#batman relationships

[xspidershex]

Now choose. Bride or burglar? 💚💋

[redrobin-detective]

Hello, I was wondering if you could explain the relationships between Bruce, Dick, Jason, Tim and Damian? You don't have to do paragraphs of anything but I really want to know more about their relationships and it's kind of confusing when I read some things that contradict other things haha I know Tim and Damian basically hate each other and Dick and Damian are suppose to be close? I'm not sure if that just for fics though.. Thank you! (:

Hello! I would be more than happy to explain but I must putout a warning first. Canon is very wibbly wobbly, it can vary dramaticallybetween authors so there’s no one ‘correct’ interpretation of any character. Itry and find the traits/relationships that are most consistent/in-character andtend to disregard the crappy writers. Also it’s good to separate fanon, whichis often way over exaggerated and often wrong, from canon.

Okay so i ended up going a bit overboard but I believe this is a pretty fair description of the relationships as I know them, based on my own comics collection. I’m not saying it’s fact, there’s a canon story where Jason becomes a tenticle monster. So my advice? Read the stories you like, find the canons interpretaions you think suit the characters. And not all fanon is bad, I enjoy and headcanon a bit myself but some views (Dick is 500% a sunshine cutie, Dami is a sniffly tiny baby) just don’t have any support.

Dick and Bruce- As sad as it is to say, Bruce probably hasa stronger relationship with Dick than the other kids. It’s been stated over and over how much Bruce truly cares for, admires and trusts hisfirst son. That’s not to say Bruce isn’t above manipulating Dick’s good nature /love of Bruce for the mission and they’ve gone through a few periods of intensefighting / not speaking. On the whole, I’d say the relationship is mostly good. Bruce admitsthat Dick coming into his life saved him from a dark path and Dick isn’t shyabout telling Bruce he loves him.

Dick and Jason- Dick and Jay have a difficult relationshipto pin down, so here’s how I see it. Jay was adopted while Dick and Bruce werefighting. While Jason was Robin, Dick was a bit stand-offish feeling that Brucehad up and replaced him. He helped Jay out on a few cases, and wasn’t mean to him or anything, but he wasn’t veryinvolved either. But when Jason died he was just as upset as Bruce was. SinceJay’s resurrection, it’s been shown Dick makes an active effort to bridge thegap and help out Jason. Jay, for the most part, usually ignores him but Ialways get the sense that he, like the other batboys, really look up to Dick.

Dick and Tim- I think of all the bat siblings, Dick and Timhave the most normal brotherly relationship. From the start, Dick was more involvedwith Timmy, helping him out both in and out of costume. I think he learned hismistake in not bonding with Jason and wants to prevent the same thing from happeningto Tim. Time and again, Dick has been looking out for Tim and Tim cares for andadmires Nightwing so much. They refer to each other as brothers the easiest aswell. Honestly it’s a decently healthy relationship for superheroes in Gotham City.

Dick and Damian-  To me, it’s muchmore of a paternal relationship as compared to a fraternal one. Dick basicallygave Damian the tools to redeem himself. Bruce was dead  and so Dick stepped up to the plate asBatman and Dami’s pseudo-parent. He struggled and worked at it but he made Damirealize he was loved. This show of care is really I believe what turned Damianonto a better path. Bruce came back and finally started to bond withhis kid now that he was more manageable. In my mind, Dick/Dami are much closerthan Dami/Bruce if only bc Dick invested so much. Dami, likewise, loves thehell out of Dick and always defends him.

Jason and Bruce- I hope I don’t need to elaborate too muchwhen I say it is bitter and complicated. Jason isn’t mad that Bruce didn’t save him,he understands that. He’s mad Batman didn’t avenge his murder,  it felt like Jay meantnothing to Bruce and was easily replaced. But Jay can’t completely hate Brucebecause he still remembers the good ole days when Bruce saved him from the streets.He’s slowly, excruciatingly slowly, merging back into the batfam but he andBruce have a long way to go if they want to repair the relationship. Honestly?I don’t know if either of them has it in them to really let go and accept what’shappened.

Jason and Tim- Again, this is a hard relationship todescribe as it changes constantly. Initially Jason hated Tim for replacing himas Robin. He made several attempts on Tim’s life and Timmy outright avoided anythingwith Jay. They’ve since become a bit closer. Jason realizes that Tim hasnothing to do with him and Bruce while Tim acknowledges that Jay went throughsome tough times. I personally don’t like interpretations where they’re superbuddies, but I do like that they’ve been able to work together and understandone another. They can act like brothers but still a bit distant.

Jason and Damian- This one I’m a bit iffy on, from myexperience, Jay and Dami don’t have a terrible amount of significantinteraction. It’s mostly during fights or those weird bantering moments in thecave. The two will sass each other and provide an assassins perspective butthat’s it as far as I know. We know they care as Jason demanded to bepart of the group to resurrect Damian. Fanon likes to have Dami and Jasonbonding over being killers in a nonviolent family and also having been resurrected.I’m not saying that can’t happen (I like to believe this) I’m just saying I don’t think it’s strictly canon .

Tim and Bruce- Unlike the other boys who became part of thefamily first then became Robin, Tim was the opposite. Bruce treated Tim like anapprentice rather than a son at first making clear distinctions btw Tim and sayJay and Dick. He, of course, grew to care for Tim and thus when Jack Drake waskilled, he became a Wayne. To me, Tim is the most like Bruce and I think Brucefeels this as well. He’s more likely to leave Tim on his own, thinking the boyis tough enough to handle it. But he often misses Tim’s emotional needs, likebeing lonely and needing assurance and attention so he doesn’t work himself to death. This falls mostly to Dick.

Tim and Damian- These two have never and probably will neverget along. They’re too stubborn and too certain the other is wrong. Luckily,Dami has moved past his desire to kill Timmy every five minutes but theirrelationship is mostly antagonistic but in a less violent way. I find it sadlyironic that both Damian and Tim have expressed to feeling removed from thefamily, that the other is more of an ‘actual’ son. I feel they could get along better if they made an effort but too much has happened and they've settled into their roles. But again, they do care enough that they will save eachother and Tim was pretty sad when Damian was killed.

Damian and Bruce- Dami and Bruce got off to a very rockystart. Dami was a spoiled murderous snot and though Bruce *ahem* “tried” tohelp his son, he wasn’t going about it the right way. Then Bruce died andwhen he came back, Damian was Robin and much calmer thanks to Dick. Bruce tookback the Batsuit but kept Damian on as Robin and here is where father and son really forged a  connection as Bruce continued to helpguide Damian. Bruce was beside himself with grief when Damian diedand did some crazy stuff to bring him back. The two aren’t 100% and I stillfeel Dick/Dami get on better but now Bruce is actually helping Damian and theboy appreciates it.