WardenCelestine
Apollosarcher
Ezekiel
Stryder BC
JFK
Deadline
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Kaithe Dame
xVampire3goN I G H T W I N GR I C H A R D J O H N ' D I C K ' G R A Y S O N ◼ M A R C H 2 1 , 1 9 9 3 ( 2 4 ) ◼ M A L E ◼ H E T E R O S E X U A L
"You'll never know if you can fly unless you take the risk of falling."▼ A P P E A R A N C E:"I know it's hard, but try to stay whelmed."//STATS:■ HEIGHT | 5'-10"
■ WEIGHT | 175 lbs
■ HAIR COLOUR | Black
■ EYE COLOUR | Blue
■ BUILD | Athletic & Lean
■ ETHNICITY | Caucasian//DESCRIPTION:Richard is a classically handsome man standing at five foot, ten inches. Matching the age old 'tall, dark and handsome', Dick possesses dark black hair and deep blue eyes. He has a highly athletic figure, having rigorously trained both with Bruce and on his own for decades. Due to this, he has a very chiseled and toned body, although much leaner than his mentor. Notably, Dick's buttocks is incredibly well toned having been noticed and complimented by many of his peers and foes over the years.▼ B I O G R A P H Y:"The criminals, the monster, the ones who dedicate themselves doing wrong need to think he can't die. They need to think he's still out there. Batman lives, always."T H E F L Y I N G G R A Y S O N SBorn on the first day of spring during one of Gotham's rare sunny days, Richard John Grayson was handed into the hands of his loving parents who looked down on their son overwhelmed with pride. Upon first looking at her newborn baby boy, Mary called the boy her 'Little Robin', relating to his birth on the Spring Solstice. This term of endearment would imprint on the young Grayson for his entire life.
Through his father, Richard comes from a line of Romani descent. The Graysons were the ancestors of a roaming gypsy family who had been part of the circus for longer than any written record could tell. However unbeknownst to them, the Graysons were also the descendant of one of Gotham's deadliest legends, a man by the name of William Cobb. Cobb lived most of his life as a Talon, a highly-feared enforcer for a group that has been all but forgotten. As such the history of William Cobb fell into obscurity, lost in a history of circus performers and Romanies. The group however, the notorious Court of Owls, would be immortalized in the haunting rhymes told children who disobeyed their parents.
Like his parents, Richard or as he preferred, Dick, lived his whole life travelling with Haly’s Circus from city to city. Trained by his parents, Mary and John Grayson, Dick was taught to be an acrobat and began performing at an early age, wowing crowds with his natural prowess on the trapeze. Together with his parents, who were both world renowned acrobats, Dick would begin his introduction to performing at a young age and essentially from birth was trained to be a performer in the circus.
His mother's nickname for him only became further enforced as Dick learned to perform on the trapeze, as Mary would constantly comment how he reminded her of a Robin while flying through the air in his red leotard. Together they were collectively known as the 'Flying Graysons' and were recognized as being one of the biggest shows in the circus business. In fact, the circus' owner Jack Haley often remarked that the Grayson's were the biggest asset to the circus' business. Known for performing without a net, the 'Flying Graysons' true trade mark was their signature quadruple somersault, a move that only the three Graysons were known to be capable of.
Travelling the world with the circus, Dick became very cultured and outgoing though his education did suffer as he was only taught what those around him knew. None the less, his quick mind grasped onto most concepts quickly and Dick was recognized among the other performers as being a very sharp kid. At the age of twelve, Dick found himself in Gotham City as the circus rolled into town for its annual performance. Dick had only ever performed in Gotham a few times previously, but that said having heard of Gotham's reputation for crime he had always been understandably nervous about leaving the circus grounds to explore the city like he had in Paris, New York, and numerous other locations.
Dick's world suddenly changed that fateful night. It was one of the biggest shows of the year as Haly's Circus had once again returned to Gotham City to help ring in the New Year. But Gotham wasn't the same place it was twelve years ago, not that it was some shiny metropolis then either, yet the city had managed to become worse. Stumbling across an argument between the circus' owner Mr. Haly and a well-known and feared crime lord by the name of "Boss" Tony Zucco. Dick hide in the shadows as he heard Zucco threaten Mr. Haly unless the circus's owner paid protection money. Being an honest and moral man, Haly refused not knowing the horrors he had released. 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. A burden of guilt came over Dick as he stood there, the realization that he could have warned his parents washing over him, downing him in anguish as he collapsed into bitter sobs.T H E B O Y W O N D E RShortly after the tragedy of his parent's death, Dick was placed in an uncaring juvenile services system, reportedly because social services were full. While in the juvenile systems, Dick found himself dragged into numerous brawls where he was beaten up by several the inmates. He was eventually passed onto a Catholic orphanage where he stayed for a couple miserable months. Though life seemed to have taken a permanent turn for the worse for the young boy, seemingly out of nowhere, infamous billionaire Bruce Wayne rescued Dick by adopting him.
Dick insisted on only being adopted as Bruce’s ward, because he did not want to replace his deceased father with the billionaire who he only knew from the tabloids. In fact, Dick originally believed that Bruce only adopted him for the good press and this was further supported by the amount of time that Dick found himself spending alone in the near empty mansion. Living with the billionaire at first felt like Dick had won the lottery, but after several weeks of growing loneliness, Dick's bitterness began to resurface. Growing frustrated by the lack of attention from his new guardian and the mystery still surrounding his parents' death, Dick snuck out of Wayne Manor one evening to solve the crime on his own - only to stumble upon Gotham's mysterious Batman, who was also investigating the murder. Feeling it would be cathartic for Dick to apprehend Zucco, the Batman allowed Dick to work with him, acknowledging their similar parallels in life.
While working with Batman, Dick began to get a familiar sense about the mysterious man. An expert in reading body language, a skill inherited from the circus and playing up to crowds it didn't take Dick long to deduce that Bruce Wayne and Batman were the same individual. Continuing their hunt, the pair succeeded in tracking down Zucco, and confronted John and Mary's murderer. But the night was hardly over as the nature of its events had allowed Batman to see a reflection of himself in Dick. A thirst for justice he could temper into an unstoppable force, Batman made the young boy the offer of a lifetime; the chance to stay on as his crime-fighting partner. Accepting wholeheartedly, Dick chose the name Robin, after the nickname his mother gave him, and his training began.
To turn Dick into a crime fighter in his own right, Bruce passed along each and every skill he himself possessed and Dick was put through a rigorous training regime. Exercise after grueling exercise nearly brought Dick to his knees, but the young acrobat managed to excel through all combat and physical based training. Where Dick struggled however was the more academic departments although he eventually overcame these obstacles once he could put his own perspective on them.
Despite the intensive training, Dick had still not been allowed in the field since the night the death of Boss Zucco. But fate had a different idea as Batman's found himself caught in the trap set by one of his many rogues. Stubborn still, Bruce refused Alfred's suggestion to send Dick into the field, but fearing for Bruce's safety and having complete confidence in Dick, Alfred made the decision to disobey Bruce and presented Dick with his first costume. Leaping into action, Robin managed to rescue Batman proving his competence once and for all.
Enjoying his first few years as Robin, Dick regarded the role as much as a job as he did it an adventure until a confrontation with Two-Face served as a rude awakening for the young hero. The former District Attorney, Harvey Dent, turned supervillain, had captured the new District Attorney along with Batman. Suspending both from a hangman's noose in a 'double gallows death-trap', the rescue of the pair fell squarely on Robin's shoulders. However, in trying to save the D.A., Robin used a batarang to cut the rope of the noose failing to account for Dent's obsession with the number two. To Robin's dismay it was a two-fold trap as he watched the floor give way, dropping the D.A. to his death. Devastated at his own failure, Robin was taken by surprise by Two-Face. The boy was savagely beaten while Batman was forced to watch, while Two-Face took no mercy on the young boy. Freeing himself, Batman jumped to Dick's aid, quickly putting an end to Two-Face's assault. This event however, scarred the young crime-fighter, haunting him for years to come. Rather than see Dick be further endangered, Batman chose to ‘fire’ his partner and sidelined the Boy Wonder.A L E A G U E O F H I S O W NDespite being ‘fired’, Dick continued to work his cases, using the resources available to him through the Batcave while the Bat himself wasn’t home. Learning that Batman had created files on each of his allies, Dick soon realized that his appearance as Robin had started a trend. Other members of the Justice League had too taken on young proteges. Reaching out to the various sidekicks, Dick began to establish contact, growing close with Wallace West who could rapidly travel to and from Gotham. Sharing stories of their heroics, the two became best of friends. Perhaps then, it was no surprise that when the mentors went missing, Wally came first to Dick. Reaching out to the other sidekicks, Dick donned the Robin costume once again, becoming the designated leader of the young team. Together with Kid Flash (Wally West), Wondergirl (Donna Troy) and Aqualad (Aqualad), the four teens set out to find and save their mentors.
Locating he Justice League didn’t take long, as the heroes soon appeared attacking the cities they had sworn to protect. An alien organism had left the Justice League under the control of a creature that wished to conquer and enslave the Earth. Working together fluidly as a team, the Titans managed to free their mentors and alongside them repel the potential alien invasion. After these events, Superman, Batman, Flash Aquaman, Wonder Woman and the rest of the league placed their support towards the idea of the young men and women becoming a heroic group, and the Titans were officially sanctioned by the Justice League.
Continuing as the team’s leader, Dick was confronted by Batman who officially returned the Boy Wonder’s former identity as Robin to him. An olive branch was extended between the two, and Batman welcomed Robin back into the Batcave. The Titans were later expanded when the quartet found themselves overwhelmed on the sands of Kahndaq. But luck was on their side as they were joined by the telepath Lilith Clay (Omen) and the recently rogue Roy Harper (Speedy - later Arsenal). Making it out of Kahndaq as a team, the Titans returned home to their base in Manhattan.
Having received a private and very privileged education from the finest teachers, paid for and provided by Bruce, Dick had completed a high school level education. Upon his return to Gotham, Dick began attending college at Hudson University splitting his time between the Titans and Manhattan and Batman in Gotham. Dick had chosen Hudson to assert his independence from Bruce. Robin started to take on solo missions as well, and found himself to be a capable crime-fighter in his own right.
Dick realized at that point he had grown up, he no longer relied on the Batman. In fact, he and the Dark Knight disagreed on crime-fighting methodology. His newfound independence and Titans' duties in New York left less time for his former commitments in Gotham City. He had also dropped out of Hudson after only one semester. Without Bruce, Dick was out on his own but was more than capable of taking care of himself. Alfred had been kind enough over the years to teach Dick the domestic side of life and revealed to the young man that Bruce had been given control of a trust fund that Dick's parents had created for him. This trust fund had been left in the hands of financial expert Lucius Fox who had grown it into a modest fortune for Dick. Thanking Alfred for everything, Dick embarked away from Gotham.O U T O F T H E S H A D O WSpending nearly a year backpacking through Europe, Dick took it upon himself to return to his Romani roots and explore the world as they had, living as a nomad and travelling from town to town. The experience was wholly enriching and exactly what Dick had needed on his trip of self discovery. Returning to North America, Dick continued his journey eventually encountering a Tamaranian named Koriand'r. Kori, as she preferred, opened Dick's eyes to the further wonders of the world as he could live vicariously through her optimistic and naive point of view about Earth. The two became rather passionately involved and were almost married at a Vegas Chapel until the ceremony was disturbed by the appearance of a mysterious young girl by the name of Raven asking the pair for aid.
The daughter of a Demon named Trigon, Raven had escaped her father's clutches and sought out the Titans believing the former teen heroes were her only hope. Reuniting with the Titans, Dick found the team was joined by newcomers Malcolm Duncan (Guardian) and Karen Beecher (Bumblebee). Repelling the demon, Dick rediscovered his self-worth among the new team. Batman, however, was less than pleased and summoned Dick to Gotham. He informed Dick that if he no longer wanted to be his partner, then Dick would have to retire as Robin repentantly. Taking his things, Dick moved out of Wayne Manor, leaving his life with Bruce behind. Helping him through this difficult time were his fellow Titans, more specifically Kori, who urged Dick to not allow Bruce to define him just as she had refused to be defined by her slavers. Realizing his journey was far from over, Dick handed over leadership of the Titans to Donna and departed.
Uncertain what to do, Dick turned to someone he knew would understand, Superman. Travelling to Metropolis, Dick sought out Superman who much to Dick's surprise recognized the former Boy Wonder. Showing Dick, the city, Clark and Dick eventually sat down for a meal where the two heroes had a heart to heart, sharing their frustrations towards Bruce and ended the night with Superman sharing a story he heard about a Kandorian hero who not unlike Dick was cast out by his family. The man had dreamed of a world ruled by justice, and set out to protect the helpless of Krypton. His identity was never revealed, he was known only as Nightwing.A K N I G H T I N B L Ü D H A V E NTaking the alias as his own mantle, Dick had moved out of Bruce’s shadow and began to cast his own. Returning to Gotham, Dick didn’t stay long as a case lead him into nearby Blüdhaven. Sitting to Gotham’s South, the city was just as crime ridden, if not worse than Gotham. After discovering twenty-two dead men had floated into Gotham's south harbor, Dick made the decision to leave Gotham to the Batman and made the move to Blüdhaven. It didn't take long after the move for Nightwing to realize that Blüdhaven was what Gotham had been before Batman arrived. Brimming with corruption to the highest levels of power, it seemed to be that whatever was too coarse or too awful for Gotham, would end up in the 'Haven. Due to his investigative training with Bruce, Dick quickly discovered that all the corruption in the city leads directly to the crime lord Blockbuster.
His arrival was however not met with warmest reception as the local law enforcement didn’t take kindly to a vigilante cleaning up their streets. Blockbuster’s enforcers also tangled with Nightwing, and he was nearly killed by a monster calling herself Orca. Had it not been for the intervention of the mysterious Huntress, Dick’s career would likely had been brought to a quick end. The Huntress brought Dick to safety, allowing him time to recover before the two departed paths on amicable terms.
Living in Bludhaven, Dick found an apartment to rent as his base of operations, while taking a job as a bartender to better keep track of both the crime and corruption in the city. Finding himself frequently battling Blockbuster's minions, Nightwing discovered the crime-lord had place a large bounty on his head. Unfortunately for Dick this attracted the wrong kind of attention leading to his own personal group of rogues such as Stallion, Lady Vic, Brutale, and Shrike, all of who attempt to claim the bounty for their own.
To fight the city’s corruption from within, Dick enrolled in the Blüdhaven Police Academy. Attending class by day and battling crime by night, Dick managed to graduate a year later with full honors. Joining the local police department, Dick aimed to work on both sides of the law as Nightwing and an officer. However, it was this growing influence that finally caught up with Dick as he caught the attention of the Court of Owls.A D A R K K N I G H TThe Court of Owls had watched Dick Grayson since the day he had been born. A direct descendent of one of their finest assassins, Dick had been chosen to be taken by the Court the night his parents died. Zucco’s murder however muddled their plans and while the Court had put the motions in play to take Dick, they were once again foiled by Bruce Wayne. Now, as an adult fully trained by the legendary Batman, Dick was even more valuable to the Court.
Dick began to receive messages, at first veiled clues and hints before they became more persistent and clear. Photographs of himself, those he cared about and even Bruce arrived and Dick was eventually forced to meet with the Court. Given an ultimatum, Dick could either work for the court both as Nightwing and as a public servant, or the Court would kill everyone Dick cared about, starting first with Bruce Wayne, then his butler. Agreeing to the conditions of the blackmail, the Court manufactured a transfer for Dick and he left the Blüdhaven Police force, transferring into Gotham’s Internal Affairs Unit.
With the Batman missing for three days, the Court is poised to have Nightwing replace the Bat as Gotham’s guardian, rendering the city under control of the Court by both night and day.▼ A B I L I T I E S & S K I L L S:"The Batman taught me, guided me, trained me. What I am, I owe to him."//ABILITIES:■ PEAK HUMAN CONDITIONING | Grayson possesses the peak athletic strength and endurance of a man who regularly engages in intensive physical exercise. As such Grayson possesses the normal human strength of a man that has intense physical workouts at the height and weight of 5"10 175 lb. While he relies more on speed and agility than strength, Grayson has shown incredible strength throughout the years. On a peak day, Grayson can press lift 350lbs, basically meaning he can lift twice his own weight above his head. Grayson's human conditioning also grants him something in the way of durability, though more specifically it's through the fact he's used to enduring pain and can ignore and work through it. This can give the impression to lesser minds that he's superhuman.
■ CHARISMATIC | Probably one of the most charistmatic people you will ever meet, despite living with Batman for five years, Dick still retains his bright and sunny disposition and as such is very easy to get along with. The former circus boy is very much still a charming performer and is a huge flirt, something that is generally returned from members of the opposite sex and even those who aren't. Grayson makes the clothes fall off faster than Tequila.
■ STEALTH | Grayson is capable of breaching high security facilities without being detected. He can even sneak up on Batman himself on occasion. He is also skilled enough to even sneak away and keep hidden from Speedsters such as Jesse Quick or others with abilities that allow them to survey environments precisely and quickly.
■ WEAPON PROFICIENCY | Due to his training with Batman, Grayson has been taught and displayed skills and proficiency in various weaponry ranging from shurikens (which the Batfamily uses in the forms of Wing-Dings and Batarangs), to eskrima sticks and staves to swords and even bows to various modern firearms.
■ BEST BUTT IN THE DCU | Dick Grayson has the finest ass in the entire world. It's a fact, deal with it.//SKILLS:■ MASTER ACROBAT | Grayson is a prodigious natural athlete, possessing a peak human level of agility/acrobatic skills. He is generally regarded as the greatest human acrobat in the world. Batman himself is an incredible athlete in agility, but even he can admit that Grayson's skill surpasses his own. Grayson is the only person on Earth who can do the quadruple somersault (formerly one of three, the other two being his parents).
■ MASTER MARTIAL ARTIST | He is a master of many martial arts disciplines with an emphasis on Aikido, Jeet Kune Do, Escrima, Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Wing Chun, Hapkido, Jiu-jitsu, Shotokan Karate, Savate, Kendo, Ninjitsu, Boxing and Tang Soo Do . He has effectively combined the martial arts he has mastered into a unique style that suits his strengths. This makes him a challenging opponent for even the world's best martial artists.
■ MASTER OF DISGUISE | Taught by the Batman in the art of disguise, like his mentor, Grayson had mastered the art of disguise by the time he was 21. Grayson has used many aliases to infiltrate the underworld or just to go undercover in public situations. However unlike Batman, Grayson doesn't keep a standing collection of identities and instead invents them on an as needed basis.
■ EXPERT DRIVER | Grayson is proficient at driving many vehicles like cars, motor bikes, trucks and he is also skillful at driving jets, helicopters and auto boats and small ships.
■ EXPERT ESCAPOLOGIST | Due to his training with Batman, he possess extreme skill in escapology. Grayson has shown such proficiency as escaping a straightjacket in 4.5 seconds and was able to use a Tibetan Mind Technique to escape virtual reality. Grayson has even been able to escape a maze faster than Wally West due to his training under Batman.
■ EXPERT MARKSMAN | Grayson is skilled enough to use modified Shuriken (Wing-Dings) to hit thugs at a great distance with his eyes closed, despite even giving him a head-start and disarm others with his wingdings. He is also capable of using firearms, as he was trained by Batman to do in order to gain a better understanding to disarm those who use them.
■ SKILLED DETECTIVE | Grayson is a world class detective, though not quite as proficient as Batman. In light of that, Grayson has been said to be third to Batman who is widely regarded as the 'World's Greatest Detective'. Grayson was able to solve a riddle by the Riddler before Batman himself even figured it out and this was before Grayson had become Robin. Furthermore, he has been known to solve mysteries and cases in a speed that even impresses his mentor. Barbara Gordon even commented that he was able to solve 4 cases in "America's Most Wanted" in a single morning and solved a homicidal case that went unsolved for 14 years.
■ SKILLED HACKER | He is skilled enough to hack into the Batcomputer emergency override codes during a time when he and Bruce had a falling out following his evolution from Robin to Nightwing. During his travels with Kori, Grayson also hacked a Alien Terminal with the use of the Tameranian Language he had learned from former teammate and romantic interest Starfire.
■ SKILLED MULTI-LINGUIST | Having had the finest education as Bruce Wayne's ward, he speaks with fluency in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Farsi (Persian), Mandarin and Cantonese, and has some knowledge of Romany and the alien language of Tamaran.
■ SKILLED TRACKER | Gryason has been trained in hunting techniques by Batman who learned by the way of the African Bushmen (the Ghost Tribes of the Ten-eyed Brotherhood, among others). As such Grayson's skills are quite considerable both in natural and urban environments.
Approved.
