Originally Posted by
Endsong
Okay, so, yes I think that Stephanie's tenure as Robin officially counts as her being a Robin, or "one of the boys" so to speak.
I see people making the argument that she was always intended to die, and that's true, but another thing I don't think people are taking into account is the fact that literally everyone involved in War Games was fighting to change the outcome of this, but editorial at the time was so against Chuck Dixon and the majority of his creations and/or work. So while it was edict that Steph was slated to die, the writers wanted Stephanie to survive and for her to be Robin and to make Robin her own mantle. I think it was Devin Grayson that said that she thought it was more than time for DC to include a female Robin among them, and that Steph was perfect for the role or something to that effect?
The other point I see people making is that Stephanie's role as Robin never exactly defined her character. That's also wrong. Her entire drive as Spoiler when she was brought back had to do with what happened when she was Robin - she wanted to prove to Bruce, and to Tim, and to everyone that she was good at this and that what happened to her as Robin, or rather right after she got fired, was a fluke. And she was right, because it was more Bruce's fault than it was her own when it comes down to it. That didn't stop when Stephanie became Batgirl. The majority of her run was defined by the fact that she still wanted to prove herself, and it was even lampshaded. Her mentor was the original Batgirl, present Oracle, Barbara Gordon. That's a woman who used "her" autopsy photos to talk the "last girl who wanted to be Batgirl" (Misfit) out of doing it. Stephanie had to prove to Babs and to Dick and to Damian that she was ready for this because of what happened to her in War Games.
The only people that believed in Stephanie when she became Batgirl were Bruce and Cassandra, and even then, Stephanie didn't know that about Bruce. She knew that Cassandra left Batgirl to her, but she didn't know why for the majority of her tenure. She had to prove herself to everyone that was important, and that was specifically because of what happened to her during War Games. She did everything she did in War Games because of what happened when she was Robin, and the only reason it didn't work is because Bruce didn't share any of his contingencies with her - and let's be honest, he continues to NOT share all of his plans with his Robin's to this day. As it is right now Damian is doing better on his own arguably than he ever did with Bruce.
So, yes, I do think that Stephanie should be considered a Robin, for two out of the three reasons that the other Robin's are - and arguably, a fourth reason that one of the other Robin's doesn't share, and that's that she actually graduated out of her role as Robin, something that Tim never did. The best he's been written in the last six years has been as a return to being Robin, even without the name. Stephanie, both as Batgirl and as Spoiler, has made both of those identities her own much like Dick did Nightwing and Jason did Red Hood. Damian hasn't gotten the opportunity yet, but he reinvented Robin for himself in a way that the others never had so he certainly would have no issue "graduating," so to speak.