"Orangins" is the twenty-second episode of the fourth season of Teen Titans Go!, and the one-hundred-seventy-ninth overall episode of the series.
Summary[]
The Titans each tell their own slightly inaccurate origin stories.
Plot[]
It all begins when Robin breaks the door and is going to tell his story. Cyborg happily says that he loves stories. Robin tells him that it's an origin story, which Beast Boy mishears as orange. As soon as Robin tells his origin story about him as a circus clown, the other Titans stop him due to their being bored.
Raven tells her inaccurate origin story. She was a teen photographer taking photos of a science lab when she got bitten by a radioactive raven. She turns into Raven-Woman and gains a series of raven-related powers: winged flight, egg-laying, and nest-making. Her tragedy is that her elderly uncle died...decades later of old age. All the Titans except Robin cry. Robin tells Raven that it wasn't real, as she stole the origin from a certain arachnid themed superhero.
Cyborg tells his inaccurate story about him escaping a terrible explosion that blew up his homeworld and killed his parents. Then he lived on a farm with step-parents who had always wanted a child. He finds he has superpowers and becomes Cyborg-Man. His tragedy is that his step-parents fell on hard times, lost their farm, and were now homeless. And yet again, all the Titans except Robin cry. Robin tells Cyborg that it was Superman's origin.
Starfire tells her inaccurate origin story about her younger self walking home from the movies with her cats. As they walk into an alley, an angry dog scares her and the cats, chasing them away, which causes Starfire to become depressed. Starfire takes the vast fortune left by her cats to build a headquarters in a cave and becomes the superhero Catfire, who fights bad dogs. Her tragedy is that her back was broken by Bane-Dog. Robin tells her that it was Batman's origin story, except she was Batman and all the characters were replaced by cats and dogs.
Beast Boy tells his inaccurate story about being a jet pilot known as the "man without fear". One night, while marooned on a desert island after jumping from a crashing plane, a dying green alien gave Beast Boy a green power ring. Beast Boy then used his powers to fight a series of bad guys (like the Red Lanterns and Dr. Hector Hammond). This time, the Titans, especially Robin, didn't cry. Robin tells Beast Boy that it was more like Green Lantern's story. Beast Boy says that he is a Green Lantern, explaining why he's green and can change form.
Robin then tried to remember and retell Beast Boy's real origin story: about how he was ill as a child and that his scientist parents gave him an experimental serum created from the blood of a rare green monkey. It not only cured him but granted him shape-shifting powers. Beast Boy points out how silly that is, so he and the other Titans laugh at Robin. Beast Boy then eventually reveals he's not real and that he's just a hologram created by Green Lantern, causing everybody (except Robin, who is more surprised than sad) to cry, especially Cyborg, upon realizing his friendship with Beast Boy was a lie. The episode ends with Green Lantern (John Stewart) laughing.
Characters[]
- Robin
- Cyborg
- Starfire
- Raven
- Beast Boy (hologram)
- Abin Sur (debut, cameo)
- John Stewart (cameo)
- Superman (referenced by Cyborg)
- Batman (referenced by Starfire)
- Spider-Man (referenced by Raven)
- Doctor Light (cameo in Raven's fake origin story)
- Atrocitus (debut, cameo)
- Hector Hammond (debut, cameo)
- The Joker (referenced in Starfire's story)
- Bane (referenced in Starfire's story)
- Alfred Pennyworth (referenced in Starfire's story)
- Green Lantern (cameo)
Trivia[]
- This is the third episode to feature each Titan telling a different inaccurate story or fable. The first two were "Grube's Fairytales" and "History Lesson".
- The episode title is a play on the words "orange" and "origins", as mentioned by Beast Boy.
- Spider-Man is mentioned/referenced for the second time in the series. The first is brought up in "Two Parter" (Part 2).
- Robin briefly explains a little about Beast Boy's real origin, where he was indeed bitten by a diseased monkey as a child, which granted him his superpower of animal shapeshifting and turned his skin and hair green.
- Raven's origin story parodied Spider-Man; coincidentally, her voice actress, Tara Strong, voiced Mary Jane in Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man series.
- Interestingly, even though Starfire's origin story parodied Batman's, her voice actress Hynden Walch actually voiced the Dark Knight (as a child, specifically) in the 2008 anthology film, Batman: Gotham Knight.
- "Orangins" was nominated for the 2017 Primetime Emmy for "Outstanding Short-Format Animated Program".
- The music used when Robin walks in the room is similar to what is used during the previews for suspenseful, action-packed movies or suspenseful, action-packed Sci-Fi movies.
- Beast Boy is the only Titan who didn't appear in person in this episode.
Continuity[]
- John Stewart's design in this episode is different from his design in "Real Boy Adventures". This design would later be used in "Teen Titans Go! to the Movies".
- The circus that Robin said was his origin is probably the same circus as when he was a baby in "Dude Relax".
- Raven is seen unhooded for the 60th time in the series.
- This is the sixth time to feature each Titan having their own individual segment that's unrelated to the others. The other times are in "Dreams", "Video Game References", "Campfire Stories", "Grube's Fairytales" and "History Lesson".
- The spectacles worn by Raven in her story are also worn in "The Cruel Giggling Ghoul".
References[]
- Each Titan's story is a parody of a well-known superhero's origin story. Starfire's story references Batman, Beast Boy's story references Green Lantern, Raven's story references Spider-Man, and Cyborg's story references Superman.
- This is the second time that a Marvel superhero has been directly referenced in the show.
- This is also the first time the show referenced two Marvel superheroes in one episode: Beast Boy says that he always thought Batman got hit with gamma radiation and that's how he gets all of his muscles which is a reference to The Incredible Hulk, another Marvel superhero.
- Beast Boy mentions the Norwegian fairy tale of The Three Billy Goats Gruff.
- Starfire mentions the fairytale Thumbelina when she refers to "the tale of the tiny fairy princess", although, in older versions of the Fairy Tale, Thumbelina does not ride a cat.
- Several Spider-Man references are inserted in this episode:
- During Raven's story, we see her uncle reading a newspaper with the headline, "Octopus Receives Doctorate". This is a reference to Doctor Octopus, who is a villain from the Marvel universe.
- In Raven's story, the old man raising her (who spoofs Uncle Ben) says, "If you ever get superpowers, you should probably use them for good, instead of not doing good", which references the iconic quote- "With great power comes great responsibility", but is said with a little twist- Uncle Ben didn't realize in the actual Spider-Man story that his nephew would get superpowers, yet his philosophy had a strong point of using one's superpowers responsibly.
- The point of Raven getting bitten by a radioactive raven is a spoof of the iconic spider-bite story that is quite common for Peter Parker, as well as taking on a costume and powers based on said animal that bit them- a raven and spider, respectively.
- Raven wearing eyeglasses is a nod to both Sam Raimi's 2002 Spiderman film and The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series, where Peter suffers from short-sightedness, prior to getting bitten by the radioactive spider.
- In Starfire's origin story, the movie title "Top Dudes" outside the cinema is a reference to the 1986 movie "Top Gun".
Errors[]
- When the boy falls out the window in Raven's story, his window had smoke. After he landed on the nest, his window is clean.
- The parodied origins also have different downsides to them, such as Raven's when she said that Uncle Ben died of old age, whereas in the comics, he was shot to death. Cyborg shows that the Kents lost their farm and became homeless.
- The only downside which is true is about Batman, which Starfire stated- Bane broke Batman's spine and he was unable to walk after some time.
Running Gags[]
- The Titans (except Robin) crying while the word tragic appears in huge letters.
- Beast Boy mispronounces and misunderstands words.
- Robin being irritated by each of the other Titans' stories, as they give completely wrong versions.
- Robin being dramatic.
- A big pixelated "TRAGIC" sign appearing, causing alarms to go off
Transcript[]
The transcript for "Orangins" can be found here.
Gallery[]
The image gallery for Orangins may be viewed here. |
Fractured tales |
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Grube's Fairytales • History Lesson • Orangins • Tall Titan Tales • Don't Be an Icarus • What a Boy Wonders |