Nightwing

Characteristics

Gender:Male

Height:5'10"

Weight:175 lbs

Eyes:Blue

Hair:Black

Before he was the boy wonder

Born to a family of acrobats, Dick Grayson lived an exciting childhood while growing up in the circus. His parents were John and Mary Grayson, and as a family, formed "The Flying Grayson's," famed trapeze artists and acrobats.

These happy times would soon take a turn for the worst, as the mafia had begun targeting the circus. At eight years old, Dick witnessed mob boss Anthony Zucco threaten the circus owner, demanding insurance for the safety of his performers. The owner vehemently refused the extortion and Dick went along his way. Unfortunately, Zucco decided to use the headlining act- which happened to be The Flying Graysons- as an example. Young Dick was helpless as he watched his parents die.

Dick as Robin.

As the Graysons plummeted to earth, hundreds of spectators watched in horror. Among them was millionaire Bruce Wayne (also known as Batman). Feeling empathy towards the boy's loss, Bruce decided to take the boy in as his legal ward.

It was only a matter of time before Dick realized what his mentor was doing all those late nights, and eventually choose the same life as well. It was decided that with the boy's extensive training in acrobatics and his sense of justice, he had just what was needed to become the Batman's partner. After rigorous training from Bruce, Robin, the Boy Wonder, was christened.

EARLY ADVENTURES 

A teen-age Dick as Robin

Dick enjoyed his first year as Robin describing it as an adventure; he fought villains such as Penguin, Joker, Mr. Freeze and Scarecrow. His so-called adventure would turn into a hellish nightmare when Two-face kidnapped the new District Attorney and Batman, each suspended from a hangman’s noose in a double gallows death trap. Batman told Robin to save the D.A, Robin obeys Batman and throws a batarang that cuts the rope holding the D.A, it works, but Robin dose not take into account Dents obsession with killing the D.A, it was a two-flod trap and the floor gives way before Robin can get to him, Robin jumps into the water after the D.A but is pulled out by Two-face. Robin is surprised by this and received a very savage beating from Two-face as a restrained Batman watch’s in horror. Batman eventually is able to free himself and stop Two-face. However this event haunts Dick to this day [ Dick would go on to badly beat many times as Robin and Nightwing], this would also scare Batman so much that he suspended Dick for a time.

Dick would come back to crime fighting much stronger and smarter than before. Dick would go to Hudson university but would drop out after one term due to his responsibilities as Robin.  

Teen Titans

After several years of fighting by Batman's side, Robin was ready to fight by others his own age. Upon meeting Kid Flash, Aqualad, Wonder Girl, and Speedy, they joined forces, becoming the Teen Titans. While Robin was the only member of the team without traditional superpowers, he was equipped with both experience and intelligence, making him a natural leader.

Once the Titans disbanded, Dick chose to attend Hudson University, studying law. However, he's soon kicked out of school and falls back into fighting crime.

The end of the Dynamic Duo

Robin realized at that point that he had grown up: He no longer relied on Batman and, in fact, he and the Dark Knight disagreed on crime-fighting methodology.After he was "fired" by Batman,

Nightwing's first costume

Dick's newfound independence and Titans' duties left less time for his former commitments in Gotham City. He also dropped out of Hudson after only one semester.

Dick rediscovered his self-worth among the Teen Titans. Batman, however, was less than pleased. He informed Dick that if he no longer wanted to be his partner, then Dick would have to retire as Robin. Furious, hurt, resigned, confused, eighteen year old Dick Grayson left Wayne Manor after this fallout. Helping him through this difficult time was his fellow Titans, including Starfire, a beautiful alien Dick had fallen in love with. Dick handed over leadership of the Titans to Wonder Girl.

Nightwing: Pre-Crisis

In the original story in which is told how Dick left his role of Robin the teen wonder and became the hero known as Nightwing stepping out of his mentor shadow. Dick realizes that he has grown up and that he doesn't need Batman anymore to help him, now he is his own man and must discover who he is and his place in the world.

Dick decides to leave his Robin identity and the New Teen Titans to try to discover the answers for this questions. After retiring for a time of the hero business, he is attacked not as Robin, but as Dick Grayson by Deathstroke the terminator, who was hunting the Titans and Dick was his last target. Dick manages to escape and meets the ex-wife of Deathstroke, Addeline Kane and also his son Joseph (Jericho). Dick takes the name of Nightwing and also a completely new costume. He chose the name and outfit to honor his parents and also both Superman and Batman.

After saving his teamates and defeating Terra and Deathstroke (thanks in great part to Jericho) Nightwing becomes once again the leader of the New Teen Titans.

Nightwing: Post-Crisis

Altough the story of Dick as Robin wasn't greatly changed after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, his origin to become Nightwing was drastically changed.

In the redone origin, Dick decided to leave the cave and his role as Robin after a mission against Two-Face goes terribly wrong and Batman almost died.

After that Dick embarks on a journey to find himself, which leads him to Metropolis where he meets Superman. Asking for an outside opinion on what he should do next with his life, Superman relays the story of a hero from Krypton who had been cast out by his family only to become a great hero. This hero's name was Nightwing. After a short stint in a circus to clear his head, Dick takes on the name Nightwing and begins establishing a reputation for himself in Gotham. [Nightwing: Year One]

Nightwing's second costume

Dick and Bruce do manage to mend things. When Batman's back is broken by Bane, Jean-Paul Valley, Azrael, is given the mantle of the Bat. He proved to be unstable due to his training and mental conditioning from The Sacred Order of Saint Dumas. Dick later confronts Bruce as to why he didn't ask him to become the next Batman. Bruce simply tells him that he didn't think Dick would want to do it as he was his own person now. Nightwing argues that while he didn't want to be Batman, he would have done anything he was asked. In a defining moment of Nightwing's history, Bruce admits that these sort of arguments are what occurs between "fathers and sons". Bruce later asked Dick to fill in for him briefly as he recovers from his back injury. A role that Dick fills perfectly.

Solo book

By the 1990s, Nightwing had become one of DC’s most popular characters. With Robin already having successfull solo series, the powers-that-be decided to test the waters with Nightwing.

In 1995, DC launched a 4-issue Nightwing mini-series starring the former Boy Wonder. Written by Dennis O’Neil with art by Greg Land, the mini was a sales hit.

Cover of Nightwing #1

When DC awarded Nightwing an ongoing series in 1996, they enlisted writer Chuck Dixon and artist Scott McDaniel. Dixon immediately set Nightwing apart from his mentor by giving him his own city: the corrupt, decaying harbor town known as Bludhaven, which lay just north of Gotham. It allowed him to be close enough to Gotham and stay part of the Batman Family as well as have his own city and series of adventures. Visually, McDaniel’s kinetic art was a perfect vehicle to convey Dick Grayson’s acrobatic prowess.

Interview in Wizard #72 to Chuck Dixon the first writer of the book

Wizard-Nightwing? If the original Robin needed an upgrade to make him a '90s kinda guy, why not make him Robin, the Post-Adolescent Wonder? The Adult Wonder? Even the Geriatric Wonder? (He is 67, after all. He was 10 when Robin first debuted in 1940, so you do the math.) How did Grayson's 57-year journey through adoleacence cake him from being Robin to Nightwing? And, more importantly, why give him his own book now?

Dixon-He was the most popular character in the DC Universe without his own series," says Chuck Dixon, Nightwing's writer. "We'd get letters, constantly saying, 'When is he going to get his own book?' I think we waited until the proper time, until he was back in the Bat-fold. He's got a great past and he comes to his own book with all that history."

Blüdhaven

Dick then continues fighting crime as Nightwing and moves to nearby city, Blüdhaven, to clean things up. Blüdhaven is what Gotham was before Batman arrived, brimming with corruption to the highest levels of power. He quickly finds that all the corruption in the city leads to the crime lord Blockbuster.

Dick joins the Blüdhaven Police Department in order to fight crime both day and night. He also becomes a bartender to find out about the criminal activities going on in the city. With the help of Oracle and other allies his efforts slowly become successful. He also trains the violent, but enthusiastic Nite-Wing. As this is happening he is buys the struggling circus his parents were a part of and that he was raised in, as well as purchase (unbeknown by the residents) the apartment building he lives in. Also, Dick and Barbara Gordon (Batgirl I/Oracle) begin to fall in love. Nightwing also makes a enemy in Dudley "Deadly" Soames A.K.A Torque.

A Titan Again

During the miniseries "JLA/Titans: The Technis Imperative" the being called cyberion (formerly Cyborg) started kidnapping all former members of the teen titans. During this events the titans battled the members of the Justice League. Nightwing with the help of the other 4 founding members of the teen titans and changeling (beast boy) managed to rescue Cyborg and earth at the same time.

After this event the five founding members talked about reforming the team with the addition of another hero nominated by them.

Officer Dick Grayson

Nightwing decides to join Blüdhaven police department in an attempt to get rid of the corruption of the city.

No Man's Land

During the events of "No Man's Land", Nightwing is asked to secure the Blackgate Prison. However he is injured so he starts his recovery with Oracle (Barbara Gordon).

Justice League

In the storyline "JLA: The Obsidian Age", the Justice League dissapears in an intent to find out what happened to Atlantis and Aquaman.

However Batman had a contigency plan in case that the JLA died/dissapeared. This plan was supposed to put together a team of heroes chosen by Batman to become the new Justice League.

This Justice League is conformed of Atom, Green Arrow, Hawkgirl, Etrigan, Firestorm, the former villain Major Disaster, the mysterious Faith and Nightwing who Batman choses as the leader.

At the end of the storyline the new Justice League finds and rescues the previous one. These two teams are combined, however Nightwing returns as the Titans leader and to the Justice League's reserve list.

Graduation Day

During the miniseries Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day the two teams are attacked by a mysterious robot girl from the future (indigo)

After an attack that injured members of both teams, they find a rogue Superman android, this android managed to kill both Omen (Lilith Clay) and Troia (Donna Troy)

This was one of the turning points in Nightwing's life, since he and Donna were extremely close.

During the funeral of Donna Troy, Nightwing decides that he doesn't want to see more friends die and disbands the Titans.

Outsiders

Some time after the tragedy, Arsenal (Roy Harper) creates a new team with an idea not similar to the titans.

He asks Nightwing to join and become the leader of the new team along with him, Jade, Shift, Thunder, Grace and Indigo.

Nightwing names the new team as the "Outsiders" to symbolize that not only are they separate from the hero community, but also that they are separate from each other. In hope that the team would not be a family like environment like the Teen Titans were.

Nightwing lead Outsiders

He commanded the Outsiders in a very different way than what he did with the incarnations of the Titans that he had led or the Justice League, he treated his teammates like soldiers, not caring what would happen to them.

Jade, in response of the poor leadership Nightwing was showing as leader of the Outsiders, decided to take the leadership role and add Starfire to their ranks.

The Insiders

During the storyline "Teen Titans/Outsiders: The Insiders" Brainiac and Lex Luthor make an alliance to destroy both groups. Their plan consists of using their own teammates to do it.

Lex Luthor takes control of Superboy and Braniac of Indigo, using the powerhouses of both teams, they attack them in an attempt to kill them all.

Starfire is able to stop the menace when Nightwing tells her not to hold back. In the end Indigo died and Nightwing realizing that things had become personal again left the team.

Blockbuster & Tarantula

The leader of the Blüdhaven mafia, Blockbuster blamed Nightwing for the death of his mom. In an attempt to get revenge he blow the appartment where Dick Grayson lived and made a promise to kill everyone close to Nightwing. The original Tarantula lived in Nightwing's apartment complex, so Tarantula II took the attack personally.

Some time after this the new Tarantula decided to shot and kill Blockbuster.

Nightwing decided to not save Blockbuster by not throwing himself in front of the bullet when he had a chance to. This made him enter into a depresion.

War games

When Gotham sufferes a gang war because of a failer plan of Spoiler, Batman asks all his allies to help him stop this war.

Nightwing and Tarantula help Batman in this war. However Nightwing still feels guilty for not saving Blockbuster's life.

After Atkins, the new commisioner of the gotham police department decreted that all vigilantes were criminal, Nightwing is shot in his knee while fighting Firefly. After the war Dick Grayson leaves the vigilante business for a time and let's Robin and Batgirl as his replacements as the new protectors of Blüdhaven

Year One

During Nightwing #101-#105

The origin of how Dick Grayson stopped being Robin the teen wonder and became Nightwing was retold.

In this version, Robin is fired after a confrontation against Clayface. Batman was annoyed that because Robin was attempting his business with the Titans he wasn't protecting Gotham as he did before.

YEAR ONE

After a long verbal fight, Batman fires Robin. Dick Grayson leaves the new Robin costume in the Batcave and leaves the Wayne Manor.

After this Superman takes Dick to the Fortress of Solitude and tells him a history of a Kryptonian hero called Nightwing (translated from Kryptonese) .

Dick Grayson goes back to his roots in the circus where he and his parents worked when he was a child.

There he met Deadman and created a prototype version of his costume.

After this he went back to Gotham and introduced his new identity to the Commisioner Gordon.

He and Batgirl go to "re-introduce" the new identity of Dick Grayson to the villains of Gotham city.

After that he meets the boy who replaced him as Robin, Jason Todd.

They work together and rescue Alfred from the new player in town, Killer Croc.

At the end of the series Jason gives Dick a new costume made by Alfred (This is the first costume that he used as Nightwing).

Renegade

Dick Grayson as Renegade

In order to infiltrate Lex Luthor's Secret Society of Super-Villains, Dick Grayson takes the new suit and codename of Renegade and allies himself with his long time enemy Deathstroke.

During the period that he was Renegade, Dick managed to keep tabs on the Society's activities in both Gotham and Blüdhaven.

Deathstroke asks Nightwing to teach his daughter, Ravager, all the skills he knows. Nightwing take Ravager out on many missions, in which, Ravager accuses him of being a hero. Unknown to Nightwing, Deathstroke put Kryptonite inplace of Ravager's missing eye. Superman meets up with Nightwing and Ravager, who attacks him. Nightwing tells Ravager that even though Superman's life is in danger, he is still thinking of others before him. Nightwing makes a deal with Deathstroke to leave Bludhaven alone and he will leave Rose alone. Deathstroke breaks the deal when Chemo is dropped on Bludhaven.

During this time he also trains and converts Ravager (Rose Wilson) into a hero.

Infinite crisis...

In the Infinite Crisis Blüdhaven, Nightwing's city was destroyed by the supervillain Chemo killing 100,000 people.

Nightwing tries to gather heroes at Titan's Tower to stop Alex Luthor. Only Superboy answers his call. Together, they go to infliltrate Alex's base and is accompanied by Wonder Girl.

In the battle for Metropolis Nightwing was almost killed by Alexander Luthor in an attempt to saving Batman's life.

Directly following these events, Dick, Tim Drake and Bruce Wayne all demoralized and disheartened from numerous tragedies travel abroad to train and rekindle their will for the fight for justice. Before he leaves he asks Barbara Gordon to marry him. However this marriage never happened.

The Death that almost happened

Originally the DC editors had decided that Dick Grayson would be killed in Infinite Crisis, while this decision was reversed they decided that if Dick was kept alive he would have to be changed

An interview in a DC Nation panel at Wizard World Philadelphia 2006

DC: The ending of this issue really hit a lot of people hard, with the death of Superboy.

GEOFF: We originally talked about killing Nightwing. That was always Dan's plan.

EDDIE: But we didn't want [Nightwing] to die.

GEOFF: We wanted to have issue #6 be about bringing the Trinity back. Dan focused on offing Nightwing, but we all felt it was just the wrong character.

PHIL: Though I can't think of a character who would have a greater impact than Nightwing dying.

GEOFF: True, but it's Dick Grayson. My mom knows who he is. Nightwing would've been a mistake. Superboy was the best choice.

PHIL: Just in terms of links to other characters, though. Dick has so many connections to other characters. In many ways, even more than Superman or Batman, Nightwing is the soul, the linchpin, of the DCU. He's well respected by everyone, known to the JLA, the Titans, the Outsiders, Birds of Prey - everyone looks to him for advice, for friendship, for his skills. He's the natural leader of the DCU. His loss would devastate everyone and create ripples through the DCU. If it wasn't him, it had to be a hero that really impacted so many.

GEOFF: Well, what other character? Not Wonder Girl. Enough women have died in the DCU. Superboy was my favorite Titan. And I literally had to offer him as a sacrificial lamb.

DC: You killed your favorite Titan? That must have been hard to write.

JEANINE: I literally had tears in my eyes when the pages came in.

GEOFF: I really fought to have Conner in TEEN TITANS. He gave the title a dynamic the book never had before.

JEANINE: It's one of the reasons [his death] worked so well and became such a powerful scene. I remember talking to Geoff when the decision was made, and he was, correctly, really adamant that it matter.

GEOFF: And Phil did such a great job with facial expressions there, depicting everyone's sorrow.

EDDIE: We were hoping to save both Nightwing AND Superboy. But at the end of the day, if we were going to do something really impactful, we really had to go all the way. It just worked for the whole story.

JEANINE- "Deaths are meaningless." But you couldn't not care about this.

Newsarama made a second interview about why DC didn't kill Nightwing

Q: Why didn’t you kill Nightwing in Infinite Crisis?

Waid: Because Geoff Johns and I took turns holding a big club over Dan once we learned he wanted too.

Perez: And speaking for guys who actually earn residuals off of Nightwing, we like him too.

Q: Why was it even considered?

Waid: Yeah Dan, why?

Wayne: And don’t say again, “Because Bob said it would sell.”

Busiek: Have you ever drunk a lot of Scotch? Dan has.

Waid: Yeah, what has he ever done to you?

Didio: We were looking for the big death in Infinite Crisis – the big moment. We were looking for something that would have equal import and merit and weight in this story. One of the things I’ve been proven wrong about is that I had felt that Dick Grayson was a redundant character – Tim Drake had filled his role as Robin, he would never be Batman, so where could he go?

My big fear was that Nightwing would get older than Batman. The thought was that if we removed Dick form the equation that would allow Bruce Wayne to stand alone as Batman, and to firmly establish Tim Drake as Robin. So now – Marv is showing us why we like him, his place in the DC Universe, and more importantly, his potential in the DC Universe.

52

Nightwing interrupts his journey with Batman and Robin, and returns to Gotham, to follow Intergang's trail. During this time he works with the new Batwoman and Renee Montoya to stop Intergang from destroying Gotham, shutting off dozens of fire spewing devices spread across the city.

One Year Later...

After the events of Infinite Crisis, the DC Universe skipped an entire year in continuity to make big changes to every book published by them.

One of this changes was that Dick Grayson moved back to New York where he previously fought along the New Teen Titans.

There he makes a sex-lover relationship with Cheyenne Freemont. He also discoveres that there is another Nightwing in New York, however this one doesn't care to kill the criminals. Because of this impostor's acts Nightwing is seen as the most dangerous criminal in New York.

Dick decides to look for the other Nightwing and find out who he really is; however he is attacked by two metahumans brothers named the Pierce brothers.

Nightwing is defeated by one of them because he didn't expect him to be a metahuman, he started falling, however he is rescued by the other Nightwing who was revealed to be Jason Todd.

The two "Nightwings" battle and Jason is the winner after he injures Dick's hand.

The two of them battle once again when they both try to stop a crime that involved stealing a lot of electronics so that their bosses (the pierce brothers) can sell them.

That fight is recorded by a security cam that the Pierce Brothers are able to get, they ask their employee "Jakob" who was the real Nightwing.

He said that the real Nightwing is the one that prefers to choose prudence and restraint instead of the one that tends to recklessness and who lack forethought. He also revealed that the reason that Jason could defeat Dick is because Dick was holding back.

Dick later decides to pay a visit to his friend Clancy (who had also moved to New York) and ask her of the mental problems of Jason, she answers that the reason that Jason is using the same codename and costume as Dick is because imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and that probably Jason idiolizes Dick as his hero.

Cheyenne Freemont later tries to talk to Dick and is revealed as a metahuman too, she discovers by accident that Dick Grayson is Nightwing and she follows him.

Jason is later captured by Jakob and Dick and Cheyenne (Now as also Nightwing) go to rescue him.

Cheyenne kills Jakob in self-defense and they are confronted by the pierce brothers.

After a hard battle the team-up of the two "Nightwings" was able to defeat the pierce brothers and save Jason Todd.

In a strange twist however, Jason becomes a humanoid with octoppus form.

In the end of the story arc Jason leaves a note to Dick saying that he still considers him family, that he left the costume and that he is back to normal. Cheyenne also leaves the mantle of Nightwing leaving just one and truly Nightwing in New York city.

Raptor

After the events of one year later we're introduced with a new storyline named "Targets" in this storyline a human with an iron suit named Raptor has been seen doing crimes in New York.

At the same time we see a Nightwing that he wants to figure out who what's he going to do with his life and what is his place in the world.

The two of them battle in the air; Nightwing dislocated his shoulder, and Raptor crashes in an office of an aboandoned building.

When Nightwing started falling he heard a voice in his mind saying to him that he is supposed to be dead.

Nightwing follows Raptor to the building and he discoveres a burned body in front of Raptor, however Raptor denies to have killed "Rossi".

After the confrontation Dick Grayson (as a civilian) encounters two beautifull womans named Ryan Diaz and "Zen". Ryan Diaz says that she does massages and offers her help to Dick because his muscles are very tight.

Dick Grayson, decides that he is giving too much prorities to the crime fighting life and that he needs to find a job for Dick Grayson. He tries to be