When you think of a superhero, you usually think of one who has awesome superpowers that can kick the villain’s butt. You might think of Superman, Wonder Woman, or even Batman, even though the latter does not have powers. However, he and his first companion made an impact in the comic book world by becoming superheroes without having to be born with powers. That partner was the first Robin named Dick Grayson, who later became Nightwing once he went solo.

Nightwing is truly remarkable for his contribution in DC Comics. As the first Robin, he fought alongside Batman and was orphaned by him when his parents’ lives ended too soon. Under Bruce Wayne’s household, Dick Grayson became his adoptive son and the two remain as one of the greatest partnerships in pop culture. When he wanted to go solo, that was when Nightwing was born.

He is very similar to Batman, but instead of being broody, cold, and calculating, Nightwing is funny, witty, and lighthearted. Even so, he can handle fighting on his own with his well-known escrima sticks, variety of martial arts, and incredible agility. It is no wonder why Nightwing is so popular due to his personality and capability of being an amazing superhero. Guys love him for being so cool and awesome in combat, and ladies love him for his good looks and nice humor.

Are you ready for some interesting trivia? Here are twenty surprising facts you probably do not know about the first Robin, Nightwing!

20 Quite The Genius

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Now Nightwing is mostly known for his skill in combat, detective capabilities, and fantastic agility, but as Dick Grayson, he is pretty smart. Since he has been under Bruce Wayne’s wing due to being adopted by him, Dick was able to attend Gotham Academy, at least in the critically acclaimed cartoon Young Justice, and earn good grades.

Bruce more than likely also hired tutors in foreign languages, since Dick would have some great benefits to be multilingual whenever he goes to a far-off country. In the old times as Robin, Dick was seen more as a comical idiot, but thankfully today, the writers made Dick an amazing character and very intelligent.

When you are trained under Batman, it is more than likely that you would have what Nightwing’s having.

19 Trained A Surprising Protege

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Say that you are fighting against one of your enemies, and then out of the blue, they asked you to train their kid. That is what happened with Nightwing! You see after Batgirl defeated Ravager, Deathstroke gave Nightwing permission to train his daughter, Rose Wilson.

Talk about a strange deal he made.

However, Deathstroke did something terrible: he replaced Ravager’s eye with a kryptonite and forced Nightwing and Ravager to fight against Superman. Since kryptonite is Superman’s weakness, Ravager tried to eliminate Superman with the kryptonite, but Nightwing stopped her since it would end up slowly taking her life and end it painfully.

Unlike her father, Nightwing was more compassionate and understanding. It was surprising since it was Deathstroke’s daughter, but Nightwing has shown to be a great mentor.

18 Live-Action Hype!

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Ever since the DC Extended Universe arrived with Man of Steel, there were high hopes for a Nightwing movie to come out. Lo and behold, an announcement for a live-action movie of Nightwing was greenlit!

Plus, it is being directed by Chris McKay!

With a great director on the project, everything for the live-action movie seems to be going in the right direction. Not to mention, McKay is a huge fan of Nightwing too! There are many great choices for actors to take up the role of Nightwing. Some say that Joseph Gordin-Levitt would be perfect, while others say that Dylan O’Brien or Kit Harrington should become Nightwing.

Whenever the casting has been made, we will either be amazed or worried about the choice, but if they can pull it off, then we will have an amazing portrayal of Nightwing!

17 Martial Arts King

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It has been stated many times that Nightwing is an amazing fighter, but the fact that he knows a lot of martial arts shows that you do not want to pick a fight with him. Due to an extensive period of training under Batman, Dick learned so much that it eventually made him stronger and durable.

When it comes to martial arts, he knows Karate, Ninjutsu, Kung Fu, Judo, and so much more. With that much skill, Nightwing is easily one of the top martial artists in DC Comics history. Along with his great stamina, willpower, strength, and speed, Dick would blow your mind if he happened to be your martial arts teacher. Again, it would be unwise to pick a fight with Batman’s first partner in crime.

16 Working With The Force

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After Dick wanted to move on and go solo, he moved to Blüdhaven and became the superhero we know and love. He was ready to start a new life without Batman’s help. However, the way the city handles crime was completely different, and there were not any vigilantes helping out the police, so what does Dick do?

He became a police officer, of course.

It was interesting on his part because not only would he be able to stop crime in a fashionable manner, but also take care of the crooked workers in the force as well. Thanks to Batman, he would not have been able to endure all that led up to the path he chose. After all of that, he would later use his secret identity to stop crime in the new city.

15 Deep Hatred

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When it comes to being Batman’s sidekick, they are most likely going to cross paths with Joker. The latter is one of the greatest villains in comic book history for his complex background, traits, and giving people a reason to fear clowns. As Robin, Nightwing never feared Joker and managed to kick his butt alongside Batman. That is probably why Joker hates Dick the most as Robin.

That is because out of everyone in the Bat family, Dick is the only one to not be traumatized by the Joker. He managed to corrupt Jason, paralyze Barbara, and even managed to scar Bruce whenever he gets the chance. It is amazing for Dick to have amazing willpower and keep on going despite facing against a terrifying villain.

14 Owner Of A Forgotten Place

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Ever since Dick lost his parents after performing at Haly’s Circus, his life changed forever. He would not have been adopted by Bruce Wayne, he would not have become the first Robin to team up with Batman, and he would not have been able to become Nightwing. If that fateful day did not happen, we would not have witnessed an amazing DC Comics character.

The thought of the circus might have brought sad memories for Dick, but as he gets older, he eventually overcomes his grief and looks forward to life. When the owner of the circus, Mr. Haly sold it, Dick paid a visit to the place that changed his life.

Dick was fortunate enough to buy Haly’s Circus and become a co-owner to help keep the business going. Even when that place took his parents away, it was still an important place for him.

13 Loaded Without Batman's Help

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Being under they Wayne family name has its perks. Even though Bruce lost his parents at a young age, the family fortune helped him and Alfred stay financially secure and provided him a future. Dick is in the same boat since he was able to get what he needed for beneficiary reasons.

Even though he had no intentions of succeeding Batman, Nightwing still managed to handle his financial concerns with ease. He was never in debt, but thanks to Bruce and the helpful advice he has received, he can stand on his own without needing to ask for money from Bruce. In fact, Nightwing is loaded without the help of Batman. Normally a rich kid would just act spoiled and rely on their parents for money, but Dick is more grounded and responsible in handling his own needs.

12 Almost Written Off For Good

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Nightwing is a very popular character in the DC Universe, and without him, the atmosphere and storyline in current comics would not be the same without him. However, there is one person who just could not stand Nightwing, and that man is named Dan DiDio. He was the executive editor at DC Comics at the time, but for some reason, he could not find what makes Nightwing so great. Since he did not care about Nightwing…

In Infinite Crisis, Nightwing was supposed to be offed. Instead, DiDio wanted Jason Todd to be the new Nightwing, but that just does not sound right. Thankfully, the writing staff knew what they were doing and down voted the idea to a T. You just cannot remove a character so important in DC Comics.

11 That's Not Nightwing?

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Say you were playing the first Injustice game made by Netherrealm Studios, the development team behind Mortal Kombat. Nightwing is a playable character in the game, but when you get his arcade ending and play through the story mode, you might notice something… off about Nightwing.

That is because that Nightwing is not Dick Grayson.

Instead, it is Damian Wayne, one of the Robins. Why is that? That is because, in an alternate timeline where Superman ends the Joker’s life, many lives were lost too, including Dick Grayson’s. Damian is responsible for taking his life, which made his father disown him.

That is messed up is it not? Despite all that happened, Damian took the mantle as Nightwing, and we were surprised to see that it was a different Nightwing.

10 In Another Timeline...

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Most of you probably grew up with the original Teen Titans cartoon, and you might also ship Robin and Starfire together. They are technically canon thanks to the Trouble in Tokyo movie. These two are indeed adorable together and have great chemistry!

In the comics, they have their moments together.

Unfortunately, they are more than likely not going to end up as a couple. However, what you are about to know might make you happy. In an alternate timeline in the comic book Kingdom Come, Nightwing and Starfire end up getting married and have a daughter named Mar’i Grayson, also known as Nightstar. Their daughter greatly resembles her parents and she looks so beautiful and powerful. She's got many powers, especially compared to her father. Even though it is unlikely at this time, it would be very cool to see more of Nightwing’s daughter in another comic, movie, or video game.

9 Arguably The Most Handsome

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DC Comics have brought us very attractive characters, and Nightwing is no exception. With the black hair, blue eyes, and a body a guy would want, he is probably the most seducing man in DC hands down. Some people have different tastes, but he has been ranked number one in the handsome male characters in comics.

Not to mention, the black and blue looks amazing on him and compliments his body shape. Perhaps the version of Nightwing with a mullet can be questioning, but in other incarnations, especially in the Batman Arkham series, he is insanely good-looking. Nightwing is the type of man a woman would love to date and the one men would want to be.

All we could do is just be mesmerized by his gorgeous looks and awesome personality.

8 Secret Identity Discovered

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Whenever someone becomes a superhero, at least in the DC Universe, the last thing they would ever do is reveal their secret identity while on the mission. Even though we as readers know who they are, just being amazed at how they can keep their identities a secret to those they are not affiliated with is incredible.

Everything changed when the comic Forever Evil #1 arrived. The ending was a shock because Nightwing was unmasked and thanks to the Crime Syndicate, everyone in the world knows that Richard Grayson is Nightwing. That led up to some scary thoughts, such as possibly figuring out who Batman is, the Robins Tim Drake and Jason Todd, and even Batgirl’s Barbara Gordon.

Due to this, in the next entry, Dick moves on to do something else after that fateful moment.

7 A Man Of Espionage

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Ever since his identity has been discovered, there was no point in being Nightwing at the moment, so Bruce offered Dick to become a spy for Spyral, a villainous agency. Knowing Dick, he accepted the offer and managed to work in his way so smoothly. Even though he was undercover, Dick managed to gain some pretty cool benefits.

As he became Agent 37, he gained the ability to hypnotize people and whenever he is on surveillance cameras, his face is kept hidden. Given that his secret identity is known around the world, that benefited him greatly so that he would not be seen in the public eye.

Dick has certainly done a lot of interesting things in his life, and he is just so good at them.

6 Odd Occupations

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During his time when not becoming Nightwing, Dick managed to snag some… interesting choices of occupations. He became a bartender when he reached Blüdhaven, which would later make him be able to join the police force. He also became a dance teacher, which is just too perfect for him due to his insanely good looks and training he had with Batman. The ladies would not be able to focus if he stayed long as one.

He even did some modeling and had the nerve to dress up as an inspired Nightwing. Was it crazy? Yes, but oh so good. With the help of Bruce’s lessons, Dick was even able to get a job as a museum curator. Is there such thing as a perfect man? Because Dick is a candidate for one.

5 He Got Fired

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For this fact, there are a lot of ways that can be interpreted in how Dick got fired from being Robin. Batman fired him due to the fear of losing a sidekick. Bruce would not want to have a life lost because of his carelessness. As his adoptive father, he cared about Dick’s safety and wanted him to make sure he makes it out alive in any dire situation.

Then again, Dick was the one who wanted to go solo and be himself and not Batman. In Nightwing: Year One, Dick did not have the time to be Robin. If anything, Bruce might have gone too far, but any parent would if their child was in danger. But hey, at least we were blessed with Batman slapping Robin becoming a funny meme.

4 Red Hair's His Weakness

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Nightwing knows how to attract the ladies, but do you want to know what attracts him? Well, he has a soft spot for redheads. It is a given since two of his love interests, Barbara Gordon and Starfire are redheads. They are very beautiful women, and with their personalities.

It is no wonder why Nightwing likes them so much.

Barbara, also known as Batgirl, is a popular character to be paired with Nightwing due to their great chemistry and how their relationship develops in the comics. Starfire is also paired with Nightwing because of Teen Titans and the other DC animated movies.

Nightwing might have had other love interests, some that are not redheads, but these two are the most popular when it comes to being his other half.

3 He Took Up The Mantle... Twice

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If there is something very compelling about Nightwing, it would be that he does not want to be like Batman. The reason for that is because even though he appreciated Bruce for raising him as a second father when he is Batman, he is cold, brood, and too serious. In short, Dick does not want to be in Batman’s shadow.

However, there were two times that Dick took up the mantle.

Remember when Bane broke the Bat? Since Bruce was severely injured and could barely move, Nightwing took his place and became Batman in Batman: Prodigal. In Batman R.I.P, Nightwing took on the role as Batman when the former thought he lost his life. His portrayal of Batman was definitely lighter than Bruce’s, and even though he preferred his original secret identity, it was a highlight in Dick Grayson’s life.

2 His Name's Origin

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The origin of how Dick got the name Nightwing was something that sounded surprising, but rather interesting. Here is an interesting fact about how Nightwing came to be for the first Robin’s name change.

The name originated from Superman and a Kryptonian legend.

The name was technically a tribute to Batman as well, but Superman played a huge part in the role of Dick taking up the name Nightwing. You see, Superman took up the name Nightwing as well. Superman and Jimmy Olsen were undercover as Nightwing and Flamebird for the people on Kandor. Depending on the comics, Dick would have different inspirations for taking up the name Nightwing. There is another story where a Kryptonian legend named Nightwing, this time being the hero of the same name who fought for those who could not. Because of that, that gave Dick the reason to name himself Nightwing.

1 What A Fun Ride

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Theme parks are pretty fun to go on. There are a lot of entertaining rides, activities, and food to munch on. Now, why is this related to Nightwing? That is because there was a ride inspired by him. At Six Flags New England, the ride debuted in 2000 and ended its run in 2008. For an attraction at an amusement park, the sounds decent to last that long.

Who would want to ride this fun rollercoaster?

Well, the ride has since then been replaced by Joker’s Wildcard, which was later remade into Kryptonite Kollider in 2017. But still, the idea about a ride that is Nightwing themed sounds so cool. It would take a miracle for a ride based on Nightwing to open up again soon. Only time will tell.