Gar at his heart is an affection-starved character.
I think a lot of Gar's characterization, especially in the NTT, becomes more interesting when you stop looking at his flirtatiousness, sexual humor, constant joking, and attention-seeking as isolated personality traits and look at the kind of childhood he actually had.
Gar was a neglected and abused kid.
He lost his biological parents extremely young, was left in the care of adults who repeatedly failed to provide him with the stability and affection he needed, and his relationship with Steve Dayton in particular was deeply unhealthy. Steve could care about Gar and still be neglectful and abusive toward him. Intent doesn't erase the effect it has on a child when the person who is supposed to care for you consistently fails you. And I think that matters enormously for understanding adult/teenage Gar, Because Gar is constantly performing, he's funny, he's flirtatious., he's loud, he's charming, he makes inappropriate jokes, he wants people to laugh. He wants attention.. he frequently acts like absolutely nothing can embarrass him...
But that can also be read as a kid who has learned that being entertaining is a way of securing affection.. if people are laughing at his jokes, they're paying attention to him, If people find him charming, they're interested in him, If people find him attractive, he's desirable, If he's constantly making himself useful, funny, or entertaining, then maybe people will keep him around.
And that's where I think his sexual humor becomes particularly interesting.. I'm not saying every single joke Gar makes is secretly a trauma response obviously 80s comics were also writing him as a teenage boy with a deliberately exaggerated sense of humor. But his flirtatiousness and sexual bravado can absolutely be interpreted as part of the same larger need for validation and affection, There's a difference between “Gar is horny because that's his personality.” and “Gar has learned to associate being desired with being valued.” the second interpretation makes so much more sense with his history because underneath all that bravado, Gar is someone who desperately wants to be wanted, not necessarily sexually. Not even romantically... he wants people to choose him, he wants people to care about him, he wants reassurance that he's loved, he wants a family that isn't going to disappear on him, and that's why the Titans are so important to him, for all the jokes and flirting and ridiculous behavior, these people become his family... they're people who see Gar as Gar. Not as an experiment. Not as an asset. Not as someone's responsibility. Not as a kid who needs to perform for approval...
And I think that's one of the most important things about Gar's character, His humor doesn't necessarily mean he's carefree, his confidence doesn't necessarily mean he's secure, his flirtatiousness doesn't necessarily mean he's emotionally fulfilled, sometimes the person making the most jokes about being wanted is the person who has spent their entire childhood wondering whether anybody actually wanted them at all.. Gar's tragedy is that he can turn his own emotional deprivation into something entertaining enough that everyone laughs with him instead of asking why he needs so badly to be loved.
At his heart, Gar isn't just a character who wants attention. He's a character who has spent much of his life starving for affection and learned to disguise that hunger as humor.
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