What If Robin & Beast Boy Switched Bodies?

You only need to turn on an episode of the show for about five minutes to realize that Beast Boy and Robin from Teen Titans were as different as it was possible for two people to be while working on the same crime-fighting team. Cyborg qualified as the best friend for both of them, while the two of them rarely hung out alone together. The only two who were as different in personality as Robin and Beast Boy were Starfire and Raven, and the latter two infamously switched bodies in the Season 1 episode "Switched." Naturally, Raven and Starfire found common ground and saved the day, as heroes are wont to do, but that episode could have gone a lot differently (see: a lot worse.) Especially if Robin and Beast Boy had switched bodies instead.

On the surface, their differences seem pretty similar to that of Raven and Starfire. Like Raven, Robin is serious and aloof where, like Starfire, Beast Boy is enthusiastic and silly. However, unlike Raven and Starfire, Robin and Beast Boy did not spend a whole lot of time together independent of the rest of the team, so it's really hard to tell whether they had a relationship that went deeper than team mates. The only really outstanding moment between the two was when Robin comforted Beast Boy after Terra left the Titan Tower without saying goodbye and, to be fair, it was Robin's fault she had left.

That, combined with how they often clashed on missions, leads me to believe that if Robin and Beast Boy switched bodies, it would take them a lot longer to find common ground than Starfire and Raven did.

1. Beast Boy Wouldn't Know How To Fight

Unlike with Starfire and Raven, who both had superpowers and just had completely different ways of channeling them, Robin is completely powerless. His strength in battle comes from training, leadership skills, and all the gadgets he got from Batman. That's not something Beast Boy can concentrate and learn how to use in a day, so he'd pretty much be about as useful as a toy utility belt.

2. Robin Would Overestimate His Own Strength

On the flip side, having superpowers for the first time might be kind of a thrill for Robin. While he didn't struggle with his lack of powers in quite the same way as Robin from Teen Titans Go!, it was still pretty noticeable that being Batman's Apprentice was Robin's superpower in the series. Gaining the ability to turn into any animal he can think of might cause him to get cocky (well, cockier) in battle, and overestimate what he can and can't accomplish in his various animal forms.

3. There Would Be So Much Fighting

No, seriously, there would be so much fighting. Beast Boy would assume that, because he looks like Robin, he is the leader of the Teen Titans, while Robin would continue trying to be the actual leader even while in Beast Boy's body. The two would butt heads incessantly until one of them gave in — and, even if Robin was the one to cave, he would still try to do a lot of backseat leading because, let's be real, Beast Boy would be really bad at it.

4. Beast Boy Wouldn't Want To Switch Back

Unlike Starfire and Raven, who wanted to get back to their real bodies as soon as possible, I think Beast Boy would like being Robin a little too much. There was an entire episode about all the rest of the Titans trying on Robin's costume and mask while he was gone, after all, because everyone wants to be Robin for at least a day. I think the power rush would go to his head, even if he missed his super powers, and Robin would have to convince him that they need their correct bodies back and STAT.

5. Slade Would Choose That Moment To Attack

Slade is pretty much obsessed with the Titans, having made everyone from Robin to Terra to Raven his apprentice temporarily over the course of the season. Whether he was supposed to be dead or not by the time this body-switching happened, he would catch wind of it and choose this moment to attack Robin while he's disoriented and defenseless. Or attack Beast Boy thinking that he's Robin.

6. The Girls Would Find This Hilarious

If it was the Puppet Master who made this switch, in the time it took Robin and Beast Boy to sort their problems, the girls would probably have rescued themselves already. And then they would commence with the laughing. Because, seriously, how have Beast Boy and Robin not figured things out yet?

7. They Wouldn't Understand Each Other Better In The End

You know that part where walking a mile in someone's shoes is supposed to make you understand them better, and bring you closer together as friends? I don't see that happening with Robin and Beast Boy. Sure, they'd understand where each other is coming from a little better, but I think they'd fight too much to make a real connection, and simply end up learning that the two of them are too different. They play their roles well, and that's pretty much it.

Which is not to say that they're not still friends, of course, because that will never change. But Robin and Beast Boy switching bodies? That's a recipe for disaster.

Image: Warner Bros. Television; teentitans (7)/Tumblr