Dick Grayson

Nightwing
General Information
Real name:	Richard John Grayson
First Appearance:	Detective Comics #38
Created by:	Bill Finger Bob Kane
Affiliations:	Batman Family Justice League of Arkham
Abilities:	Master Martial Artist
Portrayed by:	Douglas Croftin - 1943's Batman Johnny Duncan - 1949's Batman and Robin Burt Ward - 1960's Batman Chris O'Donnell - Batman Forever and Batman & Robin

Character Biography

Origin

For many years, Richard Grayson served as Batman's sidekick,Robin.

The name "Robin the Boy Wonder" and the medieval look of the original costume were inspired by the legendary hero Robin Hood, as well as the red-breasted American Robin, which continued the "flying animal" motif of Batman.

Young Dick Grayson was born on the first day of spring. His mother nicknamed him "little Robin". Little did she know how prophetic this term of endearment would be in her son's life.

Dick Grayson was an twelve-year-old half-Romany (gypsy) circus acrobat, the youngest of a family act called The Flying Graysons of The Haly Circus. Dick joined the act at a very young age, having been trained in acrobatics from birth. Before one appearance in Gotham City, in which The Flying Graysons were the main attraction, they were asked to pose for a photo opportunity with Jack Drake and his family, including their young son, Tim Drake. From that time on Tim's one and only hero in the world was Dick.

While on tour in Gotham City, he overheard "Boss" Tony Zucco, a well-known and feared crime-lord, threaten the performers unless the circus's owner paid extortion money. The owner refused, and that night Dick watched in horror as his parents' high wire snapped, sending his parents hurtling to their deaths, all while many of Gotham's elite watched on. Young Dick felt responsible, because he failed to warn his parents in time.

Beginnings

Shortly after the tragedy, as shown in Batman: Year Three and Year One Annual: Robin, Dick was placed in an uncaring juvenile services system, on the grounds that social services was full. He got beaten up by a number of the inmates, and he was later sent to a Catholic orphanage. Bruce Wayne rescued Dick by adopting him as his ward, because the boy did not want to replace his deceased father with the billionaire. Frustrated by the lack of attention from his new guardian and the mystery still surrounding his parents' death, Dick sneaked out of Wayne Manor one evening to solve the crime on his own - only to stumble into Batman, who was also investigating the murder. After waking up in the Batcave, he is shocked to learn that Bruce is really the Batman. They succeed in revealing Zucco's complicity , but he supposedly dies of a heart attack before his arrest. Seeing a reflection of himself in Dick; that he could temper compassion with a thirst for justice, Batman made the young orphan the offer of a lifetime; the chance to become his crime-fighting partner. Dick chose the name Robin, and his training began.

Robin's origin had a typological connection to Batman's in that both witnessed the crime-related deaths of their parents, creating an urge to battle the criminal underworld. This provided a bond and understanding between the two.

Bruce taught Dick fighting techniques and detective skills for a grueling 6 months. Finally, Dick had to pass a final test - "the Gauntlet". Dick had to elude the Dark Knight on the streets of Gotham for one night - from sundown to sunrise - without any outside help. Dick succeeded, simultaneously bringing Gotham gangster Joe Minette to justice. Dick took to the streets as Batman's full-fledged partner in crime-fighting: Robin, the Boy Wonder.

Early Adventures

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Robin

Dick enjoyed his first year as Robin, regarding the job as an adventure until a confrontation with Two-Face served as a rude awakening for the young hero. Two-Face had captured the new District Attorney and Batman, and had each suspended from a hangman's noose in a 'double gallows death-trap'. Robin, in trying to save the D.A., used a batarang to cut the rope of the noose. It worked, but Robin didn't account for Dent's obsession with the number two-- it was a two-fold trap, and the floor gave way, dropping the D.A. into the water, where the man drowned. Robin was unable to prevent his death, and received a beating at the hands of Two-Face. A beating witnessed by Batman, still tied up on the platform trying to free himself. Eventually Batman was able to free himself and apprehend Two-Face. This event, however, scarred the young crime-fighter, and haunts him even today. Rather than see Dick be further endangered, Batman "fires" his partner, sidelining the Boy Wonder for a time.

Dick continued his adventures with Batman, and began attending college at Hudson University. Robin started to take on solo missions as well, and found himself to be a capable crime-fighter in his own right. Shortly afterward, the mysterious Raven summoned Dick Grayson, and several other young heroes, to form a new group of Titans. Robin again resumed leadership, and moved out of the shadow of the Batman.

Independence

When Robin was 17, he was shot in the shoulder by the Joker, and this scared Batman into ending his career for good. Dick realized at that point that he had grown up: He no longer relied on Batman and, in fact, he and the Dark Knight disagreed on crime-fighting methodology. His newfound independence and Titans' duties in New York left less time for his former commitments in Gotham City. He also dropped out of Hudson after only one semester.

Dick rediscovered his self-worth among the Teen Titans. Batman, however, was less than pleased. He informed Dick that if he no longer wanted to be his partner, then Dick would have to retire as Robin. Dick left Wayne Manor after this fallout. Helping him through this difficult time was his fellow Titans, including Starfire, a beautiful alien that Dick had fallen in love with. Dick handed over leadership of the Titans to Wonder Girl.

Becoming Nightwing

Uncertain what to do, he turned to someone he knew would understand: Superman. Very briefly, Dick had considered giving up the whole crime fighting gig; but he couldn't imagine his life any other way. But if he couldn't be Robin, who would he be? Superman had the answer. Long ago on Krypton, a man was cast out by his family - just as Dick had been. He dreamed of a world ruled by justice, and set out to protect the helpless of Krypton. His true identity was never revealed. He was known only as Nightwing.

The Post-Crisis version of Grayson had him become the first and only Nightwing, with his costume partially inspired by his father, who at one time wore a circus costume that was a variant of colleague Boston Brand's Deadman costume.

When all his teammates were captured by Deathstroke the Terminator, and delivered to the HIVE, Dick assumed a new identity of Nightwing and helped to free them, with the help of new ally (and future Titan), Jericho.

Nightwing had finally moved out of the shadow of the Bat, and would lead the Titans through some hard times. Dick endured brainwashing at the hands of Brother Blood, his relationship with Starfire would suffer due to her marriage of state, he would be deeply affected by the fact that Batman trained a new Robin (Jason Todd) only for him to be seemingly killed at the hands of the Joker.

Shortly after this, during Batman: Year Three, Dick learned that Tony Zucco, the man who killed his parents, had not acutally died but rather passed into a coma. As revealed in Robin: Year One, Batman feared Dick would want the gangster dead, so he "protected" the boy by telling him that Zucco was dead. After spending nearly seven years in prison with good behavior, Zucco applied for parole, in exchange for becoming a state informant of mob activity. His real intentions, however, were to retrieve a ledger containing his secrets. Just as Dick arrived to see him step out of the prison, he was gunned down by an enemy mobster from a helicopter. Despite catching the assassin and getting some closer to his parents' deaths, Dick was upset with Bruce for lying to him and keeping him away, to which Bruce explained that was not his intent.

Feeling hurt and betrayed, Bruce and Dick would remain at odds with each other, never fully sorting out their strained relationship. While serving with the New Titans, Dick was searched out by an older Tim Drake, who had only one goal on his mind, for Dick to return to Robin. It was Dick's refusal to return that Tim started down the road toward becoming the new Robin. After weeks of persuading and proving his potential, Dick then returned to the Batman to plead Tim's case, with help from Alfred Pennyworth. Due to their arguments and the realization that the Batman needs a Robin, Tim Drake becomes the third Boy Wonder.

Soon after, various members of the Titans were abducted by the Wildebeest Society. This event shook up the team in a big way. The group entered into tumultuous times, where members came and went, longtime friends were maimed or destroyed, although Dick persevered through it all, and remained the heart and center of the team.

But his relationship with Starfire became strained,and problems in Gotham demanded Dick's attention. Impulsively, Dick proposed marriage to Starfire. The two almost wed, but the ceremony was interrupted by Raven, now reborn as an evil avatar of her father, Trigon. Her brutal attack on Starfire triggered changes in Dick and Kory's relationship. Starfire was implanted with a demon "seed" which causes her to leave Earth and go on a spiritual journey. The two grew apart, and Starfire eventually returned to her home planet of Tamaran.

Prodigal Son

Meanwhile, in Gotham, Bruce Wayne was nearly killed by the villain Bane who had crippled his by breaking his back. Unwilling to force Dick to come back and believing that Dick deserved to be his own man, Brucie opted to give the mantle of Batman to the unstable Jean Paul Valley, with Tim Drake, the new Robin to guide him. Unfortunately Jean Paul proved too much for Tim to handle, and Dick returned to help. Dick intervened with Tim Drake, and when Bruce returned to Gotham healed and ready to become Batman again, the three of them along with Catwoman brought Valley down and Bruce re-assumed the mantle of Batman.

When Dick returned to the Titans, he found there to be changes. The government interceded, placing Arsenal (the former Speedy) as leader of the team. Dick stepped aside and left the Titans, concentrating on problems in Gotham City. Still recovering from his broken back, Bruce asked Dick to substitute for him as Batman for a time. Dick accepted. During this time, Dick was able to confront Two-Face and lay some demons to rest. He also established a wonderful partnership with Tim which allowed for their brotherly bond to flourish. Bruce eventually returned to Gotham to reclaim his role as Batman. Before taking back the mantel however, Bruce admitted to Dick the reason he had not selected him for the role of Batman originally and for the first time in a long time, Bruce and Dick began to heal their strained relationship. Bruce's respect for Dick was at last obvious.

Infinite Crisis

As of the current events surrounding the Infinite Crisis storyline, Nightwing has refused to join his recently resurrected friend Donna Troy as she journeys to New Cronus with several heroes. He has instead adopted a new villainous costume and persona in order to infiltrate Lex Luthor's Secret Society of Supervillains and seemingly attempt to trouble it from the inside. Under Deathstroke's employ, he trained Slade's daughter Rose, the newest Ravager.

Deathstroke betrays Nightwing when Blüdhaven is destroyed by the Society. The Society drops the super-villain Chemo on the city, killing 100,000 people. Dick tries to rescue survivors but is overcome by radiation poisoning, only to be rescued himself by Batman. Nightwing confides that he let the villain Blockbuster die and asks Batman to forgive him. Batman tells him that his forgiveness doesn't matter; Dick has to move beyond Blockbuster's death. Inspired by his mentor, he proposes to Barbara Gordon, who tearfully accepts his proposal with a kiss.

Batman then entrusts Nightwing to alert other heroes about the danger that the Crisis poses. Dick flies to Titans Tower, but the only hero who answers his call is Superboy (Conner Kent). Together, they locate and attack Alexander Luthor's tower, the center of the Crisis, only to be repelled by Superboy-Prime. Prime is ready to kill Nightwing when Conner intervenes, sacrificing himself to destroy the tower, ending the destruction of the Universe.

Saved by the Justice Society, Nightwing recovers with Barbara at his side. As soon as he's able to walk again, Batman asks him to join him and Robin in retracing Bruce's original journey in becoming the Dark Knight. While Nightwing is hesitant, due to his engagement with Barbara, she encourages him to go and returns his engagement ring so he can make an honest decision for himself. While Barbara feels that it is important he re-discover himself, and until he does they're not yet ready to be married. They part on good terms, though before he departs Dick leaves her an envelope containing a photograph of them as Robin and Batgirl, along with the engagement ring on a chain and a note promising he'll come back to her one day.

Soon after his journey with Batman and Robin begins, Nightwing returns to Gotham, following Intergang's trail. He works with the new Batwoman and Renee Montoya to stop Intergang from destroying Gotham, shutting off dozens of fire spewing devices spread across the city.

One Year Later

One year later, Dick Grayson returned to New York City (his previous homebase with the Teen Titans) in order to find out who had been masquerading as Nightwing. The murderous impostor turned out to be the former Robin, Jason Todd. Grayson lead the Outsiders once again, operating undercover and globally.

Nightwing followed an armored thief named Raptor, who he suspected was responsible for a series of murders. Later, Raptor himself was murdered in a manner similar to the other victims by an unseen contract killer, who proceeded to bury Grayson alive. Nightwing freed himself, but wondered about the relationship between his experience and a mysterious voice who told him that he was "supposed to be dead". Nightwing was having trouble finding things to keep him busy during the day due to the cast on his right arm. Incapacitated from his injuries, he tried without luck to find jobs and continued to research into the mysterious assassin.

At one point Dick agreed to attend a party for Bruce Wayne and their relationship seemed to flourish. Bruce praised Dick for his success on the Raptor case, and also mentioned to look into the Landman Building which hosted ex-Lexcorp scientists; most likely those who worked on the Raptor project. Dick had also continued to keep a close brotherly relationship with Tim Drake, and helped him deal with the his many losses during the past year.

After dealing with the Raptor issue, New York City was plagued by a villainous duo called Bride and Groom. Nightwing begins pursuit of these two after some grisly murders, including that of the Lorens family (close friends of his after the Raptor incident). Dick grew obsessed with finding them, not knowing how far he was willing to go to take them down. Eventually, he formed a makeshift team with some "villains" to find them. They located them, and after killing some of his "team" Nightwing chased them to a cave, where Bride began a cave-in and the two were trapped there.

Titans Together Again

Some time later, Nightwing disassociated himself from the Outsiders, turning the responsibility of leadership over to his old mentor Batman. He then reunited with his alma mater the Titans after learning about a vicious attack wrought against Cyborg’s impromptu Titans East trainees. Along with Beast Boy, Cyborg, Donna Troy, Flash, Raven, Red Arrow and Starfire, Dick discovered that the perpetrator behind this attack was the spawn of one of the Titans' deadliest villains – Trigon. Trigon had apparently had other children aside from Raven, who each symbolized the seven deadly sins. Together the Titans managed to defeat the sons of Trigon and again rescue Raven from being turned evil. Afterwards, they agreed to reform their group of Titans.

Batman R.I.P. & Final Crisis

Soon after, Batman becomes targeted by a group calling themselves the Black Glove. Their attacks become so intense, that they apparently drive Batman insane, and he disappears, leaving Robin alone to defend the city. Unwilling to allow Tim to deal with everything alone, Dick gave up his life in New York to return to the city and help locate their mentor and keep control of the city. Unfortunately, Nightwing is ambushed by the International Club of Villains. He is later seen in Arkham Asylum, frothing at the mouth and presumably drugged, believed by the staff to be Pierrot Lunaire, a member of the Club. Scheduled for an experimental lobotomy by Arkham himself, he's spared by the ICoV taking hold of the Asylum, wanting to use him and Jezebel Jet, Bruce's girlfriend at the time, as bait.

As Jezebel's capture is revealed to be a red herring, due to her being a part of the Black Glove, Nightwing's lobotomy is still pending, but he manages to escape due to the fact that his capture and Batman's 'insanity' was in-truth all part of an elaborate plan created by Batman to expose the Black Glove. After besting Le Bossu, Dick joins the fray between the Batman Family, the International Club of Heroes and the Black Glove itself. Thing build up to a final battle between Batman and Doctor Hurt, who battle on a helicopter that explodes to the horror of Nightwing and the others.

However, while everyone fears that Batman has died in the explosion, in truth however, Batman survived the crash, and later joined the Justice League during the events of the Final Crisis. Unfortunately Batman was killed during his final confrontation with the new God, Darksied, thus leaving Dick Grayson, Cassandra Cain, Jason Todd and Tim Drake once again orphaned.

Alfred soon discovered a chamber left Batman, which continains a holographic projection of his Last Will and Testament and a message for each of his children. In the message left for Dick, Bruce pleads that Dick not take up the mantel of the Batman, due to his belief that Nightwing and Robin can protect the city as they are.

Battle for the Cowl

Dick Grayson taking on the mantle of Bruce Wayne as Batman II

Following the events of Batman's apparent death during the Crisis, Nightwing has closed down shop in New York so as to return to Gotham. He has opted to give up on having a normal job, and instead intends to put all his effort into protecting the city. Furthermore, he resigns his position as leader of the Titans, due to his duties in Gotham, along with Tim who resigns his leadership of the Teen Titans.

In the months that follow the Bat-Family along with a network of other heroes (including the Outsiders, Birds of Prey and others) is trying desperately to bring order to Gotham. Dick Grayson leads the effort but refuses to become Batman despite Tim Drake's urging due to Batman's last message to him. Meanwhile a man impersonating Batman begins his war on crime using lethal tactics and leaving slips of paper saying "I AM BATMAN". Due to Dick refusal to step up, Tim begins a search to stop the imposter and dresses as Batman in order to demonstrate how the real Batman would have acted.

Dick meanwhile continues in his efforts to protect the city and both he and Batman's biological son, Damian Wayne are attacked by men working on behalf of a supposedly resurrected Black Mask. Dick and Damian are then 'rescued' by the gun-totting Batman, who Dick quickly realizes is Jason Todd. Together Damian and Dick attempt to apprehend Jason, but Damian is nearly killed by a gun shot to the chest, and it is only by the arrival of the Birds of Prey that Damian is able to get proper medical help. Jason manages to escape, and nearly kills Tim Drake with a batarang to the chest.

After questioning himself, following Damian's near death, Nightwing goes forth against Jason, intending to take down his brother once and for all. The pair battle, all the while with Jason claiming that Tim is dead, unaware that Tim survived and was saved by Damian and the Squire. Dick takes note that Jason has finally gone completely insane, due possibly to the last will statement that Batman left for him. The battle accumulates to Nightwing kicking Jason of a speeding train. When Dick attempts to help Jason, the other man refused and falls to his supposed death, thought claiming they would see each other again soon.

Soon after, Dick Grayson at last agrees to take on the mantel of the Batman, knowing that it was always his destiny. Tim meanwhile, either due to his extensive injuries or because he feels its time to move on, does not continue as the Boy Wonder, which allows Dick to take on Damian as his new Robin.

Powers and Abilities

Master Detective: Grayson is a world class detective second only to the likes of Batman. He was rigorously trained by the Dark Knight in everything from escapology to criminology, fencing, stealth, disguise, and numerous other combat/non-combat disciplines.

Master Acrobat: Grayson is a prodigious natural athlete, possessing a peak human level of agility/acrobatic skills. He is generally regarded as the greatest human acrobat in the DC universe. Batman himself is a incredible athlete in agility, but even he gives the advantage in that area over to Nightwing. As he is the only person on Earth who can do the quadruple somersault (formerly one of three, the other two being his parents).

Master Martial Artist: He is a master of several martial arts disciplines with an emphasis on Aikido, Jeet Kune Do, Escrima, Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Wing Chun, Hapkido, Jiu-jitsu, Karate, Savate, Kendo, Ninjitsu, and Tai Chi. Although he has not mastered near as many fighting styles as his mentor what he has done is effectively combined the martial arts he has mastered into a unique style that suits his strengths. This makes him one of DCs top tier martial artists.

Peak Human Conditioning: Dick Grayson possesses the peak athletic strength and endurance of a man who regularly engages in intensive physical exercise.

Multi-lingual: Having had the finest education as Bruce Wayne's ward, he speaks with fluency in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Mandarin and Cantonese, and has some knowledge of Romany and the alien language of Tamaran.

Skilled Leader: He is also a brilliant and experienced strategist with superlative leadership skills, having served as leader to the Titans, the Outsiders, and even the Justice League. Additionally, Dick's efforts to remain in contact with other heroes makes him a master at rallying, unifying, and inspiring the superhero community, a skill in which he has surpassed his mentor.

Strength level: Dick Grayson possesses the normal human strength of a man that has intense physical workouts at the height and weight of 5"10 175 lb.

Equipment

Nightwing Suit: Nightwing's current costume is made of a version of the Nomex fire-resistant, triple-weave Kevlar-lined material. It is an excellent protection against damage, and it's also electrically insulated. Instead of a black cape for stealthing, the suit is light sensitive, darkening when there is more light in the area. The current costume, a stylized blue "wing" across his shoulders and extending to his hands, coloring his two middle fingers, over a black torso and legs. Nightwing's costume is tailored specifically to his unique style of crime-fighting. As such, his costume has fewer body-armor inlays than Batman's, anticipating a decreased need for shock-absorption and an increased capacity for motion. ("Move more, get hit less.") A caveat of this configuration can be exploited by capable fighters who are both fast and strong, such as Superman. Should Nightwing need to engage an enemy who is capable of exploiting this weakness, he has supplemental body-armor overlays which he can attach to his gauntlets, his mask, his shoulders, and boots.

Nightwing Mask: The mask, in the form of his symbol, is fixed in place with spirit gum, and includes a built-in radio transmitter/receiver and Starlite night-vision lenses. His gauntlets and boots each contain eight compartments in which he can store items. They have a self-destruct feature built into them, similar to the ones in Batman's utility belt, and, as another security measure (especially when the hero is unconscious), the suit contains a one-use-only taser charge, which automatically emits a high-voltage electrical shock when someone attempts to tamper with either the boots or gauntlets.

Nightwing Gauntlets: Each gauntlet's sections can contain a wide array of equipment, such as: sonic or smoke pellets, modified batarangs ("Wing-Dings"), knockout gas capsules and throwing tracers. The right gauntlet is also equipped with a: 100,000-volt stun gun.

Nightwing Boots: Like the gauntlets, his boots can carry vital elements like: flares, a rebreather as protection against any airborne noncontact toxins, a mini-computer equipped with fax, modem, GPS and a minidisk rewritable drive. Other items are lock picks, a first aid kit, a mini-cellphone, flexi-cuffs, antitoxin assortment, signal flares, wireless listening devices and a small halogen flashlight.

Held in spring-loaded pouches in the back of his costume, Nightwing carries a pair of Escrima sticks made from an unbreakable polymer that are wielded as both offensive and defensive weapons. Some depictions have displayed these tools with the mechanism to shoot a grappling hook attached to a swing line (like Daredevil's billy clubs), while, in other instances, he is seen using a "line gun" like the one Batman currently uses.

Transportation: Nightwing has a transformable car has a convertible chassis that can disguise it self as any similarly sized vehicle like a taxi cab or sports car. It houses a 3.7 McLaren racing engine, automatic transmission and all wheel drive, dual batteries and puncture resistant tires. The car is not only bullet proof but also bullet absorbent in order to prevent stray ricochets from hitting innocent bystanders.

Nightwing once used a customized boat; this boat presumably has the same specs as the Batboat if it was not the Batboat itself.

Nightwing also has his own personalized model of the Batcycle, which he refers to as the "Wingcycle". The Wingcycle is equipped with a passenger sidecar.

Weapons: Batarangs, Smaller shurikenlike "Wing Dings", regurgitant gas(tear gas with an additive to make you throw up) pellets smoke capsules. his right gauntlet contains a 100,000 volt stun gun, although his preferred weapons are two shatterproof polymer Escrima sticks.

Notes

The character of Richard John Grayson in the persona of Robin was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. He was introduced in Detective Comics #38 (1940) by Batman creators Bill Finger and Bob Kane as (first) Robin. The sidekick debuted only a year after Batman and was part of an effort to soften the character of his mentor, originally a dubious, nightstalking vigilante. DC Comics also thought a teenaged superhero would appeal to young readers. His Nightwing persona was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez, and first appears in Tales of the New Teen Titans #44 (July 1984). Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, DC Comics portrayed Batman and Robin as a team, deeming them the Dynamic Duo, and rarely published a Batman story without Robin, although stories entirely devoted to Robin appeared in Star-Spangled Comics from 1947 through 1952.

Trivia

• Grayson took the name 'Nightwing' after being inspired by Kryptonian legends of "Nightwing and Flamebird" related to him by Superman.
• Nightwing has had a one night stand with Huntress.
• Nightwing has been engaged to his long time girlfriend Starfire, though their relationship eventually dissolved.
• Nightwing has been engaged to Barbara Gordon, the original Batgirl, though the engagement has since been called off.
• Nightwing has had a series of one night stand with Cheyenne Freemont, the Female Nightwing.
• Dick's parents left him a trust fund that Bruce Wayne's business partner Lucius Fox later turned into a small fortune. Although it is not comparable with Bruce Wayne's wealth, it has been enough for maintaining his Nightwing equipment; for purchasing the rights to Haly's Circus, saving Dick's former home from financial troubles; and for secretly buying the apartment building at 1013 Parkthorne Avenue at Blüdhaven. This address was also the home of the retired hero Tarantula (Jonathan Law).
• Dick appears in Batman: The Animated Series as both Robin and Nightwing.