Nightwing

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Nightwing (R) Agent 37 Nighwing (N52) Robin
Name
Real Name	Richard Grayson
Full Name	Richard John "Dick" Grayson
Current Alias(es):	Nightwing, The Dark Heir
Other Alias(es)	Robin, The Boy Wonder<, Batman, Birdwatcher, Agent 37, Faceless Savior, Almanqidh Majhuli Alhuia, Gray Son, Gray Son of Gotham
General Information
Relatives	Burton Crowne (Great-Great-Grandfather, deceased) William Cobb (Great-Grandfather) Amelia Crowne (Great-Grandmother, deceased) Gray Son of Gotham (Grandfather; Deceased) John Grayson (Father) Marie Lloyd (Mother)
Identity	Secret; Although outed, the use of the Somnus Satellite has caused the entire world save a few to forget Dick Grayson as well as any record of him erased.
Affiliations:	Haly’s Circus (Prime Earth) Batman Family, The Titans, H.I.V.E
Former Affiliations:	Spyral, Justice League, Batman Incorporated, Teen Titans, Parliment of Owls
Occupation:	Acrobat, Vigilante, H.I.V.E Spy
Former Occupation:	Bartender, Spyral operative, Spy, Talon
Citizenship	American
Abilities	Exceptional martial artist, Combat strategy, Advanced technology, Brilliant deductive skills, Gymnastic ability
Characteristics Information
Sex	Male
Race	Human
Alignment	Good
Ethnicity	Romani, English, European, and Italian descent
Age	21
Height	approx. 5 "8" (178 cm) 5 "10"
Weight	175lbs (80 kg)
Eye Color	Blue
Hair	Black
Unusual features	Tattoo of Spyral's insignia
Real World Information
Universe	Prime Earth
First Appearance:	Nightwing (Volume 3) #1
Created by:	Kyle Higgins Eddy Barrows

Richard John "Dick" Grayson is the biological son of Mary Grayson and John Grayson. Having been apart of the Flying Grayson and act at Haly's Circus, his parents were later killed by Tony Zucco during a performance.

He is later adopted by Bruce Wayne (also known as Batman) and becomes his sidekick, the first Robin. As Robin, he became a member of the Teen Titans until their battle with Mister Twister forced them to forget the team in order to defeat him. After Grayson outgrew his role under Batman, he later became Nightwing under the inspiration of the Nightwing legend told to him by Superman and was based in Gotham City and later Chicago. However, after the Crime Syndicate came to Earth and caused the Justice League to disappear, they captured and exposed Dick Grayson's secret identity to the world.

Having survived it's events, Batman asks him to infiltrate the organizaton, Spyral. He later enlists into one of their ranks under the alias Agent 37 as a spy and field operative. After the defeat of Otto Netz and the usage of the Somnus Thought-Suppression Satilite Network to wipe out all known records and memory of Dick Grayson save for those on an exception list, Dick is able to resume his life as Nightwing.

History

Zero Year

Dick Grayson was an acrobatic prodigy and son of both John Grayson and Mary Grayson and was part of the family team known as the "Flying Graysons" with the traveling circus, Haly's Circus. Being one of the top acts in Haly's Circus, he was popular among the crowd, something in which quickly gone to his head. It was because of this he would drive a wedge between his then-best friends, Raya Vestri and Raymond McCreary. Nightwing (Volume 3) #25 Secret Origins (Volume 3) #8

However, during a massive blackout in Gotham caused by the Riddler, he was caught into the streets alone after going out to see a movie. Having to lend a hand to various streets kids and survive against the behemouth known as Amygdala, he would later return to Haly's Circus, learning to not take his friends for granted and even apologize for treating them poorly and resorted to a compromise so he didn't share all the fame to himself. Nightwing (Volume 3) #25

Perpetual Motion

Dick Grayson as Robin

After being transferred to the Wayne Care Center, Bruce Wayne would occasionally check up on Dick and helped him out. While he seemed to be recovering from the tragedy, he actually sneaked out into the night to conduct his own investigation on the whereabouts of Tony Zucco. He would later encounter Batman various times as he aided him due to the fact both share a very similar tragedy.

Eventually, Batman brought Dick to the Batcave and shared his secret. Bruce then offers to help Dick in bringing Tony Zucco, a notion in which Alfred was reluctant in accepting. Dick accepts and Bruce trains him for months. After initially having trouble accepting a name, he finally settled on Robin, a reference to an adoration his mother had for the bird. One night, Batman was tracking an Assassin by the name of Lady Shiva. Poison and taken down by surprise, Dick would then make his first appearance in Gotham as Robin and battles Shiva. He is no match though impresses her. His intervention allows Bruce enough time to and Shiva withdraws, telling Dick to come to her when he feels he wants to improve his skills and move out of the "shadow of the bat".

A week later, Dick would initially have trouble with being on the field as Robin, Batman's strict and overprotective personality not allowing Dick to feel he was contributing as a partner. However, after an encounter with the Gangster Tusk, he proves himself to be valuable as a partner.

At some point, he would meet and partner up with Barbara Gordon, also known as Batgirl, numerous times and formed a close relationship with her. While both had feelings for each other and known both of them had such feelings, neither of them went any further. Eventually, he would take on many foes and criminals of Gotham during his tenure such as the Joker and Harley Quinn.

Transition to Nightwing

Years later, both him and his mentor had a conflict, resulting in Dick leaving Bruce's side and taking up a new identity as Nightwing. However, Zucco would later die and Nightwing eventually left Gotham, occasionally returning to mentor Robin, Red Robin and further trained Batgirl.

During this period, he would form friendships with Green Arrow's protege Speedy, as well as a romantic relationship with the alien princess, Starfire.

Transition to Batman

Eventually, Bruce was apparently killed by Darkseid. As Batman's disappearance became known to Gotham, the criminals began running rampant. It also during this time Dick became aware of Damian's existence. After following him upon Alfred's orders, he would accept the role as Batman for Bruce's sake while Damian became his Robin. They would form a close bond with each other during this time as they took on Doctor Hurt and other criminals until Bruce's return.

Traps and Trapezes

Main article: Nightwing: Traps and Trapezes

Dick revisits Haly's Circus. (Nightwing Volume 3 #1)

After his tenure as Batman, Dick returns and embraces his Nightwing mantle, feeling that his time as Batman has allowed him to fear nothing Gotham. Finding Haly Circus back in town, Dick visits and meets some of his old friends including the likes of Jimmy Clark and Raya Vestri. As he walks home back to his loft, he is attacked by the assassin, Saiko. Managing to slip away momentarily, he suits up as Nightwing and engages Saiko. Finding him quicker then he initially thought, the assassin claims Dick Grayson to be the "fiercest killer in Gotham" and then seemingly gains the upper hand.

Night of the Owls

Main article: Night of the Owls

Nightwing recieved Alfred's message, which conveyed the forty people the Court of Owls targeted for assassination. He went to save Mayor Sebastian Hady and came face-to-face with a Talon. Using lethal force on the undead zombie Talon, Nightwing stabbed him across the eye with his escrima stick, slowing the assassin's healing factor. However, another Talon named William Cobb, who Batman had revealed to Nightwing was Dick's revived great-grandfather, attacked Nightwing and stabbed him in the chest. Nightwing then tricked Cobb into Gotham's train tunnels, where the hero was able to freeze him with a liquid nitrogen tub.

Death of the Family

Main article: Death of the Family

A year after his disappearance, the Joker resurfaced in Gotham City, terrorizing the police and kidnapping Alfred. Realizing he was simply revisiting his past crimes, each with a sick twist, Bruce believed he could one-up the villain by bringing Dick along to their meeting which seemed to set up the Joker's age-old crime of poisoning Gotham's water. Dick was to keep guard of the water gate while Batman distracted the Joker. However, the Joker, having predicted this, killed the people he believed would have been poisoned anyway and detonated an explosion on the part of the bridge Nightwing guarded. The Joker apparently had deduced all the Bat Family's identities and planned a personal attack on each one.

Dick invited the other immediate Bat family members to confront Bruce on the secrets Joker had suggested Batman had been keeping from them. Batman then admitted that, during Joker's first year of activity in Gotham, Batman found a Joker card in the Batcave, insinuating that the villain may have found entrance to their base of operation. Dick, along with Batman's other allies, were disappointed Bruce would keep such a secret from them but he wasn't able to dwell on it long. Returning to his circus, Dick was mauled by his performers who had been exposed to Joker Venom. After being overwhelmed by them, Dick passed out and was dragged to an underground cave by the Joker, himself.

All of Batman's allies, beaten and gagged by the clown, were forced to take part in a makeshift feast scenario for Batman, where Joker announced he had cut off the entire Bat-families faces and put them on ice. He also urged Batman to kill the heroes that dragged him down, arguing that his true family was the villains he fights. Bruce refused, but Joker, disappointed he couldn't break Batman's psyche, released Joker Gas, causing the Bat family to succumb to his insane control. The cut-off faces are revealed to be a ruse as each of Batman's apprentices pull off their bandages to reveal an insane smile on each of their faces. The Jokerized heroes began to fight each other, while Batman escaped and defeated the Joker.

Hurt by Bruce's distrust for them, all of Batman's allies refuse to meet at the Manor to check on Alfred's recovery.

Second City

In the aftermath of Joker's personal attack and Damian's death, Dick was at odds once again with his mentor. Finding out that Tony Zucco was alive, he relocates to Chicago not only in an effort to hunt him down. After relocating to Chicago,he would move in with two of his roommates. Meanwhile, as Nightwing, he continued his hunt for Tony Zucco. However, he finds himself having to elude Chicago law enforcement due to their strict no tolerance policy on vigilante-related actions. Trying to find a lead on Tony's location, he reluctantly enlists the help of Chicago's new super-villain,The Prankster. However, he ends up battling the Prankster and his forces as he launches a siege on Chicago. With the city on lockdown, Richard is forced to team up with Tony Zucco to put down the Prankster. In the aftermath of the siege, Tony Zucco turns himself to the police. Though Richard succeeds in bringing his parent's killer to justice, he realizes the change in his heart and feels nothing but sadness. However, he decides to stay in Chicago instead of moving back to Gotham.

Setting Son

While investigating recent thefts involving stealing Kanium, medicine used to hinder psychopathic tendencies, Nightwing encounters Marionette. As Nightwing tracks her down, Mad Hatter appears in Chicago, ready to take his "Alice" back. Though Richard assists Marionette in taking down Mad Hatter, he is doubled crossed and she steals more Kanium that was used in the Mad Hatter's tea. Nightwing finds himself unable to pick up her trail.

Bent on revenge after diagnosed with a fatal sickness that manifested after his first altercation with Nightwing and Batgirl, Spinebender arrives in Chicago and attacks Nightwing by disguising himself as Batgirl and, later, his allies and biggest enemies as he taunts the hero on how he should kill him. However, he fails to kill Nightwing, killing himself in the process. After the failed attempt on his life, Richard assists his roommate in taking care of Jen, one of his neighbor's daughters. However, her parents are killed when Zsasz visits Chicago. Jen asks Richard to help extract revenge towards Zsasz. However, when he denied being Nightwing, she stole his Escrima Sticks and went to confront Zsasz alone. As Nightwing, he goes out to rescue her as Zsasz attempts t kill her. After defeating Zsasz, he helps the girl move on with the sudden change in her life. After being informed she will live with her aunt, he then also informs Sonia that he will be in Gotham soon.

Agent of Spyral

In the aftermath of the collapse of the Crime Syndicate, Batman tests Dick in a heated battle as he debriefs him with information on Spyral and asks him to infiltrate it as a double agent. Initially reluctant, he overcomes his mentor in heated battle and accepts his mission. Dick sets out to around the world, foiling various terrorist plots in which also include the cult, the Fist of Cain. Attracting Spyral's attention, he is recommended by top Helena Bertinelli to be an agent, a notion in which then-director Mister Minos accepts and Helena retrieves him. Nightwing #30 Grayson: Agents of Spyral

Enlisted as "Agent 37" of Spyral, Dick is tasked with collecting the Paragon Organs as part of the Paragon Protocol, in which he often teams up with Helena Beritnelli. During these missions, he runs into The Midnighter. Dick struggles with various situations his new role, such as being unable to cope with the addition of Poppy Ashemoore, a former T.H.E.Y agent who stole the Paragon Stomach; He also struggles with usage of a gun and lethal force on The Old Gun to retrieve Paragon's eyes and later is made aware of the dangers of his mission as he moves closer to identifying Mister Minos, who utilizes nanite technology to hide any evidence of his existence.During his secret meetings with Batman, even the Dark Knight remarks that this mission may be more dangerous then he had thought. While he struggled to remember his days as Nightwing, he is later comforted by Helena, who wants him to remember and cherish who he was prior to his unmasking. Grayson: Agents of Spyral

We All Die At Dawn

Dick continues assisting the likes of Spyral as they collect more of the Paragon Organs, though he does manage to make Spyral believe they lost the Paragon Heart in order to spare the child the heart had found itself into. As they near their last organ, the Paragon brain, he is taken by e Midnighter during his mission with Helena, whom plans to kill and take his Hypnos with the purpose of reverse engineering it so he can kill all those within Spyral and retrieve the organs. While he succeeds in stealing Hypnos, he is defeated by Dick Grayson whom uses it's override. Dick then encounters the Gardener and learns of the purpose of Paragon before he is swiftly captured. He is later set free when Midnighter learns of the Fist of Cain's plot involving Paragon's brain and both of them foil the plan, though Dick retrieves the brain himself. Grayson: We All Die At Dawn

With all the organs collected, Minos learns of all of the Justice League's identities and plans to leak them to the public as well as leak Spyral's secrets. While teaching a class, Dick is surprised to see an injured Helena and learns of Mino's betrayal and warns him to stop him before he kills Agent 1. Dick arrives in time to save Agent 1 and fights off Paragon. With his instruction and knowledge of the JL, he helps both him and Agent 1 fight off the monster and defeats him. As Minos dryly congratulates him, he is seemingly killed by Helena from behind. Grayson: We All Die At Dawn

The Gladius Objective

Assisting Helena in tracking a device stolen from Spyral by Gladius, a terrorist organization currently operating in Shrike Tower, he is surprised to find out that Batgirl is has arrived herself and is assisting Helena. He tells Helena that he'll do his best to keep ahead, as he doesn't want to have Batgirl learn of his actual status. Making a few close calls, he eventually loses his lead as a result of being too worried about showing his face to Batgirl, whom was convinced she would recognize him on body lanugage alone even with Hypnos. However, he later appears to her aid as "Christian Kroger". Having helped recover the device as well as civilians, they all manage to escape the building as it blows up. After a close call, he deactivates his disguising device and not only remarks in it's difficulty of keeping the secret but questions his purpose, before being scolded by Helena to keep his head into the mission. Batgirl Annual (Volume 4) #3

Nemesis

Agent 37 meets Lex Luthor once again. (Grayson #10)

With Minos dead and Helena the new director of Spyral as a result, Dick contacts Batman, wondering If he could come home since his mission has been a success. However, he gets no answer. Continuing his work and now partnered with Agent 1, Dick steals a Kyptonite necklace while in Brazil and is later instructed on seperating from Agent 1 and meeting their contact at a rendevous point while chased by the authorities. Grayson #9 Knocking out Agent 1, he escapes and later learns of someone killing agents while masquerading as him. He later then awaits to deliver the Krytonite to his contact, in which is Lex Luthor.

Agent 8 controls Dick with his hypnos. (Grayson #11)

While refusing to give the Kryptonite to him, he finds out Spyral is allowing Lex to collect it in an attempt to have access to upgrades in which allows control over anyone using Hypnos, the same tech in which Lex Corp had developed. He escapes and attempts contact to Batman, citing that he's having trouble with trusting his newfound allies and said that If he could hear his advice, he'd tell him to not leave his partners hanging. Grayson #10 He later saves Agent 1 from his doppelganger and engages the fake in a fight, only to later find out the doppelganger possesses extensive knowledge on him as well as using his Hypnos against him to knock him out. He later finds himself in Spyral HQ and after hearing Tiger's report to Helena, he then tells her that he quits due to refusing to participate in her "little games" and "reports" to Malone that he is returning home. Grayson #11

Super-spy meets Superman

A day prior, he reunites with a recently Superman who becomes the target of both the Fist of Cain and their newest member, Blockbuster. The comic begins with a flashback to when Batman and Dick (as robin) first fought Blockbuster with the help of Superman. In present day, Superman finds out Dick is alive after catching him when he flipped off a building. Grayson and the newly depowered Superman find themselves cornered by the Fist of Cain and with the last minute assistance of Lex Luthor, fight off the mass and have them arrested.

The comic ends with Superman admitting his pride when Dick took up the mantle of Nightwing, and his disappointment that he was no longer Nightwing, but concludes that 'Grayson' is a mantle worth of what Nightwing stood for.

Ghost in the Tomb

(Note: This section eclipses multiple different stoy-lines including: Ghost in the Tomb, Robin War, Batman & Robin Eternal, & Grayson #20)

Agent 37 meets Agent Zero for the first time. (Grayson #12)

As Dick arrives in Gotham and finds out about Bruce Wayne's amnesia, he ponders on his state of happiness in his current predicament but is interrupted by the arrival of Agent Zero, whom threatens to expose Batman's secret unless he joins Spyral once again and gives him twenty four hours to make amends with his family. Dick makes amends with Red Hood, Red Robin, Robin, and Batgirl before parting with secret messages and missions use Cluemaster's Code. Their efforts success enables him to identify Agent Zero's true identity, Luka Netz.

Tiger confronts Agent 37 on his "supposed" dilemma of the mission. (Grayson #13)

Having rejoined Spyral from being coerced by Agent Zero, he is later admitted back into the ranks by an apologetic Matron. He undergoes another mission with Agent 1 as his partner as they foil Tiger Shark's attempt at robbing Duff International Shippings, a company that ships rare items and is also one of Spyral's assets, of their special animal skins. However, both Agent 1 and Dick foil the attempt. Tiger becomes suspicious, although Dick cleverly recognizes and rebuffs his attempts. He secretly contacts Red Robin, having him study Luka Netz.

Agent 37 and Agent 1 fights God Garden agent Ladytron. (Grayson #13)

Dick finds out from him that for the past 5 years, she's remained in the background of every major appearance of Batman and Robin, watching them both to find their secret identities, with her now having knowledge to it through his outing. Red Robin discovers that Zero herself also scours the internet for photos involving her and tracks down the software's activity to the Eternal Circle. With him needing an excuse to investigate, he uses Midnighter's connection with God's Garden to spark an investigation in the Eternal Circle on their behalf with Spyral on their agent's trail.

Agent 37 as he is confronted by the Eternal Circle's security. (Grayson #14)

They're consequentially attacked by Spyral's security robots in protection of the Eternal Circle. During the mission, Dick KOes Tiger and uses Hypnos to have Ladyton hack into the computer system. There, he finds out the true relations of Agent Zero and Doctor Netz to Otto Netz, Spyder, his connection to Leviathan, and his intentions of being revived from the dead using his children as a vessel. He also issues an EMP to prevent the likelihood of the nanites around Spyral agents from killing him. After, he is tackled by Tiger, who attempts to kill him for his duplicity. However, he stops Tiger, telling him that both of them have to destroy Spyral.

Grayson joins the Parliment of Owls. (Robin War #2)

Later, Agent 37 recieves a call during one of his missions of Spyral from the Bat-Family. He receives the call and goes back to Gotham and learns about the We are Robin movement. Having seemingly decided train them all, he tells them all welcome to "Robin School" and seemingly arms them with training with the help of the other former Robins. However, he reveals it to be a ploy to have all the Robins arrested as he figures out the true culprit behind the "Robin Laws" enforced in Gotham with the new Batman's help. The mastermind is revealed to be Lincoln March, who orchaestrated the entire event to help the Court of Owls coerce him into their ranks with a threat of killing Damian with nanites. He accepts their offer, joining the global branch of the Court: the Parliment of Owls.

Spyral

Nightwing and Huntress work together.

With the death of Giz from the Second Hand, Grayson begins investigating into his murderer. While showering in his apartment, he reunites with Huntress, who asks to allow him to help in hopes of being able to hunt down more mobsters despite the fact her activities has cause both law enforcement and Batgirl to be weary of her, in which he accepts. They track down a suspect and his connections to Club Leone, a mafia-front resteraunt where hit-men and mobsters find clients. From there, they learn of their suspect, Gianni Dracul, home. However, they're surprised to learn that he is a deep cover Spyral agent. Dick then later deduces that the Second Hand is actually Spyral.

Nightwing finds the real Patron imprisoned.

They find themselves fighting against Spyral agents along with Keshi and Tiger. However, they're promptly saved by the intervention of the Skull Girls and escape. Both Nightwing and Huntress are informed that recently, their missions have focused on gathering discarded, alien technology. After Lotti was discovered having taken one of their technology, the PCB, the Skull Girl ran away on her instruction that Spyral has turned and would kill them should they have stayed. Planning to crackdown on Spyral and save Lotti, Nightwing, Huntress, and the Skull Girls infiltrate St. Hadrian and find Lotti, who then proceeds to attempt to murder them. Nightwing is promptly cut off, finding the real Tiger captured.

Powers and Abiltiies

Abilities

Physical Abilities

Though Dick doesn't possess superpowers, like his mentor Batman, he instead relies on his own skills. Grayson is a acrobatic prodigy who was part of the "Flying Graysons" act, who were well known for conducting acrobatic acts without a net. As a result of his skill, he garnered success for Haly's Circus and is a world-class gymnast. Before even being formally trained, Richard possessed limited skill in hand-to-hand combat. After being trained rigorously by Batman in martial arts, his skills impressed the likes of Lady Shiva and Midnighter when he engaged in combat with both adversaries. He has even been able to match his mentor. In addition due to his training with Batman, Richard is well versed in many melee weapons such as staffs, escrima sticks, and bladed weaponry such as swords. After R.I.P Batman, he even defeats Ra's Al Ghul in a one-on-one match. Ra's calls him 'detective', a tittle that had previously been reserved for Batman.

Intelligence

Being trained by the Dark Knight himself in various fields, Richard Grayson is shown to have a naturally high level of intelligence, though not as high as Batman's own. He is a capable leader and a extremely skilled detective, possessing great investigative prowess. He's also aware of the weaknesses of the Justice League and has aptly appied it to a weakened android who possessed their powers. He's shown great ability in science, having assisted Midnighter in tracking down Noi Akakyevich by pinging his nano-signature when he attempted to reverse the effects of the Battle Battalion when it implanted it's victims of Martial cells to mimic the effect of vampirism.

Other skills

Dick possesses extraordinary skill in reading the body motion of others, using this skill to aid in defeating multiple armed opponents and anticipate an opponent's next move. Taught by Alfred Pennyworth in acting, Dick is proficient in the art of disguise. He was able to pose as Joker in Arkham Asylum and occasionally poses as Batman whenever Bruce Wayne and Batman needed to be sighted at the same time.He is skilled in escapology, stealth, and intimidation. As a result of his status as an agent of Spyral and being taught by Helena Bertinelli, Dick is proficient in the art of espionage.

Weaknesses

Due to the inclusion of Hypnos, certain individuals are aware of the "tsuchigumo" override, in which sends a electical shock to Dick's brain. It is revealed even further that Hypnos can control render entire body under someone else's control, despite his strong will. Currently, the only confirmed individuals who know the override and/or the controlling mechanism of Hypnos is:

• Helena Bertinelli (Override)
• Lex Luthor (Control Mechanism)
• Alia (Override & Control Mechanism)

Paraphernalia

As Nightwing

Main article: Nightwing's Paraphernalia (Prime Earth)

As Agent 37

Main article: Agent 37's Paraphernalia (Prime Earth)

Trivia

• No trivia