Robin (Damian Wayne)

Damian Wayne is a fictional character in the DC Universe. Damian is the child of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul and thus the grandson of Batman villain Ra's al Ghul. The character was created by Grant Morrison, and first appeared in Batman #655 (2006), the first issue of the Batman & Son story arc.

Having spent his gestation in a laboratory, Damian was raised by his mother until ten years of age, at which point she left him in the care of his father, who was not aware of his son's existence until that point in time. Damian is violent and self-important, and was trained by the League of Assassins, learning to kill at a young age. After the events of Batman R.I.P. and Batman: Battle for the Cowl, Damian has taken up the identity of Robin, becoming the fifth and current person to use the identity. He works with Dick Grayson, who has become the new Batman. Morisson's Batman #666 (2007) depicts a future wherein Damian has become Batman.

History
His existence is unknown to Batman. Genetically perfected and grown in an artificial womb, Damian was intended to be a formidable warrior. He is raised by Talia and the League of Assassins. He becomes a talented martial artist by the time he is a pre-teen, at which time Talia reveals Damian's existence to his father and leaves him in Batman's custody in an effort to disrupt his work. Precocious, spoiled, and violent, Damian battles Robin (Tim Drake), whom he wants to replace as his father's sidekick, and sucker punches him off the T. rex of the batcave. Grounded by Batman, he escapes, dons a variant Robin costume made of Jason Todd's old tunic and assorted League of Assassin gear, and gets into a fight with and decapitates the villainous Spook. Although misguided and malicious, Damian seems to genuinely want to aid his father's war on crime.

Eventually, Batman confronts Talia, but both Talia and Damian are soon caught in an explosion. They survive the explosion, but a badly injured Damian requires transplants of harvested organs, which his mother orders her physicians to carry out. He made a full recovery.

Head of the Demon Talia takes Damian to the Australian Outback where he is tutored in the secret history of his grandfather, Ra's al Ghul. Talia is unaware that a former servant of Ra's, named White Ghost, plans to use Damian as a shell for the soul of Ra's to return to Earth. This process would, of course, kill Damian. Talia is able to save her son from his fate at the last minute.

However, Ra's is still able to return, as a rotting, shambling undead corpse, still needing Damian to stabilize his form. Damian flees to alert Batman, but he's still pursued by his evil grandfather. Upon entering Wayne Manor, Damian attempts to relay to Robin the fact that Ra's has returned. However, Robin, suspicious of Damian's intentions, does not believe his story and begins a fist fight. Damian flees and encounters Alfred. Before he can effectively relay his news he is attacked by Robin, who perceives Damian's attempt to help a tripping Alfred as an attack, and renews their battle. As they fight, members of the League of Assassins approach the manor with the intention of killing all others within and bringing Damian back to Ra's alive. Damian and Tim fight side-by-side against Ra's and his minions. However, their collaboration is hindered by their very different philosophies of battle, not to mention their strong dislike - even hatred - of each other. Damian is willing to betray Tim at any moment for his own safety. Ra's captures the two and tells Batman that he will use one of them for his own body. Batman offers his own body instead. Ra's refuses the offer, feeling that he needs someone of a younger age.

Batman offers a third alternative: "Fountain of Essence," which contains the qualities of a Lazarus Pit. Batman and Ra's go in search of the fountain, leaving Tim, Damian, Nightwing, Alfred, and Talia to battle the Sensei. Damian leaves his mother and Tim to an unknown fate, while he goes off to be with his father. Unfortunately, he ends up captured by Ra's and nearly loses his life. Batman and the others manage to save him, and Talia takes her son and escapes.

Batman R.I.P. & Battle for the Cowl
Soon after these events, Talia and Damien take up residence in one of the League of Assassin's many bases, where Talia continues to monitor Batman's activities, such as his relationship with a woman named Vesper Fairchild. Damien meanwhiles continue to train under the eye of the archer-villain Merlin. Both Damien and Talia become concern when they catch wind that a group known as the Black Glove is targeting Batman.

The pair of them fly back to Gotham, where they save Commissioner Gordon from a booby-trapped Wayne Manor and ask to pool their resources. Damien meanwhile steals a Batmobile with Alfred in order to rush to Batman's side. Damien, uncaring of basically everyone, runs an ambulence off the road, unaware that he had taken out the Joker as a result. Alfred admonishes the boy, who threatens to kill him in response.Once they arrive at Arkham, they learn that Batman is again missing in action. Although Batman survived the events of R.I.P. he would later be killed by Darksied during the events of the Final Crisis.

Damien apparently decides to stay in Gotham following his father's supposed death, and taking residence with Alfred and his adopted brothers Nightwing and Robin. While joy riding in the Batmobile one night, he is attacked by a group of villains. Oddly enough Damien's previously cruel and aggressive behavior is replaced with a more child-like and fearful persona (going so far as to call for his mother when attacked by Killer Croc and Poison Ivy). He is saved however by Nightwing, but unfortunately the pair of them end up being attacked by a new gun toting Batman revealed to be Jason Todd. While in persuit of Jason, Damien is shot point-blank in the chest, and rushed to the Batcave by Nightwing and the Birds of Prey.

Despite his intensive injuries, Damian refused to be sidelined and almost attacks Alfred in order to go help Dick Grayson battle Jason Todd. Alfred however does not stop Damian, but instead encourages him to pull his own weight, even offering Damian the old Robin tunic that he once stole and asks that the Squire help Damian. Together the pair of the locate and rescue an injured Tim Drake from nearly being killed in the explosion.



The New Boy Wonder
Following a final confrontation with Jason Todd, Dick Grayson finally accepts the mantle of Batman. Unfortunately, much to Tim's shock, Dick does not continue to take him on as Robin. Stating that Tim is more of an equal and an ally rather than a protege, Dick instead offers the mantle of Robin to Damian, who he feels needs proper training to ensure they don't run the risk of seeing him turn into a killer. Damian, of course, revels in the fact that he has usurped Tim's previous role, even going so far as to insult his predecessor with the suggestion that he take on the role of Batgirl. Feeling betrayed and infuriated, Tim punches Damian, leaves, and takes on the mantle previously worn by Jason Todd: Red Robin.

During their first week as partners, Damian proves himself to be a much different Robin than Tim or Dick were, though somewhat similar to Jason Todd. Argumentative and arrogant, Damian often disputes with Dick and undermines his authority as Batman, even going so far as to claim that he might not be worthy of the Batman mantle. Damian expresses a strong willingness to take over the Batman identity himself if Dick is not "up to it." and makes it known that he has no respect for Grayson, and tells him that he needs to earn it.

It is later revealed that Damian has begun to visit his father's former friend and enemy Thomas Elliot, also known as Hush, in the prison at the top of Wayne Tower. Dick and Tim put him in and engage him in chess games. Damian claims that these visits are purely out of his curiosity to find out why Hush would alter his appearance to that of Bruce Wayne's. But Hush suspects that the visits are Damian's form of grieving for Bruce and a way to "spend time with your old man." It becomes apparent that Grayson chose Damian to be his Robin instead of Tim Drake because he sees Tim as an equal and not as a sidekick, and thinks that Damian needs guidance and a constant eye watching him, or else he will kill again. Regardless, Damian mocks Tim for no longer being a part of the Dynamic Duo, even going so far as to offer him the Batgirl position. This causes Tim to snap, taking on the mantle of Red Robin and searching the globe for Bruce Wayne, who Tim believes is still alive. After his first fight alongside Dick, Damian gets upset with Grayson and goes looking for the villain Professor Pyg himself. The Professor captures him, or rather, is led to believe so by Damian, who is in complete control of the situation, waiting for the right moment to make his move. Despite his good intentions, however, Damian is still overpowered by a large number of Dollotrons. Bent on catching Pyg, he is saved only by the timely intervention of Dick Grayson. While pursuing Pyg, he overlooks an earlier promise he had made to Sasha (a promise to save her and take her to safety), the only Dollotron who has an intact personality. As a result, the young girl's sanity is bent by her traumatic ordeal and disfigurement, ripe for the Red Hood to sway to his side, as her opposite number in the Red Hood battle against crime.

Blackest Night
After Bruce's skull was taken from his grave, Damian and Dick decide to bring the rest of his skeleton, along with those of Damian's paternal grandparents, to the their base beneath Wayne Tower. Damian is quite shaken by the sight of the bones of his family. On the way to the cave, Dick's body is possessed by Deadman, whom Damian lashes out at in confusion. Deadman then possesses and leaves Damian's body, subsequently passing his knowledge of the attack of the Black Lanterns onto him. The two heroes then prepare for the Black Lantern's assault on Gotham. After raiding the Army Reserve National Guard Armory, Dick, Damian, and the arriving Tim Drake, are able to save Commissioner Gordon, Oracle, and the surviving police officers at Gotham Central from the reanimated versions of the original Dark Knight's deceased rogue gallery members. However, they then find themselve having a horrific encounter with Batman and the Red Robin's parents - the Flying Graysons and Jack and Janet Drake - reanimated as Black Lanterns. Dick eventually orders Damian through their comm-links to sent one of his Wingers with Mr. Freeze's gun, which he complies and Grayson uses the weapon to cryogenically suspend himself and Tim, forcing the Black Lanterns to retreat as they are unable to read any sign of life of them. Deadman later revives the former Boy Wonders.

Further Adventures as Robin
After Blackest Night, Dick Grayson and Damian went to track down Jason Todd/the Red Hood. Jason is shot twice by a new villain called the Flamingo, who begins to overpower him, even when Batman and Robin arrive, although Damian is critically injured by Flamingo. Sasha, now as the Red Hood's sidekick Scarlet, manages to cut Flamingo's face open, allowing Jason to kill him. Dick realizes that Damian is paralyzed from the waist down, but will recover due to his mother's influence and ability to replace Damian's damaged organs with harvested ones. Commissioner Gordon arrives and arrests Jason, who asks Dick why Talia al Ghul had not tried resurrecting the real Batman in the Lazarus Pit.

Taking Jason's suggestion into consideration, Dick and Damian enlist the aid of England's Squire and Knight to help him locate a Lazarus Pit. After saving the Pearly Prince from destroying London, Dick believes that the Pearly King can give him information on the location of the Lazarus Pit. Pearly refuses to, however, the Knight has already located the pit. After arriving in the Pit, they fight King Coal's men, who were already taken down by Knight. They encounter Batwoman, who tells them Coal's men planned to sacrifice her to a new God of crime that is supposed to rise on that night. Dick remarks that there is no god of evil in the Pit, only the "real" Batman. The charred body of Bruce Wayne is reanimated and rises from the Pit, but is unable to speak and begins attacking all that he sees. Dick sees that this being's rage is murderous, which conclusively proves that the body could not be Bruce Wayne's, but instead a maddened clone.

The corpse of "Batman" is in fact that of a perfect clone of Bruce Wayne that was created by Darkseid during the Final Crisis. Most of the clones were euthanized due to them being driven insane from the genetically inherited trauma of Bruce Wayne, but Darkseid claimed one perfect clone of Batman could be useful to him. The dead clone is in fact the body recovered by Superman in the climax of Final Crisis after Darkseid sent the real Bruce Wayne, alive and well, into the distant past with his Omega Sanction.

Outside, King Coal sets off explosions that cause the cave to implode around everyone. The Batman clone escapes and flies to Gotham City while Dick and a severely injured Batwoman are separated from Knight and Squire. Injured and paralyzed, Batwoman realizes that Dick is the new Batman and tells him that she is dying, but has a plan. Knight and Squire finally get to them but Dick claims that Batwoman has died. However, they do succeed in resurrecting the heroin in the Lazarus Pit. Meanwhile in Gotham, Alfred Pennyworth discovers Bruce Wayne's body appears to be missing. Extremely worried, he meets a wheelchair bound Damian, returning from his spinal reconstruction. Alfred informs Damian that Dick has taken the body. Damian looks into Dick's files and finds the plan for resurrecting the original Batman by use of a Lazarus Pit. At that moment, the door opens and the Bat-Clone beats Alfred and hurls him aside, and confronts Damian. Being unsure of who he was seeing, Damian simply asks, "Father...?"

The Clone Batman is fended off by Alfred and an injured Damian, who is convinced it is not, in fact, his father. Damian lures the clone onto a patch of gasoline and ignites it, but the clone continues his attack.

Dick takes a plane suborbital, and is able to make it to Gotham in 25 minutes--just in time to catch Damian, who has been cast off the top of Wayne Towers by the Cloned Batman. The cloned Batman is decaying, and Batwoman and Dick defeat it. Back in the Batcave, Dick apologizes for taking the mission on his own, stating that he didn't want to get anyone's hopes up. He then states that Tim Drake was right, Bruce Wayne must still be alive.

With the newfound knowledge that the corpse that Superman had recovered in Final Crisis and later was used in Blackest Night is not the corpse of Bruce Wayne, and that Bruce may truly be alive, Dick Grayson obtains information from the Justice League of America that the "Omega Effect" Darkseid used on Batman may have sent him back through time, and Tim Drake is convinced Bruce is using clues in the past to help his proteges and Alfred recover him. Talia al Ghul, meanwhile, is upset that Damian wants to stay with Dick Grayson.

Alfred discovers a new lair in the Batcave, while dismantling booby traps set up by The Black Glove, and discovers portraits of Bruce's patrilineage. A "Bat" theme is recurring in many of these portraits, causing Damian Wayne to suspect that if his father is truly in the past, one of the ancestors in the portrait may be Bruce himself.

Later, for unknown reasons, Damian attempts to behead Dick Grayson. He then flees into a cemetery, where he meets Oberon Sexton, a best-selling author and "amateur" detective, who has supposedly been blackmailed into attempting an assassination attempt of Batman. Sexton goes to Wayne Manor, where he helps Damian Wayne fight several assassins who have been sent to kill him. Damian deduces that Sexton is not really British, but is faking his accent. He asks Sexton if he is really Bruce Wayne. Sexton denies this, saying he is worried that Wayne is the target of a serial killer, but he does say he is not really who he seems.

Possible future
Batman #666 (2007) features an adult Damian Wayne as Batman. He takes on the mantle after he is unable to save Batman from being killed. This Batman is darker than his father, more willing to injure and kill opponents if he judges it necessary to do so. He also has a pet cat he calls Alfred. He seems to have developed a rivalry with Commissioner Barbara Gordon (who strongly condemns his actions, claiming that he killed someone close to her) and possesses some form of supernatural ability; most visibly, the ability to heal catastrophic wounds in moments. It is implied that, in this possible future, Damian made a literal deal with the Devil: his soul in exchange for the immortality and healing abilities he felt he needed to protect Gotham.

Powers and Abilities
Skilled Martial Artist: exceptional martial artist, trained by the League of Assassins.

Strength level: Damian possesses all the strength of a normal human male who engages in intense regular exercise

Weaknesses: Damian possesses all the weakness of a normal human male though has been trained to resist them for longer than most pre-adult human males

Paraphernalia Equipment: Katana sword, grappling hooks, brass knuckles with spikes, Robin mask with assorted lenses for assorted situation.

Transportation: None known.

Weapons: Many in his training as an active assassin