Teen Titans (TV Series) - Secret Identities

Secret Identities

Unlike most other superhero television series, the Teen Titans characters maintain their superhero identities at all times, though the series hints at the concept of an alter ego or secret identity but rarely explores it. The Titans have even been seen sleeping in their costumes. In the comics however, Raven, Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy traditionally do not have secret identities; Starfire's name is a translation of her given name from her planet of origin (somewhat like Superman and Kal-El), Cyborg's real name is public knowledge, Beast Boy's natural appearance is a dead giveaway, and Raven does not take another identity.

In particular, some fans debated which Robin leads the Teen Titans. Many times throughout the animated series, it is implied that Robin is Dick Grayson, although it was never confirmed or denied until Teen Titans Go! #47, which revealed that Robin's secret identity is Dick Grayson. In "Fractured", Robin's alternate dimensional counterpart Larry gives as his real name Nosyarg Kcid ("Dick Grayson" spelled backwards). In another episode where Starfire is thrust into the future, Robin has taken on Grayson's identity of Nightwing. Also, in the episode "Haunted" when Raven goes into Robin's mind, there is a clip of two acrobats falling from a trapeze, (The Flying Graysons, John and Mary Grayson) a reference to how Dick Grayson became Robin. In episode 12 ("Apprentice") of season 1, after Robin brought the first stolen object to Slade, he commented that he "might be like a father to him (Robin)" Robin then said, "I already have a father." After that, there were bats flying out of the ceiling window. When he attempted to steal a second object for Slade, he fought on the rooftop of a building labeled Wayne Enterprises. This probably shows that he is referring to his former mentor Batman. In episode 4 of season 4 ("The Quest"), Beast Boy wears Robin's suit whilst he is away, and calls himself "Beast Boy Wonder". A picture of him very similar to the one of Dick Grayson on the cover of #38 of the Detective Comics by DC Comics then shows up. In the episode "Go", while Robin is fighting off a thief in a dark alley, he clearly states the he works alone after the robber asks why he was not with Batman. Further there are similarities to Robin's costume to that of Dick Grayson's in Batman: The Animated Series.

"It was really important to me that little kids watching it could identify with characters. And I thought that the minute you start giving them secret identities then kids couldn’t project themselves onto the characters anymore. And that was important to me. I know it’s kind of important to have secret identities and stuff like that but we wanted everything to be really, really, iconic. Like, "Oh, there’s the robot guy. There’s the alien girl. There’s the witch girl. There’s the shape-changing boy." There's the we just wanted it really clean like that. We wanted it like old Star Trek. We just wanted it simple...

...And the whole "Who’s Robin?" controversy is really kind of interesting to me. My big concern is just trying to make Robin cool. And just really set Robin apart from Batman. So if it seems like I’m avoiding the question, I sort of am. Because I don’t think it’s really important. My concern is how do I make Robin a really strong lead character without all that other stuff. And I feel that way about all the characters. How can I keep all the characters really iconic and really clean." — Glen Murakami, Drawing Inspiration: An Interview with Glen Murakami, April 2004

The policy of not mentioning the characters secret identities is broken in the fifth season, in which Doom Patrol members refer to Beast Boy by his real name, Garfield; however, the Titans continue to call him Beast Boy. In "Go" the Titans ask Beast Boy about his mask and he states it hides his true identity. Raven points out that he is green with pointed ears and fangs, he "has no secret to hide". The backgrounds and real names of Cyborg and Starfire are alluded to in earlier seasons: Cyborg chooses the alias "Stone" in the episode "Deception", a nod to his name Victor Stone in the DC Comics, while Starfire's name, Koriand'r, is spoken aloud on-screen amidst a line of Tamaranian language in the episode "Betrothed" (the fifth season origin-episode "Go!" mentions that Starfire is a translation of her Tamaranian name). The policy is never an issue with Raven, who never had a secret identity (though the mainstream continuity Teen Titans Vol. 3 has shown she has taken the name Rachel Roth as an alter ego in the normal world).

The comic series Teen Titans Go! has recently been going into the background of the characters further:

• #45- Beast Boy and Cyborg's origin.
• #46- Starfire's origin.
• #47- Robin's origin.