Dick Grayson (Earth-16)

*This article is about Dick Grayson, the first Robin. For his successors, see Jason Todd and Tim Drake*.
**Nightwing** (real name **Richard "Dick" Grayson**, born December 1st, 1996) was the first **Robin**. The former protégé of Batman, Nightwing was a founding member of the Team. He assumed the leadership role of the covert operations team while Aqualad was in deep cover, infiltrating the Light to learn more about their activities. When Aqualad completed that mission, Nightwing turned the leadership role back over to him. As Team leader, Nightwing acted as a mentor to the current Robin, Tim Drake.

## Personality

Between the two seasons of Young Justice, Dick's personality changed greatly. 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 with friends, Robin was a jokester who took the role of a little brother for most of the Team. However, he could be very serious and was a tactical thinker who thought ahead.

As Nightwing, Dick had matured considerably over the years and is more driven and focused, similar to Batman.

## Physical appearance

    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.

His original Robin uniform was comprised of a red vest, black leggings, boots 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 stylized "R" symbol was visible, and around his waist he wore a gold colored utility belt with various pouches for his equipment. 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 left unkempt, hanging over his forehead.

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 coloured in a lighter grey. He wears a black utility belt and carries his eskrima sticks in a holster on the side of his right leg.

## History

Richard "Dick" Grayson is the child of the acrobatic circus family "The Flying Graysons" of Haly's Circus. He was born on December 1, 1996, and named after his uncle, Rick. His parents John and Mary, along with his older cousin John and aunt Karla fell to their deaths in a trapeze "accident" caused by mob boss Zucco on April 1, 2006, when he was 9. Other than Dick, who did not participate in the fatal routine, the only survivor was his uncle Rick, who was very badly injured and unable to care for his nephew. Since the accident, Dick has lived with Bruce Wayne and made the transformation to Robin under Bruce's training (eventually bringing Zucco to justice together). Batman's main motivation was to make sure young Dick would not grow up the way Bruce Wayne did, i.e. driven by a desire for vengeance.

Robin intensely fears that he might not be as fearless as his family (both biological and adoptive) is supposed to be, and is afraid he has to fill Batman's boots.

### 2010

Robin, along with Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Speedy all believed that they were being inducted into the Justice League. When it became apparent that this wasn't happening, Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash broke into Cadmus Labs where they discovered the Genomorph project, as well as Project Kr, aka Superboy.

After a quick quarrel with Superboy, the trio convinced Superboy that they were on his side and could show him things that he never would've seen in that pod. Superboy helped them to take down Blockbuster, the former scientist who locked him up in the pod. Superboy, Kaldur'ahm, Robin, and Wally told the Justice League that they refused to be sidekicks any longer, and were gifted a headquarters and a new member for their covert ops team.

Red Tornado agreed to be the Team's supervisor, while Black Canary agreed to be their trainer.

Artemis joined the Team just before they were assigned a mission by Red Arrow, formerly Speedy, to protect a scientist who was forced into making a weapon called the Fog for the League of Shadows.

Soon after, the Team went on a mission in Bialya, where they encountered Psimon and had their memories of the previous six months blocked. Miss Martian, along with the help of Superboy, broke the locks on their minds and defeated Psimon.

Mount Justice was later invaded by androids created by T.O. Morrow, the creator who made Red Tornado. Artemis succeeded in freeing the rest of her teammates and defeating Red Torpedo and Red Inferno. However, Red Tornado was overridden and knocked the Team unconcious and saved his "siblings". The Team was informed that Aqualad knew there was a mole the whole time, and everybody believed that Red Tornado was the mole. However, after a mission, Robin realized that Aqualad had justified reasoning for keeping the mole a secret.

The Team was introduced to Zatanna, whom Robin showed great interest in, and went on an unauthorized mission with her to find Red Tornado. The team discovered that Red Tornado had not actually betrayed them, and that he had convinced Red Inferno and Red Torpedo to turn on their evil brother, Red Volcano.

The Team was put under a training simulation by Martian Manhunter where the world was ending and being invaded by aliens. When Artemis died in the simulation, Miss Martian took over the sim and everything went wrong. The simulation was meant to be impossible to beat, and ended tragically, with Robin and Wally sacrificing themselves to destroy the mothership, for several more to fly down.

Robin was put under therapy like the rest of the Team, when he realized that he didn't want to be Batman anymore and the he didn't think he could do what Bruce does, and sacrifice everything for the sake of the mission. On a mission to Bialya, the Team saved Marie Logan and her son, Garfield Logan, by injecting Miss Martian's blood into him, giving him the power to transform into any animal.

The Team came back to the cave from a win against the Injustice League, only to discover that Red Arrow was actually a clone and was the mole the whole time, his keeper being Sportsmaster. The team succeeded in freeing the Justice League of the Light's control. When it hit midnight and it was a New Year, Robin and Zatanna kissed on the lips.

### 2011-2015

Some time after October 26th, 2012, Dick adopted the name Nightwing. The title of Robin passed to Jason Todd. Jason unfortunately, died under unknown circumstances, and was in turn succeeded by a third Robin, Tim Drake. Dick also became the leader of the Team around March 2015.

Some point after the death of Aquagirl on a mission, Aqualad and Nightwing devised a plot in which Kaldur would "betray" the Team and work for his father Black Manta, to learn more about the Light and their new Partner. This deep cover mission was done in absolute secrecy, and they made sure that no-one but them knew of it in order to minimize the danger of discovery. Aquaman was not informed.
On his nineteenth birthday, Nightwing led Alpha Squad to El Paso to recruit a new Team member. Following the Collector of Worlds and Kylstar's simultaneous attacks, Alpha moved to Metropolis, where they boarded the Collector's ship and were eventually able to persuade him to break off his operation.

### 2016

Nightwing was the team's leader now that Aqualad was away on an deep infiltration mission that only he, Aqualad, Wally, and Artemis knew about. He played part in faking Artemis's death so she could join Aqualad on his mission as Tigress.

Nightwing allowed Aqualad to blow up the Cave so that Aqualad could secretly pass him information on where La'gann was being held. This made other members furious on Aqualad, and Nightwing was shocked to learn that the next time Miss Martian saw Aqualad, she brain blasted him. Nightwing was shocked when he heard this, and upset when Superboy said that it was his fault for hiding the secret.

Nightwing played a key role in infiltrating the Light-Reach summit with Aqualad, Wally, and Artemis. When they were discovered, other members of the Team broke into the summit and captured several villains, though some managed to escape, such as Vandal Savage.

## Powers and abilities

Nightwing possesses no known superhuman powers, but instead relies on his physical conditioning, acrobatic prowess, and keen detective skills taught to him by the Dark Knight himself. As Robin he was also the Team's strategist, intellect, and most importantly, their hacker. Due to these skills, Nightwing is considered the most highly trained and experienced member of the Team, and has also been fighting crime the longest.

### Abilities

* **Conditioning:** Having undergone an evidently vigorous and intensive training regimen under Batman, Nightwing has exercised physical form to near-perfection for someone of his age for the purposes of fighting crime.
	+ **Speed**
	+ **Endurance**
	+ **Agility**
	+ **Strength**
* **Movement:**
	+ **Master martial artist**
	+ **Master acrobat**
	+ **Master of stealth**
	+ **Escape artistry**
	+ **Marksmanship**
* **Mental:**
	+ **Detective skills**
	+ **Master hacker and computer technician**
	+ **Strategic planning**
	+ **Multilingualism**.
	+ **Mathematics**

Like Batman, Nightwing carries a variety of weapons on his person that substitutes for superpowers and allows flexibility in attack type. As Nightwing, he is known to have used:

* **Binoculars**
* **Eskrima sticks:** Twin fighting sticks used as close combat weapons. Used occasionally when he was Robin, Nightwing now stores them prominently in a holster on his right thigh.
* **Handcuffs:** Nightwing carries at least two pairs of handcuffs, allowing him to restrain the hands and feet of captives.
* **Holographic computer:** A piece of Batman's technology, later used by all young heroes under Batman's tutelage. As Robin his gloves featured a built-in computer system with holographic interface. Although capable of scanning and wireless connectivity where appropriate, USB and TRS connector cables> and a USB port are included. When he adopted the guise of Nightwing, he got new gloves with knuckle-weights, but the computing functionality remains.
* **Wrist watch computer:** A holographic interface computer mounted in a wrist watch for use while in civilian clothing.

The following were part of his arsenal as Robin and may or may not still be used as Nightwing:

* **Batarangs:** Shuriken-like objects, acting like boomerangs, that are used as long range attack weapons. Several variants are used, such as batarangs that explode, emit electric shocks or release knock-out gas. He also uses red batarangs similar in design to those of Batman. Some batarangs are able to act as a radio or play a pre-recorded message.
* **Bolas:** Thrown devices consisting of a rope weighted at each end, used to snare and restrain opponents.
* **Chalk:** Used to mark floors when executing complicated battle plans.
* **Flash grenades:** A device which generates a bright flash of light to dazzle or distract enemies.
* **Gas pellets:** Tiny-marble like devices that give off a thick gray smoke ideal for obscuring vision. The smoke can also render someone unconscious when used in close spaces. The pellets can be set for delayed detonation.
* **Grappling gun:** A hand-held device that fires a grappling hook across far distances giving Nightwing the ability to make hasty escapes and climb high objects and buildings. The grapple lines can be lengthened and pulled back utilizing the buttons on the gun.
* **Lockpick:** A small device to open locks, stored in his glove.
* **Knife**
* **Periscope:** A small device allowing the user to see around corners.
* **Rebreather:** A small device used to breathe underwater.
* **Taser:** A hand-held taser, that could be used both short range and long range. The exact voltage of the electrical blast is unknown, but it was enough to momentarily slow down Superboy.

### Vehicles

* **Robin's motorcycle:** As Robin, Dick had his own personal mode of transportation, a customized sports coupe motorcycle. When its battle mode was activated, the motorcycle split in half. The back half turns into a flying laser cannon that protected him from attack. It can also split into a pocket bike if the main body is heavily damaged and is activated through his glove computer.

## Weaknesses

As Robin, Dick's small frame and lack of power was a weakness. Despite his intense training with Batman, he has usually had to resort to dodging attacks from superhuman foes, rather than taking them head-on like other sturdier heroes might. As Nightwing, he has since outgrown this weakness, although he is still an ordinary human being, and is subject to anything that would harm one.

While still operating as Robin, he displayed a lack of conventional team work, where during certain situations, he would disappear abruptly either to scout ahead or perform some other sort of task, without notifying anyone else. This is not due to any ego or inconsideration however, but instead because of the fact that while working with Batman, their partnership had grown to the level where they can anticipate each other's moves without having to vocalize them. While this worked well for him and Batman, this did not work with the rest of the Team.

As Robin his immaturity and childlike confidence in his own abilities had proved to be a weakness in the past, as he had impulsively attempted to combat opponents who were either superior in terms of fighting skills to his own or metahumans who were considerably dangerous, such as during his one-on-one fight with Kobra or a mind-controlled Superboy.

## Background in other media

* Dick Grayson as Robin is considered the first official kid sidekick in comic book mythology. He debuted in *Detective Comics* #38 (1940) as Batman's partner. After a brief retirement, he became Nightwing in 1984. He took up the mantle of Batman twice: briefly during the *Prodigal* storyline, and longer after Bruce Wayne's supposed death in *Final Crisis*. He continued to operate as Batman after his mentor's return. When the DC Universe was rebooted in 2011, he went back to being Nightwing.
* In the original *Young Justice* comic series, the role of Robin was held by Tim Drake, rather than Dick Grayson. Dick Grayson (as Robin, Nightwing and Batman) has been a member of such teams as the Teen Titans, the Titans, the Outsiders and the Justice League of America. The Dick Grayson of Earth-Two was also a member of the Justice Society of America.
* This is the eleventh animated incarnation of Dick Grayson. Previous versions have included *The Adventures of Batman*, *The New Scooby-Doo Movies*, *Super Friends*, *The New Adventures of Batman*, DC Animated Universe (*Batman: The Animated Series*, *The New Batman Adventures*), *Teen Titans*, *The Batman*, *Justice League: The New Frontier*, *Batman: The Brave and the Bold* and *Batman: Under the Red Hood*.
* *Young Justice: Invasion* marks Nightwing's sixth animated appearance; he has previously appeared in the DCAU (*The New Batman Adventures* and *Justice League Unlimited*), *Teen Titans*, *The Batman*, *Batman: The Brave and the Bold* and *Batman: Under the Red Hood*.

## Original Article

1. ↑ http://youngjustice.wikia.com/wiki/Nightwing