If you’d ask everyone in the Teen Titans fandom or even the DC fandom what Beast Boy and Starfire are, most of them would answer ‘friends’. Maybe even ‘brother and sister’ or ‘Mother and son’. But a select few, such as myself, see them with potential to be more than just ‘friends’, but potentially a couple.
And to explain why I feel this is the case, here’s a detailed response I had to a topic discussion on @ivedonestranger‘s Teen Titans Discord, found here. Do note that this is entirely based on the 2003 Cartoon Network show, which is why I neglect to mention the events that occured in the comics and other canons.
Let me know why you guys like the ship!
Beast Boy has dealt with the death of his parents and a rather strict upbringing with the Doom Patrol, yet he doesn't talk about it and instead focuses on cracking cheesy jokes and playing pranks with others because he doesn't want to see them down. This in particular is apparent with his relationship with Raven, as regardless of how you feel about the two together, it's clear that he tries his best to help her come out of her shell as he sees her isolation as something deeper than just "she likes to be alone". He doesn't really get her interests, but he at least respects them and tries to include her in things like video games and physical games because he wants her to be included. And you can also say that this is apparent with Terra too. Terra was a girl with a cheery, confident exterior, but an anxious, insecure interior, and while it's clear that he's attracted to her physically, as he gets to know her more, he gets more attached to her and is always there for her to try and cheer her up, like when she first admits she doesn't have full control over her powers, all the way to her being allied with Slade and he still refuses that she is evil. He always looks for the best in people and tries to bring that out of them, knowing firsthand how bad life can be and thus he always tries to brighten others' lives. And this isn't something exclusive to him.
Starfire has been proven to help glue the team together, as without her, the team dissolves in a negative mess that eventually breaks them apart. She doesn't fully understand Earth and their traditions, but she always looks to learn about them, to feel included, as shown on some occasions, she hates to be alone or to feel unwanted. Like when Blackfire first shows up on Earth and the Titans focus on her, she feels jealousy, but more importantly, insecurity, debating to leave Earth so that her friends are happy with her sister. And again when she goes through her physical transformation. She is very insecure about it, feeling the need to hide herself, and once her new appearance is revealed, she goes as far as hallucinating that everyone was laughing at her and immediately leaves Earth. These instances are rare, but show a vulnerability in her, that she just wants to fit in with everyone else and have everyone else be happy.
These two have a lot in common, and while some would say that their cheerfulness and need to bring the moods up of others would make Starfire and Beast Boy fit better with the more gloomy pair of Robin and Raven respectively(or non-respectively for the BBRob and RaeStar fans out there), I would argue that they don't need to be romantically paired in order to do this. Not to mention the fact that they could both help solve their OWN troubles, like Starfire's insecurity and Beast Boy's 'clown mask', if you will. One could also argue that opposites DON'T attract, and that the conflict in Robin's headstrong need for justice would be too much for Starfire's carefree personality that would put a split between them. Raven's need to be alone, while she does this because of her demon side, is also clearly still apart of her personality, and Beast Boy's pack mentality directly conflicts with this. Meanwhile, Beast Boy and Starfire clearly don't want to be alone, and wouldn't really have to worry about each other isolating themselves, either it be because of a crime case or a long novel and tea. Beast Boy has also shown trust in Starfire, going to her first to tell her about how he was keeping Silkie. And when he did hurt her with his oil balloon prank, he showed immediate remorse and was elated when Starfire finally forgave him.
