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5 Reasons Tim Drake Should Become Red Robin Again (& Why He Shouldn’t)

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Although Tim Drake is a controversial character, his removal as Batman’s sidekick Robin has split fans, with some wanting him back in the role.

Tim Drake has become something of a polarizing figure in the DC Universe, thanks in no small part to a passionate fanbase and DC mistreating the character over the last decade. After being “replaced” by Bruce Wayne’s son Damian Wayne, it caused fans who grew up with the character in the 90s and the 2000s to be frustrated with DC Comics.

RELATED: 5 Ways Batman Works Better With Robin (& 5 Why He’s Better Alone)

The character has made a resurgence thanks to DC Rebirth and most recently, Batman: Urban Legends. The character got a story to himself for the first time in ages, one that’s explored his identity in more ways than one. It’s entirely possible the character will go back to his Red Robin identity when all is said and done but is that what he really needs?


10 Why He Should: The Costume Is Cooler

The Robin costume was never all that cool, but that wasn’t the point. Batman was meant to be the cool character while Robin was meant to be the kid brought on cool adventures. But Tim Drake worked on the costume to improve it and change the acrobatic tights into a more realistic costume for the 90s. However, even those costumes were never as cool as the Red Robin suit, which feels like a natural upgrade to the Robin identity in a way that none of the other variants have.

9 Why He Shouldn’t: The Cops Wouldn’t Recognize Him

tim drake teen titans dc comics

Red Robin has been Tim’s least recognized identity. Most characters that don’t already know him have no idea who he is. With a cowl, the character is no longer recognizable as his old self, and that just makes for more confusion on the streets of Gotham. People were calling him Dr. Midnight and all sorts of other identities because, compared to Robin, the Red Robin identity simply is less well-known. And with Gotham having to deal with strict anti-vigilante restrictions, it’s for the best that any vigilante still operating be recognizable to a few cops.

8 Why He Should: Cuts Down On Confusion

Tim Drake Red Robin DC Comics

The Bat-Family is enormous at this point. It’s a long way from the 90s when it was just Bruce, Dick, and Tim. These days Batman has something closer to an army of fighters hat are all affiliated with him in one way or another.

RELATED: DC: 10 Superheroes Who Wasted Their Potential

And among those, there are somehow two people with the Robin role and five people who were previously known as Robin. At the very least, Drake should really get his own call sign so people can avoid confusing him with Damian and the Red Robin works well for that.

7 Why He Shouldn’t: Reminds Him Of A Dark Time

The time where Tim Drake gave up the Robin identity and became Red Robin represented one of the darkest periods in his life. It was a time where he’d gone into complete despair and began making compromises for the sake of reaching his goals. He began working with the League of Assassins just to have support in discovering whether Batman was alive or not. Going back to that persona might not be in his best interests if a similar thing happened again.

6 Why He Should: It’s Better Than Drake

In Brian Bendis’ Young Justice, he got the old gang back together and gave Tim an all-new identity. In the same vein as Donna Troy back in the 80s, Bendis decided Tim Drake would do better with the name “Drake” as his identity. And while this does make some sense in terms of being a bird and giving him a unique costume it still feels a little off. Having one’s real name as a superhero identity just doesn’t seem like the best of ideas.

5 Why He Shouldn’t: Might Bring Unwanted Attention To Him

Ra’s Al Ghul And Tim Drake Fight It Out

The Red Robin era of Tim Drake’s life saw him taking a ton of risks. He not only went up against the League of Assassins, but he also went against another group of talented contract killers as well. He ticked off a ton of people while in that identity, and made more enemies than friends. Becoming Red Robin again would only cause the character more problems, which is the last thing the Bat-Family needs.

4 Why He Should: He Was At His Most Intelligent

Tim Drake’s time as Red Robin was when the character was at his most intelligent and most impressive as a hero. His very first storyline featured him beating the League of Assassins at their own game and blowing up half of their most important centers.

RELATED:  10 Times Tim Drake Was The Best Robin Batman Ever Had

The second storyline saw him completely outsmarting Ra’s Al Ghul. For most fans of Tim Drake, his time as Red Robin represents him at his best as a character. And he did all that while finding evidence that Batman was alive.

3 Why He Shouldn’t: The Temptation Is There To Go Evil

Tim Drake has a nasty habit of becoming evil in the future. It’s unfortunate but it’s been there since the Titans of Tomorrow era. Tim is almost too intelligent for his own good, and in multiple timelines now it’s been shown that he leans into becoming Batman and it breaks eventually him. The Red Robin identity often has Tim creating scenarios and planning out possibilities in the same way that his future self does. Perhaps discovering his own identity rather than continuing with the ethos of Red Robin will help him stay on the side of the good guys.

2 Why He Should: He Agreed To Give The Role To Damian

tim drake damian

Chief above everything else, Tim Drake agreed to give the role to Damian. And whether Tim Drake fans like the character or not, Damian deserves to have his own identity. Briefly, he reclaimed the name Robin in the Batman: Urban Legends anthology series that revealed Tim as a queer character, but that shouldn’t be something that’s permanent. He said “while Damian is out of town” he’ll refer to himself as Robin, but presumably, that’s not something that will stick around for the future.

1 Why He Shouldn’t: It’s Not His Identity

Tim Drake Gets His Own Story

Even though Tim would be taking on a role that is unoccupied, it still wouldn’t be his own identity. While Dick Grayson went on to become Nightwing, having Tim Drake become Red Robin again wouldn’t be satisfying. There’s no reason Tim Drake should go from one Red Robin identity into another.

NEXT: Robin: 10 Times Tim Drake Was A Smarter Detective Than Batman

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