For years the Teen Titans have defended the earth from all sorts of threats, sometimes even outmatching their older, more experienced counterparts in the Justice League. Over time, some members of the team of youngsters have even joined the Justice League, graduating in a way that few others have.
However, similarly to the Justice League themselves, the Teen Titans have had a vast and constantly-rotating roster composed of all kinds of characters. Furthermore, while some have gone on to become fan favorites, other characters disappear rather quickly before really getting the chance to shine. On the other hand though, some characters disappear simply because they aren’t team players, or don’t bring much as characters in general. Looking at some of the best and worst characters to get the short end of the stick, here is our list of 5 Teen Titans who were criminally underused, and 5 who overstayed their welcome.
10 Overstayed: Joker’s Daughter
Even though she is a villain, Joker’s daughter actually served as a member of the Teen Titans in the past. As one might be able to imagine, the character didn’t exactly prove to be a team player, as she is typically as unreliable as her “father” and generally more violent than any other member of the team.
With a loose reason to include her in the first place, the character was never going to last terribly long. Even though she only served with the team briefly, Joker’s Daughter is still one character who overstayed her welcome with the team.
9 Underused: Argent
Debuting as part of the 90s Teen Titans series, Argent proved to be one of the more interesting characters of an otherwise undesirable team. In fact, most members of this lineup have been completely forgotten.
Thankfully though, Argent would stick around for a while longer, even making her way into the animated Teen Titans cartoon series. With the ability to control and manipulate plasma into solid constructs, Argent’s abilities have often been compared to that of Green Lantern’s. As a heavy hitter with a lot of potential and a pretty likable personality as well, it is a shame that Argent has slipped from the memories of so many.
8 Overstayed: Bunker
When he first made his debut as part of the New 52, Bunker actually showed a lot of potential as a character. With an intriguing backstory and a lot of power to him, the character could have easily been one of the stronger “new” aspects to the New 52 in general.
Unfortunately, the character proved to have a rather strange attitude, making some rather questionable decisions here and there, which often made him very frustrating to readers. Once the team had disbanded, Bunker was nowhere to be found for several years until he reappeared as part of a Red Hood: Outlaw arc. Despite all the potential he had, Bunker proved to be very forgettable overall, and probably should have left the team a bit earlier.
7 Underused: Kid Devil
Following the events of Infinite Crisis, quite a few changes were made to Eddie Bloomberg’s character. This time, instead of using a suit that gave him abilities, Eddie actually had powers of his own and an appearance that strongly resembled that of Blue Devil.
As a member of the Teen Titans, however, Eddie seemed to have a lot of trouble, while he still had some interesting character arcs, the character constantly felt as though he was being held back from reaching his potential. Given all the trouble he found himself in, Eddie could have really benefited from a few more chances to really develop his character. While it is easy to see why some people didn’t like him, there was still a lot more that could have been done for him.
6 Overstayed: Phantasm
Shortly after joining the Teen Titans, Danny Chase proved to be one of the worst team players to ever hold a place on the team’s vast roster. With an inflated ego and large superiority complex, Phantasm was constantly looking down on the other members of the team.
Even though he managed to redeem himself to a degree by sacrificing himself for Raven, the character wasn’t really missed, and has since been forgotten by a lot of Teen Titans fans. While his telepathy could have made him a valuable asset to the team, his attitude made it so no one wanted him around.
5 Underused: Aqualad
Given the popularity of Kaldur’ahm in the popular Young Justice series, one would think that DC Comics would utilize the Aqualad character a bit more. Granted, Jackson Hyde in the comics still has some significant differences from Kaldur in the show, but both versions of the character make for great additions to their respective teams and have been drastically underplayed in the comics.
Despite his great potential, Jackson wasn’t actually part of the Teen Titans team until later into their Rebirth era series. Furthermore, the character only lasted a few other issues after joining the team before it was completely restructured once again. As a fan favorite, Jackson is likely to be seen once again at some point. For now though, he remains completely underused, especially within the comics.
4 Overstayed: Skitter
Though skitter’s actual power is very useful, the manner in which she accesses the power is rather odd, and takes a bit of time to activate. Alongside Bunker, Skitter made her debut as part of the New 52 relaunch, also showing some potential as a character.
However, as time went on, she never quite developed in the way that other characters do, and really didn’t bring much to the team overall. When she was left behind by the group of young heroes, readers generally didn’t miss her, and continued on like normal, showing just how little impact Skitter had on the team overall.
3 Underused: Blue Beetle
While it is nice to see a character like Jaime Reyes graduate from the Teen Titans to his own series, the character is perfect for a team book featuring a younger group of heroes. Considering all the things his alien scarab can do, Jaime could easily prove to be one of the most powerful Teen Titans around.
Unfortunately, even when his solo series has stopped, the character has yet to return to the Teen Titans title. Of course, Jaime is still worthy of his own series, but he tends to feel absent from the DC universe whenever it isn’t running. As an underappreciated character overall, Jaime was easily a criminally underused member of the Teen Titans as well.
2 Overstayed: Aquagirl
Having also joined the team following Infinite Crisis, it is easy to see why Aquagirl didn’t stick around for too long. Unless the team went on an underwater mission, there was very little use for Aquagirl in general. Furthermore, she caused a lot of disruption on the team, and seemed to fight with Hawk at almost every opportunity.
While it makes sense for the members to butt heads at times, Aquagirl did it almost unnecessarily. Being little use to the team as well, it isn’t hard to see why she could have overstayed her welcome.
1 Underused: Power Girl
After the original Power Girl returned to Earth 2, Tanya Spears found herself with some similar abilities. Not knowing how to control them, the character approached the Teen Titans, hoping they could teach her a thing or two.
However, this version of the team only lasted a few issues in total, eventually being disbanded and reforming once again with yet another new lineup. Given the nature of Tanya’s potential, however, one can’t help but wonder why she wasn’t called back. If given the proper amount of time, her character really could have made for a successful addition to the team, especially if the series had been able to continue.