When Robin was 17, he was shot in the shoulder by the Joker, and this scared Batman into ending his career for good. Dick realized at that point that he had grown up: he no longer relied on Batman and, in fact, he and the Dark Knight disagreed on crime-fighting methodology. His newfound independence and Titans' duties in New York left less time for his former commitments in Gotham City. He also dropped out of Hudson after only one semester.

Dick rediscovered his self-worth among the Teen Titans. Batman, however, was less than pleased. He informed Dick that if he no longer wanted to be his partner, then Dick would have to retire as Robin. Dick left Wayne Manor after this fallout. Helping him through this difficult time was his fellow Titans, including Starfire, a beautiful alien Dick had fallen in love with. Dick handed over leadership of the Titans to Wonder Girl.

Uncertain what to do, he turned to someone he knew would understand: Superman. Very briefly, Dick had considered giving up the whole crime fighting gig, but he couldn't imagine his life any other way; but if he couldn't be Robin, who would he be? Superman had the answer. Long ago on Krypton, a man was cast out by his family - just as Dick had been. He dreamed of a world ruled by justice, and set out to protect the helpless of Krypton. His true identity was never revealed. He was known only as Nightwing.

with his costume partially inspired by his father, who at one time wore a circus costume that was a variant of colleague Boston Brand's Deadman costume.

When all his teammates were captured by Deathstroke the Terminator, and delivered to the HIVE, Dick assumed a new identity of Nightwing and helped to free them, with the help of new ally (and future Titan), Jericho.

Nightwing had finally moved out of the shadow of the Bat, and would lead the Titans through some hard times. Dick endured brainwashing at the hands of Brother Blood, his relationship with Starfire would suffer due to her marriage of state, he would be deeply affected by the fact that Batman trained a new Robin (Jason Todd) only for him to be seemingly killed at the hands of the Joker.

Shortly after this, during Batman: Year Three, Dick learned that Tony Zucco, the man who killed his parents, had not acutally died but rather passed into a coma. As revealed in Robin: Year One, Batman feared Dick would want the gangster dead, so he "protected" the boy by telling him that Zucco was dead. After spending nearly seven years in prison with good behavior, Zucco applied for parole, in exchange for becoming a state informant of mob activity. His real intentions, however, were to retrieve a ledger containing his secrets. Just as Dick arrived to see him step out of the prison, he was gunned down by an enemy mobster from a helicopter. Despite catching the assassin and getting some closer to his parents' deaths, Dick was upset with Bruce for lying to him and keeping him away, to which Bruce explained that was not his intent.

Feeling hurt and betrayed, Bruce and Dick would remain at odds with each other, never fully sorting out their strained relationship. 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 Robin. It was Dick's refusal to return that Tim started down the road toward becoming the new Robin. After weeks of persuading and proving his potential, Dick then returned to the Batman to plead Tim's case, with help from Alfred. Due to their arguments and the realization that the Batman needs a Robin, Tim Drake becomes the third Boy Wonder.

Soon after, various members of the Titans were abducted by the Wildebeest Society. This event shook up the team in a big way. The group entered into tumultuous times, where members came and went, longtime friends were maimed or destroyed, although Dick persevered through it all, and remained the heart and center of the team.

But his relationship with Starfire became strained, and problems in Gotham demanded Dick's attention. Impulsively, Dick proposed marriage to Starfire. The two almost wed, but the ceremony was interrupted by Raven, now reborn as an evil avatar of her father, Trigon. Her brutal attack on Starfire triggered changes in Dick and Kory's relationship. Starfire was implanted with a demon "seed" which causes her to leave Earth and go on a spiritual journey. The two grew apart, and Starfire eventually returned to her home planet of Tamaran.

Meanwhile, in Gotham, Bruce Wayne had left the mantle of Batman to the unstable Jean Paul Valley. Dick intervened with new Robin Tim Drake, and when Bruce returned to Gotham, he brought Valley down and re-assumed the mantle of Batman. When Dick returned to the Titans, he found there to be changes. The government interceded, placing Arsenal (the former Speedy) as leader of the team. Dick stepped aside and left the Titans, concentrating on problems in Gotham City. Still recovering from his broken back, Bruce asked Dick to substitute for him as Batman for a time; Dick accepted. During this time, Dick was able to confront Two-Face and lay some demons to rest. He also established a wonderful partnership with Tim. Bruce eventually returned to Gotham to reclaim his role as Batman. For the first time in a long time, Bruce and Dick began to heal their strained relationship. Bruce's respect for Dick was at last obvious.

Dick travels to England to find Alfred, who resigns from Bruce Wayne's service following the events of KnightSaga. Before returning to Gotham City together, they prevent a plot by British terrorists to destroy the undersea "Channel Tunnel" in the English Channel.

Later on Dick briefly considers retiring from being Nightwing forever before family papers uncovered by Alfred reveal a possible link between the murder of the Flying Graysons and the Crown Prince of Kravia. Journeying to Kravia, Nightwing (in his third and current costume) helps to topple the murderous Kravian leader and prevent an ethnic cleansing, while learning his parents' true connection to the Prince.

Once Dick returns he begins to patrol Gotham City's neighboring municipality of Blüdhaven.

The JLA disappears on a mission to locate Aquaman and Atlantis (The Obsidian Age). Before they vanish, Batman instigates a contingency plan, in which a handful of heroes would be assembled to create a new JLA, consisting of Nightwing, Green Arrow, the Atom, Hawkgirl, Major Disaster, Faith, Firestorm and Jason Blood. Nightwing is chosen to be leader until the original JLA are found, leading the group against the powerful Atlantean sorceress Gamemnae and helping to revive Aquaman to ask for his help in sinking Atlantis, but subsequently returns to the reserve list.

At Batman´s request, Dick journeys to this former whaling town-turned-industrial center to ferret out the true culprit behind murders linked to Gotham City gangster Black Mask.

Instead, he finds a city racked by police corruption and in the grips of organized crime consolidated by Roland Desmond, the gargantuan genius Blockbuster. With a defenseless city to call his own, Nightwing decides to remain in Blüdhaven until Blockbuster´s cartel is broken. He took a job as a bartender to keep his ear to the ground and worked closely with Barbara Gordon, the former Batgirl, now the information broker known as Oracle) in an effort to clean up the crime-ridden town.

Blockbuster places a sizable contract on Nightwing´s head shortly thereafter, while Grayson begins plying unscrupulous Blüdhaven Police Inspector Dudley Soames for information on the kingpin´s dealings.

After Nightwing settled in Blüdhaven, a galactic threat came to earth, reuniting former members of the Titans together to save their former member, Victor Stone (Cyborg), and prevent him from putting the earth in jeopardy. They came into conflict with their mentors and friends in the Justice League, but were eventually able to come to a truce and save Cyborg while preserving the safety of the planet. After this adventure, the group decided to re-form, with Nightwing returning to the role of leader.

Meanwhile, Dick had joined the Blüdhaven Police Department force in efforts to rid the city of its corruption from the inside. On the personal side, Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon's once flirtatious Robin-Batgirl relationship threatened to blossom into something more. When Gotham was quarantined from the rest of the United States and became a virtual No Man's Land, Nightwing was sent to secure Blackgate Prison. Exhausted and injured from his experience at the prison, Dick recuperated at Barbara's clock tower, and the two grew even closer. Finally expressing their feelings for each other, Dick and Barbara entered into a romantic relationship.

For several years, Nightwing led various incarnations of the Titans and became the most respected former sidekick in the DC Universe. He was even chosen by a believed-dead Batman to lead the Justice League when it once appeared that the Leaguers had died in battle.

When a rogue Superman android killed Lilith and Donna Troy (Troia), it tore apart both Young Justice and the Titans. At Troia's funeral, Dick declared to Arsenal that he was tired of seeing friends die and he disbanded the team. The Titans were officially over.

A few months later, Arsenal persuaded the reluctant Nightwing to join a new pro-active crime-fighting team: the Outsiders, a new group that would hunt villains, acting as co-workers rather than an extended family. He reluctantly accepted.

Meanwhile, Blockbuster's vengeance campaign escalated as he wrongfully blamed Nightwing for the death of his mother. Now knowing his secret identity, the criminal kingpin bombed Dick Grayson's apartment complex, killing most of its residents. Still shocked, Nightwing enlisted the help of Blüdhaven's newest vigilante: the amoral female Tarantula (Catalina Flores). Dick's relationship with Barbara also dissolved after she grew increasingly concerned about how far the driven hero had been pushing himself.

Blockbuster had beaten down Grayson both physically and emotionally. When an exhausted Nightwing confronted Blockbuster, he was at his lowest ebb.

He threatened Dick with killing all the people that he cared about, even the strangers who approached him in the street. The timely arrival of Tarantula turned the tide; she shot Blockbuster dead at point blank range as Nightwing didn't want to stop her when he could. Suffering a panic attack, Dick fled to the rooftop, where he broke down, begging for Bruce's forgiveness. Catalina offered him a shoulder (and the rest of her body) to cry on. Nightwing's inaction has became a source of tremendous guilt for the young hero. But Blockbuster's demise ended his stranglehold over Blüdhaven once and for all.

After the War Games (a conflict between the gangs of Gotham City), Nightwing captured Tarantula and took her to confess their parts in Blockbuster´s murder.

Even when he has destroyed the police corruption and removed the greater part of organized crime from this city, it seems that Nightwing has left the role of Blüdhaven vigilante for good, with Robin and Batgirl as his new replacements.

Homeless, Grayson moved to New York, where the Outsiders were located. While he was the leader of the team, he refused to have any other kind of relation with his teammates (except for his friend Arsenal). Many began to worry about Nightwing's attitude, when he only was frustrated of "sending friends to their deaths". After a confrontation with the Fearsome Five, where Thunder was nearly killed, Nightwing received all the blame for "not caring about his team".

Furious, Arsenal told Nightwing that he had become like Batman: an emotionless loner. They finally came to blows, but were soon separated by Jade, who was elected as the new leader. However, knowing that she wasn't the one who was calling the shots, Jade requested Starfire to join the team in the hopes that she would temper Nightwing. After an event in which "insiders" threatened both the Outsiders and the newest incarnation of Teen Titans, Dick deemed that the teams had gotten "too personal" and quit.

As of the current events surrounding the Infinite Crisis storyline, Nightwing adopted a new villainous persona of Renegade in order to infiltrate Lex Luthor's Society of Super Villains. He began training Deathstroke's daughter Rose, the newest Ravager. Under Dick's guidance, she came to understand the mission of "heroes". Slade, who had suspected Grayson's true allegiances from the beginning, considered killing him but thought it would alienate Rose. The two men came to a deal: Grayson would stay away from Rose and Deathstroke would keep the Society´s hands away from Blüdhaven.

Deathstroke betrayed Nightwing when Blüdhaven was destroyed by the Society. They dropped the supervillain Chemo on the city, killing 100,000 people. Dick tried to rescue survivors but was overcome by radiation poisoning, only to be rescued himself by Batman. Nightwing confided that he let Blockbuster die and Batman told him that he has to move beyond that. Inspired by his former mentor, he proposed to Barbara Gordon, who accepted with a kiss.

Batman has entrusted Nightwing with the mission to alert other heroes about the danger posed in the Infinite Crisis. Dick flew to Titans Tower but unfortunately, nearly all of his fellow heroes were preoccupied by the backlash caused by the Crisis, and the only hero who answered his call was Superboy (Conner Kent), who had recently been given what looks to be a Crystal which will help the pair locate and hopefully defeat Alexander Luthor.

One year later, Dick Grayson returns to New York City (his previous homebase with the Teen Titans) in order to find out who has been masquerading as Nightwing. The murderous impostor turns out to be the former Robin, Jason Todd. Dick leads the Outsiders once again, operating undercover and globally.

Nightwing follows an armored thief named Raptor, who he suspects is responsible for series of murders. Later, Raptor himself is murdered in a manner similar to the other victims by an unseen contract killer, who proceeds to bury Grayson alive.

Nightwing frees himself, wondering the relation between his experience and a mysterious voice who tells him that he is "supposed to be dead". Nightwing is having trouble finding things to keep him busy during the day due to the cast on his right arm. Incapacitated from his injuries, he tries without luck to find jobs and continues to research into the mysterious assassin.

At one point Dick agrees to attend a party for Bruce Wayne and their relationship seems to flourish. Bruce praises Dick for his success on the Raptor case, and also mentions to look into the Landman Building which hosted ex-Lexcorp scientists; most likely those who worked on the Raptor project. Dick has also continues to keep a close brotherly relationship with Tim Drake, and helps Tim deal with the his many losses during the last year.

After dealing with the Raptor issue, NYC is plagued by a villainous duo called Bride and Groom. Nightwing begins pursuit of these two after some grisly murders, including that of the Lorens family (close friends of his after the Raptor incident). Dick began to get obsessed with finding them, not knowing how far he was willing to go to take them down. Eventually, he formed a makeshift team with some "villains" to find them. They located them, and after killing some of his "team" Nightwing chased them to a cave, where Bride began a cave in and the two are currently trapped there.

Nightwing, along with a group of former Titans, are summoned again by Raven to aid the current group of Teen Titans battle against Deathstroke, who was targeting the latest team in order to get at his children, Ravager and the resurrected Jericho. Nightwing and the other former Titans continue to work with the current team soon after the battle with Deathstroke so as to investigate the recent murder of Duela Dent.

When the Outsiders are targeted by Checkmate, Nightwing agrees that his team will work with the organization, so long as their actions in Africa are not used against them in the future. The mission however does not go as well as intended, resulting in Nightwing, the Black Queen and Captain Boomerang being arrested. Later, Batman is called in by Mister Terrific who then rescues Nightwing and the others. Afterwards, Nightwing admits to Batman, they while he accepts that he is an excellent leader, he is not suited to lead a team like the Outsiders, and offers the leadership position to Batman.

Batman accepts the position, however he feels that the team needs to be remade, in order to accomplish the sorts of missions that he intends them to undertake. As such he holds a series of try outs for the team. The first audition involves Nightwing and Captain Boomerang who are sent to a space station under attack by Chemo. During the mission, a confrontation erupts between Nightwing and Boomerang, who has grown tired of fighting for redemption from people like Batman and Nightwing, and quits the team after throwing Nightwing into a shuttle heading for Earth. Afterwards, Nightwing furious confronts Batman. Batman does not deny his actions, and states that this is the sort of thing that the new Outsiders will have to deal with. At this, Nightwing resigns completely from the Outsiders, in which Batman feels is best, judging Nightwing too good for that sort of life.

Gotham has gone to hell and Robin and Nightwing are trying their hardest to set it right, they have developed the Network, made up of their best allies to help. Robin and Squire tracked and was about to take down some robbers but before they could take them down some else does, Robin and Squire don't see the person but he leaves them a note saying " I AM BATMAN" but before anything can be said Nightwing call's Robin for back up with a gang, they take the gang down. Meanwhile a coach full of Gotham's most dangouras criminal's on their was to Arkham but the coach is stopped by a small army of goons lead by the Black Mask after the criminals are off the coach Arkham is blown up [by the Joker] also they have caught on that Batman is no longer around, back in the Bat-cave Nightwing is looking at all of Batman's different suits when Tim walks in saying that one of them [Tim or Dick] needs to become the new Batman but Nightwing shruggs this off so Tim tells Dick about a man running around in a custom made Batman suit fighting crime [possibly Jason Todd] but this was no beginner he was experienced and knew what he was doing.

Tim uses his brilliant detective skills to work out where the phony Batman's hidout is, but Tim decides not to confrount the fake Batman as Robin but as Batman, he uses the silver age Batman suit. Mean while Damian is joy riding in a Batmobile with a friend when Orcale calls him to do swoop of the docks, Damian's friend starts talking, Orcale takes control of the car and press's the eject button on Damian's friends seat and she goes flying into a small stream where Killer Croc and Poison Ivy are trying track the Batmobile, Croc eats the girl then knocks the car of the road into the stream, Damian is terrfied and trys to talk his way out of it, Croc was about to eat Damian but Nightwing flys in on a hand glider and saves Damian but while their flying they are shot out of the air, on the ground they are quickly surrounded by goon but suddenly the phony Batman comes in shooting the goons.

Dick begins to fight the phony Batman, while their fighting Dick revels he knows the phony Batman is Jason Todd, Jason shoots Damian in the chest then flees the fight. Back at Black Masks hide out and is planning to blow up Gotham police headquaters with Firefly and Adam Bomb menawhile Tim [dressed in the Silver Age Batman suit] has found Jason's Batcave but he is not alone, Catwoman has followed Tim thinking he was the one killing people. At the same time Dick discovers that Tim had taken the Bat suit. As Nightwing pursues the Black Mask while also attempting to prevent the authorities from destroying Gotham, Nightwing sends Damian to retrieve Tim unaware of Jason's attempted murder of Tim wearing the Batman costume. Damian saves Tim while Dick confronts the murderous Jason in his makeshift Batman outfit. The battle between Dick and Jason ends with Jason saying he will meet Dick again when Dick defeats Jason knocking him into the river. Fearing Jason will destroy the Batman identity Dick reluctantly returns to wearing the Batman costume with Damian as his Robin rather than Tim.

Real Name: Richard (Dick) John Grayson
Occupation: Hero
Marital Status: Single
Base of Operations:Gotham City
Height: 5ft. 10in
Weight: 175 Lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
First Appearance: As Robin: Detective Comics #38 (April, 1940);
As Nightwing: Tales of the Teen Titans #44;
As Batman: Batman #512 (November, 1994);
Created By: Robin: Bob Kane, Bill Finger;
Nighting: Marv Wolfman, George Pérez;


POWERS
None

ABILITIES
Master Detective: Second only to the likes of Batman. He was rigorously trained by the Dark Knight in everything from escapology to criminology, fencing, stealth, disguise, and numerous other combat/non-combat disciplines.

Master Acrobat: Possessing a peak human level of agility/acrobatic skills. He is generally regarded as the greatest human acrobat in the DC universe. Batman himself is an incredible athlete in agility, and is at peak human perfection, but even he gives the advantage in that area over to Nightwing. He is the only person on Earth who can do the quadruple somersault.

Intimidation: He has been taught by the Batman, the ability to instill fear into others. While not as efficient as Batman in this category, he still uses this ability effectively.

Master Martial Artist: He has mastered Aikido, Yaw-Yan, Jeet Kune Do, Escrima, Tae Kwon Do, Ninjitsu, Muay Thai, Judo, Wing Chun, Hapkido, Jiu-jitsu, Karate, Savate, Kendo, Capoeira, Ninjitsu, and he is proficient in other various martial arts.

Weapons Master: Through his martial arts training with Batman, he has become an expert on almost all types of weaponry. He has mastered knife throwing, as well as melee weapons, having trained in and mastered Kobudo. Since his earliest days as Robin, he has been trained and become proficient with all firearms. He was soon taught and he learned expanded melee weapon techniques and he has learned expanded weapon/device sciences during his training. As a result of his training with the Batman, he still practices with firearms during his combat sessions to keep his skills intact, though he prefers unarmed combat. His most prefered weapon of choice is a pair of Escrima sticks which he has mastered, in incorporated into his own unique style of fighting.

Master of Stealth: His training has made him a master at stealth capable of easily breaching high security facilities without being detected. He has been compared to the Batman, in terms of stealth and has been stated to be as good as the Batman in this field. He has even snuck up on the Batman himself.

Expert Marksman: As a result of his training in Ninujitsu and with Batman, Nightwing almost never misses his targets, 9/10 times he's succesful. He has been practicing accuracy since the early days of his training as Robin and is on par with the Batman in terms of accuracy.

Tracking: Nightwing has been trained in hunting and tracking techniques by Batman. He is a master tracker, comparable to the Batman.

Master of Disguise: He is proficient in the art of disguise as having been taught by the Batman himself.

Escapologist: Batman has trained Nightwing in this ability since his earliest days, in turn making Nightwing, a master escape artist. Though not as good as the Batman, he is proficient enough, to be only second to the Batman in this category.

Peak Human Strength: He is one of the strongest non-metas on Earth. Although he relies on his speed more than his strength, he has shown remarkble strength throughout his career. He has dented and nearly ripped throgh steel with a single kick,[citation needed] defeated KGBeast physically, mananged to knock down Blockbuster with a blow, punched the metahuman Barry Pierce through a concrete wall, and supported nearly 1000 lbs. of rubble when attempting to save people from a burning building.

Peak Human Reflexes: Nightwing's possesses reflexes that have enabled him to dodge point blank gunfire from multiple opponents at the same time.

Peak Human Speed: He has run at speeds greater than the finest competing athletes. He has been stated to be even faster than Batman.

Peak Human Endurance: Nightwing's endurance is greater than an Olympic Decathlon. He can exert himself at peak capacity for nearly an hour without rest before showing any signs of fatigue. His lung capacity is so great that he is capable of holding his breath underwater for 4 mins.

Peak Human Agility: He has honed his agility to top human physical perfection. He is as agile as one could be without being considered superhuman and has even been told that he has shown agility that should be beyond human capabilities.[citation needed] He is considered to be the most agile human being in the DC Universe.

Peak Human Durability: He has been thrown through entire walls, by Rolland Desmond, and immediately rose back up to finish the fight, survived an entire building collapsing, has fallen of the top of a building when his and has sustained other extreme forms of punishment, and has survived it all without any serious injury.

Multi-lingual: Having had the finest education as Bruce Wayne's ward, he speaks with fluency in English, French, Chineses, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Swahili, Mandarin, Cantonese, and is possibly fluent in other languages. He has some knowledge of Romany and the alien language of Tamaran.

Skilled Leader: He is also a brilliant and experienced strategist with superlative leadership skills, having served as leader to the Titans, the Outsiders, and even the Justice League. Additionally, Dick's efforts to remain in contact with other heroes makes him a master at rallying, unifying, and inspiring the superhero community, a skill in which he has surpassed his mentor

WEAPONS
Batarangs, smaller shuriken-like "Wing Dings", regurgitant gas (tear gas with an additive to make you throw up) pellets smoke capsules. His right gauntlet contains a 100,000 volt stun gun, although his preferred weapons are two shatterproof polymer Escrima Sticks.