We are Thunder and Lightning! We may do whatever we please!
—Lightning
The one where Starfire takes an oil balloon to the face, and someone familiar takes up a less familiar disguise.
Beast Boy tries to pull a prank on Cyborg, but hits Starfire instead, garnering her wrath. The Titans then go off to battle Thunder and Lightning, a pair of brothers who are wreaking havoc on the city for their own amusement. Starfire is hurt in the battle, and Beast Boy apologizes to her. Thunder and Lightning are then recruited by a mysterious old man, who uses their powers to create a giant creature made of fire, which the Titans take down.
This episode provides examples of:
- An Aesop: Beast Boy brings one up during a later conversation with Thunder.Beast Boy: Gifts don't make you better, just different. It's how you use them that counts.
- Just because something is fun, doesn't always make it right.
- Armor-Piercing Question:
- When Thunder tells Beast Boy that he and his brother are just having fun, Beast Boy points to the innocent civilians caught in the collateral damage and asks Thunder if he thinks they feel the same way. This creates doubt in Thunder about just how harmless his "fun" is, especially if someone ends up getting hurt.
- Later on when Lightning is about to deliver a final blow to his brother, Thunder asks him if they're still having fun.
- Art Shift: When Beast Boy and Thunder have their final fight to make Thunder change his ways, their art style suddenly shifts to that of an Asian painting for no other reason other than to look cool.
- Bad Powers, Bad People: Discussed and defied. Thunder points out to Lightning that the Titans also have gifts like them, but instead of using them for themselves they protect others, something they should do too. Lightning points out that, unlike the Titans, their gifts can only destroy, so how are they supposed to help anyone? Thunder admits that is true, but together they have one more gift, being able to make rain that stops the fire monster. Ultimately, having destructive powers didn't automatically make Thunder and Lightning evil, they were choosing to use them that way, just as chose to use them for good in the end.
- Bait-and-Switch Compassion: Thunder and Lightning wreak havoc across Jump City in their quest to have fun. After Beast Boy calls Thunder out on how dangerous his "fun" is, Thunder expresses his concern to Lightning. Lightning looks concerned for a few moments before laughing and dismissing the idea that their fun could be dangerous.
- Bash Brothers: Thunder and Lightning.
- Big "NO!": Beast Boy yells this out when he realizes that Starfire walked to his prank.
- Clueless Aesop: While Beast Boy's main problem in the episode is his refusal to apologize to Starfire when she accidentally falls afoul of his prank, it appears to rest on the secondary notion that Beast Boy pulling a prank at all is morally objectionable — hence the Monster of the Aesop trope below.
Unfortunately, the episode fails to realize that by rights this should also include Cyborg's prank, which results in the story directly comparing Beast Boy's attempt to nail Cyborg with a glorified pie in the facenote to millions of dollars in wanton property destruction, while Cyborg's earlier prank, which resulted in long-term humiliation and mockery for Beast Boy, is by all appearances perfectly acceptable. The resulting moral appears to be something like "Pranks are bad if Beast Boy does them." - Easily Forgiven: Somewhat downplayed. When Starfire suffers a mean prank from Beast Boy (which was really meant for Cyborg), she calls him a "Clorbag Varblernelk", which she considers a harsh Tamaranean insult. In the end, after seeing how remorseful and mature Beast Boy becomes, she forgives him and calls him a "Milnip Wusserloop". Whatever that means, it's likely less scathing than a "Clorbag".
- Escalating War: Beast Boy's attempt to sludge-bomb Cyborg is return fire for Cyborg pranking him earlier, successfully dyeing Beast Boy's whole body brown, over which there was much ridicule. Subverted due to Starfire getting in the way.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: Soon after his encounter with Beast Boy, Thunder ends up going through this for the rest of the episode, eventually landing at Face. Lightning, on the other hand, stays on the heel until Thunder talks him out of it at the end.
- Honor Before Reason: Thunder refuses to attack Beast Boy when he's down, saying that it would be unsportsmanlike to attack a fallen opponent.
- Hypocrite: Beast Boy calls Thunder out for causing all this mayhem while the latter believes he's doing it for fun. Right, tell that to the former when it comes to his earlier prank against Starfire and she didn't find it funny. Eventually, he grows out of it to see how Thunder and Lightning are so similar with him.
- Jerkass Realization: It took him believing Starfire dying in the rubble to cause this on Beast Boy about his prank earlier and how it could have hurt her.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: Invoked by Beast Boy to Starfire in his attempt to have her forget about her anger towards him. While it didn't work the first time, the second attempt worked when she heard him apologizing for his prank earlier from behind and welcomes him with open arms.Starfire: And I am glad you are safe.
- Marshmallow Heaven: Beast Boy gets one of these when Starfire forgives him. (This is downplayed, of course.)
- Monster of the Aesop: Beast Boy thinks his pranks are harmless until he realizes that the brothers are using the same justification for their own actions and how their pranks could eventually hurt someone.
- Must Make Amends: Thunder and Lightning make amends by stopping the giant fire monster they made with a storm.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- Thunder suffers one of these when he realizes that Slade manipulated him and his brother into summoning a fire monster to destroy the city. Even Lightning (who hasn't yet gotten the hint) seems disturbed by this.
- Lightning when he almost strikes down Thunder.
- Beast Boy has a variation of this when, whilst believing Starfire has been buried under rubble, realizes his prank could've seriously hurt her and how she didn't find it funny, at all.
- Mythology Gag: The mysterious old man who recruits Thunder and Lightning, who is secretly Slade in disguise, is modelled after Slade's appearance in the comics.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Beast Boy found this out with Thunder and Lightning as he finds their actions are similar to his.Starfire: Now those evil brothers must be made to apologize.Beast Boy: I don't think they are evil. I think they're just like me.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers!: Slade espouses this to the brothers to manipulate them. Thunder isn't so easily swayed after Beast Boy has already planted doubt in his mind, but Lightning laps it up quickly and convinces his brother to follow along.
- Thunder Drum: Thunder pounds on the thunderclouds while his brother Lightning casts electricity about; in tandem they can make rainstorms as well.
- With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Beast Boy helps Thunder realize this, and Thunder, in turn, helps Lightning understand.Thunder: [The Teen Titans] also have gifts, but they use them for good while we waste ours on dangerous "fun". If we are so special, brother, then let us act special. We must help them!
- Worthy Opponent: Thunder takes an interest in Beast Boy's "power of the animals".
