Teen Titans.
During the events of the 2009–2010 storyline "Blackest Night", Beast Boy faces Terra again after she is reanimated as a Black Lantern. She attempts to lull him into a false sense of security, but Gar ultimately attacks her and severs her arm after her fellow Lanterns attack the other Titans.
After the Blackest Night ends, Beast Boy and Wonder Girl lead the Titans to the city of Dakota after Static is kidnapped by a metahuman crime lord named Holocaust. Throughout the rescue mission, Beast Boy and Wonder Girl clash over who is actually running the team, with Gar even going so far as to call Cyborg (who is now a member of the Justice League) for help behind Cassie's back. During the final battle with Holocaust, Cyborg arrives with Superboy and Kid Flash in tow, and, close to defeat, Holocaust desperately tries to kill all of the Titans by using his pyrokinetic abilities to burn the building they are in to the ground. Beast Boy ultimately rescues his teammates by transforming into a mythical phoenix, with Cyborg later telling him how proud he is of him.
In the final issue of this incarnation of the Titans, Superboy-Prime and his Legion of Doom attack Titan's Tower. Raven stops Kid Flash just before he can kill Inertia. Then she reveals her soul-self to Headcase, terrifying and defeating him. After the Legion of Doom is defeated and Superboy-Prime is bound to the Source Wall, Beast Boy and Raven have a talk about her difficulty in reading Solstice's emotions, and their encounter with Headcase. Eventually, Raven starts to open up about her true feelings. While it was her inner darkness that scarred her entire life, she was even more frightened of what her love for Beast Boy might cause her to do. Beast Boy makes it clear he doesn't want to escape from any part of her. Touched, Raven decides that she needs to embrace the positive feelings inside her rather than just her negative ones. Beast Boy assures her this is part of being human, and points out, "I think you've worried enough about the bad...so why don't we focus on the good for a change?" With that, they share a heartfelt kiss to renew their relationship and ultimately embrace their love for each other. 
The New 52.
In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Garfield is first reintroduced through a passing reference in "Red Hood and the Outlaws" #1. The reference includes Cyborg, Garth, Nightwing, Lilith and a new unseen character named Dustin, who are established to be members of a team that Starfire seemingly no longer remembers.
"The Ravagers".
The first appearance of Beast Boy in The New 52 shows him as a member of the new superhero team The Ravagers, led by Caitlin Fairchild. Beast Boy is red instead of his traditional color green. The decision to change Beast Boy to the color red was because of a relation to "The Red", the extradimensional power source of Animal Man's abilities, and while it wasn't revealed how the change occurred, it can be assumed it was due to the experiments done to Beast Boy and the hundreds of young metahumans held captive by the shadowy organization N.O.W.H.E.R.E.. Also in the Ravagers team are Terra, Thunder and Lightning and a new character Ridge. In The New 52, the Ravagers are a group of super-powered teens who have escaped the plans of Harvest in The Culling. The team was formed after the Teen Titans and the Legionnaires stuck in the present day were abducted by Harvest, and then later stopped the villain and escaped.
Beast Boy and Terra develop a strong bond with each other during imprisonment in a place named The Colony, where Harvest forces super-powered teenagers to fight each other and undergo experiments in order to find the strongest among them. The selected few are intended as a team to serve the organization N.O.W.H.E.R.E. in perfidy. It was in one of their experiments that Gar revealed his powers for the first time in The New 52 continuity. In this place Beast Boy is defended by Terra from being attacked by other super-powered prisoners, returning the favor later when Terra is in danger.
Once free of the Colony, Terra and Beast Boy separated from the rest of their fellow Ravagers, hiding together in a cave. Later Beast Boy started having nightmares with the remaining Ravagers all covered with blood. It was later revealed that the one causing his nightmares was Brother Blood as he was targeting the one who could be used as a key to his master gain access to The Red. Due to his connection with The Red, Beast Boy was the only one who could sense the evil intents of Brother Blood and therefore the key Blood was looking for. After sensing his presence, Beast Boy convinced Terra to help the remaining Ravagers who were captured by Blood to be used as a sacrifice in his ritual and they eventually manage to stop and defeat Blood.
After those events Fairchild led the team to a place in Los Angeles. There the team is confronted by Superboy and Niles Caulder. Caulder is introduced as a long time known of Fairchild and is also implied that Caulder has known Beast Boy although their connection has not been explored. Later Fairchild and Caulder introduces the team to a deep underground science & engineering facility, which provides headquarters and combat training for the team in their campaign against the organization of N.O.W.H.E.R.E. as meanwhile Harvest has sent Rose Wilson and Warblade to recapture them.
As the series progresses Beast Boy and Terra start developing romantic feelings for each other as Beast Boy finally finds someone who cared for him in the middle of the countless tortures and painful experiments he has suffered back in the Colony. Later Terra opens up her feelings for Gar teasing him: "Why in the world haven't you tried to kiss me yet?" as they share a passionate kiss. After the kiss they become a couple.
With Rose and Warblade having difficulties in capturing the Ravagers, Harvest makes a deal with Deathstroke to hunt down the Ravagers and attack each one using a special weapon called the Abeo Blade. Succeeding in invading Caulder's place, Deathstroke manages to "kill" Ridge (in his human form - a child), Caulder himself, Thunder and Lightning using the weapon, and also cuts Warblade's head off. As Deathstroke chooses an already injured Beast Boy as his next victim, a desperate Terra tries to stop him in fear of losing Gar. But her attempt falls short as she is stabbed and burned by Deathstroke's Abeo Blade. As a horrified Garfield sees Terra burning right before his eyes, pure rage takes command of him as he transforms into a werewolf and delivers Deathstroke a hard blow in the face which tears off his mask and bloodies his nose and mouth. Still in berserk state Beast Boy turns into a dino and lashes at Deathstroke, causing the support beam to collapse and bury him in a pile of rubble. After that Deathstroke lets an unconscious and bloodied Beast Boy on the ground believing that he is dead. After the battle with Beast Boy, Deathstroke proceeds and stabs Rose and then Fairchild with the Abeo Blade finishing his job. Later it is revealed that the Abeo Blade was not a killing weapon and instead a teleportation device, sending Terra, Rose and the other Ravagers except Beast Boy back to the Colony once again. As part of the deal Harvest gives Rose and Terra to Deathstroke.
"Teen Titans".
As an almost dead Beast Boy is left on the remains of the facility he is approached by Raven. After being touched by her, Beast Boy awakens and when he asks if Harvest has sent her she apologizes stating that she brought him into the fray much sooner than she expected and completes: "Hush. We are birds of a feather now... You are mine to control" as Raven mind-controls him and teleports them to New York, where she uses him as her minion in the battle of her father Trigon and the Teen Titans. Beast Boy, under Raven's influence, pulls the Titans and Psimon away from the fight. When Psimon kills the police reinforcements, Beast Boy sees it and squeezes him, resulting the both of them to cancel out each other's powers and rendering them unconscious.
After regaining consciousness Beast Boy sides with the Titans in their fight against Trigon and his sons in New York City.
Succeeding their first encounter and battle against Trigon, Beast Boy decides to leave the group to assist Bunker who decides to see his recently awaken boyfriend who was in coma.
"Forever Evil".
After the departure of the two, the Titans confront Johnny Quick, a member of the Crime Syndicate to arrive from Earth-3 at the conclusion of the "Trinity War" event. As a result, the Titans got separated and tossed in the time stream. Due to this, Red Robin, Wonder Girl and Superboy were sent 20 years in the future and Red Robin decides to lead the rest to the Batcave of the future to get answers. They get there only to see that almost everything in there is destroyed, including the deaths of Batman and Alfred. Then the group is suddenly teleported to the Justice League Watchtower where Garfield, now labeled as Beast Man (and green), confronts them and informs that he is the last Justice Leaguer standing. He also shows the others that he along with Rose Wilson, are training superpowered teenagers to become a team themselves. In a private conversation with Red Robin, Gar reveals the events that led to the situation of this future is Jon Lane Kent (the son of Superman and Lois Lane of this timeline) went on rampage killing all metahumans, also states that Superboy is the clone of Jon Lane Kent, and finally tells Red Robin that his future self entrusted on him as Garfield was able to know his name, a thing that no other Titan knew, and that was all part of future Tim's plan to use Garfield as the source of this information for his past self, so he might be able to change the course of the future. After that Garfield with Rose's help, rescue an injured and unconscious Jon Lane, due to a clash with Kon. Now with Jon Lane treated but still unconscious, even though Gar and Rose express their desire to kill him for all the things he has done, they put in action a plan that involves changing the places of Kon and Jon Lane as the Superboy, dressing the latter in a copy of Kon's costume as another attempt to avoid those terrible events from happening again. With the return of Red Robin and Wonder Girl, now with Raven at their side, the plan is fulfilled as the three Titans departed with Jon Lane instead of Kon. Right after they leave, Rose questions Garfield if it was the right thing to do, after stating that he puts "way too much faith in the Titans", like he has always been which Gar responds: "I damn well hope so Rose. I damn well hope so". It is also revealed that in this timeline Rose and Garfield are wife and husband and their daughter named Red, is one of the teens in training.
DC Rebirth.
Beast Boy once again joins the Teen Titans led by Damian Wayne along with Starfire, Raven, and Kid Flash.
Following and Justice League: No Justice, the breaching of the Source Wall causes the powers of many of Earth's metahuman population to become erratic. In Beast Boy's case, he occasionally transforms into a monstrous, hulking version of himself, often going on rampages until he can regain his senses. Wanting to assist other metahumans affected by the Source Wall like himself, he joins Nightwing's new incarnation of the Titan's, joining with Raven, Miss Martian, Donna Troy, and Steel. Following a confrontation between the Titans and Mother Blood, Beast Boy gains control over his new transformation.
Powers and abilities.
Beast Boy has the ability to morph and transform into "any" animal that he has seen himself or has seen in an illustration (as is the case when he shapeshifts into an animal such as an extinct dinosaur or a funny animal). These transformations took only a second and Beast Boy has demonstrated that he is capable of rapidly changing his form with little or no effort expended. As a corollary to this power, he can transform back into his default form if an external force like magic transforms him into an animal. His power enables him to completely alter his body mass, being able to take the shape of animals far larger and heavier than himself, such as an elephant, a hippopotamus, or a "Tyrannosaurus rex" (though until recent stories, such larger forms would physically exhaust him), or smaller and lighter animals such as mice, arachnids and insects. As a result of his rapidly changing genetic structure and mass, Beast Boy has an increased healing factor comparable to that of the Creeper and Deathstroke, allowing him to heal from bullet wounds, burns, and broken bones in a matter of seconds, and in some story lines regrow entire limbs. He cannot change or return to a form if the space he occupies is too small and he cannot normally break the confines (as seen when he attempts to transform into a Tyrannosaurus Rex underneath a bridge and hits his head, instantly aborting the transformation). His power also enables him to radically alter his body structure and take forms of animals without limbs, like snakes, or those without skeletons like a jellyfish. In two notable instances, he has even taken the form of multiple individuals simultaneously (once as a swarm of fireflies, and again as a mass of barnacles). In another comic he was seen to take on the form of what appeared to be a green version of Beast from X-Men.
Beast Boy's transformations have not been limited to Earth life forms. When on a rescue mission in the Vegan system to free Starfire, he easily transformed into a Gordanian, one of the green-skinned alien warriors native to the system, in order to sneak Robin and Cyborg onto a warship. In the "Who is Wonder Girl?" story arc, he was able to infiltrate another alien world after being shown a green-skinned creature native to the planet; he had some difficulty with this change, claiming that Earth-animal forms he knew instinctively, but was successful in the transformation. When he pursued Madame Rouge in revenge for her role in killing his foster mother, Rita Farr, he began transforming into creatures that do not even exist, products of his subconscious rage against the villainess.
While an animal, he gains all of the physical abilities, attributes, and characteristics of said animal, such as greatly enhanced superhuman strength (a gorilla), superhuman speed (a cheetah), and enhanced durability (a turtle), and abilities such as flight (various birds), and aquatic breathing (various fish). He can even gain the specific poisons and toxins produced by specific snakes. He also gains the ability to survive or otherwise live in the same hostile environments some animals can, as seen in one comic where he morphs into a parasitic worm to become resistant to the stomach acid and immune system of Brother Blood when he dived into the villain's intestinal tract to retrieve Raven's chakra. While in animal form, Beast Boy retains his human intellect, memories, and the ability to speak. No matter what form he takes, his skin, hair, and eyes remain green, making most of his animal forms easy to distinguish from real animals of that species. (In the DC-Marvel crossover with the X-Men, his attempt to infiltrate Darkseid's forces and stop him from recreating Dark Phoenix, was frustrated by the fact that Darkseid's minions are not green.) In the early comics, his coloration would change to that appropriate to the animal form he had taken, with only his head remaining green.
When Raven implanted Garfield with an evil seed of her father Trigon, he began to transform into more demon-like creatures. Eventually, he found himself more comfortable in these horrific shapes than as a human, and stayed shifted. After becoming completely corrupted by the evil seed, he was used by Raven and Trigon, but eventually returned to normal. "Titans" #4 reveals that a small part of that seed still remains within him, which Trigon's sons manipulate, using the demonic energies to open the portal to Trigon's realm.
According to Wolfman and Perez, the reason as to why Garfield is never seen shapeshifting into other humans, although his powers should allow it, is because any human he turns into would be green and there would be no point for him to use that ability unless he was turning into someone like the Hulk.
In the series "Tales of the Teen Titans", it's implied that Garfield also has unexplored psionic abilities. Although Mento's psionic helmet is only capable of amplifying its user's psionic abilities, Garfield was shown to successfully use it to trick the Teen Titans into perceiving him as Slade.
He maintains great proficiency in hand-to-hand combat, and is capable of defeating well-trained hand-to-hand fighters, though he's not considered to be at a level comparable to Batman or Deathstroke.
At one point, he has displayed an ability to read lips, which he used to discover an assassination plot that Galtry devised against him.