Beast Boy

FIRST APPEARANCE: Doom Patrol Vol. 1 #99 (1965)

Gar was born the son of biologists Mark and Marie Logan, who conducted experimental genetic research. As an infant, he contracted a deadly tropical disease which forced his parents to run a battery of experimental tests in an effort to save his life. The tests were successful, but came with the side effect of turning their son bright green and giving him incredible shape-shifting powers.

The worst was yet to come, however. Not long after curing their son, Mark and Marie were victims of a fatal accident, leaving Gar orphaned and alone. Fortunately, the leader of a local tribe and family friend of the Logans, King Tawaba, stepped in to care for him—but the arrangement only worked for so long. It turned out that certain members of King Tawaba’s tribe had been plotting against the Logan family in secret, and they hired a band of mercenaries to steal Gar away from them for good.

The mercenaries kidnapped Gar and brought him back to America where they promptly set about forcing him to use his powers to aid them in their criminal activities. Eventually, the Logan family’s estate attorney, a man named Nicholas Galtry, would step in and become Gar’s legal guardian—a moment that should have been a light at the end of the tunnel, but instead just brought a whole new round of pain. Galtry attempted to assassinate Gar to become the Logan estate’s sole heir, but was thwarted by the Doom Patrol who—finally—took Gar in for good and provided him with a new family and a safe and happy home. With the Doom Patrol, Gar adopted the code name Beast Boy and set about becoming a Super Hero.

When he’s not using his powers to be a superhero, he spends his time as an amateur actor and social butterfly, winning friends and “adoring fans” (at least, in his head) wherever he goes. He’s quick with a joke and quicker with a smile, upbeat, optimistic and flirtatious even through the worst of times, making him a valuable asset for the morale of any team he might find himself a part of.