Nightwing [DickGrayson]

Robin Watching: 1296/∞

Dick Grayson as “Nightwing” (Unmasked)

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Yeah, that situation is pretty interesting. I feel like you articulated it just fine...like you said, Dick caused lightning to strike a guy named Creighton Kendall in order to save a baby. 

Nightwing (1996) #146

Nightwing definitely killed that guy, and it was kind of sudden! Now, I would add that Dick only resorted to such measures after Kendal threatened the baby, and that anon is spot on when they say that Kendal was a horrible human being. He committed mass murder, and he had a room full of hundreds of dead babies. So, absolute shitbag. Even Talia tried to shut his operation down. So, Dick isn’t killing some run of the mill criminal here. Still, Dick didn’t really dwell on how he handled the situation, which one maybe might expect considering how he has gone to great lengths to avoid killing in the past?

I had to mull this situation over for a while, because I couldn’t decide whether I thought it was out of character or not. How could someone who is often described like this: 

New Titans (1988) Annual #7

Seemingly forsake his moral code so quickly and easily? Eventually, I feel like I was able to wrap my head around things. I do think that this was ultimately in character for Dick, though perhaps Tomasi should have addressed the impact/aftermath more. I think that the key thing to realize is that, as much as Dick’s morality is often simplified to being Bruce’s no-kill rule copy and pasted, it’s all a bit more complex than that. 

Nightwing (1996) #112

Batman would say that morals are the bottom line, the thing that lasts. I’ve heard him say that no matter what, you can always depend on yourself to respond with predetermined ethical integrity. I know that’s true for him, but I’m not so sure I agree with the principle in general. I think most of us surprise ourselves a lot. 

So, simplifying here, but ultimately, Bruce’s code prioritizes “ethical integrity.” In Gotham’s senseless violence and chaos, Bruce anchors himself through his belief in justice. This is why, for Batman, “morals are the bottom line.” So Batman doesn’t kill. And, even for the Joker, Bruce won’t step across the line. 

Dick isn’t like that. Where Bruce is devoted to justice, to fundamental right and wrong, in a way that can at times make him seem cold, Dick’s loyalty is to people first and foremost. Dick feels an obligation to Bruce for all that he has done for him. Even more than that, Dick wants to make Batman proud. And it is that--it is Dick’s loyalty to Bruce--that motivates Dick to follow Batman’s code. 

Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files

Maybe what matters most is the person we’re hoping to impress. For years and years, I tried to evaluate every move I made through Batman’s eyes. I was morally reliable, predictable. When I finally let go of that, I was lost. 

Dick doesn’t totally buy into Bruce’s ideology, but he has loads of respect for the man. He wants to be deserving of Bruce’s love, and he believes in Bruce enough to trust in Batman’s code and his training. 

Having someone count on you for their physical and emotional safety is intense. It’s another set of expectations you have to live up to. And maybe they’re even more demanding than the ones you set up for yourself. 

But really, in the end, Dick isn’t as focused as Bruce is about doing what is ethically right. He’s primarily concerned with doing the thing that helps protect the people who rely on him. For Dick, friends and family are the most important thing, much more important than his own morality. This is why, whenever his loved ones are in in serious danger or are killed, you’ll see Dick contemplate crossing the line. 

New Teen Titans (1984) #18. When Kory seemingly dies in an explosion, Dick threatens to kill Komand'r

New Teen Titans (1988) #75. The Titans are nearly dead, and Dick snaps.

And by “contemplate,” I mean yell and attack lol. Dick's faith in Bruce’s code can and has been eclipsed by his desire to help people, especially when his friends and family are in serious danger. You’ll also see this pattern in the situation with the Joker. Tim seemingly dies and the Joker has spent the last several years causing hell for Dick’s family, so Dick choses to cross the line Bruce has drawn and beat the Joker to death. 

I feel like Bruce and Dick’s responses here really sum it up. See, when Bruce slips up and nearly kills the Joker (a trend in this family, I know), he thinks about the morality of his action, and regrets that he nearly became part of the evil that killed his parents: 

Batman (1940) #614

But, in contrast, when Dick allows Blockbuster to die, Dick doesn’t initially think about how it was wrong to kill someone. 

Nightwing (1996) #93

Who’s obsessed with the idea of failing people? Not this boy, noooo. /blatant lies

It makes it all the more heartbreaking to me when Bruce says things like this:

Because I guarantee you that Dick could file off a ten-page list of times he’s “failed” Bruce at a moment’s notice. And I guarantee you at least a part of him believes Bruce sees it that way, too.

Theeeee safe answer is, “No, he loves them all equally,” and Bruce himself would probably never admit to playing favorites and would probably hate to think that he’s biased in that regard, honestly. 

In my personal opinion, Bruce does favor Dick over the others, and I do think there’s a canon basis for this. This idea was explored in the Infinite Crisis storyline.

“And your favorite. Subject Beta– Grayson, Richard– Nightwing.” – Infinite Crisis #4

OMAC is the speaker here, which is a program Bruce created that ended up backfiring on him. Therefore, Dick is canonically referred to as Bruce’s favorite in comics and we could technically drop the argument there. I also feel like this is suggested in the Under the Red Hood storyline in Batman #650 when an explosion happens in Blüdhaven.

He even begs to Jason, which is utterly bizarre coming from Bruce and says a lot. I know a lot of people don’t like the idea that Bruce would have a favorite, so I want to emphasize that Bruce does care deeply for every other person in his extended family – I think the difference is that Dick is arguably what saved Bruce from himself in the early days. Dick was this child that lit up Wayne manor and offset the darkness of Bruce’s life. In Bruce’s first year as Batman, it’s suggested that he had some suicidal thoughts and tendencies (and even after his first year this idea is sometimes explored, such as in Ego). Blood CW for this next panel, which I’ll type below since it’s difficult to read.

“Idiot. I’m an idiot. Shot and stabbed like an amateur. I turn the wheel of the car. It’s slippery with blood. My Blood. The blood of an idiot. I recount the night, if only to keep myself awake. I’ve already blacked out once. There’s too much blood. Just like… like eighteen years ago. Just like in the alley. […] In the headlights I can see the property. I pull in too fast. Cave in the back of a ‘57 Chevy that was my father’s. My father’s… I limp towards his study, leaving small red pools behind me. Father… I’m afraid I may have to die tonight.” – The Batman Files

Bruce was in a darker place at the beginning of his career, and he seemed to have… less of a drive to fight and a will to live, I guess. He seemed self-destructive and didn’t have clear goals. When Dick entered Bruce’s life, Dick had an immediate impact and gave Bruce’s life direction and meaning. To pull a cliche, they basically saved each other.

Dick was the first Robin, and he knows Bruce the best and has been there the longest compared to any of the other Batfam members, exempt to Alfred. I think Dick will always hold this unique spot in Bruce’s life because of the difference he made early on, and I don’t blame Bruce if he does regard Dick with this sort of bias since people can’t help that. Of all Batclan characters, Dick is the one that Bruce [talks about and thinks back on the most], and many people speculate that Dick’s death is the [only thing that can get Bruce to kill].

Bruce does care a lot about the others, though, and I don’t want to diminish that. Bruce spiraled into this reckless depression after Jason’s death, which lasted for a while and caused Dick and Bruce to be estranged for a bit. In Batgirl Vol 1, Bruce seemed immediately drawn to Cass as a father figure, more so than any of the others in my opinion. I think Bruce cares a lot about the people in his extended Bat family, but he can’t help singling Dick out a bit because of the history they share together and because of the early impact Dick made.

But could you save the evil maniacs for nights that I don’t have to study?

And after everything that happened back in Gotham, I figured it was time I got out of the dark and tried my luck in the light.

Dick Grayson becoming Batman at the end of Battle for the Cowl. His character progression pre 52 is probably the best of any DC character

This is an interesting question, and the answer is yes, though not often. Dick is shown with escrima sticks on the cover of Robin: Year One #4.

Within the comic, he uses them a few times while they take down opponents and carries them around on his back.

This is the only time I recall Dick using escrima sticks as Robin, and it makes sense if you think about it, because this comic was co-written by Dixon, and Dixon is the writer who made escrima sticks the weapon of choice for Dick in the Nightwing solo.