Nightwing

*This is the primary page for Nightwing and a former Robin. Looking for other versions, here is the Disambiguation Page*.

**Richard John Grayson** or **Dick Grayson** is a Human male and the adopted son of Bruce Wayne. He is also the first to take up the mantle as **Robin**, however would later retire the mantle, taking up a new mantle, **Nightwing** and becoming a leader of the Teen Titans.

## **Origins**

Grayson was born to two loving parents, Mary and John Grayson. He grew up as a circus performer, with their act known as the "Flying Graysons". It would be at a young age that Dick lost his parents due to the fact that the owner of the circus refused to give protection money to gangster Anthony Zucco. This caused Zucco to sabotage the wires in the act for the Graysons, leading to the deaths of Mary and John, leading to Dick becoming an orphan. Feeling his pain, Bruce Wayne took the young boy in and revealing to him that he was Batman, as well as taking him on as his apprentice and sidekick.

It was here that Grayson took up the mantle of Robin, aiding Batman on his many dangerous missions across Gotham City. Though Grayson saw this as a big adventure, it wouldn't be long before a run-in with Two-Face, left a mental scar on him, as well as a lesson that there were risks in his line of work as a hero. This resulted in Batman sidelining Robin for a time until he felt he could reinstate their partnership. Continuing their work for several more years, Dick began feeling chafed by his mentor's reputation, as well as his own expectations on heroics. He soon found himself amongst other sidekicks, such as Kid Flash, Aqualad, Wonder Girl and even Speedy as a means of unwinding. This soon grew to be a habit, but also officially making themselves known as the Teen Titans, with Robin as leader.

Later on, Dick went to Hudson University and spent more and more time leading the Teen Titans than aiding Batman. This resulted in Batman nearly getting killed due to Robin's tardiness and also causing the Dark Knight to disavow the partnership between them and forcing Dick to retire the mantle of Robin. It wouldn't be until fate intervened, leading him to the same circus where he lost his parents years before. He had heard a story from Superman, about a hero from Krypton named Nightwing, which inspired Dick to become Earth's own version of the hero. He returned to Gotham under his new mantle, finding himself meeting his replacement for the mantle of Robin, Jason Todd.

Following this, Grayson only went back to Gotham to aid when required, however spent most of his time leading the Titans. This was mostly due to the fact that he felt hurt at Bruce replacing him as Robin, as well as the rigid nature of the Dark Knight. Following the Todd's death at the hands of the Joker, Timothy Drake sought out Grayson in hopes for him to return to the mantle of Robin. Rather than returning to the mantle, Grayson brought Drake to Batman as a means to replace Todd, to which Batman accepted and agreed. The relationship between both him and Wayne became more strained and following his run-in with Bane, Bruce's back was badly broken and he passed the mantle of Batman to Azrael or Jean-Paul Valley at the time rather than Grayson.

The reason Bruce didn't give the mantle of Batman to Dick was mostly due to the fact that the former Robin had is own identity as Nightwing and would feel insulted if the mantle was given to his ward. Despite this, Dick donned the mantle anyway to keep tabs on Valley, who was becoming mad due to the stresses he had to endure as Batman. After this, Dick became the protector of Bludhaven, due to it's lack of a hero and rampant crime, as well as corruption. Dick would find himself falling into despair, following an attack by the kingpin Blockbuster, who launched an attack on the circus he grew up in, causing not only it's destruction, but also the deaths of many of his friends. This caused damage to his relationship with Oracle as she couldn't even look at him without remembering her past as Batgirl. His breaking point didn't come until he looked away during the attack, where another vigilante named Tarantula killed the kingpin in cold blood.

Following in this laps of morale judgement, Dick decided he wasn't worthy of the Nightwing mantle, leading him to pose as a turncoat, infiltrating the Bludhaven mob, as a means of repenting for his action. He soon found himself with brief access to the Secret Society of Super-Villains, as well as training Ravager, the daughter of the mercenary, Deathstroke. It wouldn't be until his tendencies of heroic morality caused him to become an outsider, resulting in him stopping his mission of infiltration altogether. It would be following a one year training voyage with Bruce and Tim, that Dick returned to Gotham, taking on Intergang's Gotham connections, as well as meeting Batwoman in the process. Dick then left for New York, leading a career, continuing under the mantle of Nightwing once again.

## **Powers & Abilities**

### Abilities

* **Peek Human Condition:** Throughout the years of extensive training under Bruce Wayne's mentorship, Dick is at the peek of physical and mental perfection. His speed and agility is enough to impress even the speedster Wally West.
* **Acrobatics:** Being in the circus at a young age, Dick possessed superb acrobatic skills, which made him a child prodigy. His acrobatics are so good, when he was a member of the Flying Graysons, they didn't need the safety of a net.
* **Espionage:** Dick learned amazing skills in spying, both from his tutelage under Helena Bertinelli and his tenure as a member of Spyral.
* **Genius-Level Intellect:** Dick is one of the most resilient, as well as brilliant crime fighters due to his personal training under Batman. His mentor trained him in various fields in the crime fighting profession.
	+ **Tactical Analysis:**
	+ **Disguise:**
	+ **Escapology:**
	+ **Investigation:**
	+ **Forensic Science:**
	+ **Multilingualism:**
	+ **Leadership:**
	+ **Lock Picking:**
	+ **Physics:**
	+ **Tracking:**
* **Martial Arts:**