Why Tim Is Not Duke's Robin
Here are my personal reasons why Tim (and any other Batboy) is not Duke's Robin:
In We Are Robin #1, Duke is extremely jaded with all vigilantes (but names Batman and doesn't even mention Robin). This set up shows that Duke has no special feelings for any prior Robin, and/or those feelings have gone sour. It's more likely the former because Duke has NEVER mentioned liking Robin as a child
Duke only comes to appreciate Robin through We Are Robin, positing any other Robin as 'his Robin' downplays WAR's role in Duke's story
In Robin War, Duke meets Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian. He only has meaningful conversations with Dick and Damian and doesn't really talk to Tim at all like he does not care
Duke is introduced in the New 52. Tim was never Robin in the New 52. It's actually impossible for Tim to have been Duke's Robin!!!
Related to reason 1 but it is ESSENTIAL to Duke's character that he never had a Robin growing up, so much of his story is about learning why Robin matters by taking up the mantle himself - it doesn't make ANY sense for him to value any Robin beforehand!!!
This is Duke describing Tim's death (the only time Duke talks about Tim to my memory):
He doesn't even talk about Tim as Tim, but as Bruce's "ex-partner". It's not that he hates Tim, he just has zero feelings!! And that's fine!!!
7. Their only significant interaction is Batman: Urban Legends #9, which is genuinely sweet - but Duke says like 2 lines to Tim in that entire story 😭 literally even their most significant moment doesn't imply Duke has any feelings at all about Tim
'Tim is Duke's Robin' is a headcanon that props Tim up at the expense of Duke. It is incompatible with canon Duke's personality and storyline. To say Tim is Duke's Robin is to dilute the importance of WAR to Duke's story, misrepresent Duke's relationship to Robinhood, misconstrue Duke's relationships to the other Robins (all of whom are more important to him than Tim), and also to miss out on the potential of an actual Tim-Duke dynamic which acknowledges their parallels and striking differences without diluting it for the sake of the hero worship trope. Like it could be so interesting if we let it be!!
Anyway further reading: @inamindfarfaraway's WAR is Duke's Robin post and @leapingleones' Tim-Duke dynamic potential post
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