Changeling/Beast Boy

The Green Shapeshifter..

Garfield Logan is the son of geneticists Mark and Marie Logan who were studying rare African strains of diseases when Garfield contracted a virus that only animals were afflicted with.   Expecting their son to die, the two scientists took to their theories and concocted a serum that cured Garfield, with the unforeseen side effect that the serum had turned his pigmentation to green.   A few years later when his mother was attacked by a snake, Garfield instinctively wanted to save his mother and turned into a mongoose to do so.   It would be the first of his transformations and the discovery of his powersThe extraordinary abilities that a characterAny sentient entity that appears in a comic book. (Example: Superman, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and Krypto the Super Dog are all characters that appear in Superman comics). may possess. (Example: Aquaman can telepathically control marine life as one of his powers.).

The illness that Garfield contracted was the first of a series of tragic events to plague him.   His parents soon died in a boating accident and Gar was taken in by the local tribe, which of course possessed an evil witch doctor who wanted Gar dead, and in the process wound up dead himself.   Gar then found himself in the sway of criminals forcing him to rob for them and then as a ward of the court in the hands of the unsavory hands of Galtry, his parent’s estate lawyer.

Galtry continues Garfield’s poor luck in caretakers as all he wants is Garfield’s money.     About this time Garfield tried to join both the Teen TitansA group of young heroes, typically teenage sidekicks, that have banded together to fight crime and serve as a familyMeant to denote a group of characters that are all interrelated or share the same origins, methodology, or powers. (Example: All Members of the Green Lantern Corps belong to €œthe Lantern family €) unit of a sorts. and the Doom Patrol, but was prevented from doing so because of not being able to get Galtry’s permission.   Eventually, Elasti-Girl of the Doom Patrol and her husband Mento, also known as Steve Dayton, decide to adopt Garfield and win in a lengthy legal battle, robbing Galtry of his supposed millions and his lifestyle all attached to the Logan estate.

Garfield had adopted the name Beast Boy and made a name for himself as an assistant to the Doom Patrol and a member of Teen TitansA group of young heroes, typically teenage sidekicks, that have banded together to fight crime and serve as a familyMeant to denote a group of characters that are all interrelated or share the same origins, methodology, or powers. (Example: All Members of the Green Lantern Corps belong to €œthe Lantern family €) unit of a sorts. West.   When the Doom Patrol died, Garfield found himself and his adoptive father Steve Dayton alone and in an estranged relationship while at the same time meeting his first major love, Jillian, and finally conquering Galtry who had returned to plague Gar once more.

Garfield became an actor on a forgettable science fiction show for a little bit and renamed himself Changeling to divorce himself from the p.r. disaster of the show.   When his future teammate Raven appeared to him and asked Garfield to join a new Titans team, Gar said yes.   Garfield became very close to CyborgA combination of living organism and robotic parts. The best modern day analogueWhen a character has a duplicate on another Earth, this character could be practically identical or there could be massive differences. I can think of is someone who uses artificial limbs. Though not as sci-fi as the ones in comics they serve basically the same functions. One of the most famous Cyborgs would be The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman. and managed to follow up on leads from the original Doom Patrol’s death.

As we go through our reviews, Garfield has just met his second major love, an earth mover named Terra.

First Appearance

Created By:   Arnold Blake and Bob Brown

PowersThe extraordinary abilities that a characterAny sentient entity that appears in a comic book. (Example: Superman, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and Krypto the Super Dog are all characters that appear in Superman comics). may possess. (Example: Aquaman can telepathically control marine life as one of his powers.)

Shapeshifting – Garfield possesses the ability to shift his form into any animal he chooses with a few caveats.

• Originally he could only change his body so that his human head remained and the animal’s original coloring remained,
• Then he was able to make complete transformations, but the animal stayed green pigmented like Gar.
• Gar cannot change into other human beings, only animals.
• Gar is limited in that the size of the animal determines how long he can maintain the shape.   Insects, birds, and mammals up to his size and weight are no problems, once you go over that size Garfield’s time in that form is totally dependent upon his strength and willpower.
• Gar can become extinct creatures such as dinosaurs.
• In times of severe emotional turmoil, Gar can become any type of creature he imagines for a very short time.

VulnerabilitiesA characterAny sentient entity that appears in a comic book. (Example: Superman, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and Krypto the Super Dog are all characters that appear in Superman comics).'s weakness.

Garfield possesses no natural defenses to most human vulnerabilitiesA characterAny sentient entity that appears in a comic book. (Example: Superman, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and Krypto the Super Dog are all characters that appear in Superman comics).'s weakness., however as long as he is conscious he is in no imminent danger of drowning or falling to his death as long as he is able to assume a form that can breathe under water or fly.

SkillsThe abilities that a normal person in the real world could potentially share with a fictional DCUAn abbreviation of DC Universe or DC Comics Universe. Meant to denote the comics that are published by DC Comics and the Universe that DC has built for its stories. characterAny sentient entity that appears in a comic book. (Example: Superman, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and Krypto the Super Dog are all characters that appear in Superman comics).. (Example: Some Motocross bike riders ride a bike as well as Black Canary.)

Animal Kingdom – Garfield has educated himself about the varying abilities of the beasts he is able to become and is able to use this knowledge to his advantage on the battlefield.