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Most of Dick Grayson's incarnations characterize him as an honest person. Every now and again, though, he keeps secrets that have huge consequences in his life and others'. Conversely, sometimes, secrets really are necessary to keep his loved ones safe. For example, whenever Nightwing's secret identity is revealed, chaos ensues.
Meanwhile, sometimes other characters keep bombshells from Nightwing, which seldom ends well, either. After all, the longtime protégé of the World's Greatest Detective has the skills to piece together almost any secret. All in all, Nightwing and his associates have received repeated reminders that honesty is (almost) always the best policy.
10 Melinda Zucco Was Dick Grayson's Sister
Melinda Zucco, the seemingly corrupt mayor of Blüdhaven, kept some important secrets from Nightwing. Not only was she actually working undercover to take down Blockbuster's criminal organizations but she was also secretly Dick Grayson's half-sister. Initially, these revelations seemed like it is a good thing since it meant Nightwing had living biological family fighting for the right.
However, these secrets had negative consequences when they came to light. Blockbuster found out Melinda was working against him and that she and Dick were conspiring together. As a result, the supervillain went further than ever before in his attempts to destroy Grayson's philanthropic efforts.
9 Bruce And Barbara Hide Batgirls' Identity
Things between Nightwing and Batman are already strained in Batman: The Animated Series when Grayson discovers that Wayne has been hiding information about Dick's girlfriend, Barbara Gordon. In the episode "Old Wounds," Barbara approaches Bruce, concerned about Dick's wellbeing, and Wayne not only reveals everyone's secret identities but the fact that he's known Barbara's secret for some time.
Through circumstance, Dick also learns that Barbara is Batgirl. When he confronts her about telling Batman and not him, she explains that Batman already knew her secret identity and withheld it. This is the final straw for Grayson, who cuts off contact with his mentor thereafter.
8 Dick Doesn't Tell Barbara He And Kory Are Engaged Right Away
Nightwing and Oracle's relationship post-Crisis is as complicated as ever. In this continuity, the events of The Killing Joke occurred while Dick was off-world, so he only found out about the attack six months after the Joker shot her.
To make matters worse, Grayson does not tell Babs about his engagement with Kory when he walks through the door. Instead, he sleeps with Barbara and hands her the engagement announcement the morning after. Many fans regard the moment as particularly out-of-character for Grayson, since he hurt Barbara and Kory so deeply all at once.
7 Dr. Haas Is Not Who She Says She Is
When KGBeast shoots Nightwing in the head, leaving him with serious brain damage and memory loss, Dr. Isabella Haas takes over his care. Unfortunately, not only is Haas actually a member of the Court of Owls, she uses a magic talisman to maintain his amnesia and even plant false memories in his mind.
Grayson, going by "Ric," spends months without any memories from the time after his parents' death, and even the Joker manipulates him in his vulnerable state. Fortunately, Batgirl and Bea, Grayson's girlfriend, manage to get ahold of the crystal Haas is using to control Grayson and restore his memories.
6 Blockbuster Finds Out Nightwing's Secret Identity
Nightwing's ongoing conflict with Blockbuster in Blüdhaven heated up when the villain torched Dick Grayson's affordable housing project, Haven. Nightwing arrived on the scene to stop the fire and rescued two children that Desmond was holding as hostages in the library.
Nightwing gives himself up in an effort to save the kids, and Blockbuster not only injured Blüdhaven's Guardian Angel but he unmasked him. A hero's identity may be their most critical secret and a ruthless villain can and will do terrible things with this kind of knowledge.
5 He Doesn't Give The Titans The Whole Story About Jericho's Presumed Death
Dick Grayson does many unlikable things on HBO's Titans and keeping secrets is one of his worst habits. He doesn't tell his original Titans teammates that Jericho died trying to save Dick from Deathstroke. He also does not give the newer generation of Titans the whole backstory about why their predecessors split up in the first place.
When he finally tells everyone the truth, most of his teammates depart from Titans Tower, angrier that he kept his secrets than they'd ever be about the secrets themselves. This isn't the only version of Nightwing who's kept too many secrets but he may be the most egregious of the lot.
4 Mr. Haly's Secret List Leads To Mutiny In The Circus
In his dying breath, Mr. Haly, owner of the circus Nightwing grew up in, tells Grayson that his life depends on a "secret at the heart of the circus." Dick finally deciphers Haly's cryptic message and finds a book filled with names, including his own, concealed in the center of the big top.
Grayson spends several weeks trying to figure out what the book's contents mean. Batman eventually deduces that it's a roster of circus performers meant to be inducted into the Court of Owls, but not before one of Dick's former fellow performers sets the circus on fire. If Haly had been more forthcoming about the list of names, Grayson might have been better prepared for his former friend's arsenous wrath.
3 Raptor Is Secretly Bad News
Nightwing goes undercover to take down the Parliament of Owls in the first few issues of his eponymous Rebirth line and is paired with an agent named Raptor in the process. Though he's less ethical than Nightwing, Raptor also proclaims to be "playing the long game" as a double agent. Batgirl expresses concerns about cooperating with Raptor, but Nightwing continues working alongside his assigned partner.
Raptor eventually reveals he is a double agent, but his allegiance is to Mary Lloyd, Dick's deceased mother. Raptor had been stalking Dick since his childhood, believing Bruce Wayne's privileged world erased Mary's benevolent influence on her son. Raptor even goes so far as to take Bruce hostage to make his point to Grayson.
2 The Crime Syndicate Revealed Nightwing's Secret Identity
In the crossover event Forever Evil, the Justice League's evil doppelgangers in the Crime Syndicate invaded Prime Earth. They kidnapped Nightwing, and Wonder Woman's evil counterpart Superwoman uncovered his identity in a public broadcast.
To make matters even worse, the Syndicate specifically uses all the information they can gather on Dick Grayson to target Earth's heroes. Though they might have captured any number of Justice Leaguers or other superheroes and used their secret identities to track down their respective heroic associates, it's telling that Nightwing's secret identity in particular gives the CSA access to Earth's entire network of champions.
1 Dick Fakes His Own Death
To infiltrate the secret organization Spyral, Dick Grayson faked his own death with Batman's help. Unlike other formerly-deceased heroes, though, Nightwing does not get a warm welcome from his loved ones when he reappears alive and well.
Notably, Dick shows up at Alysia Yeoh's wedding, where Barbara Gordon is busy performing her duties as maid of honor. Though she is happy he is breathing, Babs calls him out for pretending to be dead and then showing up at his convenience. His fellow former Robins are even angrier than Barbara. They both chastise him profusely and Jason even punches Dick for hiding that his "death" was all a ploy to get into Spyral. Given the second Robin's painful death and resurrection, he was definitely the right person to drive this damaging secret's effects home.