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    Beast Boy

    Character » Beast Boy appears in 1998 issues.

    The classically green-skinned member of the Doom Patrol and later the Teen Titans, Beast Boy has the power to transform into any creature of any size.

    Changes of the Changeling

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    iragulasuperbia

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    #1  Edited By iragulasuperbia

    So with the New 52, we're seeing more changes than usual with Beast Boy. Primarily the fact that he's red, purportedly due to some link that he has with the Red. I like this. That or following the addition of a red Hulk to the Marvel universe convinced them to do so. Either way, the look isn't too bad.

    I'm curious though about what else has changed about him. Pre-Flashpoint, his history followed that he contracted Sakuita, was saved and gained his abnormalities from a cure his parents made who subsequently died, and he went through a number of traumatic experiences before he was adopted by Steve Dayton and Rita Farr. He served as a member of the Doom Patrol and was also a child actor before becoming a Teen Titans. He had a notable relationship with Terra before the betrayal and later Raven.

    Now he's a member of the Ravagers, currently on the run with Terra after escaping the Culling where he's spent an unknown amount of time. It's unclear how he got his powers, but given the supposed connection to the Red, the idea of a cure causing the effects seem unlikely. Depending how long he's been there, he's probably experienced a number of traumatic experiences. However it's unknown whether he has any attachment to the Doom Patrol, who haven't even appeared in the New 52 yet. Also, he's now having dreams of Brother Blood, who was the leader of the Church of Blood, a group that worshipped Trigon. Why? I have no idea.

    While I'm eager to see what has changed about Beast Boy, I'm also slightly apprehensive. What about the rest of you?

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    Avenging-X-Bolt

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    #2  Edited By Avenging-X-Bolt

    He needs a tail. Young justice has convinced me of this.

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    iragulasuperbia

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    #3  Edited By iragulasuperbia

    @Avenging-X-Bolt: He can grow one easily enough. They've improved his powers. He can now take on animal aspects while retaining a human shape. And while the tail suits the primate looking Young Justice Beast Boy, I'm not sure how it'd look on the comics one.

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    Beast_in_the_Shadows

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    @iragulasuperbia: That hasn't been shown in the comics, so far all his transformations since the New 52 have been complete, natural animal forms (except for one stupid time when he was a polar bear and turned just his head back to human which is best we all probably ignore because it looked ridiculous) and occasionally they have show some transitionary forms, but that's with all his parts changing at the same rate so it doesn't really apply.

    As much as they are changing Gar, the one that upsets me most is that he has been de-aged AGAIN. He always makes some impressive steps in growing and maturing, then a crisis comes along to undo it all. It's quite aggravating.

    How ever i don't think too much of his past has changed. In the first issue of Teen Titans, several monitors showed green animals fighting crime or saving people. Also in Red Hood, Roy asks Kori if she remembers any of the old group, gar being one of the names he lists. Now both of these could be details that were added before they knew where they were taking Gar, but until they reveal something that contradicts them, I am going to assume that they are part of his story.

    As for him being red, I imagine that N.O.W.H.E.R.E. did not give him his powers (as we have seen him using the classic green ones) but more i imagine they sought to either twist, strengthen, or bend his powers to their will. Trauma, genetic experiments or even direct attempts to manipulate the Red could have caused him to change color as I'm sure all the experiences helped him loose pieces of his memory.

    However, even tho his memory is anywhere between cloudy to gone, he still seems to retain his heroic ideals. While all the other escaped Ravagers were finding themselves thrilled with fighting and enjoying taking on any threat (minor or not) Where as Gar's greatest motives were heroic. When he see's a vision of the Ravagers being killed by Brother Blood, instead of running to protect himself, he rushes to find them (a group that he doesn't have any strong connections or bonds to) just to save them. Later we see him saving a group of civilians who were going to be sacrificed by blood's followers.

    Now why he is connected to Blood, if Blood is a follower of Trigon it is little surprise as Gar has been used in the past as a conduit to either reach, channel or draw out Trigon (being referred to as a key in these instances too) Something about the shape shifting powers working in a way to thin and mix Human and Demon energies which apparently opens portals.

    Others however (myself not included) think that this Blood is not connected to Trigon, rather he is working in connection with the Red or Rott. Again, I don't think that is the case as the only evidence it is based on is one line that I think is deliberately design to misdirect people to suspecting the Red. However, if that is the case, Blood connection to Gar would still be clear.

    I am worried that some of his better moment no longer apply (moments from John's and Krul's runs, his mini series, his time with the Doom Patrol) But from what I've seen so far he still has the potential to be the same character for the most part (I say potential only due to the current memory loss he has keeping him from being everything he might have been) there is nothing to suggest that his origin with his anthropologist parents and the disease and the cure could all still be there, just with an addition of whatever later happened at N.O.W.H.E.R.E. Heck when Rottworld wraps up in Animal Man in October we might even get a way to turn him green again. the only thing I am certain of that worries me is that they will most likely rehash the Judas Contract and it just annoys me that they need to do that story again when the first time did everything it needed too.

    For these thing we will have to wait til Ravagers' zero issue which will focus mainly (if not solely) on him.

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    iragulasuperbia

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    #5  Edited By iragulasuperbia

    @Beast_in_the_Shadows: Yeah, I've noticed Beast Boy is always Beast Boy. He never seems to get any older even when the Kid Flash he originally was in the Teen Titans alongside drops the 'Kid' from his name. I'm kind of excited to see how they connect him to the Red. However, I feel with N.O.W.H.E.R.E., there isn't enough room to fit in his past with the Doom Patrol. Since there is no connection to Deathstroke, the most likely revision of the Judas Contract would probably involved Terra betraying them to Harvest and N.O.W.H.E.R.E. However, we know that she's not working for him right off because Beast Boy wasn't supposed to escape. Which makes me interested in Harvest's intent for him.

    I can't wait for that zero issue if you're right about it.

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    AweSam

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    #6  Edited By AweSam

    @iragulasuperbia said:

    @Avenging-X-Bolt: He can grow one easily enough. They've improved his powers. He can now take on animal aspects while retaining a human shape. And while the tail suits the primate looking Young Justice Beast Boy, I'm not sure how it'd look on the comics one.

    He can, but he won't. I agree, he should look more like a monkey.

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    Beast_in_the_Shadows

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    @iragulasuperbia: Actually, I think the Judas contract moment will happen right away. The solicit for the next issue mentions not everyone being able to resist Bloods "seductive charm" This could refer to Lightning as she was already puppy dog eyed after he healed her (clear mind control going on there) However, I have a suspicion that it will be Terra. We have only seen her and Gar interact for a bit, but there is already a rift forming between them. She wants to leave the other to their own while he wants to save them. She wants to fight while he clearly isn't that ok with it. It seems like eventually one will feel the other doesn't want the same thing as them and a line will be drawn. Add to that Terra's dubious history of siding along side creepy men. Finally the cover for this issue feature Gar looking more furious than we've ever really seen him. Now what could make Gar that mad aside from the only friend he remembers having betraying him for a madman?

    The issue also promises that not everyone will survive. That could mean Blood gets the axe, but that would be a rather unceremonious end to a potential villain. Gar and Caitlin are safe as they are the biggest characters featured in this title. Ridge seems to be the writer's favorite so I doubt he is going anywhere (also all those three are mentioned in issue 5). This leaves Terra, Thunder and Lightning (unless they are counting some minor character who happens to be around just to get slain) Now Thunder and Lightning's powers seem to be at least partially dependent on each other so if you killed one of them you make the other rather worthless. Whilst Terra's death would only leave an emotional effect and mostly just for Gar. It all seems like Terra's betrayal and death is the most likely event.

    As for issue 0, this is exactly what the solicit says...

    • Detailing the brutal abduction by N.O.W.H.E.R.E. of Beast Boy and Terra!

    • Learn how the paths of these two heroes will affect the entire team!

    The issue will be all about him and Terra. And as I am still sure that Terra will either day, or be a traitor and kill someone, I imagine her inclusion in this is to show the partner ship they formed in the colony so we better under stand why her betrayal was so hard for him.

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    iragulasuperbia

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    #8  Edited By iragulasuperbia

    So, I'm a bit behind in posting this, but . . . eh. With the Zero Month, we got to see the origins of the characters, but after reading the Ravagers, I feel like it raises even more questions. Before he was taken in by N.O.W.H.E.R.E., Gar was a seemingly normal boy who was mutated by Non, his genetic structure allowing him to somehow access the Red (a descendant of one of the past Totems?). He is also calling out for Rita when he's captured, not for his mom or dad. This suggests that he's living with her, but what resulted in that situation? I want to see more of what's going on with BB.

    Also, while I am used to Gar being green, I don't think it's such a bad thing that he's red. His animal forms appear significantly more intimidating and it makes sense with how it's tied into the Red. It doesn't ruin him cause he's still the same character, for the most part. This is just my opinion. However, I would like to see a return to his more jovial personality. He's cracked some jokes, but nowhere near enough in comparison to pre-Flashpoint.

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    colonyofcells

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    #9  Edited By colonyofcells

    All of the old doom patrol characters seem to have been rebooted and lost all the old pre-flashpoint history : gar, robotman, niles caulder, etc.

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    homosexuality

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    #10  Edited By homosexuality

    is he still red.

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    iragulasuperbia

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    @homosexuality: So this is an extremely late response to your inquiry, but yes. He is still red. However, on the cover of Ravagers 12, he appears green. I'm not sure I like it.

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    colonyofcells

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    Since Titans Go is starting soon, maybe dc thought it would be wise to use green for both tv and the comics.

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    Beast_in_the_Shadows

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    @iragulasuperbia: Yeah, although I strongly prefer a green Beast Boy, with the origin they gave him, him turning from red to green makes no sense what-so-ever.

    However, since the origin they gave him was so weak and unoriginal, I'm fine with it being ret-conned and forgotten. For example, let's say he already had his powers and his past like he originally had before N.O.W.H.E.R.E. captured him. Now, they want to make him into a violent killer, but with a lifetime of being a hero he could never do it. So they intentionally wipe his memory, then implant him with the memory that he was a regular, powerless kid until they capture him and give him his powers. This would explain why when he was powerless in his "memory" he would still call out for members of the Doom Patrol. If he never had powers but was with the Doom Patrol, that wouldn't make sense at all. However if bad guys wanted to erase his memory, it would be easiest to just erase the big points that get in their way. His new memory would still need a family, so thy might as well leave those names the same.

    Now, if he had his original powers with his original color then the rest is easy to explain. Simply say that he was green, but N.O.W.H.E.R.E. wanted to see if they could make him more powerful. So they tweak his DNA, which malfuntions with his connection to the RED and turns him red. Then, when the whole thing about Rotworld happens, they could say that his connection to the red was healed and it would no longer influence his color, therefore making him revert to the color given to him by the virus in the first place.

    Or, since Ravagers is ending and was rather unremarkable and unlikely to leave any noticeable ripple in the DCnU, they could just ignore that any of it ever happened and ret-con him with a new origin story soemwhere else.

    At this point I would be fine with either just so we could move on and make good stories with Gar again.

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