Originally Posted by
Badou
I don't believe they have ever dated, and it is just implied that Zatanna has strong feelings for Bruce where they now have some background together when they were younger based off the BTAS. I believe that Paul Dini is the one that wrote in the idea of the two having some romantic chemistry and I remember him really not like hearing that Zatanna was changed to be with Dick in the YJ show. I enjoyed Dick and Zatanna's romance in the YJ show, but I can't ever seeing that working in the DCU. Since Zatanna is a contemporary of Bruce's and any writer that could write a story with her and Dick would rather just use Bruce since their bond is already established and Batman is the biggest character in comics.
And it isn't about it just being a close friend and family member. It is a bit more complicated and situational. Clark doesn't have romantic feelings for Kara, so I don't know if that works. I don't think Clark would like Bruce dating Lois, Bruce wouldn't like Dick dating Selina, and Tim wouldn't like Dick dating Stephanie. Romances that are cross generations or with very close friends/family members dating their exs is where it gets questionable. You wouldn't want your best friend or brother dating your ex-wife. It is situations similar to that where people feel weird about it. Those are the kind of romances that are designed to be gross/uncomfortable from the start. The X-Men are littered with romances like that. Like Alex Summers hooking up with Scott's ex-wife, Madelyne Pryor, comes to mind.
Here is a good example. I'm not really a fan of Dick and Starfire's relationship. So lets say they wanted to give Starfire a new love interest with an established character. Bruce, Jason or Tim feel weird because of their close nearly familial relationship to Dick. It is the same reason why them with Babs always feels gross. Wally would be a bit weird too because he is supposed to be Dick's best friend, so he shouldn't cross that line either. Then you have Cyborg, who I think would be a great option for Starfire. He is friends with Dick but they aren't super close, and he also has an independent friendship with Starfire and they are old teammates. So it is a situation where a friend dating a friend's ex doesn't feel wrong, imo.
That isn't exactly true. In Lobdell's mind they both had some sort of falling out with Dick when he started the New 52 series. He didn't think they should be on good terms with him, since maybe he wanted to prop up Jason as Dick's replacement, but Lobdell is quoted in interviews saying something along the lines of how it doesn't make sense to him to be close or friends with your ex. So he set up undertones that their hook up was in part due to their poor relationship with Dick. Then because Lobdell's take on Starfire was so universally panned he scrapped whatever plans he had and then wrote Roy and Starfire as some couple super in love, which wasn't that great either in my opinion.
Now I'm not a big fan of Dick and Starfire's relationship. So I'm not saying any of this because I felt offended that Starfire was with someone else other than Dick. I just thought how Lobdell wrote their relationship was bad, especially early on where it even felt a little gross. Maybe if Lobdell had taken his time to set up their relationship more instead of having them hop into bed in such a questionable way one issue in it wouldn't have been received so poorly, but who knows. All that was 9 years ago at this point.