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Boston BridgeRichard John “Dick” Grayson
”If you want Robin to stay dead, that's okay with me. But you've trained me too well -- made me what I am. You can't keep me from pursuing my own destiny.”
Age: 24
Alias: The first Robin, Target, Renegade, but most famously…Nightwing
Appearance: At 5’10”, 175 lbs of pure toned muscle, and deep blue eyes, Dick Grayson is one attractive and sexy man. His hair is jet black, and he’s worn it in many styles over the years ranging from a short buzz cut to medium length pony-tail, though at the moment he’s favoring it a little long and shaggy, but not so much as to impede his vision. His skin is fair, and his features are smooth, with a bit of an angular cheek line. His body is extremely flexible, able to contort in many ways, and he’s very well built.
Skills/Abilities:
- Peak Human Conditioning - Dick has trained with Batman since age 12 to be the absolute best he can in all ways, and trained with his parents in Haly’s Circus from birth to 12. He possesses peak human capacity for strength, endurance, durability, reflexes, etc.
- Master Acrobat - Considered by many to be the world’s most premiere acrobat. One of only 3 known people able to perform a quadruple backflip, can dodge gunfire point blank, and is even faster than Batman himself.
- Charismatic - Dick can be just as intimidating as the Dark Knight, even intimidating the normally fearless Scarecrow, but he doesn’t like it. Instead Dick prefers to put his natural charisma to good use as a leader that can rally and inspire just about anyone. He’s so likeable that even his villains will come to his aid when asked, and he has experience leading the Titans, the Outsiders, and even the Justice League.
- Genius Intellect - Dick Grayson is as sharp as they come. He’s put his mind to good use as a detective able to solve cases at a speed that impresses even Batman, is quick to pick up on little clues and signs, is fluent in no less than ten different languages, is a skilled enough hacker to bypass the Justice League Watchtower’s security, and can easily fool a polygraph.
- Master Fighter - Batman taught Dick well for many years, and so he has learned a great number of martial arts and weapon styles, even once defeating the fabled Ra’s al Ghul in a sword duel. His preferred weapons are escrima sticks, but truth be told Dick’s best style is his ability to improvise and change on the fly. He’s very adaptable. Flexible, you might say.
- Stealth - Become one with the shadows. As Nightwing, Dick has no trouble vanishing into the night. If he could do it before wearing the brightly colored Robin costume, he can become invisible practically anywhere.
Weaknesses:
- Redheads. He’s kinda got a thing for them.
- Compulsive Heroics. Dick simply cannot stand idly by if people are in danger, no matter the circumstances or the position it puts him in.
- Chip on the shoulder. Dick is the adoptive son of Batman. The first one. Hell, he was the first “sidekick” in the superhero game. As much as he respects Bruce, it’s only natural that people compare the two a lot. Except Dick isn’t Bruce. He’s his own man, and it gets heated when he feels that it’s something he has to prove.
History:
”Who do I think I am? Good question, really, and I'll answer like this: I've seen too much to be Robin, but I'm still too optimistic to be Batman. I'm Nightwing. I'm Officer Dick Grayson. I'm Barbara's boyfriend, Bruce Wayne's adopted son, and the last living member of the Amazing Flying Graysons. I'm happy.
Richard “Dick” Grayson was born the only child of John and Mary Grayson. This was not your typical family, for you see they traveled a lot. No they weren’t military, the family used Dick in their work. Give up? They were part of a circus. Haly’s Circus. They were known far and wide as the Amazing Flying Graysons, some of the best damn acrobats the world had ever known. Each day they lived life on the edge, stepping on that razor-blade point between life and death. That is, sadly, until tragedy struck. When Dick was 12, the circus stopped in Gotham City to perform a show and was approached by one of the many mob bosses that ran the corrupt cesspool: “Boss” Zucco. Zucco made it clear that they had better pay up, or else. The circus in turn made it clear that they were not to be intimidated and kicked the guy out on his ass. Sadly he would have the last laugh.
During the performance of the Flying Graysons, Zucco sabotaged the trapeze. Slowly it lost strength as John and Mary performed, until finally it snapped and sent the duo plummeting to their deaths. Dick watched on in utter horror, and instantly knew who to look for in the crowd. There was Zucco, enjoying the show. The look on the mobster’s face would haunt the young boy’s nightmares for many years. The police ruled John and Mary’s deaths an accident, keeping real justice from being done. Thankfully, there was one other citizen in the crowd that knew better. A man that could relate all too well to the young Grayson’s plight, and took pity on him. That man… Was Bruce Wayne.
Having no other blood relatives, Dick was made the ward of the young billionaire. He was to live in Wayne Manor, and grow up in luxury with a stranger and his butler. At least Alfred was friendly enough, so the two got on well. Bruce though, he was always distant. A guardian only in that he provided shelter and food for Dick, but not there emotionally. At least not at first. Over time Bruce grew closer to young Dick, and they bonded over their shared tragedy. Then one day Dick learned something simply unbelievable. Bruce Wayne was the legendary Batman. Oh sure, Batman wasn’t a well known public figure at the time, but there were hushed whispers, rumors, legends of a fanged monster that hunted criminals in the night, and these rumors hadn’t escaped the young Grayson even as his family traveled around the country. Bruce Wayne, no, Batman promised him that they would get justice for what had happened. Not revenge. Justice.
Dick was no stranger to rigorous and intensive training, but what Bruce put him through could only be called torture. A good kind of torture though. The kind you know you’ll come out of even better. After a few months Bruce decided that Dick was ready to hit the streets for his first real criminal encounter. This was a day that would be remembered far and wide as a great event, for it was the birth of Robin, the Boy Wonder! A duo of street level vigilantes, this was unheard of at the time! An older, more experienced man training a younger one to take up the fight, this was creating a legacy, and one that Dick lived up to well. Together they tracked down Boss Zucco and Robin personally delivered the final beating that led to the mobster’s arrest.
Years passed, and Dick continued to fight by the side of Batman as Robin. At first it had felt like Batman was real, and Bruce Wayne was merely an illusion, but as time went on something changed. The time they spent together forced the masked vigilante to become more… Caring. Compassionate. Grounded. Every day it began to feel like Batman and Bruce Wayne were growing together. And of course Robin kept growing too. Stronger, faster, more skilled and experienced. If he hadn’t mastered a new combat style or language in time, he’d be delegated to merely cleaning up the mooks while Batman would take on the real bad guys, and where was the fun in that?
But as with all good things, it couldn’t last. It had to come to an end. No matter what, Bruce kept pushing Dick harder and harder to the point that it was completely impossible to please him. Even though Dick had proven himself time and again, both as a partner and as his own hero, nothing was ever good enough for the obsessive Batman. Why, Robin had been a founding member of the Titans, and together they saved the planet multiple times! Not to mention how he always had Bruce’s back. No, it wasn’t good enough. Never was. Embittered, Dick took off to find his own path. Robin the Boy Wonder was no more.
Dick’s path of self-enlightenment was a strange one, stranger than most at least. He contemplated quitting the superhero game altogether, but quickly dismissed the idea. It was too much a part of him. The heroics, the theatrics, the thrill, it was in his blood as a Grayson. If he couldn’t quit, then what? The answer came to him in the combined wisdom of the Man of Steel and a deceased friend of his family’s: the Deadman. Feeling inspired and unburdened, Dick created a new costume and identity for himself. He took to the streets once more, this time as a solo act. This was the birth of Nightwing.
Thankfully Batman was quick to replace Dick. He didn’t resent Bruce for it, in fact he encouraged it. The Batman needed someone by his side to keep him in check. Someone with compassion, a sense of humor, a younger person to keep Batman grounded. Unfortunately that someone was Jason Todd. Dick didn’t exactly dislike Jason. Quite the contrary. He pitied the young street urchin more than anything. He just felt that Jason was unqualified for the job. Maybe time and Bruce’s intense training would temper the ball of passion and anger that was Jason Todd, Dick thought. Bruce had pulled off stranger miracles. So Nightwing left the new Dynamic Duo to their own devices, voicing his cautious approval.
Nightwing moved cities to help establish his own identity away from the Batman. Bludhaven became his prowling grounds, and in a lot of ways it was worse than Gotham ever was. In Gotham, crime started in the streets, and worked its way up. But in Bludhaven? The corruption started from the very top and trickled down. Still, it wasn’t anything that Nightwing couldn’t handle. Time went on, he kicked ass, led the Titans, and even the Justice League considered him a valuable auxiliary member in times of crisis (which, let’s be honest, was basically every other Tuesday. This is the DC universe, the “end of the world” isn’t even an acceptable excuse to miss work anymore). But again, tragedy struck. Word got out that Dick’s replacement, the young Todd, was presumed dead.
Batman became increasingly aggressive in his war on crime. He had never lost one of his own before, so it was brutalizing his very core. Recognizing the emergency situation, Dick came back to try to talk some sense into him, but it didn’t help very much. Bruce was hurting in ways that Dick couldn’t aid, but that didn’t negate the problem at hand. Batman needs a Robin. Thankfully one presented himself. Tim Drake approached Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, having deduced the identities of their alter egos. It was highly impressive detective work, but not enough for Bruce to consider a new Robin. It took much prodding, arguing, and convincing from Dick, Tim, and Alfred, but finally Bruce accepted, and Dick knew they would be fantastic partners. Relieved and believing the crisis to be over, Nightwing returned to Bludhaven.
A few more years passed, and Dick’s faith in Tim had proven to be well placed. The new Robin was fantastic in the role, and he was an even better detective than Dick was. Even if Dick didn’t keep up too well with Bruce personally, he got the 411 from Alfred and Barbara. Things got quiet for a while. Well, as quiet as they can get when you live your life pummeling bad guys into submission, anyway. And that’s when he got the call from Alfred, the one he hoped he’d never hear. Bruce was gone. Dick made a decision then and there. It was time to come home.
I just want it to be known that I'm not actually quite finished with this, but it's definitely to the point that it can be judged.
Approved. Post it in the Characters tab soon as you like. =)
