The whole flock.
note From left to right: Dick Grayson, Stephanie Brown, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, and Jason Todd.
Robin is a
DC Comics character created as
Batman's sidekick in 1940 and best known as the
Trope Maker and
Trope Codifier of the
Kid Sidekick archetype. There have been many,
many different Robins throughout the character's publication, but most of them have common elements. With only a few exceptions, they are usually orphaned teenage males with some sort of acrobatic or martial arts prowess and wear a brightly-colored costume (typically red, green and yellow).
Robin was originally conceived as a
vehicle to draw younger readers—
and it worked, doubling Batman's sales figures from his first appearance onward. Afterward, Robin became a staple of the Batman franchise's humor, as well as being a
Foil against his mentor and providing the Dark Knight a character to whom he could
exposit his many heroic feats. Unfortunately, this also had the side-effect of making Robin into a
Distressed Dude who barely contained a tenth of the skills or competence of his partner.
As time went along, the implications regarding a
rich adult who lived alone with a traumatized teenage orphan boy (Alfred would not become part of the Batman home until sometime later) garnered
negative media attention.
Comic books were blamed for everything from juvenile delinquency to homosexuality to
to communism, and the "indecent" relationship between Batman and Robin is often cited as one of the major reasons for the creation of the
Comics Code that spelled the end of
The Interregnum and the dawn of
The Silver Age of Comic Books. Robin's reputation as a character suffered its greatest blow in this period, and the repercussions are still felt to this day (such as in parodies like the
Ambiguously Gay Duo). Outside of comics, new media involving the two has tended to split them apart. Batman has remained consistently popular and has been subject to
many darker reimaginings, but Robin has found
more success away from his/her mentor's shadow.Despite their usual role as a supporting character, the Robins are well-known for several events which helped modern comics to their current form—all of which will be noted below, in the description of the Robin they pertain to. It's also notable that the individual Robins often become popular in their own right. Out of the five Robin characters, three remain in print, although none of them are currently the identity of "Robin".
The most famous Robin is the original, Dick Grayson, who held the identity from 1940 to 1984. Grayson, however, gave up the name to forge a new career as the hero
Nightwing. Since then, the mantle has been passed several times, although
other media adaptations usually use Dick Grayson in the role.
Dick Grayson had his own solo feature in
Star-Spangled Comics from 1947 to 1952, and an additional feature (billed as "Robin, the Teen Wonder" throughout most of the 1970s, usually as a backup in
Batman or
Detective Comics. The latter stories typically featured Grayson as a college student at Hudson University. He has also been a staple member of the
Teen Titans since the group's inception in 1965, typically acting as
team leader and
The Smart Guy. It was in this series that the character really grew into his own, especially when the book was retooled as
The New Teen Titans with the inclusion of four new
teen heroes who were not conceived as sidekicks to adult heroes (although Beast Boy was a
Transplant from
another series). It was in the pages of
The New Teen Titans that Nightwing was originally born.
It's worth noting that Dick Grayson was Robin from 1940 to 1983— 43 years, by far the longest tenure. Jason was Robin from 1983 to 1988 (5 years, with a reboot in the middle), Tim from 1989 to 2009 (20 years), Stephanie for one story arc, and Damian from 2009 to 2013 (four years).
More information can be found on the
Nightwing page.
Jason Todd
After Dick Grayson, a new character named Jason Todd was introduced as a
Suspiciously Similar Substitute (right down to origins as an orphaned circus acrobat) until he was
Retconned to be a former teen delinquent to distinguish him from Dick Grayson. Todd was
unpopular with those who had grown up with Dick Grayson (including his writers— when editorial wanted suggestions for a character that could be killed in an AIDS storyline, Jim Starlin put his name in), so he was
Killed Off for Real by
The Joker in the infamous
A Death In The Family storyline in 1988. This death was significant in a number of ways: first, whether he would live or die was put to a readership vote (via a hotline number: 5,271 votes for him to live, 5,343 votes for him to die). Second, just like
The Night Gwen Stacy Died, this was a tragic event which codified
The Bronze Age of Comic Books. Third, this would top
The Joker's list of most heinous crimes (following the shooting of
Batgirl by only a couple of months) and cement his status as one of the most despicable villains in comics' history. (And as a bonus,
some people thought his death was... a bit TOO mean.)
For a time, the most famous thing about Jason Todd was that he (like his
Captain America counterpart
Bucky Barnes), had
remained dead. Since then, however, he has come
Back from the Dead and has re-adopted several identities which were once used by other characters: the Red Hood (originally used by
The Joker), Red Robin and Nightwing (both originally used by Dick Grayson). Since his return, Jason Todd has become even more of an
Anti-Hero than ever and is even sometimes cast as a villain for both Batman and Nightwing, standing in opposition to their
Thou Shalt Not Kill ideology.
He's gained a new fanbase since his resurrection, both for being the one who will do what Batman won't and because
All Girls Want Bad Boys. Since the 2011 reboot, he's become a lot more stable and while he remains an
Anti-Hero, he's slowly becoming less antagonistic towards his father and brothers. His fans think this is great, his haters think that he should have remained a villain, and the
rest of his haters want their money back for that hotline call.
The third Robin was Tim Drake, who broke the mold of the previous two in several ways. One, he was not an orphan (his father was still alive when he took the mantle). Two, he was not as light-hearted or whimsical as either of his predecessors. And three, being Robin was
only a part-time thing and he only saw it as a temporary necessity, planning to go back to his normal life after he put in his service. He was also the first Robin to maintain a long-lasting solo series (lasting from 1993 to 2009) and, after Dick Grayson, is the second-most famous person to hold the role. Tim was also a founding member of
Young Justice, along with Superboy and Impulse, where he played a similar role that Dick Grayson had played within the Titans.
Tim's status quo was changed forever in 2004, after the death of his father, whereupon Batman adopted Tim as he had done with his predecessors. The tragedy continued with the seeming death of his girlfriend Stephanie Brown (on this very list as Robin IV), the death of his best friends
Conner Kent and
Bart Allen, the institutionalization (and THEN death) of his stepmother, and ultimately the death of
Batman himself. Following this
Trauma Conga Line, Tim retired as Robin to become the third Red Robin.
Following the New 52 reboot, Tim still leads the Titans & was still Jason's successor as Batman's ward, but he never actually used the Robin name, having used the Red Robin name for his entire career. On top of that, his parents are still alive and
he's no longer actually called "Tim Drake" either, as Batman gave him this name after his parents were placed into Witness Protection following Tim stealing a large sum of money from the Penguin.
Stephanie Brown
In 2003, Tim Drake briefly retired as Robin to pursue an ordinary life. His supporting character (and
Love Interest) Stephanie Brown was picked by Batman to become the new Robin. Stephanie's tenure as Robin was rife with controversy, including the insinuation that her promotion was a
Batman Gambit (by the
Trope Namer himself no less) to anger Tim Drake into returning as Robin. Stephanie was fired from the role for a relatively minor mistake (compared to the blunders previous Robins had done) and then
unceremoniously killed off in 2004. It was later revealed through
Word Of God that Stephanie's role as Robin was never meant to be permanent and was only meant to make her death more dramatic and shocking. This has later been cited as a textbook case of
Stuffed into the Fridge, especially since after her death, Stephanie was barely mentioned by the other Bat-family characters and she received no monument (as Jason Todd had upon his death). Stephanie was revealed to be
in hiding in 2009 and took the role of
Batgirl. When the DC universe was relaunched after the
Flashpoint storyline in 2011, early reports stated that she would return to the Spoiler identity, but her only appearance so far has been in
Batman: Leviathan Strikes, which is explicitly stated to take place in pre-Flashpoint continuity.
She is unique among the Robins in several ways, being the one with the shortest term, the only (canonical) female, the only one to begin as a co-star in another book series, the only blonde, and the only Robin to never be adopted into the Wayne family. Following the New 52,
Stephanie's status is still unknown, with numerous writers requesting & being denied even
mentioning her.
Damian Wayne
The 1987 story
Batman: Son of the Demon concluded with the birth of a boy to Bruce Wayne and Talia Al Ghul (
daughter of Batman foe Ra's Al Ghul). The canonicity of the tale was questionable. In 2006, the existence of the son was confirmed. He was named Damian and had grown up to late childhood. Whether he is a result of mutual intercourse, a
Child by Rape, or a
Designer Baby created from Batman's genes is left ambiguous and
many sources outright contradict each other. Damian was raised by his mother in the League Of Assassins. After Bruce Wayne "died" and Tim Drake permanently retired as Robin in 2009, Dick Grayson and Damian served as the new Batman and Robin respectively. As of 2012, Damian is still the current Robin, although he now serves under his father, who has returned to his mantle.
Damian was killed in early 2013 while doing battle with The Heretic, an accelerated growth clone of himself.Tropes Associated With Robin In General
- Animal Themed Superbeing: Although they are not exactly "super".
- Badass Normal: Like their mentor, none of the Robins have superpowers.
- Catch Phrase: "Holy (fill in the blank)!" Now used mostly as Self-Deprecation and Mythology Gags.
- Continuity Snarl: One of the policies of DC's New 52 timeline is that the timeline goes back no further than five years. However, Batman (and Green Lantern) were so successful at the time of the reboot that DC left its continuity as is - meaning that in the span of five years, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake all managed to become Robin and then graduate to their "adult" identities as Nightwing, Red Hood, and Red Robin.
- The Hand Wave for this is that five years was when Batman's masquerade was broken. He was Shrouded in Myth before that, but operated for years. Supposedly, he and the Robins operated during that time, but it all still very sketchy.
- Distressed Dude / Badass in Distress: Can't forget your roots now can we?
- Distressed Damsel: For Stephanie and Carrie.
- Happily Adopted: Dick and Tim, at the very least. Jason is very Tsundereish about it, and Damian is blood-related to Bruce. Stephanie was never adopted.
- Heroes Fight Barehanded: Notable exceptions include Tim Drake and Dick Grayson, both former Robins who now fight crime as Red Robin and Nightwing respectively. Tim uses a Bo staff and Dick a pair of Escrima sticks, presumably because their focus on agility over strength compared to other barefist DC fighters means the weapons give them the 'kick' they need.
- Kid Appeal Character: What Robin started as, and continues to be.
- Kid Hero: One of the earliest superhero examples, although Spider-Man would become the Trope Codifier for comics.
- Kid Sidekick: The Trope Maker and Trope Codifier.
- Legacy Character: Taken Up to Eleven in that all of the Robins (save Damian) later graduated into another Legacy Character.
- Dick Grayson became the second Nightwingnote Superman, in a temporary identity, was the first.
- Dick was also belatedly revealed to not even have been the first Robin, as Bruce Wayne himself assumed the role for a brief time in his own youth.
- Jason Todd became The Red Hood IInote The Joker was the first, before he adopted his best-known identity., Red Robin IInote Dick Grayson from Kingdom Come was the first, and even became Nightwing V for a while.note Nightwing III is the villain "Nite-Wing", and Nightwing IV was Power Girl in a temporary identity
- Tim Drake eventually became Red Robin III.
- And Stephanie Brown became Batgirl IVnote Barbara Gordon, The Huntress, and Cassandra Cain were the first three, although all of them were after Betty (later Bette) Kane as "Bat-Girl".
- Even Damian Wayne was revealed to have become the sixth Batman in a Bad Future.
- According to Marv Wolfman, around the time Jason Todd was introduced, one of the Batman writers wanted to de-age Dick Grayson and return him to being Batman's sidekick. As writer on The New Teen Titans, DC's hottest property at the time, Wolfman wielded a lot of power, and, not wanting to have Dick's Character Development undone, suggested that instead, Dick Grayson could move on to a new identity and a new Robin could be introduced as a publicity stunt (since that sort of thing had never really happened before).
Tropes Associated With Dick Grayson
- The Ace: When Dick pops up in a Bat Family Crossover, he usually fills the pages making everyone else look bad.
- Ambiguously Gay: One of the most infamous examples, and also a subversion. The relationship between Batman and Robin was speculated to be not-so-platonic for many, MANY years and tends to be the butt of jokes even to this day.
- Big Brother Mentor: To the other Robins—especially Tim and Damian. So much that he provides the picture in the page.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Happened to him with the Titans a few times not to mention many others.
- Chick Magnet: He was even this before becoming Nightwing, and came this close to marrying an alien princess.
- The Leader: Unique in comics as Dick Grayson was one of the first teen sidekicks to lead his own team, and he became so good at it that by the time he became Nightwing, he was acknowledged as the most capable leader in the DC Universe! Seriously, even Superman has stepped aside to let Nightwing take command at times, and Batman has said that Dick Grayson has vastly surpassed him in terms of maintaining strong connections with virtually every superhero in the community. In the comics fandom in general, Dick Grayson is usually seen as the second-best leader in the entire superhero genre, second only to Captain America!
- Modesty Bedsheet: In the very first issue of The New Teen Titans Volume 2 (1984), Dick Grayson and Starfire are shown waking in bed. Both are barely covered by bedsheets. This scene became controversial both as the first display of a young couple post-coitus in a comic and as the first overt display of Dick Grayson's sex life. Since then, most writers have just run with it.
- Sidekick Graduations Stick: His promotion to Nightwing has never been reversed. And while he is no longer Batman, he's proven that he's the heir apparent for the cowl.
Tropes Associated With Jason Todd
- Always Second Best/Always Someone Better: How he feels about Dick Grayson. It was part of his motivation for impersonating him as Nightwing.
- The Resenter: Was especially hostile towards Tim Drake as well due to Jason having insecurities that Tim did a better job at the role.
- Anti-Hero: Frequently crosses the line between Unscrupulous Hero and Nominal Hero.
- Back from the Dead
- Continuity Snarl/Cosmic Retcon: His resurrection was originally credited to Superboy-Prime punching reality (as seen in the Cosmic Retcon age image).
- Identity Impersonator: As The Red Hood and Nightwing.
- Kick the Son of a Bitch: Jason's most controversial act as Robin was an off-screen murder of a rapist. At the time, whether he'd actually done the deed or not was left ambiguous, and when directly questioned by Batman, Jason said that the criminal "fell". But nearly twenty years later, following his return as Red Hood, Jason has admitted to the murder.
- Killed Off for Real: At first, anyway. He was killed off in 1988 and not resurrected until 2005. In between, a common mantra was "Nobody stays dead in comics except Bucky, Uncle Ben, and Jason Todd.
- Missing Mom: Eventually he found her. And then she sold him out to The Joker. And then both kicked it.
- Nineties Anti-Hero: He's a Ur Example, being part of the Darker and Edgier Bronze Age, including the incident described in Kick the Son of a Bitch above. Ironically, though, he actually missed The Nineties completely.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: In A Death in the Family #3, the Joker's henchmen pummel him viciously, and then the Joker lays into him with a crowbar.
- Then years later, in Batman #634 he returns the favor on a washed-out Joker.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: He secretly did this during his tenure as Robin back in the 80s. As the Red Hood, though, he openly practices this brand of justice.
- The Unfavorite: He believes this is how Batman views him amongst his sons.
- Violence Really Is the Answer: A firm believer.
Tropes Associated With Tim Drake
- The Call Knows Where You Live: The reason Tim is now an orphan and permanently dedicated to crime-fighting.
- Grade School CEO: For a time after Bruce's death, Tim Drake (as one of his legally adopted sons) had significant control over Wayne Enterprises as one of its owners. He is apparently still a co-owner along with his father and brothers, despite being a teen.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Tim never wanted to be a crime-fighter permanently. He just wanted to be Robin for a while until he could retire and go on with his life.
- Jumped at the Call: He became Robin because he figured out who Batman was and recognized Bruce's Sanity Slippage without a teen sidekick to keep him honest.
- The Smart Guy: Most Robins play this role on teams, but Tim is the Smart Guy amongst Smart Guys. It's usually acknowledged that he's the most intelligent of all of the Robins, and even Batman himself has said that Tim will one day make a better detective than him.
- Missing Mom
For Tim Drake's
Robin (1993-2009) and
Red Robin (2009-2011) series, go
here.
Tropes Associated With Stephanie Brown
- Affirmative Action Legacy: The only canonical female Robin.
- Abusive Parents: Her father was the Batman villain, the Cluemaster, and he was very abusive toward her.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: What killed her, after hours of being subjected to it.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him
- Gendered Outfit: The only Robin to wear a skirt.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Not only does her hair color fit the Robin color motif quite nicely, but she's probably the one with the most human heart. Dick and Tim are genuinely Nice Guys, but they're also the most naturally gifted. Stephanie is a sweetie, despite having no inherent talents and growing up in a depressingly abusive household.
- She's Just Hiding: Invoked. Her death was retconned to be this.
- Also doubles as either I Knew It or Ascended Fanon, since fans posited the theory almost immediately after her death.
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: Not exactly what happened between her and Black Mask, but as Atop The Fourth Wall mentions, there are some very unfortunate camera angles of a teenage girl's rear while she's being tortured to death.
- Stuffed into the Fridge: Though even Gail Simone admits the term is over-applied in many cases, few examples are as blatant as this. She was promoted to Robin, fired, used to start a gang war, captured, tortured, killed, and refused medical attention by an otherwise heroic member of the Batman family. After her death, she was never given a monument, she was barely mentioned by other characters, and Word Of God went on record to say that she was "never really Robin".
Tropes Associated With Damian Wayne
Alternate Versions Of Robin
The following Robins are not specifically associated with any of the characters above.
Carrie Kelly
The Robin that appears in
Frank Miller's
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 and is being teased as the new Robin after the death of Damian Wayne. Whether or not she'll officially be Batman's partner is anyone's guess, but she is seen at a costume party in the classic Robin suit worn by her, Dick, and Jason, despite it no longer existing in continuity.Robin of Earth-2
The Dick Grayson from the Pre-
Crisis Earth-2. Distinguished from the mainstream Dick Grayson in that he never stopped being Robin, even after becoming an adult with his own superhero career.
The Robin appearing the animated series
Teen Titans, created as a mix of the first and third Robins.
- Composite Character: It's intentionally left ambiguous which Robin he is. Most people assume that he's Dick Grayson, since most of the clues point to it—the biggest of which being an Alternate Universe counterpart with the name Nosyarg Kcid.
- The episode How Long Is Forever? makes it very blatant that he's Dick Grayson, as Starfire visits a Bad Future where the Titans split up, and he's grown up and into his role as Nightwing.
- The Teen Titans Go comics, based off the series, also have Robin as Dick Grayson and explore his backstory.
Helena Wayne
The
New 52 Robin of Earth-2, currently operating as the
Huntress. The circumstances of her tenure will be expanded on in
Worlds Finest.
John Blake
Appearing in
The Dark Knight Rises, this is the Robin of
The Dark Knight Saga though rather than becoming Batman's sidekick
he's implied to have become the new Batman after Bruce Wayne's supposed Heroic Sacrifice. In fact,
Robin is the character's legal first name.
In the original
Batman The Animated Series, a college-aged Dick Grayson was Robin, and generally true to his roots. However, when the show was revived and revamped as
The New Batman Adventures, they decided to shake up the status quo, graduating Dick to Nightwing and introducing a young Tim Drake as Robin. They skipped Jason Todd due to the character having some baggage that isn't exactly family friendly, but given that Jason Todd had an excellent origin story, the decision was made to combine the two into one.
In this universe, Dick Grayson never quite reconciled with Bruce after their initial falling out. They could get along and work together, but were permanently estranged at some point.
Meanwhile, Tim Drake had his career as Robin cut short after being brutalized by and
accidentally killing The Joker. He grows up into a successful engineer with a wife and kids.
- Big Brother Mentor: Dick to Tim.
- Composite Character: Tim Drake in this universe is a composite of the comics Tim Drake and Jason Todd. From Jason, he gets his attitude, his origin story as the child of a crook who got Batman's attention by messing with him, and victimization by the Joker. From Tim, he basically gets his name and, judging by his future job as an engineer, his intelligence.
- Kid Sidekick: Tim was much younger than in the comics due to the writers wanting to explore the kid sidekick angle after having Dick around as an adult.
- Legacy Character: The concept of Robin as a legacy had never been explored outside the comics before.
Earth-16 is a modernized "young" DC universe, depicted in the cartoon and comic series
Young Justice. In this universe, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake are all known to be or have been Robin, while Stephanie Brown cameoed in one episode.
The show has been praised for returning the relationship between Dick and Batman to its roots— in other words, they get along. Dick becoming Nightwing here is not because he and Bruce can't see eye to eye, but simply because he's grown up.
Jason Todd has only been seen in a memorial and named only in promotional materials for the video game, while Tim was a supporting character in season two. Another notable thing the show did was give all three Robins unique costumes easy to tell apart. This is the first TV series to acknowledge the existence of all of the first four Robins.
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