Teen Titans is an North American animated television series created by Glen Murakami, based on the DC Comics characters of the same name.
It is based primarily on the run of stories by Marv Wolfman, and George Pérez in the early 1980s New Teen Titans comic book series. Teen Titans aired on Cartoon Network on July 19, 2003 and also later aired on Kids' WB!. Initially, only four seasons were planned, but the popularity of the series led to Cartoon Network ordering a fifth season. The final episode of the show aired on January 16, 2006, though it was later followed by a film that premiered on September 15, 2006, serving as the series finale. Teen Titans became one of Cartoon Network's most critically acclaimed series, renowned for its character development, and serious themes. During its run, the series was nominated for 3 Annie Awards and 1 Motion Picture Sound Editors Award. Spin-off media included comics, DVD releases, video games, music albums, and collectible toys. Reruns have aired on Cartoon Network's sister channel, Boomerang.
Background
- Secret identities
Unlike most other superhero television series, the Teen Titans characters maintain their superhero identities at all times, with any hints at the concept of an alter ego or secret identity rarely explored. Traditionally, in the comics, the characters Raven, Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Terra don't have secret identities (Starfire being a translation of her Tamaranean birth name, Cyborg's real name being public knowledge, Beast Boy's natural appearance being a dead giveaway, and Raven and Terra simply not taking another identity).
In particular, some fans debated which Robin leads the Teen Titans, with several hints throughout the series suggesting it is Dick Grayson. These include Robin's alternate dimensional counterpart Larry in the episode "Fractured" being named Nosyarg Kcid ("Dick Grayson" spelled backwards), Robin's future counterpart in the episode "How Long Is Forever?" having taken on the identity of Nightwing (Grayson's identity in the DC continuity), and a glimpse into Robin's consciousness by Raven in the episode "Haunted" showing the memory of two acrobats falling from a trapeze (the death of Grayson's acrobat parents being the catalyst for him becoming Robin). Further connections to the Batman mythos include two references in the episode "The Apprentice, Pt. II", when Robin responds to a suggestion by the villain Slade that he "might be like a father to [him]" with "I already have a father" (which transitions to a shot of flying bats) and a fight scene on the rooftop of a building labeled Wayne Enterprises.
The policy of not mentioning the characters' secret identities is broken in the fifth season, where the Doom Patrol members refer to Beast Boy by his real name, Garfield (though the Titans still continue to call him Beast Boy). In "Go", the Titans ask Beast Boy about his mask and he states it hides his true identity, though Raven points out that with green skin, pointed ears, and fangs, he "has no secret to hide".
- Style
Teen Titans frequently used self-referential humor and its animation style is heavily influenced by anime. Along with its heavy anime influence, the animation also has signs of past DC cartoon styles seen by Glen Murakami, and previously Bruce Timm. While certain aspects of all characters are changed to accommodate a lighter hearted anime style, different aspects can be compared to earlier shows such as Batman Beyond or Justice League, and bear resemblance.[citation needed]
On different episodes, the series' theme song's lyrics alternate between English and Japanese, sung by the J-pop duo Puffy (called "Puffy AmiYumi" in the United States to distinguish it from Sean Combs). Voice director Andrea Romano revealed in an easter egg on the season 3 DVD that the Japanese theme song means it will be a silly episode, while the English theme song means it will be a serious episode (except for "Nevermore" and "Every Dog Has His Day").
Plot
In space aboard an alien cruiser, screams ring out as aliens prepare to deliver a prisoner. The cell door cracks open and a figure steps out – Starfire. Starfire sends her captors flying and sets off an alert before flying off into space and escaping to Earth.
In the city, a caped figure looms over a burglar then disarms him with a birdarang. Bats swarm out of the shadows and then Robin shows up and takes him out while talking out about how he's new in town and is now working alone. Their fight is interrupted when Robin sees a flash of light through the sky and goes to investigate. Starfire has crashed to Earth in the middle of a street and is confused by the alien environment and unable to speak English. She lashes out, wrecking cars and buildings, as she tries to free herself from her manacles. Robin throws a birdarang to catch her attention and then the two fight. From the shadows, Raven watches as Beast Boy leaps in to send Starfire flying. Another figure, Cyborg wearing a sweat suit to conceal his body, shows up as well.
Starfire manages to free her hands enough to fire energy blasts at the three heroes, missing but further devastating the city. When she weakens, Raven appears to them and raises a force field, suggesting that fighting isn't the answer. Robin approaches Starfire and manages to get through to her, calming her enough to free her from the manacles. She kisses Robin, gaining the ability to speak English, then tells them to leave her alone lest they meet destruction and flies off.
Robin goes off on his own to track down Starfire and the other three go their own way although Beast Boy wants to hang out. Cyborg pulls off his hood to reveal his cybernetics but Beast Boy is impressed rather than repulsed. They're interrupted when the alien cruiser flies over the city then releases a holo-projector that lets the aliens state they're here to recover Starfire, and they'll destroy anyone who gets in their way. Hundreds of the alien slaves fly out seeking Starfire. Robin returns and agrees to team up – Raven is reluctant and warns that if they know who she was, they wouldn't want her around. Robin accepts her anyway and they're off.
Raven empathically senses Starfire and Beast Boy picks up the scent while Cyborg scans for her unique heart beat. Starfire is in a video store eating the candy and popcorn, and doesn't believe they're friends. Starfire reveals the slaves, the Gordanians, are delivering her to the Cita5 del and the others vow not to let her go back. The Gordanians arrive and the five heroes fight back, driving them off. The Gordanian leader, Trogaar, sends another message announcing the city will be destroyed then puts his ship into position.
The group starts to blame each other, until Raven interrupts and Robin resolves they need to get out of the mess together. Raven teleports them aboard the ship and they head for the firing controls, while Cyborg reassures her she’ll fit in. Starfire apologizes to Robin but they're interrupted by the arrival of Gordanian soldiers while Trogaar orders his men to prepare the firing sequence. He’s interrupted when the five heroes arrive and take out his men. Raven saves Beast Boy by blocking Trogar's attacks with a forcefield and in turn, Robin saves Raven from his attacks. When Trogaar stuns Robin, Starfire lashes out at him and then Cyborg joins in. He knocks them back and Robin suggests Cyborg rewire his electronics and parts into a weapon. As the trio are surrounded by Gordanians, Raven commands them to "Get away from my friends!" and she lashes out with her powers, causing the ship to crash into the water knocking out all the Gordanians except for Trogaar. He prepares to destroy her and Beast Boy, but Cyborg takes him out with his Sonic Cannon at the last moment from behind, with a simple triumphant statement of "Boo-yah."
Standing on the island where the Gordanians placed their hologram-transmitter, they congratulate one another and Starfire gives them her name in their English language and asks them if she can stay. They welcome her as a friend and decide to stay together, with Robin and Cyborg provides communicators for them all to stay in contact and Robin's final words being: "When there's trouble, you know who to call".
The Teen Titans are enjoying a fair when Starfire is suddenly abducted by an alien probe. The team succeed in fighting it off, but are left wondering where it came from. They return to Titans Tower, to discover Starfire's older sister, Blackfire, has stopped by Earth for a visit.
Starfire is initially overjoyed to see her elder sister, however her sisterly feelings change when Blackfire is well-received by the other Titans, and Starfire feels abandoned. Her attempts to restore her team's interest in her prove futile, and only sees the others getting further impressed by Blackfire. While attempting to spark the Titans' interest by having a movie night, Blackfire steals the attention by inviting them to a disco. Starfire is left alone when the other Titans manage to find partners for a dance. Robin tries to talk to her, but Blackfire drags him off. Starfire once again encounter the probes, which manage to overwhelm her. The Titans come to her rescue, where Blackfire destroys all the probes with light purple-colored blackbolts from her eyes. When Robin asks her how she did it, she replies with a hint of a smile that it was just a lucky guess. Cyborg remarks that they need that kind of luck and offers Blackfire a spot on the team. Starfire, who is still recovering from the attack, gasps in shock.
Starfire is sad about this at first, but then comes to the decision that the team will be better off without her, and decides to leave. Just when she is about to leave Robin appears and starts to talk to her but just then, the aliens who sent the probes show up and take Starfire captive. Robin attacks their ship and sets her free, but just as the other Titans show up and prepare to battle, the aliens announce that they are Centauri police, here to capture a Tamaranean thief, who they say is Starfire because she's a Tamaranean and because she was wearing the Centauri Moon diamond that Blackfire gave her, but she'd never even been to the Centauri Moons. But the Titans know who has been to Centauri and that there's another Tamaranean on Earth. Seeing the Centauri Moon diamond on Starfire, Robin realizes they must be talking about Blackfire because she's been to the Centauri Moons; that's where she'd gotten the diamond, and she told Starfire herself.
It all turns out that Blackfire had stolen the diamond and gave it to Starfire and was only pretending to be the Titans' friend so she could get away with her robberies in Centauri and let her sister take her place in jail. The Titans find that Blackfire is trying to escape Earth to return to Tamaran. Starfire, enraged, flies after her sister, and engages her in combat long enough for the Centaurians to capture her. Blackfire is taken away by the Centauri Police, vowing revenge on her sister. The scene changes, and Starfire is shown sitting alone when Robin joins her. He encourages her by saying that no one will be able to replace her, which reveals a smile on her face.
The super-villain training academy known as H.I.V.E. Academy presents three of its finest cadets for their first mission. The H.I.V.E. Headmistress gives a demonstration of the powers of Jinx, Gizmo and Mammoth to one of the organization's clients – the mysterious mercenary known only as Slade. Slade decides that for their final exam, they need to fulfill one simple task – destroy the Teen Titans.
At Titans Tower, the teenage superheroes engage in their everyday lives. Cyborg and Beast Boy argue about the location of the remote control. Robin and Starfire have a discussion about lightspeed travel while the curmudgeon Raven grimaces perpetually. After finding their refrigerator was full of with blue, furry food, the Titans decide to go into town for pizza. While at the pizza parlor, they are set upon by the three students of the H.I.V.E Academy. The battle is fairly one-sided, Cyborg is knocked out early as he has a rocket attached to his back and is sent flying, Starfire rushes after him, taking them both out. Robin, Raven and Beast Boy put up a spirited yet futile fight as they are well defeated by the H.I.V.E. Robin is knocked into a sewer and presumed missing, Beast Boy and Raven manage to escape back to the tower. Cyborg and Starfire return but are dismayed, Starfire especially, to hear of the defeat and Robin's disappearance.
Having soundly defeated the Titans, the H.I.V.E. invades the tower and decides to take control of their headquarters, Titans Tower. They arrive just as the Titans return home and the fight is quick and decisive. Jinx hurls a wave of magic that sends the remaining Titans flying away from the tower. Claiming it as their new home, they immediately begin renovating the Tower, transforming it into a giant letter "H". Gizmo has Cyborg's right arm mounted on the wall as a victory trophy. Jinx moves into Raven's room and tries on Raven's cloak, while Mammoth gorges himself on the strange blue food that he finds in the refrigerator.
Back on the mainland, Robin appears and rejoins the group. He comes up with a plan to take back the Tower. Cyborg is still remotely linked to his missing limb, and activates an electronic eye in one of its fingers. The arm removes itself from the wall and plugs itself in to the Titans computer mainframe whereupon it deactivates the Tower’s security systems.
The Teen Titans return, determined to taking back their home. They engage in a fight with the young supervillains and manage to succeed in defeating them. Robin grabs Gizmo by the neck and interrogates him, forcing him to reveal the person responsible for setting up these attacks on the Titans. Gizmo sneers and drops the name "Slade". Robin has no idea who Slade is, but is anxious to find out.
Later, back at his hidden subterranean lair, Slade watches footage of the H.I.V.E.'s battle with the Titans. He is pleased to know that the Titans received his "message".
As the Titans send the H.I.V.E. members packing, they set about repairing the damage to the Tower. Cyborg still cannot find the TV remote but soon realizes that it has actually been placed in its proper location. Raven is irritated that somebody was in her room, citing that "Nobody goes into my room". Beast Boy suffers the most traumatic revelation as he discovers that all of his compact disks have been categorized alphabetically. Robin however, is still concerned over the identity of Slade.
A thunderstorm occurs in Jump city with lots of thunder and lightning but these are the two teenage brothers Thunder and Lightning who are causing the storm. They roam the town looking for fun. Unfortunately, their idea of fun is wrecking everything in sight, regardless of those being injured in the process. At Titans Tower, Beast Boy attempts a prank on Cyborg, only to accidentally pull the prank on Starfire instead. Beast Boy is at a loss of words, and Starfire starts to ignore him. Robin reports of an incident on the bridge, where the Titans rush to the scene.
Thunder and Lightning are wreaking havoc on the bridge, destroying cars and alarming the people. The Titans fight them and during the fight Beast Boy asks Thunder why he is doing this. Thunder claims that it is fun, but his expression shows his uncertainty. The brothers retreat after they are nearly overwhelmed by the Titans. Robin suggests they look everywhere for the two brothers. Unfortunately for Beast Boy, he is paired up with Starfire, who ignores all his jokes and apologies. Beast Boy inquires why he cannot go with Cyborg instead, to which Robin points out Cyborg's inability of flight. Their awkward silence is broken when Thunder and Lightning arrive on the scene.
Starfire and Beast Boy both have an intense fight against the two brothers, during which Beast Boy tries to persuade Thunder to stop all his violence. Thunder is about to reply when an old man arrives on the scene with a small explosive device. He destroys the nearby statues and incapacitates Beast Boy and Starfire. The old man claims that he has nature-based powers as well and that he can help them in maintaining use for their powers. Beast Boy crawls out of the debris as a spider and desperately tries to dig through the debris to find Starfire. As he searches, he is finally overcome with guilt and apologies to Starfire for pulling the prank on her. Starfire walks up behind, and smiles at Beast Boy, who is overjoyed that she is unharmed. Beast Boy gets down on his knees and begs Starfire for forgiveness, to which she tells him he already has. The two teammates then reconcile and become friends again. Starfire then tells him that they need to stop the evil brothers, to which Beast Boy replies that he doesn't think they're evil, he thinks that they're just like him.
Meanwhile, on a hilltop overlooking Jump City, the old man tells Thunder and Lightning to set fire to some scarecrows. Lightning says there is no fun in doing that. The old man tells them to try. They use their respective powers to burn all the scarecrows. They ask for more targets when there are no more. The old man tells them that they have already done an excellent job and throws a disk into the sky. The burning scarecrows have their fires joined together by the power of the disk in a Mark of Scath and a gigantic fire monster emerges from the fires. The monster heads towards Jump City, content on destroying the city. The Titans intercept the monster and begin to fight it. They pull away all the trees around them, but the monster continues to burn, and continues to pick up speed.
Meanwhile, Robin has slipped away and reached the top of the hill where the old man is smiling down at the scene. Robin fights the old man, but is overpowered by him. Thunder and Lightning once again engage with the Titans, with Thunder having another confrontation with Beast Boy. Thunder tells Beast Boy to stand aside, but Beast Boy reasons with him and tells him the old man was wrong in that having powers made someone special, and it is how someone uses the powers that makes them special. This finally makes Thunder see the error of his ways and he intervenes with Lightning when he's about to attack Starfire. Lightning is angered by Thunder's betrayal and the two brothers get into a fight. Robin continues fighting the old man, but he is too powerful and Robin gets pinned against a tree.
Lightning then manages to knock Thunder to the ground, and is about to finish him off, however Thunder asks Lightning whether he is still having fun. Lightning replies that he isn't, and Thunder tells him to observe the Titans who use their gifts to help others. Finally giving in, Lightning combines with Thunder to form rain, which they send down from the sky at the fire monster, extinguishing its flames. When the old man is about to kill Robin, a lightning strike hits the old man's staff, shocking him and releasing Robin at the same time. The old man's mask crumbles away, revealing Slade to be the old man all along. Robin glares angrily, recognizing his arch-enemy. Slade tells Robin that he had manipulated the powers of Thunder and Lightning so that he could create the fire monster. Slade drops down on his knees, telling Robin they will meet again, and with a swish of his cloak, disappears.
After the rain has stopped, a rainbow appears. On the other side of town, Cyborg asks Robin why Slade would want to destroy the city. Robin replies that he doesn't know, but he's going to find out. Meanwhile Beast Boy asks Starfire if he is forgiven. She says he is now a Milnip wooserlop, to which Beast Boy celebrates, before asking her if that's a good thing. Starfire only laughs as she flies away, with Beast Boy running after her.
On a sunny day, the Teen Titans are having a picnic in the park. As they play a two-on-two round of football, Cyborg suddenly shuts down. After rebooting, he tells the other Titans that his main power cell is dying and that he needs to go back to the Tower to change it. On his way, he runs into a young boy with a hand prosthesis who declares himself Cyborg's biggest fan because they are so much alike. Before he can properly relate to the subject, an alarm calls Cyborg off, and he races to help his teammates.
Mumbo has just robbed a jewelry store and prepares to evaluate his loot in Tito's Junkyard when the Titans attack him. They are soon joined by Cyborg, who has jury-rigged an emergency battery pack. But during the fight the pack gets smashed up, and before he can extricate himself from the hind part of a garbage truck, Cyborg's power cell is completely drained, and along with the refuse he is tipped over into a container with a hole which leads to a system of underground tunnels. Mumbo hijacks the truck for his getaway, and the Titans, thinking that he has taken Cyborg hostage, pursue him. After a long chase through the city, the Titans finally manage to bring down Mumbo, but they realize that they have been going after the wrong target, and so they quickly rush back to the junkyard.
Meanwhile, Cyborg eventually comes to and finds himself in the underground abode of a strange hermit calling himself Fixit, who has recharged his power cell. Though thankful, Cyborg attempts to get back to the surface to rejoin his friends, but Fixit obstructs him, first subtly, then by force. Thinking of Cyborg as a kindred spirit and in urgent need of "repairs", he intends to replace Cyborg's remaining human parts with cybernetic implants to relieve him of his biological imperfections, as he once did with himself.
Cyborg can't break free or fight back, rendered helpless by Fixit's technopathic powers. But as Fixit prepares to link his mind with Cyborg's in order to download the latter's memories into his new brain, he catches glimpses of the day in the park and of Cyborg's feelings for his friends. The emotions behind them shock and overwhelm Fixit, making him realize that he had lost his own humanity by having made himself a machine. Cyborg offers him to help regain what he has lost, an offer Fixit accepts.
Later on, back in the park, Cyborg re-encounters the kid again, who has brought along a friend. When the boy points out what he has in common with Cyborg, Cyborg goodnaturedly points out that the most important thing about them is not their artificial parts, but what they are attached to.
The villainous Dr. Light attempts to loot a gold transport, and even the Teen Titans seem helpless in stopping him. But Dr. Light makes the mistake of antagonizing Raven, who suddenly turns demon-like and draws him inside her cloak with shadowy tentacles. Robin manages to snap her out of it, and Dr. Light is released just in time, though severely traumatized. When Beast Boy asks her about what has happened, she snarls at him, her eyes glowing red, before she calms again and slinks into the shadows.
The next morning, Beast Boy tries his best, but achieves only the worst, trying to cheer Raven up again. He goes to apologize (with a little "encouragement" from Cyborg) but finds her room empty. Against Cyborg's advice, Beast Boy ends up exploring it and discovers a strange-looking mirror, which sucks him and Cyborg into another dimension, a strange void filled with floating rocks and blood-red stars inhabited by shadowy creatures; they presume that this is Raven's home and the mirror serves as a gateway of sorts.
Right after their arrival, they are beset by a flock of shadowy ravens, and they encounter Raven, who is, to their astonishment, unusually giggly and wearing pink. She tells them of a forbidden door which would be the only way back to Earth. While Beast Boy and Cyborg make their way to the gate, they pass through a sort of dreamworld; the pink Raven vanishes and then pops up again, this time clad in grey and unusually timid and apologetic. She leads them through an indestructible maze, but at the exit they are attacked by a double-faced statue, which proves impervious even to Cyborg's sonic blasts. But just when all hope seems lost, Raven —this time in green and unusually bold —arrives and destroys the creature.
The confusion about Raven's sudden personality and coloration switches is swiftly answered: What Beast Boy and Cyborg have encountered were not one but three different Ravens, each one representing distinct but hidden facets of her personality. Then the real Raven, who has since noticed the intrusion into her room, clears the riddle completely: The strange void is really Raven's mind, and the mirror is a meditation device for tapping into her subconscious. At the moment, however, the inside of her mind is a very dangerous place because the dark heritage of her father, represented by the aspect Rage, had gotten loose the previous night.
This aspect, in the form of her father, attacks Raven right after her elaborations, threatening to consume her completely. Even though she tries to get them back to Earth, since if she loses, both would be trapped inside her mind forever, Beast Boy and Cyborg remain by her side and take up battle against the Rage. Upon their suggestion, Raven fuses her remaining facets within herself and, using their united power, defeats the Rage and reabsorbs her. This fight also creates a new sense of friendship between the three, and upon their return, Raven graciously accepts Beast Boy's offer to cook up dinner.
The Puppet King sends the Titans a cardboard box of five puppets resembling the Titans, which they take a liking to. During that night the Puppet King emerges from his hiding place in the box and activates his controller, which has the ability to transfer the soul of a person into a puppet. This causes Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy to have their souls trapped in their puppets. However when the Puppet King tries this on Raven and Starfire, Raven uses her powers to stop the process, although their souls get switched and placed in each other's bodies by accident. They escape Titans Tower, with the Puppet King-controlled Titans in pursuit.
Raven and Starfire have problems using each other's powers, as Raven cannot fly or fire starbolts in Starfire's body and Starfire cannot levitate or use telekinesis in Raven's body. After they narrowly missed capture by a mind-controlled Beast Boy, they share with each other stories about their life and learn about each other as a person, in the hopes of understanding their respective powers.
After Raven and Starfire fully understand each other they rush to an abandoned theater, where they witness the Puppet King about to burn the puppets with the souls of the boys still inside. Raven and Starfire prevent this from happening as they steal back the puppets. The Puppet King sets the mind-controlled Titans at the girls, attacking them ruthlessly. When they are overwhelmed and the puppets reclaimed by the Puppet King, who is about to burn them, there seems to be no hope left until Starfire uses Raven's telekinesis ability to counter the brainwashed Titans. This distracts the King long enough for Raven to fire a starbolt, which knocks the controller out of the Puppet King's hand, landing in the fire which was originally intended to burn the puppets. With the controller destroyed the King loses the magic force keeping him alive and returns back to a puppet and the Titans have their souls returned to their bodies. The next day, while Raven is meditating, Starfire asks if she can join her, and Raven asks Starfire if she wants to go to the mall together. Together they peacefully relax after a day's work.
The Teen Titans hear rumors of a criminal named Trident who sinks toxic waste ship on a regular basis. With this information, they head out on their T-Ship to the place where the ship had sank. The Titans get attacked from all directions by Trident, who seems to be able to be in many places at once. The T-ship gets damaged in the process. An underwater superhero, Aqualad, saves them and volunteers to look for Trident, much to the annoyance of Beast Boy. Raven and Starfire develop crushes on Aqualad while Tramm, a friend of Aqualad's, helps fix the T-Ship.
Beast Boy and Aqualad separate in a cave and they get attacked by Trident, each of them defeating Trident. However when they reunite both of them claim to have fought Trident even though they were in different places. Beast Boy then suggests that there could be more than one Trident, making Aqualad scoff at the possibility of that happening. Suddenly they discover cocoons of Trident hanging from the ceiling of the cave and an army of Tridents jump out, planning to ambush them. Before they are overwhelmed, Beast Boy figures out their weakness: since they are clones and have the same brain and personality, he challenges them to decide "which one of you is the best", since "there can't be more than one perfection". Because Trident is arrogant and thinks he is the best, so do his clones. The clones start fighting amongst each other and during this time Aqualad and Beast Boy try to escape, but not before the rest of the cocoons of Trident hatch. The newly hatched Tridents attack them en masse until they escape back into the sea, where the rest of the Titans show up, their ship repaired by Tramm. The ship collapses the mouth of the cave with its missile attack.
With the Tridents sealed off in the cave, Aqualad and the Titans return to Titans Tower where Robin presents Aqualad a Titans Communicator and making him an Honorary Titan. Aqualad returns to the sea, not before having a race with Beast Boy.
One night, a thief wearing a uniform whose markings and style match Slade's approaches a pedestal holding a computer microchip, only to find the Teen Titans waiting for him. But the culprit has brought backup, and in the ensuing struggle the thieves manage to get away with the microchip, despite the Titans' best efforts. As they split up during escape, one of them is caught by Robin and Starfire; but as Robin proceeds to questioning him, he has to find out that this Slade lackey is really a robot. Once again, Slade mocks Robin through his robot commando, raising his ire even more, and tells him to be patient, as they will soon meet face to face.
Back in Titans Tower, the Titans are having a discussion about what had just happened. Starfire invites Robin to join in, but he declines saying that he is too busy about finding information about Slade. Starfire persists in inviting him, but Robin departs, brooding. A few nights later, the Titans are hiding on the rooftop of the company building. Robin calls Cyborg and claims that he is on the far side, picking up a lead, and asks the others to handle the security job without him. Soon afterwards, a supervillain in black and a red X mark appears, grabs the computer chip and then disappears from the vault. The Titans face him, but the mysterious villain, calling himself "Red X", takes out the Titans with uncanny ease and a precise knowledge about their weaknesses and then teleports away into the night. When the Titans return to the Tower, they meet Robin, who says his lead on Slade was a dead end and walks back to his room by himself again. Starfire tries to approach him but once again gets rejected. Soon afterwards, Red X calls up Slade and offers the stolen chip in return for a partnership, but Slade instructs him to recover two additional computer chips first before there can be any further negotiations.
The Teen Titans are about to go to sleep when Robin contacts them, informing them that he has spotted Red X stealing a computer chip downtown. The Titans hurry to the location, where they see Robin chasing and getting netted by Red X. The Titans chase Red X to a subway station, where the villain engages them in combat. Strangely, during the fight Beast Boy falls onto the subway rails and is about to be overrun by an approaching train when Red X inexplicably saves his life before departing, leaving the Titans thoroughly puzzled.
When the Titans once again return to the Tower, Starfire walks to Robin's room and requests that they talk. Nobody responds, so she enters. When she accidentally bumps a small metal ball lying on a table, it falls to the ground and projects a holographic image of Robin being trapped under Red X's net; it is then that Starfire realizes what had been going on with him lately. Meanwhile, Red X once again contacts Slade, who expresses his satisfaction and agrees to a meeting to discuss Red X's future. When the transmission is finished, Red X takes off his mask, revealing himself as Robin.
Red X once again sets out to steal the final chip, but after he nabs it, Slade appears and reveals that he had always known that Red X was really Robin. Right after this revelation, Slade grabs the chips and the other Titans crash in, going for Red X first. Robin unmasks himself, giving his teammates a major shock, and chases after Slade while a large platoon of robot commandos appears and surrounds the Titans. Robin chases Slade across the rooftops and engages him in combat, with Slade all the time taunting Robin about his obsessive drive to catch him and having now broken the trust of his friends. Robin finds himself outclassed, but Slade strangely seems reluctant to let Robin come to harm. Finally, Robin manages to overpower Slade - only to discover that this, too, is just a robot, leaving him back at square one and worse.
Later, Starfire visits Robin in his quarters to try and understand his motives. Robin justifies his actions by arguing that he couldn't tell them his plans for fear that they would not play their parts convincingly. When he bitterly states that he still hasn't found out anything about his opponent all the same, Starfire replies in sad solemnity that there is something Robin, and Slade now have in common: that they do not trust anyone.
Episodes
- 65 (total)
Theme Songs
- Opening
- Teen Titans (all episodes sung in Japanese and English)
- Closing
- Teen Titans Let's GO (all episodes)
Films
- Teen Titans movie (Trouble in Tokyo)
Voice Cast
- Japanese
- Takashi Onozuka as Robin/Dick Grayson, Nightwing/Dick Grayson & Red X
- Koko Tsukimoto as Starfire/Kory Anders
- Ken Uo as Cyborg/Victor 'Vic' Stone
- Yuki Kodaira as Raven/Rachel Roth
- Koki Miyata as Beast Boy/Garfield Logan
- Hidenari Ugaki as Deathstroke/Slade Wilson
- Toko Aoyama as Gizmo
- Nami Kurokawa as Jinx
- Keikou Sakai as Mammoth
- Kenichi Mochizuki as Cinderblock
- ??? as Plasmus
- Mayumi Asano as Blackfire/Komand'r
- ??? as Adonis
- ??? as Doctor Light
- ??? as Aqualad/Garth
- ??? as Speedy
- Hana Takeda as Bumblebee
- ??? as Mas Y Menos
- Natsuko Kuwatani as Terra/Tara Markov
- Isshin Chiba as Trigon
- Katsuya Shiga as Mumbo Jumbo
- Hideyuki Umezu as Mad Mod
- Jiro Saito as Killer Moth
- ??? as Kitty
- Go Inoue as Kid Flash/Wally West
- Fumitoshi Miyajima as Billy Numerous & Negative Man
- Hiroshi Shirokuma as See-More
- ??? as Mento
- Keiko Nemoto as Elasti Girl & Pantha
- ??? as Robotman
- ??? as Silkie
- Makoto Ishi as Thunder & Lightning
- Shigeru Nagashima as Professor Chang
- ??? as Chu hui/The True Master
- ??? as Red Star
- ??? as Raskov
- ??? as Kole
- ??? as Gnarrk
- Yumi Kikuchi as Melvin
- ??? as Timmy
- ??? as Teether
- Takayuki Okada as Control Freak
- Akihiko Shimizu as Brother Blood
- Kunihiro Kawamoto as The Brain
- ??? as Madame Rouge
- ??? as Monsieur Mallah
- ??? as General Immortus
- ??? as Headmistress
- ??? as Kai
- ??? as Cron
- Mutsumi Sasaki as Fixit
- Tetsu Shiratori as Puppet King
- Naomi Kusumi as Trident
- Tsuguo Mogami as Overload
- Toshitsugu Takashina as Soto
- Ryohei Nakao as Spike
- Joji Nakata as Master of Games
- Seiji Sasaki as Johnny Rancid
- English
- Scott Menville as Robin/Dick Grayson, Nightwing/Dick Grayson & Red X
- Hynden Walch as Starfire/Kory Anders, Blackfire/Komand'r & Madame Rouge
- Khary Payton as Cyborg/Victor 'Vic' Stone
- Tara Strong as Raven/Rachel Roth, Elasti Girl, Kitty, Kole & Teether
- Greg Cipes as Beast Boy/Garfield Logan & Adonis
- Ron Perlman as Deathstroke/Slade Wilson
- Lauren Tom as Gizmo & Jinx
- Kevin Michael Richardson as Mammoth, See-More & Trigon
- Dee Bradley Baker as Cinderblock, Gnarrk, Plasmus, Silkie, Overload & Soto
- Rodger Bumpass as Doctor Light
- Wil Wheaton as Aqualad/Garth
- Mike Erwin as Speedy
- T'Keyah Keymah as Bumblebee
- Freddy Rodriguez as Mas Y Menos
- Ashley Johnson as Terra/Tara Markov
- Tom Kenny as Mumbo Jumbo & Fixit
- Malcolm McDowell as Mad Mod
- Thomas Haden Church as Killer Moth
- Michael Rosenbaum as Kid Flash/Wally West
- Jason Marsden as Billy Numerous, Red Star
- Xander Berkeley as Mento & General Immortus
- Peter Onorati as Robotman
- Judge Reinhold as Negative Man
- S. Scott Bullock as Thunder
- Quinton Flynn as Lightning
- James Hong as Professor Chang
- Takayo Fischer as Chu-hui/The True Master
- Ed O'Ross as Raskov
- the late Russi Taylor as Melvin & Timmy
- Diane Delano as Pantha
- Alexander Polinsky as Control Freak
- John DiMaggio as Brother Blood & Spike
- Glenn Shadix as The Brain & Monsieur Mallah
- Andrea Romano as Headmistress
- Rino Romano as Kai
- David Sobolov as Cron
- Tracy Walter as Puppet King
- Clancy Brown as Trident
- Jim Cummings as Master of Games
- Henry Rollins as Johnny Rancid
Songs Used In The Show
- K2G (Puffy Ami Yumi)
Trivia
- The Teen Titan characters appear in many Cartoon Network bumpers. Oddly enough Beast Boy is silent during bumpers. However Beast Boy can be heard during the Kids WB bumpers instead. Ironically the Teen Titan characters don’t interact with other characters from Cartoon Network cartoon series. The show had aired on Toonami with a lot of promo commercials. It aired on Toonami on July 3, 2004 to May 27, 2006.
- In the English version, Starfire and her sister share the same voice actress. But in the Japanese version, she and her sister are voiced by two different voice actresses.
- The Teen Titans' real names are as follow: Beast Boy - Garfield Logan; Cyborg - Victor 'Vic' Stone; Raven - just 'Raven' (later she assumes the name 'Rachel Roth'); Starfire - Koriand'r (a.k.a. 'Kory Anders'); Terra - Tara Markov; and Robin-Dick Grayson.
- In the episode "The Mad Mod", the Mad Mod tries to brainwash Starfire by propping her eyes open, and forcing her to watch dizzying images. This is a reference to the Ludovico method used to make Alex non-violent in the movie A Clockwork Orange (1971) which starred Malcolm McDowell, who does the voice of the Mad Mod, as Alex.
- Killer Moth's house is decorated identically to that of the Brady Bunch.
- The opening credits of the show featured two versions of the theme song: one in English and the other in Japanese. The Japanese version is not a direct translation of the English lyrics. Beast Boy sings a translation of the Japanese Lyrics in "Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo".
- In the DC comics, Raven is not a telekinetic. Thanks to the popularity of the show and her character, her comic counterpart was brought back from the dead.
- Slade Wilson (A.K.A. Deathstroke The Terminator) and Brother Blood are significantly different from their comic book counterparts. In the comics, Slade was a high priced bounty hunter in the mold of Boba Fett. In addition, the name Deathstroke was considered too violent-sounding, so the producers decided to stick with his real name. Brother Blood got to keep his codename, but his background was completely altered. He is still a sorcerer, but he was changed to a more traditional criminal mastermind, instead of the demonic cult leader of the comics.
- The show makes multiple references to Gotham City, the home of another DC comic hero, The Batman, who was partners with Robin before he joined the Teen Titans.
- The show's theme song is sung by the famous Japanese female rock stars Puffy AmiYumi.
- Many parts of the series are inspired by the anime FLCL (2000) , most of them being animation style. Occasionally, these references actually involve story and character points. The most repeated example is Beast Boy's love of mopeds - a Vespa motor scooter (also used here in "Mad Mod") belongs to Haruhara Haruko, the female lead in FLCL.
- Cartoon Network asked the writer and producers to do something they rarely get asked to do; They were asked to take risks. Sam Register, the Vice President of Cartoon Network, said to the creative team "I want you to do things you're not supposed to do".
- When Tara Strong originally auditioned for the show, she thought she'd be a lock for Starfire since she did the voice of Bubbles from The Powerpuff Girls (1998). However, Hynden Walch recorded a really amazing audition for Starfire that just blew the producers away. Due to this strong got the part of Raven instead and at comic con for Teen Titans Go. She admitted that she doesn't want to be Starfire.
- Marv Wolfman, who wrote for the comic series, wrote two episodes, one of which was "Deep Six", the episode which involves Aqualad, the other, "Titans East", for the third season.
- The show's version of Terra is more conflicted within herself whereas the comic version of the character was just really, really evil.
- The Teen Titan lineup featured in this show is based on the "classic" lineup featured in the 1980s comic by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. Building on the momentum of this series, the comic restored this lineup, teaming them with younger protégés. Missing from that lineup are the original Kid Flash (Wally West, who was added later on) and Wonder Girl (Donna Troy, who could not be used due to the Wonder-Embargo).
- DC Comics had originally optioned the Teen Titans to be an animated series in the early 1980s, but since the rights to Robin (in conjunction with Batman) were already held by another animation company at the time, a series never went beyond the development stage.
- Each of the Titans was supposed to have a specific color scheme. That's why Beast Boy's uniform was changed from red-and-white to black-and-purple.
- Near the end of the episode "Revolution", Mad Mod has small statues of Raven, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire on a chess-like strategy table. The poses are taken directly from the line of maquettes released from DC Direct. A Robin statue was made but wasn't included.
- "Final Exam" was the third episode made, but the first aired. "Car Trouble" was the 11th made, but the 13th aired.
- When the show was in early development, the show runners were considering giving Robin a different look by throwing out the red shirt and green underpants for a halfway-to-Nightwing costume.
- The Teen Titans were originally animated as part of "The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure" (1967) in three 7-minute cartoons ("The Monster Machine"; "The Space Beast Roundup"; and "Operation Rescue"). The team consisted of Aqualad, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash and Speedy (omitting founding member Robin).
- The creative team on the show decided Beast Boy should not talk using any human language while in animal form.
- Writer and producer David Slack was completely star struck to meet Wil Wheaton [the voice of Aqualad]. Wheaton is a big fan of the comics and he was star-struck to meet Marv Wolfman.
- The fifth season had a slightly different kind of storytelling approach by having one large arc. This was because the writers thought the Titans grew up a bit after saving the world from Trigon and could handle bigger problems.
- Originally, the producers didn't even know they would do a story arc with Slade. They had originally decided Slade would just be behind everything, similar to Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget (1983), but after looking a few episodes, they decided they were teasing something and if they didn't pay it off, they were going to disappoint a lot of people. All discussions and ideas lead to dead ends until Bruce Timm visited Glen Murakami's office and looked at the scripts for "Masks" and "Apprentice". Timm thought the story was really about Slade trying to take Robin away from his friends.
- Much of the second season was based on the comic saga "The Judas Contract" from the pages of The New Teen Titans by George Perez and Marv Wolfman.
- In the Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans comics, Garfield Logan was called Changeling. However, the creative team decided to use the character's original codename Beast Boy for the show. The character's codename was changed back to Beast Boy in the comics around the time the show began.
- The Doom Patrol made their animated debut in this series. The lineup included Mento, Elasti-Girl, Negative Man, and Robotman.
- Jinx was redesigned for this series into a teen with pale skin, pink hair and dark attire as opposed to an Indian woman wearing only a white two-piece loincloth bikini with golden jewelry.
- Since the fifth season had the Titans face more world threats, teen heroes from all around the world were introduced.
- Originally, the creative team wanted to show Terra being part of the group more. More episodes during the second season were supposed to have Terra in them so she would have felt like part of the group. That way, when the betrayal happened, it would have been more of a shock. However, they ended up getting crunched for time and couldn't do that in the series.
- The producers were having a really hard time finding the right voice for Raven. Andrea Romano, the voice director, brought Tara Strong in, who originally did her Batgirl voice to read for the part. However, before leaving the audition, she tried a raspy voice which got her the part. The final voice for Raven is a like a raspy Zelda Rubenstein.
- Gizmo was redesigned for this series into a pre-teen kid as opposed to being a middle-aged dwarf as he was in the comic book.
- In contrast to the other Tamaraneans shown on the series, all of whom have red hair and green eyes, Blackfire is shown to have black hair and blue-purple eyes. Unlike the comics, Blackfire also has the ability to fly through the air at will.
- In this series, Aqualad had the ability to control water by means of Hydrokinesis. According to producer Glen Murakami the change was made because, "it seemed more anime".
- Mas Y Menos, who are kind of a cross between Impulse and the Wonder Twins, were created for this series due to the desire to have a speedster on Titans East.
- Producer Glen Murakami wanted the show to have an iconic theme song, similar to Transformers and "Spider-Man" (1967), because he felt that no one else was doing that anymore.
- When adapting Terra, the producers wanted to make her different than the comic book version and more contemporary. They had her wear more normal clothes, rather than a straight super-hero outfit.
- Thunder and Lightning were written in this series like characters of mythic proportion from a fable.
- In this series, Aqualad gets a new look with long hair and a blue version of his comic book costume, with long pants, mixed with Aquaman's camouflage costume.
- Writer and producer David Slack admitted the creative team flew by the seat of their pants a bit in the first season. Things were much more planned out in the proceeding seasons.
- The producers decided to portray Aqualad like a swim team/pro surfer guy. Not the pro surfer "dude", but the guy who's serious about it.
- Soto, the dim-witted villain in episode 2.2 ("Every Dog Has His Day"), is named after 'Alex Soto', one of the Teen Titan's directors.
- Beast Boy does not eat meat much like his voice actor Greg Cipes does.
- At comic con for Teen Titans Go!, Puffy AmiYumi admit that their favorite character from Teen Titans is Beast Boy. This made made them got along with Greg Cipes since they sat next to each other. Cipes also admire them for helping out with the music for the series.
- For Cyborg's design in the show, producer Glen Murakami was influenced by the super android from Kikaida.
- Trigon was redesigned for his official debut in the fourth season because he had to be meaner and scarier.
- Sam Register wanted the Titans East to be a bigger part of the show. However, the creative team only planned on using them as much as they did because they felt sometimes like they were doing a spin-off.
- Teen Titans was one of the DC properties Cartoon Network's Sam Register wanted to adapt because he is a huge fan of the Marv Wolfman/George Perez New Teen Titans comics from the 1980s.
- Sam Register suggested the idea of bringing back Red X without Robin in the suit. The crew drew inspiration from the Joshua character (from Teen Titans #20) as well as characters like Boba Fett from Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Racer X from Speed Racer (1967).
- Unlike her comic incarnation, Bumblebee does not wear a mask or goggles.
- The fifth season at one point was going to be 20 episodes. Slade and the Brotherhood were going to team up at one point and the Chief (the leader of the Doom Patrol) and Robotman were going to appear for another story. Also Thunder and Lightning and Red Star were supposed to make another appearance There was a lot of stuff planned, but there wasn't much time to go forward with those plans.
- Episode 1.10, "Mad Mod", was originally called "Detention", and "Winner Take All" was originally "It's How You Play The Game."
- Producer Glen Murakami said, the creative staff took the Wolfman/Perez ('80s) Teen Titans and mixed them with the spirit of the Cardy/Haney ('60s) Teen Titans when adapting this series.
- Garth aka Aqualad appears to be of either Asian (West or South Asian) descent as he is dark skinned in this version. Though in the comics, he is light skinned.
- Puffy AmiYumi had also returned to do music for Teen Titans Go. The duo had also done music for anime films, one Japanese live action film, including five anime series.
- The opening credits of the show featured two versions of the theme song: one in English and the other in Japanese. The Japanese version is not a direct translation of the English lyrics. Beast Boy sings a translation of the Japanese Lyrics in Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo (2006).
- Slade Wilson (A.K.A. Deathstroke The Terminator) is significantly different from his comic book counterpart. The animated version was changed a bit to a more traditional criminal mastermind. In the comics, Slade was a high priced bounty hunter in the mold of Boba Fett. In addition, the name Deathstroke was considered too violent-sounding, so the producers decided to stick with his real name. Slade's uniform changed to be black and silver instead of the blue and orange uniform from the comics, however he retains the orange on the eye slit side of his mask.
- The word "kill" is never used in this series, although it is often implied, using words like "destroy" or "annihilate".
- In the DC comics, Raven is not a telekinetic. Thanks to the popularity of the show and her character, her comic counterpart was brought back from the dead.
- Season one is about Robin fighting Slade. Season two is about the team fighting Terra and Slade. Season three is about Cyborg fighting Brother Blood. Season four is about Raven fighting Trigon. Season five is about Beast Boy fighting the Brotherhood of Evil. Starfire is the only one of the main characters to not have a season generally focusing on her.
- The fifth season had a slightly different kind of storytelling approach by having one large arc. This was because the writers thought the Titans grew up a bit after saving the world from Trigon and could handle bigger problems.
- The series takes place in an alternate 60's style world in a fictional city on the west coast that's a mixture of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. In the "Teen Titans Go!" comic book that's based on this series, it is revealed the name of this city is Jump City.
- Many parts of the series are inspired by the anime FLCL (2000) , most of them being animation style. Occasionally, these references actually involve story and character points. The most repeated example is Beast Boy's love of mopeds - a Vespa motor scooter (also used here in "Mad Mod") belongs to Haruhara Haruko, the female lead in FLCL
- Cartoon Network asked the writer and producers to do something they rarely get asked to do; They were asked to take risks. Sam Register, the Vice President of Cartoon Network, said to the creative team "I want you to do things you're not supposed to do”.
- Jinx was redesigned for this series into a teen with pale skin, pink hair and dark attire as opposed to an Indian woman wearing only a white two-piece loincloth bikini with golden jewelry.
- When infiltrating Brother Blood's academy, Cyborg takes on the alias Stone. This is a play on his real name, Victor Stone.
- The show's version of Terra is more conflicted within herself whereas the comic version of the character was just really, really evil.
- In general, the English title song was used for episodes that were serious, and the Japanese version for those which were not serious, or provided comic relief.
- The creative team on the show decided Beast Boy should not talk using any human language while in animal form.
- The Lost Episode (2005) was originally an online exclusive episode that was made as a promotion with Post Cereals. Specially marked boxes of Post Cereals provided consumers with a token code to log onto postopia.com and view the "Lost Episode." which began running in January 2005. The "Lost Episode" is only 12 minutes long, regular episodes are usually 18-20 minutes long, which is probably another reason why the "Lost Episode" never made it to air along with the regular 65 episodes of this series. The DVD release of Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo (2006) included the "Lost Episode" as a bonus feature.
- When the show was in early development, the show runners were considering giving Robin a different look by throwing out the red shirt and green underpants for a halfway-to-Nightwing costume.
- In the series, there is a character who appears to be the miniature version of Robin and his name is Nosyarg Kcid or Larry. Nosyarg Kcid is backwards for Dick Grayson which happens to be the secret identity of Robin. Also this character shares many similarities with a character from DC Comics called Bat-Mite.
- Beast Boy doesn't eat meat because of his abilities to turn into animals he believes it is cannabilism.
- The producers were having a really hard time finding the right voice for Raven. Andrea Romano, the voice director, brought Tara Strong in, who originally did her Batgirl voice to read for the part. However, before leaving the audition, she tried a raspy voice which got her the part. The final voice for Raven is a like a raspy Zelda Rubinstein.
- The show makes multiple references to Gotham City, the home of another DC comic hero, The Batman (2004), who was partners with Robin before he joined the Teen Titans.
- Throughout the series, including the movie, Beast Boy says "Dude" about 114 times.
- Each of the Titans was supposed to have a specific color scheme. That's why Beast Boy's uniform was changed from red-and-white to black-and-purple.
- Gizmo was redesigned for this series into a pre-teen kid as opposed to being a middle-aged dwarf as he was in the comic book.
- Writer and producer David Slack was completely star struck to meet Wil Wheaton [the voice of Aqualad]. Wheaton is a big fan of the comics and he was star-struck to meet Marv Wolfman.
- The Doom Patrol made their animated debut in this series. The lineup included Mento, Elasti-Girl, Negative Man, and Robotman.
- Since the fifth season had the Titans face more world threats, teen heroes from all around the world were introduced.
- Originally, the producers didn't even know they would do a story arc with Slade. They had originally decided Slade would just be behind everything, similar to Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget (1983), but after looking a few episodes, they decided they were teasing something and if they didn't pay it off, they were going to disappoint a lot of people. All discussions and ideas lead to dead ends until Bruce Timm visited Glen Murakami's office and looked at the scripts for Masks (2003), Apprentice: Part 1 (2003) and Apprentice: Part 2 (2003). Timm thought the story was really about Slade trying to take Robin away from his friends.
- In contrast to the other Tamaraneans shown on the series, all of whom have red hair and green eyes, Blackfire is shown to have black hair and blue-purple eyes. Unlike the comics, Blackfire also has the ability to fly through the air at will.
- Marv Wolfman, who wrote for the comic series, wrote two episodes, one of which was Deep Six (2003), the episode which involves Aqualad, the other, Titans East: Part 1 (2005), for the third season.
- Producer Glen Murakami wanted the show to have an iconic theme song, similar to Batman (1966) and Spider-Man (1967), because he felt that no one else was doing that anymore in any television format, animated or otherwise.
- Mas Y Menos were created for this series due to the desire to have a speedster on Titans East, but being unable to use Kid Flash. Mas Y Menos were who have to touch to use their powers are kind of a cross between the Wonder Twins with costumes similar to another DC comics speedster, Impulse.
- The Teen Titan lineup featured in this show is based on the "classic" lineup featured in the 1980s comic by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. Building on the momentum of this series, the comic restored this lineup, teaming them with younger protégés. Missing from that lineup are the original Kid Flash (Wally West, who was added later on) and Wonder Girl (Donna Troy, who could not be used due to the Wonder-Embargo).
- The producers decided to portray Aqualad like a swim team/pro surfer guy. Not the pro surfer "dude", but the guy who's serious about it.
- When adapting Terra, the producers wanted to make her different than the comic book version and more contemporary. They had her wear more normal clothes, rather than a straight super-hero outfit.
- Much of the second season was based on the comic saga "The Judas Contract" from the pages of The New Teen Titans by George Perez and Marv Wolfman.
- It's been confirmed by members of the cast and crew that the girl in the series finale Things Change was in fact Terra.
- Brother Blood was allowed to keep his name in this series, but his background was completely altered. This animated version is still a sorcerer, but he was changed to a more traditional criminal mastermind and is the leader of H.I.V.E.. In the comics, Brother Blood was a leader of a religious cult that enticed young people to join. Blood was able to gain strength by feeding off the faith of his followers and had nothing to do with the H.I.V.E. Academy. However, Brother Blood and H.I.V.E. do share a few traits: Both are charismatic and able to sway young people to their cause; And both amass a group of followers to further their plans.
- All the Teen Titans have had their names said/revealed at some point in the series. Most obviously Beast Boy (Garfield) in "Homecoming pt 2". However, Starfire's name (Koriand'r) was said in "Betrothed" by Galfore when she and him are speaking Tamaranean, Robin's name (Dick Grayson) was shown in the episode "Fractured", and Cyborg (Victor Stone) used the alias Stone in the episode "Stone". Raven's birth name is simply Raven.
- In 1983, Hanna-Barbera was developing a "New Teen Titans" cartoon series which was going to replace "Super Friends" (1980). The series would have featured the original New Teen Titans lineup: Wonder Girl, Raven, Starfire, Cyborg, Changeling (a.k.a. Beast Boy) and Kid Flash. Robin, the leader of the Titans in the comics, would not be in the series presumably because he was busy as a member of the Super Friends and the rights to use Robin were held by the Batman license. Instead, Wonder Girl would be leader in the series and villains would include Trigon and Blackfire. The series never went beyond the development stage. However, "The New Teen Titans" were featured in an Anti-Drug commercial to tie in with the special anti-drug comic issues. Since the comic was being sponsored by Keebler, and Robin was already licensed by Nabisco. So, George Perez came up with a new character, The Protector, who was also featured in the commercial. It wasn't until 20 years later that "The New Teen Titans" finally got an animated show when this series premiered in 2003.
- Writer and producer David Slack admitted the creative team flew by the seat of their pants a bit in the first season. Things were much more planned out in the proceeding seasons.
- While this show made the Teen Titans a household name, this isn't their first animated appearance. The Teen Titans were originally animated as part of The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure (1967) in three 7-minute cartoons ("The Monster Machine"; "The Space Beast Roundup"; and "Operation Rescue"). The team consisted of Aqualad, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash and Speedy (omitting founding member Robin).
- Thunder and Lightning were written in this series like characters of mythic proportion from a fable.
- The voice actors behind the 5 title characters were used in the show Justice League (2001) as the voices of Joker's 'Royal Flush Gang' in Wild Cards (2003) and Wild Cards: Part II (2003).
- "Final Exam" was the third episode made, but the first aired. "Car Trouble" was the 11th made, but the 13th aired.
- In this series, Aqualad had the ability to control water by means of Hydrokinesis. According to producer Glen Murakami, the change was made because "it seemed more anime".
- Sam Register suggested the idea of bringing back Red X without Robin in the suit. The crew drew inspiration from the Joshua character (from Teen Titans #20) as well as characters like Boba Fett from Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Racer X from Speed Racer (1967).
- Trigon was redesigned for his official debut in the fourth season because he had to be meaner and scarier.
- The fifth season at one point was going to be 20 episodes. Slade and the Brotherhood were going to team up at one point and the Chief (the leader of the Doom Patrol) and Robotman were going to appear for another story. Also Thunder and Lightning and Red Star were supposed to make another appearance There was a lot of stuff planned, but there wasn't much time to go forward with those plans.
- Though The Big Leagues (2002) and Scott Menvillevoicing Robin in Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu (2003)suggested that Tim Drake is the Robin featured in this series and a connection the larger DCAU cartoons. the series remained ambiguous as to whether the Teen Titans Robin is Tim Drake or the first Robin, Dick Grayson during Season 1. However, one of the producers stated that Teen Titans exists in a separate continuity from the established DCAU cartoons and ever since Season 2, the show has been dropping subtle hints to establish this Robin is really Dick Grayson. One of the most notable hints of this Robin actually being Dick Grayson, however, is where Starfire is teleported into the future, she meets with Robin who, by then, has become Nightwing. However, this was all cleared up in the comic based on the show, "Teen Titans Go!" issue #47 where Robin misses his family the Flying Graysons.
- In this series, Aqualad gets a new look with long hair and a blue version of his comic book costume, with long pants, mixed with Aquaman's camouflage costume.
- In the Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans comics, Garfield Logan was called Changeling. However, the creative team decided to use the character's original codename Beast Boy for the show. The character's codename was changed back to Beast Boy in the comics around the time the show began.
- Garth aka Aqualad appears to be of either Asian (West or South Asian) descent as he is dark skinned in this version. Though in the comics, he is light skinned.
- For Cyborg's design in the show, producer Glen Murakami was influenced by the super android from Kikaida: Android of Justice (1972).
- Unlike her comic incarnation, Bumblebee does not wear a mask or goggles.
- Sam Register wanted Titans East to be a bigger part of the show. However, the creative team only planned on using them as much as they did because they felt sometimes like they were doing a spin-off.
- Season 5 is the only season to have an hour long premiere, and the only one not to have a multi part finale (The End(Season 4)had 3 parts).
- Cyborg was the first original character from Wolfman & Perez' "The New Teen Titans" to appear on a cartoon series. And this is the first show to feature him as a Teen Titan.
- During the opening titles, only Cyborg does not appear alongside live-action footage in the background. With Robin there's a shot of a lion. With Raven there's a raven. With Beast Boy there's various animals. With Starfire there's the sun.
- Cyborg's catchphrase, "Booyah!", originated in this series and has since become strongly associated with the character.
- Red X would become so popular that they were later introduced in DC Comics canon.
- Teen Titans was one of the DC properties Cartoon Network's Sam Register wanted to adapt because he is a huge fan of the Marv Wolfman/George Pérez New Teen Titans comics from the 1980s.
- Beast Boy does not eat meat much like his voice actor Greg Cipes does.
- Although Beast Boy is usually the comedic relief of the team, it is Raven who had said what was possibly the funniest and most famous line in Teen Titans history: "Evil beware. We have waffles”.
- Just like in the comics, Slade is the Teen Titans primary antagonist and has appeared in some form or another during all 5 seasons of the show.
- The character of Wintergreen is slightly different on the show than in the comics. Here he is designed to take on an appearance more similar to Angus Scrimm as The Tall Man in Phantasm.
- Producer Glen Murakami said, the creative staff took the Wolfman/Perez ('80s) Teen Titans and mixed them with the spirit of the Cardy/Haney ('60s) Teen Titans when adapting this series.
- Three actors of the main cast share a birthday on February, Scott Menville (the voice of Robin) and Tara Strong (the voice of Raven) share the same birthday on the 12th. Hynden Walch's (voice of Starfire) birthday is on February 1st.
- Very early in development the series was intended to be part of the larger DC Animated Universe with the same art style as developed by producer Bruce W. Timm. Concept art and test animation were created but eventually it was decided that the series be set outside of the DCAU, giving the animators and writers more creative freedom.
- Cartoon Network's Vice President Sam Register said in a 2004 interview, "The main mission was making a good superhero show for kids. Now if the fanboys happen to like the Teen Titans also, that's great, but that was not our mission" might have to do with the show's cancellation. That it didn't attract its target audience rather attracting fans of the comic book.
- The producers decided to not have Batman appear in the series so to allow Robin to develop as his own character and not be in the shadow of his mentor.
- In this series, Slade has a Robot Commando Minions that serve as his silent foot soldiers. Slade's Robot Commando Minions have excellent agility and above average strength and speed. However, they are considerably weak when fighting as individuals, hence why they are usually seen attacking in large numbers. Slade has also augmented their strength by equipping them with blasters. Some of them are shown to fly with rocket boosters on their feet. Slade's Robot Commando Minions are somewhat similar to the Foot Soldiers from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987).
- Terra was originally a hero and was turned bad.
- The series was followed up with a movie called Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo (2006) which features the Titans traveling to Tokyo where they find themselves embroiled in a conflict with an ancient enemy.
- The villain Jinx heavily differs from her comic book counterpart in age, appearance, and personality. She also later reforms and becomes a Titan herself as the series reaches its end and begins a relationship with Kid Flash/Wally West.
- Scott Menville based his voice for Robin after Clint Eastwood and bit of Burt Ward, who played Robin in the 1960's live-action Batman series alongside Adam West as the titular Caped Crusader.
- The comic book tie-in "Teen Titans Go!" continued to run for nearly two years after the series ended. Its 55th and final issue was published in July 2008.
- For the 1980s Teen Titans comics on which this series is based, artist George Pérez modeled the Titans after the following actors:Robin - Burt Ward, Wonder Girl - Marie Osmond, Cyborg - Jim Brown, Raven - Persis Khambatta, Beast Boy - Mickey Rooney, Kid Flash - Ron Howard, Jericho - David Morse.
- There were talks about having a crossover with the Justice League series that was airing also on Cartoon Network, but the series producers couldn't figure out how to execute it properly given how different they were in style. However, Speedy would cameo in Justice League: Unlimited with a similar design and the same voice actor.
- Batman never appears and isn't directly mentioned in the entirety of the series. He would actually appear in an issue of the tie-in comic book Teen Titans Go.
- There was an embargo on using Wonder Woman related characters in media at the time the series was in production, so the producers could not use Wonder Girl / Donna Troy as a functioning character in the stories. However, they were able to manage to have her visibly cameo in the second part of "Homecoming" and "Calling All Titans!" In the tie-in comic book series Teen Titans Go! she appeared in three issues as a functioning character.
- As of November 26 2016, it is now conclusively canon that Control Freak is the one who rebooted "Teen Titans" into the current "Teen Titans Go" incarnation. The episode "TV Knight" of the latter series pointed out its own faults and addressed common criticisms with the new show's non-threatening 2-D potty-humor format in lieu of the original show's deeper format with more meaningful story-arcs and continuous character development.
- The person wearing the Red X suit was never revealed in the series, but there are numerous hints that Jason Todd who became the second Robin (later Red Hood) is secretly Red X. This was alluded to by Beast Boy in the New Teen Titans shorts that aired on DC Nation.
- Originally, the creative team wanted to show Terra being part of the group more. More episodes during the second season were supposed to have Terra in them so she would have felt like part of the group. That way, when the betrayal happened, it would have been more of a shock. However, they ended up getting crunched for time and couldn't do that in the series.
- Beast Boy used to belong to a team called the Doom Patrol.
- Khary Payton reprised his role as Cyborg in Lego DC Comics: Batman Be-Leaguered, Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League, Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Attack of the Legion of Doom, Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Cosmic Clash, Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Gotham City Breakout along with Cipes, Walch, and Menville although he played the Damian Wayne Robin), Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash, and Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis. He has also reprised his role as Cyborg on Justice League Action.
all information on the Teen Titans (TV Series) came from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teen_Titans_(TV_series)