There have been several Robins in Batman lore. Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, and Damian Wayne constitute the first four. Each Robin left Batman’s service for one reason or another.
The last three Robins (as of 2021)
Jason Todd, the second Robin, is easily the most controversial of all Robins – and the most violent. Todd was nearly beaten to death by Joke and then killed when Joker blew up the warehouse he was in. He was later revived and became Red Hood under which mantle he continued to fight crime in his own controversial manner.
Tim Drake, the third Robin, took over Robin’s role after Jason Todd’s death. Tim would also eventually leave Batman’s side to become Red Robin and part of the Teen Titans crimefighting group.
Damian Wayne, Batman’s son was born of Talia Ghul. Trained as an assassin by Ghul, he is eventually killed by a clone of himself.
Dick Grayson – the original Robin
The original Robin, Dick Grayson, always saw Batman as a father figure despite slowly evolving to question Batman’s methods and penchant for violence with a do-whatever-it-takes manner to combat crime. This led to his solo career as Nightwing. But he still left Batman on good terms.
Dick Grayson’s origin story has changed multiple times. In the original arc, Batman makes Robin give up his role after Robin is nearly killed by the Joker. The most recent telling finds Robin struggling to balance his time between his role as Robin and leader of the Teen Titans. In all instances however, he gracefully leaves Batman’s service to become Nightwing.
Dick Grayson’s Robin as told by the Teen Titans series
But in the Teen Titans series, a different story is told. Robin expresses a profound hatred for Batman – or so it seems. Titans by nature, provides a dark interpretation of DC characters. Robin’s story is no different. Grayson expresses a fear that he will become as dark and brooding as Batman. He places the blame squarely on the training Batman provided him as a child.
According to the Teen Titans’ version of the story, Robin blames Batman for taking a vulnerable child and turning him into a killing machine. Robin has a valid point. Adults protect children – not put them in harm’s way. Taking a child and training him to risk his life to assist Batman in his personal vendetta against crime is unconscionable. Of course, kid sidekicks were common in Golden Age comics. It helped children better identify with the storyline.
However, Teen Titans also shows Robin writing his own fate through a series of bad decisions (e.g. stealing, an affair with Dove while she is married to Hawk, etc.) In truth, Robin feels he has no control over his identity. He sees how Batman could easily turn into an uncontrollable, rogue killing machine. Robin fears he could do the same.
