Post by dean on Oct 24, 2012 19:48:22 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=valign, top][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style, border: 10px solid #f1e3b4; width: 450px; background-color: #f6f7f1;][STYLE=font-family: times new roman; font-size: 36px; color: #191919; text-align: center; letter-spacing: 2px;]PERSONAL FILE[/style][STYLE=font-family: arial; font-size: 8px; color: #FF0000; text-align: center; letter-spacing: 2px;]HIGHLY CLASSIFIED AND CONFIDENTIAL[/style][STYLE=float: right; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 10px solid #FFFFEE;] [/style][STYLE= color: #000000; background: #BBDD22; font-family: courier new; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; width: 296px; margin-left: 05px; font-weight: bold; padding: 02px;]GENERAL INFORMATION[/style][STYLE=color: #191919; font-size: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-left: 10px;]NAME: Richard “Dick” John GraysonALIAS: Nightwing GENDER: Male AGE: 26 OCCUPATION: Vigilante and Detective; Former acrobat, police officer, bartender ALIGNMENT: GOOD AFFILIATION(S): Teen Titans, Bat Family, The Outsiders, Justice League[/style] [STYLE= color: #000000; background: #BBDD22; font-family: courier new; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; width: 296px; margin-left: 05px; font-weight: bold; padding: 02px;]PHYSICAL PROFILE[/style][STYLE=color: #191919; font-size: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-left: 10px;]HEIGHT: 5’10” WEIGHT: 175 lbs EYES: Blue HAIR: Black, short and shaggy CLASSFICATION: Human UNUSUAL FEATURES: N/A, unless you count being acrobatic like a freak BEHAVIOR PROFILE[/style][STYLE= margin: 0px 10px 0px 10px; border: 2px solid #191919; padding: 2px; font-family: verdana; height: 125px; overflow: auto; font-size: 11px; color: #000000; text-align: justify; background-color: #ffffff; opacity: 0.8] Dick Grayson is a serious but easy going young man in his early to 20s. He's in a way the perfect big brother and the nicest, most popular guy in the group. He will approach everything with the confidence born of amazing talent and incredible training; yet manage to never seem pretentious in the slightest, always caring for others and being genuinely attentive. At times, a casual observer might think his Motivation is Thrill of Adventure - he finds rooftop acrobatics or driving the Nightbird just plain *fun*, gets an obvious sense of satisfaction from bringing justice and happiness to the people, and has always some light banter ready for combat - although he's not a motor-mouth like Booster Gold, or even Roy Harper, he usually seems very relaxed when doing the vigilante thing. However, what actually makes him tick is a deep, burning desire to make the world a better, safer place where justice actually exists. Like the Batman, he wants no kid to ever suffer the losses he went through; unlike the Batman he does not see the world as a cruel and harsh place, but remembers the wonderful childhood he had. This profound difference in their memories of the time before the loss let Nightwing fight for a better, safer world for honest peoples around him while his former mentor fight to crush evil. While Batman follows his own obsessive rules, Nightwing is actually sane and a part of society. Like the Batman, he has a very strong "nobody dies on my watch" code. Nightwing's courage is amazing - he has faced so much danger and monstrous opponents straight from a nightmare since his early teens that he seem to be fearless and take physical pain in strike without resenting it. To him it's a mere part of his job, and he can actually defy physical or mental torture with a smile. Even when badly hurt, he'll still act in a stalwart and generous way, saving innocents and bearing little grudge. Likewise, although his life has been a terrifying emotional grinder, he's outgoing, gentle and well-adjusted. Nightwing cares a lot for Tim Drake - although he never treats him as a kid, he knows Tim is the closest thing to a little brother he will ever have. He enjoys teaming up with him, and will help to train him when he can, usually running Tim through old training routines the Batman devised for the first Robin. They have clear chemistry and respect between them. His relationship with the Batman has changed over the years. It was initially rather complicated - Bruce Wayne simply did not have the tools to express how much he cared for the young man who is for all intend and purpose his son, and Nightwing always felt in the shadow of his formidable 'father'. They were awkwardly and silently defensive toward each other, with a lot of things left unsaid. However when Batman had bee missing, and Dick took over the mantle of the Batman, and Bruce returned, the relationship changed. Bruce allowed Nightwing to remain Batman, even joining the JLA. This showed Nightwing that he truly was considered an equal with Batman, and had finally left the shadow. The two work like clockwork together, and will fight along with each other in a heartbeat. Despite being a huge hit with the ladies with his attractiveness, confidence and boy next door charm, his romantic life keeps turning into a minefield through little fault of his own. He keeps trying, though and has an easy, flattering, gently flirting manner. |
Kind: Unlike some other dark vigilantes of the night, Nightwing likes to smile and chitchat with people. He allows others to see when he cares, and is less likely to hold a grudge against someone for trying to knock his head off if he knows they believe their life depends on robbing that store or not getting locked up. He isn't prone to taking out his frustrations on people physically (though he might yell at them), and is definitely the kind of guy who'd give a dollar to someone who's down on their luck.[/ul]
[/style][STYLE=color: #191919; font-size: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-left: 10px;]DOCUMENTED HISTORY[/style][STYLE= margin: 0px 10px 0px 10px; border: 2px solid #191919; padding: 2px; font-family: verdana; height: 125px; overflow: auto; font-size: 11px; color: #000000; text-align: justify; background-color: #ffffff; opacity: 0.8] Born on the first day of spring, "little robin" Grayson (as his mother called him) led an adventurous and happy childhood. One-third of the famed aerialist act The Flying Graysons - along with his father John and his mother Mary - Dick was a natural acrobat. He took to the high wire and trapeze at a very young age, thrilling audiences with his death-defying acts. He traveled the globe with his parents and the rest of Haley's Circus, seeing more of the world in his first ten years than most people see in a lifetime. The boy wonder of aerial acrobatics was billed nationally and was an inspiration for kids everywhere - even a very young Tim Drake begged his father to take him to Haley's.
Then the Circus traveled to Gotham. The Flying Graysons were the top draw at Haly's Circus, the act that pulled in crowds of children and thrill-seekers. And so it was the Graysons whom gangster Tony Zucco targeted when Pop Haly refused to pay him protection money. If Haly wouldn't pay in money, he would pay another way. Zucco sabotaged the rigging for the trapeze. That night, before a stunned crowd of Gotham's leading citizens, John and Mary Grayson plummeted to their deaths. Dick heard the ropes snap watched his parents die - and then he understood the meaning of the veiled threats he had overheard being made, and how he should have warned his parents.
Among the businessmen and politicians and socialites in the crowd that night was billionaire Bruce Wayne. He, too, had lost his parents tragically young - to a mugging gone bad. Seeing in Dick the same lost, confused and frightened little boy he had once been, Bruce offered to take in Dick and become his legal guardian. While Dick reluctantly settled in at the cavernous, luxurious and lonely Wayne Manor, Batman devoted all of his energies to capturing Zucco.
Dick, however, was very uncomfortable in the manor, under the care of the ever-absent Bruce Wayne. He would have fled the tomb-like Wayne Estate numerous times hadn't it been for Alfred Pennyworth's care. He ultimately did, however, wanting to avenge his parents. Racing back to Haly's Circus, he found it under the thumb of Zucco's men. He charged blindly at them as they were threatening the carnies and was nearly killed - but the Batman swooped in, taking out Zucco's men and declaring the circus to be under his protection.
While the carnies appeared to be now safe, Dick remained traumatized by his parents' deaths. Wayne had a talk with the youth as the Batman, after seeing to Grayson's wounds at the hands of Zucco's men in the Batcave. Dick told him about his loneliness (as he was seeing more of a mysterious creature of the night like Batman than Bruce Wayne), his guilt, his desire for vengeance and redemption. The Batman then took the dual step of revealing his secret identity to him, and taking him as an pupil.
Dick started a grueling regimen of mental and physical training - criminal psychology, aikijutsu, cryptology, jujitsu, forensics, karate... - that would last a year. Three months into that training, the Batman finally located Zucco, and he and his ward attempted to apprehend them. Tony Zucco ran as far as he could in face of the onslaught, but Grayson caught up with him and tackled him. The chase had been too much for the man, whose had a heart attack; while an ambulance was called he died on his way to the ER after confessing.
That death only served to intensify Robin's training regimen, as he realized he was not after vengeance but more after appeasing his guilt about his parents' death - and justice. Wayne, however, was reluctant to have a sidekick - and Alfred told Dick that Bruce would never ask for help, and that if he wanted to have a place at his side he would have to take it.
At the anniversary of the beginning of his training, Dick asked the Batman to convince him he was worthy by undergoing a final test - a real-world test of his abilities. From sunrise to sundown, he had to elude the Dark Knight on the streets of Gotham, leaving Batman clues as to his location. He passed with flying colors. Not only did Dick succeed in evading Batman, but he also cracked an attempted murder case and brought down Joe Minette, one of Gotham's most powerful mob bosses.
And so Richard John Grayson became Robin the Boy Wonder. Modeling his crime fighting outfit after his old aerialist costume, and taking his mother's nickname for him as his nom de guerre, he became the Batman's partner, his protégé, his surrogate son, a laughing, joking bright light in the Dark Knight's otherwise grim existence. Together, they faced the deadly streets of Gotham, night after night, taking down murderers and rapists and arsonists and drug runners. Together, they faced Gotham's most dangerous criminals: the maniacal Joker and schizophrenic Two-Face, the Penguin and Poison Ivy, monstrous Killer Croc and larcenous Catwoman. Moments of glory included a successful solo mission against the Mad Hatter (despite the Batman forbidding him to do so), and saving Batman's life from Blockbuster when Robin encountered him for the first time.
The status quo of Batman-and-Robin was dramatically changed by two events. The first was the appearance of Batgirl - Barbara Gordon. She was an uninvited guest, at least from Batman's point of view. She took his name and his symbol and began to fight crime, without his permission. The Boy Wonder, on the other hand, took to her immediately... though it was obvious part of his approval was an adolescent crush. It was Robin who finally convinced Batman to let the interloper join their close-knit family of crime fighters, and Batgirl was soon as well known in criminal circles as the Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder. When the Batman was busy elsewhere Robin and Batgirl would often team up, or enjoy something of a relationship.
The second event which proved so important was Robin's team-up with two other sidekicks, Kid Flash (later Flash) and Aqualad (later Tempest). On their own, the teen heroes joined forces to stop the villainous Mr. Twister. Shortly thereafter, the trio was joined by Speedy (later Arsenal) and Wonder Girl (later Troia) to rescue their mentors in the JLA from a mind-controlled thrall. The five young heroes discovered in each other an acceptance and friendship that their mentors could never truly offer ... and so they remained together. At Wonder Girl's suggestion, they took the name The Teen Titans and, under Robin's leadership, soon began having adventures of their own, far from the protection and oversight of their elders - who were busy saving the world without them as the Justice League of America, anyway. The Titans would know various incarnations and split several times. The Titans were another point of friction between Bruce and Dick, however, as the headstrong Robin had chose to reveal his identity to his teammate despite Batman's objections.
But Batman casts a long shadow, and the Boy Wonder would not remain a boy forever. In his late teens, Dick moved out of Wayne Manor to attend Hudson State University in the town of New Carthage. Though he never admitted it out loud, Bruce suffered a bad case of Empty Nest Syndrome. Once, he had resigned himself to being alone, to fighting His War alone. Then Robin appeared, a bright light, the son he had never imagined having. And now he was gone. To make matters more difficult, their relationship had become increasingly strained as Dick matured. While Bruce became even more intense, more dedicated, Dick began to crave that which he had lost long ago: a normal family. The final break came when Robin was shot in the shoulder by the Joker; though not fatal, the injury was an omen, a forewarning of what might happen - and it played on all the left over doubts in Batman after the Two-Face incident. Bruce decided that he would not ignore the obvious twice, and again forbade Robin to be a masked adventurer.
Furious, hurt, resigned, confused, Dick returned to Titan Tower and his friends in New York City. He dropped out of Hudson after only a semester - obviously he unconsciously hoped Bruce would react to this failure and demonstrate he cared somehow, but there was no reaction. Batman took away the Robin costume - Dick would no longer be Robin, could no longer be Robin. Then Batman made the young Jason Todd the new Robin - the replacement taking the very identity Grayson had created and defined for so many years. Wayne also legally adopted Todd as his son, which he never had done for Grayson. Utterly dejected, Dick left the Titans after making Wonder Girl the new leader. Kid Flash, who also had entered a point of personal crisis, left the Titans at the same time. [/style]
[STYLE=color: #191919; font-size: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-left: 10px;]Powers and Abilities[/style][STYLE= margin: 0px 10px 0px 10px; border: 2px solid #191919; padding: 2px; font-family: verdana; height: 125px; overflow: auto; font-size: 11px; color: #000000; text-align: justify; background-color: #ffffff; opacity: 0.8] KNOWN POWERS:
- Nope. Guy's a vanilla human
KNOWN ABILITIES:
- Master Detective: Grayson is a world class detective on par to the likes of Batman. He was rigorously trained by the Dark Knight in everything from escapology to criminology, fencing, stealth, disguise, and numerous other combat/non-combat disciplines.
- Master Acrobat: Grayson is a prodigious natural athlete, possessing a peak human level of agility/acrobatic skills. He is generally regarded as the greatest human acrobat in the DC universe. Batman himself is a incredible athlete in agility, but even he gives the advantage in that area over to Nightwing. As he is the only person on Earth who can do the quadruple somersault (formerly one of three, the other two being his parents).
- Master Martial Artist: He is a master of many martial arts disciplines with an emphasis on Aikido, Jeet Kune Do, Escrima, Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Wing Chun, Hapkido, Jiu-jitsu, Karate, Savate, Kendo, Ninjitsu, Boxing and Tang Soo Do . He has effectively combined the martial arts he has mastered into a unique style that suits his strengths. This makes him one of DCs top tier martial artists.
- Peak Human Conditioning: Dick Grayson possesses the peak athletic strength and endurance of a man who regularly engages in intensive physical exercise.
- Multilingual: Having had the finest education as Bruce Wayne's ward, he speaks with fluency in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Farsi (Persian), Mandarin and Cantonese, and has some knowledge of Romany and the alien language of Tamaran.
- Skilled Leader: He is also a brilliant and experienced strategist with superlative leadership skills, having served as leader to the Titans, the Outsiders, and even the Justice League. Additionally, Dick's efforts to remain in contact with other heroes makes him a master at rallying, unifying, and inspiring the superhero community, a skill in which he has surpassed his mentor.
- Research: Facing facts, Dick just isn't the living encyclopedia that some people are. He knows a whole lot of things, but there are questions that need answering which can't be done on the spot. For that, he goes to study up on it, and there's a knack to it. It's not enough to have a question...one needs to have an idea of where to look for the answer. He's a pro at quickly navigating search engines, libraries, and less efficient archives. Speed can be important because one could spend years just meandering through the information that's available out there while someone else is out there waiting for you to find them and save them from being fed head-first into a vat of boiling acid.
- Manipulation: Sure, he's a nice guy and sure, he means well and wants to take care of others, but Dick can be one hell of a puppet master. He learned from the best on that count. It's not just the bad guys either, though they're the ones he's usually playing head games with. Dick can pretty much steer even people he likes into acting in the way he'd rather they do. In the end he really does want what he believes is best for everybody, and he may even apologize for it once the game is up, but one should be wary of one's own ideas around Dick. They just may not be your own.
- Driving/Piloting: In the movies it seems like any time the hero jumps in a vehicle of any type they automatically know how to work it. That's funny. In the real world where Batman and Superman live (cough) people have to know how to drive that bulldozer or fly that helicopter, or else they can end up screwing up a lot of things, including their participation in the third dimension if they end up crashing a helicopter. Dick can't just drive a stick, he could drive a formula one racer if he had to. He can drive construction equipment, monster trucks, boats, motorcycles, and actually has more than a passing interest in motor vehicles. They're neat. He's also well trained in piloting aircraft both fixed wing and rotor, and more than a few experimental aircraft (the kind that tend to have little bat-symbols all over them). Not only can he operate the vehicles, he's spent some time learning how to maneuver them evasively and with skill since his night job sometimes demands just that sort of thing.
- First Aid: No amount of preparation, resourcefulness, or equipment can totally compensate for the inevitability that injuries happen. When there's a broken bone or a stab wound, laceration or gunshot wound, Dick knows those useful first steps to take to make recovery possible. He's not a doctor by a long shot and really doesn't have the passion for it, but it's extremely useful knowledge for anybody, not just for those that put themselves in harm's way nightly. He is skilled in applying field dressings, setting bones, applying CPR, and even crude enough surgery to remove bullets and apply stitches. One could describe his skillset here as triage, and he's about on par with a paramedic.
- Computers: In this day and age it's absolutely vital to know your way around computers. Dick isn't a programmer, but he's well acquainted with common operating systems and also computer hardware. His closeness with Barbara Gordon especially facilitated this, and in spite of a relative lack of interest in it, he's learned a lot from her.
- Sleight of Hand: It's surprisingly useful to be able to palm an object and keep it out of sight. Keys, wallets, watches, and other small valuables can be swiped and secretly deposited wherever Dick wants them. He'd be lying if he said Batman taught him all of that...remember, Dick grew up in a circus. The carnie culture is not known for its upright lawfulness. Still, it is an ability that Bruce considered important, and Dick's skill did improve under the Bat's tutelage. When a fleeing thug slams into Dick during an escape, it's entirely possible the poor sap may get all the way home where he finds Nightwing perched on his windowsill with a ransacked wallet asking, "Lose something?"
- Willpower: You just don't stand up to Batman from the tender age of eleven and not develop some kind of backbone. You don't get beaten down by Two-Face and still want to be Robin. You don't get shot by the Joker and actually resent Batman for trying to keep you out of harm's way. You sure don't keep fighting when somebody's busted every other rib you have and given you a concussion. When all they want to do is get away, someone with a lesser willpower would let them after all that punishment. Alas, Dick is made of much sterner stuff than the reasonable, sensible person that WOULD let the bad guy get away, WOULD quit when Batman glowered at him, and WOULD stop being a crime fighter when there's no monetary reward, no real appreciation, and no shortage of hazards to doing so. Call it stubbornness if you like, but Dick has a learning deficiency when it comes to comprehending the concept of giving up.
- Ladykiller: Okay...Dick Grayson is a hottie. Women love him. It isn't just that his physique is a thing of near perfection or that he has a certain easy way of smiling at someone as if they're his best friend, or that he's humble, kind, charming, makes people laugh...it's all that, plus he's a flirt. Even when he isn't trying, Dick is making double-entendres and innuendos that are part of his natural sense of humor and when you add them into the whole picture a lot of girls get the wrong idea. Unfortunately even if they know that's the wrong idea, some of them don't CARE that it's the wrong idea and come up with their own agenda! Most girls, sooner or later, on some level, want some of Richard.
STRENGTH LEVEL:Dick Grayson possesses the normal human strength of a man that has intense physical workouts at the height and weight of 5"10 175 lb. While he relies more on speed and agility than strength, Grayson has shown incredible strength throughout the years. He has kicked a steel door off of its hinges, held up nearly 1000 lbs of rubble, hurt the super-strong Blockbuster with his blows, and defeated the KGBeast in single combat.
Weaknesses:
- Only Human: Dick can be shot, stabbed, wounded, inflicted by disease, gassed, killed by beam blasts, and whatever else humans can be harmed with. Continuous fighting will tire him out, making him more vulnerable to be killed by his enemies or whoever he's fighting against.
- Family Issues: Dick was a little young to get into many big issues with his natural mom and dad. He hadn't reached the rebellious age yet when they died. No, Bruce got to deal with those years, and it's little wonder that the two of them had as rocky a relationship as they had. The thing is when Dick considers someone part of his family, he bonds much harder than normal people do and can easily get over-sensitized to their actions. Part of him is afraid to lose anybody important to him, but he's also afraid of the kind of betrayal he's felt from Bruce or Kory in the past. He also happens to have a family that consists almost entirely of obsessive personalities, each with their own plethora of problems. Alfred may be the only normal one in the bunch.
- Enemies: You don't grow up being Robin and later Nightwing and not get enough enemies that they start to kind of blur together. Dick almost needs a spreadsheet to figure out how many he has. Fortunately most of them have a lot of enemies of their own, and many of them hate each other, so it's a rare day that they can actually get together and go after Nightwing with something resembling teamwork. Alas, they have a habit of popping up all over the place and making his life hell, and it just takes one bad night with one guy getting one lucky shot to end things.
- Women: Women love Dick. After they get to know him, they sometimes get mad at him too. He's had enough girlfriends to know what effect he has on women, but a lot of the time they don't know it until they learn about the OTHER women lining up. The problem isn't that Dick toys with them. On the contrary, he tries to avoid that (except that he's a natural flirt). The problem is that they tend to get too attached too quickly and then comes to pushing them away, and the hurt feelings, and the moods...
- Code of Conduct: The code of conduct that Dick lives by mostly pertains to his work as Nightwing. In a nutshell it is: Do not break certain laws. Especially do not kill anybody, or by inaction or negligence allow someone to die. Minimize property damage where possible. Do not hurt people unnecessarily, and go to great lengths to keep the innocent from harm. Saving lives takes precedence over all, even over catching the bad guys. Needless to say there are times when this code causes problems. It puts Dick's life at risk, but that's part of the idea. He's taking on a responsibility by being Nightwing, and he wouldn't have it any other way.
- Secret Identity: The world does not know Dick Grayson is Nightwing or was ever Robin. Hell, a lot of people don't even know there's a Nightwing to begin with. It's a major secret for Dick, although quite a few people know now. Of course all the Bat-people know. Most of the older Titans know, and the big Justice League heroes that know Batman usually know Nightwing as well. It's just that when dealing with normal society Dick has to go to great lengths to maintain the double-life. He works day jobs and stuff, then goes out at night as Nightwing, and somewhere in between needs to find room for sleep. When Nightwing gets the crap kicked out of him, Dick Grayson has to invent excuses for what happened. It's just one of those lies that compounds itself and ultimately means that Dick can't really have any close friends that aren't also in the know about his secret.
- Deathstroke: Slade Wilson is a huge problem. This one man, by himself, has challenged the entire team of the Titans in almost all their incarnations. Leading the charge against Deathstroke again and again has been Dick. Slade knows Dick is Nightwing, and what's more he's nearly impossible to beat one on one. It takes cheating to beat Slade, and to complicate matters more, Slade's good at cheating too. It's also complicated by the fact that he's not always bad. Or even wrong. He is, however, a killer, a criminal, a terrorist, and a mercenary. It's just that his moral ambiguity makes things less cut and dry when it comes to puzzling out Slade's motives.
[STYLE=color: #191919; font-size: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-left: 10px;]PARAPHERNALIA[/style][STYLE= margin: 0px 10px 0px 10px; border: 2px solid #191919; padding: 2px; font-family: verdana; height: 125px; overflow: auto; font-size: 11px; color: #000000; text-align: justify; background-color: #ffffff; opacity: 0.8] EQUIPMENT:
- Suit: The Nightwing suit is a formfitting bodysuit of a unique nomex/kevlar weave that serves several purposes. First, it's highly fire-resistant. It's also fair protection against small-caliber firearms, though serious gunfire could still penetrate it. The suit is insulated against electric current, and is photosensitive in such a way that it actually darkens in higher light conditions. The mask attaches to Nightwing's face with a simple adhesive and provides him with a set of starlite night-vision lenses as well as an integrated radio transceiver. The entire suit is wired for a one-shot emergency taser charge that goes off if someone who doesn't know what they're doing tampers with his boots or gauntlets while he's wearing them. In the gauntlets and boots are a combined sixteen compartments for storage of useful items, serving as Nightwing's substitution for Batman's utility belt. The right gauntlet is equipped with a 100,000 volt contact stun gun, and both gauntlets have integrated jumpline launchers with about two hundred feet of de-cel jumpline in each, tipped with wall-penetrating pitons and featuring a recoil device that can haul about five hundred pounds of weight maximum. Nightwing's costume is tailored specifically to his unique style of crime-fighting. As such, his costume has fewer body-armor inlays than Batman's, anticipating a decreased need for shock-absorption and an increased capacity for motion ("Move more, get hit less."). A caveat of this configuration can be exploited by capable fighters who are both fast and strong, such as Superman. Should Nightwing need to engage an enemy who is capable of exploiting this weakness, he has supplemental body-armor overlays which he can attach to his gauntlets, his mask, his shoulders, and boots.
- Gas Pellets: In appearance they're little more than spheres the size of ping-pong balls, but when thrown they start to spew gas everywhere. Exactly what they spew is up to whatever Nightwing decides to put in them. It could be tear gas, knockout gas, or regurgitant, or even just a smokescreen. Those things are useful. It could potentially also be something real nasty like nerve gas.
- Cuffs: It helps to have cuffs like the cops do, and though he used to have the old bat-cuffs like Batman would carry, Nightwing uses his own version which, again, are in the 'bird thing' style. They're roughly as tough as police issue, but without the flexible little chain links in the middle. These are more or less a solid affair that allow minimum movement and keep the hands not only from coming apart, but from getting close enough together to palm anything back and forth.
- Gas Mask: The gas mask that Nightwing carries is collapsible and efficiently stored so that he can carry it in one of his utility compartments. It's black and covers his nose and mouth effectively, allowing him to survive any poisonous aersosol or gas without negative effects. The charcoal filters that make the device work are easily replaceable and are good for 24 hours of exposure.
- Rebreather: The rebreather is basically an air-recycling scrubber that allows Nightwing to survive in an airless environment (like, underwater) while breathing his own air over and over. It operates by chemically extracting the carbon from CO2 and turning it back into breathable O2. The scrubbers become saturated with carbon after about two hours of use, after which they stop working altogether.
- Tracers and Bugs: Surveillance bugs and tracers are bread and butter when it comes to tailing suspects. It's so much easier to tag a target, let them go wherever they're going, and save yourself the chase and just follow the signal when it stops. It's also very handy to bug a room and listen from across the street while somebody includes you in their moment of exposition without being any the wiser. Nightwing carries an assortment of listening and tracking devices which can be used on people themselves, rooms, phones, vehicles, or even animals.
- Binoculars: A good set of binoculars can help in many situations. Nightwing has a compact set that feature a zoom feature, settings for infrared, night vision, UV, and even a digital recording feature that allows him to use them as a long distance video camera.
- Forensics Kit: Similar to what Dick Grayson used as a police officer, but more compact and better outfitted, with the required tools to find and lift fingerprints, a small video camera, a gas chromatograph, evidence bags with forceps, and other common implements needed to collect and preserve evidence.
- Flashbangs: Similar in appearance to the gas pellets Nightwing carries, flashbangs are basically small specialized grenades that explode with a literal flash and a bang. The light and noise is highly disorienting and serves as a very handy distraction when Nightwing needs people to look the other way or perhaps not be able to look at all. If someone's in a dark room and their eyes are adjusted to the light, one of these puppies is going to take their night vision away in a hurry.
- Grapple: Though he has launchers integrated into his gauntlets, Nightwing also sometimes carries the standard wall-penetrating grapnel with del-cel jumpline. It comes standard with two hundred feet of line, a diamond-tipped piton that will penetrate most types of masonry with a solid hold, and will hold up to four hundred pounds without fatigue and about twice that much without snapping right away, though that much weight will strain the line and eventually cause it to give. The recoil device is enough to haul up about twice Nightwing's weight without much trouble, and the firing canister has enough CO2 for ten shots before needing to be replaced.
TRANSPORTATION:
- Nightbird: The Nightbird is Nightwing's ride. He realized he needed one after Batman suggested it and he found himself wishing he could run fast enough to chase down fleeing vehicles that he wasn't close enough to jump on. What he ended up with was a completely custom-built machine that is, for wont of a better word, his baby. The chassis is made of composite aluminum and the engine is a 640 horse power monster that, with proper traction, can bring the Nightbird from zero to sixty in five seconds. On board the car are a computer with a wireless uplink and scanner, a caltrop dispenser to give pursuing vehicles trouble, and a security system that responds to break-in attempts with tear gas. The real inventiveness of the Nightbird is that it has lots of different looks. It was built to be easily transformable by only replacing the outer body. Each of the bodies is reinforced to offer the maximum possible protection from gunfire, and some of the Nightbird's various 'looks' include a red sports car, a taxi, a police car, a truck, and a bombed out piece of crap hooptie. Wally West is not allowed to drive the Nightbird ever again.
- Motorcycle: Nightwing's motorcycle is based on a Batcycle, but with the whole Nightwing motif on it. It's a high-powered rocket on wheels that is actually faster than it can realistically go. The problem with motorcycles is that when they're powerful enough they tend to wheelie out and flip if the rider isn't careful. Nightwing's bike comes with a computer uplink and scanner similar to the Nightbird's all the normal armor where it counts, and a black helmet with a visor so if he wipes out he doesn't leave Richard cranium all over the pavement.
WEAPONS:
- Escrima: Escrima is a Filipino martial art teaching the skilled use of machetes in battle. It's extremely quick and brutal, and practice in escrima is accomplished with sticks to minimize wounding. Because machetes are decidedly lethal weapons, Nightwing uses the sticks as his weapon of choice in this art. The escrima sticks that he carries often fit into concealed pouches on the back of his suit. They are simple batons made of a high-strength polymer that is nearly unbreakable. There isn't much more to them than that.
- Wingdings: Nightwing does still sometimes carry batarangs. They're useful and he's used them for years. When given the option, though, he uses his own brand of weapon he calls wingdings. They're functionally the same, being modified boomerangs, only formed in a motif that reflects the 'Nightwing style' of some kind of sexy bird-like iconic...bird...wing thing. Wingdings generally come in one style equivalent to the heavy batarangs that Batman uses and are meant for blunt impacts at a distance. They can, when thrown correctly, travel full circle and return to the thrower, and are exceedingly useful for disarming foes with guns or just smacking things too far away to affect with a fist and too tough to affect with harsh language.
- Explosives: Explosives can be very handy, especially for breaching barriers like locks and solid walls. Normally Nightwing carries at least a little C4 with detonators carefully stored elsewhere on his person. He also has small concussion grenades which are useful for stunning rooms of people without seriously injuring them.
- Razorwings: Similar to wingdings, these are sharp shuriken-like throwing weapons. Nightwing uses these for cutting things at a distance or for REALLY disarming someone, and not in the sense that he cuts their arm off. They're not THAT sharp, and his puns aren't that bad. They're weighted for accuracy and he can cut the wings off a fly with them.
[STYLE=color: #191919; font-size: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-left: 10px;]EXAMINATION RECORD[/style][STYLE= margin: 0px 10px 0px 10px; border: 2px solid #191919; padding: 2px; font-family: verdana; height: 125px; overflow: auto; font-size: 11px; color: #000000; text-align: justify; background-color: #ffffff; opacity: 0.8] Blüdhaven.
You smell it before you can see it. Petrochemical plants shadowing rows of houses and apartment buildings. Whatever filth and decadence that's too dark for Gotham, it goes here. Someone has to protect it. Someone has to live it. Might as well be Dick Grayson- Former ward.
At least, that's what the twenty-something thought as he stared out his ramshackle apartment window at the smog-filtered sunset.
He found himself admiring the hues of blue, orange and yellow that spread themselves through the tall rooftops, steam and carbon-air making the light-beams shake in the twilight. Sure, he knew that the amazing sunrises and sets in the city came from the overwhelming amount of pollution that the ex-whaling town produced, it didn't make the per-nights and dawns any less amazing to the acrobat. The way Dick saw it, just because something bad happened it didn't mean that something good couldn't come out of it. It was all a matter of perspective. Considering the young man's upbringing, it was an oddity that he felt that way, but that was always the difference between Batman and Robin: Bat's needed the night
Robin's needed the light.
Dick smiled as the night sounds of the city began to settle in, horns and tires melting with the calls of people bike messengers. He picked up his spoon, shoveling a slightly soggy bit of cereal into his mouth and chewing. Sure, he was a mostly-grown man that had saved the world a couple of (dozen) times, but somethings never changed, and that's the way Dick like them. No mater who was the current Robin, or which one of his friends turned out to be a clone, or whether or not Bruce decided to not be a tool this week or not, his cereal would still be cereal.
A trail of sirens and red and blue lights brought Dick out of his musings and cornflakes. Like so many times before, he shot up, setting his bowl down and jumping over to his closet. He hit a hidden button, causing a panel in the back of the closet to yield open. Like a firefighter Dick suited up, the motion repeated so many times before that it was a step past second nature.
Nightwing grabbed his escrima sticks, slapping them onto his back and stepping onto his fire-escape. He smiled out at his city. "Time to punch in", and with that, Nightwing took flight into the fading evening light. [/style][STYLE=color: #191919; font-size: 12px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center; font-family: courier new]subject examined by Doctor Cyber[/style][/td][td][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style, width: 40px;][STYLE=background-color: #f1e3b4; font-family: times new roman; font-size:30px; color: #404040; min-height: 150px; padding: 5px; text-align: center; moz-border-radius: 0px 10px 10px 0px; -o-border-radius: 0px 10px 10px 0px; border-radius: 0px 10px 10px 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 0px 10px 10px 0px;]N I G H T W I N G[/style][/td][/tr][/table]
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