Hey! Love your blog, and it seems like you Know Things about Dick Grayson, so I was hoping you could answer a question for me:)
I feel like it’s supposed to be obvious what people mean when they say that Dick is the light to Batman’s darkness… but what do they actually mean? Is it just referring to their temperaments? At first I thought it was about hope or idealism, but is Batman himself not supposed to be something of a hopeful symbol (refusing to kill partly because he believes in the possibility of reform, never abandoning Gotham, etc)? Is it about their methods?
Feel free to ignore if you don’t want to answer, I was just curious to hear your perspective:) thanks!
I love this question and I will answer it without going on too long of a spiel because him being the light to Batman's dark. Also, before I go into it, Dick kind of does have a no kill rule that he follows mainly because of Bruce, but it really isn't his own morals that guide that if it makes sense. Like he has willingly and knowingly killed in canon before (that is a diff post) so I am going to take that out of the equation.
The easiest way I can think of it in my brain is this: Machiavelli asked if it was better to be feared or loved. Batman has decided that fear is better. Dick has decided that it is better to be loved. This wasn't consciously done by either man, it just is what happened because of how each chose to deal with their trauma and relate to the world it put them in. Dick chose to climb out of the darkness while batman learned how to live in it. Batman is private, reclusive, mysterious, relentless, serious, introverted, and intense. Dick is optimistic, happy, friendly, outgoing, giving, and personally invested. Look at the teams they helped form. JLA members come and go and some barely talk or can barely stand each other. Look at the Titans and they are friends and their lives are so intertwined. They stay in contact outside of their hero-ing, everyone knows their identity.
Idk, i could go on forever with examples and maybe one day I will feel up that, but Dick is warmth and light, Batman is dark and cold. One is not better than the other because we need both. My controversial take on it is that I feel like Batman values his moral cose over everything else (do not @ me about this, it is another post I will not mention 😭) and Dick tends to put people above all else. That is the basis for the foundation of how they fit into hero community. Everyone fears Batman and respects his competence. Everyone trusts Nightwing and respects his judgment.
