While Bruce Wayne is a powerful human being and Gotham’s only true defender when he is the Caped Crusader, Batman, he is nothing when not balanced by his Robin. The very first Robin that he takes on is Dick Grayson. Much like Bruce himself, Dick saw his parents killed, and became determined to avenge them in their absence. However, their personalities and approaches to life are fundamentally different.

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While Bruce does raise Dick from childhood, Dick surpasses Bruce in many ways when he grows into an adult. Some could argue that Dick is a better superhero, a kinder man, and a smarter detective than Bruce ever was. This is the hope of all parents, of course, though it may be a tough pill for Bruce to swallow.

10 Succeeding In The Gauntlet

dick grayson as robin in young justice

When Bruce Wayne first decides to take Dick on as Robin, he insists that Dick be able to pass a series of tests. He wants Dick to have as many skills as Bruce himself does, but Dick is a child and has a smaller amount of time to learn all these things. At the end of all this training—which includes a great deal of training in detective skills—Dick has to pass “The Gauntlet,” in which he has to elude Batman all night for one night, taking on Gotham and Batman himself simultaneously.

He had to maintain this from sunrise to sunset. Not only does Dick accomplish this, but he does it while finding Joe Minette, one of Gotham's underbelly’s gangsters, and bringing him to justice at the same time.

9 Uses His Mind Instead Of Torture Techniques

dick grayson as robin in titans

Throughout Dick’s and Bruce’s lives, there are constantly at odds. Dick’s difficult upbringing at Bruce’s hands causes problems for them, but they also often butt heads, as they have very strong differing opinions on how to be heroes. When Dick started growing up, he and Bruce disagreed on their methods.

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One of the things Dick disagrees with Bruce over is Bruce’s use of torture. Whereas Bruce sees this as a valid method of detective work and crime-fighting, Dick doesn’t enjoy employing the use of torture. Instead, Dick prefers to use purely his own skills to interrogate or solve problems as needed.

8 Truly Assessing The Value Of Himself As A Hero

dick grayson as nightwing in year one

Some say that Bruce Wayne is the true alter ego, and that Batman is the real man. It’s true that Bruce Wayne seems to be happiest when he’s Batman, and it’s almost impossible for him to leave the role of Batman. When he does, he almost always comes back. However, Dick Grayson is willing to intelligently and analytically examine himself and his role as a hero.

When he’s looking deep within himself, he goes to Clark Kent, also known as Superman, and is told the story of a Kryptonian hero he once knew of who went by the name of Nightwing. Dick sees himself reflected in the story, and in his own honest analysis of himself, he chooses to transition from Robin into the hero Nightwing.

7 Finds Out About Tony Zucco Against Bruce’s Best Efforts

tony zucco from dc comics

Bruce Wayne becomes consumed with the need to get revenge for his parents against their murderer. Because of his own choices, he chooses to conceal from Dick that the man who killed his parents, Tony Zucco, was still alive. Instead, he told Dick the man had died.

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Despite Bruce Wayne’s best efforts, though, Dick Grayson finds out that Tony Zucco is still alive, and decides to make his own choice on what to do about it. However, because Bruce Wayne denied Dick all the time Tony was alive in prison, Dick can’t get closure after Tony is immediately gunned down when he leaves prison.

6 Knowing When To Move On

dick grayson as nightwing in future state

Much like Dick knowing when it is time to eschew normal life and continue life as a hero, thus becoming Nightwing, he always knows when it’s time to move on. He moved on from being Robin when he knew his time was done. Similarly, he knew when it was time for Tim Drake to become Robin. Even when Tim sought Dick out and begged him to become Robin again, Dick reminded him that his time as Robin was over.

Later on, when Bruce Wayne stops being Batman and the other DC characters are urging Dick to become Batman, he knows then, too, that this is not the right move for him. He is not quite ready to be Batman, he believes, and he knows himself well enough not to try when he’s not ready.

5 Stopping Jean Paul Valley

Nightwing feature 1

In a shocking move for readers and in-universe characters alike, Bruce Wayne was almost killed by Bane, who broke the Bat’s back and stopped him from doing what he loves most: being Batman. When it falls to Bruce to then choose his successor as the Dark Knight, he doesn’t choose Dick. Instead, he chooses Jean Paul Valley. He trusts Tim Drake as Robin to guide Jean Paul Valley, but this new Batman is far too unstable and ends up going too far.

It falls to Dick to be the one who stops him, thus proving he is even smarter about the role of Batman than its originator, Bruce Wayne. He even gets Tim to help him and convinces both Batman and Catwoman to join their little team to take down Jean Paul Valley.

4 Finally Ending Two-Face’s Reign Of Terror

two-face in the dc comics

A consistent problem Bruce Wayne has as Batman is that he confronts the same villains over and over again. He’s unwilling to ever actually get to the root of his problems or completely stop villains. Instead, Batman typically just imprisons his villains over and over again.

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When Dick Grayson briefly takes over as Batman, though, he’s able to stop villains in a way Bruce Wayne never could as Batman. Much like how Dick proved himself twice over his first night out in the Gauntlet, Dick as Batman was able to work twofold: he stopped Harvey Dent once and for all.

3 Treated Robin Well

batman and robin standing together against a yellow backdrop

When Dick Grayson was Robin, he struggles with both his role as a hero and his position as Bruce Wayne’s ward. Functionally, he is Bruce’s son and his sidekick, and this is difficult to balance for the both of them. Dick doesn’t really get the treatment he deserves in either role, but he knows better when he is Batman. He knows that it’s smarter to care for Robin and get close, working within his limits while not pushing him to be more or older than they are.

While Bruce tells Dick he didn’t choose him to be Batman because he wasn’t ready, Dick proves how ready he is when he proves he’s smarter than Bruce when it comes to the treatment of Robin. Batman can’t function without Robin — and Dick knows this better than anybody.

2 Cares For Damian Wayne As Needed

dick-grayson-relationship-with-damian

One of Bruce Wayne’s greatest failings is his treatment of Damian Wayne, his own son. While he fails with all of his Robins in different ways—and Jason Todd most famously, as he dies at the hands of the Joker—Damian Wayne is Bruce’s biological son, and Bruce pushes him away most of all. It shows an understanding of all of his somewhat-siblings, including Tim Drake, as well, when Dick chooses Damian to be his Robin.

While it shocked them that he chose finally to be Batman at all, it surprised them even more that he chose Damian as Robin, but this was proven to be the right choice. With the correct treatment and pairing up with Dick, Damian flourishes and thrives as the hero Robin, finally fitting in where he belongs most.

1 Creating A New Batman

Batman Dick Grayson Prodigal

When Dick Grayson becomes Batman, he doesn’t just assume the role that Bruce Wayne left behind. He becomes his own version of Batman. Dick creates his own edition of the Batsuit, he adopts his own style of fighting, and he abandons Bruce’s design of the Batcave. While Bruce Wayne was stuck in the past—displaying items like Jason Todd’s old suit and his memorial to his dead son—Dick wants to move into the future. He keeps Bruce’s original cowl, but nothing else.

The smartest move he ever made was leaving Bruce’s Bat in the past and becoming his own Batman moving forward into the future.

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