Dick Grayson

* Dick Grayson
* Young Dick Grayson
* Robin #1
* Original Nightwing
* Upgraded Nightwing
* Agent 37
* DCIU Concept Art #1
* DCIU Concept Art #2

Richard "Dick" Grayson was the only child of professional acrobats, John and Mary Grayson, better known as the "Flying Graysons." Dick was born on the first day of spring in 1986 while Haly's Circus was in Keystone City. A red-breasted bird perched on the window sill as Dick took his first nap; and for that, Mary Grayson would always call Dick her "little Robin." Dick's first memory was that of being sat on a training trapeze and pushed by his mother into the arms of his father. The thrill of soaring through the air never left him, and he trained as an acrobat like his parents for the remainder of his childhood. When he was eight, he became a regular part of their act. Newspapers remarked that the addition of this "Boy Wonder" was the highlight of the show.

When Dick was twelve, Haly's Circus came to Gotham. A new crime lord named Tony Zucco attended a special performance of the Flying Graysons during an "Elect Dent" fundraiser event. Zucco tried to shake down Jack Haly, the owner of Haly's Circus, wanting him to pay Zucco protection money for the duration of their stay in Gotham. Dick overheard Mr. Haly's refusal and later that night, Dick watched in horror as the high wire snapped, sending Dick's parents to their deaths in front of Gotham's rich and powerful.

Shortly after the tragedy, Dick was placed in the juvenile services system, on the grounds that Social Services was full at the time and his family were not Gotham residents. Dick got beaten up by a number of the juvenile inmates, and later sent to a Catholic orphanage. The fundraiser's sponsor, Bruce Wayne, rescued Dick by adopting him as his ward with some arrangements made by Bruce's girlfriend at the time, Silver St. Cloud.

By all reports, the relationship between Dick and Mr. Wayne was rocky at first. Dick felt as though Bruce was trying to replace his father, and Bruce felt as though Alfred had convinced him to do something that was not in the boy's best interests. Of course, when Dick overheard Bruce arguing with Alfred, Dick's young mind heard it as Bruce not wanting Dick around at all. After confronting Bruce and Alfred about what he heard and the heated argument that followed Dick stormed off to the basement. Upset, Dick trashed the room that used to be Bruce's private antique vault. By the time Alfred found him, Dick had not only destroyed several priceless pieces, but also had discovered one of the secret elevators to the Batcave.

After Dick discovered the Batcave, he tormented Bruce to train him to become the "Dark Squire" to Bruce's Dark Knight, Bruce initially refused. Alfred and Silver St. Cloud helped Bruce realize that Dick had the same drive for justice that compelled Bruce to take on the role of Batman. So, after some consideration, he offered to train Dick and make him a partner. After a grueling year of intense training with Bruce and Alfred, Dick was ready to don a mask and take his place at Batman's side as a different sort of Boy Wonder.

Dick actually designed his iconic costume. Both Bruce and Alfred were uncertain of Dick's approach, but Dick assured them his brightly colored suit would be highly maneuverable to make full use of his acrobatic training and would allow him to jump into the fray first as a decoy, enabling Batman an easier approach through the shadows for maximum tactical effect. Still, Alfred insisted the torso of the suit be armored and Bruce agreed. When Harold Allnut finished the final piece to Dick's costume, the red breasted armor, Bruce pointed out that 'Batboy' wasn't a fitting name for such a colorful suit. That's when Dick told Bruce that he wouldn't be 'Batboy', but would instead be called 'Robin'. Bruce was not sold on the name, but Alfred talked him into trying it out.

Batman and Robin worked together for a short time before I crashed their party. Dick and I initially had our ups and downs. He was insanely obnoxious back then but we overcame that hurdle in time. Together with Batman as our chaperone, we foiled many a villainous plot and were even junior members of what Barry and Dick had dubbed the "Super Friends." Shortly after the Justice League of America was founded, we even got to be the first two members of the Titans with Beast Boy joining us at our new clubhouse.

By the time Cyborg and Raven joined the Titans, Dick had grown into a capable crime-fighter in his own right and the ideal choice to be our leader. As the leader of the Titans, Dick proved himself to be fair and quick-thinking, and a complete man-whore! (Breathe, Barbara, breathe). It's okay. I'm over it now... but Dick and I got to join Bruce and J'onn on a mission to the Yucatan Peninsula and while there, Dick decided to make out with some alien bim- No... I'm over this. Anyway, I justifiably threw a hissy-fit and I decided not to hang out at the Tower much that summer and as a consequence, just as I was recognizing I had a crush on Dick, he was getting cozy with Koriand'r.

Of course, when Dick could be bothered to be pulled away from those Tamaranean lips, the Titans had an eventful first summer. Their podcast (which I helped start) took off, they became pop stars with the release of a catchy little jingle that Victor and I wrote, and they saved the world from a demonic warlord (I may have helped them with that last one, too). But Dick gave up on all of that when I was shot, coming back to Gotham to sit at my bedside by day and chase the Joker by night. When they finally caught the Joker, however, Dick wanted the Joker to pay with his life. Batman thought better of it and stopped himself and also Robin from giving into the primal urge for vengeance.

After that, Dick spent more time with the Titans than with Bruce. What time he did spend working with Batman was volatile and after Harvey Dent made a derogatory comment about me, Dick lost his cool and beat Two-Face so bad the left side of his face was the 'good side' for a week or two. Once again, Batman stopped Robin from going too far and in the heat of the moment, Robin lashed out and floored Bruce with a right hook. Bruce would later describe that punch as the hardest blow he's ever had to take (considering that he's been on the receiving end of Clark Kent's punches once or twice, I'm inclined to believe Bruce was speaking metaphorically). By the time Bruce got back home, Dick had packed his bags and moved out.

Dick got a job in the Blüdhaven Police Department. Dick won't admit it, even to this day, but I know the reason he did this was that he and Bruce had talked about having Dick go undercover in the Blüdhaven Police Department to help rid that department of its corruption as a way of laying groundwork for Dick to become the Batman of Blüdhaven once he was of age, sort of a way of franchising Batman out in a way, a prototype plan that Bruce would eventually revisit with his Batman, Incorporated scheme years later.

Dick didn't talk to Bruce until I woke up from my coma. After seeing what my injury had done to the men in my life (Dick, Bruce, and my dad), I decided that I had some work to do. For Dick, I helped him realize that he could still be the Batman of Blüdhaven, without being a Batman. I then had Clark tell Dick a story about a Kryptonian folk hero that I had discovered while helping Clark and Kara unlock a database in the Fortress of Solitude. That story inspired Dick to take the name 'Nightwing' and returned him to crime-fighting. After kicking in the teeth of Blüdhaven baddies for a few months, Dick finally vented enough steam that he and Bruce could move past their differences and Dick was able to give Bruce's newest apprentice, Jason Todd, his approval to bear the name Robin. In his own way of thanking me for my assistance in getting Nightwing started, Dick talked Bruce into letting me help out in the Batcave.

After that, Dick went on a couple more missions with the Titans as Nightwing. The Titans' encounter with Deathstroke put new team member Terra in the ground and Dick blamed himself, believing he was no longer cut out to be the team's leader. He moved out of the Tower and decided to commit himself to making Nightwing the sworn defender of Blüdhaven. With the Titans crumbling, the JLA decided to recruit them into their ranks and Dick was nominated for membership in the Justice League of America by Bruce. Dick didn't want to accept it, but I talked him into it as he could do more as a member of the JLA than he could ever do solo. Still, it was a bittersweet moment as the JLA induction was held on the same day as Terra's memorial.

Dick spent that night in Blüdhaven, hoping to crack skulls and clear his head. I reached out to him, wanting to tell him what I had known for several years at that point, but Starfire had need of him so both of our plans got derailed once more by that alien. Oh, well. After shacking up with her one more time, Starfire used her new JLA credentials to steal J'onn's bio-ship and get off this rock, returning to her homeworld. Yeah, so Dick took that news pretty hard, but I was there to comfort him... or at least, I tried to be but Dick was more or less all emo-y and too much like Bruce to realize he was entitled to have happiness in his life.

Anyway, Dick's concerns about joining the JLA turned out to not be that big of a deal as the JLA disbanded shortly after Dick joined its ranks, leaving Dick to spend more time in Blüdhaven, but also in Gotham as one of Batman's greatest allies. In October of 2006, Jason Todd was kidnapped and tortured over live video feed by the Joker. Batman called a sort of 'all hands on deck' alarm in the hero community, and Dick was among the first to respond. For days, Dick wore himself thin and used up every resource or favor at his disposal, but all for naught. This experience also brought back a lot of painful memories for Dick and he did his best to resist the urge to take out his rage on criminals, but his 'best' included helping Helena put Roman Sionis in the hospital. The night Jason was killed on video, Dick put a hole in my apartment's dry-wall but after that, he was the one who was able to comfort me when I absolutely lost it and broke down over my inability to locate the broadcast's source. Dick was there for me. I will never forget that moment... It was our first time in a long time, it was the first time I told him I loved him (not that he would remember my uttered words among all the other sounds we made that night). That was also the night that I had the idea to become Oracle. The idea came to me while Dick slept beside me and I lay staring at the ceiling in disbelief of everything that had happened.

After our get together, Dick and I were awkward for a spell and in that time, Dick entertained a brief romance with the magician Zatanna but ultimately their fling was short-lived and the time spent with her just made Dick realize that Zatanna may know magic, but what he and I had was magical! (Wow, Babs... scale it down a notch) Ultimately, Dick came to this realization when I was hospitalized during the Cataclysm. Dick had to spend five nights of enduring the initial outbreak and confusion of what was essentially a war-torn Gotham to even find me after I had been taken to the GCPD enclave for treatment by my father who had managed to find me two days after the earthquake, nearly on the verge of death amidst the rubble of what used to be my apartment. After finding me, Dick did me a favor and braved the ruins of my old apartment to dig my old costume and other Bat-gear from the rubble to protect my secret identity.

Seeing as he was now stuck in Gotham, Dick stuck around the GCPD enclave to help his fellow brothers in blue. Eventually, when there was a complication with my injury, Dick put on his Nightwing disguise to offer his services to my father in order to smuggle me out of Gotham. In doing so, he had to get through Killer Croc and Scarecrow who had been recruited by Copperhead to help guard the sewers and tunnels. Once we got to Wayne Manor and learned what had happened to Bruce after his encounter with Bane, I talked Dick into doing something he swore he never would do...

After winning back Gotham and landing himself a rather hot ginger goddess in the process, Dick went back to being Nightwing. But he didn't stay long. Detective Grayson was awarded a medal for his assistance in aiding the GCPD during the Cataclysm, which was something that I'm sure helped him when he asked for a leave of absence shortly after returning to work.

Not happy with remaining in Blüdhaven, Dick took advantage of his leave to visit his old pal Victor Stone, who was up in Happy Harbor running his own operation. Dick talked Vic into getting their own team together and the two were able to dig Roy Harper out of the bottom of whatever bottle they had found him in. Dick and Vic offered Roy a place on this team, apologizing to him for all the crap they had put him through when they had rejected his interest in joining the Titans all those years ago and even offered to give Roy a new arm to make up for the one he had lost. But in spite of all that, Roy was not interested in joining up until Dick told them the purpose of the team: to find Jason Todd and bring him back into the fold. That was all Roy needed to hear to sober up in an instant... and thus the Outsiders were formed.

After recruiting a few more of Jason's old friends, Dick set up the Outsiders in a bunker that Bruce had Harold build to use as a Batcave in Blüdhaven, but in those early days they didn't use it much as their pursuit of Jason kept them pretty mobile. In that time, Dick and I sort of drifted apart because long distance relationships don't really work, but that was a small price to pay in order to have Jason brought back to us. When they finally managed to find Jason and bring him back, there was a lot of tension between Jason and Dick from their last encounter and so Dick turned command of the Outsiders over to Vic, who in turn gave leadership to Roy as Victor had been asked to reboot the Titans program. Roy was probably the best choice to lead the crew in those days as Roy was the only one who was able to effectively stop Jason from storming out.

Once Jason had some time to see what Dick was doing as Nightwing, Jason approached Dick one night when he was out on patrol and the two finally put the past behind them as much as brothers with their personalities could ever do. Hell, they even cemented their newfound brotherly dynamic by boosting the Batmobile and taking it out for Big Belly Burger. Dick's Batmobile privileges wouldn't be suspended for long though as Dick would be called back into action as Batman from time to time when Bruce was called away from Gotham on long assignments with the Justice League or when he needed to relieve suspicion that Bruce Wayne and Batman were one and the same, or during the launching of "Batman, Incorporated" when Bruce Wayne held a press conference and had need of Batman, Robin, and Batgirl to attend. This turned into an extended vacation from "Nightwing" for Dick, as this was the same time that the Anti-Christ (...Damian. Damn autocorrect, again) was starting out as Robin and Bruce realized that Dick was better suited to curb the hellion's bloodlust than he was; because let's face it, Dick is awesome... and sexy as hell.

Speaking of Dick's charm, it was during that time that Starfire returned to Earth. She crash landed in Gotham Bay and like a fool, I sent Dick and Damian to investigate the crash. When Dick opened up the hatch to Starfire's ship and found her there, she was panicking and unable to understand his instructions as her ability to speak English had faded from her memory in her absence. In order to help assure her she was safe, he unmasked himself and not having any way of knowing that Dick and I were a couple, Starfire quickly kissed him to regain the ability to communicate that she was stuck. See... Look. Proof that I'm over this whole thing between her and me. I realize why she kissed him and I hold no ill will toward her... but Dick on the other hand?

After saving Starfire from her crash, Dick's brain was a bit scrambled from the shock to his brain from whatever weird effect Tamaranean kisses have so I forgive him for not telling her that he and I were a thing. I mean, technically we had broken up over a stupid, silly argument. Technically, he was dating Bridget Clancy just before Starfire's return and I had been on a date or two with Teddy, but Dick and I had plans to get together to see a movie together and discuss getting back together and once again, Starfire derailed those plans. Unintentionally, I know... but still. Anyway, over it! So, Dick and Koriand'r got back together and before Dick realized it, the two were a couple again.

After Bruce went missing for a while, I think Dick became afraid that he might one day actually have to become Batman and that thought scared him to the very core. Once he learned that Bruce was alive and well, Dick decided to make a deal with Talia al Ghul to get himself a magical talisman that would conceal his identity as Dick Grayson. Dick then began making plans to infiltrate ARGUS, exactly why, I'm still not certain as Dick has never been up front with me... or even Starfire. When he tried to tell Starfire about his plans, the two had an argument and broke up.

Somehow, Dick roped me in and despite all the secrecy, he convinced me to go along with his crazy plan and seduced me into working up a foolproof cover identity for one Freddie Dinardo. Using this as his new identity and taking another leave of absence from the BPD under the ruse of a European backpacking trip, Dick joined ARGUS. The only real problem in Dick's plan was timing. Helena Bertinelli and Andrea Beaumont had been conducting their own secret assignment and Helena used her access to my servers to discover the details on Dick's undercover operation and they decided to derail it and put Dick's own life in danger to follow a lead in their own investigation into the Court of Owls.

It's a long and complicated story but Helena had become captured by Waller and though Dick was willing to risk his entire cover to rescue her, she instead betrayed him. Not only did they kidnap Dick but they also took his talisman and lied to him about needing him to pose as William Cobb (who is actually Dick's great-great grandfather or some such... The lives we lead) in Arkham for me! Yeah... I'm really not happy with Helena using Dick's love for me against him. She and I are going to have words one day... Anyway, so after Dick did his best to cool his heels in Arkham for a while, he tried to reach out for rescue when he found out that Waller had stolen the Phantom Zone Generator from the Fortress of Solitude and wanted to use him as a lab rat. Unfortunately, Helena had tampered with my system and thus all of Dick's pleas for rescue were secluded into a special partition.

Eventually, Dick would be rescued from an unlikely source: Deathstroke. The League of Assassins were breaking Ra's al Ghul and other key members of the League out of prison and having mistaken Dick for William Cobb, Slade Wilson let Dick tag along... until Slade shot Dick once the deception was revealed. But as Ra's al Ghul had made a decree that Dick was not to be killed, Slade kidnapped Dick and he was taken back to the Assassins' camp for treatment. There Dick apparently made peace with Ra's al Ghul and was released to return to Gotham.

Having a new outlook on life, Dick came to his senses and proposed to me. But wouldn't you know it, the moment my life seems to be working is the moment I got to go and get cancer. Well, I eventually said yes, even though Dick's constant nagging me to go see Ra's al Ghul to use a Lazarus Pit is getting annoying. Oh, well... I look forward to spending whatever little time I have left on this Earth in the arms of this man.