History
Early Years: 1994 - 2007
Timothy Drake was the son of Jackson Drake, a successful accountant, and his wife Janet. At an early age, Timothy was noted as being far ahead of other children in terms of mental development.Tim’s parents made full use of their resources to find ways for Tim to expand his horizons and foster his remarkable intelligence. As a young boy, Tim was in attendance with his parents at the charity event where the Flying Graysons were murdered. That night would be one of Tim’s earliest memories he would never forget thanks to his eidetic memory.
When Tim was nine, he discovered that his father’s accounting firm had been working for the Bertinelli family- the most powerful crime family in Gotham at the time. Looking deeper, Tim discovered that his father had done business with Tony Zucco years before, which was why their family had attended the charity circus that night. Distraught, Tim snuck out of his house one night and made his way to the Gotham City Police Department. He had intended to inform a detective of his father’s dealings, but once there, Tim had a different idea. Making his way to the rooftop, Tim activated the Bat-Signal and waited. When Batman, Robin, and Batgirl arrived to answer the call, Tim told them all about his father’s crimes.
This information allowed the heroes to rescue the life of Helena Bertinelli who had vital information which caused a major disruption in the False Face Society’s plans. After the loss of the Bertinelli family as clients, Jack Drake’s business crumbled. The family moved to more modest housing and Tim was put in public school. Years later, when Black Mask had heard it was Jack Drake’s fault for the interruption in his operations, he sent a hitman named Harkness to kill the Drake family. Tim’s quick wits allowed him to survive the hitman’s first assault, but in order to survive the hitman who had killed his parents, Tim played the last card in his hand and showed up at Wayne Manor, telling the butler he needed to speak with Batman.[1]
The Third Robin: 2007 - 2013
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The Third Robin
Orphaned by organized crime, Tim Drake was placed in the care of Bruce Wayne after certain arrangements were made. Tim urged his new caretaker to allow him to become the third Robin, but Bruce refused, still grieving the loss of Jason Todd.
Upon discovering the range of Tim’s intellect and deductive genius, Alfred opposed his employer and began to train Tim in secret. In the midst of his training with Alfred, Tim devised a plan with Sasha Bordeaux and Alfred to dress as paramedics and use a fake ambulance (from a previous undercover operation) in order to get through traffic to come to Batman's aid when he had his fateful encounter with Bane. While Alfred and Sasha loaded Bruce's battered body into the ambulance, Tim donned a prototype Robin suit originally made for Jason and distracted Bane long enough for the support team to get Batman to safety.
With Bruce out of commission, Tim decided to continue on in his self-appointed role as as the new Robin and with Sasha and Alfred assisting him around the clock. Patrolling the ruins of a lawless Gotham became too much for even Tim. Realizing this, Tim had the idea of tracking down Dick and myself to assist.
Tim played a part in getting me and Dick out of Gotham and once we were safe at the Manor, Tim asked me to talk to Dick and convince him to assume the mantle of Batman, temporarily. When Dick finally agreed to do so, he requested that Bruce finally allow Tim to serve as his official Robin. Bruce begrudgingly accepted; Tim, of course, was much more ecstatic in his acceptance.
As the third Robin, Tim was crucial in restoring order to Gotham during the Cataclysm and while present during the initial confrontation with Dumas, Tim broke away to assist new Batgirl Cassandra in rescuing the Joker from a death trap and thus was not present for Dumas' unmasking as Jason.
When Bruce returned to his cape and cowl, he found that the dynamic duo were out of sync. Tim and Dick worked together marvelously, but Tim was too cerebral, like Bruce, causing the two to constantly bicker and quarrel over who had the better approach for any given situation. Feeling underappreciated, Tim began to refuse outings with Bruce, preferring to spend time at Mount Justice with Cyborg's new team, eventually officially joining their ranks with Bruce's endorsement.
When the Titans were started up again, Tim was inducted into the Titans, along with Cassandra Cain. While Cassandra preferred to remain in Gotham, Tim had grown very fond of the team dynamic he had with the Young Justice comrades and spent more time at the Tower than he did patrolling the streets of Gotham. I'm sure his relationship with Cassandra Sandsmark had a lot to do with it as well.
During this period, whenever Tim was in Gotham, he was usually working alone. Eventually, Tim became fascinated by a new vigilante he discovered named Spoiler. In secret, Tim began teaming up with the new vigilante, even training her using the same techniques he had learned from the Batman. Tim is not pleased to admit it, but during this time he was more or less two-timing Cassie and Steph, though he stands by that his relationship with Stephanie was mainly flirtatious and had only gotten physical once and the two had yet to reveal their identities to one another.[2]
Redbird & Red Robin: 2013 - 2016
Red Robin
During his senior year of high school, Tim Drake began conducting a secret investigation into the League of Assassins. Upon graduating, Tim decided he would leave Gotham to join the League as part of an undercover operation. In preparation for this, he severed ties with nearly everyone and only filled Bruce and myself in on his plan.
Claiming to have had a falling out with Batman and having taken to calling himself ‘Redbird’, Tim began operating in eastern Europe as an intense vigilante. It took only a month until he was approached by Cheshire with an offer of recruitment into the League.
For six months, Tim worked within the League and even became a steward to the Demon’s Head himself, Ra's al Ghul.
Also during this time, Tim honed his skills with a bo staff through tutelage with Lady Shiva. According to Tim (and the scarce information I could find to corroborate Tim’s claims), the boy wonder had completely fooled the League into believing he had chosen to defect from Batman’s crusade and became privy to many of the League’s plans. To throw off Damian al Ghul's suspicions, Tim had faked the deaths of a number of targets he had been assigned to kill to prove his commitment to the League.
When the time arrived, Tim forwarded crucial intel to me on the whereabouts of the League’s operatives allowing us to apprehend nearly all of the League’s operational commanders. When Damian al Ghul uncovered this and informed his grandfather, he had no idea that he had played right into Tim's plan and when Ra's al Ghul confronted Tim about it, he walked right into a trap thus allowing Tim to do what Bruce had never managed to do: Tim had captured Ra’s al Ghul.
Returning to Gotham, Tim discovered that Batman and Batgirl had recruited Spoiler to wear the red, green, gold, and black of Robin. Though Stephanie offered the role back to him, Tim declined a return to that identity, saying he had grown fond of being ‘Redbird’. Bruce protested Tim using a name that he had used as an assassin so a compromise was reached with the moniker ‘Red Robin’. As Red Robin, Tim was given a much more high-tech armored outfit to make use of his technical expertise.
As his way of apologizing to his friends who were hurt by his apparent betrayal, Tim founded 'The Team' and convinced many of his old Titans and Young Justice buddies to join up. Once he had the crew assembled, he successfully convinced Bruce to endorse them as an operational covert unit for the Justice League, operating out of their old secret sanctuary which they had previously used in their days as Young Justice.
During this time, Tim learned that his best friend Conner and his ex-girlfriend Cassie had began dating. Still feeling guilty over having left them in the dark about his undercover operations and his lack of honesty concerning his relationship with Spoiler, Tim forced himself to accept that things were better this way and wished them the best of luck in their relationship. In exchange for his honesty, Cassie only punched him once for having made out with another girl... of course that one punch did dislocate Tim's shoulder.
Sometime during the Reach invasion, Tim and Stephanie elevated their relationship from casual friends with benefits to full-on boyfriend and girlfriend. [3]
The REAL World's Greatest Detective: 2016 - Present
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Tim as the Dark Knight
Assuming I don’t play by Damian’s rules of logic (which I don’t), Tim is Bruce’s third son. Fitting, as he’s the third person to don the cowl (if you don’t include the likes of Clark Kent, Alfred Pennyworth, Barry Allen, J’onn J’onzz, or Oliver Queen; who all sported the bat-mask for very brief and specific purposes). Though this costume was designed with Dick in mind, Tim is the one forced to put it on with Bruce Wayne’s shattered arm and Dick Grayson being unavailable. Of course, if you subscribe to Jason’s rules of logic, Tim does not rate this ‘promotion’ and is quite vocal about it. Even though Tim is more than happy to profess his wish that Jason could take his place, Bruce is firm in his choice of Tim and I second it.
Tim underwent some growing pains as he adjusted to the required theatrics that go with the persona of the Bat. As Batman, Tim is rather no-nonsense, favoring practicality over performance. Though he is much more stone-faced than Dick, Tim does still crack smiles on occasion; so he’s not the most taciturn Batman (I’m pretty sure that’s a record that Bruce is not likely to lose anytime soon... unless Damian succeeds Tim. Please God, don’t let that happen!).
Having recovered from his shattered arm and with Heretic having critically injured Damian, Bruce decided to step back into the role and Tim was happy to let him. Still, with Bruce's convincing, Tim has been coerced to assist Dick in playing Batman to give Bruce a few nights off. Last I heard, the arrangement was Tim handles Sunday nights and Dick takes Mondays... Great, just what I needed: another reason for me to hate Mondays...[4]
Personality
Throughout his life, Tim Drake has gone through a number of events that have altered his personality. Though Tim has always been a serious child, a number of events he had experienced has only intensified his already serious nature. A once balanced child was turned into a dark young man. In a strange way, becoming Robin actually helped Tim lighten up, though I suspect that his more jovial personality is a kind of self-defense mechanism or a psychological mask he wears to prevent others from seeing his vulnerable side. Tim cracks jokes in an effort to seem light-hearted. Sometimes they work, but humor doesn't come as easily to him as Dick.
With his time spent in Young Justice, the Team, and the Titans, Tim has built up a good life for himself with good friends and people he trusts without question. Tim is now known as friendly and likeable. With Stephanie at his side, he has been able to enjoy life. He cares about innocent people, and would never stand by and watch someone be hurt or killed. He has a strong moral compass.
Powers and Abilities
Red Robin's Stats
Abilities
- Acrobatics: Tim is probably the least acrobatic of the Robins, but he is by no means clumsy.
- Driving: Trained by Batman, Tim is skilled in driving and piloting a variety of vehicles.
- Genius Intellect: Tim possesses a genius-level intellect. Tim is,without a doubt, the most gifted member of the Bat Family in terms of raw intellectual genius. Yes, I'm including myself and Bruce in there. Tim is smart... like Ted Kord level smart. While he is not as skilled with computers as I am, it's only a matter of time before he surpasses me. Even Bruce has remarked that Batman might not be the World's Greatest Detective anymore as he believes that Tim has surpassed him.
- Investigation: Tim's true talent is his genius instinct for forensics. Tim an inspired detective, having been able to deduce the identities of both Bruce and Dick when he was just a young boy. As I mentioned earlier, Batman himself said that Tim may be a better detective than him. Tim is often cited as the most analytic of Batman's proteges, as his detective skills are, at the very least, on par with Batman himself.
- Computers: Tim is well on his way to besting me as our go-to computer savant.
- Multilingualism: Tim speaks over twenty languages as a natural polyglot with a talent for linguistics and encryption. Of the languages I can recall him knowing are English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Korean, Arabic, Kryptonian, Ancient Greek, Themysciran, Latin, Atlantean, Martian, and Thanagarian.
- Photographic Memory: Tim possesses an eidetic memory. Combined with his high level of intelligence, this makes Tim a natural student and self-taught practitioner of many disciplines. He has an in-depth knowledge of the natural sciences, which he puts to use in the crime lab and proved himself to be an expert in the field of genetics when he helped his friend Conner discover his genetic relationship to Lex Luthor. Tim has also studied the behavioral sciences, specifically criminology, and is very well-read and literate.
- Stealth: Next to Damian, Tim is probably the stealthiest of the Robins. For added effect to throw his targets off, Tim likes to taunt his targets by using his voice modulator to emit a echoing, taunting laughter as he ducks in and out of shadows.
- Tactical Analysis: Even in stressful situations, Tim can analyze an issue and come up with an effective plan in a matter of seconds.
- Throwing: Tim is an expert at throwing the modified batarang known as a wingding.
- Strength: Tim is in prime physical condition for a young man his age and build. He trains constantly with Steph and continually seeks to hone his skills.
Paraphernalia
- Red Robin Suit: A red and black Kevlar suit with black armored gloves and short boots. To conceal his identity, Tim wears a tech-heavy domino mask. For added utility, Tim wears an "X" style strap crossing over his chest, along with a black utility belt, where he stores extra gadgetry. Tim has a pack on his back that can extend or retract specialized red and black wings that can be held rigidly and used for flight or left loose to double as a cape. The material the wings are made of is light and flexible yet strong and sharp, making it able to slice through objects and provide protection from high caliber gunfire. The pack is also able to produce a short burst of prepulsion to assist in long distance flight.
- Tim's Batsuit: Improvements on the Batsuit include a lighter but stronger armor, leap-assist boot-thrusters, improved batarang compression to allow more room on the utility belt for a more robust forensic kit, holo-display gauntlets (much like the system in his Red Robin suit), and second shape gloves able to assume a clawed form to assist in combat or climbing. Many of these new systems were field-tested in the Batwing prototype suit, succeeding above and beyond our expectations. Tim, Luke, Harper, and myself (the resident tech-heads) couldn’t be happier to see this suit finally being used in the field. We are drooling with excitement imagining what kind of fun toys the suit will have ten years from now.[5]
Weaknesses
- Analysis Paralysis: Tim's over-analytic nature can be used against him if an enemy keeps Tim moving and doesn't give him a chance to regain his composure and time to develop a strategy or plan of attack.
Trivia and Notes
Trivia
- Tim Drake is not religious, believing that if God existed he would not let so many bad things happen. He has mentioned that his mother was religious but his father was not at all. This makes Tim a confirmed atheist.
- Tim's grandfather Charles Drake who was underage when he snuck off to join the military during World War II. He won the silver star for conspicuous valor at Iwo Jima. After that, Charles Drake married a girl named Linda and had a daughter named Laurel. Later in life, Charles Drake became a philanderer and left his family to marry another woman, this time having a son named Jackson. As a result of this, Tim's father, Jackson Drake was the younger half-brother of Laurel Drake, the mother of both Dinah and Sara Lance. Yes, that means Black Canary is Tim's cousin. That being said, the Drake family were not very close on account of all the drama and so Tim didn't even know he had a cousin until he did some research into his extended family.
- When Tim was 16, Bruce had his IQ tested. Tim scored 242.
- Tim and Cassie Sandsmark lost their virginity to one another.
- Tim is planning to propose to Stephanie Brown. I know this because he asked for my help in picking out the ring. Of course, that was in October of 2016 so I have no idea why Tim is taking so long to pop the question. I'm sure he's nervous... So cute.
- Tim's online username is Jester719.
- Tim's favorite food is sushi.
- Tim's best friends are Wally West and Conner Kent. The three friends and their respective girlfriends often go out on triple dates (in costume and in civilian attire).
- Tim is studying Computer Science at Gotham State University.
- After Barbara Gordon was diagnosed with cancer he started helping her with Oracle work.
Notes
- Tim is Roy's favorite Robin.
- His mother shares the name with Janet van Dorn, an anti-Batman district attorney from Batman: The Animated Series.
- Tim's paternal grandmother is Deborah Domaine, in comics she was the Silver Age Cheetah.
- His first Red Robin suit is inspired by his New 52 suit and the second one is inspired by the pre- New 52.
Links and References
- Appearances of Tim Drake
- Character Gallery: Tim Drake