Reverse Robins but we include the Robin Collective has been eating my BRAIN bc it'd completely change the meaning and purpose of Robin.
So like. We all know Gotham is a shithole, and the leadership cares more about lining their own pockets than anything else. On the rare occassions they decide to take a look at the city, they sure don't look at the Narrows, the poor parts of Gotham. As a result, it's a hotbed for villain prototypes who, without a vigilante to rage against, just rage against the general population. Batman isn't a thing yet, and everyone in the Narrows knows nobody is going to help them but themselves.
Duke's parents are the victims of one of those proto-villains, and he spends time bouncing from foster home to foster home, quickly learning that if he doesn't help himself and the kids there, nobody will, being consumed by rage as he watches more and more kids pile in as nobody does anything to fight against the proto villains, regular criminals, and just general shittiness of the Narrows.
So he does something about it. It's pathetically easy to get the younger kids to trust in someone dressed in bright colours calling himself a superhero. Is he one? He doesn't know. All he knows is he's full of rage and wants to do something. So he steals food and distributes it to kids and families he knows need it, ferrets the kids in abusive foster homes away and cares for them in a secret location, foils as many proto villain plans he can, and finds that others join him. Mostly kids from the Narrows, who help ca ree for the kids with nowhere else to go, who set up support networks so less of them have to go into crime to survive, who overwhelm the proto villains with sheer numbers. As the movement grows, they become known as the one force of good in the poorer parts of Gotham, and kids from the richer parts, wanting to help and frustrated at seeing their parents do nothing, join them.
By the time Bruce comes back to Gotham to play Batman, he finds a thriving vigilante community made out of kids. It's impressive, and they're undeniably doing good, but it's also undeniably not sustainable. Proto villains are escalating to true villains, and casualties start coming in; hiding kids with nowhere to go works in the short term, but long term, they need documentation, better clothes, better homes, and, you know, actual parents. The Collective can't go on as it is, but without something to replace them, nobody is willing to stand down. And after so long on their own, they don't trust anyone.
And thus begin the negotiations. There is no real leader of the Collective, but as one of the first, Duke is one of the de facto leaders, and Batman seeks him out. With Duke as a representative, Batman and the Collective talk. At first, the collective thinks he's full of hot air, but Bruce Wayne's money starts pooring into the Narrows, setting up facilities that make aid easier to find and distribute, cracking down on the corruption in the foster system, setting up food banks and homeless shelters and free medical care with clean needles, etc. And Batman helps to fight the villains, and the Collective finds their casualties diminishing.
It's far from perfect, but it's steps in the right direction, and the Collective finds itself in the stage where it can stop its more dangerous activities, and become a more traditional community aid incentive. And it's willing to do so, but they don't trust things not to go back to the way they were once Batman takes his eyes off them, when he's gotten what he wants.
So Duke proposes making a Robin Batman's partner, and that's how he became the first Robin. It changes Robin's role from partner to Batman to a reminder to take care of the poorer and forgotten parts of the city, and a beacon of trust for those people. And if Batman breaks that trust, it's Robin's responsibility to stop him, or to turn his back on him and fight for the people.
CANNOT stop thinking about how this difference in framing and responsibility changes the Robin legacy mantle.
andulkaphoto
kianamaiart
germansingergirl
