I’m also going to put Kara aside, since I don’t feel comfortable with her being older than Dick frickin’ Grayson, ...
Or, you know, you could make Kara 11/12 and we could do our own version of Superman/Batman in which Robin heroically puts gum in her hair. For great justice.
The Boy Wonder • Richard “Dick” Grayson • 11 (b. 1957) Vigilante based in Gotham City, New Jersey Part Time since Summer Vacation 1967
The story of a circus kid whose parents are murdered as part of an organized crime shake-down is arguably even more iconic in Batman lore than the tragedy of Bruce Wayne. Keeping that intact, Dick will be entering the story at the end of his first year as Robin. The events of Robin: Year One will then be told backwards through a series of flashbacks that will coincide with several thematic stories based upon "Streets of Gotham" and updated to the period of 1968 - the focus of which will examine race and class divisions in Gotham and Bludhaven in a variety of crime and "slice of life" stories centered around drugs, poverty, crime, and race relations. He'll also be showcasing the transition from Beatlemania to Psychodelic Rock as the counterculture present in young society continues to evolve and progress. In this, Alfred will be a foil to him (representing the culture of the 1940s and 1950s).
The key takeaway here is that Dick is an Olympic-level acrobat and gymnast. What he's not is leet, a ninja, or a leet ninja. He's awkward, impulsive, and has no idea what he's actually doing. But he's figuring it out (not really). This is Robin starting out, still sheltered by the shadow of the Bat, but braving the notion of independence.
I wanted to take a more realistic approach to Robin's design, while not tossing out the iconic elements of the Golden Age characterization. So, I adopted Tim's cape with an otherwise traditional design. Because pixie boots!
• Sergeant Renee Montoya, GCPD
The daughter of immigrants from Santo Domingo, Renee is one of only a few women on the Gotham City Police, and assigned to juvenile and domestic crimes. She's been advocating for assignment to Major Crimes, but thus far has been told to leave the real police work for men to handle. As a minority, and a woman, she's frequently spoken for and her contributions marginalized. As she's noticed cases that the predominantly white detectives are letting slip, typically involving subjects of low class, she's begun to take up the cause of the down trodden and the forgotten.
• Lucas Fox
One of Lucius Fox's three children. He attends Brentwood Academy, along with Dick, where he's the only black student. The two are friends, making them partners in crime when Dick's not in uniform.
• Alfred Pennyworth
Along with Bruce Wayne, Alfred is a second surrogate parent to Dick. The two tend to clash over what's playing on the radio however.
• Detective Harvey Bullock, GCPD
Though his colleagues will all swear that Harvey is a good cop, the man is a wrecking ball with a badge. If your money is white, Harvey's been known to look the other way. Subjects guilty of being black on a Friday night have complained about excessive force, false arrest, and outright burglary. And Harvey's ties to organized crime make it questionable just where the man's loyalties lie.
• Anthony "Fats" Zucco
The man behind an extortion racket that spans Gotham, Bludhaven, and Atlantic City. His mafioso gang was behind the Haley's Circus massacre in 1967. He's opposed to the Falcone Family, the mafia from which his own upstart organization broke off from.
• Waylon Jones (Killer Croc)
One of the circus "freaks" who toured with Haley's Circus, Waylon's monstrous appearance appealed to audiences, who paid to watch him wrestle crocodiles. Unhappy with his pay or "side show" status within the circus, Waylon fell into working for Tony Zucco's gang as muscle. This made him a suspect when the Flying Grayson's death in 1967 opened up an investigation by both police and the Batman, driving Jones underground.
• "Mother" (Real Name Unknown)
A kindly old lady who volunteers at an orphanage-turned-school-for-girls in Bludhaven, connected with St. Bernadine's Church and the Gotham Diocese. In reality, she's one of Falcone's lieutenants and singularly responsible for all human trafficking going in or out of New Jersey's ports.
• Victor Zsasz
A serial killer who makes a mark in his own flesh for every victim. He's worked for Zucco, Falcone, and a few other names in the Gotham underworld, but he's too violent and extreme for even the mafia.
The Boy Wonder • Richard “Dick” Grayson • 11 (b. 1957) Vigilante based in Gotham City, New Jersey Part Time since Summer Vacation 1967
The story of a circus kid whose parents are murdered as part of an organized crime shake-down is arguably even more iconic in Batman lore than the tragedy of Bruce Wayne. Keeping that intact, Dick will be entering the story at the end of his first year as Robin. The events of Robin: Year One will then be told backwards through a series of flashbacks that will coincide with several thematic stories based upon "Streets of Gotham" and updated to the period of 1968 - the focus of which will examine race and class divisions in Gotham and Bludhaven in a variety of crime and "slice of life" stories centered around drugs, poverty, crime, and race relations. He'll also be showcasing the transition from Beatlemania to Psychodelic Rock as the counterculture present in young society continues to evolve and progress. In this, Alfred will be a foil to him (representing the culture of the 1940s and 1950s).
The key takeaway here is that Dick is an Olympic-level acrobat and gymnast. What he's not is leet, a ninja, or a leet ninja. He's awkward, impulsive, and has no idea what he's actually doing. But he's figuring it out (not really). This is Robin starting out, still sheltered by the shadow of the Bat, but braving the notion of independence.
I wanted to take a more realistic approach to Robin's design, while not tossing out the iconic elements of the Golden Age characterization. So, I adopted Tim's cape with an otherwise traditional design. Because pixie boots!
• Sergeant Renee Montoya, GCPD
The daughter of immigrants from Santo Domingo, Renee is one of only a few women on the Gotham City Police, and assigned to juvenile and domestic crimes. She's been advocating for assignment to Major Crimes, but thus far has been told to leave the real police work for men to handle. As a minority, and a woman, she's frequently spoken for and her contributions marginalized. As she's noticed cases that the predominantly white detectives are letting slip, typically involving subjects of low class, she's begun to take up the cause of the down trodden and the forgotten.
• Lucas Fox
One of Lucius Fox's three children. He attends Brentwood Academy, along with Dick, where he's the only black student. The two are friends, making them partners in crime when Dick's not in uniform.
• Alfred Pennyworth
Along with Bruce Wayne, Alfred is a second surrogate parent to Dick. The two tend to clash over what's playing on the radio however.
• Detective Harvey Bullock, GCPD
Though his colleagues will all swear that Harvey is a good cop, the man is a wrecking ball with a badge. If your money is white, Harvey's been known to look the other way. Subjects guilty of being black on a Friday night have complained about excessive force, false arrest, and outright burglary. And Harvey's ties to organized crime make it questionable just where the man's loyalties lie.
• Anthony "Fats" Zucco
The man behind an extortion racket that spans Gotham, Bludhaven, and Atlantic City. His mafioso gang was behind the Haley's Circus massacre in 1967. He's opposed to the Falcone Family, the mafia from which his own upstart organization broke off from.
• Waylon Jones (Killer Croc)
One of the circus "freaks" who toured with Haley's Circus, Waylon's monstrous appearance appealed to audiences, who paid to watch him wrestle crocodiles. Unhappy with his pay or "side show" status within the circus, Waylon fell into working for Tony Zucco's gang as muscle. This made him a suspect when the Flying Grayson's death in 1967 opened up an investigation by both police and the Batman, driving Jones underground.
• "Mother" (Real Name Unknown)
A kindly old lady who volunteers at an orphanage-turned-school-for-girls in Bludhaven, connected with St. Bernadine's Church and the Gotham Diocese. In reality, she's one of Falcone's lieutenants and singularly responsible for all human trafficking going in or out of New Jersey's ports.
• Victor Zsasz
A serial killer who makes a mark in his own flesh for every victim. He's worked for Zucco, Falcone, and a few other names in the Gotham underworld, but he's too violent and extreme for even the mafia.
The distinctive, grey furred snout cut through the foliage. The powerful frame of the predator emerging into view as the wolfos pass through the brush with barely a sound. Through the canopy above, the fading light of dusk cast a haunting silhouette. A shadow among the shadows. The whites of the beast’s fangs resplendent as it opened it’s serrated maw, another low roll of growled thunder echoing through the trees.
Then two more appeared, as though demons of air and darkness. The wolfos pack padded around the opening in the brush, before finally the first vanished off into the other side of the clearing. The two others followed quickly behind, the wolfos passing into the night as silently as they had first appeared.
A light emerged from beneath a leaf, as though a firefly had taken flight. The soft light blossomed until it was a softly pulsing orb. Butterfly wings, transparent, almost invisible, were illuminated on the back of the strange, otherworldly creature as it passed through the air to circle high up around another tree.
As it did, the fairy’s light revealed the face of a child. His small form concealed in shadow, as he crouched up in the branches over where the wolfos pack had ventured beneath. He’d been aware that they’d been hunted since departing the Kokiri Village, though it wasn’t until now that he could have given name or form to what lurked in the darkness.
At least now he knew, though all things being equal, he didn’t like the idea of picking a fight with a wolfos pack. Particularly as he doubted the three that had been seen were all that was out there.
The boy dropped down to the path below. He paused there a moment, the dusky twilight reflecting from off a polished metal blade. He held the sword in a reverse grip, his other hand up in a boxer’s guard as he waited. He remained like that for awhile, listening to the sounds of the forest, as though questioning whether the wolfos would have doubled back in search of their prey.
After awhile, he straightened up, the sword still held at the ready as he used his free hand to gesture to the fairy. Then, like the wolfos, the boy moved into the brush with barely a sound to mark his passage.
They had traveled on without incident, when the boy suddenly stopped again. This time, kneeling near where low-hanging branches extended out toward the road. Some were broken, suggesting that someone had come through him.
The wind-swept, dirt path didn’t seem to bear evidence of anyone come though. At least, not recently. Someone had though, at some point close enough that the broken twigs and rustled branches were still present.
It was something he’d have to mention when he returned to the village.
In the meantime, there was still a question of the Forest Temple. And so the boy continued onward.
I read over some of the posts about the Lost Woods. I'll get a post up in the IC and perhaps we can work things from there to have Dilly and the group meet in some fashion.
Alias(es): Dilly (diminutive form); Fangbreaker, Bane of Wolfos (no one actually calls him this, but he claims it whenever telling the story of his wolfos fang pendant)
Gender: Male
Appearance: But for his hair, Dilly could pass for a young Hylian boy. Possessed of the same stature and build, the same impish ears, his hair is a grassy green with the slightest hues of straw gold. It is a color that is only known to occur in Kokiri, and rare for them as well. His eyes are a darker shade of sage green. He wears the green clothes of the Kokiri, with a sword and simple, wooden shield thrown over one shoulder.
Age: Dilly has no idea what this even is. If inquired, Ayala will respond that Dilly is 874 years this harvest (to which Dilly will respond, "Is that a lot?")
• Sword and Board Dilly is proficient with one-handed swords and shields, though also demonstrates skill at wielding one without the other.
• Woodsman... er, Woodsboy? Tracking, trapping, land navigation, and survival are innate to a boy who lives in the forest.
• Shoot low, boys, they're riding Shetland Ponys Dilly is familiar with riding techniques, provided that the animal is small enough for him to ride and control.
Magic Abilities: Spirit (Protection)
• Nayru's Love - A barrier of protection. The larger the barrier and/or the more force applied to the barrier, the more strenuous it is to sustain. Because of this, Dilly is unable to act in his own defense while channeling the spell, as to do so would cause the barrier to collapse.
• Fairy Affinity - Because he is bonded to a fairy, Dilly is aware of the presence of spirits and ghosts, and is capable of communicating with them... but that doesn't mean he'll understand what they have to say.
Weapons:
• Deku Shield - A simple shield made from the bark of the Great Deku Tree, with the Kokiri emblem carved into the front.
• Hylian Short Sword - A Hylian knight's sword dating back to the Hyrule Civil War, the pommel of which is emblazoned with the wingcrest. Intended to be wielded one-handed by an adult Hylian, Dilly wields it more like a bastard sword (hand-and-half) owing to his smaller size.
• Slingshot - No Kokiri leaves home without one.
Inventory: Handful of deku nuts, water gourd (canteen), wolfos fang pendant.
Bio:
This is a story of a time long ago.
A time of myth and legend whose histories have faded from memory, for none now live to tell the tales of dead men. None, that is, save the Kokiri. But the immortal children of the Lost Woods have faded from memory, slipping first into obscurity and then into the stuff of folktale or fables. Amusing anecdotes of travelers through dark woods who thought they saw something in the dark, some childhood fantasy of a far away land. Or even a dark chapter in a fairy tale, of misbehaved children stolen away by the mischievous imps hiding in the trees.
It was not always this way.
In time of great turmoil, the fires of conflict inevitably came to the Lost Woods. As the moblins and wolfos were displaced, they sought shelter in the forest. And, as the escalating conflict required increasing amounts of lumber, the Hylians and humans were soon to follow. It was thus that the Kokiri emerged into the conflict. They were known as the Kokiri Rangers, a hastily formed militia that began with the need to protect their home from the sudden threat posed by the interlopers to their woods. It was the first time that the Kokiri had encountered death. The fairies say that these days were when the first Skull Kids appeared, and that the smaller Stalchildren found on Hyrule may be the restless bones of those fallen Kokiri.
One lesson the Kokiri learned very well in those days, any Kokiri who leaves the woods will die.
As the Hylians became aware of the Kokiri, they sought them out for their knowledge of the woods -- hoping to find passages that would allow their armies to depart the main roads and traverse safely through parts unknown. The Kokiri's mischievous reputation may owe itself to some who lured soldiers down dark paths, where their spirits may continue to wander to this day. Such was not the fate of the knights under the command of Sir Jorj of Ordon, whose soldiers had helped to route a group of moblins that had been encroaching upon the Kokiri Willage. Dilly guided the knights through the Lost Woods, the knights emerging from out of the woods behind the ranks of an opposing army. When they had left the Lost Woods, Dilly seemed to vanish from their midst, slipping back away into the trees. Once the Hyrule Royal Family had put an end to the war, the Kokiri slipped back into being the subject of fairy tales, either the object of rumor or mere superstition.
Some time later -- perhaps very long or very short, tis much the same to a Kokiri -- a Hylian child was brought to the Great Deku Tree, and placed into the care of Saria. The Kokiri Village had changed with the arrival of new faces, three among them coming to be known as the Know-It-All Brothers. Clashes with these bullish imps prompted Dilly to spend increasingly less and less time at the Kokiri Village, instead escorting and guiding business scrubs through the Wood, either toward the Lon Lon Ranch or the Zora rivers. Vigilant to the approach of wolfos or moblin, Dilly faded into obscurity even among the Kokiri. The rise of Ganon only increased the danger to travelers to the Wood, as stalchildren and poes suddenly dotted the landscape. When the Hero of Time had emerged to banish Ganon, Dilly was reunited with the Kokiri of Kokiri Village when some of them traveled out to Lon Lon Ranch in celebration.
And, for a time, that was the way of it. The Kokiri outside their forest. Meeting, traveling, trading. Exploring the world outside the borders of their trees. But everything that has a beginning has an end.
Darkness fell over the land. The stalchildren and poes appeared, as food became scarce and people became fearful. Some even blamed the Kokiri for the drought and famine, cursing them as evil spirits. And so the Kokiri again slipped away to their Lost Wood, each day their absence from Hyrule society reducing them to rumor. And from rumor to suspicion. And from suspicion to myth, until they became a mere fable to the minds of many once again.
That the Hylians and humans have begun tearing down the temples of the goddesses has only furthered heightened concern among the fairies, for the Forest Temple lies not far from the Great Deku Tree and the Kokiri Village. The Kokiri Rangers are once again assembled from the ranks of the Kokiri, though so few remain who were there at the beginning. So it is that Dilly and his fairy are sent to explore around the Forest Temple, to look for signs that the Hylian madness might yet endanger their home once more...
Name: Ayala
Gender: Female
Age: 874
Race: Fairy (orb fairy)
Appearance: Ayala appears as an orb of light with ethereal, butterfly-like wings. The coloration and intensity of light varies depending on her mood.
Short Bio: Ayala is Dilly's fairy. The two are connected in a way that is inexplicable, save that one cannot exist without the other. The timeless riddle of their kind being, which came first? The fairy or the Kokiri? Ayala serves as Dilly's guide, in both a literal and metaphorical sense. She is his conscience, his confident, and the closest thing he has to a parent.