Stephanie Brown

Stephanie Brown is a Batman character from DC Comics. She was created by Chuck Dixon and Tom Lyle, and debuted in Detective Comics #647 (June 1992).
==Canon==
Stephanie is the daughter of the Batman villain Cluemaster (alias Arthur Brown) and the nurse Crystal Brown. She took up vigilantism in order to stop her father during a brief period when he was cured of his compulsion to leave clues but still committing crimes. Her original moniker, Spoiler, came from the way she would 'spoil' her father's crimes. 
 
===Spoiler (1992)===
Stephanie Brown took up the mantle of Spoiler to try and spoil her father Cluemaster's crimes. This is the mantle she has used for most of her comic appearances. In her earliest appearances Batman appeared charmed by her efforts, but as time went on, he grew increasingly disapproving and several times ordered her to stop.
She became attracted to Tim Drake who at the time was the current Robin, even though he kept his identity secret from her, and they eventually began to date. She also became close friends with the current Batgirl, Cassandra Cain, after making a deal where Cassandra would train Stephanie and Stephanie would teach Cassandra how to read. 
During her relationship with Tim, she learns that she is pregnant from a previous relationship with a boy named Dean. She gives birth to a daughter, who is adopted by an unknown family.
===Robin (May 2004 - August 2004)===
Following Tim Drake's forced retirement as Robin, Stephanie sewed her own Robin costume and went to the Batcave to declare herself the new Robin. Batman accepted this and worked with her for several issues, but he fired her after she used potentially lethal force against the serial killer Mr. Zsasz to save Batman's life.
===War Games (2004)===
In an attempt to prove herself to Batman, Spoiler stole the War Games protocol from the Batcomputer and enacted it. The plan was supposed to end with Matches Malone as the reigning crime boss of Gotham City. However, Stephanie did not know that "Matches Malone" was an alias of Batman. Without Malone there, a gang war broke out, and the supervillain Black Mask seized control of Gotham's underworld and captured Stephanie, torturing her for several days.
Stephanie succumbed to her wounds at the end of the "War Games" event. This is later retconned twice. First, in "War Crimes," it was revealed that Dr. Leslie Thompkins deliberately let Stephanie die to teach Batman a lesson about endangering children in his crusade. 
About three real-life years of publication later, it was revealed that Stephanie did not die and that Dr. Thompkins faked her death to protect her. Stephanie then returned to Gotham and the Spoiler identity.
===Batgirl (2009) ===
Stephanie Brown became the third Batgirl after her best friend Cassandra Cain gave her the costume during the "Batman Reborn" event. Though they initially butted heads with Barbara Gordon, they soon came to terms and Oracle gave Stephanie a new costume and served as her mentor and mission control. She teamed up with Damian Wayne, Supergirl, and Klarion the Witch Boy, and she formed a partnership (and flirtation) with the police officer Nick Gage.
Near the end of her run she learns that Bruce Wayne arranged for her to become Batgirl with Cassandra before his "death," and the two make peace. She then joins Batman Inc. and travels to the United Kingdom, where she teams up with Knight and Squire and goes undercover at a boarding school for the daughters of supervillains.
Stephanie's time as Batgirl was relatively short lived, lasting only 24 issues before it was erased by the New 52 reboot.
===Post-Flashpoint (2011)===
===Other appearances===
*Young Justice (animated series) - 2013
*Batwoman (TV series) - 2019
*Batman: Wayne Family Adventures - 2021
==Meta==
===Robin or Not?===
There is substantial controversy over whether or not she qualifies as a Robin. Her time as Robin was short lived and is generally agreed that Bruce only asked her to take over the position as part of his ploy to get Tim back. The question over her legitimacy goes all the way up to the heads of DC who can't seem to make up their minds on the matter. Some of the writers say she was a Robin, others don't and she is frequently left out of material that is supposed to be about all of the Robins.
In an issue of The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold she was one of the future Robins called back to assist in savings Batman's life. The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #13
There is some suggestion, although it has not been confirmed one way or the other, that her time as Robin was completely erased with the creation of the New 52. Scott Snyder, a Batman writer, did refer to her as one of the Robins. Scott Snyder Courts Fear with Owls in "Batman"
Some fans, even those who love Steph, feel that Steph doesn't legitimately "count" as a Robin due to the very short length of her tenure (about six comic issues over three real-world months of publication)https://stephaniebrown.fandom.com/wiki/Steph_as_Robin and due to the "gimmicky" circumstances under which she took up the role. Thus, some see her as more of a "quasi" Robin in the same way that many do not consider Helena Bertinelli to have been a true Batgirl, or Cheyenne Fremont and Jason Todd to have been true Nightwings. Other fans strongly insist that Stephanie should be acknowledged as a Robin, both in canon and in fan works.
===Death===
Stephanie's (later-retconned) death sparked and renewed a lot of discourse in fandom over the treatment of female characters, and led to the foundation of Girl-Wonder.org. She is often cited as one of the symbols for mistreatment of women in comics.http://stephaniebrown.wikia.com/wiki/Why_create_this_site%3F (See also: Women in Refrigerators)
===Post-Flashpoint===
Batgirl vol. 3 (2009-2011) was ended by the Flashpoint event, the main DC universe was rebooted, cleaning the slate of years of history and resetting many characters' development. For a couple of years, Stephanie made no appearances in this new universe, while Barbara had been deaged to being an inexperienced young college student and reset to the Batgirl role, leaving many fans worried that Steph and her years of character development had been wiped out of existence.
Steph was reintroduced in Batman vol. 2 #28 (April 2014). With her vigilante career reset to the very start as a fledgling Spoiler, many fans have continued to be troubled over the loss of her original character arc. As Infinite Frontier has given the greenlight for DC creative teams to restore elements of past continuities at will, some fans hope that story potential from Steph's more mature, independent pre-Flashpoint self will return. Thus, there has been some mixed reaction to the lighthearted Batgirls (2021) series, in which Stephanie and Cassandra are bubbly teens.
==Fanon==
 
Some fanon treats Stephanie as a fully recognized sibling of the Wayne kids.
Some notable freeform tags on Archive of Our Own (AO3) include:
*Stephanie Brown-centric
*BAMF Stephanie Brown
*Stephanie Brown Is Spoiler
*Stephanie Brown Is Batgirl
*Stephanie Brown Is Robin
==Relationships==
===Gen relationships===
*Stephanie Brown & Bruce Wayne
*Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake
*Stephanie Brown & Cassandra Cain
*Stephanie Brown & Barbara Gordon
*Stephanie Brown & Kara Zor-El
*Stephanie Brown & Damian Wayne
*Stephanie Brown & Jason Todd
===Pairings===
Stephanie Brown is a popular character for shipping. On the canon side, she is often paired with her on-and-off boyfriend Tim Drake and her ally on the police force Nick Gage, with whom she often flirted during her solo series. She is also shipped with other members of the Batfamily such as Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, and her best friend Cassandra Cain. Another popular couple pairs her with her other best friend, Kara Zor-El.
*Stephanie Brown/Tim Drake (TimSteph)
*Stephanie Brown/Nick Gage
*Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain (StephCass)
*Stephanie Brown/Kara Zor-El
*Stephanie Brown/Damian Wayne (DamiSteph)
==Example Fanworks==
===Fan fiction===
*No Dawn, No Day an often recommended Damian/Steph fic, regarded by many as the best for the pairing. A future AU based on Batman 666/700
===Fan art===
Image:2011-07-18 gabzillaz Identity Stephanie Brown.jpg|IdentityWBM archived by gabzillaz (2011)
Image:Cartoongalz batgirl iii by theeyzmaster.jpg|CartoonGalz Batgirl III by theEYZmaster (2014), here as Batgirl
Image:2020-08-16 horchenhearken Stephanie Brown.jpg|one day you will be your own batWBM archived by horchenhearken (2020)
*Green Lantern Stephanie Brown fan art by underthestarlitsk-y (2021)
* by tbranch
*Lavender by Colours07
*Stephanie Brown by Xinjay
*Batgirl: Steph Redux by msciuto
*Fall Gotham City by mullerpereira
*Batgirl by SpiedyFan
*Robin 4.0 (Stephanie Brown) commission by phil-cho
*STEPHANIE brown batgirl by Peter-v-Nguyen
*The Faces of Stephanie Brown by DStevensArt (2014)
*https://songblues.tumblr.com/post/659327476147847168/happy-birthday-stephanie-brown
*Commission for @our-happygirl500-fan
===Cosplay===
*BATGIRL: here we go! by Kairisia
*Batgirl 1 by AlisaKiss
===Meta===
*[Character of the Month Spotlight] Stephanie Brown (Spoiler/Batgirl) by beary_good (31 Dec 2017)
*Where to Start Reading Stephanie Brown by dailystephaniebrown (3 Sept 2017) 
*"A lot like Robin if you close your eyes": Displacement of meaning in the Post-Modern Age by Mary Borsellino
*so, i guess the death of stephanie brown is a bit controversial topic... by mordicai (3 April 2007)
*I do actually think a really cool thing about Steph is that her reason for hating crime was that her dad did it. by whetstonefires (2020)
*Stephanie Brown fighting skills/amp and Ok, I’m tired of the “Dumbing Down of Stephanie Brown and Jason Todd” crap that DC (I’m looking at you Urban Legends) and many fans seem to do so I’m making this to prove that Jay and Steph are super smart. by wonderwondered (2021)
*THESE are the REASONS WHY people DON’T like TIMSTEPH, or even STEPHANIE in-general! Written because of the TOXICITY over the topic I’ve been seeing FAR too much of.Archived from the original by thattimdrakeguy (2020)
*meta on TimSteph and Stephanie Brown discourse by batfam-adventures and thatblondeperson (2020)
*I think other than Jason, Steph is probably the Batkid who understands the value of money the most as her family’s struggle with money or Steph’s lack of money can be seen throughout her history as a character. and meta on Stephanie Brown and Dick Grayson in the Batfamily by our-happygirl500-fan (2020)
===Vids===
==Archives and Communities==
*Works tagged Stephanie Brown @ Archive of Our Own
*Batman fan fic tagged Stephanie Brown @ FanFiction.net
*justkeepstrying, a LiveJournal community
*Daily Stephanie Brown and Dork-Knight-Stephanie on Tumblr
*r/StephanieBrown on Reddit
*One-Nine-Hundred, fic archive for Stephanie, Jason Todd, and DCAU Tim Drake
==Fansites==
*The Unofficial Spoiler Website Archived, Earlier
==Resources==
*Stephanie Brown Wiki
*Stephanie Brown article on Wikipedia
==References==
Category:DC Comics Characters 
Category:Batman Characters