why was Dick graduated from Robin to Nightwing?

[Badou]

I don't know with the way things have been with Batman in the passing years. Everyone is in a sense a robin. They would have just kept de-aging him. If we look at other characters throughout the years like Donna or Cassie. Are in adrift. Dick would have only gone so far. Why not turn him into Nightwing? There are limits on Batgirls and other Batam.No more Robins. But Dc would never let that happen. Like you said he limits his character. We have seen this to be true. Wally becoming flash helped his character but now what is he doing? He stops him as a character. He would just be in the same place. . Nightwing became his own man and if he becomes Robin it just becomes a limitation. They wouldn't have changed his relationship with how Batman and Robin have always been. It would be away older until post-crisis. Then what keeps holding him as a character? I mean Tim is just there now.

I like Nightwing, but Dick could have become his own man as Robin too I think. Dick's character will always be tied to Batman in some way regardless if he is Robin or not, but Robin could have evolved over time with Dick's character like Nightwing did. It's just Robin is a bigger brand than Nightwing. So Dick giving that up for Nightwing will always lower his level of influence since Robin is one of the few iconic identities in comics. Plus it is an identity Dick created himself which to me makes it more personal instead of taking it from someone or something else like he did with Nightwing. Which is a name he has very loose ties to these days with him not really being involved much with Superman anymore.

But Dick was also very lucky the Nightwing name stuck. I don't want to discount that. Since many times when a character loses an iconic identity they struggle to find a new one. Donna has been suffering from that for a long time. Going from Wonder Girl, Darkstar, or Troia. It's the same as Tim now going from Robin, Red Robin, and recently Drake. It's always a gamble when it comes to these name changes. Dick could have very easily fallen into that problem.

Also Robin is very unique in its name for a sidekick. Since it's name is completely independent and also doesn't have age restrictions on it. It isn't like Batgirl, Kid Flash, Superboy, Aqualad, and so on where the names limit the character from growing older or growing independent from their mentor. Plus Robin doesn't wear a Batman symbol, unlike most of the Batman family, and instead has his own R symbol. It all wasn't planned out when they created him, but Robin ended up being a very well designed identity, imo. The only issue is that they didn't give him pants sooner, lol.

[Drako]

It's only a limit because of the way things have panned out.

Had Dick always been Robin and grew with that ICONIC identity, he'd have been fine. "Robin" is his identity, not an internship to graduate from.

His costume would have been updated over the years, maybe to something even similar to the Nightwing design. He'd be his own man as Robin.

in the same interview i posted, Wolfman said that not only DC wanted Robin back with Batman, but also wanted to make him younger again.

So i don't think his natural age progression would have happened like it did with Nightwing.
Not long after he became Nightwing, we had the Crisis, so who know what would have happened with him, maybe they would start all over again with him as a kid.

[AmiMizuno]

Both Dick and Jason got a lot more out of moving away from Robin than if they would have stayed Robin. I kind of hope that happens with Tim. I mean Steph found her own thing. I feel like the Nightwing brand would be bigger if they would have worked on his rogue gallery more. And see how important he is to Gotham and Bludhaven

[Konja7]

It's only a limit because of the way things have panned out.

Had Dick always been Robin and grew with that ICONIC identity, he'd have been fine. "Robin" is his identity, not an internship to graduate from.

His costume would have been updated over the years, maybe to something even similar to the Nightwing design. He'd be his own man as Robin.

The point is they want Dick as Robin to be de-aged. So, they don't want him to be independent at that time.

The only opportunity of Dick to be really independent was as Nightwing in New Teen Titans. Unfortunately, the popularity of New Teen Titans didn't last.

It is pretty likely Dick as Robin will get a solo in the 90s, since they want Robin to be more independent at that time, but he will still be connected to Batman.

That said, currently, Dick as Nightwing is still extremely connected to Batman and de-aged.


So, the main difference is that Dick as Robin will have an iconic identity, but he will likely be mantained in his teens.

[Flash Gordon]

Sure, they might have de-aged him at the time- but that's a long time ago. He would have continued on under various other editorial and authorial pens.

I'm not even really against him being de-aged at that time, since the reboot was upcoming. I'm sure Dick would have gotten a ROBIN title to grow under.

[Flash Gordon]

This is sort of my feelings as well. Although while maybe it limited Dick's character in the long run characters like Tim and eventually Jason benefited greatly from it. So as a Grayson fan I might be a little disappointed in it, but I think DC is happy with how things eventually turned out.

But it does feel like we have hit that breaking point of oversaturation of Robins or Robin-like characters in the Batman franchise, haha.

Totally. We're at the point now where Batman has a legion of children following him around, which doesn't fit the mythology of the character.

[AmiMizuno]

Maybe they should have really just have Dick been the only Nightwing and Jason and the others could have been Robins under Nightwing?

[WonderNight]

Or maybe DC could actually try to have nightwing be independent for once. Let him have he's own mythos.

[Riv86672]

Or maybe DC could actually try to have nightwing be independent for once. Let him have he's own mythos.

That’s when he was/is most interesting.

[CTTT]

Yeah I really like Dick as Nightwing but he would have been better suited as Robin. De age him, fine. But at least let him have solo adventures as Robin.

[Godlike13]

DC has two Robins right now, basically anyway, and their not doing any better with them.

[Restingvoice]

Totally. We're at the point now where Batman has a legion of children following him around, which doesn't fit the mythology of the character.

What mythology? DC, WB, and the writers decide the mythology. If they write him as a collector of children then that's his mythology.

[Flash Gordon]

What mythology? DC, WB, and the writers decide the mythology. If they write him as a collector of children then that's his mythology.

That isn't his mythology. His mythology is that of a gritty Dark Knight which doesn't mesh with the parade of kids.

You seriously think "Batman mythology" and think of the collection of child Robins? Most writers try to ignore them. The general public knows "Robin" but not that there's a slew of them.

[Frontier]

I think keeping Dick as Robin would have been far too limiting and problematic for his character in the long run in my opinion.

That isn't his mythology. His mythology is that of a gritty Dark Knight which doesn't mesh with the parade of kids.

You seriously think "Batman mythology" and think of the collection of child Robins? Most writers try to ignore them. The general public knows "Robin" but not that there's a slew of them.

By that logic Robin as is should never have happened to begin with because a kid sidekick in a bright costume doesn't make sense partnering with a gritty dark knight, even if the contrast is the point.

And most of the Robins grow out of the identity by the time there's a new Robin so it's not just a bunch of kids together at one time, with maybe one or two Batgirls but Babs is almost always an adult.

Unless we're talking about the We Are Robin movement...

[Restingvoice]

That isn't his mythology. His mythology is that of a gritty Dark Knight which doesn't mesh with the parade of kids.

You seriously think "Batman mythology" and think of the collection of child Robins? Most writers try to ignore them. The general public knows "Robin" but not that there's a slew of them.

True, but that's like saying that the movies and cartoons are more true to Batman mythology when the story is based on comics... so what kind of thinking are we going for here? That the adaptation is real mythology but not the original?