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Robin is a DC Comics character, and Batman 's young Sidekick . Since 1940, several different characters have stepped into the role of Robin. In each incarnation, Robin's brightly colored visual appearance and youthful energy have served as a contrast to Batman's dark look and manner. The character has been a fixture in the Batman Comic Book s. Played originally by Douglas Croft , he joined Batman in his first venture into Motion Pictures in Batman's first serial. Although Robin is best known for his adventures with Batman, three Robins have also been members of the superhero group the Teen Titans with the original Robin, Dick Grayson , being the charter leader. ''Robin'' is also the title of a comic book series, first published in 1991, featuring the Tim Drake version of the character. ROBINS The following fictional characters don the Robin costume at various times in the regular Batman Continuity : Dick Grayson See Also: Dick Grayson In '' Detective Comics '' #38 (1940), Batman creators Bob Kane and Bill Finger , along with inker/later ghost artist Jerry Robinson , introduced the first Robin, Richard John "Dick" Grayson, an aerialist and the character still best known as Robin. The sidekick debuted a year after Batman. and Jerry Robinson .]] The name "Robin the Boy Wonder" and the medieval look of the original costume were inspired by the legendary hero Robin Hood . Richard Grayson was an eight-year-old Circus Acrobat , the youngest of a family act called the "Flying Graysons". A gangster named Boss Zucco (loosely based on actor Edward G. Robinson 's '' Little Caesar '' character) had been extorting money from the circus and killed Grayson's parents, John and Mary, by sabotaging their Trapeze equipment as a warning against defiance. The Batman investigated the crime and, as his alter ego millionaire Bruce Wayne, had Dick put under his custody as a legal ward (later adopting him as his son). Batman rigorously trained the boy, teaching him physical, fighting and detective skills. Together they investigated Zucco and collected the evidence needed to bring him to justice. In the 1995 movie '' Batman Forever '', with Val Kilmer as the Dark Knight, Grayson's parents were murdered by Two-Face/Harvey Dent during a hostage situation at the annual Gotham Circus. The movie featured Chris O'Donnell at age 24 portraying the role of the Boy Wonder, who reprised the role again at the age of age 26 in the 1997 film '' Batman And Robin '' with George Clooney as the Batman. From his debut appearance in 1940 through 1969, Robin was known as the Boy Wonder. However, as he grew up, graduated from high school and enrolled in Hudson University , Robin continued his career as the Teen Wonder, from the 1970 into the early 1980s. The character was re-discovered by a new generation of fans during the 80s because of the success of '' The New Teen Titans '', in which he left Batman's shadow entirely to assume the identity of Nightwing . Jason Todd See Also: Jason Todd DC was initially hesitant to turn Grayson into Nightwing and to replace him with a new Robin. To minimize the change, they made the new Robin, Jason Peter Todd, who first appeared in ''Batman'' #357 (1983), almost indistinguishable from a young Grayson. Jason Todd was also the son of circus acrobats killed by a criminal (this time the Batman adversary Killer Croc ), adopted by Bruce Wayne. In this incarnation, he was red-haired and unfailingly cheerful, and wore his circus costume to fight crime until Dick Grayson presented him with a Robin suit of his own. At that point, he dyed his hair black. After the mini-series '' Crisis On Infinite Earths '', much of DC Comics Continuity was rebooted. Dick Grayson's origin, years with Batman and growth into Nightwing remained essentially unchanged, but Todd's character was completely revised. He was now a black-haired street orphan who first encountered Batman when he attempted to steal tires from the Batmobile . Batman saw that he was placed in a school for troubled youths. Weeks later, after Dick Grayson became Nightwing and Todd proved his crimefighting worth by helping Batman catch a gang of thieves, Batman offered Todd the position as Robin. .]] Readers never truly bonded with Todd and, in 1988, DC made the controversial decision to poll readers using a '' storyline, in which the psychopath beat the youngster severely with a crowbar, and left him in a warehouse rigged with a bomb. Jason Todd has recently been brought back, having been revealed to be the new Red Hood , the original alias of the Joker. Batman is still unaware of how his 'resurrection' occurred. Tim Drake See Also: Tim Drake .]] DC Comics was left uncertain about readers' decision to kill Todd, wondering if they felt Batman should be a lone vigilante, disliked Todd specifically, or just wanted to see if DC would actually kill the character. In addition, the 1989 '' Batman '' film did not feature Robin, giving DC a reason to keep him out of the comic book series for marketing purposes. Regardless, Batman editor Denny O'Neil introduced a new Robin. The third Robin, Timothy Drake, first appeared in a flashback in ''Batman'' #436 (1989). Drake was a young boy who had followed the adventures of Batman and Robin ever since witnessing the murder of the Flying Graysons. This served to connect Drake to Grayson, establishing a link that DC hoped would help readers accept this new Robin. Drake surmised their secret identities with his amateur but instinctive detective skills and followed their careers closely. Tim was introduced as a happy medium between the first two Robins in that, from the readers' point of view, he is neither overly well behaved like Dick Grayson nor overly impudent like Jason Todd. Stephanie Brown See Also: Stephanie Brown .]] Stephanie Brown, Tim Drake 's girlfriend and the costumed adventurer previously known as the ''' Spoiler ''', volunteered for the role of Robin upon Tim's resignation. Batman fired the Girl Wonder for not obeying his orders to the letter. While trying to prove her worthiness, Brown inadvertently set off a gang war on the streets of Gotham. While trying to help end the war, Brown was captured and tortured by the lunatic crime boss Black Mask . She managed to escape but died shortly due to the severity of her injuries and the lack of treatment from Dr. Leslie Thompkins. Other comic continuities Bruce Wayne A Batman story from the 1950s featured the young Bruce Wayne assuming the identity of Robin, complete with the original costume, in order to learn the basics of detective work from a famous ''. Post-Crisis, there was one instance in continuity when Bruce Wayne adopted the Robin persona. In ''Batboy & Robin'', a tie-in special to the DC Comics storyline ''Sins of Youth'', Bruce and Tim Drake the third Robin had their ages magically switched. In an effort to keep up the illusion of Batman, Bruce had Tim adopt the Batman identity while he is forced to be Robin. Bruce Wayne Junior In a story from 1961, Alfred writes a tale about an imaginable future: Bruce Wayne married Kathy Kane and they had a son named Bruce Jr. As Bruce Sr. retires from being Batman , that post is filled by Dick Grayson. Dick's post as Robin is filled by Bruce Jr. The future dynamic duo wears the same costumes as its version from the present, but both with a II added on the chest. The villains featured in the story are the Joker and his son. Robin's mantle has been carried on by Bruce Wayne Jr. also in the epilogue of Batman / Captain America Elseworld crossover from 1996. Carrie Kelly The 1986 '', written and drawn by Frank Miller , introduced Carrie Kelly as the first female Robin in the Batman franchise's history. In that series, which takes place in an Alternate Future , Kelly was a Batman fanatic who instantly took it upon herself to become Robin after Batman returned from retirement. In this series, Todd's death led to the Dark Knight's retirement, but Batman still accepted Kelly. By the time of the 2001 sequel '' The Dark Knight Strikes Again '', Kelly had taken the identity Catgirl, but continued to accompany Batman and his allies. Both of these stories take place in a future that has not come to pass in current DC continuity, and so neither is considered canonical. In an interesting note, in ''Teen Titans'' v3 #18, when the Titans were transported 10 years into the future, we are shown a graveyard full of deceased Batman allies and villains. One tombstone reads "Carrie Kelly". In '' The New Batman Adventures '' episode, "Legends of the Dark Knight", a girl who closely resembles Carrie Kelly, called "Kelly", is one of three kids telling what they believe the Batman is really like. The story she tells is similar to the scene where Batman drives up in his tank and battles the mutants in Frank Miller's "Batman: Dark Knight Returns" (1986). In the Alex Ross -illustrated '' Kingdom Come '' graphic novel, Batman , Superman , and Wonder Woman meet for lunch in a superhero-inspired restaurant. They are served by a waitress dressed as Robin and who may have been modeled on Carrie Kelly. Alfred Pennyworth era, a young Alfred is Robin to that era's Batman. Richard Grayson of Earth-Two On Earth-Two , home of the Golden Age version of DC's superheroes, the grown-up Grayson continued to be Robin as an adult, even after the Golden Age Batman ´s death. He adopted a more Batman-like look for a time, and by the 1960s had become a lawyer and the ambassador to South Africa . Richard eventually became a member of the Justice Society Of America and the All-Star Squadron . He died, however, during the 1985 miniseries '' Crisis On Infinite Earths '', in which the DC Multiverse was reduced to one universe, and this version of Grayson, as well as the Earth-Two Batman, were deemed never to have existed. Kal-L , the Earth-Two Superman , indicated that Richard Grayson in his world was not a better man than the one in Earth-One (Nightwing). Robert Chang In the digitally rendered Elseworlds tale ''Digital Justice'', in which Commissioner Gordon's grandson James Gordon takes on the mantle of the Batman, and a character named Robert Chang, who is somewhat reminiscent of the post-Crisis Jason Todd, takes on the mantle of Robin. Redbird In the American Civil War set Elseworld ''The Blue, The Gray and the Bat'', Captain Bruce Wayne is aided by a Native American named Redbird. Redbird's family were killed by white men, and, until he got his revenge, he wore Warpaint in a design similar to a domino mask. Stan Lee's Robin DC did a version of Robin for Stan Lee 's ''Just Imagine'' line of comics, where a few DC Comics characters were re-imagined by Marvel Comics founder Stan Lee. 1994 Elseworlds Annuals =Kingdom Come Red Robin .]] In an alternative Elseworld Tale , '' Kingdom Come '', Dick Grayson reclaims the Robin mantle and becomes Red Robin, not at the side of his former mentor Batman, but rather with Superman's League. Age has not slowed him down, as he possesses all of his stealth and fighting skills. In this elseworld story he has had a daughter with Starfire ; the beautiful Nightstar . Starfire had apparently died. =Tengu An unnamed young warrior in 16th century Japan, raised by the Bat-Samurai, and nicknamed Tengu, after the Bird-spirits , by a female Cat-Ninja . Tengu was later revealed to be the rightful heir to the imperial throne, and the usurper (believing he knew this and plotted against him) attempted to kill him. He killed the usurper in self-defence but, since he had already sworn loyalty, was constrained to suicide as a result of this dishonor.(''Robin'' Elseworlds Annual). =Robin Redblade An orphan on the streets of 17th century Kingston , who became cabin boy to Leatherwing the pirate (''Detective Comics'' Elseworld Annual). Legends of the Dead Earth In the 1996 Elseworlds science fiction annuals, Earth has been destroyed, but people live up to the legends of the past in various ways. =Tris Plover In the ''Robin'' annual humanity is trying to reach other worlds in Generation Ship s. On one of these, a group called the Proctors have seized control and everyone else are slaves who are executed on their 30th birthdays to conserve the ship's resources. Tris Plover, a 29 year old slave, rebels against the Proctors. She meets another rebel, called the Batman, who gives her the Robin identity. At the cost of their lives, they succeed in defeating the Proctors and Robin sets the ship on a course for the planet New Gotham. =Deals and Geela In the ''Detective Comics'' LOTDE annual, three kids on a war-torn planet redesign a soldier-robot to resemble Batman. Two of them then design Robin costumes (the third is told he can be "Alfred Gordon"). =Darkbird This is the name of Batman's partner in the somewhat garbled fables told on another colony world, as featured in the ''Batman'' annual. While the name is based on Nightwing, the costume is in Robin's colours. All Star Richard Grayson .]] This is an alternate continuity version of Grayson, featured in the '' All Star Batman And Robin '' title which debuted in July 2005. His origin differs in various ways to the official DC Comics Universe . In this universe, he is a twelve-year-old boy who performs in the circus with his two parents, as the Flying Graysons. Bruce Wayne had come to the show many times to watch him perform his stunts. One night, while Wayne watched the show with reporter Vicki Vale , the Graysons performed an amazing feat. The audience began to cheer and clap when suddenly a man arrived and shot Dick Grayson's parents in the head. They fell to the floor and died. Batman took out the gunman while some corrupted Gotham City Police officers took young Dick Grayson into custody, and absconded with him. They took him to a place outside Gotham City , into a deserted stretch of forest where they tortured and/or executed people, but Batman came to the rescue, and attacked the corrupt cops, forcing them into flight. Batman rescued Dick and took him in the Batmobile and asked him to join him in his crusade against crime in Gotham City. Dick agreed to join the crusade. In All Star continuity, Robin has not yet appeared but is expected to appear in ''All Star Batman and Robin'' #5. IN OTHER MEDIA
Teen Titans animated series Robin, voiced by Scott Menville , appears in the Cartoon Network adaptation of the '' Teen Titans ''. He has not been referred to by given name, although several clues have indicated that this Robin is Dick Grayson. A time-travel themed episode portrayed a future where this Robin has taken on the role of Nightwing , and in another episode an alternate universe Robin with the exact same DNA shows up named " Nosyarg Kcid " (Dick Grayson spelled backwards). The first season focused a great deal on Robin and Slade , his arch-enemy. He was very determined to stop Slade from destroying the city. He got so focused that it came to the point when he started acting like Slade. Slade used nanoscopic probes in the other Titans to make Robin follow his every order. But Robin eventually infected himself with the probes, knowing that Slade would hate to lose his apprentice. Every season has had an episode that focused on Robin's over-determined nature. In the episode "Trust", Robin and Starfire are the only regular Titans to speak. In Season 5, episode "Go", it is inferred that he was Batman's Ex-sidekick when a thief says, "aren't you supposed to be in-" only to be interupted by Robin who said "Just moved here". Throughout the episode, he says he doesn't want to be in a team again so soon. EXTERNAL SOURCES
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