NIGHTWING (Dick Grayson)	BIOGRAPHY
Created by Bob Kane (Robin identity), Marv Wolfman and George Pérez (Nightwing identity)

Nightwing (Dick Grayson)

PERSONAL DATA

Real Name: Dick Grayson
Full Name: Richard John 'Dick' Grayson
Aliases: Robin I, The Target, Batman III
Identity: Secret
Occupation: Adventurer, former bartender, acrobat, police officer
Citizenship: American
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: John Grayson (father; deceased), Mary Grayson (mother; deceased)
Base of Operation: Mobile, formerly Blüdhaven/Gotham City
Group Affiliation(s): Justice League of America, formerly Outsiders III, former leader of the Teen Titans and the New Titans, former partner of Batman.
Gender: Male
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 175 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
First Appearance: (as Robin I): Superman Vol. 1 #76 (May-June 1952)
(as Nightwing): Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (July 1984)
Creators: Bob Kane (Robin identity), Marv Wolfman and George Pérez (Nightwing identity)

OVERVIEW

Young Richard Grayson was a trained acrobat, touring the country with his family in Haly's Circus until they were murdered in the middle of their act. The stunned young boy was taken in by millionaire Bruce Wayne, who had also lost his parents at a young age, also killed in front of his eyes. He revealed to the boy that he was working out his revenge on criminals as Batman and trained the youth to fight crime at his side as Robin. Dick grew up to become the leader of the Titans group of young heroes, eventually stepping out of his mentor's shadow by taking the new identity of Nightwing. He grew gradually more distant from Batman over the years, becoming more involved with leading the Titans and planning to marry his team-mate Starfire, though this went tragically wrong.

After a brief stint filling in for his mentor, Dick eventually moved to his own city, Blüdhaven, where he has trained as a police cadet and entered the largely corrupt police force. He got involved with a new group of Titans and became a romantically involved with Barbara Gordon: Oracle, the former Batgirl. After the destruction of Blüdhaven and the "Final Crisis", the Batman was presumed dead, and Dick rose to the occasion and took over the mantle of the Batman, with Bruce's illegitimate son Damian serving as Robin.

HISTORY

Born on the first day of Spring into a family of circus performers, Richard John Grayson learned acrobatic skills at an early age. Dick was a member of the famous acrobatic team The Flying Graysons of the Haly Circus. Before one appearance in Gotham City, in which The Flying Graysons were the main attraction, they were asked to pose for a photo opportunity with the Drake Family, including their young son Tim. From that time on Tim's one and only hero in the world was Dick. During the Graysons' portion of the show, Dick's parents John and Mary, fell to their death after their trapeze snaps. All while many of Gotham's elite, including billionaire socialite Bruce Wayne, and the young Tim Drake watched on.

Their deaths were not an accident, but actually planned by the gangster "Boss" Zucco, who was running a local protection racket, and Haly refused to pay. Dick overheard gang members warning Haly of further accidents and made a vow to avenge his parents death. Batman, while investigating the murders, overheard Dicks vow and took the boy under his protective wing so that Dick would not hurt himself. Batman brought Dick to the Batcave where Dick asked if he could become Batman's partner in crime-fighting. Getting the consent of Dick's nearest relative, Bruce Wayne became Dick's legal guardian. He then proceeded to train Dick to the peak of physical and mental perfection. When the time was right, Bruce gave Dick a costume and dubbed him Robin. As Robin, the Boy Wonder, Dick captured Zucco, who was sentenced to a long prison term.

After many adventures with the Dark Knight and establishing himself as a crime-fighter in his own right, Robin soon met other teenage adventurers and formed the first group of Teen Titans. The original Titans was composed of the most well-known sidekicks of the time: Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Speedy, Aqualad, and Robin as the leader. Through the Titans, Dick gained additional experience through his encounters with new criminals, both at home and on other worlds.

Soon after graduating from high school, he left Gotham City and Batman for college at Hudson University. After a few months, Dick dropped out and drifted around for a while, before finally returning to Gotham City. Upon his return he struggled to get Bruce's respect as an adult. It was during this time period that Robin was shot in the shoulder by the Joker, after which Bruce deemed the life of a superhero too dangerous for Dick, thus ending Dick's career as Robin.

Upon leaving the cave, and Robin forever, he moved to New York to became the leader of the New Teen Titans. Adopting the name Nightwing and a new costume, Dick set out to face a deadlier and darker world.

While serving with the New Titans, Dick was searched out by an older Tim Drake, who had only one goal on his mind, for Dick to return to his Robin identity. It was Dick's refusal to return that started Tim down the road towards becoming the new Robin. After weeks of persuasion and seeing Tim proving his potential, Dick then returned to the Batman to plead Tim's case, with help from the Batman's man-servant Alfred. As a result of their arguments and the realization that the Batman needed a Robin, Tim Drake became the fourth boy to wear the red and green (following a young Bruce, Dick, and Jason Todd). And, Dick gained a "little brother".

Since the, Nightwing has returned to Gotham on more than one occasion to lend a hand. Most notably following the breaking of the Bat by the muscular criminal mastermind known as Bane. After Bruce's injury, he asked the vigilante formerly known as Azrael, Jean Paul Valley, to fill in as the Dark Knight. Dick returned to investigate the new guy in town, and to find out why Bruce would entrust the job to an outsider. He even helped to take down this new Batman, after he had let the criminal Abattoir die. After Jean Paul was finally defeated by a recovered Bruce, Dick was asked to fill in as the Batman, so that Bruce could sort things out. This time as the Batman was probably most beneficial for Dick. He finally realized how different he was from Bruce, and that he had to be his own man.

After giving back the mantle of the bat, Nightwing settled down in a new city to establish his independence.

After a brief stint filling in for his mentor, Dick moved to a new city, Blüdhaven, where he trained as a police cadet and entered the largely corrupt police force. Blüdhaven was far enough away from Gotham for Dick to be his own man, yet close enough to Dark Knight if needed. Nightwing got involved with a new group of Titans and the Outsiders and became a romantically involved with Barbara Gordon: Oracle, the former Batgirl.

After the destruction of Blüdhaven and the "Final Crisis", the Batman was presumed dead, and Dick rose to the occasion and took over the mantle of the Batman, with Bruce's illegitimate son Damian serving as Robin.

POWERS AND WEAPONS

On the I.Q. scale, Nightiwng is a bit below Batman's near genius level, but he is in no way a slouch. With regards to his detective skills, they are second only to the Dark Knight's. What he lacks in raw intelligence, he makes up for in superb leadership skills.

An excellent hand-to-hand combatant, Nightwing learned his fighting skills from the Batman, thus their skills are very similar and a blend of various styles. But in general, their fighting styles favor Aikido and Jeet-Kune-Do.

Nightwing's style does differ with respect to his being a near-flawless gymnast and greater natural athlete. These traits lend themselves toward a more flowing, free form style of combat, thus making Nightwing an excellent hand-to-hand combatant.

His Nightwing costume houses numerous concealed devices: swing lines, med.-kit, tazer, etc., all of which are contained in his gauntlets and boots. Also included in the suit are holsters, located on his back, for a pair of escrima fighting sticks.

Among Nightwing's means of transportation are his customized car and boat. For a long time Nightwing also had a customized motorcycle.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Nightwing in chronological order click here

PROFILE REFERENCES

Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #17 (July 1986)

Who's Who Update '88 #2 (September 1988)
Batman Annual #13 (1989)
Who's Who in the DC Universe #14 (November 1991)
Superman/Batman Secret Files 2003 (November 2003)