Title Character
Batman (Bruce Wayne)
Allies
The Bat-Family (Batgirl | Batwoman | Jason Todd | Robin) | Extended Bat-Family & Other Supporting Cast (Azrael | Huntress)
Villains
Bane | Catwoman (Selina Kyle) | Clayface | Harley Quinn (Harleen Quinzel) | The Joker | Lady Shiva | League of Assassins (Ra's Al Ghul | Talia Al Ghul) | Mr. Freeze | The Penguin | Poison Ivy | The Riddler | The Scarecrow | Two Face | A-F | G-L | M-R | S-Z
Spin-Offs
Batgirl (2000) | Batman Incorporated | Dark Nights: Metal (The Batman Who Laughs) | I Am Batman | Nightwing (Dick Grayson) | The Outsiders | Red Hood and the Outlaws | Robin (1993) (Tim Drake) | Robin (2021) (Damian Wayne)
Throughout the years, there have been a few people that have taken the mantle of Robin.
Bold indicates current identity.
For Dick Grayson and the characters that appear in Nightwing, see here. For Jason's Red Hood days, see here. For Tim Drake (Robin III/Red Robin) and the characters who primarily appear in Robin (1993) and Red Robin, see here. For Stephanie Brown (Robin IV/Batgirl III), see the Batgirl page.
Incarnations of Robin
Easily the most famous of the Robins, Dick Grayson was the poster boy for Sidekicks in the Golden Age and Silver Age. Dick Grayson was part of the Flying Graysons act of Haly's Circus alongside his parents. A skilled acrobat, he watched his parents fall to their deaths after the circus' owner refused to pay a criminal's protection money. Bruce Wayne, seeing a common connection with the boy, took him in and raised Dick as his ward. Dick would eventually become his sidekick, Robin. During this time, Dick would also form the Teen Titans alongside Kid Flash (Wally West), Speedy (Roy Harper), Wonder Girl (Donna Troy) and Aqualad (Garth).
Eventually, however, Dick grew out of his role as a sidekick. This lead to him establishing himself as a solo hero, Nightwing and distancing himself from Batman. However, after Bruce needed further time to recover after kicking removing Jean-Paul Valley as the new Batman, Dick took over the Batman role himself for some time and the two mended fences. Dick then received a comic book series of his own, detailing his adventures in Gotham's sister city, Bludhaven (even more of a Crapsack World than Gotham). Blüdhaven has since been destroyed (twice!) and after a sojourn back in his Titans' base of New York, Nightwing has now officially moved back to Gotham, being back on good terms with his former mentor. In the wake of Batman RIP and Final Crisis, Dick has since stepped up to the role as Gotham City's official protector, and has once again officially become Batman, this time with an open mandate. When Bruce came back, he even retained his role as Gotham City's Batman for one year of Comic-Book Time.
As of the New 52, Dick is back to being Nightwing. Working in Gotham for a time, Dick would eventually move to Chicago following the destruction(s) of Haly's Circus. Setting up a new life there, it would all be for naught as the Crime Syndicate of Earth-3 revealed his identity to the world. Faking his death, Dick would go undercover within the espionage organisation Spyral, operating as Agent 37. Once some hijinks result in the world's memories of his outing being erased, Dick returned to his role of Nightwing.
In DC Rebirth, Dick's past as a founding Titan was restablished as it was his past relationships with the original and later members of the team. His first story arc revolving around him returning to Bludhaven and finding it crawling with criminals and controlled by organized crime, and teaming up with a group of former-troublemakers and criminals named the Run Offs to fight them.
- created by: Bill Finger · Bob Kane · Jerry Robinsonfirst appearance: 1940, Detective Comics #38
Tropes associated with Dick:
See Nightwing: Dick Grayson
Jason Todd as Red Hood
Before Flashpoint 
Post-FlashpointAfter the first Robin left, executives realized that he was a crucial element to the Caped Crusader's popularity. Hence, they introduced Jason Todd, a near-clone of the first Robin (except with strawberry-blond hair). At least, that's what the pre-Crisis version was like, but who remembers him? (except for the time he defeated Mongul)
When the name Jason Todd is said, the post-Crisis version comes to mind. A reckless, angry street youth whose first encounter with Batman came from him trying to steal the Batmobile's tires to sell. Because this Robin proved to be extremely unpopular with readers, editor Denny O'Neil decided to set up a 1-900 telephone poll as a publicity stunt, asking readers if they wanted Jason Todd to be killed off (the final tallies were 5,343 for his death, 5,271 against it). Interestingly, O'Neil insists he had no idea they would vote for his death, but writer Jim Starlin was fairly certain of it, having himself tried to get DC to kill Jason off in an AIDS story line.
Jason attempted to find out who his mother really was, and was shocked to find that she's still alive and in the Middle East. He follows her there and reunites with her, but runs afoul of the Joker, who kills both of them, bumping him straight over the Moral Event Horizon (as if the thousands of other murders don't count). Jason's death has had a lasting impact on the Bat-mythos to this day, reminding the Dark Knight of the dangers of having a sidekick in the Darker and Edgier world of modern comics.
Due to Superboy-Prime punching time, he returned to life and resurfaced as the Red Hood, who came into conflict with hero and villain alike. Acting as a thoroughly murderous vigilante, Jason recruited his own sidekick, Scarlet, and wound up in Arkham after the murder of a huge number of criminals. Having earned the enmity of Bruce, Dick, Tim, and Damian, there seemed to be no going back for Jason, who, having escaped from prison near the end of Batman & Robin was poised to remain a major player in the Gotham underworld.
The New 52 reboot changed Jason's role from Jason, moving him on from his role as antagonist to the Bat-family to their aloof ally. Jason initially worked as a mercenary, moving from place to place with a variety of companions known as the Outlaws. However, after his friend Roy Harper's death, Jason returned to his dark ways and reinvented himself to once again dish out his own brand of justice on criminals.
- created by: Gerry Conway · Don Newtonfirst appearance: 1983, Batman #357
Tropes associated with Jason:
See Batman: Jason Todd
Tim Drake as Red Robin III
Original 
Post-FlashpointDespite the setback of Jason's unpopularity and the killing-off that came along with it, Denny O'Neil was not convinced to give up on the character of Robin. Thus, Tim Drake was born, and this time, the writers were careful to make him much less similar to Dick.
At age nine, Tim was able to deduce both Batman and Robin I's identities, but kept it to himself, until years later, when Dick went solo and Jason died. Realizing how deeply Jason's death had affected his idol, Batman, Tim tried to convince Dick to reprise his role as Batman's partner. Although he agreed, Dick would only do so on a case by case basis as Nightwing, despite Tim's insistence that Batman needed a Robin.
It took multiple trials, but finally, Tim was able to gain both Bruce and Dick's respect, along with the permission to become Robin. He proved to be much more popular than Jason ever was, and like Dick, got multiple spin-off series and founded the team Young Justice alongside others his age in the same line of work. Following the Bat-Family shakeup following R.I.P. and Battle For The Cowl, he took on the role of Red Robin. With the return of Bruce and the founding of Batman Incorporated, Tim has become a more tech-savvy hero, using the first Anarky in a sort of "Oracle" tech role. Tim eventually became as worthy a holder of the Robin title as Dick, and is pretty much the Robin post-Dick, holding the title the longest after him and being Batman's most trusted lieutenant after Dick went solo.
The New 52 version of Tim has had a more... inconsistent history. Initially, his history appeared to be intact, but things were later retconned. His New 52 origin has him scouted by Batman as a potential sidekick. Tim was already a child prodigy, and after a screw-up that resulted in his parents being put into witness protection, he adopts "Drake" as an assumed surname and becomes Batman's sidekick, Red Robin. He would go on to found the first (except eventually not) incarnation of the Teen Titans, while simultaneously striking up a friendship with Jason Todd. He'd also eventually meet Stephanie Brown.
With DC Rebirth, Tim would return to working in Gotham, alongside Batman and Batwoman's "boot camp". His first mission with them goes awry, and Tim is seemingly "killed", only to be plucked from time at the last second by the mysterious Mr. Oz, a villain aware of the wider retconning of the DCU with the New 52 who has a keen interest in Superman, and now Tim. Recounting his origin to Mr. Oz revealed that, somehow, Tim's pre-Flashpoint origin was now once again canon. With the relaunch of Young Justice, Tim Drake briefly returned to being called Robin, before a trip through the multiverse and meeting an evil counterpart resulted in him taking up said counterpart's name — Drake. However, an off-screen intervention was staged to get him to abandon the name and costume, and he now goes by either Robin or Red Robin.
- created by: Marv Wolfman · Pat Broderickfirst appearance: 1989, Batman #436
Tropes associated with Tim:
- See Robin: Tim Drake
Daughter of the Cluemaster (a second-rate Riddler copycat), Stephanie was enraged when her father, who claimed to have turned good, returned to committing crimes (only without his compulsion to leave clues). Donning a costume of her own, Stephanie became the Spoiler, at first only showing up whenever Cluemaster did and spoiling his plans, hence the codename. She eventually became a full-fledged vigilante, partly because of her attraction to Tim Drake, the third Robin.
Of course, she then found herself the target of every female misfortune that DC could think up. Her relationship with Robin became strained (mainly due to Bats not letting her know their secret identities), she was revealed to be the victim of an Attempted Rape by her babysitter, she went on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge after her father was killed while working with the Suicide Squad, she got captured and tortured by Black Mask, and infamously, she was withheld medical treatment for said torture by Dr. Leslie Thompkins. This was, of course, later retconned to having her smuggled out of the country for her safety. Has a page for when she assumed the identity of Batgirl (2009) from Cassandra Cain until Executive Meddling gave Barbara Gordon back the identity.
As of the New 52, she is back in her Spoiler identity, and reappears in Batman #28 as such, in a prelude to her story in the 2014-2015 weekly Batman Eternal storyline beginning in April 2014. Within said series, her history has been Retgone'd, and she is just starting out.
- created by: Chuck Dixon · Tom Lylefirst appearance: 1992, Detective Comics #647
Tropes associated with Stephanie:
- See Batgirl
Damian is the biological son of Bruce Wayne/Batman and Talia al-Ghul. He was raised by the League of Assassins (and has been implied to be the subject of genetic experimentation); as such, he's a ferocious warrior and quite skilled at martial arts in spite of how young he is. Talia only revealed his existence to Batman in another bid to bring Bruce to her side.
Damian is a violent, often bratty child, but he's genuinely proud to be Batman's son and wishes to play his part in his father's war against crime, although his upbringing in the League often puts him at odds with Batman's methods. His relationship with the Robins and particularly Tim is heavily conflicted, and he has more than a few entitlement issues. After his father's death, he becomes the new Robin when Dick becomes Batman full-time. Once Bruce returns and takes up the mantle of Batman once again, Damian continues to work with Dick.
The New 52 left Damian's history unchanged, aside from his age being in flux. However, Dick goes back to being Nightwing and Damian starts working with his father. After Bruce dies again, Damian leaves Gotham on a globetrotting adventure with his pet Bat, Goliath, and the daughter of Nobody (a villain he killed), Maya Ducard. Damian would also become the first superhero friend of Superman's son, Jon Kent. Despite a very tense first meeting that ended in numerous brawls, Damian insists on being a team with Jon. The two are dubbed the "Super Sons" by Alfred. After Tim Drake's "death", Damian founds a new group of Teen Titans. After a series of events where his morality and belief in Batman's values are called into question, he severs ties with the Batfamily and Teen Titans. He initially decides to return to his mother's side, but goes against her wishes to investigate the resurgent League of Lazarus and their tournament.
- Created By: Grant Morrison · Andy KubertFirst Appearance: 2006, Batman #655
Tropes associated with Damian:
Other Robins
During Scott Snyder's Flashback arc Batman: Zero Year, Bruce encountered an intelligent youngster by the name of Duke Thomas. In the present, Duke returned in the Batman: Endgame, and was the lead of the We Are Robin series. His parents are eventually victims of Joker toxin and Bruce invites him to live in Wayne Manor. In DC Rebirth, Batman tells Duke that he has no intention of training Duke to become a Robin, but something new, in an accelerated pace more akin to a partnership.
See Bat-Family page.
Mia Mizoguchi, better known by her nickname of Maps, is a 14-year-old Japanese-American girl from a wealthy Gotham family. She is currently attending the prestigious Gotham Academy, which serves as the setting and namesake of her debut series; Gotham Academy. She is the founder of Gotham Academy’s “Detective Club”, in which she investigates the school’s weird occurrences with the help of her best friend, Olive Silverlock, as well as her brother, Kyle Mizoguchi and several other students.
She is an enthusiastic fangirl of vigilantes, fantasy and mystery, a trait which drives her to aspire to one day become Robin, a goal which has been making slow but steady progress as her mystery-solving efforts have come to the attention of Batman himself.
See also Gotham Academy characters page.
- Action Survivor: Despite being an untrained and mostly mundane high schooler, she has managed to survive multiple encounters with dangerous villains and explore dangerous hidden areas of the school.
- Admiring the Abomination: A minor example. When she learns that Tristan is a Man-Bat, she doesn't freak out at all. In fact, she only becomes more hyperactive than she already is at the thought of having one for a classmate.
- Affectionate Nickname: Maps by her friends due to her propensity for drawing detailed maps of the hidden passages in many of Gotham's most famous buildings.
- Alliterative Name: Mia Mizoguchi.
- Ascended Fangirl: She has been acknowledged by Damian, Tim and even Bruce himself, and has even begun to work with Batman on an occasional part-time and semi-official basis.
- Asian and Nerdy: Japanese-American and a massive fangirl of all things abnormal and strange, most especially vigilantes such as Batman. She also is shown to have a strong love of fantasy and tabletop gaming.
- Asian Airhead: While skilled in cartography and investigation, she is not particularly bright when it comes to most schoolwork. Her airheaded-ness often presents itself in a tedency to become overexcited and hyper-focused on mystery and vigilante related topics, to the exclusion of all else.
- Breakout Character: While she was a protagonist in Gotham Academy, she was still ultimately a secondary one to Olive. However, her mission to become a Robin and general personality has lead to her taking on a larger role to the point of having appearances in multiple other runs following the conclusion of Gotham Academy: Second Semester, while Olive has been Put on a Bus.
- Bland-Name Product: Loves Serpents & Spells... which is Dungeons & Dragons with the
Serial Numbers Filed Off. - Blush Sticker: Has one when Ms. Macpherson catches her holding hands with Damian and assumes it to be romantic.
- Catchphrase: Whenever she's excited, shocked, surprised, or anything in between she spouts:Maps: Oh my crap!/What the crap!
- Chained Heat: With Damian. See Sticky Situation.
- Cloudcuckoolander: In spades. She's always talking about Serpents & Spells and rarely seems capable of reading the mood around her. She's also a rabid fangirl when it comes to anything paranormal or action related. Case in point, she falls in love with a grapple gun, complete with a delusion of her caressing one in a bridal veil.
- Fangirl: Of Serpents and Spells and Batman, which is ironic considering she's BFFs with Olive, who hates his guts...
- Foil: Cheerful and ditzy to the reserved, cynical Olive.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Sanguine—optimistic and fun-loving.
- Freudian Trio: The id.
- Genki Girl: Seriously, you'd think this girl is high on crack 95% of the time. She a complete Motor Mouth, rarely stops moving and is enthusiastic about everything that isn't related to class.
- Genius Ditz: Not usually that bright, but good at puzzles, and, obviously, maps. She is also shown to be a fairly capable vigilante despite her youth and lack of formal training, and was also capable of quickly doing research into the folklore and mythology of kappas in order to assist Batman in dealing with them.
- The Glomp: Delivers this to Olive after she is saved by Killer Croc.
- Katanas Are Just Better: She certainly seems to think so, at least. When Damian shows her to Wayne Manor’s secret armory, she almost immediately claims a katana as her own once she gets over her initial fantastical excitement. While Damian ends up giving her a bo-staff due to not believing her as capable of using a katana, he ends up relenting as she keeps bugging him on the decision. Later appearances establish that Maps has begun taking fencing lessons, indicating she is indeed committed to her choice of weapon.Maps: Mine!Damian: You don't even have the first clue how to use a katana.Maps: Yes, I do. The pointy bit goes in the villain.
- The McCoy: To Olive's The Spock and Colton's The Kirk
- Meaningful Name: Or nickname, at least. She's highly skilled at cartography and is always drawing maps, hence her nickname "Maps". Gotham Academy, with its many secret corridors, hidden chambers, underground areas and the like, is a treasure trove for her.
- Morality Pet: Pretty much every character considers her this, especially Damian Wayne.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Her response to her brother being injured by Olive's Superpowered Evil Side, Calmity, is to to renounce her friendship with Olive and declare her an irredeemable villain. Thankfully though, thanks in part to Damian's words, Maps ends up apologising for her words and suceeds just enough in the ensuing "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight to help in the final effort to free Olive of Calamity.
- Non-Idle Rich: While it's unclear how wealthy exactly her family is, they are shown living in a decently sized manor outside Gotham and run in the same social circle as Bruce Wayne. This privileged background does nothing to temper her eagerness towards heroism and adventure.
- Odd Friendship: In spite of, or perhaps because of, her vibrantly cheerful personality, Maps has a tendency to befriend people who contrast her in demeanour. Most notably in her best friend being the cynical, jaded, and anti-Batman, Olive Silverlock.
- Only Known By Her Nickname: Her given name is actually Mia, but its rare for anyone outside her family to use it.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red (optimistic and jubilant) to Olive's Blue.
- Secret-Keeper: Her proneness towards misadventures has resulted in her learning secrets which one wouldn't expect a typical high schooler to know of.
- She knows of her roommate, Katherine Karlo, being both a shapeshifter and the daughter of Basil Karlo, aka Clayface.
- An accidental usage of a time machine lead to her being heavily implied to learn of Terry McGinnis. Since we don't see the circumstances of her learning this titbit, it is unclear whether or not this is a case of Secret Secret-Keeper.
- She is aware of Cassandra Cain having some connection to Batman, although not of Cass' specific identity as Batgirl or her surname.
- Ship Tease: With Damian.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Downplayed as her profanity never becomes more severe than "crap". But she still does swear much more frequently than her the rest of the Detective Club, to the point that its part of her Catchphrase.
- Squee: Loves anything and everything that is not "normal". This makes her a rabid fangirl for Batman paraphernalia to the point that she fantasizes over grapple guns and becomes ecstatic when she sees (and is later given) a Batarang.
- Sticky Situation: She accidentally caused this by writing a magic spell in a notebook with the headmaster's magic quill, sticking her left hand to Damian's right hand.
- Tomboy: Very much so. She dresses in boyish clothes, has short hair, loves video games and fantasy stories, and goes on little escapades all the time.
- Underestimating Badassery: Complains about how Damian handed her a mere bo staff instead of a katana when they meet again at Wayne Manor. After Damian takes it from her and proceeds to beat the snot out of several crooks armed with guns, she changes her mind.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Gives one to Olive after figuring out she snitched on Riko to the cops towards the end of the Robin War tie-in issue, assuming she did it because of her hating of Batman, whom the Robins support. It took a secret encounter with the real Robin (Damian Wayne) to understand it was for the best.
- Youthful Freckles: They emphasize her youthful exuberance and the fact that she's a year younger than Olive.
Future Maps / Meridian
- Action Girl: A more pronounced example than her past self, as she’s shown quite capable and willing to electrocute enemies and even takes on a mind controlled Wonder Woman.
- Dumbass No More: Downplayed in the sense that Maps was never shown to be unintelligent, but she was depicted as not being Book Smart or excelling academically. Meridian however is a scientific genius who invented time travel.
- Future Badass: Much more capable of handling herself in a dangerous situation compared to her past self, going from Action Survivor to full-on Action Girl.
- Meaningful Name: Meridian is a geography term, and so is a fitting moniker for a woman who often went by the nickname of Maps instead of her actual given name.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- While she does turn out to have a good reason to exclude Barbara Gordon from the mission to rescue Sin, her decision to insist on keeping Barbara entirely in the dark ends up causing friction between her and Dinah.
- As it turns out, whoever has been targeting Barbara and killing her in every timeline she participated in the mission to rescue Sin, has been likely using Meridian’s technology.
- Ridiculously Successful Future Self: From vigilante fangirl high schooler with generally poor grades to the inventor of a method of time travel and a superheroine in her own right. Made more impressive by Meridian not appearing to be that old, meaning Maps grew into her within a few decades at most.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: She directly states that she takes time travel very seriously, and so would not alter the past unless righting it was her goal, such as preventing the Amazons from causing the end of the world and figuring out who has been using her time travel technology to target the Birds of Prey.
Alternate Universe / Timeline Robins
Appearances: Detective Comics | Batman | World's Finest | Star-Spangled Comics | All-Star Comics | Infinity, Inc. | Justice League of America | Wonder Woman | America vs. the Justice Society | All-Star Squadron | Crisis on Infinite Earths | Justice Society of America | Convergence: Detective Comics
The Dick Grayson from the Pre-Crisis Earth-Two and therefore the original Golden Age Robin, though the Post-Crisis "Earth-2" Dick is modeled closely on the original there are some distinct alterations such as he and Helena's mutual attraction rather than their Earth-Two iterations' sibling relationship. Distinguished from the mainstream Dick Grayson in that he never stopped being Robin, that is until he was brought back decades after his last appearance for Convergence, even after becoming an adult with his own superhero career. Dick was a prominent and longstanding member of the Justice Society of America on Earth-Two.
- Age Lift: Dick is noticably younger than fifty in his appearance in Convergence: Detective Comics despite being well into his fifties in his previous appearance. This can be explained away as the timeline of Earth-Two being altered by being erased and then restored.
- Ambadassador: In the Bronze Age, he became the American Ambassador to South Africa, all the while still being active as a hero.
- Badass Normal: Costumed hero with no powers whatsoever fighting against and alongside those with superpowers, and he started off on said carrer path as a child.
- Depending on the Artist: How the mask on his adult costume is designed, and how old he looks.
- Kid Hero All Grown-Up: Moreso than most Robins, due to Comic-Book Time not applying in Earth-Two. He was in his forties during the Bronze Age revival of the Justice Society of America, and in his fifties when Crisis on Infinite Earths occurred.
- Kid Sidekick: The original. Dick Grayson became Robin the Boy Wonder and fought crime alongside Batman while he was still a boy.
- Like Brother and Sister: To Helena Wayne, the daughter of Bruce Wayne, also known as the Huntress.
- Ret-Gone: Alongside most of Earth-Two following Crisis on Infinite Earths, at least until the Multiverse was properly restored.
- Sidekick Graduations Stick: To an extent. While he remained in the Robin identity, he remained active as a hero even after Batman retired, and had considered taking the mantle of Batman. He doesn't take the role until the end of Convergence: Detective Comics
- Stock Superhero Day Jobs: Dick became an attorney and partner at Cranston, Grayson and Wayne, a law firm in Earth-Two's Gotham that employed three seperate attorneys who ran around Gotham as costumed superheroes at night; Dick as Robin, Helena Wayne as Huntress and Charles Bullock as Blackwing.
- Superhero Sobriquets: Robin, the Boy Wonder. Even though Dick was using the Robin title well into his fifties.
See the Huntress page for more. For Helena Wayne's original Earth-Two iteration see here.
Carrie Kelley as Robin IIIAppearances: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns | Ame-Comi Girls | Tiny Titans | Batman and Robin
The Robin that appears in Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Technically, the first female Robin, although she is not considered canonical. She later becomes "Catgirl" in The Dark Knight Strikes Again. She is also featured in Ame-Comi Girls as the Robin of that Alternate Universe.
She also exists in the New 52, but not as Robin. However, she did appear at a Halloween party dressed in her Robin outfit. Instead, she's a college film student who Damian Wayne hires for acting lessons. See Batman: The Dark Knight Returns page for more info on Carrie Kelley's Dark Knight series iteration.
- Aborted Arc: She appeared in two issues of Batman and Robin, and one of the following issues according to the trend adopted after Damian's death was originally named Batman and Carrie Kelley, but that never materialized. Fan theory at the time was that she was going to be the new canon Robin, but she's not been seen or heard from since.
- Age Lift: Her mainstream DCU counterpart debuted as a college student, while her original version was still in high school.
- Canon Immigrant: After Damian's death, she was introduced into the mainstream universe.
- Depending on the Writer: His mother is either Kathy Kane, Selena Kyle, or unmentioned altogether. Also, he's either raven-haired or blond.
- Uncanny Family Resemblance: Sometimes he resembles his father when he was a kid.
See Batman Beyond (Rebirth)
