I applaud who ever was in charge of dc Instagram today they really said fuck you cass is Bruce's daughter
You know what’s interesting?
Dick didn’t set out to murder Zucco with the intent of being a killer. He viewed it as an unfortunate byproduct of his actions.
His real goal was to “purge the world of criminals” because “darkness needs light.”
Do you realize how unhinged that sounds? It means Robin wasn’t created from anger. It was created from the messed up psyche of a child who realized at 8 years old that the entire world needs something better than what it was given and so he went out and became it.
I cant properly explain how insane that is. It’s like putting the logic of the Joker inside the mind of child but turning it for good. Everything is falling into place now. That is why the Joker hates Dick-he is the one Robin the man couldn’t break. Literally COULDN’T because when he’s facing Dick, he’s facing the version of himself that would have existed if he had put himself to good. That was would break HIM.
Imagine spending the better part of your life doing your utmost worst to show Batman that people and the system are inherently evil only to have him fall head over cowl for a version of yourself to completely invalidate your reason for existing. How psychotic would you turn when you realize you have nothing to prove?
This also explains why Dick is so well adjusted and sociable in a way that Bruce and the others aren’t.
Bruce loses it when he loses his children, he thinks it’s a failure of his abilities and doubts his life’s work.
Jason loses it when he thinks he’s been replaced because his reason for being is having someone care for him.
Tim loses it when he comes to a dead-end. He feels helpless and lost when he doesn’t know the next move because his reason for being is being able to solve what’s wrong.
Damian loses it when he feels abandoned. He feels hurt and broken because he’s a child who wants to be loved.
The reason Dick was the perfect choice for Dark Crisis and to become the dawn of DCU is because his sole reason for being is to be the light.
That is why Bruce refused to destroy a planet when Superman asked him too. That is why Dick was the only person in the universe who could control the Darkness infecting him when even Deathstroke lost his mind to it. That is why the evil Justice League chose Dick of every one to kill-to make a point.
This is why he’s looked up to by major heroes such as Superman, Wonderwoman, the Titans, the children, the villains, and the civilians.
This is why Harvey Dent called Robin Dick “Batman’s secret weapon.”
Although anger was the baseline emotion, Dick doesn’t have anger issues because:
Robin wasn’t created for revenge. It was created with the intention of building a world so unrealistically good, that the level of the vision Richard Grayson was aiming for and set the standards for- is so terrifyingly inconceivable.
And that-is why he is a happy, feral, monster.
Clark: Bruce Bruce what is this
9 yr old Dick: :D
Clark: Bruce
Bruce, haggard, injecting 5 hour energy straight into his arm: baby bird
Clark: you can't let a child fight crime
Bruce, near tears: you want to try and stop him? please for the love of God Clark try please
Dick: I'm gonna do murder!
Dick: *cartwheels*
Clark: oh no
Bruce: that's what I said
Jason "I only saved you because everyone would yell at me otherwise DEFINITELY NOT because I love you I don't know why everyone thinks I'm a brat" Todd, everyone.
NIghtwing 107 covers by Bruno Redondo
Re: the last ask
Making Dick bi and working in a shout-out to Tim's sexuality as well is one of those little things that really shows how well the Gotham Knights team understood their audience. Specifically, it demonstrates a really keen understanding of the difference between writing for a Bat-family audience as opposed to a Batman audience.
You can see that in a lot of little things throughout the game, to the point that I'm really impressed. It's in the design of Gotham, both in leaning hard into the exaggerated gothic architecture (have you seen the cathedral??) and the choice to go for a "neon noir" aesthetic rather than gritty gray-and-brown ""realism""; it's in the design and utilization of the female characters, favoring showing off their personalities over making them look "sexy;" it's in the way all the writing about Bruce focuses on his kindness and nobility and portrays him as a stern but obviously loving father figure; and it's in the little details, like how Jason gets e-mails from cooking blogs, his therapist, and his favorite bookstore. Heck, it's even in the nature of the various references scattered throughout the game, like which friends are sending emails to check in on which knight, and the specific street art projects that fill out that one collection side-quest.
It's one of those things where I'm not surprised if it reviews badly because most video game reviewers fall more firmly into the Batman fandom demographic. They're more likely to favor the Arkham games, with their inspirations in the grim & gritty dark ages, and since Gotham Knights didn't try to do anything new or special with the gameplay there's not much here for them.
But for the Batfamily audience, the people who really want to be playing Nightwing and Robin and Batgirl and Red Hood? They went above and beyond in understanding what that audience (in general) favors in their stories, and it's awesome.
nightwing and the three other robins
Nightwing 107 variant cover by Dan Mora
Robin! Dick: Golly gee whiz Batman!
Batman: I think I'd prefer it if you said "fuck"
Robin! Jason: Well fuck Batman!
Batman: No I still don't like it
People who say "Batman was better without his kids" must really like the whole ELEVEN issues that Bruce had before Dick was introduced because that's the only time he didn't have a kid. Bruce Wayne/Batman was introduced in ’Detective Comics' #27 and Dick Grayson's Robin was introduced in 'Detective Comics’ #38. Dick was around before Alfred existed, if we can have Alfred why can we have the Robins?