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P L A Y E R;
NAME: Plus
AGE: 22
PLAYER JOURNAL: plusone
TIMEZONE: CST
CONTACT: oleseiyah, plusanagi on AIM
OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED: N/A

C H A R A C T E R;
NAME: Richard "Dick" Grayson
CANON: DC Comics
POINT IN CANON: Pre-Flashpoint, after the Return of Bruce Wayne
AGE: Mid to late 20s
APPEARANCE: he is beauty he is grace he will punch you in the face
CANON HISTORY: Dick Grayson on the Batman wiki, however since that's hella long and this is a comic book character let me try and give an abridged version as best as I can

Dick was born into the world of the travelling circus an the three-ring stage, making up one third of a three-part highwire act known at the Flying Graysons-- the star attraction of Haly's Circus, famous for their dangerous performance on the trapeze without using a safety net. The other two parts were his parents, Mary and John Grayson, who raised him with love and trained him from a young age to be an immensely skilled acrobat that thrived on the crowd's vigor. For any other child, the lifestyle would've been a dream come true-- however, when the circus pulled into Gotham City, Dick overheard a handful of local gangsters trying to extort the owner of the circus for protection money, led by a man named Tony Zucco. When the owner refused, the star attraction became their main target: as punishment for his lack of cooperation, Zucco and his men sabotaged the Graysons' trapeze rigging for their final act, sending Mary and John Grayson tumbling to their deaths while Dick-- who was too young to perform in the final act-- was suddenly orphaned in an event that would soon be attributed by the police as an accident. In the ensuing chaos of the deadly fall, the youngest Grayson was guided and protected by Gotham's personal urban legend, the Batman-- after that night, he would go on to become the legal ward of the city's notorious playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne, whom Dick soon learned was one and the same with the Bat himself.

Still filled with grief from his parents death as Zucco got off from the law scot-free, Dick first tried to extort revenge on the man himself. When that failed, Bruce trained Dick to follow in his footsteps as a crime-fighting vigilante despite his dangerously young age (and the initially stern disapproval of the family butler Alfred Pennyworth), and helped him bring Zucco to justice for his crimes. Dick officially joined Batman's crusade against crime in Gotham as the original Robin, the Boy Wonder, and Batman's loyal partner. As he grew into a teenager, Robin teamed up with the sidekicks junior partners of other superheroes-- Wonder Girl, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Speedy-- to fight crime together as the Teen Titans, a team and family which Robin would lead through many new members, incarnations, and years to come, and would come to depend on for emotional support.

The relationship between Dick and Bruce eventually grew rockier as Dick grew up thanks to Bruce's emotional reservation compared to Dick's extroversion and growing independence streak. Eventually the tension came to bear as Bruce fired Dick, whereupon Dick gave up his position as Robin and as Batman's partner an left home. After a brief respite at Haly's Circus and seeking counsel with family friend and childhood hero Superman, Dick adopted a new secret identity as Nightwing, named for a Kryptonian legend and became full-time leader of the (Teen) Titans, now living in New York City where the Titans' operated. During this time, he also pursued his first serious relationship with Koriand'r, the hero known as Starfire, an alien princess from the planet of Tamaran, as well as making the acquaintance of the boy took on his old identity as Robin, Jason Todd. Unfortunately, the boy would meet his end at the hands of the Joker, paving the way for another young boy, Tim Drake (who Dick would eventually come to see as a brother) to worm his way into the fold and become the third Robin with Dick's blessing.

Though they were almost married (and probably would've been if it wasn't for interruption by yet another demon attack), Dick eventually broke up with Starfire due to the insurmountable differences in their beliefs, and the New Titans eventually disbanded, leaving Dick to be a solo crimefighter. Adopting a new costume, he returned to Gotham after the fiasco caused by Jean Paul Valley, finally making amends with his estranged guardian while Bruce was recovering from a severe back injury.

Soon after he returned to Gotham, Dick moved to its sister city known as Blüdhaven, impressive in the fact that it was somehow an even more dangerous and crappy city than Gotham ever was. Filled with organized crime and a severely corrupted police department, Nightwing started his own crusade to redeem it. Seeking to repair the BPD from within, Dick took a job as an officer of Blüdhaven in addition to serving double duty against crime as Nightwing. After an earthquake nearly leveled Gotham and turned it into a No Man's Land for a period of time, he also began dating Barbara Gordon, his childhood crush, daughter of the police commissioner, and ex-Batgirl turned into the information database Oracle, while the family also gained a new Batgirl named Cassandra Cain, who would eventually become Dick's adopted sister.

With the help of his superior Sergeant Amy Rohrbach and incurring the wrath of a criminal known as Blockbuster along the way, he managed to obtain information to completely clean out the dirty cops from the Blüdhaven PD-- at the cost of setting Nightwing in Blockbuster's bad graces when the man learned of his true identity as Dick Grayson. With the help of Dick's ex-ally known as Tarantula, Blockbuster began attacking Dick's private life, leading to his break-up with Barbara, his firing from the Blüdhaven PD, the destruction of his apartment building and the death of his friends who lived inside, and Nightwing's angry and delirious compliance with Blockbuster's murder at the hands of once-again-ally Tarantula.

After the death of Stephanie Brown (aka the Spoiler) in a gang war in Gotham, guilty overing being complicit in another murder and still suffering from Tarantula's abuse, Dick attempted to estrange himself from his family (Batman Rule Number 1, no killing), temporarily adopting the persona Renegade as he continued to try and serve Blüdhaven, only for it to be wiped out by the living nuclear bomb known as Chemo before the events of Infinite Crisis.

A year after the crisis, with Blüdhaven essentially a hole in the ground, Dick returned to his crime-fighting skulking in New York once again. The stint didn't last long, however, as the events of Final Crisis and the conflict with Darkseid saw the (supposed) death of his father and mentor Bruce Wayne, leaving Gotham without a Batman, the family without a leader, and Bruce's newly discovered blood son, Damian Wayne, without a guardian. With imposters (including the revived Jason Todd, better known as the Red Hood) running rampant in a city already on the brink and other members of the family unwilling or unable to take on the role, Dick grappled with Bruce's posthumous wishes against a successor and the inherent necessity of a Batman, and stepped down from his persona as Nightwing to take up the position as the new Batman. Though extremely close with the current Robin (still Tim Drake), he chose Damian as his own Robin, believing in the child's capacity for good and seeking to give him the guidance he so clearly needed now that his real father was dead. He thusly became Gotham's new foremost protector, training Damian (as well as partially overseeing the new Batgirl, the also revived Stephanie Brown) and serving as a member of the Justice League of America in his mentor's place.

It eventually came to light that Bruce was indeed alive thanks to Tim's (now Red Robin) investigation, and Dick added his efforts to the investigation when he used a Lazarus Pit to revive Bruce's body, only for it to turn out to be fake. After some major conflicts with Talia al Ghul, Deathstroke and Dr Hurt, Bruce finally returned to Gotham proper. Though Dick offered him his position back (with full intention to return to Nightwing), Bruce instead instructed Dick to remain as Batman and Gotham's guardian and Damian's mentor, as part of the early founding of Batman, Inc.

CANON PERSONALITY:

The original kid sidekick, Dick Grayson grew up as a cheerful bundle of chatty sunshine, and very much of that has lasted him well into adulthood. Compared to a family of serious and focused detectives, Dick has retained a generally happy and jokey disposition and an optimistic attitude. He absolutely loves to talk (he equates himself to "a talker in a family of writers,"), and most of the time displays an ample amount of charisma and charm when talking to others. He was born a performer first and a vigilante second, and despite the need for secrecy, he's very extroverted and loves to be the center of attention when "performing," whether it be in the big ring or in the middle of a battle. He's not needy for it to the point of deliberately steeling any spotlight at least-- and he can be easily embarrassed and humbled even when he's gloating.

He's fiercely loyal to those he loves, while at the same time being fairly quick to trust people and become attached; even if it's just a casual acquaintance, he takes it dangerously personally should they be hurt (especially so with civilians), and becomes doubly protective for those he calls friends and family. His optimism and trust lends him an undying faith in the good and potential of humanity, genuinely and generally believing that the world is a good place despite all the evidence he's seen to the contrary. He strongly believes in the mission and morals that Bruce instilled in him as a child, and has an innate desire to do good and make the world a better place like the Saturday morning superhero he was born to be. It's the very same reason why he became Batman in the first place-- he didn't particularly want to, as he had already achieved his own independence and identity as Nightwing that he was quite happy with, didn't think he could live up to the legend and it just wasn't him. But his undying loyalty to Bruce Wayne, the scrambling chaos in their little crimefighting family and his desire to make sure the people of Gotham were kept safe in Bruce's place made him more than willing to compromise.

While not inclined towards the cerebral, Dick is highly ingenuous, clever and adaptable, and has worked hard to learn and study many expansive fields of knowledge, logic and deduction, on top of some pretty good instincts. He's gravely determined to pursue victory and success where the odds seem impossible, extremely well-disciplined, and throws his entire being into fighting, protecting, or succeeding. That, and his generally people-oriented personality and willingness to help make him a natural born leader; one that is stern enough to command respect without being overbearingly unreasonable, but still authoritative and unafraid to be harsh. Though he's not without his faults in that area, as he is also ridiculously stubborn and single-minded when he has a task at hand. He's doesn't always communicate his feelings and intentions with those he's working with or close to, preferring to keep many problems to himself save for a handful of close confidants (maybe, if there's a chance that he won't burden them). He puts a lot of effort into maintaining his relationships regardless, and thrives when he's in a team environment more than when he's solo-- but can often be unintentionally inconsiderate about others' feelings when he becomes too focused on something else, or through poor communication. His upbringing and drive can lead to him acting as closed off and serious as his mentor, and his determination to the mission and protecting people can often lead to jeopardizing his relationships with the people he wants to protect.

That said, he is a much more physical and instinctual (and thus emotional) person than most of his family. Though trained and well aware that he has to keep thinking, in times of high pressure he can have a hard time keeping his head cool. While he's not dumb, he has a tendency to think moment to moment instead of looking at the bigger picture, and he's stated he's either too stuck in his body (where he lives solely in the moment, thinks with his body and completely indulges in the physical), or too much in his head (where he ends up overthinking things, psyching himself out more often than up). Making mistakes can lead to failure and death-- Dick is not afraid of dying, but he is afraid of failing, of messing up, and of disappointing those that are important to him and who expect so much out of him, to the point where he will stress himself out and push himself to and beyond the limit. He puts immeasurable responsibility on his own shoulders, blaming himself quite often when something goes wrong, and always, always wants to feel needed, wants to feel like he's doing something useful to help those around him.

Though he is very friendly and affable with people, going to ridiculous lengths to assist people in need, Dick is a bit closed off with people he can't tell truth and secret identity thing to-- which is just as well, because he's quite atrocious at actually lying to someone's face, and really doesn't like to do it anyway. He's an extremely genuine and sincere person, and eagerly wears his heart on his sleeve without any shame. Some might call him a bit of a pushover for it, but on the contrary, it makes him willful, and he can be threatening and intimidating without remorse when he needs to be, though he lacks a certain ruthlessness unless truly pushed to the edge of desperation.

While he can tolerate anyone beating and kicking and attacking him with any amount of punishment (he will almost always put the life of a friend, ally, or civilian above his own-- heck, he'll even put the life of a lot of a criminals before his own if they're in immediate danger of being murdered), if you attack or cross those he loves, his temper will flair up to that same ruthlessness you wouldn't think him capable of at first glance. And for a nice guy, he has one raging temper-- he's very well aware that revenge and murder are bad, but on more than one occasion has been driven to both such actions from extreme anger, duress, or loss of life (he fully intended to murder the man who killed his parents out of revenge, and beat the Joker to death when he thought his adoptive brother Tim had been killed because of him). Allowing his emotions to completely take over his judgment, he absolutely revels in retaliation when his anger has been set off (though you can bet he'll feel incredibly guilty over it later on).

POINT OF DEPARTURE:

Though not an AU, Dick will be a Veteran traveler; up until this point he has been a background installation, making pains to keep himself hidden and helping the Investigation efforts from afar/from the background. Operating almost exclusively with the cowl up and identifying himself as Batman to anyone that has noticed him or inquired, he hasn't played a major role in any of the jaunts except to offer assistance if someone's in immediate danger-- though he has mostly been helping the natives of the worlds they visit if their lives are jeopardized by the actions of the Investigation.

ABILITIES:

-Widely hailed as one of the most talented acrobats in his homeworld, Dick is naturally gifted, flexible, and highly skilled in aerialist stunts. Trained to peak of athletic physical condition since he was a child, his stamina, agility and reflexes are exceptional for a human being.
-On top of that, Dick is a skilled martial artist, having trained in many disciplines and the weapons, but specializing in hand-to-hand combat and preferring to wield escrimas and custom-made boomerangs/batarangs. He has a wide knowledge of non-lethal techniques, though is also aware of lethal measures.
-Trained by the World's Greatest Detective (TM), Dick is a skilled detective, able to research, sift through clues, and string together the trail to root out the criminal. To compound their personal invetigations, he has a vast knowlege of forensic science, chemistry, biology, anatomy, computers-- and so on.
-On top of that, he has studied crimonology, escapology (both employed as part of the whole vigilante thing), business, journalism, criminal justice and art history.
-A regular polyglot, Dick is fluent in a large number of languages, including English, French, Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, and Romani.

As a veteran traveler, Dick will also come with the following skills:

-Infoglasses (Previous Universe - The Spark)
-Filter Intrusion (Telepathic)
-Psychic Protection I (Telepathic)

INVENTORY; The Batman costume is equipped with the following:

-Cowl equipped with nightvision, radio communication with their own personal frequency, and a hook-up to the Batcomputer (not really all that useful now, as you might've guessed.)
-Gauntlets, which he carry his gadgets in place of the standard batman utility belt: electronic tracers and listening devices, smoke pellets, knock-out gas, as stun gun, sonic devices, grapel and de-cel cables, evidence gathering tools, equipment for portable analysis, antitoxins, first aid kit, a rebreather and a small gask mask.
-The Suit itself, lined with kevlar and fire-resistant material (though notably lighter than his predecesor's, so it sacrifices some degree of protection and possess no body armor.)
-The Cape, long, black, spooky, made of a stiff, lightweight material that lets it function as a parachute. (Also notably lighter than his predecessor's. what a big baby.)
-His boots, which act as an additional compartment for the toys that don't fit in his gloves, as well as house his escrima sticks.

ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? As there's already a version of Dick Grayson in this game (the current one from the tv show Young Justice), Dick may qualify as something of a canon AU iteration. Their development, live experience and certain parts of their personalities are pretty different between the two versions, so hopefully this is OK; I just wasn't sure what exactly to file it under.

S A M P L E S;
ACTIONSPAM SAMPLE: Test Drive Thread [1] and [2]
PROSE SAMPLE:

Dick kind of had a softspot for Sci-Fi when he was a kid; staying up all night watching old, old space movies while they were on the road, or late into the... er, day, in Wayne Manor. He usually imagined what it would be like to go into space-- but y'know, been there, done that. Even before being dragged onto the magic school bus ride through dimensions, he'd been to space plenty before. Honestly, it never lost its wonder to him; but still, he knew what that was like. So, there were other things to think about too.

Standing now, watching laser-grids and energy conduits, the feeling of pure electricity in the air-- this is definitely what he thinks it'd be like to be in a real computer. Not even just some Sci-Fi movie recreation, an actual, streamlined high tech computer, like if he were trapped in Oracle's systems.

He gives himself pause for a moment; a sobering though, remembering old friends and loved ones. He missed her. Hopefully she was OK, wherever she was out there.

But he can't let himself dwell on that very long; never could, couldn't especially now. He didn't have much time to watch, standing behind corners, watching red viral programs shamble around and lunge for some Variables.

Batman can't help himself; he grins, what could arguably be a bad habit for someone that was carrying the legacy of the Dark Knight, but he grins, cracks his knuckles, feels the edge of his cape as he grips it in his hand, and swoops down.

"Just think of me as your friendly neighborhood antivirus."

(Maybe he was enjoying himself a little too much after that line-- even if there weren't many people around to hear it.)