Two Robins, both alike in dignity, in fair Gotham, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. Though Tim Drake and Jason Todd have both donned the mantle of Robin, sidekick to the dark knight himself, there are, perhaps, no two Robins so fiercely different than Tim and Jason. Tim is, perhaps, the Robin most similar to Bruce himself.
He’s fiercely intelligent, patient, highly-trained and always, absolutely always, prepared for business. Jason, though just as fierce and physically capable as Batman himself, is the only Robin that has really struck out on his own and found his own path outside of Batman and his code. But which of these young men was the superior Robin? And which became the better hero?
10 Best Death - Jason
Though comics characters have time and time again managed to overcome something as small as death, there is perhaps no greater example than Jason Todd himself. While fans may have voted to end the life of Jason, even that couldn’t keep the would-be anti-hero down for the count.
After his revival at the hands of Ra’s al Ghul and the Lazarus pit, Jason would come back a better version of the boy he once was. Jason would grow into not only one of the greatest martial artists in the DC landscape, capable of simultaneously fighting both Batman and Night to a standstill, but also an incredibly lethal opponent.
9 Tim “The Detective” Drake - Tim
Though Jason spent a not-insignificant amount of time training with Ra’s al Ghul and the League of Assassins after his death and subsequent resurrection, it’s possible that he hasn’t quite earned the respect that Tim has.
While “Detective” is a title that Ra’s typically reserves for Batman himself, after spending time with Tim both in and out of battle, Ra’s saw fit to bestow the once solitary title to Batman’s most intelligent protege, Tim. Though Jason has fought and defeated Ra’s in combat, the elder of the two Robins has never earned that title.
8 Lasting Results - Jason
Though Batman has taught his proteges for a long time that they must never take a life because of the very fine line that separates them from the criminals that they fight against, Jason has taken on a very different approach after his resurrection. Unlike Batman, Jason has come to terms with the fact that sometimes bad people simply need to die.
It’s hard to argue with the points that he makes as well. How many people would have been spared if Batman had just had the will to kill Joker? How many people would have lived to see another day?
7 Master With Tech - Tim
One of Tim’s greatest legs up on the rest of the brothers Robin is the fact that he is just so incredibly skilled. He’s incredibly intelligent and knows exactly how to best use his intelligence for the purposes of crimefighting. One of his most valuable skills is just how incredibly proficient he is in both computer sciences and hacking.
There are very few people in the DC landscape that are as technically savvy as the former Red Robin. While Jason is very capable in many ways, like many of the young people that have donned the mantle of Robin, he’s found wanting when compared to Tim’s technical prowess.
6 More Diverse Training - Jason
While Tim has received training from the like of Batman, Lady Shiva and even Ra’s al Ghul, there are very few people in the DC landscape that have the depth of knowledge in martial arts and marksmanship that Jason has.
After his resurrection, Jason spent time training under Ra’s al Ghul and the League of Assassins, but beyond that, he too has spent time training with Lady Shiva, Bronze Tiger and All Caste. That’s not to mention the expert marksmen that he learned how to kill any target with a variety of guns from.
5 Moral Compass - Tim
Tim has a lot of advantages when going up against someone like Jason, but perhaps one of his greatest (besides his natural intellect) is his moral compass. While Jason has taken a hard right turn in terms of whether killing is okay or not, Tim (with the exception of future Tim) has always followed the standard set out by Bruce.
Though Jason may view this type of crimefighting as a half-measure without any sort of lasting results, it’s an aspect of Tim’s personality that has helped him become a great hero even outside of his relationship to Batman.
4 Bested The Bat - Jason
Throughout the DC landscape, there are very few single opponents that have managed to best the Batman in combat. After his resurrection, however, Jason did just that. Having returned to Gotham after years of training abroad in both martial arts and marksmanship, Jason decided that it was time to teach Batman (and Nightwing for that matter) what it really meant to be a hero.
He systematically began taking control of Gotham’s underground and when Batman and Nightwing came to stop him not only was he able to make his escape, but he fought both of them simultaneously to a standstill. Tim has a lot of skills, but he’s not “fight Batman and Nightwing in a two-on-one fight and walk away” skilled.
3 Intelligent - Tim
Though Tim may not be the type of fighter that can best Batman and Nightwing in two-on-one combat, he is the type of fighter that could likely outthink them. In fact, before Tim ever started working with Batman as his Robin, he was able to deduce the identities of both Bruce and Dick (who was Robin at the time) solely based on an acrobatic stunt Robin used while fighting crime.
He recognized the stunt as one that he had seen while attending the circus when he was younger and immediately knew who was behind the mask. All this at the ripe old age of nine-years-old.
2 Combat Skills - Jason
Though Tim may be one of Batman’s most intelligent proteges, as previously mentioned, he comes nowhere close to Jason when it comes to combat skills. Not only is Jason likely the greatest martial artists in the entire Bat-family (yes, including Batman), but he’s also one of the greatest martial artists in the entirety of the DC landscape.
Having been trained by Batman himself, Ra’s al Ghul and the League of Assassins, Lady Shiva, Bronze Tiger and All Caste, he is also considered the most talented pupil to have ever been trained by them. When it comes to martial arts, Jason is nearly untouchable.
1 Identified Batman (& Many Other Heroes) Himself - Tim
As previously mentioned, at a very young age Tim was not only able to deduce who Batman and Robin were, but since then, he’s also managed to deduce the identities of many other heroes within the DC landscape.
From Superman and The Flash to Huntress and Captian Marvel (Shazam), it seems that secret identities aren’t so much “secret” as they are “not very well hidden” identities when it comes to Tim. Tim’s immense deductive capabilities are yet another testament to Tim’s incredible intellectual prowess.