Richard Grayson

**Richard John** "**Dick**" **Grayson** (リチャード・ジョン・“ディック”・グレイソン, *Richādo Jon "Dikku" Gureison*), also well-known as **Nightwing** (ナイトウィング, *Naitowingu*), is both a fictional character and protagonist of the *DC* series. He was the first **Robin** (ロビン, *Robin*), Batman's first sidekick. Throughout Dick's adolescence and Bruce's training, Batman and Robin were inseparable for years. However, as Dick grew older and eventually decided to donning his own new super-hero identity to assert his independence and then became the leader and one of the five founding members of the Teen Titans. He is a natural leader and has headed up many teams of other heroes.

The youngest in a family of acrobats known as the "Flying Graysons," Dick watched a mafia boss kill his parents in order to extort money from the circus that employed them. Bruce Wayne, secretly the vigilante Batman, took him in as his legal ward after witnessing their deaths, and eventually as his first protège, partner in crime-fighting and his first known apprentice.

Nightwing almost matches Batman physically, can outclass him acrobatically and has a very astute mental prowess. His personalized gadgets and tools - most notably Escrima sticks and Birdarangs - are inspired by Batman, but customized for Nightwing's own unique fighting style. Grayson's personal life is marked by a series of complicated love affairs, most notably with Oracle (his childhood friend) and Starfire (his main love interest before eventually becoming his girlfriend).

"*Huh, I'm just too damn good at this.*"

—Nightwing to Batman while tracking Penguin's cache.

## Appearance & Biography

*Voice actor*: Loren Lester (English), Wikipedia:Yasunori Matsumoto (Japanese), Not Known (Arabic), Not Known (Brazilian), Not Known (Chinese), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (French), Not Known (German), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Known (Poland), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Portuguese), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Thai), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (European Portuguese), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Latin Spanish)
*Voice actor (Younger):* Scott Menville (English), Takashi Onozuka (Japanese), Not Known (Arabic), Not Known (Brazilian), Not Known (Chinese), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Finnish), Mathias Kozlowski (French), Not Known (German), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hungarian), Alessio De Filippis (Italian), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Known (Poland), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Portuguese), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Thai), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (European Portuguese), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Latin Spanish)

### Biography

Dick Grayson was part of a circus family, dubbed the "Flying Graysons" for their death-defying stunts and acrobatics. After a performance that Bruce Wayne was in attendance to, as was Tim Drake, Dick was left as an orphan by the hands of the mob. Feeling sympathy for the child, Wayne decided to take the boy in as his own and treat him as family.

Thanks to Bruce and Alfred's influence, the two had very contrasting personalities. While his mentor was cold and very serious, Dick's demeanor was quite the opposite. Dick was a naturally lighthearted individual, and made wisecracks every now and then to lighten the mood.

Eventually, Batman gained enough respect and trust for Grayson that he bestowed upon him the great secret, even going as far as to train the acrobat and develop a new sidekick, Robin. Through hard work of training and exercising, the duet was almost unstoppable. Tim Drake watched them, and put together the facts that Batman and Robin were very close, and Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson were very close. He put together the conclusion of Dick being the same person as Robin. After years of partnership, Dick grew tired of Bruce's power over him and his strict personality.

Once Grayson was through with putting up with it, he left the Bat to fight crime on his own, and developed a new alias, Nightwing, a Kryptonian god (being that Dick always looked up to Superman). Though being his own superhero, he continued to occasionally fight crime with the Dark Knight.

### Appearance

#### As Dick Grayson

Dick was fairly short for his age when he was 13-years-old, and had a slight, lean, well-toned build, since he was an acrobat and skilled at martial arts and gymnastics. A caucasian male, he had short black hair and dark blue eyes. He typically wore either a mask or sunglasses to cover his eyes, depending on his current attire. At 19-years-old, Dick has grown considerably taller, roughly the same height as Batman and as well-muscled. His hair has grown considerably longer past his ears.

#### As Robin

His original Robin uniform was comprised of a red vest, black leggings, boots, T-shirt and gloves, all of which seemed to be made of a sort of protective body armor, that still allowed him great mobility. On his chest, a yellow stylized "R" symbol in a black circle was visible, and around his waist he wore a gold colored utility belt with various pouches for his equipment. He also had three yellow rectangular fasteners on the front. He donned a cape that was black on the outer lining but pale yellow on the inside. To protect his identity, Robin wore either a black stylized domino mask or sunglasses at all times. While sporting the mask, his eyes appeared completely white. His short black hair was either spiked backwards or left unkempt, hanging over his forehead.

#### As Nightwing

As Nightwing, his uniform now comprises a black unitard, black shoulder pads, boots and gloves. The chest area of his uniform is emblazoned with a blue bird with its wings expanded and his abdomen area is colored in a lighter grey. He wears a black utility belt and carries his escrima sticks in a holster on the side of his right leg.

* Hair Color: Black
* Skin Color: Not Known
* Eye Color: Blue
* Age: Not Known
* Birthday: Not Known
* Height: 6 ft. 0 in.
* Weight: 175 lb.

### Attributes:

* Like Batman, Nightwing has black hair and blue eyes.
* Due to the weapon attacks he has suffered in the past, his torso, legs and arms are covered with gunshot wounds, knife cuts and overall bruising.
* Nightwing relies in his agility (more than Batman or Robin) and his fast reflexes when it comes down to facing enemies.

## Personality

Dick is a natural-born leader. He is heroic, noble, kind, selfless, stoic, stubborn, brooding and usually serious in tone, but has had a fair number of funny moments. Unlike his mentor, Dick is shown to be more easy-going and approachable, even in his Nightwing identity. He is also rather talkative, taunting Damian during their sparring session and conversing with Kori as they were infiltrating a H.I.V.E. base. Despite his demeanor, he does take matters seriously if the situation presents itself. Dick also holds a high regard for Bruce as he was his mentor and surrogate father, though he has stated that it was not easy growing up under his tutelage. In addition, he has no desire to inherit the mantle of Batman, wanting to be his own man rather than live in Bruce's shadow, displaying great disdain for filling in for Bruce when he disappeared.

### Robin

In his early days as Robin, despite being only 13, he was more experienced than his fellow sidekicks. By then he had been training under Batman's wing for four years. Despite Batman's influence on Robin, the two have very contrasting personalities. While his mentor was cold and very serious, Robin's demeanor was quite the opposite. Robin was naturally a very lighthearted individual who seemed to take joy in nearly everything that he did. Despite his immaturity, he could get along very well with people who were older than him, and tended to act more maturely whenever he was tasked with a certain level of responsibility.

When simply interacting with his friends, Robin behaved in a jovial and oftentimes "little brother"-like role, in which he joked freely about his teammates, and even made fun of them when they made mistakes. He had a particularly close friendship with Kid Flash, with whom he was able to joke and often treated like a brother of sorts. Robin also seemed to take great pleasure in creating back-formations, by removing prefixes from commonly-used words such as "disaster", "distraught", "overwhelmed" and "infiltrated" to create new words.

Robin is a bit of a loner. Beast Boy and Cyborg hang around with each other more than they do with him, and Raven and Starfire are both independent but still interact with others, yet Robin often spends long days locked in his own room, planning. He insists on doing everything himself, such as being Slade's apprentice and battling Red X. When the Titans first met, Beast Boy (who implied that he was a loner and hasn't had anybody to talk to since he left the Doom Patrol) wanted to befriend everybody, but Robin made it clear that he didn't want to be part of a team (but eventually does form the Titans). Throughout the series, the team and everybody in it is very important to Richard.

### Nightwing

"*There is good and there is evil, but the line between can be almost impossible to find. Does one good deed make him a hero? Am I to blame for all of it because of a single mistake? In the end, all I really know is that the answers don't come easy. It's supposed to be simple, but it's not.*"

—Nightwing.
Dick has matured considerably over the intervening five years. His personality is closer to Batman's; serious, stern, strict and obsessed with hunting down criminals, which is most prominently displayed in the first season, where he goes so far as to masquerade as a villain to catch Deathstroke. Despite this, Robin does maintain a more relaxed, at times even playful side, which he sometimes expresses when the team is not actively engaged in crime fighting.

Out of all the villains that the team has faced, the one that is most hated is Deathstroke. Robin will stop at nothing to defeat Deathstroke. Nightwing insists that the two are nothing alike, despite Deathstroke's claims to the contrary. Several encounters with him have led dangerously close to causing rifts between Nightwing and his friends. Nightwing eventually admitted to Starfire that he and Deathstroke are very similar, but there is still one difference: Deathstroke doesn't have any friends.

Another flaw of Robin's is that he is very competitive, and still a little bit immature. But despite his struggles, Robin has time and time again proven to be a great leader. He cares for all of his friends deeply, and will fight to the finish to defend them. Despite that, Robin still remains as a calm, level-headed and intelligent leader who comes up with clever strategies in battles and keeps a calm head most of the time.

He cares deeply about each of his friends, but it's Starfire that he has romantic feelings for. Everyone can very well see that they're smitten by each other, including the villains, but neither of them admitted their feelings until the incident in Japan. During the film, Robin expresses horror when Starfire kisses a random Japanese boy to learn Japanese. Later, he and Starfire talk and nearly kiss twice, before they finally confess their true feelings for each other and actually kiss at the end.

## Relationships

### Friends/Allies

* Bat Family
	+ Alfred Pennyworth
	+ Bargirl/Oracle (friend)
	+ Batwoman
	+ Batwing
* Lucius Fox
* Aaron Cash
* Justice League
	+ Superman
	+ Iron Machine
	+ Wonder Woman
	+ The Flash
	+ Green Lantern
	+ Green Arrow
	+ Martian Manhunter
* Teen Titans
	+ Starfire (Girlfriend and partner)
	+ Cyborg
	+ Beast Boy
	+ Blue Beetle
	+ Raven
* Wonder Girl
* Kid Flash
* Huntress
* Titans East
* Aqualad
* Speedy
* Bumblebee
* Young Justice
	+ Superboy
	+ Tempest
	+ Miss Martian

### Family

* John Grayson (father, deceased)
* Mary Grayson (mother, deceased)
* Richard "Rick" Grayson (uncle)
* John Grayson (cousin, deceased)
* Karla Grayson (aunt, deceased)
* Batman (adoptive father)
* Red Hood (adoptive brother)
* Red Robin (adoptive brother)
* Black Bat (adoptive sister)
* Robin (adoptive brother)

### Neutral

* Catwoman
* TYGER
	+ Hugo Strange
* Terra

### Enemies

* Tony Zucco
* Joker's Thugs
	+ Joker
	+ Harley Quinn
* Penguin
* Scarecrow
* Two-Face
* Mr. Freeze
* Black Mask
* Killer Croc
* Firefly
* Bane
* Killer Moth
* The Joining
* League of Assassins
	+ Ra's al Ghul
	+ Talia al Ghul
* Talon
* Heretic
* Onyx
* Decepticons
	+ Megatron
* MECH
	+ Deathstroke (Nemesis)
* H.I.V.E.
	+ Brother Blood
* Mother Mayhem
* Trigon
* Brotherhood of Evil
* Brushogun

## Powers and Abilities

Nightwing was taken under the wing of Bruce Wayne, and was given the mantle of Robin the Boy Wonder. To do so, he had to be trained by the Dark Knight himself. He was trained to physical and mental peak, being almost as trained as Batman. His strength is beyond most humans, barely falling under uncanny.

He lacks a cape and any other gliding mechanism built into his suit. As such, unlike Batman and Robin, he cannot glide. Instead, replacing their "Glide Kick" manouvers, he uses a "Pounce Attack," similar to Catwoman's. If the enemy is a rough distance away, instead of gliding, Nightwing will jump off the Vantage Point and pounce onto the enemy, leaving them groggy and ready for a Ground Takedown on the floor.

### Abilities

* **Master Acrobatics**: Since he was a trained acrobat with Haly's Circus, even before he became Robin, Dick already has extensive knowledge of acrobatic tricks.
* **Peak Human Condition**:
* **Criminology**: Robin was trained by a master criminologist, he has studied many criminals over the years and even became one to get closer to one.
* **Disguise**: Robin disguised himself as the criminal Red X.
* **Gadgetry**: One of Robin's main traits is his aptitude with gadgets, he's created them all himself and practices every single day.
* **Investigation**: Robin was trained by a master detective and has a promising career as one himself as shown when he met his future self, Nightwing.
* **Martial Arts**: Trained by Batman, Nightwing is a master of multiple martial arts. Part of his martial arts training, Robin trains every single day to continue to hone his skill in unarmed combat. His fighting style is more acrobatic than his mentor's. Nowadays, he has his own style of martial arts which he has adapted from learning various styles of unarmed martial arts from around the world.
	+ **Aikido**:
	+ **Capoeira**:
* **Leadership**: Robin was once a sidekick but has since become the leader of the Teen Titans as well as helping begin the Titan's East.
* **Throwing**: Robin has almost extreme pinpoint accuracy with his birdarangs from great distances without missing his target.
* **Dancing**: Robin has shown impressive moves on the "Boogie Revolution" game in the arcade.
* **Stick Fighting**:
* **Tactical Analysis**:
* **Weaponry**:

### Equipment

* **Utility Belt**:
	+ **Grappling Hook/Birdrope**:
* **Prescription Mask**:
* **Hand-Held Gas Mask**: One piece of equipment in Robin's utility belt is the gas mask. It is a small filter that holds on to the user's mouth and purifies the air that goes through.

### Gadgets

His gadgetry includes wrist darts, a stealthy way of taking down enemies. He only carries three darts at a time , and they do not appear to regenerate over time. This is used in a first-person view. He also uses advanced offensive weaponry; He uses two electric eskrima sticks, one for each hand. These are his trademark weapons. They can be thrown at opponents as a projectile weapon which ricochet up to hit the enemy, even around corners. He also has a Birdrope, the Line Launcher, the Disruptor, Wing-Dings (stylized shurikens, essentially personalized birdarangs), and Electric Blasts. These are similar to Explosive Gels, only quicker.

### Weapons

* **Birdarangs**:
* **Battle Staff**:
* **Eskrima Sticks**:

### Transportation

* **R-Cycle**:
* **Glider**:
* **Nightcycle**: A modified Batcycle.

## History

### Past

Born to a family of circus acrobats John and Mary Grayson known as the "Flying Graysons", Richard "Dick" Grayson was a natural gymnast. While he was preparing for a performance one day, he overheard two gangsters who worked for a crime boss named "Boss" **Anthony "Tony" Zucco** attempt to extort protection money from the circus owner. The owner refused, and the two gangsters sabotaged the trapeze wiring with acid. During their next performance on the trapeze, his parents were swinging from ropes when they suddenly broke, causing his parents to pay the price and fall to their deaths.

Before he could go to the police, Batman appeared, and warned him that the two gangsters worked for Tony Zucco, a very powerful crime boss, and that revealing his knowledge could lead to his death. Offered the chance of retribution by Batman, Richard was adopted by Bruce Wayne as his ward after his parents were killed by Zucco, and became Batman's teen sidekick "Robin"; one of the first sidekick heroes of his generation. Together, Batman (Bruce) and he disrupted Zucco’s extortion rackets and gambling rackets and then successfully baited the riled Zucco into visiting a construction sight, where they captured him.

Through the years of working with the Dark Knight, he was greatly trained mentally and physically in ways no other child was. While possessing a talent for the work of a hero, Richard regarded the job as a light hearted adventure until a confrontation with Two-Face, which not only resulted in the death of the city's then District Attorney but saw the villain capturing and severely beating the young teen before the Batman could save him, served as a scarring wake-up call to the risks inherent in superheroics.

Rather than see Richard further endangered, Batman sidelined the Boy Wonder for a time until he was convinced to reinstate their partnership. For reasons undisclosed, but the actual reason being that after being shot, Batman tried to take Robin out of the field, but Robin thought he was being treated like a kid and was about to give up being a hero with Batman (calling it “Kid Stuff”).

After several years of working under Batman, Richard began to feel overshadowed by his mentor's reputation and was beginning to chafe under the hero's strict expectations. Richard eventually left Batman, and moved to another city (though it is known to still be close to Gotham) to continue fighting crime, though this time he intended to go solo. He was 15 when he left Batman.

### Joining the Teen Titans

Robin met up with Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven when Starfire came to Earth and started destroying the city. After a brief yet fierce confrontation where even the Boy Wonder appeared to meet his match, Robin helped Starfire by freeing her from her chains. She then kissed him to learn English, and told him to leave her alone unless he wanted to be destroyed. Robin and the others teamed up to find her, and they later fought the aliens who came to find and imprison Starfire. Shortly after defeating them, Robin gave the others communicators, and later created the Teen Titans, of which he became the leader.

## See also

* Bat Family
* Teen Titans
* Jump City

## External links

* Nightwing *Wikipedia*
* Nightwing *DC Database*
* Nightwing *Arkham Wiki*

## Notes & Trivia

* Nightwing first appeared in Detective Comics #38 (April 1940).
* Nightwing visits the grave of his parents every year on their wedding anniversary.
* The blue of Nightwing's uniform is known as "Robin Egg Blue".
* While Richard considers Bruce Wayne as a father, he also looks up to and has been greatly influenced by Superman as a pseudo "uncle" of sorts and his personal hero as a child.
* Nightwing is a sanguine personality type meaning he's talkative, cocky, easily bored, very hot-tempered at times. Unlike his mentor, he doesn't brood on his parent's deaths but moved past them. Dick has a sense of humor which is ironic because of everything he's been through. A strong leader with a personable demeanor, he can keep a group together and is thought of the glue that ties the superhero community together. Truthfully Nightwing would rather not lead but when he's asked, he always delivers. When it comes to those he sees as family and friends, he will defend them without hesitation, especially his 'sister' Cassandra and his 'brothers' Jason, Tim, and Damian.