My Favourite Characters - Nightwing

When it comes to my top 3 favourite DC characters I always list Superman, Wonder Woman and Nightwing; and people are always surprised by that last one. "Why Nightwing and not Batman?". Simple, Nightwing is all of the best parts of Batman with none of the bad stuff. Now don't get me wrong, I love Batman, I think he is such a fascinating character to read and analyse, but Nightwing is superior for me, the answer of why is simple. A while ago I did a post that briefly touched upon this, when you boil Batman down to his most simple reasoning, why is Batman, Batman? To make sure no other eight year old boy will ever have to go through what he went through.

Bruce Wayne was destroyed by the death of his parents and it's something that he never fully recovered from, he's psychologically scarred from the event and is what made him into the man he is today, someone that fights crime and makes his city a better place, but personally his life is a constant wreck. When Dick Grayson's parents were killed by criminals, Batman thought he failed his mission, that's why he took him in, he could relate to him better than anyone and hopefully steer him into the right direction. Make the world a better place but also hopefully turn out a better person than Bruce because he doesn't have to go through it alone. Which is exactly what happened.

Dick Grayson grew up to be a crime fighter and detective like Batman and has saved countless lives. But he also has a sense of humour, he has friends, he has a girlfriend, he still has a life outside of fighting crime. Dick Grayson didn't lose his humanity the night his parents died and the darkness never took control of him like it did Bruce Wayne. True he's not as tough or as smart as Batman but he's a happy medium. Nightwing has all of the great skills of Batman, but with none of the baggage to come with it. That's what makes me love him and makes him one of my favourite DC characters.

-Danny