Beast Boy The Vegetarian: the Character Who Grew The Most During The First Teen Titans Show

Beast Boy is one of the few characters who is vegetarian in animated media. Or at least he was in 2003 when the first Teen Titans show premiered. During an argument about what pizza toppings to get, Beast Boy explains he doesn’t eat meat because he’s been most of the animals that would go on the plate. He has been a chicken, and presumably a bull when fighting supervillains. Training would also involve him shapeshifting into various ones.

Not everyone liked Beast Boy. The adults reviewing saw him as forced comic relief, at least on the World’s Finest website. I did. It was nice to see a superhero who like me tried to be funny, failed a lot, and unlike me could get serious when the going got tough.

To me, growing up Indian, hearing that felt like a giant sigh of relief. I was finally seen! There was a character who was like me, that got squeamish at the sight of tuna or beef. While I do eat some meat now, others make me turn my stomach. It was nice to know I wasn’t alone.

Growing With Adversity

Beast Boy, whose real name is Garfield, grew up with the Doom Patrol as his foster family. Each member loved him, but he had to break away from the rigid military routine that the leader Mento enforced. Love…