DCAUResource.com

Menu:

Robin

Back to Heroes Main > Robin

Real Identity: Tim Drake
Appearances (BTAS): Holiday Knights, Sins of the Father, Cold Comfort, Never Fear, Growing Pains, The Demon Within, Over the Edge, Animal Act, Old Wounds, Critters, Chemistry, Beware the Creeper and Mystery of the Batwoman
Appearances (STAS): Knight Time
Appearances (BB): Return of the Joker
Appearances (SS): The Big Leagues and Future Shock
Appearances (JL): The Savage Time Part One (Hypertime) and Hereafter Part One
Skills: Detective, hand to hand combat and technological
Voiced By: Matthew Valencia, Eli Marienthal, Brianne Siddall (Legends of the Dark Knight), Shane Sweet (Future Shock), and Dean Stockwell (Return of the Joker)

Tim Drake is the son of the late Steven "Shifty" Drake, a thug who was known from burglary and armed robbery. Tim Drake was often left to survive on his own in the slums of Gotham City. Drake resorted to stealing food and supplies from sidewalk stands and unwitting people. He openly disapproved of his father's involvement with Two-Face and idolized Batman. On one occasion, Drake watched a rooftop battle of Batman, the first Robin and Batgirl versus the Joker. Afterwards, Drake acquired a Batarang that he kept with him for security.

Shifty Drake wasn't a complete hardened criminal. His love for his son might have been an influence when he stole a nerve gas compound from Two-Face and fled Gotham. Two-Face stormed Drake's apartment and found Tim, instead. After he found the key to the compound's locker, Two-Face decided to kill Tim but Batman intervened. Drake accompanied an unconscious Batman back to the Bat Cave, where he stumbled onto his secret. After Batman and Batgirl left to confront Two-Face's latest ransom, Tim Drake donned the Robin outfit and helped stop Two-Face, much to Batman's delight.

Tim Drake was allowed to become the second Robin. For months, Wayne trained Drake and had him enrolled in school. Despite his naivete (or perhaps, caring for others too much) and jumping prematurely into situations, Drake showed a potential intuitive nature. As Robin, he fought alongside his idol, Batgirl, Nightwing, Superman and Static, to name a few. He also faced off against most of Batman's rogues, despite some sheltering, like the Joker, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow and Poison Ivy.

One of Drake's defining moments as Robin was during the return of Clayface. While he and Batman were pursuing a disguised Clayface, Robin encountered a young amnesic girl close to his age. Robin's inner desire to help individuals influenced him to give chase. Robin even went far enough to disobey Batman. The girl finally realized Robin's intentions and obliged. However, she had no recollection of her name. He offered "Annie", to which she accepted. Robin then attempted to help her remember who she was. Annie then learned she was part of Clayface and allowed him to absorb her, despite Robin's pleading. Batman arrived to help stop Clayface but clearly Drake was possibly following the same path of Dick Grayson.

Drake's costumed career was tainted, however. Some years later, after Dick Grayson had left Gotham for Bludhaven, Drake was patrolling as Robin alone, one night. He saved a woman from to thugs but it was actually a trap set by the Joker. Robin was taken to the ruins of the first Arkham Asylum and tortured for three weeks. After being systematically subjected to shock therapy and various serums, he eventually broke down. Drake dispensed entrusted secrets to the Joker. As part of his final joke, Joker molded Drake into a crude version of himself and planned on having Drake deliver the killing blow to Batman. However, Joker didn't completely succeed. In the final minutes, Drake broke through the brainwashing and killed the Joker instead of Batman. Dr. Leslie Thompkins was entrusted to rehabilitate Drake. After a year, he was cleared.

However, Batman felt responsible for what happened and forbade Drake from ever being Robin. Drake went on his own (maybe even serving full time on a super hero group of his own) and attempted several times to mend his relationship with Batman but it never fared well.

Eventually, Drake retired from the hero business bitterly. He moved on and put his technological skills to use and became a top level communications engineer. Drake also started a family of his own and settled in the suburbs of Gotham. Despite carving out a happy ending, Drake was still haunted from killing the Joker. It turned out that when he was kidnapped by the Joker, Drake was implanted with a microchip that encoded the Joker's DNA, with nanotechnology, into him. Over time, the Joker resurfaced and periodically assumed control of Drake's body. The second Batman, Terry McGinnis deduced Drake's connection and confronted the Joker. In the process, the microchip was destroyed and Joker was defeated once and for all.