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Truly, grandfather? Ninja? I am insulted. |
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— Himself |
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Son of Batman, grandson of Ra's al Ghul, and a trained assassin: he's left the League of Assassins behind and come to Gotham to learn from his father and become the kind of crime-fighter Gotham needs, rather than a killer or mere vigilante.
Teaming up with the other Robins, the rest of the Bat-family, and the Batman himself, he's determined that the night will learn to fear Robin.
The others are just determined to make him behave himself.
Personality
Caught between two worlds, Damian is the ultimate poster child of nature versus nurture. Brought up to be a professional murderer, an assassin, he is also the son of a man with perhaps the greatest instinct for righteousness ever known. As a result of his training, Damian is arrogant, brash, certain of his abilities and almost disdainful of everyone else around him that he perceives as a 'lesser', which is practically everyone. It takes a long time to gain his respect, but once earned his demeanor changes. There are, according to him, only two kinds of people on this world; the inferior and the equal. He is a young man struggling to leave a violent past behind him, learning slowly again what it's like to be human, and to be young. While he does have a vulnerable side, like everyone his age, that part of him has been clad with the armor of arrogance. He is a firm believer that respect must be earned, and strives daily to be worthy of his position of privilege.
Background
The son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, the daughter of Bruce's nemesis Ra's al Ghul, Damian nearly didn't survive conception. He was placed in an artificial womb, and genetically engineered to more closely resemble the physical ideal sought for by the League of Assassins. One day he was to take over the League from his grandfather, and thus one day he had to be the ultimate assassin. For reasons that were entirely her own, Talia kept Damian's existence from Bruce, and neither father nor son were aware of each other.
For years Talia and Ra's trained Damian, known to the rest of the League as Ibn al Ghul (The Son of al Ghul), to be the perfect assassin. To say that they demanded the best of him would be understatement, and although their methods were often harsh, they were undoubtedly effective. In demanding more from Damian than any other member of the League, they helped him to excel, to realize his own potential which might otherwise have lain dormant. Above all, however, his mother and grandfather fostered the greatest gift of all in the young assassin: confidence. Throughout it all, however, Damian remained curious about his father, and his mother was always quite happy to share stories... and Damian resolved he would meet this man. Finally, after beating Talia in a duel on his birthday, Damian was taken to Gotham to be introduced to his father, to meet the man and myth.
It was, in hindsight, probably inevitable that Damian would end up staying in Gotham. He and his father were too much alike for anything else to happen between them. It meant turning his back on another part of his life, but when given a choice between returning with his mother to the League or staying with his father, the boy chose to remain, and to get to know the man behind the mystery. Now he haunts Gotham as Batman's partner, learning how to moderate his violent tendencies, clawing back his humanity one day at a time. He knows that one day he may have to choose permanently between his Father and Mother, knows that his Grandfather has great hopes for him, but until that day comes he will play the long lost son in the public eye, taking on his role as the new darling of Gotham by day, and terror of the night in darkness.
SKILLS
ACROBATICS - Competent: While not a member of a circus family, unlike some Robins before him, Damian's training with the League of Assassins more than makes up for that deficiency. He is very nimble and could, should he so wish, easily run off to join a circus as an acrobat. This leaves him just as skilled as the other Robins (though he will of course always claim to be better than them).
ARTISTRY - Novice
ATHLETICS - Competent: You do not survive long as an assassin without being in good shape, and being the heir to an entire League requires physical excellence above and beyond even that. Suffice to say that despite his age, Damian is no slouch.
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT - Competent: Not a skill often associated with Batman's sidekick, Damian was raised to be more than an assassin or vigilante. His mother Talia always intended him to take over Wayne Enterprises, and so he is quite capable of understanding the complexities of running a large corporation. If nothing else, forensic accounting comes in handy during investigations.
COMBAT - Expert: Damian was born to be a weapon. He is lethal in a confrontation, boasts of knowing even more combat techniques than his own father and in the League it is rumoured that in a sword duel between Damian and Ra's the outcome would be too close to call. He was taught how to handle a bow by a world-class expert and is comfortable with the weapon at any range. While he is more than proficient in the use of firearms, he disdains the weapons as crude and unnecessarily loud, preferring instead the bow, shuriken or other thrown weapons (such as Batarangs) for take-downs at range.
DETECTIVE - Competent: As the son of the greatest detective alive, Damian has inherited many of his instincts and these have been honed by his training as an assassin. There is a great overlap in tracking someone to kill them, and finding someone to bring them to justice, both requiring the gathering and analysis of data and surroundings, and he is learning quickly how to transition from professional killer to bringer of justice.
DRIVE - Competent: He learned to drive when he was 5 years old, and has had reason and opportunity to practice regularly ever since. Most vehicles will have to be adapted for his use, however, since his short stature leaves him incapable of seeing out of the windscreen and reach the pedals at the same time.
ESCAPOLOGY - Competent: His training in escaping bonds and locked rooms was quite unnecessarily harsh; if he didn't manage to escape, he did not eat. So in order not to starve, he got quite good at getting away and is confident of escaping all but the most elaborate restraints in a matter of minutes.
INFILTRATION - Competent: Assassins go where they are not wanted, much like thieves but with greater focus of intent. If there is a way in, Damian will find it, and he remains one of the few people to have successfully entered the Batcave without anyone noticing.
INTELLIGENCE - Competent: Quite literally cut from the same cloth as his father, Damian's mind has been honed by years of exercise and training. Having an eidetic memory that can remember the most minute details, his intelligence and capacity for learning can be quite terrifying.
MIMICRY - Competent: Damian has a rare skill in imitating voices and voice patterns, enough even to fool the security measures on the Batcave. He is equally adept at disguising himself and playing the part of a complete stranger. Certainly comes in handy when attending all those social events his name requires him to appear at.
REFLEXES - Competent: Although mostly human, Damian was genetically altered by the League of Assassins to be the perfect assassin, a worthy heir to Ra's al Ghul. Quite apart from all the ideology this saddles him with, his reaction time is several fractions beyond that of peak human range. While not fast enough to dodge bullets, he is capable of catching arrows and finds snatching thrown knives or shuriken out of the air a trivial task. Catching a fly with chopsticks? Child's play.
SAVOIR FAIRE - Novice: There is more to dealing with the elite than simply being well educated or cultured, although both those things obviously help. Damian is learning how to charm and dazzle, delight and amuse... in short, learning how to employ his charisma as precisely as any other weapon. Learning fast, he is still nowhere near as suave as his father.
STEALTH - Competent: Remaining hidden until the last possible moment is an essential skill for an assassin, and one that Damian was trained in quite ruthlessly. As a result, he is possibly the stealthiest of all Robins, easily slipping into the shadows and moving around unseen and unheard.
TECHNICIAN - Competent: While not as technically gifted as, say, Tony Stark, Damian nevertheless understands mechanics and engineering enough to tinker with, adapt and repair most things he comes into contact with. He has even been known to defuse bombs, although he's far more likely to make them instead.
POWERS
SENSES - Basic: Although mostly human, Damian was genetically engineered by the League of Assassins. As a result, he has visual and auditory senses that are beyond the human scope of possibility, although nowhere near as acute as those of more powerful metahumans like Superman, more closely resembling those of a natural predator. His eyes can discern facial details from a roof top and pick up incredible detail at a range even the must visually acute of humans would struggle to perceive. Meanwhile his ears are very sensitive, able to pick up a heartbeat in a darkened room, and Damian remains the only Robin to have been allowed to wear a cowl while on patrol.
ADVANTAGES
ALLIES As the confirmed Son of Batman, Damian can call on Bruce's allies and friends. No matter what might wait for him in the darkness, he'll never have to face it alone.
BOLTHOLES Damian maintains several hideouts throughout Gotham and Metropolis, mostly garages with equipment, but most notably an old warehouse that he has transformed into a back-up Bat cave. It even holds a batmobile that he once 'borrowed' and never got around to returning, modified heavily to enable him to drive it.
COSTUME Borrowing heavily from previous Robin costumes, Damian's version is distinct for the incorporation of several bits of League gear. Wearing a black survival suit, the red 'tunic' is in fact repainted League body armor, and the distinct lime green boots and gloves are both borrowed from his assassin days for maximum stealth. In addition to the obligatory cape and utility belt, both identical to that of the previous Robin, his identity is protected not only by the green domino mask (incorporating high tech lenses and a compact communications suite) but also the cowl which hides most of his face in shadows.
TITUS A gift from Bruce, Titus is a Great Dane that is highly intelligent and fiercely loyal to Damian. Around Titus, Damian starts to act his age more and more often, and the dog is helping the boy regain his humanity and leave his violent past behind him.
WEALTH As the legal heir to Bruce Wayne, Damian will one day be fabulously wealthy. Until then, he has a trust fund that is managed in his name, and an allowance that he mostly does not touch. Living in a mansion with a butler, he doesn't have to worry about either food, shelter or even laundry. Anything he could conceivably want he can have, and as a result there really isn't much of anything that he wants at all.
WEAKNESSES
ARROGANCE Damian doesn't simply believe he is better than most, he knows it for an absolute fact. This often leads to friction between him and his allies, and quite frequently he will fail to take an opponent seriously. He reserves a particular loathing for Ninja, who he holds to be the 'clowns of the assassins'.
CONFIRMED KILLER In his short life so far, Damian has killed. It was the entire point of his existence until meeting his father, and something the boy was very good at. He struggles with Batman's 'no killing' philosophy, although he is trying hard to reform. Even his allies are always a bit suspicious of him, not helped by Damian's often violent tendencies.
FAMILY When you're the son of Bruce Wayne and the grandson of Ra's al Ghul, you can be sure that the Christmas card arrangements get a bit tricky. Although fiercely loyal to his father and the Bat family, his mother and grandfather hold enough influence over him still to muddy the waters in direct confrontations.
IDENTITY Publicly known as the son of Bruce Wayne, Damian finds himself in the spotlight more often than he'd care for. This makes his secret identity as Robin quite dangerous to both himself as Bruce... were he ever to be revealed, the secret of the Batman would quickly follow. Likewise, as Damian Wayne he cannot reveal any of his more lethal skills, and is quite often required to appear at social events or deal with reporters doing an article on Gotham's newest darling.
ROGUES GALLERY Although many would envy Damian's life, with the name and the mansion comes a succession of enemies that he has inherited from his father. Enemies of the Bat will happily target Robin, and enemies of Bruce Wayne may very well choose to target Damian instead, seeing him as the weak link in Bruce's life. The irony is that, despite his abilities, they're not very much mistaken in that assumption.
THE LEAGUE Before coming to Gotham, Damian made quite a few enemies as a member of the League of Assassins. Now, having left the league, those enemies remain, and the League itself is none too happy with his decision. His past hangs over him like the Sword of Damocles.
