Tim, Dick and Damian
Red Robin is a DC Comics series created by Christopher Yost.
Red Robin, depicts Tim Drake's search around the world to find evidence that Bruce Wayne was still alive after having had the mantle of Robin taken from him and subsequently cutting himself off from the rest of the Bat Family. He was approached by Ra's al Ghul's assassins, who were also interested in finding out what happened to Batman. After the resolution of this story, Fabian Nicieza took over as writer with issue #13. The series lasted for 26 issues, being Cut Short by the New 52 continuity reboot in 2011.
As a continuation of Tim's story from Robin (1993) the series share a character page.
Red Robin provides examples of:
- Aborted Arc: Almost all major plot threads remained unresolved thanks to the DC reboot.
- Alliterative Title: Red Robin. Tim's not the first to use it, but he gets saddled with the name of a restaurant chain as his superhero name nonetheless.
- The Alternet: Final Crisis makes brief mention of a supervillain-created Unternet, which exists alongside the normal Internet. The heroes use it to communicate after Darkseid takes control of all Earth's media and uses it to broadcast Anti-Life. It also made an appearance in Red Robin where Tim gained a new costume while inside it.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Tim finds Damian quite annoying even after he (mostly) stops trying to actually kill Tim. At one point when he tries to keep Damian out of a computer file the password he sets is cousinoliver.
- Big Damn Heroes: Tim pulls this off during Anarky II's rampage, and receives one from Cassandra Cain and Dick Grayson at different times.
- Black Dude Dies First: Z. That said, his character was the most developed at the time of his death.
- Blade Enthusiast: The Widower, who impaled Tim and gleefully thanks his victims for the opportunity of getting to stab them, carries multiple knives and swords.
- Charity Ball: Tim and Steph team up to protect Dr. Leslie Thompkins at a charity ball where they rightly expect some ninjas to try and assassinate to good doctor.
- Chest Burster: Sac of the Council of Spiders has thousands of poisonous spiders eat and claw their way out of one of his victims.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Even though it had nothing to do with his mission to find Bruce Wayne, Red Robin takes a detour to save a kidnapped girl in Madrid.
- Color Animal Codename: A red robin. Also his motorcycle Red Bird.
- Conservation of Ninjutsu: A group of spider themed villains attack Red Robin. One nearly kills him. When they attack him en masse, he kicks their butts.
- Cool Bike: Tim is also a Badass Biker and has grown to prefer a bike to his old Red Bird. It's probably easier to acquire new ones as he travels.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Russian industrialist and hobbyist super-villain Mikalek from Red Robin.
- The Cowl: He is after all, the closest to Bruce in terms of personality.
- Darker and Edgier: Averted. The series seems to start off as this, but Tim makes away with his brooding while combating Ra's attack on the Bat-family. It still is more straight-faced in nature compared to the original Robin run though.
- Dating Catwoman: Lynx III. Batman even wanted to give Tim advice on how he had handled Catwoman over the years.
- Death Seeker: Despite Tim's introduction into the Bat mythos as helping Bruce out of this by the time Tim has switched ids to Red Robin he is being accused of falling to self destructive tendencies himself, and his responses are telling non-answers. Cassie and Dick are given two different flavors of misdirection, but it's the way he brushes off Steph rather than answer her that seals the deal, since she's on the short list of people he wouldn't feed that type of misdirection to. He starts getting better by the end of the series after Kon-El, Bart and Bruce return but even the last issue had overtones of Tim skirting around Not Afraid to Die.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Z and Owens, two issues after their debut.
- Funny Background Event: Cassandra investigating a metal panel and being shocked by it. Then punching the still sparking panel in retaliation.
- Gambit Roulette: In issue #12, Dick saves Tim in the nick of time from falling out a skyscraper. Later in the Batcave, Dick questions him whether he had planned it all along, and Tim replies with a: "You're my brother, Dick. You'll always be there for me."
- Guile Hero: the only Robin to have inherited this particular repertoire from Batman.
- Guns Akimbo: Pru uses dual sub-machine guns.
- Hollywood Atheist: Inverted when Tim is revealed to be an atheist in issue #22. The comic notes that he had a mostly non-religious upbringing, and that he would like to find solace in religion after so many close friends and family members have died but he just doesn't find the concept of God to be believable.
- Living in a Furniture Store: Tim's apartment looked like an Ikea ad that had never been lived in or had a speck of dust in it. This was especially jarring considering just how unbelievably messy it had been established he kept his private quarters in Robin, though his bedroom might still be a mess as it was never shown.
- Love Triangle: At one point, Tim was juggling multiple love interests at the same time. He was casually dating Tam Fox out of costume while flirting with Lynx in costume, and all the time still having UST with Steph (they would have probably gotten back together if Steph hadn't refused the kiss). FabNic had plans to build the triangle/polygon/harem a bit more, but was cut short by the DC reboot.
- Milholland Relationship Moment: After Tim’s best friend Conner dies, Tim and Conner’s girlfriend Cassie share a single kiss that could be interpreted largely as Sex for Solace (except without the sex, because, you know, Tim Drake). They don't do anything further, but after Conner comes back to life both are worried what he'll think of them. He doesn't care; it's not like they knew he was coming back, after all.
- Multiarmed And Dangerous: Goliath of the Council of Spiders.
- Murder, Inc.: The Council of Spiders.
- Obligatory Earpiece Touch: In issue #20, Stephanie touches her earpiece, even though it's built in as part of her cowl, while fighting the villain Romeo Void when Tim contacts her to warn her about Calculator being on the move.
- Orifice Invasion: Sac of the Council of Spiders has his poisonous spiders crawl inside of one of Ra's Al Ghul's trusted workers (trusted in the sense that Ra's had the man's family hostage at gunpoint) in order to force him to divulge information about Ra's' location. When the Council are done with him Sac has his spiders and the thousands of young in the eggs they'd laid in the man kill him by eating and clawing their way out of him.
- Remember the New Guy?: Z, a member of the League of Assassins assigned to aid Tim, was one of many hooded ninjas who fought Batman and Robin during the process of Ra's al Ghul's resurrection.
- Renamed the Same: Robin to Red Robin. He didn’t really give up the name by choice anyway so this let him hang on to it regardless of Dick’s decision.
- Rescue Romance: Tim Drake and Tam Fox are both made prisoners of the League of Assassins. When they escape in the chaos caused by Tim defeating the Council of Spiders and hurting the League, Tam gives Tim a big ol' smooch and continues to have tension with him in the series.
- Running Gag:
- Secret Chaser: Vicki Vale — she figured out 3/4 of the Batfamily identities, with the exception of Steph, Cass and Damian.
- Secret Test: Turns out that Ra's combined this with Xanatos Gambit in the first arc. Tim is pitted against the Council of Spiders and then the League of Assassins itself. If he fails, he's dead and Ra's has one less Bat-Clan member to worry about. If he succeeds he proves himself worthy to Ra's Al Ghul's sister. Goes a long way to explain Ra's apparent use of the Villain Ball in the arc.
- Sequel Series: After Robin (1993) was cut short by the Batman R.I.P. storyline it's remaining plot threads and characters were followed up on in Red Robin.
- Shipper with an Agenda: Ras then sent his sister to go make him a heir with Tim Drake, though there was no playing at romance in the interaction. It didn't work out since Tim figured them out and asked his own sister Cassandra Cain to protect him.
- Shout-Out:
- In the Ünternet Tam Fox decides to wear her hair in an afro and dresses an awful lot like Misty Knight.
- Tim accidentally creates a 60's Batman (1966) Riddler with his subconsciousness in the Ünternet. He's not fond of the implications when it becomes clear the Riddler is acting as a representation of his subconscious.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: With Damian Wayne, fifth Robin and Bruce Wayne's biological son.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Tim started as an idealist as Robin, and slowly went down the cynical route after Identity Crisis (2004). Ironic, since his on-again, off-again girlfriend Stephanie Brown went the opposite direction, starting out cynical before becoming an optimist.
- Spider Swarm: "Sac", one of the members of the Council of Spiders, is a pest controller who is always covered in spiders and who can have his spiders lay eggs in people and then kill them while eating their way out.
- Stalker with a Test Tube: One of Ra's Al Ghul's sisters. As Tim puts it, he's about to be attacked by her in a "after school special" kind of way.
- Time Abyss: Turns out that whoever runs the Assassination tournament Tim interferes with is an immortal with a laser equipped "ancient Babylonian" hideout in the sewers of Paris, and is old enough to consider Vandal Savage a near contemporary. It's a shame he had to destroy the place.
- Took a Level in Badass: Tim, Stephanie Brown, and the General all show how much they've grown in Red Robin.
- Was It All a Lie?: Tam Fox breaks up with Tim at the end of the series when she find out that he's been lying to her about Lucius Fox being dead.
- Will They or Won't They?: The premise of the entire Red Robin/Batgirl crossover arc.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Stephanie calls him out in Red Robin #10, in which he admits that she's right and promises to be better in the future.
- Comes from Tam Fox when he fakes her father's death-without telling her.
- You Are Not Alone: Wonder Girl outright tells Tim this.
