Robin (Teen Titans 2003)

"I know what it means to be a hero, Commander. And trust me - you are no hero."

- Robin facing Uehara Daizo

Robin is the leader and one of the five founding members of the Teen Titans. Before that, he was trained by, and served as sidekick to Batman. He is also Starfire's main love interest and later becomes her boyfriend.

Physical Appearance
Robin is always shown in just his costume that is consisted of green tights with black steel-toed boots, green gloves, a green short-sleeved shirt underneath a red armored vest with a yellow "R" over his left pectoral muscle, a yellow utility belt and a black cape that has a yellow interior. He always has on a black-and-white domino mask, has his black hair spiked backwards, light skin and an athletic-build. When he is briefly shown as Slade's apprentice, he wears a black bodysuit with armor plating on the legs, knees, forearms, shoulders, the top-half of his suit is split into black and orange sides and an ash-gray utility belt. During the movie "Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo", he briefly changes into a costume with his hair down with black shades and a skinny black suit with a long jacket in order to hide from Tokyo Troopers when he was wanted for the "murder" of Saico-Tek. He took a man into an alley and switched clothes with him.

Robin might be short for his age. Out of his four companions, Beast Boy seems to be the only one shorter, and it should be noted that Raven is depicted as the same height or a little shorter than Robin. Also, in Calling All Titans, when he gave Bushido the communicator, Bushido seemed to be at least a couple inches taller than him.

In the Season 3 episode "Revolution", Mad Mod drains Robin's youth which makes Robin a frail old man and him young again. As an old man, Robin is so weak he can't even walk, he also seems to be very thin and his arms and legs are like bones. Robin is thin everywhere on his body except for his stomach where he seems to have grown a potbelly. While the young Robin wears his hair spiked backwards, the old and frail Robin has white hair which seems to be slicked back.

When Robin is Nightwing, he has long hair which almost touches his shoulders, he also doesn't spike his hair anymore. He also has a more muscular build and has grown much taller, his costume is a black jumpsuit with steel bracelets and a utility belt, he also still wears his steel toed boots. Nightwing's costume also has a symbol of a bird like a hawk, on his torso and it is a dark shade of blue. The bird on his costume also seems to be spreading its wings out as if it is flying.

It might also be true that he is around 4 ft. with reference to the episode Divide and Conquer when Cyborgs says " ....is 4 ft. tall and smells like cheap hair gel... "

Personality
Robin is a natural-born leader. In DC Comics and other incarnations, Robin is even toned and playful despite some outbursts of rage, such as when he learns of his parents' killer and when he eventually stops working as Batman's sidekick (a situation that is mentioned in a roundabout way in the episode Go!). However, in this series, Robin is closer to Batman; serious, stern, strict and obsessed with hunting down criminals, which is most prominently displayed in the first season.

Out of all the villains the team has faced, the one that is most hated is Slade. Robin will stop at nothing to defeat Slade. Robin insists that the two are nothing alike, despite Slade's claims to the contrary. Several encounters with him have lead dangerously close to causing rifts between Robin and his friends. Robin must put aside his fixation on Slade and put more trust in his teammates if he wishes to resolve the threat. Another flaw Robin has is he is competitive and still a bit immature but, despite his struggles, Robin has time and again proven to be a great leader. He cares for all of his friends deeply, and will fight to the finish to defend them.

Robin is a bit of a loner. Beast Boy and Cyborg hang around with each other more than him and Robin tends to be very independent. He insists on doing everything himself such as being Slade's apprentice and battling Red X. In the episode Go! when the Titans first met, Beast Boy (who implied that he was a loner and hasn't had anybody to talk to since he left the Doom Patrol) wanted to befriend everybody, Robin made it clear that he doesn't want to be part of a team but eventually does form the Titans. Throughout the series, the team and everybody in it is very important to Robin.

He cares deeply about each of his friends but for Starfire it is shown that Robin has romantic feelings for her. Everyone on the team can very well see their feelings for each other including the villains but neither of them admitted their feelings until the movie Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo where they finally confess their true feelings for each other and have their first true kiss.

Pre-Teen Titans
Robin was born as Richard John "Dick" Grayson to John and Mary Grayson. As a child his parents and him were a family of circus acrobats known as The Flying Graysons. While he was once preparing for a performance he overheard two gangsters who worked for a powerful crime boss named Tony Zucco attempt to extort protection money from the circus owner. The circus owner refused and the two gangsters sabotaged the trapeze wires with acid. At the next performance on the trapeze his parents were swinging from ropes. The ropes snapped and sent them to their deaths.

Before he could go to the police, Batman appears to him and warned him that the two gangsters worked for Tony Zucco, a very powerful crime boss, and that revealing his knowledge could lead to his death. He was adopted by Bruce Wayne after his parents were killed by Zucco and became Robin. Together, Batman (Bruce) and he disrupted Zucco’s extortion rackets and gambling rackets and then successfully baited the riled Zucco into visiting a construction sight where they captured him. Through the years of working with the Dark Knight as his sidekick to fight crime in Gotham he was greatly trained mentally and physically that in ways no other child was. For reasons undisclosed in the show, but the actual reason being that after being shot Batman tried to take Robin out of the field, Robin thought he was being treated like a kid and was about to give up being a hero with Batman (calling it “ Kid Stuff”). Robin eventually left Batman and moved to another city (though it is known to still be close to Gotham) to continue fighting crime, though this time he intended to go solo. He was 15 when he left Batman.

Joining Teen Titans
Robin met up with Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven when Starfire came to Earth and started destroying the city. After a brief yet fierce confrontation where even the Boy Wonder appeared to meet his match, Robin helped Starfire get free from her chains. She then kissed him to learn English. Robin and the others teamed up to find her and later fought the aliens who came to find and imprison Starfire. Shortly after defeating them, Robin gave the others communicators and later created the Teen Titans and became the leader.

Season One
Robin was at the Titan Tower. He had a discussion with Starfire about lightspeed travel. After finding out the their refrigerator was filled with blue and furry food, Robin went with the other Titans to a pizza parlor. When he and his teammates went outside, they stumbled across three H.I.V.E. Academy students.

Robin fought alongside his teammates and managed to put up a good fight, before a hole began to open in the midst of the battle. The hole's size was massive and Robin accidentally fell in. After his teammates regrouped, they discovered that Robin was missing.

It is unknown how Robin managed to get out of the hole. However, he did and regrouped with the rest of his teammates. He came up with a plan to retake the Titan Tower, which in his absence had been taken over by the H.I.V.E Academy students. He and the others invaded the tower and attacked the three. Robin grabbed Gizmo by the neck and tried to interrogate him.

Robin was able to obtain the name of "Slade" during his interrogation of Gizmo. Having no idea who this "Slade" was, Robin was anxious to find out. After defeating the H.I.V.E Academy students and retaking the Titan Tower, Robin stayed concerned about the identity of Slade.

Robin went to a fair with the rest of his teammates. He enjoyed himself until he and the others saw an alien probe. He and his teammates went to fight it off and succeeded. Robin and the others wondered where it came from before returning to Titan Tower. He and his teammates met Starfire's sister Blackfire, who decided to come over to Earth for a visit. Robin's cape caught Blackfire's eye and was complimented by her. Robin liked her compliment and went with her and the others to a disco. He danced for a while before noticing Starfire's sad mood.

Robin tried to talk to her until Blackfire dragged him off. After Starfire was captured by alien probes, Robin went after her with the other Teen Titans and Blackfire. After Starfire was saved and Blackfire destroyed the alien probes, Robin watched as Cyborg offered her a spot on the team and as Starfire gave up her position and left.

Luckily, Robin convinced her to stay before Starfire was attacked by the alien probes for the third time. After wondering what they might want, the alien probes revealed they were looking for a Tamaranean thief. Robin believed they most have been talking about Blackfire, who then tried to leave the planet. He watched as Starfire fought her sister and watched as the Centauri police captured Blackfire.

Robin fought Cinderblock with the rest of his teammates. He used a maneuver called "The Sonic Boom" alongside Cyborg to stop Cinderblock from escaping. However, when their plan failed Robin started to argue with Cyborg. Robin watched as Cyborg quitted the team due to his jealousy and anger towards Robin always making orders and rules for him and his teammates to follow.

At first, Robin did not care at all about Cyborg leaving. However, after having to perform some of Cyborg's chores he started to regret the argument the two had and to top it all of, he had no one to play video games with. Robin watched as Beast Boy, Raven and Starfire became saddened over his leaving of the team as well. However, Robin knew he could not allow his team to fall apart over the leaving of a single member and tried to maintain a grip on everyone. Later, he went to confront Plasmus at a waste plant. He and the other Teen Titans attacked him, but watched as he separated into smaller pieces. As Robin heard of Cinderblock attacking another city, he insisted his teammates go fight Cinderblock while he held off Plasmus. After his teammates chose to stay and were consumed by Plasmus, Robin almost fell in a tub of acid before being saved by Cyborg. The two fought alongside each other and defeated Plasmus. Robin welcomed Cyborg back to the team. With his fellow Teen Titans, self-appointed protectors of Jump City, Robin encountered Slade, the mastermind villain who is Robin's arch rival, responsible for the majority of the villains the Titans clashed with during this time, including the H.I.V.E. and Thunder and Lightning. To infiltrate Slade and learn his plans, Robin became his alter- ego, Red X, and tried to make a deal with Slade. However, Slade outsmarted Robin and discovered his true identity. Later, Slade made Robin his apprentice, threatening to "annihilate" Robin's friends with nanoscopic probes, which have been injected into them unknowingly while they were diverted, if Robin refused. Having no choice, Robin joined Slade and committed many crimes in his favor, until finally he injected himself with the nanites and threatened Slade with the fact that if he didn't deactivate them, he would lose his "apprentice".

Season Two
In Season Two, the Titans met Terra who had the tremendous ability to control the earth. Robin was concerned about Terra joining the team, due to her unstable control over her powers. He tells Terra about it, but she runs away after mistakenly thinking Beast Boy revealed it to the others when Robin had actually realized the truth by himself. Upon her return, he gives her a chance to prove herself to the team, because she had somehow learned to fully control her powers. Titans Tower is soon attacked by Slade's mechanical worms, and thanks to Raven and Terra working together, they manage to stop Slade's plans. As a result, Robin fully trusts Terra and accepts her as an official Teen Titan.

Robin begins to get competitive in a fierce card game with the Titans. Suddenly, Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg are transported to a tournament with other male heroes, leaving Starfire and Raven wondering where they have gone. Robin competes in a game where he has to battle the other competitors. Haven beaten everyone, Robin learns the Master of Games is just using the tournament in order to capture and steal the abilities of the heroes. Robin manages to free his friends and together, they defeat the Master of Games.

After being on the team for a while, Terra betrays the Titans and deactivates the Titans Tower's security codes to allow Slade's robot commandos to enter the tower. Robin leads the Titans into a battle against Slade's robots and becomes upset that Terra has betrayed them. Not long after, Larry arrives from another dimension and helps the Titans stop Johnny Rancid after Robin's arm had been fractured while on his R- cycle chasing the villain. Slade and his new apprentice, Terra, appear and attack the Titans off-guard. It is revealed that Slade offered her control over her powers, something the Titans could never offer her, in exchange for her loyalty.Beast Boy manages to convince Robin to give Terra another chance. Robin fights Terra after she had taken down the other Titans, but hesitates when he tries to strike the final blow.

Terra takes advantage of this and finishes off Robin. Luckily, Robin had survived, and regrouped with the other Titans underground, who proved to only sustain minor injuries. The Titans resurfaced and attacked Terra without mercy, catching her off guard and making them gain the upper hand. Terra asked Slade for help and he sent Plasmus, Overload, and Cinderblock (and fused them into one creature) to fight the Titans in her place while she would return to Slade's secret base. As soon as she arrived, he reprimanded Terra for not winning in her fight with the Titans and physically abused her via Terra's suit (which had been fitted with a device that allowed Slade to control her actions) to teach her a lesson. Beast Boy left the Titans to look for Terra and when he arrived at Slade's headquarters, Slade attacked him through Terra. Just as she was about to destroy him, Robin and the other Titans arrived and pleaded to her to not kill Beast Boy and to break free of Slade's control. Terra finally realized her mistakes and she fought against Slade but in all her fury, she awakened a dormant volcano. She knocked him into the molten lava and sent the evil mastermind to his doom. The Titans told her that they had to get out of the city as fast as they could before the volcano destroyed it, but Terra said she's the only one who can stop it and sacrificed herself to save Jump City by tapping into the volcano's lava flow. But, as a consequence of this action, she was turned to stone, becoming one with the earth itself.

Season Three
In the third season of the show Red X returns, and this time it's not Robin in the suit. Instead of wanting to cause chaos and destroy the city, this Red X only wants Xenothium (a chemical that powers his suit) and to be "number one". Robin takes the blame on himself and goes out to stop X personally. Eventually he is brought back to the lair of a new villain, Professor Chang, and aids Robin with defeating him and freeing the rest of the Titans, though he doesn't take himself as an ally and escapes. Robin's obsessive personality get the better of him, as a mask trapped with some special dust make him see, hear and feel Slade, his old arch-enemy (who was supposedly killed by Terra a the end of season two). Thought the others keep telling him that Slade isn't real, he won't listen and fight a imaginary Slade to his nearly death. While the Titans are worry that he might be going crazy, Raven enters Robin's mind (seeing the death of The Flying Graysons and Robin performing his oath before Batman), creating a bond between them, and see that, in his head, Slade is real.

Luckily, Robin managed to understand that what he's seeing is just a powerful illusion just in time to get out of it alive. In the episode Revolution, Robin and the Titans celebrate the fourth of July but it gets interrupted when Mad Mod takes over the city and turns it into England. While trying to stop Mad Mod, Robin is separated from the Titans and Mad Mod uses his high tech cane to drain Robin of his youth force. Mad Mod becomes young again (as he is the episode where he first appears but that was an illusion) while Robin is turned into a frail old man not strong enough to even walk. He is then held as Mod's prisoner. Eventually Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg had a strategy and Beast Boy stole Mad Mod's cane giving it to Robin. Robin then uses it to reverse it's aging effects turning him back to normal and Mod back to an old man. Robin destroys the high tech cane by snapping it in half, this turns the city which Mad Mod made England, back into what it used to be, Jump City.

Season Four
Robin expresses deep concern for Raven, and is the one who most fully realizes that there is something she is concealing from the other Titans, saying that they have a bond from the events of Haunted, but Raven declines to tell him initially, saying there were places in her mind one should never go. The Titans are shocked when Slade resurfaces against the Titans, but is quick to engage him, though he is defeated along with the other Titans. As Robin is about to be crushed by a structure in the collapsing site, compliments of Slade, a distressed Raven taps into her inner power (or, rather, a birthday "gift" from Trigon) and stops time itself briefly. Raven then escapes with Robin, whose efforts to hold Slade back were met with little avail, instead sustaining great harm at his hand, though recovers sufficiently to save Raven from falling down into the streets, saying to her, "Let's go home," and promises her that while not all may be clear, she is safe for now and the danger is over, to which Raven comments that it has "just begun."

Season Five
In season five, Robin and the Teen Titans are on a globe-spanning adventure, traveling far and wide to warn other heroes around the world about the Brotherhood of Evil and their evil plans. Robin, not knowing it was really Madame Rouge, gave a Titans Communicator to Hot Spot (not real), which helped the Brotherhood of Evil track down every young superhero across the globe. Ding Dong Daddy steals a briefcase from Robin, containing his most prized possession. Robin manages to recover the briefcase, with some help from Red X. Robin is captured by Madame Rouge and joins some of the Honorary Titans in captivity at the Brotherhood's base. However, after reinforcements arrive with Beast Boy, Starfire, Raven and Cyborg, Robin is freed and participates in the final battle against the Brotherhood of Evil, defeating the Brotherhood of Evil with the help of the gathered Titans and Honorary Titans. Calling All Titans Robin and the other Titans return to Jump City, only to fight a white creature that can transform into its surroundings and use their respective elements as attacks against its enemies. Robin tries to convince a desperate Beast Boy that he didn't really see Terra (knowing of his obsession with seeing Slade in "Haunted"), while he himself wonders if Terra has truly returned. After this, the series was cancelled before it could be renewed for a 6th season.

Future
A break-in by Warp, a thief from 100 years in the future who returns to the past to steal a priceless clock, forces the Titans to confront this new enemy. But Starfire is accidentally thrown 20 years into the future after she snatches a part of Warp's time machine before Warp manages to reach his future. The Teen Titans have disbanded after she had left them 20 years ago. Every one of them is worse off than before, with the exception of Robin, who still enjoys fighting crime by himself. Starfire gets attacked by Warp, who needs the final piece in his time machine so he can return to his future. Robin, who has now become Nightwing, saves Starfire from Warp, but Warp escapes with the final piece needed to fix his time machine. Nightwing uses his old Titans Communicator to reunite the Titans and together they return to the museum where their troubles all started. After Warp attaches the final piece onto his time machine and opens a portal into the future, Nightwing and the rest of the reunited Titans interrupt him. The Titans, led by Nightwing, launch an all-out assault on Warp, defeating him and destroying his time machine. Before the portal can close, the future Cyborg keeps it open with his sonic cannon and begs Starfire to hurry up and return to the past to ensure that the break-up of the Teen Titans would never occur. Nightwing tells her to return the clock that Warp has stolen. Starfire begins to doubt if she could change their future but Nightwing reassures her that she need not worry. Starfire jumps through the portal, while Nightwing and the rest of the future Titans waved good bye. Nightwing has also appeared in Issue #31 of the Teen Titans Go! comics. When an evil Robin from an alternate future teams up with Warp, Nightwing somehow returns to Titans Tower and enlists help from the Teen Titans in order to fight the two villains. When Starfire and Robin fight, she whispers something indiscernible in evil Robin's ear, and he vanishes after a gasp. After Warp retreats, Nightwing goes back to his own timeline and the Teen Titans are enjoying pizza when the good Robin suddenly turns up with no memory about the battle. The evil Robin may have been the good Robin, brainwashed by Warp after returning to Robin's childhood and replacing Batman with himself as Robin's mentor.