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"A man's got to go his own way."

"Because when you get down to it, my life isn't about the costumes or the bad guys. It's not about cities or symbols. It's way simpler than that. I mean, I grew up in a circus. It's always been about catching people when they fall."
Nightwing

A textbook example of a sidekick growing into an independent hero, Nightwing is the solo codename of Richard "Dick" Grayson, the first Robin. After years of training under Batman the Then-a-Teen Boy Wonder decided that, as the image quote says, "A man's got to go his own way". Thanks to the nature of comic book continuity, this was either after a long-overdue fight with Batman or a mutually respectful parting of ways. In any case, Dick decided on the name Nightwing after Superman told him the tale of a Batman & Robin-esque vigilante duo from Krypton, named Nightwing and Flamebird. He made his debut under the new identity in Teen Titans during The Judas Contract story-line (specifically, Tales of the Teen Titans #44, released July, 1984).

Eventually he was given his own self titled series. A 4-issue Nightwing mini-series turned up in 1995 and was well-received. An ongoing naturally followed. Lasting for 153 issues, from October, 1996 to April, 2009. Nightwing was a series starring Dick Grayson, the original Robin, graduated to become protector of Gotham's neighboring city of Bludhaven. The series was initially written by Chuck Dixon. Quite well received, it started creating a Rogues Gallery for Dick Grayson and helped distinguish Nightwing's solo methodology from Batman's own. The series was eventually taken over by Devin Grayson.

Controversies abounded in the title and it was eventually cancelled as a preparation for Infinite Crisis and relaunched. The city of Bludhaven was destroyed by the Secret Society of Supervillains and Dick Grayson was relocated to New York City. The new series was even more poorly received and eventually canceled. Dick Grayson graduated to become the new Batman in Battle for the Cowl.

With the company wide New 52 relaunch in 2011, Dick returned to being Nightwing and had another solo title, and moved to Chicago following Death of the Family. Following Forever Evil (2013), his solo series ended. A new series titled Grayson began in July, which with the character as a Secret Agent of Spyral alongside another famous Faking the Dead character: Helena Bertinelli. DC Rebirth returned him to the Nightwing title.

Not to be confused with the 1977 killer bat novel of the same name on which the 1979 flick was based.

See his character page for character specific tropes.

Dick Grayson has appeared in several media, usually Batman related:


    open/close all folders 

Nightwing in Media:

    Comic Books 
The Golden Age/Earth-Two
this version of Dick was never Nightwing, and used the Robin name long into adulthood

The Silver Age/Earth-One
Post-Crisis
New 52
DC Rebirth
DC Infinite Frontier
Elseworlds

    Film 

    Television 

    Video Games 

    Western Animation 


Tropes associated with the various Nightwing series:

    In General 
  • Dual Wielding: Uses dual Eskrima Sticks. Simple metal poles which may or my not contain various gadgets built in, which he's capable with of similar skill to Batman with his Batarangs.
  • Evil Costume Switch: As "Renegade", the identity Dick created in an attempt to infiltrate a group of villains.
  • Heävy Mëtal Ümlaut: The city of Blüdhaven. In one story, Dick insists that this indicates it's pronounced "Blewd-haven", and anyone who says "Blood-haven" is clearly an out-of-towner.
  • Sexy Packaging: Nightwing has been in a number of suggestive poses on covers, given Dick Grayson's status as Mr. Fanservice. The cover of the very first issue of Nightwing Vol 2 depicts Nightwing doing the splits in mid-air, with the focus on his crotch.

    Nightwing Volumes 1 & 2 provide examples of: 
  • Aborted Arc: Devin Grayson's run on Nightwing's ongoing was greatly cut into by several different events, including Infinite Crisis, thus preventing her from finishing the story she intended.
  • Asshole Victim: Tarantula killing Blockbuster came off like this.
  • Audience Surrogate: Perhaps the greatest. One reason he's so popular is that fans want to be him.
  • Badass Normal: Dick Grayson himself.
  • The Bad Guys Are Cops: The cops in Blüdhaven were worse than the mob, and gained a share of profits made by the actual mob. (Criminals who didn't were killed. Chief Redhorn was a dangerous villain who had ordered Nightwing's death; Nightwing joined the force in his civilian identity in an attempt to take it down.)
  • Battle in the Rain: Blüdhaven is a port town very near Gotham and with similar often rainy weather. Dick’s first fight with the Double Dare sisters takes place in a downpour.
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Helena Bertinelli, after they had already slept together. And in New 52, with Barbara Gordon, sometimes.
  • Betty and Veronica: Starting with the late 90s, there was some Ship Tease with both Barbara Gordon (Betty) and Helena Bertinelli, with Barbara even expressing some jealousy.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: He's one of the sweetest guys in the DC Universe, but if you manage to get him really angry, you will regret it.
    • During the infamous "Born Again" Arc Nightwing is so enraged he Curb Stomps all of Blockbuster's hired help when most of them had given him a hard time before. It was even worse in One Year Later when they tried to make Nightwing into DC's Spider-Man (!?).
  • Big Bad: Blockbuster becomes one, learning Nightwing's secret identity as Dick Grayson and quickly proving just why heroes keep their identities secret by killing off everyone who lives in the same apartment as him and making plans to continue killing everyone Dick has ever been friends with.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Used to provide the page pic. He is very protective of the other Robins, and of some other young heroes, such as Stephanie Brown/Spoiler/Robin/Batgirl. Even though he and Steph don't particularly hang out much, he was upset deeply by her death and gave Bruce a What the Hell, Hero? rant because of it, and another to Barbara when she allowed her to go out into the field by herself and he was worried about her in a big brother kind of way.
    • He is also on the receiving end of this, for practically the entire DC Universe. If someone hurts Dick, it might be a good idea for villains to take some time off to avoid the wrath of the rest of the heroes.
  • Big Brother Mentor:
    • Towards Tim, who he was instumental in training and who was Robin during Dick's first tenure as Batman. Amusingly he even taught Tim how to do his laundry. Eventually the two became actual brothers when Bruce adopted Tim.
    • He has acted as a brotherly mentor figure to many generations of Titans.
    • It's especially pronounced towards Damian, as he was Dick's Robin during his tenure as Batman.
  • Big Brother Worship: Tim has a bit of this towards Dick.
  • Bound and Gagged: Sylph pretty much had this as a superpower, and thus her "fights" mostly consisted of tying Dick up, often in suggestive poses, because even though the hero keeps getting in her way she has no desire to kill him.
  • Breakout Character: Easily the most popular character to have been a Robin, and he usually ranks pretty high in popularity polls, sometimes even beating out iconic heroes like Superman and even Batman himself. In fact, entire teams of writers, several of them not even remotely related to the writing of any aspect of the Batman mythos, threatened to walk out of DC when the executives began to make plans to kill him off!
  • The Cape: Very much Nightwing, though Dick absolutely hates wearing an actual cape.
    Dick: And I hate the cape, Alfred! The cape was the first thing I ditched when I got out on my own.
  • Catch Your Death of Cold: Dick gets a cold after diving into frozen water to save a kid who fell through the thin ice.
  • The Charmer: Very much so, sometimes he doesn't even realize it.
  • Chest Insignia: As Nightwing, it's either a blue v / stylized wing shape or an actual bird.
  • Chick Magnet:
  • Christmas Episode: Volume 2 #64, On a Christmas Evening starts with Nightwing catching a fake Santa who had been falsely taking donations for orphans, then after the precinct did their annual tradition of reading some dear Santa letters from the worst part of Bludhaven Dick spends the rest of the issue trying to track down the girl who had written an unaddressed one he’d read asking for a job for her dad. He even recruited Tim do some searching and was scolded for not spending the holiday with his family even though Tim was noticeably at Brentwood walking the Headmaster's dog without any of his family in sight. Dick did find the little girl, save her and her father from gangbangers and got her dad a job as the new super for his apartment since Clancy had left for medical school. The job had the added benefit of getting them out of the bad neighborhood they’d been living in.
  • Circus Brat: Dick was practically born under the big top and still jumps at the chance to perform, be it acrobat or clown, when his old circus comes around on tour. This especially since he is co-owner.
  • Cold Snap: Nightwing Vol 2 #54 has Dick observing some kids playing with sleds and thinking its too cold for crime fighting while being happy about his heated bodysuit.
  • Combat Parkour: Nightwing is quite flexible and agile because of his circus background.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Have fun finding a member of the Bat-Family who isn't this. His isn't dirty fighting so much as it is constant taunts and insults, kind of like a certain Marvel hero.
  • Cuddle Bug: Relatively speaking, compared to the generally grim and gritty Batman cast. However, when he's stacked against the Teen Titans, or even some Justice Leaguers, he's often played as a lower-key Batman: more of a leader and people person, but no less determined, driven, and perfectionist.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: His name is Nightwing and he still excels at operating in the dark due to his time as Batman's sidekick, but there's a reason he's seen as one of the nicest guys in the universe. Just check out the rest of the trope list.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Probably the snarkiest hero in the DC Universe. Even as Batman, he can't help himself from cracking wise.
  • Death of a Child: There were several child characters living in the same apartment building as Dick when Blockbuster had it blown up, none survived.
  • Department of Child Disservices: Dick has some flashbacks to the legal proceedings that led to him becoming Bruce’s ward and his time in Juvie after a Gotham Social Worker dumped him there after his parents murders.
  • Domestic Abuse: In Nightwing Vol 2 #54 Dick and Rohrbach come across an obviously beaten woman named Marie running away from her boyfriend barefoot in the snow but she chooses not to press charges and asks to just go back home with her boyfriend. Dick tracks down the jerk as Nightwing and after seeing that Bill is threatening both Marie and their infant child Dick scares Bill away and convinces him that bad things will happen if Nightwing thinks Bill has come within a hundred miles of either of them.
  • Doomed Hometown: Blüdhaven was destroyed in Infinite Crisis. And again in Battle for Blüdhaven
  • Doppelgänger Attack: Dick gets attacked by a Jokerized Riot but he’s able to spot the original and knock him out almost immediately causing the clones to disappear.
    Only one of you had the riot gun, Riot. Moron.
  • Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: In Devin Grayson's run, who then went on to claim that it wasn't rape, just "nonconsensual" sex. Right. After the character Tarantula forced herself on him in the middle of the street, afterward it was treated as though he was simply uncomfortable dating a criminal than anything and the whole "sexual assault" thing was glossed over completely. A few years earlier Nightwing slept with an obscure Titans character by the name of Mirage, who had disguised herself as Starfire. When she revealed the ruse not long after, the only real reaction it got was a shocked look, without a whole lot of follow-up, in fact it's mostly been played for laughs since. Rape is Irrelevant When It's Female On Male?
  • Dramatic Gun Cock: Once faced a group of carjackers, one of whom decided to attempt to intimidate him with this. Being Nightwing, he wasted no time in asking him if he learned that on TV before pointing out that he just ejected a perfectly good round for no reason and then finished by continuing to cock the gun until all the ammunition had been ejected.
  • Dual Wielding: Escrima sticks are Nightwing's favored weapons.
  • The Face: He will inevitably become this in any group he joins because he's that charismatic. He's the one you want making your case during Gondor Calls for Aid or Enemy Mine.
  • Female Gaze: Dick is probably the most frequently subjected to this of any character in the DCU. Hell, IGN ranked him at #1 on their list of the sexiest men in comics, and both the list and the comments considered it a no-brainer. Comics Alliance said the same.
  • Foil: To Red Hood. Dick adopted a Batman-expy identity formerly held by Superman, while Jason co-opted the former identity of The Joker.
  • Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Blockbuster loved his. And he makes Nightwing pay dearly for it when he indirectly causes her to have a fatal heart attack.
  • Eye Scream: Thankfully averted when Cisco Blane comes into the room and shoots Nightwing’s torturers in the back but two of Blockbusters’ Torture Technicians were preparing to take a power drill to his eyes while questioning him.
  • Flexibility Equals Sex Ability: Dick is an extremely skilled acrobat who's known for his flexibility and agility. He also happens to be one of DC Comics' most famous womanizers, with his lover Cheyenne even described him as a Sex God, as sleeping with him is strenuously exhausting due to his athletics.
  • Genius Bruiser: As befits somebody trained by Batman, he's both a highly trained intellectual and a lethally skilled fighter.
  • The Ghost: One commonly-mentioned figure during the Chuck Dixon run was Eddie (later Retconned to Freddy) Minh, The Don of Bludhaven's Vietnamese mob. Eventually, it turns out this trope is almost literal: he was actually killed long ago (possibly before Nightwing even moved into town) by his wife, who's been secretly running the mob under his name.
  • Gondor Calls for Aid: Nightwing has led the Teen Titans, The Outsiders, and the Justice League. If he has a problem that's too big for him, he can call help from anywhere from Metropolis to Oa to Heaven or Hell.
  • Good Is Not Dumb: Lampshaded in Batman: The Black Mirror. "I am a softy. And I do try to see the best in people... but that doesn't mean I'm stupid."
  • Good Is Not Soft: One of the nicest guys in the DCU and capable of punching you through a wall.
  • Handicapped Badass: Babs gets a special note for bringing Black Canary along (rather than the whole of her Birds of Prey) to save Dick when he gets captured by Shrike. Oracle takes out all of Shrike’s ninjas on her own from her wheelchair.
  • Has a Type: For redheads, which he admits himself, examples including Barbara Gordon, Cheyenne Freemont, Starfire, and Raya Vestri. It's even lampshaded in the third issue of his 2011 series when Barbara turns up after he's hooked up with Raya. And you can bet the fandom never forgets who his best friend is...
  • Have a Gay Old Time: When he was introduced in the 40s, "Dick" was a common and accepted shortening of the name "Richard". Nowadays, however, it has fallen out of style in favor of shortenings like "Rick" or "Richie", not helped by the fact that "dick" is a very common slang term for "penis". Despite this, Dick Grayson's name is too iconic to change at this point, and when they did attempt to change it to "Ric", it resulted in a serious Audience-Alienating Era for the character, though largely because of how they went about it.
  • The Heart: Dick's status as The Heart of the DC universe comes up on occasion, with Tim calling Dick when Tim is depressed and having suicidal thoughts, Roy and Wally trusting Dick completley and Superman's faith in him. He is still a rather intense fellow and does not get along with everyone at all times, his arguments tend to be infamous among his peers, but his compassion shines through always.
  • Heroic BSoD: After Dick beat the Joker to death (he was immediately resuscitated) he felt he was no longer worthy and spent an issue staring at his worn knuckles and torn costume while Tim and Ted fought Jokerized criminals in Blüdhaven while Tim fanboyed over working with a hero he’d been reading about since he was little making Ted feel old. It was long enough for Dick to get a scruffy start on a Beard of Sorrow. Babs sends Wally to talk with Dick after he unplugs his computer to keep her from talking to him.
  • Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Wally West since their childhood. Both are seen as the pre-eminent Legacy Characters of DC.
  • Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Dick is a compassionate idealist to the degree that even Superman admires him. During Infinite Crisis, Earth-Two's Kal-L claims that New Earth is a corruption of his world and that none of its heroes is worth protecting. But when Batman asks if that's true of Dick Grayson, Kal-L says no. Even the person wanting to merge the worlds together has to admit that Dick Grayson is just as wonderful in the "corrupted world".
  • Indy Ploy: According to writer Fabian Nicieza, while Dick is smart (like most Bat-family members), what he excels at is "reflexive thinking", which is essentially this. While Batman is Crazy-Prepared, Jason is a Manipulative Bastard, Barbara is an Analyst, and Tim is all of the above, Dick excels at thinking on the fly.
  • Informed Ability: Several official profiles state that Nightwing's martial arts specialty is Aikido. Apparently no one told the writers, because it's very rare for his fighting style to even remotely resemble it. Especially considering the fact that his signature weapons, dual eskrima sticks, are quite literally named after a different fighting style.
  • Interspecies Romance: Whilst, as noted, he has had a lot of would-be, wannabe and actual girlfriends, one of his biggest "classic" love interests, other than Barbara Gordon, is the alien super-heroine Koriandr of Tamaran, aka Starfire, who he met as part of the Teen Titans. She was the first of his girlfriends that he was quite blatantly implied to have had sex with, they've been engaged at least once, and they were even almost married once — as in, the only reason they aren't husband and wife is because fellow Titan Raven attacked the ceremony and killed the minister before he could complete it. Though they are drifted apart in modern continuity, both still remember and occasionally flirt with each other over their former connection.
  • Junior Counterpart: Like Batman, his parents' deaths was his motivation to start crime-fighting, though even from his time as Robin to today, he still retains youthful energy and idealism that Batman lacks.
  • I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: "Bludhaven" isn't exactly a very inviting name for a city to have.
  • Imposed Handicap Training: Dick takes Tim for training that involves riding train tops around Bludhaven while blindfolded and doing various balancing exercises. Tim is not amused when they get ambushed while doing so.
  • I Was Just Passing Through: Wally says this when he stops by to talk when Dick is trying to come to terms with almost having killed the Joker, Dick doesn’t buy it for a second:
    Wally: Just passing through.
    Dick: Through Blüdhaven?
    Wally: A little detour, all right? This your day off?
  • Kid Hero All Grown-Up: One of the most famous comic book examples. He's been very successful transitioning from Batman's Kid Sidekick to an independent hero. See also Sidekick Graduations Stick.
  • The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Dick has always been an unapologetic Superman fanboy. It sometimes annoys Batman, actually.
  • The Leader: He has proven to be the most effective leader in the whole DCU, having led the Teen Titans and The Outsiders. Even Superman has stepped aside to let him lead the Justice League.
  • Legacy Character: All three of his identities.
    • He was the first Robin. The rest, in order, are: Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and Damian Wayne.
    • He was the second Nightwing. The rest, in order are: Superman, Tad Ryerstad ("Nite-Wing"), Power Girl, Jason Todd, Chris Kent
    • He was the third Batman. The others are Bruce Wayne, Jean Paul Valley, Damian Wayne (in the apocalyptic future of Batman #666), Terry McGinnis (in several possible futures) and Tim Drake (in yet another possible future).
  • Let Me Tell You a Story: Dudley Soames to Tad in prison:
    Let me tell you about Blockbuster sonny. He lost his heart recently. Poor thing died of neglect he hardly used it. It's how he does what he does. Usin' people. Usin' people up. Mister Roland Desmond is as much a monster as he looks, boyo. I found that out too late.
  • Magnetic Hero: To the point where some believe his superpower is charisma. When he showed up to a fight with multiple generations of Teen Titans, Superboy noted how everyone instantly followed his lead. He also once convinced every hero on Earth, without question, to jump into a parallel dimension (saving them all). Batman even said it's one of the reasons he's proudest of Dick -— unlike Bats himself, he can gain and keep allies. So essentially, he's "Batman with social skills." A fact that was commented on by everyone from Jim Gordon to the Joker when he took over as Batman.
  • Morality Pet: Half of the DCU sees him as this. During a team-up, Catwoman (a villain/anti-hero) remarked that because he's been in the superhero biz since he was a child, most of the community sees him as a little bro/surrogate son. If you ever do anything to hurt Nightwing, you will call down the wrath of the entire DC Universe. Hell, Batman's first instinct was to GRAB A GUN when he heard a villain had killed Nightwing.note  See The Power of Friendship below, there are even some villains will come after you if you hurt him, granted some of it is because of The Only One Allowed to Defeat You, but still.
  • Mr. Fanservice: Both in-verse and in the fandom. To the point that it trended on Twitter.
    Midnighter: Your nifty Hypnos tech trick may make it so I can't see Spyral agents' faces... but I'd know that ass anywhere.
  • My Greatest Failure: Early on, it was Dick's failure during his Robin days to save an innocent from being killed by Two-Face. Later replaced by him "letting" Tarantula kill Blockbuster. He also blames himself partially for both the crippling of Barbara Gordon and the death of Jason Todd since both events happened when he and Bruce were on the outs. It's notable that he took a much more active role in the mentoring of Jason's replacement, Tim Drake and generally keeps a much closer eye on the other members of the Bat-Family since.
  • Nice Guy: It's practically his superpower. Other heroes admire him and his moral strength so much that they are willing to follow him anywhere.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Deathstroke and Red Hood have been on the receiving end of quite a few of these, from Dick.
  • Oh, Crap!: A number of them. Including the time Dick came home to find Deathstroke waiting for him.
  • Oh Wait, This Is My Grocery List: Wally invokes this trope when he stops by to cover for Dick while Dick is out "sick" chasing a witness around the Europe, Wally "accidentally" leaves his to do list behind as a note for his friend reading:
    Things To Do Today:
    1. Save the world.
    2. Kick supervillain butt.
    3. Go over to best friend's apartment and pretend to hurl.
    4. Save the world again.
  • '90s Hair: One of the most infamous victims of this with his mullet, up there with Superman himself.
  • The Paragon: Dick is often credited as being perhaps the most inspirational hero in the DC Universe. Even more so than Superman.
  • Platonic Life-Partners: With Donna Troy. Considering his status as Mr. Fanservice and that she's the twin sister of Wonder Woman, this is pretty surprising.
  • Poke the Poodle: Dick Grayson during the Renegade arc. Deathstroke the Terminator, of all people, finds it embarrassing.
  • The Power of Friendship: Nightwing's greatest weapon. Sure, natural acrobatics and Batman-trained skills in combat and sleuthing are nothing to sneeze at, but no other hero in the DC Universe boasts the sheer number of allies Nightwing has. Hell, the guy has had his villains team up with him against bigger or badder foes. Why? Basically because he asked nicely.
  • Pretender Diss: Tad didn't even know there was a crimefighter called Nightwing when he took up the "Nite-Wing" identity. This does not prevent Dick from being really upset that there is someone claiming to be a hero named Nite-Wing going around Blüdhaven murdering people.
  • Prodigal Hero: Dick Grayson had a strained relationship with Batman for the closer part of a decade. After getting fired from his role of Robin, he assumed his own identity as Nightwing. He finally repaired his relationship with Bruce in the fittingly titled run Batman: Prodigal.
  • Real Life Superpowers: Pretty much to the level of his mentor. Of all the traits on this list (Beauty, Intelligence, Skill, Charisma, Fame, Wealth, Physicality, Weaponry, and Luck) Dick has 9 out of 9. Where he differs from his mentor is that not many people believe Dick Grayson has physical powers (like the superstitious and cowardly believe about Batman)—however, Dick is so charismatic and dashing that people think he has Glamour powers. And that's not even getting to the fact that he's the greatest acrobat in the entire DC Universe.
  • Recurring Dreams: For a while Dick keeps dreaming about a child he failed to save from Two-face while he was still Robin.
  • Relationship Sabotage: Tarantula to Dick and Barbara, which somehow Babs falls for despite knowing that Tarantula is an unrepentant murderer who has been stalking Dick and trying to get Nightwing killed.
  • Servile Snarker: Alfred makes a few appearances. The trope image is from a Nightwing issue in in fact.
  • Shock and Awe: Courtesy of those electrified escrima sticks.
  • Shout-Out: During Vol 2 #150 Dick sings "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" to himself while roof hopping.
  • Sidekick Graduations Stick. Nightwing eventually becomes Batman and had remained so until September 2011.
  • Strapped to an Operating Table: In Nightwing Vol 2 #45 Blockbuster’s brother sister torture team strap Nightwing down and inject him with drugs while laying out their more terrifying tools to question him on Oracle’s whereabouts.
    • He is almost lobotomised by le Bossu and Scorpiana in Batman RIP.
  • Taking Up the Mantle: Ol' Dick is in the trope picture for this one. He first took up the Batman mantle temporarily once when Bruce was recovering from the Knightfall arc, and he did it again after Bruce "died" in Final Crisis and fighting Jason Todd for the title in Battle for the Cowl.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Used in Issue #150. One of Two-Face's mooks was standing right behind a guy Two-Face wanted to shoot. Two-Face points out that this isn't a good place to be, and the guy needs it explained to him: "I can't afford to lose any red shirts." When the mook doesn't get the reference, Two-Face has had enough, declares him too dumb to live, and blows him away.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Does this really need explaining, old chum?
  • Torso with a View: In Issue #62 a Jokerized Riot shoots a large hole in another Jokerized criminal in the Slab who is not overly hindered by it while they're fighting Nightwing.
  • Torture Cellar: Blockbuster has one.
  • Undercover Cop Reveal: Cisco Blaine saves Nightwing from torture and reveals that he is actually an undercover FBI Agent named Ronald Houston only to be quickly murdered by Tad "Nite-Wing" Ryerstad.
  • Underestimating Badassery: In the beginning, Blockbuster did not want Nightwing killed because he feared that would bring Batman to his city whom he thought was a greater threat. Blockbuster rather quickly realizes and outright acknowledges that Nightwing is equal to his mentor in every way.
  • Urban Legend Love Life: The perception of Dick Really Getting Around is mostly blown out of proportion to the actual number of women he's been involved with. Prior to the reboot, he'd probably slept with a grand total of four women.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Anyone who works with Batman has this problem, but Dick had it really bad for awhile. Fortunately, he is now recognized as Batman's closest ally and favored son.
    • He's even started to have a sense of fun over Batman's inability to express emotions.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: The entire Renegade arc is meant to be this.
  • Worf Effect: During the "Brotherhood of the Monkey Fist" arc, Nightwing's fighting skills are nerfed to give Conner Hawke a chance to shine.
  • Working Through the Cold: Dick goes to work as a Police Officer after getting a cold during an intense blizzard.
  • Working with the Ex: Dick Grayson works with Starfire and Barbara Gordon after their respective break-ups.
  • Wretched Hive: Bludhaven is (or was) probably the worst city in the DCU after Hub City.
  • You Have Failed Me:
    • Black Mask tried to have Reynard killed after he failed to get Mask a hold in Blüdhaven's drug trade as quickly as he wanted but Reynard killed the man sent to take him out and earned another chance. Nightwing's continued interference meant that he failed again.
    • After his hired guns fail to kill Nightwing Blockbuster uses a variation on this theme by having them all take on his new pet assassin, he even tells Stallion he'll give him a bonus if he can decapitate the new guy. In the end the existing criminals, save Lady Vic who gets some good shots in and Mouse and Giz who are not fighters anyway and take a pass, just end up getting in each other's way which makes it easier for Shrike.

    Tropes from the New 52 series 
  • Adaptational Villainy: Acheron is an evil demon.
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension: Nightwing with Barbara Gordon.
  • Cartwright Curse: Dick's love interests haven't been very lucky. Two women that Dick has slept with have died (one within the same issue she was introduced). Another love interest was the target of an attempted assassination. And then there's Barbara Gordon, who has been going through a Trauma Conga Line in her own book.
  • Darker and Edgier: Nightwing's portrayal here shows him as somewhat more violent than before, and his costume is now red and black instead of black and blue, although this does have the benefit of putting all four of the Robins in red.
  • Evil Costume Switch: Not evil actually, but in the New 52, his black and blue changed to black and red, reflecting his more anti-heroic nature. Which, ironically enough, looks kind of like the Robin costume from Batman & Robin, albeit without the cape.
  • Hijacked by Ganon:
    • The opening arc, where Nightwing is being hunted by Saiko and inherits Haly's Circus before finding a mysterious ledger with his name in it, was revealed to part of the Night of the Owls storyline that had been building in Detective Comics as it turned out Haly's Circus had routinely given a child to the Court of Owls to become a Talon, and Dick was being groomed to be next in line before his parents died.
    • The overarching plot of Dick setting out to rejuvenate the Amusement Mile in Gotham with Haly's Circus as the centrepiece, was brought to an end thanks to Death of the Family (Which saw Joker attack the circus to get at Nightwing in part of his larger plan to destroy Batman) and the subsequent and unrelated death of Robin.
  • Missed the Call: Turns out Dick missed a villainous call in his backstory. The Court of Owls wanted to make Dick into a Talon, but Bruce adopting him on the eve of his parents' deaths put him out of their reach.
  • Poorly Disguised Pilot: Issue #30 is very clearly meant to serve as one to the Grayson ongoing, giving the context for the series. That, and it in no way relates to the previous arcs, and it's the last issue.
  • Redemption Failure: In the New 52 universe Anthony Zucco actually does try to turn his life around to be a good role model for his son Brian......then he learns that his wife and son left him and he decides to embrace being evil.
  • Shock Stick: Nightwing's Escrima sticks are now electrified, similar to their use in Batman: Arkham City.
  • The Unmasking: In Forever Evil (2013) #1, Nightwing is promptly beaten to a pulp and publicly unmasked as Dick Grayson in a show of force by the Crime Syndicate. For some reason, this does not cause the rest of the Batfamily's identities to be revealed despite their close connections in and out of costume.


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