The superhero team Teen Titans have had their fair share of members with different powers. One of the better-established ones in the world of comic book adaptations is Beast Boy. With the power to change into animals, he's currently a member of the Titans in Titans and bound by close friendship to Raven.
Beast Boy is just one part of Titans' ensemble but his personal history and life are much more complicated than the show has shown so far. Considering his long history in the comics, there are plenty of things about Gar that will be familiar only to those who read the comics - from his romantic relationships to the real extent of his powers.
10 He Can Shapeshift Into Any Animal
Titans only showed Beast Boy shapeshifting into two animals - into a tiger and a snake. However, this ability of his is much more complex in the comics.
In the comic books, the Beast Boy can shapeshift into any animal he chooses. An interesting detail is that the first animal he ever shapeshifted into (albeit not of his free will) was a monkey.
9 He And Raven Are A Couple
When young DC superheroes are concerned, Raven and Beast Boy are a couple. They have yet to start dating on the show but if Titans follow in the comics' footsteps, it will happen sooner or later.
In the comics, their relationship isn't without difficulties and they even broke up several times. Despite that, Beast Boy and Raven remain one of the favorite couples of the readers.
8 His Parents Wanted To Change Him Into A Monkey
Written like this, it sounds bizarre but Garth's parents wanted to change him into a monkey. More specifically, into the West African Green Monkey.
They hoped the transformation would cure Garth's deadly illness Sakutia because West African Green Monkeys were immune to it. That worked, but the serum his father had injected him with had a side effect. It allowed Gar to transform into any animal from thereon.
7 His First Appearance In The Comics
Even though Beast Boy is one of the lesser-known DC superheroes, he's been around for decades. He's much older than his youthful appearance would suggest.
Gar's first comic book appearance happened in November 1965 in the superhero team Doom Patrol. Gar then went on to join the Teen Titans and the rest is history.
6 He Had Other Nicknames
Every superhero needs a superhero nickname, and some heroes try out a few of them before they decide on one. Gar's best known as the Beast Boy but he also used other names in the comics. Unsurprisingly, most of them have a connection to his special brand of powers.
Gar called himself Arsenal at one point, Changeling, Animal Man, or Menagerie. With the exception of Arsenal (this nickname later went to another superhero), all of Gar's alternate names suggest what he can do.
5 He Can Transform Into Alien Creatures
As said above, Gar can transform into any creature. He usually chooses animals from Earth because it makes sense for him to shapeshift into animals he knows well.
However, he can also transform into various alien creatures. He's used this particular facet of his power several times in the comics, for example when he needed to infiltrate places he otherwise wouldn't have had access to.
4 He Had An Unusual Job
Most superheroes either don't have a civil job or when they do, they keep down to Earth and choose a type of job in which they won't draw too much attention to themselves. That's not what Gar did, though.
Before he joined the Teen Titans, Gar lived in Hollywood and worked - unsurprisingly - as an actor in a science fiction series called Space Trek: 2020. However, that wasn't his only acting work. Other than Mary Jane Watson, it's rare to see comic book characters work in the acting industry which makes Gar's career choice even more interesting to the readers.
3 Raven Wasn't His Only Love Interest
Even though Raven remains Beast Boy's most prominent and best-known love interest in the comics, she wasn't his only love. He also fell for the metahuman Terra at one point. Terra had the power to control and manipulate Earth.
They liked each other but Gar was devastated when he learned that Terra was a spy. Deathstroke sent her to the team to observe them and even manipulate them. Needless to say, their relationship didn't survive this blow, and Terra later died.
2 He Became A Team Leader
In Titans, it doesn't look like Gar will lead his own team anytime soon. That's what happened in the comics, though.
After the Infinite Crisis on Infinite Earths, it was up to Beast Boy to lead Teen Titans and recruit new members since a large majority of the previous members had left the team. Gar also at one point decided to form a new version of Teen Titans alongside Starfire and Cyborg.
1 He Had A Daughter In The Future
Speaking of Gar's relationships, not everybody knows that his future version married Rose Wilson and they even had a daughter together. Rose had also appeared on Titans but she seemed closer with Jason Todd aka Robin and not Beast Boy.
It's unlikely that the relationship between Gar and Rose will ever make it into the show since it only happened in a dark potential future where a lot of superheroes had died and Gar was one of the few Justice League members who managed to survive.