( CHARACTER ★ INFORMATION )

DOES THIS CHARACTER MEET SKELETAL BASICS? yes, you see him mature and adapt and grow via the team's experiences on missions
NAME & AGE: Dick Grayson (Robin), 14
CANON & CANON POINT: Young Justice (Animated), end of Season 1
CANON INFORMATION: Young Justice (TV series), Robin on the YJ wikia

PERSONALITY:
Robin was the first of the proteges that started appearing at the sides of the heroes, until they started feeling discontent with being sidekicks and began working towards being full heroes of their own. The team allows for the younger heroes to take on their own missions without the supervision of the adults, giving them their own team to work with and depend on. Despite being the youngest of the group, Dick is the most experienced, and as such, has the respect of his teammates.

When they're not on mission, Dick often acts as a sort of little-brother to the team. He has no qualms about teasing his friends, and enjoys joking around with them or about them, especially when they mess up. It's all in good fun, though, and the team is well aware Dick means no maliciousness by it. When on mission, he doesn't stop talking and he doesn't stop laughing, enjoying himself as he fights. He's clever and can analyze a situation quickly and accurately, and uses his experience, physical abilities, and hacking abilities to help the team along.

As a teenager with a larger-than-life mentor, Dick strives to please Bruce and make him proud. Batman is a legend, one of the founding members of the Justice League, and everyone who's anyone knows him. As such, it must have made waves when Dick joined him as the first child sidekick--everyone knows who Robin is. Gotham isn't a particularly fun or happy city, though, and Dick clearly trained long and hard before he was allowed out. But in the four to five years he's been fighting at Bruce's side, Dick's more than proved himself to be capable of being Batman's partner. The two of them work together with minimal verbal cues, seamlessly anticipating what the other needs and providing support without prompting. He's smart and independent, enough to question Batman when he's frustrated (as any teenager would) but doesn't actually ever disrespect his mentor. That's the thing, though. At times, he recognizes that Batman is his mentor and that Robin is the sidekick, but there's another part of him that feels like they are, and should be, partners. While Dick knows that he and Batman will never be properly equals, he expects, and usually gets, a definite level of respect from Batman because of how long and well they've worked together. He's hurt and frustrated when Batman treats him like, in his eyes, a child, and gets jealous when he thinks he's being overlooked ("Just Aqualad…"-- Downtime). He doesn't voice his dissent, though, choosing to work out his frustrations alone and despite his annoyance and irritation with Batman at the time, he still wordlessly goes when summoned. Dick doesn't hold a grudge, not against Bruce, and a reminder that Bruce didn't forget him is enough to lighten his mood.

It stems from the insecurity of never measuring up to what others expect of him and of not being good enough. As both the first non-powered member of a superhero team and the youngest, Dick is terrified of being found lacking.

"Fear. Not supposed to be in my vocabulary. The Flying Graysons were death-defying! They feared nothing!
Batman isn't afraid of anything! Why did he choose me to become Robin?
I'm afraid. I'm afraid Batman won't need me.
I'm afraid the Team won't need me, because I'm younger than everyone else." -- Face Your Fears

While the situation is manufactured, the uncertainties are real. Intellectually, Dick knows he's good at what he does. He just also knows he has far to go. During one conversation with Superboy, he points out that "fighting stronger opponents is part of the gig. Canary learned that the hard way. So did Batman and, well, me" (Schooled). He's very aware that, like Batman, he's the only member of the team who doesn't have powers. This, however, is also a point of pride with him.

While on an early mission with the team, before they chose a leader, Dick was utterly convinced that he should be leader--especially as he's the sidekick with the most experience. At this point in time, it's clear that Dick expects to be and considers himself to be the next Batman. It's what he believes he was taught to be and trained for.

Robin: "This team needs a leader!"
Kid Flash: "And it's you? Dude, you're a thirteen-year-old kid who ducked out on us without a word."
Robin: "Hehe, and you're a mature fifteen? You blew our cover first chance you got!"
Kid Flash: "Yeah? You don't even have superpowers!"
Robin: "Neither does Batman!"
Kid Flash: "Tche. You're not. Batman."
Robin: "Tche. Closest thing we've got." -- Drop Zone

Who can blame him, though? He's already made a name for himself as part of Batman-and-Robin, as half the Dynamic Duo, and the two of them work together so well they don't need to talk ("Fighting alongside Batman, your roles are--defined. You two do not need to talk." -- Aqualad, Drop Zone). Batman knows he doesn't have to keep an eye on Robin to get things done, which speaks to the trust and faith he has in Dick's abilities ("This time, I'm not the one you underestimated" -- Batman, The Pit), which only bolsters Dick's own confidence in his skills. This is what gives Dick the arrogance to assume he was the natural choice to be team leader.

By just the fourth time the sidekicks work together, Robin's already been shown as having a habit of vanishing from his teammates' sides, frustrating them. He expects his teammates to know and anticipate exactly why he's acting the way he does without explanation, which, at best, make him difficult to work with when they don't and, worse, leads to miscommunications that threaten the mission. The realization that he isn't the best leader is difficult and a nasty awakening. His instinctive reaction is frustration, but he's mature enough to recognize that the success of the mission and the team is much more important than the preservation of his pride. When faced with someone wiser and better suited for the role, Dick knows to back down and defer to him.

Robin: "How could my first mission as leader go so wrong?"
Aqualad: "You do have the most experience, but perhaps that is exactly what has left you unprepared. [...] But this team is new, and a leader must be clear, explicit. He cannot vanish and expect others to play parts in an unknown plan."
Robin: "Oh, so I'm supposed to hold everyone's hands!? … Ugh. …Who'm I kidding. You should lead us, Kaldur. You're the only one who can"
Kid Flash: "Please. I can run circles--"
Robin: "Wally, c'mon. You know he's the one. We all do." -- Drop Zone

The biggest change in Dick over the course of the first half-year the team works together (Young Justice Season One) is the realization that he doesn't want to be Batman--at least not the way Bruce is. This realization comes after a Kobayashi Maru-style training mission that goes terribly wrong, when a psychic exercise to make the team face a worst-case scenario is accidentally made too realistic in their minds. After Aqualad's "death" in the exercise, Dick takes over as leader. He compartmentalizes, removing his personal feelings as he assigns everyone to their roles in what they think is a last-ditch attempt to save the world, and he does so knowing that he's sending his friends to their deaths--some as nothing more than a distraction. It horrifies him, and it's the callousness of doing this that traumatizes him more than the failure.

"Hurting? Try traumatized. I finally become leader and wind up sending all of my friends to their deaths. I-I know I did what I had to, but I hated it. When we started this team, I was desperate to be in charge. But not anymore. A-And that's not even the worst of it. You can't tell Batman." [...] "I always wanted, expected, to grow up and become him. And the hero bit? I'm still all in! But that thing? Inside of him? The thing that drives him to sacrifice everything for the sake of his mission? … That's not me. I-I don't want to be … The Batman ... Anymore." -- Disordered

This is part of what Bruce was trying to do when he allowed Dick to become Robin at age nine. He didn't want Dick to become who he is, and he succeeded well. Despite having the grimmest member of the Justice League as a beloved mentor and having worked as a vigilante in Gotham, Dick remains joyful and bright with a sense of humor to rival any thirteen(/fourteen) year old's.

He loves his job, and can usually be found laughing as he takes on the enemy when stealth isn't necessary. Dick's laughter is, in fact, often the first clue people get that Robin is in the area. In addition to his cackling laughter, Dick also enjoys joking throughout a mission, keeping the atmosphere light with his teasing, asinine questions, and wordplay. Joking around in the worst of situations is a way to alleviate tension--both for himself and the people he's with, though not everyone appreciates it.

This isn't to mean he makes light of a dangerous situation, though. He's capable of working under pressure and staying calm, even when said pressure involves the life and deaths of people he cares deeply for (Homefront, Failsafe). He can improvise as necessary, using his anything he can think of, and doesn't allow himself to give up or panic when he has a goal ("Get 'traught or get dead!" -- Homefront). He can't afford to. Having been working at Batman's side since he was nine, he's very aware of the importance of what they do and the consequences of failure, and understands when and why it's necessary to compartmentalize and focus on the situation at hand. This results in Dick having a hard time voicing his feelings, despite appearing to be one of the more open members of the team. He laughs and jokes, but very rarely elaborates on how he's feeling beyond commenting on the particular situation at hand.

Dick keeps things from his team, not necessarily deliberately, but more because it doesn't even occur to him to do otherwise. At one point, he lies to his team to get them to join him in investigating a circus in Europe--a circus which turns out to be the one he grew up in. He never tells his teammates, though, pretending that the mission order came from Batman. The only teammate who knows the truth about his identity and past, Wally, isn't told and is left behind in the States. ("I left you behind because you know my backstory. I didn't want my best pal questioning my objectivity." -- Performance) He also doesn't tell Batman before he left, deciding that this was something he had to do on his own. When Zatanna loses her father (Misplaced), Dick clearly empathizes, hesitating as if about to say something, but ultimately stays quiet and leaves her to her grief. While this could be seen as him acknowledging her need for space, it also reflects his inability to open up emotionally to his team, and choosing to keep to himself. This lack of emotional availability hinders Dick's ability to lead, as he has a hard time connecting properly with the others. He's simultaneously too childish and too mature, too detached and too goal-oriented, too light-hearted or too serious … All of which makes him a good teammate but also difficult for the others to relate to him, both on-mission and off.

COURT ALLIANCE & REASONING:
Seelie! The idea of following authority and having a code to live by is very much how Dick structures his life. Though he has a streak of rebelliousness and independence, as any teenager would, he's ultimately still obedient to Batman's code of morals and enforces it as much as he can even while not at Batman's side. He works well with a team when they have a leader he respects, is willing to follow their lead, and defers to his superiors. He also believes in courage and justice, as the Seelie do--seeking justice for the death of his family is what originally turned him down the path of vigilantism.

ABILITIES:
• hacking/programming -- Dick's shown to be a genius-level hacker, capable of plugging into and dismantling or reprogramming any system within seconds. He's the resident techie of the team, and is the one that most often is in charge of scanning and processing information that the team encounters.
• acrobat/aerialist -- raised in a circus as part of a family of world-class trapeze artists, Dick started training at a very young age. he's a brilliant acrobat, and it reflects in the way he moves and fights in his job as a hero. It's generally accepted that Dick Grayson is one of, if not the best acrobat in the DC 'verse. While Dick is still young in Young Justice, he's well on his way to that point.
• martial arts -- you have to be good to fight at Batman's side in Gotham. Dick's shown to be well trained in a variety of martial arts, comfortably taking on well-armed adult men. He fights both professionally-trained soldiers as well as thugs, and is clearly well-prepared to do so.
• weapons -- he has a preference for using long-distance weapons such as shuriken (exploding or not), but has also been taught to fight with escrima sticks.
• stealth -- he can vanish from sight the moment you look away, which often lead to a lot of frustration early on with the team, only to appear somewhere else.
• driving -- Dick's the only member of the team shown driving the Martian bio-ship other than Miss Martian herself. He also, along with the rest of the team, were clearly trained to ride motorcycles, though Dick seemed to be most comfortable with the more unique aspects of the bike. It can be assumed he's ridden before, most likely the same model, and probably does so in Gotham.

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( CHARACTER ★ INFORMATION )