Damian Wayne is the fourth and current Robin after the previous Robin, Timothy Drake, took up the mantle of Red Robin and relinquished his role as Batman's partner and protege to Damian.
The biological son of the "Dark Knight"; Batman, and the "Daughter of the Demon"; Talia al Ghul, Damian was trained since birth by the League of Assassins to succeed his grandfather, Ra's al Ghul, as the Head of the Demon, however, he has since fallen under the care of the Bat Family who intend to impart upon him the value of heroism and empathy; everything the League of Assassins intended to beat from him.
Background[]
When Batman unites with Ra's al Ghul and Talia al Ghul to apprehend ex-League of Assassin member Qayin, Batman and Talia finally act on their sexual attraction and sleep together in their matrimonial bed.
After the initial attack on Qayin was a failure, Talia informs Batman that she was pregnant with his child, who becomes his only concern in the world. When Qayin attacks Ra's fortress, Batman's only concern is to protect Talia which renders him ineffective against the enemy and makes Talia feel like she is being smothered and controlled. Qayin and his forces break into the core of Ra's base, where he finds the Lazarus Pit. However, Ra's was prepared for such an emergency and he destroys the pit with explosives.
Denied his chance at curing his disease, Qayin uses a satellite weapon to create a war between Russia and the United States. Unwilling to join Ra's espionage team to stop Qayin, Batman repeatedly insists that Talia is taken to a safe place, despite her wishes to join the espionage team. Realizing that she didn't want "this" version of her beloved, Talia lies to her beloved and tells Batman that she had lost their child due to Qayin's attack. Reinvigorated by the loss of his unborn child, Batman joins Ra's on his attack to Qayin's base.
In the ensuing battle, Batman and Ra's infiltrate Qayin's base and confronts the terrorist. As Qayin attempts to kill Ra's, whom he blamed for his parents' deaths, he tries to electrocute him but is stopped by Batman and Qayin electrocutes himself, ending his life. With the threat of Qayin ended, Batman returns to Talia, who tells him to leave her alone, as their relationship can no longer remain the same. Batman complies and he returns to Gotham and his war on crime. Talia, meanwhile, has her growing embryo removed and placed within an artificial womb where she could monitor and alter the growth of her child whom she named "Damian".
Genetically perfected and grown in secret, Damian was intended to be a formidable warrior. Raised by Talia and the League of Assassins, Damian became a talented martial artist by the time he was a pre-teen.
Damian was seven years old when Talia had him spy on his father with her but it was three years later, when Damian was ten, that Talia revealed Damian's existence to Batman and left him in his father's custody in an effort to disrupt the hero's work. Precocious, spoiled, selfish and violent, Damian wished to prove his worth to his father and inherit the legacy of Batman, which he felt was his birthright. To this end, Damian instantly began attempting to kill who he perceived as his greatest threat to his birthright; Batman's current partner and most recently adopted son, Robin (Timothy Drake). Grounded to the Batcave due to his repeated attempts to kill Drake, however, Damian's ambition could not be denied and he escaped from the cave to prove that he would be a better Robin than Drake. Destroying Jason Todd's memorial shrine and stealing the Robin suit to wear over his League of Assassin uniform, Damian hunted down the villain Batman and Robin were currently pursuing and decapitated him.
Eventually, Batman confronted Talia over Damian but both Talia and Damian were soon caught in an explosion. They survived the explosion, but a badly injured Damian required transplants of harvested organs, after which Damian made a full recovery.
As Damian is tutored in the secret history of Ra's al Ghul in a secret base in Australia, Talia became aware that an estranged son of Ra's, named "White Ghost", planned to use Damian as a shell for the soul of Ra's to return to Earth. This process would, of course, kill Damian. Escaping the base, Talia sends Damian to Wayne Manor for his safety.
However, Ra's is still able to return as an undead corpse, still needing Damian to stabilize his form.
As Damian attempts to convince Timothy Drake and Alfred Pennyworth that he is being pursued, the League of Assassins invade the manor with the intention of bringing Damian back to Ra's. While attempting to put up a defence against their attackers, Damian and Timothy's collaboration is hindered by their differing philosophies of battle (Damian believes in killing to solve hostilities while Timothy does not), their strong dislike of each other, and Damian's willness to betray his "comrades" at any moment for his own safety. Ra's captures the two and tells Batman that he will use one of them for his own body but Batman offers an alternative: the "Fountain of Essence," which contains the qualities of a Lazarus Pit. Batman and Ra's go in search of the fountain, leaving Tim, Damian, Nightwing, Alfred, and Talia to battle the Sensei. Seeing an opportunity, Damian selfishly abandons his mother and the other heroes to be with his father, unfortunately, he ends up captured by Ra's and nearly loses his life but for Batman and the others managing to save him, and Talia takes her son and escapes.
Shortly after Future Lex Luthor releases Exobytes unto the populace of Earth during Brainiac's attempt at gaining control of the Nexus of Reality, Damian leaves his mother's care to return to his father's side to once again prove his worth as his heir.
Intending to teach Damian the benefits of being more benevolent and seeing that Damian required friendship and compassion in order to curb his more aggressive behaviour, the Bat Family deign to take Damian to join the Teen Titans as the new Robin after Timothy graciously relinquishes the mantle to become Red Robin.
Combat Statistics[]
- Robin (Titans Training Sim)
Involvement[]
- In the Titans Training Sim Duo, Damian and Terra join the players in taking down simulations, until Terra goads Damian into fighting them himself.
- In Metal Pt. I: Batcave Breach, Damian allies himself with the heroes or villains after being rescued. He snarks at Nightwing's musings over what could be causing the Batcave's defenses to malfunction and is annoyed by Green Lantern's suggestion he can find things they couldn't. Ultimately, he's shocked at the hidden room in the Batcave and that Batman would not tell him about it.
Associated Equipment[]
Trivia[]
- Robin (Damian Wayne) was conceived by his parents in Batman: Son of the Demon (1987) but did not first appear until Batman #655 (September 2006).
- Damian has a strong love for animals. Pets he has owned include Goliath (a dragon bat guardian Damian had adopted on Al Ghul Island), Bat-Cow (a cow Damian had saved from a slaughterhouse), Titus (a dog given to Damian by Bruce Wayne), and Pennyworth (a cat given to him by Alfred Pennyworth).
- Aware of the stories of her origins and abilities, Damian has a secret crush on Batgirl, however, he expresses it in the same arrogant, boastful and rude manner he uses every time he attempts to convince people of his worth, resulting in her disliking interacting with him.
- Damian and Timothy Drake share a rivalry (largely perpetuated by Damian) as sons of Bruce Wayne. After Tim Drake is revealed to have named as Bruce Wayne's heir in accordance of his will, Damian has filed an injunction with the boards against Drake since he is Wayne's son.
- Robin claims to be able to "solo" Mammoth and Gizmo at the same time.
- Talking to Talia al Ghul within the Hall of Doom can lead to her talking about her son, Damian, and her intentions to have him lead the League of Assassins someday; although she admits she fears that he may one day follow in his father's footsteps instead. She also expresses her frustrations with working in LexCorp and why she ultimately quit the "Corporate Life".
- Talia Al Ghul, anticipating that her son may be hurt in his adventures, keeps an army of clones of Damian. The clones are designed not to replace him, but to replace any vital organs or bones that may be damaged.
Gallery[]
See also[]
External links[]
- Damian Wayne Wikipedia
- Damian Wayne DC Database
- Robin (Damian Wayne) Batman Wiki