Dick Grayson

Dick Grayson is the first of Batman's adoptive children, and the first to be called "Robin."

Dick Grayson: 1992-2000
Richard John Grayson was born on March 20th 1992, to circus acrobats John Grayson and Mary Lloyd, they were part of Haley’s Circus, which was about to become the next Cirque Du Soleil. Sharing his parents’ gifts in gymnastic, he was given the affectionate nickname ‘Little Robin’ by his mother. As the circus performed in Gotham, the circus was being threatened by mobster Tony Zucco into paying protection money. When Mr. Haley, the director, refused, Tony had the equipment sabotaged, making sure Dick’s parents fell to their deaths, orphaning him.

Bruce Wayne, knowing Richard’s pain, took him in as his ward. Though trying his best despite his duties as the Batman to have Dick have a largely normal childhood, the youth found out about Bruce’s secrets and wanted to join in the crusade. Batman initially refused, but Dick took off in his modified circus leotards and followed him anyway. Despite some reprimanding, Bruce knew that Dick wants to make a change, just like he did as he lost his parents, and reluctantly decided to train Richard in crime fighting. After that, Dick took on the codename ‘Robin’.

Robin, the Boy Wonder: 2001-2006
Robin and Batman worked well together, almost able to reach each other’s thoughts during missions and Robin picking up any skills that the Batman also had. However, while Bruce knew how to raise a kid, remembering form his own childhood, he didn’t know how to deal with teenagers as he himself didn’t have a normal teenhood. It resulted in still treating Dick as a kid at times, which the Boy Wonder didn’t like.

It also didn’t help that Richard didn’t always agree with Bruce’s methods, like when he violently interrogated a crook in front of the crook’s family. Richard decided that he needed some distance away from the Batman and left on his own to become his own vigilante, becoming a significant part of the Super-Friends. Despite having no powers, his intelligence and training with the Batman made sure that young Dick was chosen to be the leader of the team. During this, despite assuring himself to not become like the Batman, he has become as dark and brooding as his mentor. During this he regretfully broke up with fellow teammate and then-girlfriend Barbara Gordon.

The shit hit the fan when Barbara was shot by the Joker. Dick was enraged with Bruce for not killing him, and left Robin behind, becoming Nightwing.

Nightwing Rises: 2006-2014
For the first handful of years of being Nightwing, Dick hung around with the Super-Friends. After the Super-Friends disbanded with Jason's death, Dick met a boy named Tim Drake and introduced him to Bruce.

During the Knightfall, Dick and Jean-Paul Valley fought over the fact that Jean-Paul killed some people.

Dick’s first significant action as Nightwing happened six years after his debut. When the demon known as Mr. Twister attacked the town of Hatton Corners, Nightwing teamed up with Aqualad and Kid Flash to stop him. A couple months later, Wonder Girl and Red Arrow rounded off the team, know calling themselves the Titans.

After the events of the Judas Contract, Dick switched to a darker costume with golden epaulettes. Dick and his friends participated in the battle against the Anti-Monitor in the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Bludhaven
Investigating a crime in nearby Blüdhaven, Nightwing saw that the city was just as bad, if not worse, than Gotham. With no one to protect Blüdhaven, and a need to forge his own path as a hero, Nightwing decided to relocate there.

Bludhaven was arguably as bad as Gotham before the Batman came around, only the crime works in reverse as it starts in the mayor’s office and works its way down the street. Working at the police force and as Nightwing, he fought hard to fight the corruption from both sides of the law and would accomplish what Bruce accomplished largely in Gotham in making Bludhaven more honest.

This was the beginning of a long, uphill battle for Dick Grayson. He fought many victorious battles in Blüdhaven as its protector, and certainly made it a safer place, but he never won the war. The city, and his losses, took their toll on Nightwing, leading him to eventually adopt a grimmer outlook on being a hero.

Night of the Owls
When the Court of Owls initiated an attack on Gotham, sending their Talon assassins to take out high ranking people in the city, Nightwing went to save Mayor Sebastian Hady and came face-to-face with a Talon. Using lethal force on the undead zombie Talon, Nightwing stabbed him across the eye with his escrima stick, slowing the assassin's ability to heal. However, another Talon named William Cobb, who Batman had revealed to Nightwing was Dick's revived great-grandfather, attacked Nightwing and stabbed him in the chest. Nightwing then tricked Cobb into Gotham's train tunnels, where the hero was able to freeze him with a liquid nitrogen tub.

Following the event, Dick decided to keep Haly's Circus in Gotham and planned to invest in turning an abandoned amusement park into their new location using his own money. He worked with Sonia Branch, the daughter of his parents' killer Tony Zucco, into getting a loan for this plan by investing his entire trust fund into the project.

Death of the Family
A year after his disappearance, the Joker resurfaced in Gotham City wearing the dismembered skin of his face as a mask, and prepared to eliminate all of Batman's allies.

While at his circus, Dick was mauled by his performers who had been exposed to Joker Venom. After being overwhelmed by them, Grayson passed out and was dragged to an underground cave by the Joker himself, who was setting up for his confrontation with the Bat. There in the cave, all of Batman's allies, beaten and gagged by the clown, were forced to take part in a makeshift feast scenario for Batman, where Joker told Batman he had cut off the entire Bat-Family's faces and put them on ice. He also urged Batman to kill his allies, arguing that his true family is the villains he fights. Escaping from his captivity, Batman attempted to catch the Joker, but the madman fell off a cliff to his apparent death before he could be caught.

After being freed and having their wounds tended to, Nightwing and the rest of the family refused to meet at Wayne Manor, finding this last interaction with the Joker had put a wedge in their relationships.

Second City
In the aftermath of Joker's personal attack, which had resulted in the total destruction of Dick's circus and all of his funds, as well as the death of his former sidekick Damian, Grayson sought a fresh start in Chicago after discovering that Tony Zucco, his parents' killer, was alive and living there.

Setting up in his new city, Grayson found himself having to elude Chicago law enforcement due to their strict no tolerance policy on vigilante-related actions. Trying to find a lead on Zucco's location, Grayson reluctantly enlisted the help of Chicago's newest super-villain, The Prankster. However, Grayson ended up battling the Prankster and his forces as they launched a siege on Chicago. With the city on lockdown, Grayson was then forced to reluctantly team up with Zucco, the man he was searching for, to take down the Prankster. In the aftermath of the attack and his interaction with Nightwing, Tony Zucco turned himself to the police.

Despite Grayson leaving Gotham, he didn't seem to be able to escape its villains and, during his time in Chicago, fought both the Mad Hatter and Zsasz before deciding to return home

Forever Evil
Shortly after the Crime Syndicate came to Earth and supposedly killed the Justice League, Nightwing was captured by the invaders on his way back to Gotham and had his identity revealed to the world in order to threaten the hero community even further.

After a failed escape attempt, Grayson agreed to help Owlman betray the Syndicate, but their plan was never set into motion as the Crime Syndicate put Dick in a trap called the Murder Machine - a bomb that would only disengage if Grayson's heart stopped beating. Later Batman, Catwoman and Lex Luthor were able to rescue him when Luthor stopped Grayson’s heart for a few seconds in order to successfully both disarm the bomb and keep him alive. With Dick now free, the group defeated the Syndicate and returned the Justice League to power.

Spyral
In the wake of the collapse of the Crime Syndicate, Batman gave his former apprentice a new mission: infiltrate the organization known as Spyral as a double agent. Batman told Dick that the risks of taking the mission meant that he could not let his identity be known to anyone, especially those close to him. Grayson reluctantly accepted the mission. Setting out into the world, Dick began taking down various terrorist plots, including those involving the group called the Fist of Cain. His actions successfully attracted the attention of Spyral, who sent Helena Bertinelli, the agent known as Matron, out to recruit him. He was eventually enlisted into Spyral by the organization's mysterious leader, Mister Minos.

After being teamed up with Helena, Grayson was ordered to find the different Organs of the Paragon Project. Through their search they encountered Midnighter on more than one occasion, who was also searching for the Paragon Project and tried to hinder Spyral's successes. When the mission to retrieve the Stomach brought them to Leicester they encountered a former T.H.E.Y. agent, Dr. Poppy Ashemore, who had stolen the Stomach from the British Government. Though Grayson was against negotiating with Ashemore, Helena as the senior agent employed Ashemore as a new Spyral doctor. Through the missions Dick came into contact with other agents of Spyral and delved deeper into the organisation, all the while keeping in mind that he was undercover. Grayson later found out about the Nanite Robots that Spyral had been developing, which forced even Bruce to admit that the mission could be more dangerous than they had previously thought.

On their mission to retrieve the last Organ, Helena and Dick encountered the Fist of Cain again. After initial problems and disagreements, Midnighter allied with them and together they were able to prevent the terrorist attack the Fist of Cain had planned and retrieve the final Organ. The reason the hunt for the Paragon Organs was important was finally revealed when Mr. Minos betrayed Spyral. Grayson and Tiger were able to destroy Paragon and Mr. Minos was killed by Helena in the aftermath

Endgame
During the events of Endgame, the Joker returned to terrorize Gotham and Batman for his ultimate trick. Grayson briefly left Spyral and returned to Gotham in order to aid Batman. To deceive both the Joker and Batman's allies, Grayson donned a copy of Bruce's cowl and led the attack on the Joker in the heart of the city. When the Joker removed Batman's mask expecting to reveal Bruce's secret identity to everyone else, he instead found Dick Grayson. Grayson left Gotham before the revelation of Batman's death, and was not immediately made aware of the new Batman that had since arisen

Outsiders
Arsenal approaches Agent 37 with the idea of rebuilding a team that they're not emotionally attached to. This team of new recruits includes Grace Choi, Indigo, Jade, Metamorpho and Thunder operating out of a bomb shelter under Brooklyn. Their first mission is an invasion of super-intelligent gorillas led by Gorilla Grodd in Manhattan. This is revealed to be a ruse engineered by the Joker to kidnap and torture President Luthor, although they stop him before he can kill the President. In the aftermath, Agent 37 explains to Batman that he's tired of being a reactionary hero and wishes to make his team proactive hunters as the new Outsiders.

Nemesis
Grayson returned to his duties as Agent 37 and was sent on a mission to retrieve a Kryptonian amulet from a Spanish duchess with his new partner Tiger, AKA Agent 1. After they obtained it Grayson was contacted by Helena. She suspected Agent 1 was a traitor who had murdered numerous agents from other espionage groups. Grayson left his partner behind to get the amulet away safely. At his drop point he encountered Lex Luthor, who told him that LexCorp had been involved with Spyral since the beginning. Losing his trust in Helena, he searched for Tiger and was able to save him from the real traitor. During the fight it became obvious to Grayson that Spyral knew even more than he thought and he was now fully convinced that it was time to go back to Gotham

Titans Hunt
Dick and his old friends reunited to battle Mr. Twister following his return. Shortly after this, Dick completed his mission with Spyral, discovering that Harvest was after Atlanteans.

Nightwing Once More
After successfully completing his mission with Spyral, Dick returned to Gotham and to his superhero identity as Nightwing. The Parliament of Owls attempted to blackmail Dick into becoming a member of the Parliament, by planting a bomb in the head of Damian Wayne. Dick managed to neutralize the bomb with a device given to him by Midnighter. Even with the bomb neutralized, Dick remained part of the Parliament, attempting to take them down from the inside. Shortly after his new membership began, Dick was assigned a partner, an assassin named Raptor, who believed Dick needed a new mentor

Titans
After Kara Danvers escaped from being trapped in Hypertime and began looking for the Titans, Dick was the first Titan to be found by Kara. Dick didn't know or recognize her until Kara touched him, shocking his memories back to life.

The Lazarus Contract
After both the Flash and Kid Flash were kidnapped by Deathstroke, Nightwing along with the Titans and Teen Titans attempted to find the two Wallys. During this time, Dick kept his history with Deathstroke and the deal they had made a secret.

Gotham Resistance
Batman enlisted Nightwing and other members of the Batman Family to create a diversion for the Justice League as they were hunting him. Batman was able to continue his investigation into the Dark Multiversethanks to the family, and accidentally unleashed the Dark Lord Barbatos and his minions on the Multiverse. It was around this time that Nightwing began having visions of Barbatos due to the wound he suffered in his confrontation with Doctor Hurt.

After Barbatos' invasion, Challengers Mountain appeared in the middle of Gotham. Nightwing headed back to Gotham to reclaim his home and to find the source of his visions. The city had fallen under the control of The Batman Who Laughs who was working for Barbatos. The evil Batman had given Cosmic Metallurgy Cards to some of Batman's greatest rogues, which allowed them to warp reality to their whims. Each of the rogues controlled a portion of the city. Nightwing sent Green Arrow to assist the Teen Titans with defeating the Riddler while he headed to Challengers Mountain where he believed the source of his visions were located. While Nightwing was fleeing from one of Mister Freeze's ice giants he ran into the Gotham Resistance, which was comprised of Robin, Green Arrow, Harley Quinn and Killer Croc. After defeating the ice giant with the help of the Resistance, Nightwing filled them in on his activities in Gotham which led to a confrontation with Freeze himself. After arming themselves with the Parliament of Owls' weaponry, Nightwing and the Resistance were able to defeat Mister Freeze and head further into the city.

Bleeding Edge
Bludhaven received an upgrade, courtesy of Mirage, to become a 'digital' city. Nightwing, suspicious of various murders, leaked personal information on the victims, and exploding cell phones, enlisted Batgirls's aide in uncovering the mystery of Mirage. Nightwing and Batgirl discovered that Mirage was a front for Wyrm, an agent of the Dark Webb. Wyrm attempted to hack Nightwing, by injecting him with a cybernetic bug; however, Batgirl managed to contain and later remove the device.

Abilities

 * Acrobatics: Dick is a prodigious natural athlete and master acrobat, possessing a peak human level of agility/acrobatic skills. I truly believe he is the greatest human acrobat. He is one of only three people in the world I know who can pull off a quadruple flip.
 * Computer Hacking: Dick's no Oracle or Tim Drake, but he is skilled enough to hack most personal and government computers with enough time.
 * Disguise: It's all part of the basic bat-training package. Dick is skilled enough in the art of disguise and impersonation to convincingly infiltrate criminal organizations and does so often as a means of gathering intelligence.
 * Driving: Dick knows how to handle motorcycles and most other wheeled vehicles with expert finesse. He's not the best motorcyclist I've seen as I know Black Canary, but Dick definitely looks good behind the wheel of his souped-up muscle car, the Night Car. Which is an awful name.
 * Escapology: Due to his training with Batman, he possesses extreme skill in escapology. Dick's shown himself able to escape a maze before the Flash could and was even able to use a Tibetan Mind Technique that Zatanna taught him to escape from mind control.
 * Firearms: Grayson is also skilled with firearms, as he was trained by Batman to know how to handle them... but not to use them. Dick further developed this skill as a cop, scoring the marksmanship award in the academy. Though he doesn't use such weapons as Nightwing, Dick's day job does require he carry a gun. To be a cop, he had to come to terms with that reality and he once had to take the life of suspect to save the life of Detective Amy Rohrbach.
 * Indomitable Will: Like his mentor, Grayson has a very strong will. He is able to resist Scarecrow's potent fear toxins, resist and overcome mind control from Brother Blood, and according to Hal Jordan, Dick's presence at Battle of Bludhaven had put him on the short list of candidates to succeed the Green Lantern.
 * Intimidation: He is skilled enough to get Scarecrow to talk and, during his time as Batman, was able to contain a riot in Arkham Asylum only by dropping down amidst the inmates and glaring at them.
 * Investigation: Maybe not on par with the likes of Bruce Wayne or Tim, but Dick ain't no dummy. He has a vast knowledge of different fields that make him one of BPD's best detectives. Once Dick was able to solve a riddle by the Riddler before Batman himself could figure it out (though that might be because Dick was familiar with the video game that Bruce had never heard of). Hell, I've seen Dick solve 4 cases during a taped episode of "America's Most Wanted" over breakfast. As a mundane detective, Dick's also shown himself capable of solving a homicide case that went unsolved for 28 years.
 * Leadership: I think this (and his agility) is where Dick has the edge on Bruce. Dick is a brilliant and experienced leader with superlative team skills, having served as a 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.
 * Martial Arts: Grayson is a master martial artist, having studied under Batman. His fighting style has an emphasis on Aikido and Escrima. He is proficient in various martial arts such as Boxing, Capoeira, Hapkido, Judo, Ninjitsu, Savate, Taijiquan, and Wing Chun.
 * Multilingualism: Having had the finest education as Bruce Wayne's ward, Grayson speaks fluent English, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, German, Swahili, Mandarin, Cantonese, and is possibly fluent in other languages. He has some knowledge of the alien languages of Tamaranean and Kryptonian.
 * Peak Physical Conditioning: Due to his training with Batman, Dick Grayson possesses peak athletic strength and endurance. He has displayed peak human strength, agility, reflexes, and endurance because of his training at a young age.
 * Strength: Nightwing possesses enough strength to break Killer Croc's arm, throw KGBeast into a dumpster and leave a dent, throw a refrigerator, and use a bed as a weapon... Uh, that last one sounded dirtier than I intended. Dick has also been able to damage Blockbuster barehanded when he's pissed off. I feel a bit ashamed to admit it, but I don't know how much Dick can actually bench-press anymore.
 * Agility: As I said earlier, Dick can do a quadruple backflip. His agility also enables him to have the confidence at heights that make Starfire nervous for him.
 * Speed: Dick Grayson possesses peak human speed, able to outpace Batman easily.
 * Reflexes: Dick possesses enough skill to evade gunfire if he has enough distance and isn't caught flatfooted.
 * Endurance: Dick is able to go for 3 days straight with no sleep and is capable of holding his breath for 7 minutes.
 * Durability: He is able to withstand attacks from Blockbuster, who possesses immense strength.


 * Stealth: Dick is capable of breaching high-security facilities without being detected. He can even sneak up on Batman on occasion. Grayson is also skilled enough to even sneak away and keep hidden from Speedsters.
 * Swordsmanship: Grayson used to constantly beat Roy Harper in sword fights when the two were teens, despite Roy having been taught by the superior fencer.
 * Throwing: Grayson is skilled in throwing modified Shuriken (Wing-Dings) to hit thugs at a great distance with his eyes closed, despite occasionally giving them head-starts. Dick is also talented at disarming people with such weapons... though his skills with the standard batarang have gotten a bit rusty as evidence by his frustration when he has to fill in with Batman and can't stop complaining about their aerodynamics.
 * Weaponry: He has displayed skilled with various weapons, most notably his escrima sticks.

Weaknesses

 * Redheads: Dick has an admitted weakness for redheads. Something both Koriand'r and Barbara may have exploited a time or two

Paraphernalia

 * Nightwing Suit: Nightwing's current costume is made of a version of a fire-resistant, triple-weave Kevlar-lined material. It is an excellent protection against damage, and it's also electrically insulated. Instead of relying on Batman's tried and true black cape for stealth, the suit is light sensitive, darkening when there is more light in the area. The current costume has a stylized blue "wing" across his shoulders. 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." is what he likes to say). 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's Domino Mask: As Nightwing, Dick's domino mask is shaped just like his wing-dings. It has various capabilities such as being able to track the GPS coordinates of a cellphone, thermal vision, detect radio waves, and is capable of giving detailed analysis of scenes and fights.
 * Nightwing's Gauntlets: Hidden within secret compartments lies Nightwing's gadgetry, in which a great majority seems to be hidden. He has various gadgetry in his gauntlets such as binoculars and they are occasionally used to store his Escrima Sticks. His gauntlets can also shoot remote bombs, a sonic device with his ear dampeners, and a grapple line.
 * Electric Shock: Dick's entire suit is wired to deliver a 150-thousand-volt shock through the gloves of the suit, however it only has enough power for a one-time charge.
 * EMP Mask: A highly advanced mask created by Lucius Fox, the mask is made of webbing that retracts light surrounding the wearer's head and artificially alters the appearance of someone's face. Richard has used it to sneak into Arkham Asylum and pose as Joker and used it again to gain information on Lady Shiva.
 * Batsuit: As Batman, Dick used a more modern, sleeker design of the Batsuit, featuring only two gauntlet blades and a separated Kevlar plates. The suit is actually a modified suit of Bruce's from his early years.

Transportation

 * Night Car: Dick has his own Batmobile of sorts with convertible chassis that enables it to be disguised it as any similarly sized vehicle such as a taxi cab, a police car or a sports car. It houses a 2014 KordTech racing engine, automatic transmission and all wheel drive, dual batteries and puncture resistant tires. The car is not only bulletproof but also bullet absorbent in order to prevent stray ricochets from hitting innocent bystanders. It's not as nice as the Batmobile, but Dick's ride has a much better sound system.
 * Wingcycle: Nightwing also has his own personalized model of the Batcycle, which he refers to as the "Wingcycle".
 * Redbird: Not owned by Dick anymore, but Dick did have a motorcycle during his time as Robin which he called 'Redbird'. He has since given this Jason, then to Tim and Stephanie, and then to Damian who is the bike's current owner.

Weapons

 * Escrima Sticks: Personalized by Richard himself, his escrima sticks are dual fighting baton-like sticks. He also later upgraded them so they could shoot a grappling line, and even hold some smoke bombs.
 * Electro-Blast: Dick's Escrima sticks are capable of emitting high voltages of electricity.
 * Wing Dings

Trivia

 * Dick is of Romani descent.
 * Dick was named after the childhood friend of his mother, who would one day become the costumed villain Raptor.
 * Like in previous continuities, Dick's best friend is Wally West.
 * Dick is an organ donor.
 * Dick's parents were killed on June 27th.
 * Dick Grayson is a distant cousin of Robotman sidekick Chuck Grayson.
 * Dick's favorite breakfast is buckwheat pancakes
 * He’s working on getting a Law Degree.
 * Dick actually met Tim Drake when both of them were younger. It was this meeting that actually allowed Tim to deduce Bruce's identity as Batman.
 * Dick's parents left him a trust fund that 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 in Blüdhaven.