Nightwing


Nightwing
Real name:	Richard John "Dick" Grayson
Gender:	Male
First Appearance:	NEW YORK CITY Detective Comics #38 (Official) Batman: Robin's First Flight (Fan Fiction)
Created by:	Bob Kane Bill Finger
Affiliations:	Batman Family Justice League Wayne Enterprises Outsiders
Abilities:	Genius-level intelligence Master detective Master escapologist Peak human physical condition Martial arts master Access to high tech equipment
Portrayed by:	Penn Badgley

Nightwing is a DC Comics superhero and the protector of Bludhaven. In his secret identity, he is Richard John "Dick" Grayson, a member of the Wayne Enterprises's board of directors. Dick was the son of John and Mary Grayson, two circus acrobats from the Haley Circus. During his childhood, Dick was trained in acrobatics by his parents, and became a part of their act. When Haley Circus was on tour in Gotham City, his parents where killed by Tony Zucco. Bruce Wayne adopted Dick, as he saw some of himself in the boy. Shortly after, Bruce revealed to Dick that he was Batman, and Dick decided to be his sidekick, becoming the first Robin.

After many adventures, Dick eventually became an adult and Bruce decided that he was no longer fit to be Robin. Instead, Dick decided to become a superhero in his own right, taking the name Nightwing. After a few adventures in Gotham, Dick eventually moved to Bludhaven, where he continues his superhero activities to this day.

Officially, Dick Grayson appeared in Detective Comics #38 but his first appearance in Leader Vladimir's fan fiction continuity is Batman: Robin's First Flight.

History[]

Origins[]

For many years, Richard "Dick" Grayson was Batman's sidekick Robin.

The name "Robin the Boy Wonder" and the medieval look of the original costume were inspired by the legendary hero Robin Hood, as well as the red-breasted American Robin, which continued the "flying animal" motif of Batman.

Young Dick Grayson was born on the first day of spring. His mother nicknamed him "little Robin". Little did she know how prophetic this term of endearment would be in her son's life.

Dick Grayson was a twelve-year-old Romany circus acrobat, the youngest of a family act called The Flying Graysons of The Haley Circus. Dick joined the act at a very young age, having been trained in acrobatics from birth. Before one appearance in Gotham, in which The Flying Graysons were the main attraction, they were asked to pose for a photo opportunity with the Drake Family, including their young son Tim. From that time on Tim's one and only hero in the world was Dick.

While on tour in Gotham City, he overheard "Boss" Tony Zucco, a well-known and feared crime-lord, threaten the performers unless the circus's owner paid extortion money. The owner refused, and that night Dick watched in horror as his parents' high wire snapped, sending his parents hurtling to their deaths, all while many of Gotham's elite watched on. Young Dick felt responsible, because he didn't warn his parents in time.

Beginnigs as Robin[]

Shortly after the tragedy, Bruce Wayne rescued Dick by adopting him as his ward, because the boy did not want to replace his deceased father with the billionaire. Frustrated by the lack of attention from his new guardian and the mystery still surrounding his parents' death, Dick sneaked out of Wayne Manor one evening to solve the crime on his own - only to stumble into Batman, who was also investigating the murder. When Dick returned to the circus, he was confronted by Zucco's business associate, Eddie Skeevers who nearly killed Grayson, but Dick was saved thanks to Batman's intervention. After waking up in the Batcave, he is shocked to learn that Bruce is really the Batman. They succeed in revealing Zucco's complicity, but he supposedly dies of a heart attack before his arrest. Seeing a reflection of himself in Dick; that he could temper compassion with a thirst for justice, Batman made the young orphan the offer of a lifetime; the chance to become his crime-fighting partner. Dick chose the name Robin, and his training began. Dick's first mission alongside the Dark Knight involved battling The Hangman in Gotham's sewers, and then Two-Face and the rest of Batman's Rogues Gallery at the Batcave. They swore an oath late that night that they would fight together against crime and corruption, never swerving from the path of righteousness. Batman had realized for the first time that he did not have to be alone in his crusade.

Robin's origin had a typological connection to Batman's in that both witnessed the crime-related deaths of their parents, creating an urge to battle the criminal underworld. This provided a bond and understanding between the two.

Bruce taught Dick fighting techniques and detective skills for a grueling 6 months. Finally, Dick had to pass a final test - "the Gauntlet". Dick had to elude the Dark Knight on the streets of Gotham for one night - from sunset to sunrise - without any outside help. Dick succeeded, simultaneously bringing Gotham gangster Joe Minette to justice. Dick took to the streets as Batman's full-fledged partner in crime-fighting: Robin, the Boy Wonder.

Nightwing[]

When Robin was 17, he was shot in the shoulder by the Joker, and this scared Batman into ending his career for good. Dick realized at that point that he had grown up: he no longer relied on Batman and, in fact, he and the Dark Knight disagreed on crime-fighting methodology. His new-found independence and Titans' duties in New York left less time for his former commitments in Gotham City.

Dick rediscovered his self-worth among the Teen Titans. Batman, however, was less than pleased. He informed Dick that if he no longer wanted to be his partner, then Dick would have to retire as Robin. Dick left Wayne Manor after this fallout.

Uncertain what to do, he turned to someone he knew would understand: Superman. Very briefly, Dick had considered giving up the whole crime fighting gig, but he couldn't imagine his life any other way; but if he couldn't be Robin, who would he be? Superman had the answer. Long ago on Krypton, a man was cast out by his family - just as Dick had been. He dreamed of a world ruled by justice, and set out to protect the helpless of Krypton. His true identity was never revealed. He was known only as Nightwing. Dick decided to identity of Nightwing. His first adventures as Nightwing involved fighting the villain Deathstroke.

Nightwing had finally moved out of the shadow of the Bat, and would lead the Titans through some hard times. Dick endured brainwashing at the hands of Brother Blood, his relationship with Starfire would suffer due to her marriage of state, he would be deeply affected by the fact that Batman trained a new Robin (Jason Todd) only for him to be seemingly killed at the hands of the Joker.

Feeling hurt and betrayed, Bruce and Dick would remain at odds with each other, never fully sorting out their strained relationship. While serving with the New Titans, Dick was searched out by an older Tim Drake, who had only one goal on his mind, for Dick to return as Robin. It was Dick's refusal to return that started Tim down the road toward becoming the new Robin. After weeks of persuading and proving his potential, Dick then returned to the Batman to plead Tim's case, with help from Alfred. Due to their arguments and the realization that the Batman needs a Robin, Tim Drake becomes the third Boy Wonder. For the first time in a long time, Bruce and Dick began to heal their strained relationship. Bruce's respect for Dick was at last obvious.

Bludhaven[]

Investigating a crime in nearby Bludhaven, Nightwing saw that the city was just as bad, if not worse, than Gotham. With no one to protect Bludhaven, and a need to forge his own path as a hero, Nightwing decided to relocate there.

This was the beginning of a long, uphill battle for Dick Grayson. He fought many victorious battles in Bludhaven as its protector, and certainly made it a safer place, but he never won the war. The city, and his losses, took their toll on Nightwing, leading him to eventually adopt a grimmer outlook on being a hero.

Powers and Abilities[]

Abilities[]

Dick Grayson has almost reached Batman to a point and is believed literally and figuratively to be his successor.

Detective: Grayson is a world class detective, second only to the likes of Batman. He was rigorously trained by the Dark Knight in everything from escapology to criminology, fencing, stealth, disguise, and numerous other combat/non-combat disciplines.

Master Acrobat: Grayson is a prodigious natural athlete, possessing a peak human level of agility/acrobatic skills. He is regarded as the greatest human acrobat in the DC universe. Batman himself is an incredible athlete in agility, and is at peak human perfection, but even he gives the advantage in that area over to Nightwing. He is the only person on Earth who can do the quadruple somersault.

Intimidation: He has been taught by Batman, the ability to instill fear into others. While not as efficient as Batman in this category, he still uses this ability effectively. A prominent example of his interrogation technique was his tactic of threatening to allow Gorilla Grodd's soldiers to drown unless he divulged who had sent him to attack New York City (A threat he obviously was not going to follow through with).

Master Martial Artist: As Nightwing, Grayson is a master of dozens of martial arts disciplines, with an emphasis on Aikido and Escrima, taught to him by Batman. His preferred fighting style combines Escrima, Judo, Savate, Capoeira, Aikido, Boxing, Wing Chun, Hapkido, Jeet Kune Do, Taijiquan, Ninjutsu, and Bojutsu with his acrobatic abilities. He is considered one of the finest human combatants in unarmed combat, almost on par with Batman. He has fought and held his own or defeated some of the best fighters in the world. Prominent examples include Ra's Al Ghul, Deathstroke, Jason Todd, Shrike, Red Arrow/Arsenal (Roy Harper), Azrael, and even Batman himself.

Weapons Proficiency: Through his martial arts training with Batman, he has become an expert on almost all types of weaponry.

Master of Stealth: His training has made him a master at stealth capable of easily breaching high security facilities without being detected. He has been compared to Batman, in terms of stealth and has been stated to be as good as Batman in this field.Template:Citation He has even snuck up on Batman himself.

Expert Marksman: As a result of his training in ninjutsu and with Batman, Nightwing almost never misses his targets, 9/10 times he's successful. He has been practicing accuracy since the early days of his training as Robin and is on par with Batman in terms of accuracy.

Tracking: Nightwing has been trained in hunting and tracking techniques by Batman. He is a master tracker, comparable to the Batman.

Master of Disguise: He is proficient in the art of disguise as having been taught by the Batman himself.

Escapologist: Batman has trained Nightwing in this ability since his earliest days, in turn making Nightwing, a master escape artist. Though not as good as Batman, he is proficient enough, to be only second to the Batman in this category.

Peak Human Conditioning: Dick Grayson possesses the peak athletic strength and endurance of a man who regularly engages in intensive physical exercise. His physical attributes exceed that of any Olympic level athlete that has ever competed. His strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, agility and coordination are at peak human perfection.

Peak Human Strength: He is one of the strongest non-metas on Earth. Although he relies on his speed more than his strength, he has shown remarkable strength throughout his career, though not as great as Batman's. He has dented and nearly ripped through steel with a single kick, defeated KGBeast physically, managed to knock down Blockbuster with a blow, punched the meta-human Barry Pierce through a concrete wall, and supported nearly 1000 lbs. of rubble when attempting to save people from a burning building.
Peak Human Reflexes: Nightwing's possesses reflexes that have enabled him to dodge point blank gunfire from multiple opponents at the same time.
Peak Human Speed: He has run at speeds greater than the finest competing athletes. He has been stated to be even faster than Batman.
Peak Human Endurance: Nightwing's endurance is greater than an Olympic Decathlete. He can exert himself at peak capacity for nearly an hour without rest before showing any signs of fatigue. His lung capacity is so great that he is capable of holding his breath underwater for 4 mins.
Peak Human Agility: He has honed his agility to top human physical perfection. He is as agile as one could be without being considered superhuman and has even been told that he has shown agility that should be beyond human capabilities. He is considered to be the most agile human being in the DC Universe.
Peak Human Durability: He has been thrown through entire walls, by Roland Desmond, and immediately rose back up to finish the fight, survived an entire building collapsing, has fallen of the top of a building when his and has sustained other extreme forms of punishment, and has survived it all without any serious injury.

Multilingual: Having had the finest education as Bruce Wayne's ward, he speaks with fluency in English, French, Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, German, Swahili, Mandarin, Cantonese, and is possibly fluent in other languages. He has some knowledge of Romany and the alien language of Tamaran.

Skilled Leader: He is also a brilliant and experienced strategist with superlative leadership skills, having served as leader to the Titans, the Outsiders, and even the Justice League. Additionally, Dick's efforts to remain in contact with other heroes makes him a master at rallying, unifying, and inspiring the superhero community, a skill in which he has surpassed his mentor.

[Tactical Analysis: Like his mentor, Grayson is a brillant, albeit looser tactican who relies more on intuiton and timing, rather than meticulous preparation.

Strength level[]

Dick Grayson possesses the peak human strength of a man that has intense physical workouts at the height and weight of 5'10" 175 lbs. He is able to lift at least twice his own body weight; enabling to press lift 350 lbs. Dick has previously lifted over 930 lbs however the feat may likely have been performed under stress and while Dick was running on adrenalin. He has defeated the KGBeast, who is stronger than ten men, in physical combat.

Paraphernalia[]

Equipment[]

Nightwing Suit: Nightwing's current costume is made of a version of the Nomex fire-resistant, triple-weave Kevlar-lined material. It is an excellent protection against damage, and it's also electrically insulated. Instead of a black cape for stealthing, the suit is light sensitive, darkening when there is more light in the area. The current costume is a stylized blue "wing" across his shoulders and extending to his hands, coloring his two middle fingers, over a black torso and legs. Nightwing's costume is tailored specifically to his unique style of crime-fighting. As such, his costume has fewer body-armor inlays than Batman's, anticipating a decreased need for shock-absorption and an increased capacity for motion ("Move more, get hit less."). A caveat of this configuration can be exploited by capable fighters who are both fast and strong, such as Superman. Should Nightwing need to engage an enemy who is capable of exploiting this weakness, he has supplemental body-armor overlays which he can attach to his gauntlets, his mask, his shoulders, and boots.

Nightwing Mask: The mask, in the form of his symbol, is fixed in place with spirit gum, and includes a built-in radio transmitter/receiver and Starlite night-vision lenses.

His gauntlets and boots each contain eight compartments in which he can store items.Template:Citation They have a self-destruct feature built into them, similar to the ones in Batman's utility belt, and, as another security measure (especially when the hero is unconscious), the suit contains a one-use-only taser charge, which automatically emits a high-voltage electrical shock when someone attempts to tamper with either the boots or gauntlets.

Nightwing Gauntlets: Each gauntlet's sections can contain a wide array of equipment, such as:

sonic or smoke pellets,
modified batarangs ("Wing-Dings"),
knockout gas capsules and throwing tracers.

The right gauntlet is also equipped with a:

100,000-volt stun gun.

Nightwing Boots: Like the gauntlets, his boots can carry vital elements like:

flares,
a rebreather as protection against any airborne non-contact toxins,
a mini-computer equipped with fax, modem, GPS and a minidisk rewritable drive.

Other items are lock picks, a first aid kit, a mini-cellphone, flexi-cuffs, antitoxin assortment, signal flares, wireless listening devices and a small halogen flashlight.

Held in spring-loaded pouches in the back of his costume, Nightwing carries a pair of Escrima sticks made from an unbreakable polymer that are wielded as both offensive and defensive weapons. Some depictions have displayed these tools with the mechanism to shoot a grappling hook attached to a swing line, while, in other instances, he is seen using a "line gun" like the one Batman currently uses.

Transportation[]

Nightwing has a transformable car with a convertible chassis that enables it to be disguised it as any similarly sized vehicle such as a taxi cab, a police car or a sports car. It houses a 3.7 McLaren racing engine, automatic transmission and all wheel drive, dual batteries and puncture resistant tires. The car is not only bulletproof, but also bullet absorbent in order to prevent stray ricochets from hitting innocent bystanders.

Nightwing once used a customized boat; this boat presumably has the same specs as the Batboat if it was not the Batboat itself.

Nightwing also has his own personalized model of the Batcycle, which he refers to as the "Wingcycle Wingcycle". The Wingcycle is equipped with a passenger sidecar.

Weapons[]

Batarangs, smaller shuriken-like "Wing Dings", regurgitant gas (tear gas with an additive to make you throw up) pellets smoke capsules. His right gauntlet contains a 100,000 volt stun gun, although his preferred weapons are two shatterproof polymer Escrima Sticks.