Dick Grayson (Earth-9)

"After I left, when I moved to Detroit, part of me was still back here... still trying to make sense about what happened to me, as a kid. I struggled. There was this darkness inside of me, and I didn't know what to do with it. It hurt me. And I hurt others. The whole time, I thought it was because of the way you raised me, the way you weaponized my childhood."

- Dick Grayson to Bruce Wayne

Richard John "Dick" Grayson is a former acrobat at Haly's Circus and the son of John and Mary Grayson, known collectively as the Flying Graysons.

After the death of his parents, Grayson was adopted by billionaire Bruce Wayne, who revealed his identity as the Batman and trained Grayson as his partner, Robin. Over the years, Grayson began feeling anger over Bruce's abusive actions and left him to Detroit. His life as a police detective was soon interrupted by the arrival of runaway Rachel Roth. Both escaping from The Organization, Grayson and Roth reassembled the Titans and defeated Trigon while the former continued to lead the team in San Francisco.

Months later, the Titans fought against Deathstroke and successfully defended San Francisco from his revenge on Grayson. The Titans soon rose to become the "guardian angels" of the city, with Grayson adopting the alter ego of Nightwing. Unfortunately, they were forced to go to Gotham City when Jason Todd was killed by the Joker. They eventually defeated Scarecrow, who manipulated the events for his own gain and restored the relative peace in Gotham.

Early Life
Richard John Grayson was born around 1990 to John and Mary Grayson who were trapeze artists for Haly's Circus under the name, Flying Graysons and at some point in his youth he began to preform alongside them.

Becoming Robin
"When a parent dies, it's like the ground beneath you suddenly gives way. You trust nothing good again, not fully. You live in fear. But Bruce Wayne, he showed you how to live with that fear. Punish it, strike first. And then that's all you had. Fear and rage. You felt fear, and dealt rage."

- Scarecrow in Grayson's hallucination

In 2002, Grayson's parents were murdered in front of him by Tony Zucco, on the orders of the Maroni Crime Family, who burned their trapeze ropes with hydrofluoric acid which caused them to fall to their deaths. Grayson stayed at the circus with their bodies until he was approached by Bruce Wayne who would go on to adopt him. He was then trained to become the vigilante, Robin, the sidekick of Batman.

During his years of training, he was once placed in a cottage by himself and was chased by a wolf. Eventually, Grayson overcame his fear and killed the wolf.

At some point in his adulthood, Grayson became a detective for the Gotham City Police Department before becoming disillusioned with Batman and leaving Gotham City for Detroit in 2017, transferring to the Detroit Police Department in the process.

Time in Detroit
"After I left, when I moved to Detroit, part of me was still back here...still trying to make sense about what happened to me, as a kid. I struggled. There was this darkness inside of me, and I didn't know what to do with it. It hurt me. And I hurt others. The whole time, I thought it was because of the way you raised me, the way you weaponized my childhood."

- Dick Grayson to Bruce Wayne

In 2018, Grayson began to investigate Tyler Hackett who had previously been arrested by the Detroit Police Department for sexually abusing his daughter but had been released. He drove to an alleyway that Tyler was known to sell drugs at, but he wasn't there, so he went back to police headquarters where he met his new partner, Amy Rohrbach. Later that night, he returned to the alleyway where he interrupted Tyler in the middle of a drug deal and proceeded to beat up him and the others severely before threatening Tyler that he would find him if he ever touched his kid again.

Grayson then returned to his home the next morning where he cleaned the blood from his suit and weapons before getting dressed and going to work. He arrived back at police headquarters and walked into a meeting where the police captain was addressing the department on how to deal with Robin being in the city as his actions the night prior were caught on surveillance cameras.

Later in the evening, Grayson approached Amy to ask if there was any news on the Robin case before being interrupted by an officer who asked him to deal with a kid who had been arrested for vandalizing a police car. Grayson entered the interrogation room and introduced himself to Rachel who immediately recognized him as the boy for her visions of Haly's Circus which caused Grayson to be taken aback, assuming that this was some sort of practical joke. Rachel then explained to him how her mother was recently murdered before Grayson asked for her name and address. After writing the information down, Rachel began to talk more about her mother and placed her hand on Grayson's which caused them both to have a vision of the night his parents were murdered. Grayson then left the room and called Officer Jones at the Traverse City Police Department to ask if he could check out the address but was interrupted by a news report where the presenter read out a statement from the mayor which told Robin to leave the city. He then went outside to think about what to do and as he was heading back in, he was approached by Amy who asked about what happened to his partner in Gotham, with him responding that he left because he was becoming too much like him.

He then went back inside where he was called back by Officer Jones who verified what Rachel told him, so he went back to the interrogation room only to find that she wasn't there. He looked around for her and went outside where he saw Rachel unconscious in the back of a police car that was driving away, so he followed it and arrived at a building where she was being held captive by The Acolyte. Once inside, Grayson found an individual who was impersonating Officer Jones who he knocked out before shouting for Rachel and hearing her scream back for help. He made his way to the room where she was being held and was almost stabbed by The Acolyte who was hiding behind the door with a knife, but Rachel closed it with her powers at the last minute, with her projected form then forcing itself down his throat which caused him to vomit blood and die. He then untied her and asked her what happened with Rachel responding that she didn't know.

Grayson then took Rachel to a garage where his car was being stored, and they drove off to somewhere that she would be safe.

Abilities

 * Genius-level Intellect: Upon Bruce Wayne's training, Grayson possesses an advanced intellect and able to outsmart his opponents easily.
 * Investigation: Grayson was trained by Bruce Wayne and also worked as a police officer, giving him the skills and experience required for investigation.
 * Leadership: Grayson is the leader of the Titans and was able to command his team towards victory in battles.
 * Marksmanship: As a police officer, Grayson was trained with standard firearms.
 * Peak of Human Physical Condition: Since he was a kid, Grayson became an acrobat alongside his parents and was shown to fight at human's peak performance.
 * Acrobatics: Grayson was a member of Flying Graysons, an acrobatic performance consisting of the Grayson family.
 * Hand-to-Hand Combat: Trained by Bruce Wayne, Grayson is familiar and proficient in countless forms of combats.
 * Stick Fighting: Grayson used a bo-staff as his weapon of choice while operating as Robin, he later used a pair of Escrima Sticks when he rebranded as Nightwing.
 * Knife Fighting: Grayson has the ability to throw knives accurately at his enemies.
 * Swordsmanship: Grayson trained the Titans with swords.

Current Equipment

 * Birdcomputer: An advanced device, the Birdcomputer is Grayson's method to access the internet and the Wayne database to assist his crusade in protecting Rachel Roth.
 * Nightwing Suit: Grayson wears a blue and black protective suit created by Stu when operating as Nightwing.
 * Escrima Sticks: The Escrima Sticks are Grayson's weapon of choice as Nightwing, with the pair of weapons wired with tasers to increase damage.
 * Smoke Bombs: Grayson occasionally uses a series of smoke bombs to temporarily blind his enemies while he arrived and defeat them within seconds.
 * Wingdings: Similar to the Birdarangs, the Wingdings are a series of projectiles used by Grayson as Nightwing.
 * Grappling Gun: Grayson used a grappling gun to apprehend his enemies.

Former Equipment

 * Briefcase: Grayson's Robin Suit is placed in an advanced briefcase.
 * Robin Suit: As Batman's sidekick Robin, Grayson wears a red and green protective suit.
 * Utility Belt: The Robin Suit consists of a utility belt that holds Grayson's gadgets.
 * Bo-Staff: Grayson used a bo-staff as his weapon of choice.
 * Grappling Gun: In order to travel from building to building, Grayson possesses a grappling gun to latch onto buildings.
 * Birdarangs: The Birdarangs are Grayson's projectile weapon of choice, with the weapon usually placed on the chest-piece of the suit as an emblem.
 * Smoke Bombs: Grayson occasionally uses a series of smoke bombs to temporarily blind his enemies while he arrived and defeat them within seconds.
 * Car: Grayson used to drive a silver vehicle in Detroit.