Trina and Joseph Todd, along with their son Jason, were acrobats who performed as 'the Flying Todds'. Dick Grayson, who was at this point still Robin, befriended them and invited them to a party at Wayne Manor. There, Trina chanced to see Bruce in the Batman uniform. She promised to keep the secret.

The circus which the Flying Todds appeared in was being extorted by Killer Croc and the couple did their best to aid the Dynamic Duo on the case, but both Trina and Joe were murdered as a result of their involvement.

Meanwhile, Jason had discovered the Batcave, and dressed up in one of the child-sized costumes he'd found there. Hiding in the trunk of the Batmobile, he used his considerable acrobatic skills to follow Batman and Batman's allies on a case. Overhearing news of his parent's deaths, Jason launched into the fray and helped the heroes to triumph.

Dick felt an affinity for the boy, because of their similar life stories, and a huge amount of guilt over Joe and Trina's deaths. He wanted to adopt Jason, but Bruce stepped in and offered to become the boy's guardian instead. Jason chafed against the fact that Bruce wouldn't let him become the Batman's new partner, but eventually he proved himself worthy of the role.

Soon afterwards, Dick graduated from being Robin into becoming Nightwing, and handed on his former title to Jason, who had been having trouble finding a name for his own crime-fighting identity. The two remained close, despite Dick's mild jealousy over the fact that Jason had been adopted by Bruce where he himself had not.

Jason, though happy with Bruce as a father figure, lacked a maternal influence in his life - that is, until Natalia Knight, also known as Nocturna, took an interest in him. When Bruce lost custody of Jason, Natalia managed to legally adopt him. Jason went along with the proceedings, despite Bruce's grief at losing the boy, because Jason intended to uncover Nocturna's criminal activities while in her care. The three of them - Jason, Natalia and Bruce - became steadily more entangled with one another, and Jason's feelings towards his adoptive mother became less clear-cut than they had been. Following Natalia's apparent death, Jason felt a renewed sorrow over Trina.

Though extremely proficient athlectically and in combat, Jason's confidence at his ability to live up to his role as Robin was at times unsteady, a situation not helped by the fact that the weight of Dick's legacy proved more than Jason had expected.

Jason showed much promise, though, and his detective work and logic skills were coming along nicely.

Willis and Catherine Todd came, it seems, from a relatively stable world. A photograph taken when their son, Jason Peter Todd, was very young shows the family as being at least moderately well-off. Though Willis was born an raised in Crime Alley, the couple owned a bit of property in Virginia. Then things fell apart, and Willis had at least one stay in jail. Catherine fell deeply ill. Willis dropped out of the picture. Jason, assuming his father had been arrested again, did his best to take care of his ailing mother the only way he knew how: stealing tires and selling them.

When Jason's mother died of a drug overdose, juvenile authorities tried to put him in a state home. He ran away and ended up living in an abandoned building, supporting himself through petty theft. Then, one night, Jason stole the tires off the Batmobile. He was caught in the act by the car's owner and, after an attempted escape and a brief scuffle, agreed to give the tires back. He wouldn't, however, allow himself to be put into the social services system. Jason and Batman reached a compromise: Jason would attend Ma Gunn's school for boys, recently opened on Crime Alley.

The school turned out to be a training ground for criminals, so Jason ran away and went back to boosting tires. Batman tracked him down again and, after Jason ended up helping him take care of the crooked school, took the boy on as the new Robin.

Six months of intensive training later, Batman presented Jason with a Robin costume. Not the original - this one had slight improvements and modifications - but in the same style as the one which had been worn by Dick Grayson. A short time later, Jason discovered that his father had been murdered by Two-Face and, perhaps more upsettingly, Bruce had known this all along. Jason stayed in bed for a day and acted petulantly towards his guardian that night, acting out violently towards Two-Face when the duo were faced with him that night.

Batman and the new Robin argued over how Jason had handled himself, the conversation ending with Batman warning him that unchecked rage can end up costing a battle. When Jason found himself up against Two-Face once again not much later, he overcame his personal fury and desire for revenge and allowed the police to take Two-Face away.

Jason continued to help on various cases. A serial killer was preying on women and even Batman seemed at a loss as to how to catch the attacker. Sometimes Jason's impulsiveness and propensity towards violence caused him to slip up; on one occasion Dick had to extricate him from trouble. Dick did his best to offer Jason support in the difficult task of being Robin, but the still-tense atmosphere between Dick and Bruce seemed to severely hamper the possibility of closeness between Dick and Jason.

Despite his young age, Jason was already a smoker when he first met Batman. He did not give up the habit entirely once he entered his new life, nor did he relinquish his fondness for chili dogs despite their poor nutritional value. Before becoming Robin his education had ended in the fifth grade but, upon returning to school, Jason showed an enthusiasm for learning.

Batman managed to discover the identity of the serial killer terrorizing Gotham. However, as a vigilante, his involvement in the case rendered key evidence inadmissable. The killer walked free. Furious with the outcome of the trial, Jason beat up a bullying pimp; his rage at violence towards women was a wellspring of violence itself.

Meanwhile, the serial killer was killed himself, by the sister of one of his victims. Judy Koslosky, whose sister Linda had been brutally murdered, felt no remorse for taking a life, saying "I put down a mad dog. It might not have been legal, but it was right." Batman explained Jason that Judy was wrong and that the law must be upheld, but then admitted that some small part of him wished that this was no the case.

When Felipe Garzonas, a diplomat's son, avoided punishment for assaulting a young woman, Jason was horrified. When he and Batman caught Garzonas in the middle of a drug deal, Jason tried to goad Garzonas into resisting arrest so that Jason had an excuse to hit him. Garzonas didn't, and when they took him back to the station Garzonas took the opportunity to make a threatening, taunting call to the same young woman he brutalized. She committed suicide, and Jason was the one who discovered the body.

Jason went to Garzonas' high-rise apartment. Batman followed, arriving just in time to see Garzonas fall to his death from the balcony. When asked what had happened, Jason answered "I guess I spooked him. He slipped." It has never been established conclusively whether this version of events is true or not.

Felipe Garzonas' father, however, had no doubt as to where the blame lay for his son's death. He kidnapped Jim Gordon in an attempt to draw Batman and Robin out. Garzonas' father, along with several other men, died in the resulting fracas. Batman explained to Jason that there's never a way to escape consequences. Jason walked off without a word.

Jason's behavior became more erratic and careless. When Batman accused him of treating dangerous situations like a game, Jason retorted "all life's a game". Batman decided to take Jason off active duty. Infuriated and upset, Jason went walking through his old neighbourhood, Crime Alley. There, he was recognised by a friend of his parents. She gave him a box full of papers and photographs which had belonged to them before their deaths.

Amongst the mementoes, Jason made a surprising discovery: the woman he had thought to be his mother, Catherine, was in fact his stepmother. His real mother's name began with an 'S', the rest of her name obscured by water damage on his birth certificate.

Using his father's address book and the computer in the Batcave, Jason narrowed the list of women who might have been his mother down to three. Taking several credit cards, Jason ran away to search for them. Batman, who was pursuing the Joker, ended up in Beirut at the same time as Jason. Together, they checked out the first two women on Jason's list. Neither were his mother.

The third and final candidate, Sheila Haywood, was working in Ethiopia, her medical career in the States having been cut short by a botched operation she had assisted on. Bruce knew as soon as he saw her that she was Jason's mother; they had the same eyes. The Joker was blackmailing Sheila, however, and she herself was stealing from the medical funds. She betrayed Jason to the Joker, who broke half the bones in Jason's body with a crowbar before locking him, and Sheila, in a warehouse with a bomb.

By the time Batman got to the scene of the explosion, Jason's body was already cold. Bruce Wayne took his ward back to the United States, where Jason was buried in an out-of-the-way cemetary.

Years later, while trying to discover the identity of a mysterious figure plotting against him (which turns out to be Hush), Batman discovers that Robin (Tim Drake) has been kidnapped. When he confronts the kidnapper he discovers, much to his surprise, that the kidnapper is apparently an adult Jason Todd. Batman subdues this mystery "Jason" and discovers that it is only Clayface impersonating Jason.

It is later revealed that Jason indeed had died at the hands of the Joker, but when Superboy-Prime alters reality from the paradise dimension in which he is trapped (six months after his death), Jason is restored to life and breaks out of his coffin, but collapses thereafter and is hospitalized. After spending a year in a coma and subsequently as an amnesiac vagrant, he is recognized by Talia al Ghul, who restores his health and memory by immersing him in a Lazarus Pit in which her father Ra's al Ghul is also bathing. It is suggested at that time that exposure to the Pit's energies together with Al Ghul might have affected Jason's personality. On Talia's advice, Jason determines his death was never avenged, and prepares to confront Batman by traveling across the globe in the same path of trainings as his mentor.

When Batman expresses no remorse for sparing the Joker's life after Jason was killed, Jason is further angered and takes up the mantle of the Red Hood.

Shortly after the events of War Games and War Crimes, Jason Todd reappears in Gotham City as the Red Hood, hijacking a shipment of Kryptonite from Black Mask. In the midst of a battle with Batman, Nightwing, and Mr. Freeze, the Red Hood gives them the Kryptonite back, and tells them he has gotten what he truly wanted: a "lay of the land." Shortly afterward, the Red Hood finds the Joker (driven out of Gotham by Hush) and beats him with a crowbar just as the Joker had beaten Jason. Despite the violence of the beating, Jason has the Joker saved, intending to use him later against Batman.

The Red Hood assumes control over several gangs in Gotham City and starts a one-man-war against Black Mask's criminal empire. Over all, he strives to cleanse the city of its corruption, such as drug dealing and gang violence, and to kill the Joker in revenge for his own death. Because of his anti-heroic activities he repeatedly comes to blows with Batman and several of his allies. A Robin mask was found in the Batmobile, which never belonged to Dick or Tim, but it was of the style that Jason wore as Robin. Around this time, Batman discovers that Jason's coffin has always been empty, and he begins to question whether or not Jason had actually died. Despite his return, Jason's Robin costume remains in its memorial display case in the Batcave; when Alfred asked if Bruce wanted the costume removed, Bruce replied that the return of Jason "doesn't change anything at all."

Knowing that Tim Drake has not only replaced him as Robin, but is reportedly a better Robin than he had been, Jason breaks into Titans Tower to confront Tim. Wearing an altered version of his own Robin costume, Jason quickly immobilizes the other Titans and strikes Tim down in the Tower's Hall of Fallen Titans. Furious that no memorial statue was made for him (despite his short tenure as a Titan), Jason demands that Tim tell him if he is really as good as Jason has been told. Tim says "Yes" and passes out. As he leaves, Jason tears the 'R' emblem from Tim's chest. In the Epilogue, Jason has apparently developed a grudging respect for his replacement as he states, "I'll admit. He's good". Jason is also left wondering if perhaps he would have been a better Robin and better person had he a life like Tim's and friends like the Titans[2].

Jason's return crescendos when he kidnaps the Joker and holds him hostage, luring Batman to Crime Alley, the site of their first meeting. Jason asks Batman why he has not avenged his death by killing the Joker, and Batman tells Jason that he will never cross that line. An enraged Jason explains that Joker deserves it, because he has done evil in the past and, according to Jason, is "doing it because he took me away from you". Despite this, Batman explains that it is not too hard for him to kill the Joker, it would be too easy; he has never once not fantasized about taking the Joker somewhere private and torturing him for maybe weeks before finally killing him, but refuses to go to that place. Jason offers Batman an ultimatum: Jason will kill the Joker unless Batman kills Jason first. Holding the Joker at gunpoint, Jason throws a pistol to Batman and begins to count to three while standing behind the Joker, leaving Batman with only a headshot if he wants to stop Jason pulling the trigger.

At the last moment, Batman throws a batarang that cuts down an object and slices Jason's neck. The Joker takes advantage of the situation, detonating nearby explosives that engulf the platform they are on and send them plunging into the bay.

Jason resurfaces one year after the Infinite Crisis patrolling the streets of New York City as a murderous version of Nightwing. Jason shows no intention of giving up the Nightwing persona, and continues to taunt Dick Grayson by wearing the costume and suggesting that the two become a crime-fighting team. Grayson refuses to join his side and methods of crimefighting. Not long after the two Nightwings meet up, Jason is captured and imprisoned by unknown mobsters. Rescued by a reluctant Grayson, the two join forces to defeat the Pierce brothers. Jason leaves New York City and the Nightwing mantle to Grayson, along with a telegram telling Grayson he has returned to normal and still considers them family.

Jason later appears in Star City, alongside Brick as part of a gun-running organization, which brings Batman to Star City. Jason's true motives are shown in the third part as he kidnaps Mia Dearden (Speedy) in an effort to convert her to his side, feeling that they are kindred spirits, cast down by society and at odds with their mentors. The two fight while conversing but when Jason is unsuccessful in his bid to turn Mia, he settles for blowing up her High School. Mia is deeply troubled by what transpired between her and Jason, but ultimately decides to stick with Green Arrow.

Jason Todd resumes his persona as the Red Hood and rescues a woman from Duela Dent (aka the Joker's Daughter). After a Monitor shoots and kills Duela, he attempts to kill Jason, but is stopped by a second Monitor. This second Monitor apologizes to Jason before they both disappear, leaving Jason alone with Duela's body. Later, at Duela's funeral, Jason hides until all of the Teen Titans have left except Donna Troy. Jason tells her what happened the night of Duela's death, and about the dueling Monitors. He knows that both he and Donna Troy have come back from the dead, and wonders which of them is next on the Monitor's hit list. The two are then attacked by the Forerunner, but before she can kill them, the apologetic Monitor stops her, and recruits Jason and Donna for a mission to the Palmerverse (a section of the Nanoverse discovered by Ray Palmer), in an attempt to find Palmer. During the trip, Jason takes it upon himself to name the Monitor "Bob".

On Earth-51, Jason meets that world's Batman. It was shown that this version of Batman had begun using lethal force since his Jason died. Jason Todd of New Earth is then given a new costume and the code name Red Robin. Earth-51 Batman had originally planned to give those to his Jason, but he died before it was time. Jason dons the Red Robin suit and goes into battle alongside Earth-51's Batman. During a battle with a group of Monarch's soldiers, Batman is killed by the Ultraman of Earth-3, deeply affecting Jason. In his grief, Jason murders an alternate version of the Joker who mocks his loss, vacating alongside Donna, Ray and Kyle to the planet Apokolips before Earth-51's destruction. After the group is sent back to Earth, Jason leaves the group and returns to his crime fighting ways. When the Morticoccus virus is released from Karate Kid's body, Jason is forcibly brought back to the group by Kyle, much to his dismay. When the Challengers return to the true Earth, Jason disposes of his Red Robin costume. Jason and Tim Drake are confronted by another Red Robin, whose identity was a mystery. Due to a combination of Red Robin's involvement and a gun toting gang member, Jason was shot in the leg and arrested by police.

After the Death of The Batman the whole of Gotham started to hear the rumour, a thing the Underworld gladly exploited. Jason himself donned the Cowl of the Batman, and masked and heavily armed, he started to fight the expanding crime wave with little morality. Pinning a note to his criminal victims that he was the true and only Batman. He even built his own Batcave where he starved and tortured criminals to death. Jason's exploits remained unknown until he crossed paths with Nightwing, who was pursuing Damian al Ghul who was joyriding the Batmobile. Jason deemed that Nightwing was unfit to take over the role of Batman and tried to dispose of both him and Damian. But the battle was postponed by the arrival of the Huntress and Black Canary. Jason tried again when Tim Drake and Catwoman discovered his base. Jason stabbed Tim and left him for dead. After all this transpired Tim got medical care after being rescued by Damian. Dick went after Jason and they fought on a moving train. Dick kicked Jason off the edge, proving her was the better fighter. Jason said we will see more of him and threw himself into river.