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Robin
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Having used his wits to find out the secret identity of Batman, Tim Drake jumped at the chance to assist the hero in any way imaginable. The loss of Jason Todd gave him that chance. After the grueling task of convincing Batman, Tim was allowed to take up the mantle of Robin. Having been so for a while now, Tim has established himself, becoming quite comfortable in his role as Batman's partner. He has even begun branching out into solo work, outside of Gotham.
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Background
Edit
Robin was born when Batman first decided he could use a partner and that Dick Grayson might benefit from the chance to be his sidekick. Since then, the mantle of the 'Boy Wonder' has been passed on to two others. First, it passed to Jason Todd, who was apparently killed at the hands of the Joker. Next, it would pass to Timothy Drake.
Tim was born to wealthy parents in Gotham City. His childhood was fairly normal, save that his family was rich, and he was basically a happy, well-adjusted kid. Being of exceptional intelligence, he always did well in school, and kept busy with both athletic pursuits and learning about computers from an early age. Given a computer as a child, he spent a lot of time as a boy dedicating his time to becoming an accomplished hacker. However, unlike many others in that field, he never damaged anything, never left a calling card. Tim was interested only in knowing that he could meet the challenge of it, he never wanted to make any trouble. He was also rather young when he found what would become his greatest 'idle' pastime: following the exploits of the Batman.
When he first heard of Batman, it was as an urban legend. But as he carefully observed news reports and such, he began to piece together information on the Bat... and eventually on his sidekick, Robin, as well. He even managed to figure out that Robin was Dick Grayson, since he had seen the Flying Graysons perform as a child, and in a rare bit of news footage, Robin was seen performing a stunt that only Dick Grayson could possibly execute. Once Batman's sidekick was unmasked in Tim's mind, it was easy to surmise that Bruce Wayne, Grayson's guardian, was the Batman. Tim might never have acted on this knowledge, had his family not been broken by a criminal attack.
Jack Drake, Tim's father, was a wealthy and influential businessman. An organized criminal group targeted him and his wife for a kidnapping and ransom plot, taking them away to South America. Tim did the only thing he could think of, he went to Bruce Wayne for help. Confronted with a boy who had discovered his secret, Wayne agreed to find Tim's parents if Tim swore to keep silent about his and Dick's identities. Tim of course agreed, having never intended to tell anyone anyway. Robin--Jason, by this time--was forbidden to accompany him, but Batman left on the trail of the Drakes.
Sadly, even as Tim was asking for Bruce's help, things had gone awry with the kidnappers and their victims. Drake's company refused to pay the money, and Janet Drake was accidentally killed by a hot-headed terrorist. Thanks to Batman's intervention, Jack Drake survived, but he was badly injured in the confrontation and left comatose. His wealth was more than enough to keep the bills paid and Tim taken care of, even arranging for him to live by himself under occasional supervision from his father's lawyer and a promise from neighbor Bruce Wayne that the boy would be looked after.
Tim never blamed Batman, of course, for what happened to his parents. He knew that the criminals were to blame, and he found himself settling into a deep depression. However, about this time, Jason Todd was (to all appearances) killed in the line of duty as Robin. Tim watched the news as Batman went down a darker and darker path, and finally sought out Dick Grayson to urge him to return to his role as Robin. Dick had come into his own as Nightwing by now and was not interested in returning to the role of junior partner, but Dick saw potential in Tim and conspired with Alfred to make Tim the new Robin. Nightwing began Tim's training himself, getting him started for those first few months so he could impress Bruce by his readiness to become Robin. Alfred was there at every step, supervising things and making his own preparations.
Bruce was against the idea at first, of course. Tim was never quite sure what kind of terms Dick and Bruce had parted on, since it was a private matter and neither of them would speak much of it, but Tim might never have been given a chance had it not been for Alfred. The faithful butler saw something in Timothy Drake, a potential which he knew would make him able to help Bruce. What Alfred said to convince Bruce is known only to them, but soon enough Tim found himself going through a training regimen that made boot camp look like a nice vacation. He lost all track of time, barely managing to keep up in school and spending every spare minute in training, and months passed. Finally, one fateful night, Bruce presented Tim with the newly recreated Robin costume and let him wear the mask for the first time. Robin was born again.
Even after Tim was accepted into the role of Robin, he was put through endless training. Before being formally allowed to take up the mantle, though, Bruce sent him abroad to study in Paris for several months with Rahul Lama, master martial artist. This turned out to be a great deal more than Tim had bargained for, however, as he ended up taking part in breaking up a major ring of criminal activity and gaining the attention of the infamous Lady Shiva. Shiva was impressed with Tim's skills, and she offered to teach him combat, as well as proficiency with any weapon of his choice. She was less pleased with his choice of the non-lethal bo staff, but Shiva kept her word and furthered Timothy's training. By the time Robin returned to Gotham, he was ready for the role. At this time, Jack Drake was still in a coma.
In the course of his time as Robin, Tim came into contact with other teen heroes and founded the group Young Justice, even becoming the group's unofficial leader of sorts. After about a year of experience, though, Robin felt his skills were lacking. He convinced Bruce to send him abroad again, and so Tim embarked on a journey not unlike that which his mentor had undertaken years before, visiting various masters and learning all the secrets they were willing to teach. His skills grew, his mind developed, and Tim became much more the seasoned partner whom Batman needed, not merely a sidekick who would need looking after. Things seemed to have stabilized well enough... until Jack Drake awakened from his coma.
Jack Drake returned to Tim's life with a vengeance within just a few weeks of coming out of the coma. He wanted to be closer to his son, began questioning Tim's late hours and imposing stricter and stricter limitations on where his son was allowed to go and what he was allowed to do. Jack also began making inquiries into criminals who had connections to those who had kidnapped him and killed his wife, putting up large rewards for information and beginning to make quite a nuisance for himself in the world of organized crime. The greatest discovery Jack made, though, was quite accidental -- he discovered the secret tunnel connecting with the Wayne property and caught Tim changing out of his Robin uniform. Jack was furious, and in the end he sent Tim away to a boarding school, Brentwood Academy, to try to put an end to Tim's "wild ways."
Tim would not quit, though, and with a bit of help from Alfred he established a new base of operations from the boarding school. This did not last all that long, though. During Tim's first holiday back from school, a hired killer broke into the Drake Estate. Jack had ruffled the wrong feathers. Jack tried to protect Tim, managing to kill the assassin, but not before he was himself fatally wounded. Before he died, Jack told his son that he was proud of him. Then, Tim watched his father die. Batman arrived, having been signaled by Tim only too late, and was only able to comfort the stricken teen.
Robin vanished from active duty for some months after this, and Tim ended up moving in with Bruce, officially becoming his ward. Now, having recently celebrated his seventeenth birthday, Tim has prepared himself to once again resume the role of Robin.
PersonalityEdit
Robin, the third of them. He can be classified in any number of ways: his drive, determination, or intelligence; his devotion to the mission he learned from Batman, his conflict between duty and normalcy, or even just the simple question of who he really is; in the end, his humanity, his emotions, his underlying purpose for everything. There is no easy way to define Robin, or even Tim Drake -- or, for that matter, most sentient beings -- but the following will be an attempt at an overview of this youth who walks in among gods and skulks in the Shadow of the Bat.
Tim is generally an introverted person, though he is also concerned with the world around him. As such, his demeanor is very introverted but his perceptions are as often focused on the external world as on his inner thoughts. He strives to keep his feelings to himself and expresses only what he feels is useful, trying to follow the example set by Batman. He uses his intuition readily, though he prefers verifiable fact to gut instinct. Tim, especially as Robin, prefers to have things carefully planned out in advance. He can think quite well on his feet, but he generally prefers to have a plan and stick to it rather than just making things up as he goes along.
He is motivated by a strong drive to make the world a better place, much like Batman, but Tim also focuses a great deal of his energy on helping the people close to him. His sense of responsibility is far more complex than those who do what they do because of the powers they have, not even the same as those who have trained themselves or lack powers. Instead, Robin is responsible because he has claimed a portion of the responsibility Batman feels for the world. He also strives to be responsible for keeping Batman balanced, reminding Bruce of his humanity. As much as he may try to close away his feelings much of the time, his mission is a deeply personal one.
As much as it contrasts with the example Batman seems to try to set, Robin needs people. Bruce, Dick, Alfred, the members of Young Justice... they all complete a part of Tim's identity, reinforce his world in necessary ways. Love... is something he longs for, despite trying to follow Bruce's example of keeping emotional distance. He's been in relationships during his time as Robin, and the major obstacle is finding someone who would be able to accept all aspects of his life. Friendship is treasured in a deep, quiet way that Tim seldom gives voice. Tim would do anything he had to for the sake of his friends' well-being.
Robin does his best to put forward the demeanor of a grim, all-business operator. In this masked guise, he wears emotions as they are useful to him, hardly ever showing genuine feeling. Usually, he just avoids showing many at all, though when he needs to, he can do his own rather convincing version of Batman's style of intimidation. The counterbalance to this is that when shows his true feelings they are all that much more significant.
He also adheres to the same strict moral code as Batman, one that never allows him to put innocent people in danger and never allows him to kill. His sense of duty fuels this, but it runs deeper than that. This is a personal code he lives by, though it is not so simple as mere rules. He has a subjective view of what is right, but he always does his best to follow that belief. Part of this is a deep, unswerving loyalty to those who can call Robin friend, and a strong dedication to his ideals.
PowersEdit
AcrobaticsEdit
Gymnastics and other related sports had been Tim's hobby for years, and the intense training he received from Dick and Bruce was enough to take his amateurish skills and make them advanced. Trained by both Batman himself and Dick Grayson who's one of the world's greatest acrobats, Tim is now quite an advanced expert on his own.
DetectiveEdit
Natural intelligence and an analytical mind make Tim a perfect candidate for detective work. Spending years poking around where he wasn't supposed to be -- mostly online, but a bit in person as well -- have given him a good basis for learning as well. Batman, the world's greatest detective, has done the rest. Tim is now a very talented detective in his own right, even if he's nowhere near Batman's league yet. From classic deduction to CSI techniques, there are few details that Tim will miss.
Martial ArtsEdit
Tim began training in martial arts years ago, when he first began to take an interest in the urban legend of the Batman. The idea of a single person making such a difference in the world inspired Tim, and so he undertook martial arts as a hobby. Batman took the meager skills he learned in self-defense class and took them to levels Tim had never imagined. Tim is now capable of holding his own against almost any opponent in unarmed combat, except for against those of the very highest level of training.
EquipmentEdit
Robin employs a wide variety of weapons, equipment, and even vehicles, largely inspired by Batman's own. The array is quite extensive, including his protective Costume, Aerosol Sprays, Portable Crime Lab, Tracers, Utility Belt (Digital Microcamera, First Aid Kit, Pellets, Handcuffs, Jumplines, Laser Torch, Palmtop Computer, Rebreather, Grapnel Gun, Universal Tool), Baratangs, Bolas, Caltrops, Grenades, Slingshot, Staff, Tranqdarts, and vehicles (The Redbird, The Redwing, Robin's Batcycle).
