The 10 Worst Things Teen Titans Members Have Ever Done

When the Teen Titans formed, they were a team of teenage sidekicks of major DC Comics superheroes. However, in 1980, things changed when Marv Wolfman and George Pérez created the New Teen Titans, and the team of young heroes exploded in popularity. Since that time, they have undergone numerous changes, disappeared for a while when Young Justice became popular, and then were back stronger than ever following that. While many of the members are DC’s most popular heroes, they have not always kept their hands clean, and many of them have done some terrible things throughout the years.

From terrible betrayals and full-on heel turns to tragic accidents and coerced acts, here is a look at the 10 worst things that the Teen Titans have done in DC Comics.

10) Kon-El Betrayed the Titans with Lex Luthor

Kon-El is the cloned Superboy, created from the DNA of Superman and Lex Luthor, although the Luthor half remained hidden and dormant behind post-hypnotic programming. He was part of Young Justice and then joined the Teen Titans as well. In the 2005 crossover “The Insiders,” Luthor unleashed the programming and turned Kon-El into his mind-controlled weapon. While not in control of his own actions, he brutally attacked and decimated the Teen Titans. It took Wonder Girl’s love to break the programming, but it still caused Superboy to take leave of the team and place himself in self-quarantine at the Kent farm, wracked with guilt.

9) Nightwing Became Ric Grayson

Nightwing has always been one of DC Comics’ most genuine and loyal superheroes. He experienced a massive change when KGBeast shot Nightwing in the head as part of Bane’s plan to isolate Batman. Dick Grayson survived, but he ended up with amnesia and remembered nothing about his past, giving up his role as Nightwing. He then became Ric Grayson, an edgier character who was cruel and abandoned his friends in the Titans. He hurt Barbara Gordon, Tim Drake, and Jason Todd, alienating all his friends. Even worse, Joker brainwashed him into becoming his ally during “Joker War,” causing Grayson to turn evil for a time.

8) Blue Beetle Was Controlled by the Reach

Jaime Reyes is a Teen Titans member who is bonded to a Blue Beetle scarab, an alien tech that was secretly the herald of the conquering Reach. The entire plan when sending the scarab to Earth was to prep the planet for an invasion. The scarab was damaged, which allowed him to resist, but when the Reach regained control, they turned Jaime into their puppet. This turned him into an actual villain who carried out the Reach’s destructive programming. The betrayal forced the Teen Titans to fight their friend and former teammate, both to save him and to stop him from helping the Reach destroy the planet.

7) Robin (Damian Wayne) Created the Secret Prison

In the Teen Titans 2016 reboot by Adam Glass and Bernard Chang, Damian Wayne reformed the team and secretly turned their base, Mercy Hall, into an off-the-books prison. Beneath the headquarters, Damian illegally captured and jailed supervillains, including Brother Blood, Atomic Skull, Black Mask, Gizmo, and Onomatopoeia, all with no trial and no oversight. While he did this as a hero, he crossed a serious ethical line, and he even faked reports so Batman wouldn’t find out what he was doing. When Deathstroke helped lead Kid Flash to the prison, it revealed what Damian was doing. This moment fractured the relationship between Damian and the other Teen Titans members.

6) Donna Troy Was an Amazon Assassin in the New 52

The New 52 changed Donna Troy drastically and turned her into an almost unrecognizable figure. Much like Wonder Woman’s supposed origin, this saw Donna Troy as being made of clay by the sorceress Derinoe, engineered specifically as a weapon to destroy Wonder Woman. She was shown to be a savior and declared herself the Queen of Themyscira after the Amazons were convinced Wonder Woman abandoned them. Donna was a villain here, and her crimes included mass murder with genocidal intentions. Thankfully, DC Rebirth retconned this and allowed Donna to become a hero the Teen Titans fans know and love.

5) Raven Allied With the Demon Neron

Raven has always been threatened by being consumed by the dark side. Her father is an evil demon who has no other desire than to conquer all worlds, including Earth. However, she has always fought these urges and remained a hero and a beloved Teen Titans member. In the 2021 “Future State” event, a possible-future Raven is corrupted into a villain called the Unkindness after absorbing the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It was here that she formed an alliance with the demon Neron and used her magic to turn Shazam against his allies. She then used Shazam to kill the Spectre to steal his powers. This is an alternate version of Raven, but it is one of the Teen Titans’ most powerful villains.

4) Wally West in Heroes in Crisis

One of the most controversial DC Comics series ever written, “Heroes in Crisis” was a murder mystery that had a mass murder at the Sanctuary that the heroes had to investigate. The Sanctuary is a mental health facility where superheroes go to deal with their trauma. One of the murdered heroes was Wally West, a founding member of the Teen Titans, and both Booster Gold and Harley Quinn were suspects. What makes this series so hated is that the killer ended up being Wally West, and the dead body they found was a Wally from another timeline. The story was supposed to be about trauma and a hero breaking down, but with a character as beloved as Wally West, it was widely despised.

3) Beast Boy in the Beast World Storyline

Beast Boy has been one of the Teen Titans’ most optimistic and wide-eyed heroes for years. This has been true in the comics and the animated adaptations. It is also impressive since his childhood was full of trauma, thanks to bullying and being ostracized, due to his green skin color. However, he underwent a change in “Titans: Beast World” when he agreed to turn into a planet-conquering Starro-form he nicknamed Garro. When Doctor Hate wiped his mind mid-transformation, he ended up as a giant mindless monster and began to conquer the Earth. This helped Amanda Waller turn the public against superheroes, and she targeted the Teen Titans.

2) Starfire Killed Enemies When She Joined The Teen Titans

When Starfire debuted in The New Teen Titans, she was a former political captive, a princess whose sister betrayed her and took over their planet. As an alien warrior princess, she was raised to be a fighter, and she knew that she needed to kill or be killed. This made her a tough new member of the team because she was willing to kill enemies, which the Teen Titans didn’t do. Dick Grayson’s no-kill ethic meant that the Titans had to help teach her to stop and arrest villains non-lethally, which was hard for her to accept. The New Teen Titans showed specifically how difficult it was for a warrior hero to stop killing villains.

1) Terra Betrayed the Teen Titans

The most famous betrayal in Teen Titans history came in the storyline “The Judas Contract.” This saw Teen Titans member Terra betray the team when it turned out she was always a double-agent working for Deathstroke. Tara Markov (Terra), a princess of Markovia with earth-manipulation powers, joined the New Teen Titans early, but she was a plant that fed Deathstroke all of the Titans’ secrets so he could defeat them. Her betrayal allowed Deathstroke to capture the team, and it ended up as the most devastating defeat and betrayal in Teen Titans history.

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