Teen Titans became one of Cartoon Network's most popular series, renowned for its humor, storylines, and banter between the main characters.
Spin-off media included comics, DVD releases, video games, music albums, and collectible toys.
Teen Titans is based primarily on stories by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez from the 1980s, featuring characters, storylines, and concepts introduced during the run, and incorporating a similar group of members.
The five main members of the eponymous team in the series are Robin (Scott Menville), the intelligent and capable leader of the Teen Titans; Starfire (Hynden Walch), a quirky, curious alien princess from the planet Tamaran; Cyborg (Khary Payton), a half-human/half-robot cyborg who is known for his strength and technological prowess; Raven (Tara Strong), a stoic girl from the parallel world Azarath who draws upon dark energy and psionic abilities; and Beast Boy (Greg Cipes), a good-natured joker who can transform into various animals.
They are situated in Titans Tower, a large T-shaped building featuring living quarters, a command center, and a variety of training facilities on an island just offshore from the West Coast metropolis of Jump City.
The first season focuses on the Teen Titans' introduction to the mysterious supervillain Slade (Ron Perlman), who seeks to turn Robin into his apprentice.
The second season is an adaptation of "The Judas Contract" storyline where new hero Terra (Ashley Johnson) joins the team while secretly plotting against them with Slade.
and their leader Brother Blood (John DiMaggio), prompting Cyborg to form the superhero team Titans East with Aqualad (Wil Wheaton), Speedy (Mike Erwin), Bumblebee (T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh), and Más y Menos (Freddy Rodriguez).
In the fourth season, Raven finds herself unwillingly involved in a plot that threatens the existence of the world when her demon father Trigon (Kevin Michael Richardson) seeks to enslave the Earth.
For the fifth season, the Teen Titans join forces with numerous other heroes to combat the Brotherhood of Evil, Beast Boy's longtime adversaries, and their army of villains.
And I thought that the minute you start giving them secret identities then kids couldn't project themselves onto the characters anymore.
The policy of not mentioning the characters' secret identities would be broken in the season 5 premiere "Homecoming" when Elasti-Girl refers to Beast Boy by his real name, Garfield.
The title theme used in the regions where the show was broadcast varied; some would play only one version, while Japan - and the English language video editions - would use both, according to the respective episode's plot theme: the English lyrics for more serious stories, the Japanese version for more comedic tones.
[6] In the feature-length film Trouble in Tokyo, a literal translation of the Japanese song, whose actual lyrics differ greatly from its English counterpart, is performed for comedic effect.
[6] In mid-November 2005, TitansTower.com reported that prospects for a sixth season were unlikely, and fans were urged to express their support for the show to Cartoon Network.
Some of these proposed teamups included: The show was slated to introduce new villains, notably one named "Athena" who had the Midas touch and was accompanied by an ever changing roster of superpowered suiters as well as a posse of robot girls, and see the return of villains such as Mad Mod, Control Freak, and Soto.
Series artist, Brianne Drouhard, has also stated doing visual development on a character that wasn't mentioned in the reporting.
[15] The pitch documents included information on a holiday episode, as well as a plot line in which Herald would unknowingly create a rift in "Dimension X", allowing a microscopic, self-replicating creature to travel to Earth.
The shorts featured the Titans in chibi form, with the principal cast members of the original series returning.
Sam Register, producer of the series, also made his own show in 2004 with Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi on Cartoon Network, which was based on the pop duo who did the theme song, and also had an anime influence, but was created more to be a slapstick comedy in the veins of Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry.
[23] Richardson, Payton, Strong, Cipes, and Walch reprised their respective character roles as Trigon, Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy, Starfire, and Blackfire in DC Super Hero Girls.
In the season 2 episode of Teen Titans Go!, "Let's Get Serious", Aqualad (voiced by Khary Payton), Superboy, and Miss Martian of the Young Justice team appear.
Much like the DC Animated Universe (as well as X-Men: Evolution and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends), the series has affected the comics that initially inspired it, including: Beast Boy adopting the series' purple and black outfit during DC's "52" storyline and later appearing with the pointed ears and fanged teeth originated by the series,[24] future Cyborg having the same armor pattern of his animated counterpart in the Titans Tomorrow storyline,[25] Raven adapting her animated counterpart's costume design in the "One Year Later" storyline, the characters Más y Menos making appearances in 52 and the Final Crisis limited series,[26] the character Joto was renamed "Hot Spot" during 52 to match his cartoon counterpart,[27] and the villain Cinderblock appearing in a fight with the comic incarnation of the Titans.
While the comic's stories stand independently, its issues were done so as not to contradict events established in the animated series' episodes.
Bandai released a line of action figures based on the Teen Titans animated series.
The plot of the game followed Brother Blood having stolen copies of the Titans' DNA to create a clone army.
Playable characters featured the main cast, Robin, Raven, Beast Boy, Starfire, and Cyborg.
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Three, released on July 16, 2024, contains a cameo where Titans Tower from the animated series can be momentarily seen.