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Richard 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.
”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.
Psyga315 From Shadows
Member
Seen
2 yrs ago
Name: Anton Bolton
Age: 43
Alias: Razor Bat
Appearance: Anton Bolton - Razor Bat
Skills/Abilities: He is a tech genius whose specialty is creating apps for smartphones. As Razor Bat, he is able to program those apps into his suit. This includes having an HUD that monitors the health of people as well as the ability to create way points by routing his GPS program. However, his signature app is the ability to turn any Razor-made phone into a receiver, making him able to get a sonar map of whatever it sees in a five foot radius. However, its limitations are that the phones must be not only active, but within an area that has cellphone reception. If the phone is shut off or under heavy concrete, he's not getting its info. Other than regular apps you find on a smartphone and two grappling hooks on the sides of his belt, Razor Bat lacks in gadgetry compared to the other Bat Family members. However, what he lacks in tech, he more than makes up for in armor. Not only is the suit made of heavy armor capable of surviving a fifty foot drop and taking fifty bullets before it gets a scratch, but his gauntlets can pack a punch due to the hardness of the metal.
Weaknesses: He has a willingness to spare villains, not out of moral compasses, but rather because he knows Gotham's prison system is a revolving door and that he'll never run out of bad guys to stomp for the purpose of promoting his company. His other weakness is the overwhelming sense of egotism that he had poured into Razor Limited. If he feels like his brand's being insulted, he will stop at nothing to ensure that the insulters are taken care of and may take great joy in it.
History: Anton Bolton was the wealthy president of Razor Limited, makers of the popular smartphone Razor. However, five years ago, scandal hit his company when it was revealed that Razor's newest app allowed for companies to get a sonar image from the phones, allowing them to see and locate where ever people are. People were furious with this breach of privacy and while Anton was able to do some PR control, he was forced to retire and hand the company to his son, John Bolton. For the next five years, he stewed away in his home, watching as his company dwindled into obscurity. The straw that broke the camel's back was when he read up on his son's emails and noticed that a deal would be made in which Razor Limited would be bought out with a rival company: Wayne Enterprises. He called his son out on selling out the company, which led to a heated argument where John reveals that, with the damaged reputation that Razor had, it was forced to gain good publicity by merging with an already great company. Furious, Anton left and spent the next few days holed up in a motel as he glued his eyes to the news, watching closely on the economy for the deal between Razor and Wayne to be struck. As he did so, he also watched footage of Batman beating up criminals and how he managed to get publicity. The wheels in his head turned when news of Batman disappeared and left a hole in Gotham that needed to be filled. With Batman gone, Anton felt like this would be the chance to promote his brand. Creating a suit from the technology at his company, Anton set out to fight Gotham's nasties as the Razor Bat.
Age: 43
Alias: Razor Bat
Appearance: Anton Bolton - Razor Bat
Skills/Abilities: He is a tech genius whose specialty is creating apps for smartphones. As Razor Bat, he is able to program those apps into his suit. This includes having an HUD that monitors the health of people as well as the ability to create way points by routing his GPS program. However, his signature app is the ability to turn any Razor-made phone into a receiver, making him able to get a sonar map of whatever it sees in a five foot radius. However, its limitations are that the phones must be not only active, but within an area that has cellphone reception. If the phone is shut off or under heavy concrete, he's not getting its info. Other than regular apps you find on a smartphone and two grappling hooks on the sides of his belt, Razor Bat lacks in gadgetry compared to the other Bat Family members. However, what he lacks in tech, he more than makes up for in armor. Not only is the suit made of heavy armor capable of surviving a fifty foot drop and taking fifty bullets before it gets a scratch, but his gauntlets can pack a punch due to the hardness of the metal.
Weaknesses: He has a willingness to spare villains, not out of moral compasses, but rather because he knows Gotham's prison system is a revolving door and that he'll never run out of bad guys to stomp for the purpose of promoting his company. His other weakness is the overwhelming sense of egotism that he had poured into Razor Limited. If he feels like his brand's being insulted, he will stop at nothing to ensure that the insulters are taken care of and may take great joy in it.
History: Anton Bolton was the wealthy president of Razor Limited, makers of the popular smartphone Razor. However, five years ago, scandal hit his company when it was revealed that Razor's newest app allowed for companies to get a sonar image from the phones, allowing them to see and locate where ever people are. People were furious with this breach of privacy and while Anton was able to do some PR control, he was forced to retire and hand the company to his son, John Bolton. For the next five years, he stewed away in his home, watching as his company dwindled into obscurity. The straw that broke the camel's back was when he read up on his son's emails and noticed that a deal would be made in which Razor Limited would be bought out with a rival company: Wayne Enterprises. He called his son out on selling out the company, which led to a heated argument where John reveals that, with the damaged reputation that Razor had, it was forced to gain good publicity by merging with an already great company. Furious, Anton left and spent the next few days holed up in a motel as he glued his eyes to the news, watching closely on the economy for the deal between Razor and Wayne to be struck. As he did so, he also watched footage of Batman beating up criminals and how he managed to get publicity. The wheels in his head turned when news of Batman disappeared and left a hole in Gotham that needed to be filled. With Batman gone, Anton felt like this would be the chance to promote his brand. Creating a suit from the technology at his company, Anton set out to fight Gotham's nasties as the Razor Bat.
LePouvantail
Member
Seen
2 yrs ago
Name: Jonathan Crane
Age: 47
Alias: The Scarecrow
Appearance: 6'3", pale, messy brown hair, piercing blue eyes, tall, wiry frame. Out of costume, he wears old, but neat clothes (normally just a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and slacks), square-rimmed glasses. Crane does have numerous circular and long scars on his back, chest, legs, and arms from childhood. While the scars on his forearms and hands have healed enough to hardly be noticed, he is self-conscious about the others and even in the summer has been known to wear pants and long sleeves. Due to a run-in with Killer Croc years ago, he has his left leg in a brace.
Crane’s costume has changed numerous times over the years, but he will adapt any image that looks fearsome and resembles his moniker, though he often finds himself going to the basics: trench coats, hats that hide his eyes, cloth masks. Things like this:
Minus that fancy yellow accessory. (Damn you, Luthor!)
Or this:
But thanks to his previously mentioned run-in with Croc, the question comes as to whether or not his mask is just that...or what’s left of his face. Either way, he seems to enjoy the look, and isn’t telling anytime soon.
Personality: Jonathan is almost a literal mask personality. While he does not suffer from Dissociative Identity Disorder, schizophrenia, or any similar disorder, it is notable that out of costume, he is much meeker and seclusive, more willing to submit and even show what’s left of his humanity, while in costume, he all but becomes a monster. Though this was much more prominent in his early criminal years, and while Jonathan has since given into the Scarecrow persona he built for himself, there are still shades of this, particularly in his rare moments of clarity in his madness.
Without the mask, he is normally very secluded and quiet, and enjoys nothing more than to settle down with a good book. Books are his particular comfort, as they both gave him reprieve from the world’s cruelties in childhood, and empowered him with the knowledge to change his situation. He cherishes them above everything else, to the point where he will wear out his clothes, starve, or let himself get hurt if it means a book will be taken care of. While he feels very little in terms of other human beings, often considering them hardly more than lab rats for his twisted experiments, Jonathan does have something resembling a soft spot for those facing horrific abuse or bullying, and at times has stepped in to protect such souls in his own twisted way (often landing him back in Arkham, but it’s the thought that counts, isn’t it?). Aside from books, fear, and chemistry, Jonathan’s other true love is teaching. While his insanity and obsessions have eaten his mind over the years, he has always held a desire to teach, and it is one of the increasingly few ways to connect with him on a more human level.
With the mask, the Scarecrow is a cruel, sadistic creature who initially hunted down those who wronged him, but like a virus, the feeling of power he gained from other peoples’ fear lead him to create bigger and greater thrills. The mask started as a way for him to feel more confident in his work, and is almost a Frankenstein's monster in and of itself for what the persona tied to it has done to Jonathan's mind. No longer content with childhood bullies and family who betrayed him, the Scarecrow turned to unleashing his twisted experiments on this city in his twisted games with the Batman, whom he simultaneously fears and respects. He doesn't just seek to control fear. He wants to become it, and he sees Batman as a hindrance to that goal: take out the Bat, and he will become what Gotham fears the most.
Very, very rarely does Jonathan find a balance between two extremes, where he functions on an almost normal level and craves a simpler life, often taking a new identity to attempt to go straight build a new life for himself. These rare attempts always inevitably fail, either due to interference with the Batman, his own lust for fear and power, and/or circumstances beyond his control ruin what little peace and happiness he gained.
Skills/Abilities: Able to read and manipulate people, and he is very in tune with picking it out fear in others; often he can actually smell it. Proficient in chemistry; he uses this knowledge to create his fear serums and toxins. Crane is not much of a fighter, but has his variant of the crane-style kung-fu which he refers to as "violent dancing": a defensive tactic to keep an enemy at bay, though this is often a last-resort. He can also wield and utilize a scythe, and does have decent marksmanship with small handguns---he did start his criminal career as a hitman, after all, and often uses small tranquilizer guns to hit targets with fear serum darts at longer ranges. At times, he dons a needle glove.
Weaknesses: Crane is physically no threat; most of his fighting moves are for defense purposes that maybe buy him a few minutes at best to run, and is usually taken down pretty easily with a sock to the jaw. His fear experiments over the years, while granting him immunity to his own fear serum, have ironically left him susceptible to other psychotropic drugs. His criminal years and habit of experimenting on himself have taken their toll on his mind and body; Crane is very aware that he may not live to see 50 either due to his health choices, or due to the enemies he’s made over the years and simply doesn’t care. One could say he is addicted to fear itself, as his self-experiments often push his own mental limits, and as a result, he is nearly devoid of all other emotion. Crane also suffers from ornithophobia---a fear of birds, and chiroptophobia---a fear of bats. While the latter is obvious, at times, he will have a crow companion at his side, as a ploy to keep his enemies from figuring out the former. Despite this, Crane has embraced and even weaponized his fears to use against his enemies. Some childhood trauma has also never left him: while he is very good at keeping this particular fear hidden, even into adulthood, he never quite got over his fear of Mary, and some of her “teachings” affect how he sees himself and makes his choices. Crane also has some deadly thrill-seeker vibes: when his fear serum no longer does the trick and Batman isn't around to terrify him, he may actively seek out danger to try to spark even a hint of fear, to the potential detriment of his life.
History: Jonathan Crane was born in Arlen, Georgia. His father, Gerald Crane, abandoned him before he was born, and his mother, Karen Keeny, disappeared shortly after giving birth. Whether she abandoned him of her own volition or was coerced doesn’t matter, only that he was raised by his great-grandmother, Mary Keeny, who in his own words, "maintained him," and raised him in a loveless atmosphere. Mary was a religious sadist, often turning a blind eye to Jonathan’s torment at school, and enjoyed making him work long hours in the cornfield. Whenever she felt he stepped out of line, Mary punished him by locking him in an old church/aviary and allowing the crows to come down and attack him. This particular punishment left scars on Crane’s body as well as his mind. It also lead to Mary’s ironic demise when he learned how she trained them and turned the tables on her---while he was still in high school.
He was never liked at school, and was often the victim of cruel and malicious pranks by his peers. Because of his thin, almost emaciated-looking form, he was often compared to Ichabod Crane from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. He was also often compared to a scarecrow, a moniker from which he later took his criminal alias. With Mary’s demise under his belt, Crane started utilizing his newfound knowledge to start getting back at his tormentors, often with mixed results. The most notable incident was the night of his senior prom, where his scare tactics lead to one car swerving off the road and paralyzing his longtime enemy, Bo Griggs, for life, and the death of Griggs' girlfriend, Sherry Squires, whom Crane had once adored. (She should have been wearing her seatbelt!)
After graduating from high school, Crane continued both his studies of fear and of chemistry. He started his tenure as a professor of subliminal psychology under his mentor, Professor Pigeon. A promising young teacher and emboldened with an outstanding record, Crane utilized a rather unorthodox lesson to make a point about his theory about the power of fear: he fired a blank during on of his student’s lectures. While his lesson inspired all As that term, it cost him his career.
Unable to teach again, Crane turned to his other loves---fear and chemistry---and set out on a criminal career as the Scarecrow, starting out as a killer-for-hire and leaving pieces of straw as a calling card, an act that caught the attention of the Batman and ignited their rivalry.
During his first year as the Scarecrow, Jonathan lead the Batman along a killing spree, in which he targeted friends and family for their various wrongs: Professor Pigeon, who failed to defend him prior to his dismissal, the grandmother who wanted him dead as a baby, Gerald Crane who abandoned him, Karen Keeny who dared to start a new life with a new child, and his baby half-sister who would have been given the fair chance at life that he never had. All of this built up to the opportunity for him to see Gotham’s savior tremble in terror. Batman and Robin managed to stop him from killing the latter three, though not before Crane had instilled a good bit of terror into both of his parents. In their final showdown, Crane supposedly drowned in a river just off Karen’s property.
When he resurfaced again, the Scarecrow continued his on-going quest to understand the nature and origins of fear, his schemes often involving turning Gotham's citizens into unwilling pawns for his experiments. Most of his later schemes have graduated from personal vendettas to citywide chaos, though whenever an old enemy resurfaces, he makes it a point to hunt them down and make them suffer. Once in a while, however, Crane has utilized his knowledge of fear and phobias to try to help another, such as his best student, Molly Randall, by terrorizing the boy who hurt her, Becky Albright by giving her the chance to turn the tables on her tormentors (she refused), and Lindsey, whom he encouraged to face her fears and take down several classmates who made her life hell.
Putting him in Arkham has arguably made the Scarecrow more dangerous, as he has had access---and at times made himself an ally to---the likes of the Mad Hatter and the Joker. He does also get along with some of the other inmates, such as Harley Quinn.
In later years, however, Crane's experiments have taken a toll on his health. His own fear serum, after numerous uses, has made him unable to feel fear at all, and as it stands, he has yet to find a permanent way to fix this. As mentioned, he has to use a leg brace, but walks just fine with it. His numerous run-ins with the Batfamily, in particular the Batman, have done their work on his mind, often leaving him broken and fragile after an encounter and forcing him to build himself up again and again, with each time sacrificing more of his humanity as he allows his obsession with fear to grow stronger.
Age: 47
Alias: The Scarecrow
Appearance: 6'3", pale, messy brown hair, piercing blue eyes, tall, wiry frame. Out of costume, he wears old, but neat clothes (normally just a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and slacks), square-rimmed glasses. Crane does have numerous circular and long scars on his back, chest, legs, and arms from childhood. While the scars on his forearms and hands have healed enough to hardly be noticed, he is self-conscious about the others and even in the summer has been known to wear pants and long sleeves. Due to a run-in with Killer Croc years ago, he has his left leg in a brace.
Crane’s costume has changed numerous times over the years, but he will adapt any image that looks fearsome and resembles his moniker, though he often finds himself going to the basics: trench coats, hats that hide his eyes, cloth masks. Things like this:
Minus that fancy yellow accessory. (Damn you, Luthor!)
Or this:
But thanks to his previously mentioned run-in with Croc, the question comes as to whether or not his mask is just that...or what’s left of his face. Either way, he seems to enjoy the look, and isn’t telling anytime soon.
Personality: Jonathan is almost a literal mask personality. While he does not suffer from Dissociative Identity Disorder, schizophrenia, or any similar disorder, it is notable that out of costume, he is much meeker and seclusive, more willing to submit and even show what’s left of his humanity, while in costume, he all but becomes a monster. Though this was much more prominent in his early criminal years, and while Jonathan has since given into the Scarecrow persona he built for himself, there are still shades of this, particularly in his rare moments of clarity in his madness.
Without the mask, he is normally very secluded and quiet, and enjoys nothing more than to settle down with a good book. Books are his particular comfort, as they both gave him reprieve from the world’s cruelties in childhood, and empowered him with the knowledge to change his situation. He cherishes them above everything else, to the point where he will wear out his clothes, starve, or let himself get hurt if it means a book will be taken care of. While he feels very little in terms of other human beings, often considering them hardly more than lab rats for his twisted experiments, Jonathan does have something resembling a soft spot for those facing horrific abuse or bullying, and at times has stepped in to protect such souls in his own twisted way (often landing him back in Arkham, but it’s the thought that counts, isn’t it?). Aside from books, fear, and chemistry, Jonathan’s other true love is teaching. While his insanity and obsessions have eaten his mind over the years, he has always held a desire to teach, and it is one of the increasingly few ways to connect with him on a more human level.
With the mask, the Scarecrow is a cruel, sadistic creature who initially hunted down those who wronged him, but like a virus, the feeling of power he gained from other peoples’ fear lead him to create bigger and greater thrills. The mask started as a way for him to feel more confident in his work, and is almost a Frankenstein's monster in and of itself for what the persona tied to it has done to Jonathan's mind. No longer content with childhood bullies and family who betrayed him, the Scarecrow turned to unleashing his twisted experiments on this city in his twisted games with the Batman, whom he simultaneously fears and respects. He doesn't just seek to control fear. He wants to become it, and he sees Batman as a hindrance to that goal: take out the Bat, and he will become what Gotham fears the most.
Very, very rarely does Jonathan find a balance between two extremes, where he functions on an almost normal level and craves a simpler life, often taking a new identity to attempt to go straight build a new life for himself. These rare attempts always inevitably fail, either due to interference with the Batman, his own lust for fear and power, and/or circumstances beyond his control ruin what little peace and happiness he gained.
Skills/Abilities: Able to read and manipulate people, and he is very in tune with picking it out fear in others; often he can actually smell it. Proficient in chemistry; he uses this knowledge to create his fear serums and toxins. Crane is not much of a fighter, but has his variant of the crane-style kung-fu which he refers to as "violent dancing": a defensive tactic to keep an enemy at bay, though this is often a last-resort. He can also wield and utilize a scythe, and does have decent marksmanship with small handguns---he did start his criminal career as a hitman, after all, and often uses small tranquilizer guns to hit targets with fear serum darts at longer ranges. At times, he dons a needle glove.
Weaknesses: Crane is physically no threat; most of his fighting moves are for defense purposes that maybe buy him a few minutes at best to run, and is usually taken down pretty easily with a sock to the jaw. His fear experiments over the years, while granting him immunity to his own fear serum, have ironically left him susceptible to other psychotropic drugs. His criminal years and habit of experimenting on himself have taken their toll on his mind and body; Crane is very aware that he may not live to see 50 either due to his health choices, or due to the enemies he’s made over the years and simply doesn’t care. One could say he is addicted to fear itself, as his self-experiments often push his own mental limits, and as a result, he is nearly devoid of all other emotion. Crane also suffers from ornithophobia---a fear of birds, and chiroptophobia---a fear of bats. While the latter is obvious, at times, he will have a crow companion at his side, as a ploy to keep his enemies from figuring out the former. Despite this, Crane has embraced and even weaponized his fears to use against his enemies. Some childhood trauma has also never left him: while he is very good at keeping this particular fear hidden, even into adulthood, he never quite got over his fear of Mary, and some of her “teachings” affect how he sees himself and makes his choices. Crane also has some deadly thrill-seeker vibes: when his fear serum no longer does the trick and Batman isn't around to terrify him, he may actively seek out danger to try to spark even a hint of fear, to the potential detriment of his life.
History: Jonathan Crane was born in Arlen, Georgia. His father, Gerald Crane, abandoned him before he was born, and his mother, Karen Keeny, disappeared shortly after giving birth. Whether she abandoned him of her own volition or was coerced doesn’t matter, only that he was raised by his great-grandmother, Mary Keeny, who in his own words, "maintained him," and raised him in a loveless atmosphere. Mary was a religious sadist, often turning a blind eye to Jonathan’s torment at school, and enjoyed making him work long hours in the cornfield. Whenever she felt he stepped out of line, Mary punished him by locking him in an old church/aviary and allowing the crows to come down and attack him. This particular punishment left scars on Crane’s body as well as his mind. It also lead to Mary’s ironic demise when he learned how she trained them and turned the tables on her---while he was still in high school.
He was never liked at school, and was often the victim of cruel and malicious pranks by his peers. Because of his thin, almost emaciated-looking form, he was often compared to Ichabod Crane from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. He was also often compared to a scarecrow, a moniker from which he later took his criminal alias. With Mary’s demise under his belt, Crane started utilizing his newfound knowledge to start getting back at his tormentors, often with mixed results. The most notable incident was the night of his senior prom, where his scare tactics lead to one car swerving off the road and paralyzing his longtime enemy, Bo Griggs, for life, and the death of Griggs' girlfriend, Sherry Squires, whom Crane had once adored. (She should have been wearing her seatbelt!)
After graduating from high school, Crane continued both his studies of fear and of chemistry. He started his tenure as a professor of subliminal psychology under his mentor, Professor Pigeon. A promising young teacher and emboldened with an outstanding record, Crane utilized a rather unorthodox lesson to make a point about his theory about the power of fear: he fired a blank during on of his student’s lectures. While his lesson inspired all As that term, it cost him his career.
Unable to teach again, Crane turned to his other loves---fear and chemistry---and set out on a criminal career as the Scarecrow, starting out as a killer-for-hire and leaving pieces of straw as a calling card, an act that caught the attention of the Batman and ignited their rivalry.
During his first year as the Scarecrow, Jonathan lead the Batman along a killing spree, in which he targeted friends and family for their various wrongs: Professor Pigeon, who failed to defend him prior to his dismissal, the grandmother who wanted him dead as a baby, Gerald Crane who abandoned him, Karen Keeny who dared to start a new life with a new child, and his baby half-sister who would have been given the fair chance at life that he never had. All of this built up to the opportunity for him to see Gotham’s savior tremble in terror. Batman and Robin managed to stop him from killing the latter three, though not before Crane had instilled a good bit of terror into both of his parents. In their final showdown, Crane supposedly drowned in a river just off Karen’s property.
When he resurfaced again, the Scarecrow continued his on-going quest to understand the nature and origins of fear, his schemes often involving turning Gotham's citizens into unwilling pawns for his experiments. Most of his later schemes have graduated from personal vendettas to citywide chaos, though whenever an old enemy resurfaces, he makes it a point to hunt them down and make them suffer. Once in a while, however, Crane has utilized his knowledge of fear and phobias to try to help another, such as his best student, Molly Randall, by terrorizing the boy who hurt her, Becky Albright by giving her the chance to turn the tables on her tormentors (she refused), and Lindsey, whom he encouraged to face her fears and take down several classmates who made her life hell.
Putting him in Arkham has arguably made the Scarecrow more dangerous, as he has had access---and at times made himself an ally to---the likes of the Mad Hatter and the Joker. He does also get along with some of the other inmates, such as Harley Quinn.
In later years, however, Crane's experiments have taken a toll on his health. His own fear serum, after numerous uses, has made him unable to feel fear at all, and as it stands, he has yet to find a permanent way to fix this. As mentioned, he has to use a leg brace, but walks just fine with it. His numerous run-ins with the Batfamily, in particular the Batman, have done their work on his mind, often leaving him broken and fragile after an encounter and forcing him to build himself up again and again, with each time sacrificing more of his humanity as he allows his obsession with fear to grow stronger.
HalfOfLancelot What's worse: being heartbroke or roachbit?
Member
Seen
3 yrs ago
<Snipped quote by HalfOfLancelot>
Gotham is filled to the brim with insanely sexy women.
Good luck!
Aha
While I admire a woman's attractiveness (multiple different kinds of beauty and the aesthetic appeal of a lady's silhouette), I'm more of a... uh man's man, if you know what I'm saying. ;D
GM
Ruby No One Cares
Member
Seen
7 days ago
<Snipped quote by Ruby>
Aha
While I admire a woman's attractiveness (multiple different kinds of beauty and the aesthetic appeal of a lady's silhouette), I'm more of a... uh man's man, if you know what I'm saying. ;D
I killed Batman because he was just too sexy.
3x Laugh
@Ruby
Hey Ruby! It's been a long time! I enjoyed playing with you in that one Gotham RP from way back even if it all devolved into a mess so I was thinking of joining up for this!
I was considering playing Richard Dragon as having retired from spy work to run a small martial arts school in Gotham teaching self-defense and martial arts for underpriviledged kids while trying to keep his little corner of the city safe with Batman's disappearance, maybe getting involved in the wider storylines as well?
I also have some OC ideas, but they mostly involve a reluctant but talented child or teen assassin being used by whatever faction would be appropriate and interacting with the other cast members along the way and being potentially changed by them or...well I have a couple different plot ideas for that.
That or maybe a hard-boiled detective type or journalist investigating Nykawa and other stuff going on in the wake of Batman's disappearance?
I have some other stuff if none of that appeals or slots are already taken for characters similar to that
HalfOfLancelot What's worse: being heartbroke or roachbit?
Member
Seen
3 yrs ago
<Snipped quote by HalfOfLancelot>
I killed Batman because he was just too sexy.
Oh no.
This does not bode well for any of the characters. Leave my sons out of this. The Robins (minus bratty asshole Damian) don't deserve this kind of treatment!
GM
Ruby No One Cares
Member
Seen
7 days ago
<Snipped quote by Ruby>
Oh no.
This does not bode well for any of the characters. Leave my sons out of this. The Robins (minus bratty asshole Damian) don't deserve this kind of treatment!
I joke, I joke. <3
Poor Robins, killed before their time.
...I do tend to try 'find some way to make Damian a sympathetic/not-entirely-hateable character as a consistent personal challenge in Gotham/Batman RPs usually, but I don't feel like working to my own cliches.
...I do tend to try 'find some way to make Damian a sympathetic/not-entirely-hateable character as a consistent personal challenge in Gotham/Batman RPs usually, but I don't feel like working to my own cliches.
Fabricant451 Queen of Hearts
Member
Seen
2 mos ago
Poor Robins, killed before their time.
...I do tend to try 'find some way to make Damian a sympathetic/not-entirely-hateable character as a consistent personal challenge in Gotham/Batman RPs usually, but I don't feel like working to my own cliches.
Just do what the latest animated movie did and have him learn to be a nice person thanks to the power of boners and goth girls.
1x Like
and take the easy way out? Nah.
Byrd Man El Hombre Pájaro
Member
Seen
10 days ago
Name: Samuel Bradley
Age: 44
Alias: Slam Bradley
Appearance:
Skills/Abilities: No powers. Slam is an adept fighter with boxing and police firearm training. He is also a skilled detective with over twenty years experience as cop.
Weaknesses: Bullets, booze, and broads.
History:
Samuel "Slam" Bradley grew up in Gotham's East End. A tough neighborhood, Slam was a scrapper and boxed Golden Gloves as a teen. After a knee injury ended his boxing career, Slam went into the only profession that would take a lug like himself: a cop.
Starting out as a beat cop, Slam eventually made detective and worked his way through assignments until he became a sergeant with the GCPD's Homicide Bureau. Partnered with Detective James Gordon, Slam and Jim were among the few non-corrupt officers in the GCPD. Fighting against the corrupt department and the everyday bleakness of the job had Slam on the verge of burnout until the case that killed his career came along.
It started out simple enough, a dead hooker found in a back alley. The case began to spin out of control, implicating a state senator, a high-end call girl service, and half of Gotham's politicians. The brass tried to bump Slam off of the case, but he refused to leave. In the end, he was dismissed from the GCPD on trumped up charges, accused of fraud because of a mislabeled time sheet. Out of a job, Slam took his connections and investigation skills and branched out on his own as a private investigator. When he's not tipping a bottle, he works as a PI for hire in and around the city.
Age: 44
Alias: Slam Bradley
Appearance:
Skills/Abilities: No powers. Slam is an adept fighter with boxing and police firearm training. He is also a skilled detective with over twenty years experience as cop.
Weaknesses: Bullets, booze, and broads.
History:
Samuel "Slam" Bradley grew up in Gotham's East End. A tough neighborhood, Slam was a scrapper and boxed Golden Gloves as a teen. After a knee injury ended his boxing career, Slam went into the only profession that would take a lug like himself: a cop.
Starting out as a beat cop, Slam eventually made detective and worked his way through assignments until he became a sergeant with the GCPD's Homicide Bureau. Partnered with Detective James Gordon, Slam and Jim were among the few non-corrupt officers in the GCPD. Fighting against the corrupt department and the everyday bleakness of the job had Slam on the verge of burnout until the case that killed his career came along.
It started out simple enough, a dead hooker found in a back alley. The case began to spin out of control, implicating a state senator, a high-end call girl service, and half of Gotham's politicians. The brass tried to bump Slam off of the case, but he refused to leave. In the end, he was dismissed from the GCPD on trumped up charges, accused of fraud because of a mislabeled time sheet. Out of a job, Slam took his connections and investigation skills and branched out on his own as a private investigator. When he's not tipping a bottle, he works as a PI for hire in and around the city.
GM
Ruby No One Cares
Member
Seen
7 days ago
Richard 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. =)
Not sure if the child hitman idea is too much of a cliche...I mean I'd try not to write it as such, give it depth and pathos and not make it overly grim, but conceptually...
GM
Ruby No One Cares
Member
Seen
7 days ago
Poor Robins, killed before their time.
...I do tend to try 'find some way to make Damian a sympathetic/not-entirely-hateable character as a consistent personal challenge in Gotham/Batman RPs usually, but I don't feel like working to my own cliches.
A sadness. I've rather enjoyed your Damian in the past, and we do need a Damian.
GM
Ruby No One Cares
Member
Seen
7 days ago
and take the easy way out? Nah.
Take the difficult path: go through Talia.
If we need one then I'll be it. One of my character ideas was fairly similar...but Damian
s not a particularly well liked character and I might have better luck with something else? Besides, my Damian's personality was at least somewhat altered.
s not a particularly well liked character and I might have better luck with something else? Besides, my Damian's personality was at least somewhat altered.
coGM
I feel like I'm the only person who loves Damian, but I maaaaay have a little bias
I like him, which is why I tend to play him. But I don't play him well XD
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