Richard 'Dick' Grayson

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PLAYER INFORMATION
PLAYER: Robin
ARE YOU AT LEAST 14 YEARS OLD?: Maybe
CONTACT: Got all that shiz already
PERSONAL JOURNAL: This too
CHARACTERS PLAYED: Pigtails, Elf, Bone Girl, and The Summers Brah


CHARACTER INFORMATION
NAME: Richard John "Dick" Grayson/Nightwing
CANON: Young Justice
CANON REFERENCE: Nightwing at the Young Justice wiki
AGE: 19
GENDER: Male
YEAR IN SCHOOL/FACULTY POSITION: College courses/gymnastics teacher

APPEARANCE: Nightwing in-costume turnaround Fanart of Dick Grayson based on character model
PERSONALITY: One of the first things people notice about Dick is his curiosity. He enjoys learning, training, and testing new things, just to broaden his horizons and live a full life. This results in both an impressive academic standing, but also a tendency to ask a lot of questions or, barring that, independently investigate things that catch his attention. In the past, his tendency to want to know the ins and outs of some of his peers has even led to thoughts that he may be suspicious, keeping tabs on how to take them down if they ever turn against him. The truth is actually quite the opposite - Dick likes to play to the strengths of his teammates, basing his plans and actions around what they're good at, rather than preparing for their shortcomings. He likes what others bring to the table, as it gives him more to see and learn, and sometimes even helps him push himself farther. His inquiring nature also serves him well in his investigative and detective work, helping him to find leads where others may overlook them.

Unfortunately, despite his curious nature, Dick is less forthcoming with his own information unless necessary. While he's open with some of his oldest friends, he tends to play a lot of his own information close to the vest, and even certain plans or details for a mission may be kept to himself if he feels it's more beneficial. Sometimes, this works out, keeping important information out of the hands of someone who would foil the plan; other times, even in the case of successful missions and positive results, his friends and peers have called him out on his secretive nature. He's still finding difficulty in maintaining the right balance of what to tell, and what to keep to himself.

Dick is naturally lighthearted, though it was much more pronounced in his youth. He still maintains a great sense of humor and a quick wit, tending to trade quips with others on a regular basis. He can even hold his own in verbal combat against his opponents, to the point where it can be used as a distracting tool. He's commented at least once that, as a costumed adventurer, he's had so much fun that he couldn't stop laughing at points. He enjoys the freedom that putting on the mask gives him, and even treats combat on the same level as performing in the circus, making it a spectacle and living in the moment.

However, when there is a matter at hand that requires a more serious mind, Dick will quickly drop the jokes and get straight to business. While he doesn't become obsessed, he does focus himself at these times, sticking more to the facts and what's necessary to know at the moment. He'll still throw in the occasional quip, but it's much more downplayed at times like this. He will often be like this directly before a mission, when discussing execution and possible obstacles. It is also here that his intelligence will really shine, as he can often help prepare his teammates further with additional information about the people involved, the location, or even ancillary information about local climate or politics, if need be.

Dick has proven himself to be very friendly and welcoming to others, though his playful nature makes it a bit jarring for some. Still, it has shown him to be a true and caring friend time and again, even when presented with potentially damaging secrets about his friends. He chooses to base his opinions on what he sees, not how they've acted in the past. This results in him being friends with teachers and students alike, and acting as a bit of a 'big brother' to some of the younger students. The amount of kindness and respect he demonstrates has extended to his love life, where even his exes still consider him a good friend and maintain close ties with him.
POWERS/ABILITIES: Perfect Eidetic Memory: Dick can commit practically anything to memory and recall it with exacting precision. Any sight, sound, taste, scent, touch, and concept is perfectly captured in his mind, and easily accessed at a moment's notice, regardless of the age of the memory. The only limitations are what Dick has personally experienced.

Due to the non-combat nature of his power, Dick has trained his body extensively to keep up with the lifestyle of being an X-Man. Having trained in acrobatics since he was young, Dick is now a master acrobat and possibly Olympic-level gymnast. He has also had rigorous training in armed and unarmed combat, proving to be highly skilled in Aikido and Escrima, as well as knowledge of Boxing, Judo, Savate, and Wing Chun.

Dick has also used his powers to develop fine investigative and detective skills, understand computer programming and hacking, and gain a fluency in numerous languages.

AU HISTORY: Richard "Dick" Grayson was the only son of John and Mary Grayson, and such was born into their life as circus performers. Known as the "Flying Graysons," his parents performed on the trapeze alongside his aunt, uncle, and cousin; once Dick was old enough, he too began performing with them. Of course, he was not allowed to participate in many of the more dangerous stunts, but even his parents were impressed with how quickly he learned the routines.

When he was nine, Dick stumbled on the owner of the circus, Jack Haly, being extorted for 'protection' money by mob boss Tony Zucco. Haly refused to pay, which Zucco claimed he would 'regret' before leaving. Though Dick was concerned, Haly convinced him is was nothing to worry about, and urged him to go back to his parents. What neither party knew, however, was that Zucco's thugs were planning on causing further problems for the circus, chief of which was to saboutage the trapeze rigging. In the show that evening, as usual Dick was kept from performing in the more dangerous stunts, but everyone else got into the act. The strain on the tampered rigging was too much, and without warning, the equipment gave, collapsing and sending the entire Grayson family, save Dick, plummeting to the ground. All but Dick's uncle died in the accident, and he was left paralyzed and unable to care for Dick. Though the police did investigate, they couldn't directly promise a resolution, despite Dick confirming Tony Zucco's threat to Haly. As it stood, the boy was an orphan, with no one capable of properly caring for him.

That was when a chance intervention would help shape the boy's future, as Bruce Wayne, a wealthy entrepreneur, offered to take Dick in after witnessing the accident. Wayne's company, Waynetech, was a chief rival of Tony Stark's Stark Industries, but his primary interests involved detective work and vigilantism, interests which he shared with Dick, passing on the skills he had learned years before. Like the acrobatics and trapeze stunts of his family before him, Dick took to this quickly, and before long was able to work outside the legal boundaries of the police to bring Tony Zucco to justice for his crimes, both with the circus and elsewhere. During this time, Wayne suspected that Dick may be a mutant, due to his nearly superhuman aptitude for learning, and had the boy voluntarily, though anonymously, tested for the X-gene.

The tests came back positive, and though this did not concern Wayne, he asked Dick if the boy would be interested in further exploring his powers. Dick, who was actually excited about his newfound status as a mutant, agreed, and was soon enrolled at the Xavier Institute at thirteen. He proved himself to be an excellent student, both due to his mutant power as well as his natural inclination for intense study. After taking numerous classes during the summer, Dick proved himself academically and recieved his diploma at sixteen. At the same time, he showed himself to have promise as an X-Man, due to his focus on combat training and his desire to match his more physically powerful peers. After staying at the school for a while longer and earning his right to be an X-Man in full, he left to try living on his own for a change. During this time, Dick continued to experiment in vigilante activities, as well as finding that a trust fund that was set up around the time of his parents' deaths had now earned quite the return.

Dick's time fighting crime on his own was short lived, partially due to missing the team atmosphere of the X-Men, and part due to realizing that mutant problems were much bigger than petty crimes. Ready to continue his education as well as the fight for mutant rights and freedom, Dick returned to the school, having crafted a new costume and codename for himself: Nightwing.


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