Character Profiles - Heroes - Robin III/Tim Drake
Real Name: Timothy Drake
Occupation: Crime Fighter; Student
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Jack Drake (father, deceased), Janet Lynn Drake (mother, deceased), Dana Drake (stepmother)
Group Affiliation: Young Justice, Teen Titans
Base of Operations: Bristol Commons, Gotham City
Height: 5'1"
Weight: 115 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
First Appearance, Tim Drake: Batman #436 (August 1989)
First Appearance, Robin: Batman #457 (December 1990)
Created by: Marv Wolfman,
Pat Broderick
Tim Drake was born into a prominent family. His father is the owner of Drake Industries, one of Gotham's most important industries. It used to be a typical family. One day he went to the Haley Circus for the first with his parents. His father, Jack Drake asked a family of trapeze artists (John, Mary and Dick Grayson) to pose for a photograph, while Dick sat Tim on his knee. During the show Tim didn't pay much attention to all the other performances, he was too excited waiting for Dick's. Finally the Flying Graysons appeared, and Tim was amazed at all the acrobatics Dick was performing.
Dick ended his performance with an incredible quadrupel flip in the air. Afterwards, while Dick was going down by one rope, his parents continued the show in the trapeze. Suddenly the trapeze ropes broke, and Dick saw his parents falling to their deaths. Tim saw them too, then saw a dark figure landing near Dick. It was Batman, who investigated all that had happened. Jack and Janet Drake sent the photo taken before the show to Dick (who became Bruce Wayne's ward) and never reminded Tim of it. But Tim had lots of nightmares at nights: in these nightmares Tim saw Dick doing his quadruple hop, and then, John and Mary Grayson falling down and down.
At age nine Tim caught a television new report showing how Robin saved Batman by means of a perfect quadruple flip in the air, adding support to his theory of Batman and Robin's true identities. Since then he collected all the news about Batman and Robin to prove his thesis. When Dick stopped using his Robin costume to become Nightwing, Tim realized there was no Robin. When Bruce Wayne adopted Jason Todd, there was a Robin again. Finally when Jason Todd died, there was no Robin, proving Tim's thesis to be true.
Tim knew Batman had changed. Batman had become more violent and cruel, and sent criminals to the hospital for no reason. Tim realized that the increasingly unhinged and withdrawn Dark Knight needed a new squire to give him hope in the face of hopelessness. Batman needed a new Robin to control his actions.
So Tim went to New York looking for Nightwing. Dick refused to become Robin again, but he aided Tim to become the new Robin. Tim, Alfred Pennyworth (Bruce Wayne's butler) and Nightwing helped Batman to return to the right way. Then Tim convinced Bruce Wayne that Robin was necessary, so finally Bruce agreed to start training Tim. While Bruce was training Tim, Jack and Janet Drake were kidnapped in a charter flight over Haiti by a voodoo magician named Lord Obeah. 10 million dollars were asked for them to Drake Industries. Batman tried to rescue Jack and Janet Drake, but both drank poisoned water that killed Janet and make Jack paralytic. Batman sent Lord Obeah to prison. Now Tim wears a new Robin costume (Batman decided to design a brand new costume for Tim), which has plenty of weapons and micro-instruments. This costume is capable of protecting Tim from bullets.
Batman even designed a vehicle named Redbird, that has as much equipment as his own Batmobile has. Tim not only uses all this equipment but also uses all the detective methods Batman and Nightwing have taught him.
Tim Drake was a cunning detective prior to his even meeting Batman. He was able to deduce that Batman, the previous Robin, and Nightwing were Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd, and Dick Grayson. Years smarter then any normal kid his age. Tim was inspired to study hard by the original Robin, Dick Grayson, in hopes that maybe just one day he could be like him. Tim intelligence can probably only be surpassed by one thing, his athletic ability.
An aspiring athlete, Tim has trained under many different martial arts forms, under the tutelage of Batman, Lady Shiva and many other martial arts masters. An excellent gymnast as well, Tim is certainly more athletic, then any other child his age.
Where acrobatics and martial arts came easy to Dick Grayson, Tim Drake has worked hard to maintain the training necessary to fight along side the Dark Knight, no easy task when combined with Batman's continued reluctance to rely on anyone but himself. But Tim continues to weather the role, often illustrating to his mentor that Batman does indeed need a Robin, whether he cares to admit it or not. And though he prefers the team-work, Robin has learned that there are times when he must fly solo, balancing his life as a crimefighter with the trial and tribulation of a young man still in his teens, but older in mind and spirit than many.
Outgoing, independent, skilled, and smart are all qualities that describe Tim Drake. These are also qualities that make him surpass the previous two Robin's and perhaps make him the best Robin ever.
Though Tim Drake has faced down villains the likes of King Snake, Killer Croc and even the Clown Prince of Crime, The Joker, Tim often wonders if he's truly cut out for the role he fought so long to win.
In the midst of Tim balancing his social life and crime fighting, his father, Jack, discovered the Robin costume stored in his bedroom closet. After his father's confrontation with Bruce Wayne, and a father-to-son discussion in the Batcave, Tim voluntarily resigned as Robin. This made way for his girlfriend and fellow crime fighter Stephanie Brown, known as Spoiler, to take over as the fourth Robin. Stephanie was fired shortly after, and disobeyed Batman's forbidding by returning to her Spoiler alias.
Acknowledging his father's request, Tim Drake decided it was time to adjust to regular teenage life, focusing more on his academics and social role. However, it was not long after resigning his position as Batman's sidekick that Tim had come face-to-face with a city-engulfing threat known as the "War Games". It was during this gang war that Tim helped fellow Gotham High students to saftey from Scarface's thugs, showing that he is a true hero, mask or not.
In awe of the earth-shattering events taking place, Jack Drake had no choice but to let his son reclaim the title of Robin and help Batman take back Gotham. Jack did his part by helping Dr. Leslie Thompkins, becoming more in tune with his son's actions as a vigilante. But soon after the fold of War Games, Tim, along with the rest of the superhero community were trying to keep all of their loved ones safe after some tragic attacks have come down upon the family members of the Justice League.
One night while Batman and Robin are investigating these crimes, they receive an incoming transmission from Oracle (aka Barbara Gordon) saying that Tim's father needs to speak to him immediately. It turns out that there is an intruder in the Drake home and a mysterious note with a gun is left for Jack suggesting that he protect himself (the note also alludes that the attacker knows Jack's son is Robin.)
Jack tells Tim that he is proud of him and that he is not responsible if something bad happens. The intruder turns out to be the hired killer Captain Boomerang. Jack fires as Capt. Boomerang unleashes a razor boomerang and the two kill each other before Batman and Robin can make it back to the scene. Like Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, Tim Drake has now lost both of his parents due to the evils in the world.
After Identity Crisis, Tim is not fond of the idea of becoming Bruce Wayne's ward, so he falsifies records to show that he has an uncle that doesn't exist. He then moves in with his 'Uncle Eddie' in Blüdhaven (Nightwing's previous stomping grounds), whilst his step-mother receives treatment at a psychiatric hospital for the mental stress she is under due to the gruesome murder of her husband Jack. Although Tim covers his tracks well, Bruce is still able to figure out the truth. However, Batman is surprisingly proud of Tim for demonstrating his abilities to create a situation that took some real detective work for him to figure out.
It would seem that all is well between Batman and Robin until The Veteran tries to recruit Robin as a part of his unit. Tim, now concerned with his own mission rather than Batman's mission, took the Veteran's offer under consideration and on occasion went on a mission with his team to get a feel for what the job would be like.
As of the current events surrounding Infinite Crisis, Robin, along with the Veteran's forces, must defend the city of Blüdhaven against an army of OMACs who captured dozens of metahumans for inmediate extermination. After a virus deactivated the cyborgs (See also: The OMAC Project), Tim, the Shadowpact and the Veteran's team accomplished the capture of the metahumans. With Blüdhaven safe, Wonder Girl arrived on the scene asking Robin for aid. Along with the Teen Titans, the Doom Patrol and the Justice Society of America had battled against Superboy-Prime, a teenaged version of Kal-El from a destroyed alternate reality where heroes were nothing more than comic book characters. This Superboy had gone on a violent assault of their world's Superboy (Conner Kent). The result of this fight had over-taxed Conner's body to the point where it began eating away at itself for energy.
Robin had returned to Blüdhaven, assuming that Doctor Mid-Nite and the Titans Med-Bay would save Conner. Unfortunately, this was a false hope and within minutes of his departure, the city was destroyed by The Society. Although he was worried for his stepmother, his fake-uncle, and Nightwing, Tim continued to Titans Tower. He then led a successful assualt into one of Lex Luthor's genetic research bases to find a cure for Superboy. With Blüdhaven still in chaos, Robin was left in command of all the super-hero rescue efforts by Superman, who believed Tim to be more than qualified.
One Year Later:
After spending nearly a year away from home after the events of the Infinite Crisis, Tim is the first to return to Gotham following his trip with Batman and Nightwing. He receives a message from an unknown source telling him that if he does not return to the states, Batgirl, will be killed. Returning to Gotham City and donning a new costume, Tim moves into the Wayne Estate, but in the Carriage House which as been converted into a loft and Robin's new nest, as opposed to the Manor proper.
The quick accusation as the murderer of Batgirl mars Tim's return to Gotham City . The body is revealed as that of the villain Lynx in a Batgirl costume. Someone had planted her body as a lure so an unknown assailant can attack Robin.
Robin eludes the Gotham P.D. when they arrive on the scene. Refusing to sit out the investigation, he infiltrates the police station to look for evidence and steals the mask of the fake Batgirl costume. Lady Shiva arrives at Wayne Manor while Tim is running tests on the mask. She informs Tim of the death of Nyssa al Ghul, daughter of Ra's al Ghul and head of the League of Assassins, and her suspicions that someone outside the League was trying to usurp it. Robin returns to his investigation before finding a note in Batgirl's cowl, written in Navajo code, informing him that, to save Cassandra, he had to give them her father, David Cain. Robin breaks into Blackgate Prison and captures Cain, only to learn that Cassandra herself has taken over the League.
Asking Robin to kill David and join her, Cassandra claims she has accepted her fate as a killer and has killed David's other daughter. Robin refuses, and Cassandra shoots her father. Believing David to be dead, Robin tries to bring in Cassandra. While he manages to hold his own against her and her League, an explosion forces them all to flee. When Tim returns to David's body, he finds Cassandra's league of assassins all dead with broken necks and Cain's body missing.
After returning to Gotham City, Tim finds that his mini-cam did survive the explosion and that it captured the entire battle, giving Tim a way to clear his name. As he laments the fact that the footage will brand Cassandra a murderer, Killa 'Nilla approaches Robin with a boomerang given to him by Owen Mercer and explains that the new Captain Boomerang is looking for him. While Robin assumes that Boomerang is out to finish what his father began, Owen reveals that he wishes to make amends and even helps Tim locate a bomb set by the Joker. Although they are far from friends, they have developed a sort of respect and civility.
Another big change has taken place for Tim since returning to Gotham. During a recent case in which Batman and Robin were forced to face off against a revived Two-Face, Bruce had begun thinking about Tim's place in the world following the deaths of both his parents and the events of the Crisis. Finally, Bruce approaches Tim again with the idea of adoption. Unlike the first attempt, Tim readily accepts this, even going so far as to hug Bruce with tears in his eyes. Along with the adoption, plans are made to move Tim into the Manor using the room once owned by Dick and later Jason.
Recently, Tim was captured and tied up by the Joker but managed to escape on his own, which Batman acknowledged and commended.
Robin has also rejoined the Teen Titans and called together more, but Wonder Girl refused to return, feeling abandoned by Robin following the death of Superboy. Rose Wilson, the Ravager and daughter of Deathstroke, propositioned him for sex late one night in his room, however Tim not only rejects her, but handcuffs her.
Unable to let his best friend go Tim has set up a secret facility beneath Titans Tower for the express purpose of recreating Superboy via replicating his DNA, though all his attempts have so far failed. He also keeps Conner's costume, along with that of Stephanie Brown and clothing from his parents, Jack and Janet Drake, and his stepmother, Dana Drake, sealed in glass cases, similar to how Batman grieved the death of Jason Todd. Wonder Girl chose to return to the team full time, and went in search of Robin to inform him of her decision and discovered his secret lab. Tim confessed how much he misses Conner, and they ended up sharing a passionate, yet unexpected kiss. Wonder Girl has attempted to speak to Tim about the incident several times, but Robin continues to avoid her.
Later, Deathstroke's Titans East made a full out assult on the Teen Titans, picking off each member except for Rose and Jericho. Tim has been personally targeted by Deathstroke, who with Batgirl is holding him captive in an unknown underground location.
SKLILLS
Tim relies on his abilities in martial arts and acrobatic skills, along with numerous gadgets and weapons. He also possesses great detective skills.
Partially Written by Caleson & Compiled by FlaBat Sources:
The Ultimate Guide To The Dark Knight by Scott Beatty
DC Comics' Secret Files
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