Real name: Stephanie Brown (Deceased)
Known Aliases: Robin IV, Spolier
First Appearance: As Stephanie Brown:
Detective Comics #647 (August 1992)
As Spoiler:
Detective Comics #648 (September 1992)
Known relatives: Arthur Brown (Cluemaster, father, deceased), Mrs. Brown (mother)
Known Allies: Robin III, Batgirl III, Batman I, Oracle II
Major Enemies: Cluemaster, Scarab, Johnny Warlock
Height:5’5’’
Weight: 110 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
Created by: Chuck Dixon, Tom Lyle
Stephanie Brown is the daughter of Arthur Brown, who is also the criminal known as The Cluemaster. Though the Cluemaster had served a lengthy prison sentence in full, Stephanie did not believe that he was fully rehabilitated. She followed her father upon his release and discovered that the prison psychiatrists were wrong when they said he was fine. In fact, the only thing he was cured of was his compulsion to leave clues to his crime behind. Stephanie donned a purple costume, equipped with a full mask, and took the name "Spoiler." She followed her father, eavesdropped on his plans with his new gang, and sent clues to the Gotham City Police Department, in hopes to "spoil" his plans.
Her clues worked, and eventually Batman and Robin began to follow the trail of the Cluemaster. From a rooftop, Spoiler watched the GCPD raid Arthur Brown's apartment. The raid was foiled by a bomb set by the Cluemaster in an attempt to kill Batman and Robin. The dynamic duo were watching from another rooftop when they spotted Spoiler. While Batman tended to the emergency of the bomb, Robin gave chase and caught Spoiler. He removed the mask to see a female's face. Stephanie used the momentum of surprise, blindsided Robin with a brick, and escaped.
Robin used his detective skills to track down this masked girl, and learned of an unknown visitor that Brown had in prison. That lead him to an address in the Manchester suburb of Gotham. Robin staked the address out and watched Spoiler leave on a motorcycle from this home. He caught Stephanie on her bike, and accused her of being part of Cluemaster's gang. She revealed that she had been there that night to ensure no one was hurt, and that she wanted to see her father rot in jail. Robin introduced Spoiler to Batman, and she explained Cluemaster's plans to steal charity money from a telethon being held at a new shopping mall/entertainment complex opening in Gotham City.
Batman refused to allow Spoiler assist them in stopping the Cluemaster. After much argument, Spoiler reluctantly agreed to stay behind. Once Batman and Robin left, however, she raced to the complex. The dynamic duo reached the mall as Cluemaster and his henchmen began to take the $2 million in cash. The heroes had the situation in hand until a helicopter dropped chains through the roof to carry the over-sized container of cash away. Batman used a batarang to try to hitch a ride, when Cluemaster ordered his henchmen to kill the hero. Spoiler arrived on the scene and went straight for the Cluemaster. After she missed a punch, Cluemaster grabbed hold of her, and threatened to kill her if Batman didn't let him go free. Batman said that he wouldn't do that, because the girl in the mask was his daughter. Cluemaster removed the mask to reveal her face. Caught off guard, Stephanie was able to wrap a chain around his neck. She was prepared to kill her father for ruining her life, but Batman convinced her to leave him be, or she would be the one who ruined her life.
She stayed out of the limelight for sometime, but returned once her father reappeared. She has continued to aid Robin, at first only to stop her father, but gradually helping him more and more in solving other crimes. She is very attracted to Robin and has let him know it in no uncertain terms. At first, Robin wouldn't reciprocate this attraction, but eventually gave into temptation, and the two began to date on the agreement that Robin wouldn't unmask. Shortly after they began dating, Stephanie revealed that she was pregnant from a previous boyfriend.
She was forced to retire the Spoiler costume for a time, while she went through with the pregnancy. Though she originally planned to keep the child, she ultimately gave it up for adoption. With the events of No Man's Land and Robin's subsequent absence (Tim's away at boarding school), Stephanie's relationship with the Boy Wonder had been one where they rarely saw each other anymore. She has since picked up the Spoiler costume once again, and will continue to play a major role in the life of Tim Drake.
During his time away, Batman approached Spoiler and offered to train her. He also told her Robin’s real name, and this betrayal by Batman, drove a wedge in between the two for a time. Spoiler not only trained with Batman, but with the Birds of Prey, and began a friendship with Batgirl.
Stephanie and Tim, as she now knew him, reconciled, and the bond they shared was stronger then ever. Even after Batman told her to hang up her costume and the Birds stopped mentoring her, she still patrolled with Robin, as well as went on regular dates. When the US government came to Stephanie and her mother, and told her that Cluemaster had died helping the country, Stephanie was shocked. She cut off ties with Tim, and went on a crime fighting rampage, hunting down the Riddler, her father's former associate, to try to get a better idea of who he had been in life. Eventually, she made peace with his memory, and she and Tim rekindled their relationship. During Tim’s battle with the occult hit man Johnny Warlock, Stephanie was injured, her leg broken, and Tim took personal responsibility.
Stephanie snapped Tim out of his funk, just in time for his father to find out he was Robin. Tim was told to hang up his cape, and he did. Shortly after, Stephanie snuck into the Bat cave in a hand made Robin costume, and Batman decided to make her the new Robin. He trained her hard, and she went out with him for a time. Unfortunately, due to her disobeying his orders, Batman stripped her of the Robin costume and told her that she was done being a hero.
This led directly to her stealing one of Batman's long-range plans for dealing with the entirety of Gotham's criminal underworld, in an effort to prove her worth. Since this plan was predicated on the involvement of "Matches Malone" (who was, unbeknownst to her, a persona that Batman used for infiltration purposes), it quickly spun out of control. The result was a citywide gang war, in which Stephanie was captured by Black Mask, who tortured her to get information about Batman. Although she escaped and made her way to a hospital, she had been severely injured by the villain, and passed away in a hospital bed as Batman sat beside her.
It has recently come to light that Spoiler may have been denied vital medical treatment by Dr. Leslie Thompkins that could have saved her life. Thompkins willfully withheld such treatment, wanting to send a message to Batman in hopes that he would stop being a vigilante. Thompkins then liquidated all of her assets, leaving them to Brown's daughter and fled to Africa. During the 'War Crimes' Story arc - the sequel to War Games - Batman tracked her down and confronted her over Stephanie's death. She admitted that she had allowed Steph to die, to dissuade other children from putting on masks. Batman coldly told his old friend that she was now just another murderer in his criminal database.
Since her death Spoiler has appeared twice in the Batgirl series. The first time Cassandra Cain met her during a near death experience. In Batgirl #72 she appears again as Cassandra dies from blood loss. It appeared she may have become her friend's guardian angel, although for a time there was debate that Cassandra may have simply been hallucinating. In the final issue of Batgirl, however, Stephanie's "ghost" informed Cassandra of the destruction of Blüdhaven. Since Cassandra had no knowledge of this event, it would have been impossible for her to hallucinate about it accurately. Thus it would appear that Stephanie's spirit has indeed been visiting her old friend.
SKILLS:
She had all the training and equipment of Robin. Capable martial artist.
Parts of this bio came from:
The Extreme Robin Site
Wikipedia
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