Robin/Sandbox



"Holy Tropes, Batman!"

Robin is DC Comics character created as Batman's sidekick in 1940 and best known as the Trope Maker and Trope Codifier of the Kid Sidekick archetype. There have been many, many different Robins throughout the character's publication, but most of them have common elements. With only a few exceptions, they are usually orphaned teenage males with some sort of acrobatic or martial arts prowess and wear a brightly-colored costume (typically red, green and yellow).

Dick Grayson
The most famous Robin is the original, Dick Grayson, who held the identity from 1940 to 1984. Grayson, however, gave up the name to forge a new career as the hero Nightwing. Since then, the mantle has been passed several times, although other media adaptations usually use Dick Grayson in the role.

Robin was originally conceived as a vehicle to draw younger readers--and it worked, doubling Batman's sales figures from his first appearance onward. Afterward, Robin became a staple of the Batman books' humor, as well as being a Foil against his mentor and providing the Dark Knight a character to whom he could exposit his many heroic feats. Unfortunately, this also had the side-effect of making Robin into a Distressed Dude who barely contained a tenth of the skills or competence of his partner.

As time went along, the implications regarding a rich adult who lived alone with a traumatized teenage orphan boy (Alfred would not become part of the Batman home until sometime later) garnered negative media attention and is cited as one of the major reasons for the creation of the Comics Code that spelled the end of The Interregnum and the dawn of The Silver Age of Comic Books. Robin's reputation as a character suffered its greatest blow in this period, and the repercussions are still felt to this day (such as in parodies like the Ambiguously Gay Duo). Batman has remained consistently popular and has been subject to many darker reimaginings, but Robin has found more success away from his mentor's shadow.

Robin has been a staple member of the Teen Titans since the group's inception in 1965 and typically acted as team leader and The Smart Guy. It was in this series that the character really grew into his own, especially when the book was retooled as The New Teen Titans with the inclusion of four new teen heroes that were not originally sidekicks (although Beast Boy was a transplant from another series). It was in the pages of Teen Titans that Nightwing was originally born.

Jason Todd
After Dick Grayson, a new character named Jason Todd was introduced as a Suspiciously Similar Substitute (right down to origins as an orphaned circus acrobat) until he was Retconned to be a former teen delinquent to distinguish him from Dick Grayson. Todd was a Jerkass however, and proved to be unpopular and he was Killed Off for Real in the infamous A Death In The Family storyline in 1989. For a time, the most famous thing about Jason Todd was that he (like his Captain America counterpart Bucky Barnes), had remained dead. Since then, however, he has come Back From the Dead and has re-adopted several identities which were once used by other characters: the Red Hood (originally used by The Joker), Red Robin and Nightwing (both originally used by Dick Grayson). Since his return, Jason Todd has become even more of an Anti-Hero than ever and is even sometimes cast as a villain for both Batman and Nightwing, standing in opposition to their Thou Shalt Not Kill ideology.

Tim Drake
The third Robin was Tim Drake, who broke the mold of the previous two in several ways. One, he was not an orphan (his father was still alive when he took the mantle. Two, he was not as light-hearted or whimsical as either of his predecessors. And three, he lived a normal life and only saw being Robin as a temporary necessity, planning to go back to his normal life after he put in his service. He was also the first Robin to maintain a long-lasting solo series (lasting from 1993 to 2009) and, after Dick Grayson, is the second-most famous person to hold the role. Tim was also a founding member of Young Justice along with Superboy and Impulse, where he played a similar role that Dick Grayson had played within the Titans. Tim's status quo was changed forever in 2004, after the death of his father, whereupon Batman adopted Tim as he had done with his predecessors, the death of his best friend Conner Kent, and ultimately the death of Batman himself. Following this Trauma Conga Line, Tim retired as Robin to become the third Red Robin.

Stephanie Brown
In 2003, Tim Drake briefly retired as Robin to pursue an ordinary life. His supporting character (and Love Interest) Stephanie Brown was picked by Batman to become the new Robin. Stephanie's tenure as Robin was rife with controversy, including the insinuation that her promotion was a Batman Gambit (by the Trope Namer himself no less) to anger Tim Drake into returning as Robin. Stephanie was fired from the role for a relatively minor mistake (compared to the blunders previous Robins had done) and then unceremoniously killed off in 2004. It was later revealed through Word of God that Stephanie's role as Robin was never meant to be permanent and was only meant to make her death more dramatic and shocking. This has later been cited as a textbook case of Stuffed Into the Fridge, especially since after her death, Stephanie was barely mentioned by the other Bat-family characters and she received no monument (as Jason Todd had upon his death). Stephanie was revealed to be in hiding in 2009 and took the role of Batgirl. When the DC universe was relaunched after the Flashpoint storyline in 2011, she returned to her Spoiler identity.

Damien Wayne
In 2008, it was revealed that Talia Al Ghul (daughter of Batman foe Ra's Al Ghul had a son named Damien conceived by Bruce Wayne. Whether he is a result of mutual intercourse, a Child by Rape, or a Designer Baby created from Batman's genes is left ambiguous and many sources outright contradict each other. Damien was raised by his mother in the League Of Assassins. After Bruce Wayne "died" and Tim Drake permanently retired as Robin in 2009, Dick Grayson and Damien served as the new Batman and Robin respectively. As of 2012, Damien is still the current Robin, although he now serves under his father, who has returned to his mantle.

Tropes Associated With Robin In General

 * Badass Normal: Like their mentor, none of the Robins have superpowers.
 * Kid Hero: One of the earliest superhero examples, although Spider-Man would become the Trope Codifier for comics.
 * Kid Sidekick: The Trope Maker and Trope Codifier.

Tropes Associated With Dick Grayson

 * Ambiguously Gay: One of the most infamous examples, and also a subversion. The relationship between Batman and Robin was speculated to be not-so-platonic for many, MANY years and tends to be the butt of jokes even to this day.
 * Sidekick Graduations Stick: His promotion to Nightwing has never been reversed. And while he is no longer Batman, he's proven that he's the heir apparent for the cowl.

Tropes Associated With Jason Todd

 * Kick the Son of a Bitch: Jason's most controversial act as Robin was an offscreen murder of a rapist. At the time, it wasn't clear if he'd actually done the deed or not, and he denied as such, but since his return as Red Hood, it's become clear that he not only did it, but isn't against murder at all.
 * Missing Mom: Eventually he found her. And then she sold him out to the Joker.

Tropes Associated With Tim Drake

 * The Call Knows Where You Live: The reason Tim is now an orphan and permanently dedicated to crime-fighting.
 * I Just Want to Be Normal: Tim never wanted to be a crime-fighter permanently. He just wanted to be Robin for a while until he could retire and go on with his life.
 * Jumped At the Call: He became Robin because he figured out who Batman was and recognized Bruce's Sanity Slippage without a teen sidekick to keep him honest.
 * Missing Mom

Tropes Associated With Stephanie Brown

 * Affirmative Action Legacy: The only canonical female Robin.
 * Abusive Parents: Her father was the Batman villain, the Cluemaster, and he was very abusive toward her.
 * Dropped a Bridge on Him
 * Gendered Outfit: The only Robin to wear a skirt.

Tropes Associated With Damien Wayne

 * Defector From Decadence
 * Heel Face Turn
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: The youngest Robin yet, but no less badass.