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Dick Grayson was an orphaned circus artist taken in by Bruce Wayne. He became Batman's sidekick Robin.

Early Years

Dick Grayson was a member of the Flying Graysons, a family team of aerialists who were working for a circus. One day when they were practicing their routines, his brother Mitch's rope broke, and Dick swung out to grab and rescue him. Mitch called him Robin because of that incident -- a nickname which stuck with Dick when he got interested in motorcycles and purchased a helmet with a robin design on it.

Batman Forever

Murder At The Circus

Bruce Wayne and Chase Meridian attended the circus in Gotham City where they watched the Flying Graysons in action upon the trapeze, with Dick doing his famous Death Drop act. Then suddenly Two-Face shows up with his gang, announcing that he has a time bomb set up that will blow up the building the circus is held in unless Batman reveals himself. Bruce decides to reveal himself as Batman to save the people, but the tumult of noise prevents him from being heard. Two-Face then activates the bomb and has it being raised to the roof. Bruce secretly goes into action to put down Two-Face's goons, while the Flying Graysons act in trying to stop the bomb before it detonates. Dick Grayson manages to grab it and roll it down the building where it lands in the Gotham River, exploding harmlessly in the water. But his parents and brother weren't lucky; Two-Face fired at the cables they were swinging on and caused them to fall to their deaths. Bruce looks up at a grieving Dick Grayson, feeling responsible for his loss.

Taking Dick Grayson In

Commissioner Gordon shows up at Wayne Manor with Dick Grayson following on a motorcycle, telling Bruce that the young man now has nowhere else to go and that he is grateful for him choosing to give Dick a place to stay. After Gordon and the other policemen leave, Dick decides he's going to leave as well, planning to go find Two-Face and kill him. Bruce tries to reason with Dick, saying revenge won't bring his parents back, but he refuses to listen. Instead, Bruce brings Dick to his garage to get his motorcycle's gas tank fueled up. In the garage, Dick is impressed by the collection of motorcycles Bruce has collected, including some rare ones. Bruce tells him that some of them need repair, and he would gratefully give that one away to somebody who is able to fix it. Then Alfred shows up with a meal he intends to give to Dick, which he then chooses to give to the dogs when he hears that Dick is going to head out. Dick then chooses to stay with Bruce.

Broken Wings

At night, when Alfred came into Dick Grayson's room as he was getting ready for bed, the butler noticed the young man's motorcycle helmet with the robin design on it. Dick told Alfred how he got the Robin moniker, yet he couldn't help feeling how helpless he was in trying to save his family. He handed Alfred his Flying Grayson costume and told him that he won't be needing it anymore. Alfred decides instead to store the costume in a safe place, saying that "broken wings" will mend in time, and soon Robin will fly again.

The Secret Of The Silver Closet

Dick was curious as to one of the rooms at Wayne Manor that was locked and asked Alfred about it. Alfred humors Dick at first by saying it contains "Master Wayne's dead wives" and then simply answers that it's the silver closet, shooing Dick away. Later on, though, Dick from the top of the staircase sees Alfred enter into the silver closet, and so quickly swings his way into the room before the door completely closed. In doing so, he found out that the silver closet had a hidden panel to a staircase that led to Wayne Manor's greatest secret -- the Batcave.

A Knight On The Town

Dick took the Batmobile out for a spin, cruising around the heart of the seedy side of Gotham City looking for a woman to drive around with. Then he sees a young woman running away from a painted-faced punk, and so goes after the punk to take him down and rescue the woman. No sooner does he rescue her, though, that the punk calls down a gang of similar painted-faced thugs to overtake Dick. Then suddenly Batman appears on the scene, scaring away the thugs. But Dick is angry at Bruce for not stopping Two-Face from murdering his family, and with the desire of killing Two-Face still fresh in his mind, he felt that taking on those thugs was like taking on Two-Face himself. Bruce takes Dick home to the Wayne Estate and tries to counsel him out of taking revenge, saying that killing Two-Face won't be the end of that desire but instead will grow until it totally consumes his life, as it did for Bruce himself when he dealt justice to the man who killed his parents.

Dick To The Rescue

At a gala party Bruce and Dick attend where Ed Nigma would showcase the latest improvements to his new invention, the Box, Two-Face crashes it with his girlfriend Spice, letting loose a hail of gunfire to scare people into handing over their valuables. He is getting tired of waiting for his partner to show him who the Batman is and just wants him to show up so he can kill him. Soon the Batman shows at the party, and Two-Face lures him outside the building and into an underground section where the villain ignites a gas explosion. Batman escapes it by activating a heat shield and runs through it unscathed. Two-Face then buries Batman in a ton of sand before he escapes, only for the Dark Knight to be soon rescued by his unexpected partner Dick Grayson, dressed in his Flying Grayson costume and wearing a mask.

Gratitude Problem

However, Bruce is far from grateful for Dick's coming to the rescue and scolds him for almost getting himself killed. Dick tells Bruce that he's going to be his partner, whether he likes it or not, and tells Alfred to put his costume in the Batcave next to Bruce's Batsuits. Bruce scolds Alfred for encouraging Dick, but Alfred tells his master that young men seeking revenge need guidance rather than encouragement.

Shutting Down Batman

Dick Grayson is sorely disappointed later on as he sees Bruce Wayne shut down everything in the Batcave, making the decision of not only putting an end to Batman, but also revealing to Chase Meridian who Batman really is. Dick is still itching to get his revenge on Two-Face, and without Bruce's help as Batman, he realizes that he will have to seek it on his own. He grabs his Flying Grayson costume from the Batcave and runs off with his motorcycle.

Enter The Dynamic Duo

Dick Grayson shows up after the Riddler and Two-Face kidnap Chase and destroy most of the Batcave, when Bruce decides to go after the two villains. He is now outfitted in an armored version of his Flying Grayson costume with an R on the left side of his chest -- the R standing for Robin, which is what Dick is calling himself. While Dick couldn't promise Bruce that he won't kill Two-Face, he will help him better the odds against two dangerous criminals. Bruce accepts Dick as a partner.

Robin Settles Up With Two-Face

They both travel to the island where the Riddler's headquarters is, with Batman flying the Batwing and Robin driving the Batboat. However, both Two-Face and the Riddler are prepared for their arrival and knock out both of their vehicles, causing them to swim ashore only for Robin to be taken when the headquarters rises high from the ground. Soon Two-Face comes out to attack Robin, but Robin expects him to do so and fights back, causing him to hold on for dear life as he dangles over the edge of the raised fortress. Two-Face tells Robin to let him die, for that is what the young man wants, but Robin pulls him up to safety, saying "I'd rather see you in jail.". Two-Face admires Robin's nobility, though foolish, and pulls a gun on him, bringing him inside.

Playing The Riddler's Game

Batman finds Robin inside one of the holding tubes, with Chase in the other, ready to be dropped to a watery grave at the press of a button by the Riddler himself, who taunts the Dark Knight by seeing who he will rescue first. Batman says there's no way he can save both of them because the whole island is a death trap. The Riddler doesn't accept the answer as valid and proceeds to press the button, but Batman stops him with a riddle of his own, distracting him long enough to activate protective blinders before throwing a Batarang at the receptor fixture above the Riddler's throne. Nigma screams as the feedback from its destruction scrambles his brain, causing him to press the button to send Chase and Robin falling to their deaths. Batman quickly manages to rescue them both from dying by using his Batcables, with Robin narrowly escaping being cut to death by blades.

A Final Toss Of The Coin

No sooner does Batman rescue Chase and Robin, that Two-Face shows up on a ledge to shoot at them, saying that it's curtains for them. Batman reminds Two-Face of his coin, which alone can make the decision for him. As he tosses up the coin, Batman throws a bunch of coins toward Two-Face, who tries to catch the right one but ends up falling down the shaft to his death as Robin watches. As his arm sinks into the water, his hand catches the coin.

After turning over Ed Nigma to Arkham Asylum, Batman now goes into action in Gotham City with his new partner Robin.[1]

Batman & Robin

A Knight At The Museum

Bruce Wayne as Batman is given the call that Mr. Freeze is at the Old Gotham Museum with his gang to steal a very valuable diamond. Batman shows up with his partner Dick Grayson as Robin to stop Mr. Freeze from making off with the diamond, but he makes trouble for the Dynamic Duo by freezing the floor of the museum with his freeze gun and then sending his goons armed with hockey sticks to contend with them. Batman enters into a rocket that Mr. Freeze takes off in and is pinned to the wall by hard frozen ice as the rocket takes off. Robin clings unto the side of the rocket and enters it after Mr. Freeze departs from it using butterfly-like glider wings, melting the ice around Batman's wrists and then helping him set the rocket to detonate in mid-air instead of crash-landing into Gotham and turning it into a giant crater. They both escape the rocket before it detonates by riding the hatch doors like air surfers until they catch up with Mr. Freeze at ground level, with Robin getting the diamond from the criminal. However, a false move by Robin enables Mr. Freeze to freeze him in his tracks and retake the diamond, sealing up a door with hard ice before he escapes. Batman heats up a pool of water and sticks the frozen Robin in it to thaw him out.

Who Do You Trust?

As Bruce reviews the tapes from the laboratory that Dr. Victor Fries used to work at, that showed how he became Mr. Freeze in the first place, he realizes that the villain's special ice suit requires diamond-enhanced lasers to keep him at a comfortable subzero temperature. Bruce decides to use the Wayne family diamonds in order to trap Mr. Freeze, but tells Dick he will have to spend 10 hours in the simulation chamber. Dick promises that his slip-up won't happen again, but Bruce doesn't trust Dick's judgment and gets called by his partner upon it. Alfred concurs that his master doesn't trust Dick, not wishing to take sides but hoping that the two would work together despite their differences in actions and decisions.

Dick Meets Barbara

Bruce gets a visitor in the form of Alfred's niece Barbara Wilson, who says is currently on break from Oxbridge Academy (Alfred's old alma mater) in England to see her uncle again. Bruce chooses to let her stay at the Wayne Estate simply because she's family.

Meet Poison Ivy

While the Dynamic Duo stand in wait at the charity ball for Mr. Freeze to take the bait of the Heart of Isis diamond necklace, an unexpected female visitor by the name of Poison Ivy makes her grand entrance. Blowing around a wisp of pheromone dust in order for the males to feel attraction to her, she makes her way to the stage and takes the necklace, offering the auctioneers present a night with her. Batman and Robin, also hit by the pheromone dust, get in on the auctioning action themselves.

Forces Of Nature

Soon Mr. Freeze shows up with his goons and his freeze gun. While Batman and Robin contend with his goons, Mr. Freeze swings onto the stage and tells Poison Ivy to hand over the jewels. Ivy simply responds by blowing some pheromone dust in his face, but it doesn't work on him as his heart is ice-cold. After allowing Mr. Freeze to take the necklace, she lets him go and tells her assistant Bane they have work to do.

The Race For Mr. Freeze

Batman and Robin chase after Mr. Freeze and his goons across town, where on a high bridge held by a giant statue the villain decides to make an exit through the statue and across his arm to jump onto a nearby building to escape. The Dynamic Duo continue to chase him across the arm. Batman tells Robin to pull back, but Robin tells him he can make the jump. Batman quickly disables the engine on Robin's motorcycle, causing him to stop while Batman in the Batmobile completes the jump.

My Way Or The High Way

Dick is getting increasingly disgusted by the way Bruce doesn't trust him, accusing his mentor of wanting Poison Ivy all for himself and reminding him that they have a partnership. Bruce tells Dick that it's his rules that keep his partner alive, and if he wants to continue working as a partner, he will abide by them. Dick just simply walks off, not listening.

Barbara's Wild Nights

Dick notices that Barbara has been slipping in and out of Wayne Manor with one of Bruce's motorcycles and chooses to follow her. He discovers that she has been involved in racing games with various street gangs, making money off gambling. Dick rides along as one of the contestants, unnoticed. At the last leg of the race, one of the contestants has fixed it by having his gang members bomb part of the way with Molotov cocktails. This throws Dick and Barbara off their bikes and nearly sends them plummeting off a high bridge had it not been for Dick catching his foot on an exposed support wire and grabbing Barbara's leg.

Alfred's Secret

Bruce overhears Dick and Barbara talking as they enter Wayne Manor from a night of escaping death from a motorcycle ride. Barbara says she got thrown out of school because of her motorcycle racing and that she's been trying to earn enough money to get Alfred out of the butlership that's killing him. Dick tries to assure Barbara that Alfred has never been happier doing what he's done, but Barbara can only see that her uncle is sick. Bruce tells Dick that he's more than sick; he's dying -- something Alfred won't tell anyone, but Bruce somehow simply knows.

Lady In Waiting

Bruce soon gets the news that Mr. Freeze has escaped Arkham. He as Batman and Dick as Robin show up at his gang's hideout where they find no trace of Mr. Freeze, but they do find a cryogenic chamber that his wife Nora Fries was put in while he was searching for the cure for MacGregor's Syndrome. He has already found the cures for stage 1, but his wife is at a more critical stage that would possibly take years to discover.

The Scent Of A Woman

Soon the Dynamic Duo find themselves inhaling the pheromone dust again, which means that Poison Ivy must be around. They go down to the basement, where instead of the beauty, they find the beast, which is Bane. He alternately fights with one of the heroes while Poison Ivy focuses on the other, primarily Robin whom is more easily swayed by her charms. After Bruce takes down Bane, he tries to get Robin to come to his senses about what Poison Ivy is doing to the both of them, but Robin refuses to listen, believing that Batman is jealous and just wants Ivy for himself. Poison Ivy uses this fighting among themselves as a distraction for her and Bane to leave. After being pushed into a vat of green sticky stuff (presumably melted mint ice cream) by Batman who then soon after pulled him out, Robin says from now on he's going solo.

Stage One

Bruce has a doctor give Alfred an examination, who then says he has Stage One of MacGregor's Syndrome, the very same illness that Nora Fries has. Alfred is laid up in bed, where the only thing anyone can do for him is just to make him comfortable. Bruce will figure out what to do about Alfred, but now he needs to attend the dedication ceremony for the new telescope at the Gotham Observatory. He tells Dick that he will handle Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy alone. Dick at this point is getting tired of living under the Batman's shadow and tells him that.

Robin's Signal

Bruce and Dick watch in the sky as a red Robin signal replaces the normal black Bat signal in the sky. Dick says it's Ivy's signal for him to come to her, a signal of love. Bruce tells him that Poison Ivy is Pamela Isley, a former scientist working in a South American laboratory that was recently destroyed, and that she killed guards at the airport by using deadly toxins transmitted from her lips. Dick still thinks that Bruce is simply jealous that Ivy is calling for Robin, not Batman. Bruce tells Dick that he's simply looking out for him, not just as a partner, but also as part of a family. All he wants from Dick right now is to trust his judgment.

Garden Of Evil

Robin shows up at Poison Ivy's hideout, where she lures him to her private plant-like throne to kiss her. Robin won't make a move on her until she tells him what Mr. Freeze is up to. Ivy tells him that Mr. Freeze is going to turn the Gotham City Observatory's telescope into a giant freeze gun to freeze all of Gotham City. Robin realizes he has to stop Mr. Freeze, but Ivy gets him to kiss her before he takes off, assuming that he will die. Unfortunately, the kiss has no effect, as Robin wore a protective sheath on his lips. Then Batman shows up, ready to take Poison Ivy in. But she surprises the two crimefighters as she has them tangled up in living vines while she tries to make her escape.

Who's That Batgirl?

Her escape is cut off by a blond-haired girl wearing a Batsuit, telling Ivy that she's going to be compost. The two women engage in hand-to-hand combat, with Batgirl prevailing and Poison Ivy being captured by her own plant creations while Batman and Robin cut their way through the vines. She tells the heroes that she is Barbara and that she has found the Batcave, where a virtual Alfred has already prepared a suit for her. Batman decides he will deal with Barbara later as they now head toward the observatory.

The Big Chill

Mr. Freeze is already at work at the Observatory, freezing all of Gotham City with the telescope turned into a giant freeze gun. As he does this, the Bat team travel to the Observatory in other vehicles, dealing with Mr. Freeze's goons along the way. Batman notices that there's 11 minutes to thaw out the whole city before the people become ice cubes forever. Upon reaching the Observatory, Batman, Robin, and Batgirl discover that Mr. Freeze isn't there at the controls, so they get to work on how they could get the sunlight on one side of the earth to be beamed directly into the telescope. Batgirl sees that the reflector mirrors need thawing out, so she and Robin choose to melt the ice on the mirrors while Batman works on reconfiguring the satellites. No sooner do they start, though, does Mr. Freeze make an unwelcome return, shaking Batgirl and Robin off the telescope and causing two of the Observatory astronomers to get caught holding onto the telescope while fighting with Batman.

Dealing With Bane

Robin at first tries to rescue Batgirl by firing his Birdcable hook at a chunk of ice, but it breaks off and they continue falling until Batgirl fires her Batcable hook at a support beam to rescue Robin. They both land safely on a ledge when Bane grabs them both with each hand. Robin and Batgirl knock out the tubing that injects Bane with the super-serum Venom and watch as his muscular frame deflates back into the original convict's scrawny form. Soon Batman picks up Robin and Batgirl after he has rescued the two astronomers from the falling telescope to return to the Observatory.

Letting The Sunshine In

With the telescope destroyed, and the time now being midnight, the Bat team now needs a new way to thaw out the city. Batman says they can reconfigure the satellites to beam down the sunlight directly, but it would take a computer genius to do that. Batgirl says she could do it and gets right to work. Soon with the satellites in position, all of Gotham City is soaked in heat beams from the deflected sunlight.

The Duo Becomes A Trio

After a long night of watching and waiting for the cure Mr. Freeze developed for an earlier stage of MacGregor's Syndrome to have any effect on Alfred after they hooked up the vials to the IV machine, Bruce, Dick, and Barbara slept in the living room, only to be awakened by a slightly disgruntled but now revitalized Alfred in the morning. All three of them are happy to see him cured and healthy. Bruce decides to take in Barbara not only as part of the family, but also as his second partner Batgirl. All Alfred could say to that is that they would now need a bigger Batcave.


Abilities

Equipment

Transportation

Weapons


  • When he first appears as a trapeze performer, Dick is wearing a circus outfit that is similar in design to the original Robin costume. His super-hero costume however, is more akin to the first costume worn by his comic counterpart's successor Tim Drake. In Batman and Robin, Dick changes his costume for a darker uniform reflective of the comic Grayson's evolution into the character of Nightwing.

Related

Footnotes


Batman Allies
Batman Family member
DC Bullet 2024

This character is or was an incarnation of or an ally of Batman, and a member of the Batman Family. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Batman Family members" category.

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