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Nightwing's Biography

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"You figured the best thing to do was drive me out of your life, right? That's exactly what you do to anyone who gets too close to you, Bruce! Always hurt them before they get the chance to hurt you! It didn't matter to you that I didn't have any life other than the one we shared. You're really some piece of work, aren't you?" -- Nightwing (Batman # 416)

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A new, mysterious individual by the name of Raven summoned Dick and a number of other young superheroes. Claiming that the world was greatly imperiled by a tremendously powerful extra-dimensional demon by the name of Trigon, she appealed to them to stand with her against his might. With the Justice League having failed to heed her pleas, these younger heroes decided to invest their trust in her. And so was born the New Teen Titans, originally consisting of the charter members of Robin, Wonder Girl, and Kid Flash, while being supplemented by new additions Cyborg, Starfire, Changeling and Raven. Together the group of youths would manage to prevent Trigon's entrance into their world, sealing him away in his own dimension.

Despite their success, or perhaps because of it, the group decided to remain together, using the tower constructed by Cyborg's father as a base of operations. And at the head of this group, Robin led -- free of Batman's shadow and a superhero in his own right. More and more he found himself at ease with himself, growing to like his life with his new friends, and especially with Starfire -- the alien princess Koriand'r with whom he shared a serious mutual attraction. Together the Titans would battle a number of threats, fending of the likes of Brother Blood, the Brotherhood of Evil, and even travel beyond their own world to battle the Citidal and Starfire's power-hungry sister Komand'r. But changes were ahead for the group, ones that would change them all, especially Dick Grayson�

Of all the foes the Titan's fought during this time period, none was so persistent as the H.I.V.E and their contracted mercenary Deathstroke the Terminator. Determined to bring fulfill the contract to capture the Titans, the Terminator's accomplice Tara Markov -- otherwise known as Terra -- managed to join the group and learn their secrets from the inside. Dick's identity was exposed, secret no longer. For the first time, the dangers of his secret identity being exposed were no longer an abstract threat. Despite the knowledge, Dick managed to elude Deathstroke and rescue his friends with the aid of the Terminator's son Joseph Wilson. But the emotional scars from the betrayal of one considered a friend and a teammate would take a long time to heal.

It was also at this time that Dick decided to give up being Robin. Bruce had taken on a new ward, Jason Todd, and after he stumbled upon Bruce's secret identity of Batman, he occasionally had begun to act as Robin as well. That added to the fact that Dick was increasingly feeling that Robin was more a part of his past -- a role he played as a child that no longer quite fit -- caused him to reach the decision to give up his identity as Robin. Seeking a new identity, he sought inspiration from his two most important mentors -- Batman and Superman. And so his new identity of Nightwing was born�

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"When I'm with Batman, I'm a mass of insecurities. No matter how much I try, I can never be as good as he is. No, that's not it. That's just easy for me to say. I can lay blame that way. Am I learning, Doctor?

"I guess part of it is that in the early days things were so good. I looked up to him almost as if he were a god. He was brilliant. He was physically perfect. Everything about him seemed � as if it couldn't possibly be better. Then, after Robin died, I saw, to use the cliche, Doctor -- I saw Batman had feet of clay. I went to see him. To ask him why he didn't let me know about Robin. He didn't like being confronted.

"I don't know if there's anything worse than realizing your parents are less than perfect. It makes you wonder about yourself maybe more than you should. I have a tendency toward self-blame. I gave Robin my old costume, so I felt guilt over his death, as if without me, he would still be alive. Don't look at me that way, Doctor. I know the truth, at least intellectually�.

"Why do I keep coming back to the Gargoyle? In that nightmare, he blamed me for Robin's death, and for my parents' death. And I guess somewhere in the back of my mind is a ten-year-old's guilt that maybe it was my fault." -- Dick Grayson (The New Titans # 57)

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For a time things began to improve for Dick once more. The emotional and psychological wounds from being betrayed began to heal and the Titans came together once more. With his new identity he felt more his own man and less bound by the shadow cast by the Batman. And his relationship with Starfire continued to evolve and deepen. But as was so often the case in Dick's life, things turned for the worse once more. The return of Trigon almost destroyed the Titans, and indeed Trigon's daughter was lost in the final effort to defeat the demon once and for all. Hitting on an even more personal level was Starfire being called home to the planet of Tamaran. Much to Dick's shock, she was married off to a prince of her homeworld and unable to accept that, he returned to Earth, hurt and embittered. He turned on his closest friends, closed himself off and became even more driven. Leaving the Titans for a time, he sought to discover the fate of Raven -- and instead only became a brainwashed servant of her captor, Brother Blood. But Starfire eventually returned to Earth and the Titans managed to free both of their brainwashed comrades. And once more Dick found his life back under his control -- at least for a time�

Once again resuming his duties as leader of the Titans, Dick managed to guide the group through numerous trying times. He lost some of the dark edge he had begun to acquire, growing comfortable with himself again. But his relationship with Batman grew troubled. Once again the Joker had struck at Robin, but this time the Robin was Jason Todd and the results were fatal. Unable to get Bruce to talk about the matter, he watched as Batman grew more and more reckless -- unable to stop him on his self-destructive path. But he wasn't the only one watching. A young boy, Tim Drake, who knew his identity as Robin and Nightwing confronted him with that knowledge and pleaded with him to once again become Batman's partner -- to fly as Robin again. Batman needed Robin. But Dick knew that he could never go back down that path again. Instead Dick encouraged Tim to become the newest Robin, and to persevere despite Bruce's disapproval and distance. Robin would fly once more, but never again would Dick have to bear that mantle. And perhaps for the first time, Dick confronted Bruce as an equal, imposing his will on his mentor. For Dick understood all too well that Batman needed a Robin to keep him grounded, to protect him from recklessly risking his own life in his dark war against crime�

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