Nightwing

He can reasonably be considered a major character. As Robin he had huge exposure both as Batman’s sidekick and as the leader of the Teen Titans (the latter were huge in comics during the 1980s). As Nightwing he’s been consistently able to have his own comic book.

This profile is about him circa the year 2000. It focuses on the era chronicled in the first four or five years of the 1996 Nightwing series, set in Blüdhaven. Because this is when it was written. His game stats and equipment are for that time.

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Background

Powers and Abilities

Dick Grayson is highly trained in a staggering number of disciplines – and he has been trained in most of them by the Batman himself.

He is a highly competent athlete, martial artist, detective, technician and vigilante, among many other things.

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Still, his main asset might be his jaw-dropping talent for athletics. Nightwing is one of the very best acrobats in the world, if not the best. He is one of the very, very few persons who can do a quadruple somersault, will casually accomplish 3 death-defying stunts before breakfast, and can move at an amazing speed along the “rooftop express”.

His speed and nimbleness are such that he is pretty much impossible to hit with a firearm. Literally tons of ammunition have been expended in his general direction without *ever* connecting, even from the guns of marksmanship experts like the modern Trigger Twins.

Tim Drake has often commented that, for the trained-since-birth Grayson, everything looked totally effortless when it came to athletics.

Since he benefits from the assistance of Oracle, Dick does not use his detection skill as much nowadays as he did when he was Robin. Besides, the cases he encounters tend to be more squalid and brutal than the convoluted murder mysteries of old.

History

An extensive profile written by Rebecca Salek can be found on Sequentialtart.com’s archives . We used to have a backup of the article here but it seems safely archived.

Nightwing came to Blüdhaven in 1996 as Batman asked him to investigate the corpses of Blüdhaven wise guys who floated to Gotham. Having spent decades decaying in the shadow of neighbouring Gotham, Blüdhaven was in a dismal state of decay. Grayson decided to establish himself there, where he could have a positive effect away from Batman.

The gangland killings were the result of the takeover of the local underworld by Roland Desmond aka Blockbuster. Nightwing and Blockbuster soon became bitter enemies, with numerous assassins hired by Desmond failing to kill Grayson.

Seeing how the massive police corruption was enabling crime, Grayson enlisted as a rookie policeman in his civilian identity. He served during the day in his blues and the during the night in his, well, other blues.

This era and the struggle against Blockbuster were also marked by a short romance with the Huntress (Helena Bertinelli) and the delicate case of a copycat vigilante coincidentally named Nite-Wing (Tad Ryerstad).

Dick also continued to mend fences or reestablish contacts with Batman and his associates, including the new Robin (Tim Drake) or Oracle (Barbara Gordon). During a catastrophic earthquake in the area, Dick returned to Gotham and he and Barbara Gordon briefly became romantically involved.

However, things soon went sour in Blüdhaven.

Personality

Dick Grayson is a serious but easy-going young man in his mid-20s. He’s in a way the perfect big brother : the nicest, most popular hunk in college, only 5 times as gifted, 5 times as cool, 5 times as smart – and 10 times as dedicated.

He will approach everything with the confidence born of amazing talent and incredible training. Yet he manages to never seem pretentious in the slightest, always caring for others and being genuinely attentive.

At times, a casual observer might think his Motivation is Thrill of Adventure. He finds rooftop acrobatics or driving the Nightbird just plain *fun*, gets an obvious sense of satisfaction from bringing justice and happiness to the people, and has always some light banter ready for combat.

Although he’s not a motormouth like Spider-Man, he usually seems very relaxed when doing the vigilante thing.

However, what actually makes him tick is a deep, burning desire to make the world a better, safer place where justice actually exists. Like the Batman, he wants no kid to ever suffer the losses he went through. Unlike the Batman he does not see the world as a cruel and harsh place, but remembers the wonderful childhood he had.

This profound difference in their memories of the time before the loss lets Nightwing fight for a better, safer world for honest people around him while his former mentor fight to crush evil. While Batman follows his own obsessive rules, Nightwing is actually sane and a part of society.

Like the Batman, he has a very strong “nobody dies on my watch” code.

Nightwing’s courage is amazing. He has faced so much danger and monstrous opponents straight from a nightmare since his early teens that he seem to be fearless and take physical pain in stride without much of a shock. To him it’s a mere part of his job, and he can actually defy physical or mental torture with a smile.

Even when badly hurt, he’ll still act in a stalwart and generous way, saving innocents and bearing little grudge. Likewise, although his life has been a terrifying emotional grinder, he’s outgoing, gentle and well-adjusted.

Bat-Squad

Nightwing cares a lot for Tim Drake. Though he never treats him as a kid, he knows Tim is the closest thing to a little brother he will ever have. He enjoys teaming up with him, and will help to train him when he can, usually running Tim through old training routines the Batman devised for the first Robin. They have clear chemistry and respect between them.

Dick, on the other hand, is haunted by the ghost of Jason Todd. It seems to be an echo of his great guild over not having preventing the murder of his parents, and of having generally mishandled this period.

His relationship with the Batman is rather complicated. Bruce Wayne simply does not have the tools to express how much he cares for his the young man who is for all intend and purpose his son. Nightwing will never be free of the shadow of his formidable ’father‘.

They tend to be awkwardly and silently defensive toward each other, with a lot of things left unsaid – although they will fight along with each other in a heartbeat. Dick was much more at ease in his role as a leader for the Titans.

Despite being a huge hit with the ladies with his attractiveness, confidence and boy next door charm, his romantic life keeps turning into a minefield through little fault of his own. He keeps trying, though and has an easy, flattering, gently flirting manner.

In Blüdhaven, Nightwing is learning to work alone. Before that, he had always been half of a duo or the leader of a full team. While it flatters his confidence and his need to get out of the Batman’s shadow, he doesn’t seem entirely at ease with the solo gig. He often relies on Oracle’s ideas and investigation. While he knows he’s very smart, he’s also quite aware Barbara is a genius.

Albeit he’s an excellent detective, he’s not really into the “plans within plans within plans within paranoia” genius of the Batman. He tend to go with the flow and try various approaches instead of obsessively taking intellectual control of any situation.

Lately, Dick has taken more and more Batman-like qualities. Operating alone in a rotten situation, he has driven himself more and more harshly to live up to his impossible responsibility, becoming colder, more tired and more driven. The consequences of Blockbuster demolishing his life are still unknown at the time of this writing.

Nightwing does not really have distinctive dialogue. He speaks fairly normally for a super-hero, without exceptional wit or special patterns of patter. He’s relaxed and natural that way.

Quotes

“When Batman sent me down here I though I’d solve one case and book. But then I realized… If I could make a difference here – well, that’d be something…”

Description

A broad-shouldered, handsome hunk that has most of the girls raving about how dreamy he is. Nightwing, when out of costume, usually dresses in simple clothes with a general sportive feel – running shoes, jogging pants, etc. He previously had a queue, but it got hacked by a knife blow when he started investigating in Blüdhaven. Since it wasn’t fashionable anymore anyway, he now just wears his hair to shoulder length.

By Sébastien Andrivet.

Source of Character: DC Universe.

Helper(s): Danielle Mendus.