Nightwing

For many years, Grayson served as Batman's sidekick, Robin. He was first introduced in Detective Comics #38 (1940) by Batman creators Bill Finger and Bob Kane. The debut of Robin was an effort to soften the darker character of his mentor, originally a dubious, nightstalking vigilante. DC Comics also thought a teenaged superhero would appeal to young readers, being an effective audience surrogate.

The name "Robin, the Boy Wonder" and the medieval look of the original costume were inspired by the legendary hero Robin Hood, as well as the red-breasted American Robin, which paralleled the "winged" motif of Batman.

Young Dick Grayson was born on the first day of spring. His mother nicknamed him "little Robin". Little did she know how prophetic this term of endearment would be in her son's life.

He was an eight year-old half-romany circus acrobat, the youngest of a family act called the "Flying Graysons" of the Haly's Circus. Dick joined the act at a very young age, having been trained in acrobatics from birth. Before one appearance in Gotham City, in which the Flying Graysons were the main attraction, they were asked to pose for a photo opportunity with the Drake Family, including their young son Tim Drake. From that time on, Tim's one and only hero in the world was Dick.

Robin's origin had a typological connection to Batman's in that both witnessed the crime-related deaths of their parents, creating an urge to battle the criminal underworld. This provided an inseparable brotherly bond and understanding between the two.

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, DC Comics portrayed Batman and Robin as a team, deeming them the "Dynamic Duo", and rarely published a Batman story without his sidekick, although stories entirely devoted to Robin appeared in Star-Spangled Comics from 1947 through 1952.

Bruce taught Dick fighting techniques and detective skills for a grueling six months. Finally, he had to pass a final test: "The Gauntlet". Dick had to elude the Dark Knight on the streets of Gotham for one night (from sundown to sunrise) without any outside help. He succeeded, simultaneously bringing Gotham gangster Joe Minette to justice. Grayson took to the streets as Batman's full-fledged partner in crime-fighting: Robin, the Boy Wonder.

Dick enjoyed his first year as Robin, regarding the job as an adventure until a confrontation with Harvey "Two-Face" Dent served as a rude awakening for the young hero. The villain had captured the new District Attorney and Batman, and had each suspended from a hangman's noose in a "double gallows death-trap". Robin, in trying to save the D.A., used a batarang to cut the rope of the noose. It worked, but he didn't account for Dent's obsession with the number two: it was a two-fold trap, and the floor gave way, dropping the D.A. into the water, where the man drowned. Robin was unable to prevent his death, and received a beating at the hands of Two-Face; a beating witnessed by Batman, still tied up on the platform trying to free himself. Eventually, Batman was able to free himself and apprehend the villain. This event, however, scarred the young crime-fighter, and haunts him even today. Rather than see Dick be further endangered, Batman "fired" his partner, sidelining the Boy Wonder for awhile.

In Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity, the maturing Dick Grayson grew weary of his role as Batman's young sidekick. He renamed himself Nightwing, recalling his adventure on the Kryptonian city of Kandor, where he and Batman met the local hero of the same name.

Nightwing: Secret Files & Origins #1 and Nightwing: Year One tells the full Post-Crisis version of how Dick Grayson gave up his identity as Robin and was inspired by Superman's tales of an ancient Kryptonian hero named Nightwing. This tale retroactively erases the notion that anyone else before Grayson and Bette Kane ever held the titles of Nightwing and Flamebird, except for the birds and the legendary figures named after them.

In this story, Dick, uncertain as to what to do with his new-found independence, turned to someone he knew would understand: Superman. Briefly, Grayson had considered giving up fighting crime; but he couldn't imagine his life any other way.

Asked what Dick should be, if he could not be Robin, Superman told a tale of long ago on Krypton, about a man who was cast out of his family, just like Dick had been. He dreamed of a world ruled by justice, and set out to protect the helpless. His true identity was never revealed; he was known only as Nightwing. Dick then decided to honor the legendary Kryptonian by renaming himself Nightwing.

In an adventure in which all of his Titans teammates were captured by Deathstroke the Terminator, and delivered to the H.I.V.E., Dick revealed his new identity of Nightwing and helped to free them with the help of Jericho. Nightwing had finally moved out of the shadow of the Bat, and would lead the Titans through some hard times. He endured brainwashing at the hands of Brother Blood, his relationship with Starfire would suffer due to her marriage of state, he would be deeply affected by the fact that Batman trained a new Robin (Jason Todd) only for him to be killed at the hands of the Joker (see also: Batman: A Death in the Family).

Dick Grayson's detective and martial arts skills are second to Batman's, making him one of the greatest crime fighters alive. He is a master of a half dozen martial arts disciplines with an emphasis on Aikido and Escrima, and was rigorously trained by the Dark Knight in everything from escapology to criminology, fencing, stealth, disguise, and numerous other combat/non-combat disciplines.

Grayson is a prodigious natural athlete, possessing a peak human level of agility/acrobatic skills, and is the only person on Earth who can do the quadruple somersault (formerly one of three, the other two being his parents). Having had the finest education, he speaks with fluency in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Mandarin and Cantonese, and has some knowledge of Romany. He is also a brilliant and experienced strategist with superlative leadership skills, having served as leader to the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, and even the Justice League. Additionally, Grayson's efforts to remain in contact with other heroes have made him a master at rallying, unifying, and inspiring the superhero community, a skill in which he has surpased his mentor.

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Weapons

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Equipment

Nightwing's current costume is made of a version of the Nomex fire-resistant, triple-weave Kevlar-lined material. It is an excellent protection against damage, and is also light sensitive, darkening when there is more light in the area. The mask, in the form of his symbol, is fixed in place with spirit gum, and includes a built-in radio transmitter/receiver and Starlite night-vision lenses.

His gauntlets and boots each contain eight compartments in which he can store items. They have a self-destruct feature built into them, similar to the ones in Batman's utility belt, and, as another security measure (specially when the hero is unconscious), the suit contains a one-use-only taser charge, which automatically emits a low-amperage electrical shock when someone attempts to tamper with either the boots, gauntlets, or both. Each gauntlet's sections can contain a wide array of equipment, such as sonic or smoke pellets, modified batarangs (wingdings), knockout gas capsules and throwing tracers. Like the gauntlets, his boots could carry vital elements like flares, a rebreather as protection against any airborne noncontact toxins, a mini-computer equipped with fax, modem, GPS and a minidisk rewritable drive. Other items were lock picks, a first aid kit, a mini-cellphone, antitoxin assortment, signal flares, wireless listening devices and a small halogen flashlight.

He also carries a pair of escrima sticks made from an unbreakable polymer that are wielded as both offensive and defensive weapons, and can be thrown to knock out an enemy. Some depictions have displayed this tool with the mechanism to shoot a grappling hook attached to a swing line (like Daredevil's billy clubs), while in other instances, he is seen using a "line gun" like the one Batman currently uses.

Since coming to New York, with the One Year Later storyline, Grayson has added to his basic costume design a black utility belt. This change, along with his new long haired look, gives him an appearance similar to that of his counterpart in the Teen Titans animated series.