Robin (real name Richard "Dick" Grayson[1]) is a member of The Team, and the protégé of Batman. He is incredibly agile, with agility at a level equal to or above that of his own mentor. Furthermore, Robin is a skilled martial artist, and a capable technology expert.
Within the team, he has been a vigilante for the longest time, fighting crime for 4 years under the wing of Batman, since the age of 9.[4]
Prior to the creation of Young Justice as a team, Robin was seen alongside Batman fighting Mr. Freeze in a Gotham City park. Soon afterward, he along with Aqualad, Speedy and Kid Flash recieved a tour of the Hall of Justice, the Justice League's faux headquarters. But Speedy soon informed them of the real headquarters: the Watchtower, an orbiting satellite and voiced his distaste of being treated like a sidekick.
Soon after Speedy's departure, the Justice League is called away on a mission, while a secondary situation involving a fire at Cadmus Labs occurs. The young heroes decide to infiltrate Cadmus where they uncovered the hidden genomorph project. They then investigated Project Kr (chemical symbol for the element krypton) and discover a pod containing Superboy whom they release hoping to help him. However he, alongside a mind-controlled Guardian instead turns against them and they are captured by and turned over to Mark Desmond.[5] After reporting the break in to the Cadmus' board of directors, Desmond is order to clone and dispose of the heroes, thereby safeguarding their hidden activities from being known by the public and gaining spies close to the Justice League. As the cloning process was being administered, Superboy arrived after breaking free of the mind-control and freed the heroes before the four of them made their escape.
Robin outsmarted Desmond by hacking the Cadmus systems, which gave them a head start. After they made it to the top floor, they were confronted by Desmond, who had mutated himself into a mindless monster Blockbuster who was driven solely with the desire to stop them from escaping at any cost. During the battle, Robin had the other young heroes destroy the pillars supporting the ground facility of Cadmus, collapsing the building on themselves and Blockbuster. After the battle, the young heroes confronted their mentors about the way they had been treated and stated that together they had formed a powerful team, and that it was time they were treated as partners rather than sidekicks. Batman and the League eventually conceeded to the idea, and opted to turn the group of teen heroes into the Justice League's covert black-ops team. They then gave them the new team their own headquarters in Mount Justice and introduced them to their fifth member: Miss Martian.[6]
Soon after Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad attempt to convince Speedy into joining their new team, while helping him battle against Brick. Speedy however refuses the invitation. Returning to Mount Justice, Red Tornado suggests the kids work on team building skills, which eventually results in the team revealing their real names to each other. The only exceptions are Superboy who has no other name, and Robin who is under orders of Batman to keep his identity secret. After taking Miss Martian's Bio Ship for a ride, the team faces off against Mister Twister, a battle which eventually helped to cement them as a team.[3]
Soon after, the team is given their first offically mission, in which Batman sent them to investigate an island where the villain known as Bane had gained and created his Venom serum that allows him his inhuman strength. Robin immediately asks who would lead, but Batman opted to let the team itself make the call, resulting in Robin and Kid Flash arguing over who is better suited for the role. Due to his history with Batman, Robin makes the assumption he's the best man for the job and attempts to lead the group as they find themselves not only having to face against Bane, but also Kobra. However, his fails to work properly with the team due to his assumption that the others would be able to anticipate his actions the same way Batman does. This results in the team nearly being defeated by Kobra. Realizing he's not ready for the job yet, Robin gives control over to Aqualad whom he feels is better suited. Aqualad himself says that he will lead only until Robin is able to take command. The group manages to stop Kobra's plans, but they technically failed at their intended mission. However, Batman remains pleased with the fact the team did some good.[2]
During the team's first training session the groups first training sessions with Black Canary, an alert is given to the team that they have a new mission, involving deliving the disassembled pieces of an Amazo robot to Star Labs. Robin and Superboy team-up to guard one truck of Amazo's body, while the rest of the team guards the other. However they are attacked by Professor Ivo's MONQIs, and due to Superboy's anger and impulsive nature, they escape with the Amazo parts. Superboy proceeded to rush off in pursuit, leaving behind Robin. Together Robin and Kid Flash track Amazo, Ivo and Superboy to Gotham City, and more specifically Robin's own school Gotham City Academy. There they find Superboy fighting the robot and proceed to help. The three heroes (along with a mysterious archer) work together to defeat the robot, and suprisingly soothing Superboy's anger somewhat.[7]
On August 8, the team proceeds to enjoy a day of fun on the beach, sans Kid Flash who is stuck in school back in Central City. They are then assembled by Batman and the League, to meet their new member Artemis, before being assigned protective detail of Dr. Serling Roquette, who was rescued by Roy, now going by the name of Red Arrow. Dr. Roquette was responsible for created a sort nano-bot so powerful he could read and destroy any sort of computer it comes into contact with, and the League of Shadows wants her for it. The team proceeds to do their best to protect her, but find the Shadows' agent Cheshire far more dangerous than originally thought. Locating where the nano-bots are, Robin and Superboy proceed to stop the League of Shadows from activating it on Wayne Tech, while the others attempt to get an virus implanted into the nanobots. Dr. Roquette manages to send the virus to Robin, who uses his palm computer to shut down the robots before they can do any real damage.[8]
Because he is only thirteen, Robin is rather a little immature, toying around with villains and getting into trouble. No doubt brought on by the fact that he has been trained by the Batman, Robin gets along very well with people who are older than he is. Despite Batman's influence on Robin, the two have different personalities. While his mentor is cold and very serious, Robin's demeanor is quite the opposite. Robin is naturally a very lighthearted individual who seems to take great joy in nearly everything that he does. While on missions, he can often be heard laughing in the middle of battles, particularly during acrobatic feats, though this is possibly used to simply intimidate foes due to the echoing and creepy nature of his laugh.
When simply interacting with his friends, Robin behaves in a jovial and often times "little brother"-like role, in which he jokes freely about his teammates, and even pokes fun at them when they make mistakes. He seems to have a particularly close friendship with Kid Flash, whom he is able to joke with and often treats like a brother of sorts. Robin also seems to take great pleasure in over-thinking words, and re-working them in childishly odd manners. For example, after hearing the word "underwhelmed" and "overwhelmed", he began to question why people were never just "whelmed", and thus proceeded to use that word at assorted moments, often incorrectly.[5]
Despite his childlike behavior at times, Robin is a natural tactical thinker, often coming up with plans for the team on the fly, and figuring out complex situations faster than many of his teammates.[6][2] He is also very pragmatic and prefers to think ahead. During the team's brief scuffle with Guardian, Robin took the liberty to activate the elevator to escape instead of fighting alongside his team[5] and he had no qualms about Miss Martian delving into his mind to retrieve his memories, something Artemis was uneasy about.[9]
Robin initially considered himself to be the natural leader of Young Justice, citing his longer experience as a hero. However, this experience and his strong working relationship with Batman led him to mistakenly assume that the other members of the team would understand and follow his plans without him explaining them. This unfortunately caused problems on their first mission against Kobra and Bane. He subsequently claimed that Aqualad would be a better leader for the team. While Aqualad accepted the role, he stated that both he and the rest of the team expected Robin to eventually take the mantle, due to the fact he was more suited for the job.[2]
Still, Robin seems to be a bit resentful of Aqualad as leader of the team, due to the fact Batman pays him more attention during Young Justice missions. However, Bruce later tries to ease his resentment, by playing a one-on-one game of basketball when they return to Wayne Manor.[10]
Characteristics
Robin is a 13 year old vigilante.
Clothing
His uniform is comprised of a red tunic, black pants, boots and gloves, all of which to be made of a sort of protective body armor, that still allows him great mobility. On his tunic, a "R" symbol if visible, and around his waist he wears gold colored utility belt with various pouches for all his equipment. Around his shoulders he wears a cape that is black on the outter-lining but gold on the inner-lining. To protect his identiy, Robin wears a black stylized domino mask at all times. It whites out his eyes somehow.
When he is dressed as a civilian, Robin is seen wearing a gray jacket, black jeans and a red, green or an orange hoodie. He also wears black sunglasses to cover his eyes to hide his secret identity.[3] When he goes to the beach, he wears dark blue swim trunks with a red lining.[8]
In "Schooled", Robin is shown in a picture at his school, Gotham Academy, wearing a school uniform and without a mask or glasses. In the episode "Downtime" Robin was shown working out in Wayne Manor, without glasses or mask, and appears to have dark blue eyes.
Powers & Abilities
Powers
Robin 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. Robin is also the team's strategist, intellect and most importantly, their hacker. Due to these skills, Robin is considered the most highly trained and experienced member of the Young Justice team, and has also been crime fighting the longest.
Robin and Artemis are the only team members without superhuman powers.
Though Robin technically possesses no superhuman powers, his courage, skill, experience, determination and personal strengths are enough to make him a capable fighter.
Conditioning: Having undergone an evidently vigorous and intensive training regimen under Batman, Robin has exercised physical form to near-perfection for someone of his age for the purposes of fighting crime.
Speed: Robin is shown to be able to run at above the average speed for a teen of his age.
Endurance: Robin's endurance is at the peak of a boy his age and size.
Agility: Robin has proven to be at the peak of human agility.
Strength: Robin's physical strength is much higher than most teens his age. He was able to punch a small crater into a wall.
Movement:
Master Martial Artist: Robin can take out his enemies with his knowledge in martial arts and his agility.
Master Acrobat: Robin has proven to be able to perform aerial maneuvers and flips.
Master of Stealth: Robin is a master at stealth, capable of disappearing and reappearing without anyone noticing.
Escape Artistry: Robin is capable of escaping from various traps and locks in impressive time.
Mental:
Detective Skills: Robin has shown impressive deductive reasoning.
Expert Mechanic and Vehicle Driver: Excellent at motorcycle driving, and maintains it himself.
Master Hacker and Computer Technician: Robin has shown that he is more than capable of easily gaining access to almost any computer or program he wants in a matter of seconds. He was easily able to hack into both Justice League and Cadmus files with little to no effort on his part.
Weaknesses
Despite his intense training with Batman, Robin has all the weaknesses of a human 13 year old boy, and usually must resort to dodging attacks from superhuman foes rather than taking them head on like other heroes might.
In early episodes, Robin has shown a lack of conventional teamwork, 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 to any ego or inconsideration however, but instead because of the fact that while working with Batman, their partnership has grown to the level where they can anticipate each other's moves without having to vocalize them. While this works well for him and Batman, this does not work with the rest of Young Justice.[2]
Robin's immaturity and child-like ego in his own abilities, has also proven to be a weakness as he will impulsively attempt to combat opponents who are either superior in terms of fighting skills to his own or metahumans who are considerably dangerous, such as during his one-on-one fight with Kobra[2] or a mind-controlled Superboy.[5]
Equipment
Weapons
Like Batman, Robin carries a variety of weapons in his utility belt that allows which includes:
Birdarangs: Shuriken like objects that are used as long range attack weapons with various uses. Such as explosive, or birdarangs that release gas.
Grappling guns: A hand-held devise that fires a grappling hook along far distances allowing for Robin to make hasty escapes and climb high objects and buildings. The grapple lines can been lengthened and pulled back using the buttons on the gun.
Escrima sticks: Another close combat weapon, these are twin-fighting sticks that Robin uses, often while in civilian garb.
Tazer: Robin carries around a hand-held tazer, that can be used both short range and long range. The exact voltage of the electrical blast is unknown, but it was enough to slow down Superboy.
Gas pellets: Tiny-marble like devices that gives off a thick gray smoke which allows Robin to make hasty escapes. Close contact with the smoke can be disorienting for enemies.
Holographic computer: Robin also has a computer interface and hacking cable attached to his glove which gives him easy access to building schematics and data files. There is a USB-cable that he can hook up to larger system, that allows him access.
Redbird: Robin has his own personal mode of transportation, a customized sports coupe motorcycle. When its battle mode is activated, the motorcycle splits in half. The back half turns into a flying laser cannon that protects Robin from attack. It can also split into a pocket bike if the main body is heavily damaged and is activated through Robin's gauntlet computer.[7]
Alfred is the butler of the Wayne family and primary caregiver for both Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. His history with them has not been revealed yet, however he seems to take a great interest in their well-being and pride in their relationship as a father and son, smiling as Bruce offers to play basketball with Dick, while claiming it's training.
Although the exact history of Batman's (Bruce Wayne) relationship with Robin has not yet been revealed, it is implied that Batman took Dick Grayson in at a young age, and spent many years educating and training him in his role as Robin, making him the most experienced member of Young Justice. Batman's general opinion of Robin, although rarely stated vocally, is high. When working in the field, they behave as a well-oiled machine, able to anticipate each other's moves, actions and plans, without the need to vocally communicate with each other.[2]
Despite being his mentor, Batman seems to try and treat Robin as a partner, rather than simply a sidekick, hearing him out when he states his opinion and even conceding to his points should they prove correct or logical. Batman is very protective of Robin which villains use to their advantage; but they underestimate Robin's ability which usually leads to their downfall. He seems to also view Robin as a natural leader of the Young Justice team, but has not pushed him into the role.
Despite his new duties as a member of Young Justice, Robin still lives primarily in Gotham and works alongside Batman when not on League Business.[11]
Due to being one of the oldest members of the team, Aqualad is naturally the team's big brother. This relationship is most obvious between Robin and Aqualad. While Aqualad is the mature rational older brother,
Robin behaves far more impulsively and immature, which often results in Aqualad having to keep him in-check. However, despite their extreme differences in personality, the pair of them get along very well, showing great respect for each other. When time came for the team to chose a field leader, Robin initially saw himself as the most appropriate leader of the team, citing his greater experience despite being the youngest member of the team. However, Aqualad explained that Robin's experience and his strong working relationship with Batman meant that Robin assumed his teammates could follow his plans without much explanation, whereas the team really needed a leader who would be clear. Robin instead suggested that Aqualad should be the team's leader, and Aqualad accepted. Nevertheless, Aqualad claimed that Robin was a natural leader and would one day be ready to take control of the team.[2] Despite this, Robin has been shown on at least one occasion to get jealous of the attention Batman gives to Aqualad due to his status as team leader.[10]
As for right now the friendship between Artemis and Robin is also underdeveloped, due to a lack of interaction. However, when Artemis first joined the team, he seemed to be one of the quickest in the group to accept her without question. Furthermore, when Kid Flash continued to give her a hard time, he was quick to defend her and ask the Kid Flash ease off on her.[8] Artemis and Robin also share in common the fact that they are the only two members of the team not to have super-powers.
Robin's closest friend in the team is Kid Flash (Wally West), having met and been friends before the creation of the team.[9] Despite Batman's orders for Robin not to reveal his secret identity,[3] Robin openly admitted to him which school he attended in Gotham,[7][12] They are constantly joking with one another, and a share a close familiar relationship that seems reminiscent of siblings. While they are obviously friends, they enjoy to poke fun at and mock each other when one or the other fails at something. They bicker quite often regarding assorted inane things. Once however their chief argument was regarding the leading of the team, where Robin felt he was more suited for role, while Kid Flash felt he was. Kid Flash called Robin "a 13-year-old kid" and Robin sarcastically called him "a mature 15". In the end they both conceded that Aqualad was the better choice.[2] Robin often calls him "KF" and "Kid" as a nickname and in return Kid Flash calls him "Rob".[9]
much one-on-one interaction, but they do seem to get along rather well. During the first episodes Robin seemed to have a crush on her, sometimes competing with Kid Flash. Robin also seems particularly interested in Miss Martian's many abilities, and enjoys watching her use her shape-shifting powers in particular. Miss Martian meanwhile seems to see him as a little brother, smiling at his jokes and even ignoring his immature behavior. He calls her by the nickname "Miss M".
The friendship between Superboy and Robin, is also somewhat underdeveloped as of the moment. During their initial meeting, Superboy seems to dislike Robin solely due to he fact that Robin had issued him orders. However, it seems that Superboy has come to accept Robin's tactical thinking and even orders as a good thing, and has not as of yet had another outburst for when Robin tells him to do something.[6] The pair of them are often teamed up together when the group splits up, which seems to work moderately well as neither of them seem to have any particular issues against each other. However, Superboy's impulsive anger often interfers with Robin's attempts at thinking up a plan for them to work together. Still, like the others, Superboy seems to treat Robin like a little brother of sorts, although not as emotionally. He has even at times taken on Robin's own play on words such as saying "Feeling the aster", and smiling at Robin.[7]
Appearances
Production notes
Greg Weisman stated that he chose Dick Grayson as Robin because Young Justice was sort of a Robin origin story and putting Jason Todd or Tim Drake would be doing injustice to the series. There was no mention of Stephanie Brown.
Batman forbids Robin from revealing his identity, leading him to wear dark glasses when in civilian clothes, even around other members of Young Justice.[3]Kid Flash knows his secret identity, but it's a secret that he knows.[12]
As Nightwing, his trademark weapons are his escrima sticks. Robin is seen using escrima sticks in the episode "Schooled".
Robin is the youngest yet most experienced member on the team.[2]
Robin is the hacker of the team using the computer device on his wrist.
He is the first hero to be seen on-screen in the show.
Despite being in Young Justice, Robin still continues to work as Batman's partner in Gotham City. This has caused him at least one incident in which he couldn't join his team on a mission, as seen in Denial.
Robin is the only main character introduced at the start of the series to not appear in every episode (Denial).
This is the twelveth animated appearance of Dick Grayson as Robin. Previous versions have included The Adventures of Batman, The Batman/Superman Hour, Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder, The Scooby-Doo Movies, The Super-Friends, 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 Hood.
In the comics there have been four other Robins aside from Dick Grayson: Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and Damian Wayne.
Although the Robin portrayed in this series is Dick Grayson, he does seem to take traits and behavior from other Robins in the comics. For example, his intellect and computer hacking abilities are closer associated with the third Robin, Tim Drake. Meanwhile his child-like arrogance is something many fans have associated with Jason Todd (Robin 2) or Damian Wayne (Robin 5).
Robin's costume is closer to the comic costume worn by Tim Drake during his a majority of tenure as Robin. The use of sunglasses to protect his idenity was also something done by Tim Drake during his time with the the comic version of Young Justice. The use of a bo-staff is also a trait commonly associated with Drake.
This is one of the first occassions where a team of teenage heroes included Dick Grayson but did not have him leading the team from the start. In both comics and the Teen Titans cartoon, Dick Grayson has always been immediately tapped as team leader.
He is arguably the youngest member of Young Justice, due to the fact that while Superboy was only chronologically 16 weeks old upon his introduction, he is physiologically 16 years old.
Robin's laughter is a trait that has never been shown in previous versions of the character, but a new trait for this series.
Notable Quotes
"You're overwelmed, Freeze was underwelmed, why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?" -Independence Day
"That guy is not whelmed... not whelmed at all." -Fireworks
"Well, we hate to see you disturbed. Let's see if you're more turbed once we kick your can!" -Welcome to Happy Harbor
"If 'dislike' is the opposite of 'like', is 'disaster' the opposite of 'aster'? See, instead of things going wrong, they go right!" -Schooled
"Yes! The infiltrator's have been outfiltrated!" -Infitrator
