#robin 2.0

Starting out as robin they are ALL orphans. because that’s like bruce’s thing. BUT dick and tim had families before bruce adopted them. Jason did not. HE GREW UP ON THE STREETS. (+10 points for truama✨) which led him to grow up to be independent and resourceful. Bruce literally met him because he was trying to steal the bat mobiles tires with the intent of reverse engineering them to sell to the people of gotham because bullet proof tires in that kinda city would save lives source

As for being brash. Yeah. he is. he lacks people skills because HE GREW UP ON THE STREETS. yet he still knows how to sympathize with people and not be an ass ALL the time. he’s cocky sure but it’s a defensive mechanism after years of being treated like he doesn’t have value/having to prove himself. and damien is worse lets bsffr.

He’s impulsive. (likely adhd) Teenager. next question.

He’s the angriest robin! he only ever wants vengeance! WRONG. dick is angrier! he was so petty he left gotham and got a new identity just as a fuck you to bruce. any anger Jason has is not unmatched or outdone by other robins and he is rightfully angry he’s been dealt a crappy hand in life. he’s jealous of dick because bruce was ALWAYS comparing him and telling heroic stories of dicks feats. it’s hard not to push yourself to be as good as or better than the og and not to crack under said pressure.

He’s dumb! NOPE. he is as smart if not smarter than tim. He is BRILLIANT when he wants to be. (see above: resourceful) if you take titans (cw) as canon (why wouldn’t u its as canon as any other tv show??) he is a GENIUS. he taught himself chemistry so he could invent and mass produce drugs. he had a genius strategy to fuck with the titans; the puzzle of clues for which dick needed scarecrow, kory, gar, and conner to solve. Not to mention him finding doctor light earlier in the season. He leads the outlaws bc he is a natural leader and good at handling the details!!

He’s a villain! OKAY AND? SO WAS HARLEY BUT WE LUV HER !! DAMIEN WAS A TRAINED ASSASAIN! he puts so much effort into helping people (see above: resourceful) HE RISKED/LOST HIS LIFE FOR IT. HE IS FIERCELY LOYAL. even as red hood he obtains a strict moral code; no drugs to kids or by schools, don’t kill innocent uninvolved people(depends on which media you’re looking at). serve karma on a gold platter. unlawful but USUALLY NOT unethical. he also becomes a vigilante (and the JL for a bit) and does so much good! none of them are perfect ALL of the time. and considering the other DC villains, he’s not that evil.

strength?? no problem! he almost beat dick and bruce several times in the comics!! source

not to mention his proficiency for new things (see above: chemistry) his whole time as robin he uses bat tech. but redhood uses guns and knives. he just picked that up and was a skilled marksman immediately. (also truama response after nearly dying to death stroke)

so what hes kinda fucked in the head. aren’t they all? isn’t that… the point? it’s justified after everything he’s been through AND it makes hims a better character, more 3D more realistic and relatable.

also for the sake of this thesis partially disregard the wonderful work of art that is WFA it’s a fixit. for a reason. because the it was broken and needed fixing.

TLDR; you don’t have to like Jason Todd, or think he’s the best Robin, but you have to admit, he is a complex, layered, well written character. And stop mischaracterizing him and dumbing him down to this impulsive, angry, weak kid.

bonus: my Jason playlist

Aww, sweet, right? 💖✨

Now here’s Jason Todd, Red Hood, full of Superman dislike and paranoia, with a hefty side of Clark not liking Jason either and remembering his Robin-time as only ‘you saved my life once’ - because N52 and Lobdell, amirite? (Red Hood and the Outlaws vol. 1 # 14)

I wonder if that autograph is still at Wayne Manor? Or if somehow it made it onto Jason’s memorabilia shelf? (Red Hood and the Outlaws Rebirth # 1)

If there was any vehicle more infamous than the Batmobile it would be the Night-cycle. Y/N looked longingly upon her old motorcycle as she and the Second Robin geared up in the Batcave. She’d hoped that she would be able to ride it after so very long away from her prized possession. Alas, it seemed that life was trying to send her a message; Fuck you.

“If you go rearing down through Gotham on the Night-cycle,” Jason told her with a snicker at the name, not bothering to look up as he tugged on his chest plate. “There’sno way B won’t notice you.”

It wasn’t that she was avoiding her father or disregarding his order to stay back tonight. She was merely avoiding and disobeying him. Of course, she couldn’t take all the credit. Really, she’d been content to stay in and watch Netflix after everything that had already gone down. It was Jason’s fault; he was the one who’d come in yelling about her being a pushover and a daddy’s girl. Y/N had tried not to think about it and justified that she was entitled to time to rest even if her father had ordered it. Yet here she found herself, suit on – from where she’d stolen it back from the big Bat – and running along Gotham’s rooftops.

“You haven’t asked what mine are,” Jason said suddenly, almost startling Y/N enough to smack into his back. She caught herself quickly and gave the boy an irritated questioning look. “Don’t you want to know what my conditions are?”

The girl simply blinked for several moments as if she hadn’t heard him. In reality, the words were just churning in her head as if her mind was struggling to put meaning into his words. Her eyebrows scrunched together as she gave him a strange look as if asking; what the hell is wrong with you?

Instead, she opted to say, “No, not particularly.”

“One,” He announced before she could launch herself onto another roof. “I want you to teach me.”

Y/N leant forward a little, eyeing the distance to the concrete floor. It would likely kill her, but Jason caught the moment of hesitation as she moved away. He wondered if she’d have launched herself off if he hadn’t been wearing the Robin costume. Indeed, she was eyeing the R symbol as if trying to make up her mind whether this was worth all the ache. Wondering if he deserved her tutelage, the symbol itself.

“It’s not something you can unlearn.” She warned softly.

For a moment Jason could see Dick Grayson in her eyes. The same anger, the same sadness plagued them. But a different sort of defiance lit the girl’s eyes. He couldn’t decide if it was proof that she was stronger than his predecessor or if she simply hid it better. Dick Grayson had once told him something like that, that you can’t unlearn the things Bruce taught them all.

For a moment he contemplated what to say, all that he could come up with was, “I know. I don’t plan to unlearn it.”

“I didn’t either.” The girl looked him right in the eyes and launched herself from the roof. “Class is in session.”

***

“Here we are,” The Nightingale whispered in awe as she crouched above the shadowed alley. When Robin sent her a look for the tone she shrugged, “I forgot how easy it was to find crime here.”

“Crime finds you.” He corrected, earning only a roll of the eyes. “So, what are we doing here? When I said teach me, I didn’t mean to take down a simple drug deal I meant the whole Nightingale thing. Daughter of Batman, Princess of Gotham, Infamous Vigilante.”

“It’s about wielding the symbols.” Nightingale pressed onward, ignoring the boy. “I want you to stop this deal by embracing the Robin as a symbol.”

Before the last word barely left her lips the girl was watching the boy leap into the drug deal. The two thugs pulled guns on him, wasting no time to begin shooting. Apparently, they weren’t smart enough to realize like her, that even though his chest was protected they could easily shoot for his face. Although she expected no less, Gotham thugs weren’t exactly known to be the smarted criminals out there.

“How did I do?” A cocky voice chuckled in her ear. Nightingale’s head turned toward where the criminals had once been. They were now crawling out of the alley, blood pooling from whatever Robin had done to their legs. Likely broken.

“How about, terribly.”

A soft growl rumbled in his chest, “You know you’re just like Bruce. You’re too violent Jason. Calm down, Jason. Stop hurting criminals Jason.”

“I don’t care what you do to criminals to get yourself off.” Nightingale snapped, eyes zeroing in on him. “I do, however, care that you aren’t listening. You are the one who wants me to teach you. I said fight them with the Robin symbol.”

The boy’s hand lifted to the R in his chest plate making the girl huff and shake her head. With a simple motion to follow she began searching for a new set of thugs. It wasn’t hard, considering that they’d come to the less conventional side of Gotham. This time it was several muscular men surrounding a young woman and her infant son.

“Let me guess,” Jason mocked, “Fight them with the symbol.”

“Watch and learn.”

Y/N perched on the edge of the building took a deep breath in and began humming eerily. She seemed to melt into the shadows as she slithered from her perch, down to the filthy street. The woman didn’t bother running as she slowly crept behind the men, shoes clicking across the sidewalk. As if she wanted them to know she was there before they ever turned to see her.

The young woman with her son looked at her, eyes glistening in the moonlight. The air seemed to chill as Nightingale smiled at her, humming that eerie tune all the while. The first attacker to whirl upon her was older than the rest, he was stunned to silence. Jason couldn’t hear anything but the girl’s eerie singing from where he was, but he was sure that the man had begun praying.

Just when he thought the girl was going to strike the man down, she opened her mouth and began singing.

“Hush little baby, don't say a word, Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird.”

A chill ran down his spine as she sang her sweet song. For the first time, he realized why she hadn’t been Batgirl. It was because Bats did not sing, but Nightingales- They sang during the night. “And if that mockingbird don't sing, Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring.

And if that diamond ring turns brass, Mama's gonna buy you a looking glass.”

The other thugs turned upon her quickly. Jason just barely caught the glint of steel before the knife was clattering to the concrete. These thugs were younger than the man now cowering in the filthy gutter. They had likely been too young to have seen the Nightingale before her disappearance but the man- He remembered. “And if that looking glass gets broke, Mama's gonna buy you a winter cloak. And if that winter cloak's too cold, Mama's gonna buy you a pile of gold.”

The mother - who had been too stunned to move – finally seemed to understand that now was her chance to move. She hefted her son up and began sprinting, just as the old man began muttering again. Nightingale still hadn’t lifted her hand against any of them but even the younger criminals had the good sense to lower themselves to the ground “And if that gold was stolen, too, Mama's gonna go to jail for you.”

Jason hadn’t heard that version of the song. He wondered if she’d wrote it as a child, for just this purpose. Then again what sort of kid wrote horror worthy songs just to have criminal’s pissing in the gutter? Probably kids like him.

“So, hush little baby don’t say a word,

Mama’s gonna kill for you the whole damn world.”

The old man began sobbing, muttering things to his younger companions who seemed to want to fold into themselves. Nightingale continued to hum her song as she nodded to whatever the man was whimpering. From behind her ear, she pulled the feather.

For a second Jason thought the girl was going to stab them with it, for it was indeed sharpened into a deadly point. But then the girl held her hand out and offered it to the man. Far too eagerly he tore the red feather from her hand, turned it and plunged it into the arm of his first companion. The second – a woman marked with scars – gave a scream of indignation before she was silenced by that same feather piercing her skin.

“Thank you.” The old man cried, just loud enough for Robin to hear from his perch. Then the man turned the feather onto himself and slumped silently into the gutter.

A cruel expression flicked on and off the Nightingale’s face as she pulled a new feather from her utility belt. Robin watched her tuck it behind her ear and turn from the slumped trio of criminals. Jason tried not to wince as she landed far too silently beside him. She was the daughter of Batman in every way but that display…

“What was he muttering?” Robin dared ask.

“That’s her. The Nightingale from the stories.”

Jason let out a soft breath, “And the feather?”

“I’ve always given the criminals a choice.” Y/N didn’t meet his eyes as she tugged her gloves on tighter. “The sedative on the feather or me.”