Jason Todd

Disambiguation

Jason Todd was the 2nd Robin. For others who’ve taken on the mantle of Robin:

1st Robin= Dick Grayson. 3rd Robin= Tim Drake. 4th Robin= Stephanie Brown. 5th Robin= Damian Wayne. Dark Knight Returns Robin= Carrie Kelley. Earth 2 Robin= Helena Wayne. Dead Earth Robin= Tris Plover. Thrillkiller Robin= Barbara Gordon. Reign of Terror Robin= Rochelle Wayne.

Jason’s current alias, the Red Hood, was taken from the Red Hood Gang (facing them was what brought him into contact with Talia and first set him on the path towards becoming a costumed vigilante).

Origin

Raised in the slums of the poor side of Gotham City, Jason Todd was a dark haired boy and the son of a petty criminal named Willis Todd. Eventually, Willis was sent to prison and never returned home despite earning his release after a few years. Thus before Willis got sent to prison was the last time Jason ever saw him. This left Jason with Catherine Todd, a drug addicted woman he did not know was not truly his biological mother. In order to survive and for his so-called mother’s habit, Jason turned to crime, ripping off car parts for money. Catherine soon died from a drug overdose, and Willis had disappeared after screwing up a job for Two-Face. Jason was left alone on the streets barely surviving, still stealing parts of cars for cash. This led to Batman discovering Jason in an alley stealing the tires off the Batmobile.

Bruce Wayne tried to put Jason in Ma Gunn’s school for troubled youths but Jason ran away from the school when he realized it was actually a front for criminal activity. With that option off the table, Bruce took him in as his own and began training him to replace Dick Grayson as Robin. He did not have Dick’s cheerful enthusiasm or natural acrobatic skill, but life had made him tough and full of sarcastic wit which made Jason motivated. Secretly, Bruce believed that had he not taken Jason into his home then in a few years time he would be taking Jason in to the police as Batman. So instead, Jason became the new Robin.

Creation

Jason Todd was created by Gerry Conway and Don Newton in 1983 under the editorial direction of Len Wein. The character was introduced to address the problem of Dick Grayson’s absence from the Batman books due to that character’s starring role in the Teen Titans series. It was felt that Batman worked best with a partner to regularly interact with, which was a role that Dick could no longer fill. So Jason was introduced to fill the void Dick Grayson left until Jason’s death happened eight years after he first appeared.

Character History

Pre-Crisis: Earth-One

Since Jason Todd was created to fill Dick Grayson’s role, he was basically a carbon copy of a young Dick Grayson except with lighter hair. Jason Todd was a boy with light red hair, but very much like Dick Grayson in personality. He was the son of Joseph and Trina Todd. While working on a case for Robin, then Dick Grayson. The two acrobats who tragically met their ends at the hands of Killer Croc, who feed hem to crocodiles. After this tragedy, he was taken in by Bruce Wayne much like Dick had been previously. Left with a powerful desire to fight crime and avenge his parents’ deaths, Jason began doing so with such disguises as his old circus uniform before having a superhero identity of his own. Eventually, he received Dick’s blessing to be the new Robin along with the costume, and Bruce trained him to be part of a new Dynamic Duo. This caused a big stir up with the fans as they were uncomfortable with a new Robin.

Modern Age: New Earth

Following Crisis on Infinite Earths most of the major DC characters had a retold version of their origins told. To differentiate Jason from Dick, Dennis O’Neil oversaw the character being completely re-imagined as a kid from the streets of Gotham City. He was now a punk rather than a circus performer. He smoked, was cynical and had a mean streak to him than Dick never had. He was an angrier Robin who would sometimes use excessive force on the more vile criminals.

In one notorious incident, a serial rapist named Felipe Garzonas dodged the charges for his crimes due to his father’s diplomatic immunity. After one of his victims committed suicide, Jason headed straight for Felipe ahead of Batman. Batman arrived in time to witness Felipe falling from a building to his death, and Jason claimed only that Felipe got spooked and slipped when he showed up. Though Batman thought otherwise considering Jason can be a bit tough on the criminals.

The character’s new attitude and origin was met with negative reactions from some very vocal fans. In a few years times, the fate of Jason would be put to a vote by the fans via a 1-900 phone number and published in the end of the Batman: Death in the Family limited series by Jim Starlin. Jason’s death won the vote by a count of 5,343 to 5,271. However, O’Neil would later say that hundreds of fraudulent votes were cast for Jason’s death by one person using a computer.

Jason Todd returned to Gotham City years after his death as an anti-hero/antagonist to Batman using the identity Red Hood. Jason holds a grudge against Bruce for not killing the Joker and seeking revenge for Jason’s death. He stood as a rejection of Batman’s ideals, willing to use lethal force against criminals and control crime rather than fighting against it all. This revival came courtesy of Judd Winick after Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee’s Hush story arc teased the idea of Jason’s return, which was surprisingly well received by the fandom considering the fact the reason he died in the first place was because Jason was negatively received by fans.

Though other writers would tell their own stories with the now-returned Jason Todd, Winick was the chief architect of Jason’s new direction. He positioned Jason as the black sheep or outcast of the Batman Family and in many ways the polar opposite of Dick Grayson, who Jason had once been a thinly veiled copy of. Jason would briefly use other identities such as stealing the identity of Nightwing from Dick or donning the Red Robin costume in the final act of Countdown to Final Crisis. But the character would always, rather quickly, return to the Red Hood identity.

Post-Flashpoint: Earth-0

In the revamped post- Flashpoint DC Universe, Jason Todd maintained his Red Hood identity and got his own ongoing series entitled Red Hood and the Outlaws. He was one of the characters left relatively unchanged by the revamp, getting a new costume reminiscent of his original Red Hood costume as well as a redesigned Robin costume for his time as Batman’s partner. Unlike his post- Flashpoint counterpart, Earth-0 Jason Todd is less tempered and hostile towards the Bat-Family. As of late, he has worked with them as a unit on multiple occasions, without aggression or direct violence towards them. Jason fought with the Bat-family in court of owls and is shown to be some what friends with Tim Drake. Damian Wayne does not like Jason for his time as Robin as shown in Batman and Robin.

Major Story Arcs

Silver Age: Earth-One

*Please note in this era of Batman, Detective Comics and Batman were interconnected and would often have a story begin in a book and have it wrapped up in the other.

Batman #357-359 & Detective Comics #524-526

While Jason does not play a large role in the story his parents are instrumental to the plot. The story is about Killer Croc’s rise to power in the the criminal underworld. Trina Todd, after accidentally learning the secret identities of Batman and Robin, asked Dick for help dealing with a protection racket trying to take money from Salon circus. While working on the Killer Croc case Batman discovers that Killer Croc is trying to extort money from the circus. Asking the Todds for help Dick asks them to keep an eye out for the man trying to extort money from the circus. The Todds, being a bit over zealous, attempt to follow a henchman of Killer Croc back to his lair.

Before the Todds had left Waldo, a clown at the circus and friend of Dick, watches as the Todds ran off to follow Killer Croc’s henchman. When Dick arrive Jason tells Dick about them casing after the bad guy. Angered by this Dick leaves to try and find them before they get hurt. On the road Waldo is able to catch up to Dick in the middle of a storm and give him vital information. Dick tells Waldo and Jason to head to Wayne manor.

Jason discovers the Bat-cave and tries on one of Dicks old costumes. When Batman returns from a mission with Talia and Catwoman Jason stowaways in the bat-mobile. Jason helps save both ladies and confronts Killer Croc for killing his parents. At the end of the story Bruce decides to adopt Jason.

Modern Age: New Earth

Nightwing: Year One

In parallel to Dick Grayson‘s journey of self-discovery that would lead to him becoming Nightwing, Jason Todd was on his own journey to become the new Robin. Their paths crossed in Gotham City as both journeys neared the end. Jason was meant to face “the Gauntlet”, his final test to become Robin. Coming across Dick, he assumed facing off against his predecessor was the test, and their rivalry was born. Soon, it was realized that the real Gauntlet had gone awry and Alfred, disguised as Two-Face as part of the gauntlet, was being held hostage by Killer Croc. Dick and Jason worked together to get to the warehouse, defeat Killer Croc and free Alfred. When it was all over, Dick came to accept that Jason was Robin now, and Jason delivered to him what would be his first Nightwing costume as made by Alfred.

A Death in the Family

For further details: A Death in the Family

A memorial case was installed in the Batcave in remembrance of Jason. Over the next decade Jason’s death haunted Batman, as much as his parents’ death. As this event is considered to be the very few that has made an impact on Bruce’s mentality and thoughts about the general concept of Robin

Leading up to the events that would ultimately end in Jason’s death, he became more and more reckless in his actions. He began disobeying Batman’s direct orders, as well as leaving himself open to being shot on a few occasions. When Batman tells Alfred he is considering making Jason take some time off, Jason interrupts, clearly angry and tells Bruce to talk to Alfred as he storms off. Jason walks towards his old neighborhood and comes across a family friend. While going through some contents he learns that Catherine Todd was not his mother. He also learns that his mother’s name started with an “S.” He found three names in his Father’s address book and looked for them on the Batcomputer. Thinking Batman wouldn’t be interested in this sort of investigation, he takes off to go look for his mother. At the same time, the Joker was in the Middle East trying to hijack a nuclear warhead. Jason goes to the first woman, but she was not his mother. Batman, who was looking for both Jason and the Joker in the Middle East, finds Jason and helps him on his quest. The next name is actually world-renowned assassin Lady Shiva. Batman confronts and defeats her in combat and under the effects of truth serum she reveals that she is not Jason’s mother either. Finally Jason finds his mother, Sheila Haywood, and all seems well. However the Joker knows Sheila had previously performed “illegal operations on teenage girls” in Gotham. After one resulted in the death of a teen, she was blacklisted as a medical practitioner. Joker uses this to blackmail her. When Batman has to go stop an incident he warns Jason not to go after his mother and the Joker, to wait for back-up. He disobeys Batman’s orders once again and goes to confront his mother. He shows her that he is in fact Robin, and she tells him that Joker is long gone, however, he is actually around the corner. Sheila hands her own son over to the Joker, who begins to savagely beat Jason to a pulp with a crowbar . Double-crossing Jason’s mother, he leaves them both to die. When Todd awoke, he and his unconscious mother were next to a bomb in a warehouse. His last action was to try to shield his mother from the blast. Batman came in time to see the warehouse explode. He tore through the rubble and found Jason’s dead body.

The Lost Days

Due to the reality warping effects of Superboy-Prime punching his way into the main reality, Jason Todd’s corpse was revived in his grave. Still badly injured from what the Joker did to him, he was able to dig his way to the surface and walk over twelve miles before collapsing and being found by a lost couple driving down the road. He was brought to the hospital and treated as a John Doe after slipping into a coma, as he could not provide anyone with answers. He would eventually awaken and escape through the window. However, he had suffered brain damage and remained partially catatonic as he lived on the streets. Instincts and muscle memory were what he survived on. Fighting a homeless man who had attacked him, his moves were witnessed and recognized by a former hired thug he had fought as Robin. The thug called in some old contacts to turn him in for a reward. Word made its way to Talia al Ghul, and she paid to have Jason abducted and brought to her.

Ra’s al Ghul was intrigued but unconvinced of his daughter’s opinion that Jason was worth anything to them, due to the severe brain damage he had suffered. He decided that Jason would be sent away but remain protected and cared for out of respect for Bruce Wayne. As far as Ra’s was concerned, to do anything more with Jason outweighed the potential risk if Batman were to find out. However, Talia disobeyed her father. She took Jason to the Lazarus Pit her father was using and shoved him in. The shock and healing properties of the pit healed Jason’s mind. He was confused and panicked, but Talia rushed him away before her father could retaliate. She had little time to explain anything to him, so all she said was for him not to go to Batman and find out the truth instead. He had not been avenged.

Jason did as Talia told him to do and quickly discovered the truth in her words. After his murder, Batman had done nothing more than send the Joker back to jail like his death was just another one of the Joker’s crazy schemes. This was too much for Jason to handle so soon. He was only days out of his traumatic revival in the Lazarus Pit, and he was now overwhelmed with grief and rage about what he had learned. In his anguish, he believed Batman only thought of him as an expendable soldier and that his death clearly meant nothing to the dark knight. Riding on the wave of his anger, he headed straight for Gotham City on a mission of revenge.

Jason did not arrive in Gotham City to hunt down the Joker. Instead, his desire for vengeance took him straight to Batman. He used all of his training as Robin to keep surveillance on Batman and orchestrate a setup. He knew all the right places to feed information so that Batman would hear about it, and he fabricated a story about a major gun buy going down in the city. He was waiting when Batman arrived, knowing that Batman would park the Batmobile a certain distance away from the intended destination. He also knew all the Batmobile’s security features, allowing him to rig it with an explosive while Batman was gone. This could have been the death of Batman, but when the time came Jason did not pull the trigger. He later explained to Talia that it was because he wanted Batman to know it was him in the end. He wanted to actually face Batman, and he wanted her help to do it.

Jason did not realize that Talia was shocked at his actions and the path he had set himself upon. He also did not realize she was helping him partly to delay him from actually doing anything. But it also did not matter, because he was getting what he wanted. He set about on a quest to further the training Batman had given him and learn what Batman would not teach him. He underwent intensive training in firearms from an expert sniper. He spent weeks learning from a chemist about toxins and other things. Then, he went to train under a German assassin called Egon and his quest took an unexpected turn.

Egon was a highly skilled fighter, as was Jason. But Jason’s fighting ability came from Batman. He was taught only how to defend and disable, and now, he needed to learn how to maim and kill. He spent weeks training in brutality before his suspicions got the better of him. Something about Egon’s operation bothered him. Egon’s men were thugs and not expert killers. This and other things led Jason to believe Egon’s business was more than contract killings. He was right and found Egon’s child slavery operation. Immediately, he commandeered the truck transporting the children and brought them to safety. He then returned for Egon and killed the slaver.

Jason had just taken the first steps on a new path. In the many months that followed, half of the dangerous men and women he studied under wound up dead by either his hands or his schemes. These were not arbitrary killings. In his mind, these people deserved it. The surveillance expert he learned from turned out to be a pedophile. The close combat master intended to murder her own family. The team of mercenaries he joined and left to die in an ambush were responsible for terrible atrocities in Africa. He was willing to learn from and work with some bad people to achieve his goals, but there was only so much he was willing to overlook.

The inevitable soon came to pass. Talia al Ghul showed him some surveillance photos from Gotham City and informed Jason that there was now a new Robin named Tim Drake. As much as he tried to pretend it did not bother him, it did. This news came in the middle of him uncovering a plot by the Russian mob to detonate explosives throughout London in a staged terrorist attack. This was not a situation he could fix by killing his teacher, as he had previously done. This was a much larger threat than he had dealt with before. In trying to sabotage the explosives to prevent the attack, he ended up making a series of stupid mistakes he normally would not have. He was caught and left to the mercy of the Russians orchestrating the attack.

Some quick thinking allowed Jason to narrowly escape with his life, and he went straight after his bomb-making teacher. Since his plan to sabotage the bombs was a bust, he needed to know where all the bombs were going, and he made sure the bomb-maker gave him some honest answers. With a list of names, he scrambled throughout London to relieve each of the unaware suicide bombers of their packages. He caught up to the final bomb just in time to throw it off of Westminster Bridge.

Back at his safehouse, the Russians were waiting for him. He took the kill squad head on, using the skills he had learned thus far to be the last man standing. None of them really deserved to leave the room breathing as far as he was concerned. The sole survivor tried to bargain for his life with everything from cash to every scrap of valuable information in his head. Jason was not particularly interested in any of it until the man blurted out that he knew the whereabouts of the Joker. Jason quickly found out where Joker was at, and went to track him down. Joker had a plan to poison the drinking water in Gotham City so that all the people of Gotham, will burn with a smile. The poison was actually a liquid that could travel in water and would instantly ignite when it reaches the air. This would destroy millions of lives and would leave Gotham crippled, for villains to steal. While having a tracer attached to a snag, he found out where Joker was going to get a big shipment of this fuel.

Wanting revenge, Jason decided that he was going to kill Joker for the pain and suffering that he’s had and also others have had. Jason was lead to a shipping warehouse which led him to a confrontation with Joker’s henchman. Knowing that he hadn’t a whole bunch of time, Jason threw a smoke grenade which made Joker’s henchman fuzzy and slower. The henchman quickly shot Jason’s back, however the body armor that Jason was using saved him from the death. Jason wanted to kill Joker in public, but knew that he had to do it quickly. Jason placed Joker in a little small warehouse where he started to pour gasoline on the Joker. Remembering what the Joker did to him, Jason couldn’t ignite the fire. He soon left when he heard the henchmen opening the door.

Back at Talia’s house, Jason told Talia that he couldn’t kill Joker because he needed Batman to be there as well. He wanted to kill both Batman and Joker to make them suffer for what they did.

Hush

For further details: Hush

Eventually, Talia sent him word of something being planned in Gotham against Batman. It was being orchestrated by a man calling himself Hush, and she thought Jason should get involved. Talia agreed to help him out with this, and they eventually spend the night with one another. The next night, Jason Todd was meeting with Thomas Elliot, whom was operating under the guise of Hush. Hush had been told by the Riddler that Batman was truly Bruce Wayne, and as a show of good faith, Jason confirmed it.

In return, Jason wanted to face off against Batman directly as part of Hush’s plan. He wanted Batman to see his face again. He eventually got this opportunity and was dismayed not to see any flash of regret on Batman’s face when the big moment came. He slipped out of their fight, leaving Clayface to take his place and Batman none the wiser that he had truly returned.

Jason’s involvement in Hush’s plan was finished, and it was time for his own plans. He found a gift left to him by Talia that included a specially crafted kris blade and a red helmet that would be the defining element of his new identity.

Under the Hood

For further details: Under the Hood

Jason emerged in Gotham City as the Red Hood, taking his new identity from the origin of his greatest fear, the Joker. He did not come to fight crime in the city. He came to influence it to avenge his death. He called a meet with the top street dealers in Gotham and informed them that he would be running the drug trade from now on by showing them the severed heads of their top lieutenants he had killed. The new rules were simple. He would get forty percent of the profit, and they would not sell to kids. If they broke that last rule, he would kill them. He also made moves to get the attention of the major crime figure of the time in Gotham, the Black Mask. He disrupted a major weapons shipment coming in from the docks, destroying most of the weapons and activating an Amazo android so Batman and Nightwing would take care of it. What he took from it was a crate of Kryptonite and then acted like he was willing to sell it back to the Black Mask. In return, the Black Mask sent Mr. Freeze to kill him, but he was expecting something of that nature anyway. He took out the hit-men accompanying Mr. Freeze and escaped when Batman and Nightwing showed up, saying all he wanted was the lay of the land.

Done with making his big debut as the Red Hood, he tracked down the whereabouts of the Joker to some abandoned carnival fair ground. He did not kill the Joker, but he did beat the man to near death with a crowbar. Similar to how the Joker originally killed him.

Jason continued his activities as the Red Hood, enforcing his new rules upon the drug trade and warring with the Black Mask‘s criminal empire. He considered himself a killer and not a murderer. The people he killed were not innocents. Soon, he finally faced off in a battle against Batman that saw them both unmasked before each other, confirming who he really was to Batman.

Now that his identity was no longer a mystery, he broke into Titans Tower to confront Tim Drake, the boy who had replaced him. He he fought with Cyborg and Beast Boy and defeated them easily. Raven was in the tower but Jason decided to allow her to sleep because she was one of the few people that had actually cared for him during his time with the Titans. He wished her to have good dreams for once. He remembered her advices and said she was right when she told him to watch his temper and remembered the he really cared for her safety. He got rid of them so he and Tim would not be interrupted. The two Robins fought with Jason ridiculed the belief that Tim figured out who Batman really was and said that if anything, Batman meant for him to find out. He also ridiculed the idea that even Kole had a memorial statue in the Tower but not him. He may have only been a Titan for a very brief time, but he had been one. He became impressed with Tim in their fight and started to understands why Bruce chose him as the new Robin and he had to cheat to beat Tim, gassing him and leaving him unconscious to be found by the Titans later. He writes a note in blood on the wall saying “Jason Todd Was Here.” Afterward, he observed that Tim was a good Robin. Jason wondered if had he had friends like Tim did when he was Robin, would he have become a better person.

Later, he kidnapped the Joker and ventured to Crime Alley, where they first met and where Bruce Wayne’s parents died. He questioned Batman about why he didn’t murder Joker to avenge him, and Batman said he refused to kill. They battled and at the same time argued, which Bruce used as a distraction to beat him. Getting the Joker from where he’d hidden him, Jason finally gave him a choice-kill Joker or he would. He counted down from three after tossing Batman a loaded gun, but Batman sliced his neck with a Batarang. Joker detonated explosives then that exploded the platform they were on, ending the fight.

Jason survived the explosion and continued as the Red Hood. While doing routine surveillance on criminals in Gotham, he overheard a conversation Deathstroke was having about having framed Black Lightning for murder. Jason confirmed it and passed the information on to Nightwing. This led to the Outsiders breaking Black Lightning out of Iron Heights.

Nightwing?

Some months later, Jason had relocated to Manhattan and taken on the Nightwing identity in Dick Grayson’s absence. When Dick found out, Jason taunted him over it. To Jason, it was all a big joke, but Dick did not appreciate what Jason’s fatal methods were doing to his reputation. Along with a third Nightwing, Cheyenne Freemont, they had to deal with a pair of metahuman brothers. Jason was nearly killed and temporarily mutated by a creature the brothers employed in which Dick had to help cure him. He recovered and discarded the Nightwing identity.

Seeing Red

Jason returned to his Red Hood identity and travelled out to Star City. Some of the weapons shipments he was counting on went bad because of Batman’s and Green Arrow‘s interference, so he wanted to make a point. He made an alliance with Star City crime boss Brick to keep the two heroes busy and allow him to abduct Speedy. He put her through the paces but also talked to her. They had a lot in common. They were both street kids taken in by billionaire mentors. She knew as he did that sometimes you had to do bad things to do greater good. Green Arrow and Batman arrived after he had already blown up the gymnasium he had her in. She survived, saying she managed to escape before the blast. However, Speedy thinks that Jason might have simply let her go.

Countdown to Final Crisis

For further details: Countdown to Final Crisis

In the process of rescuing a woman, Jason witnessed the sudden death of the Joker’s Daughter by a Monitor and the attempted intervention of a second Monitor. Naturally, he was suspected of being Duela’s murderer and tried to lie low until eventually approaching Donna Troy. He told her the truth of what happened with Duela and the two Monitors, suspecting that they both may also be targets due to their unique resurrections. Suddenly, they are attacked by an unfamiliar woman calling herself the Forerunner and saved from death by the second Monitor Jason had seen before. This Monitor, who Jason named Bob for reference’s sake, warned of a coming disaster and drafted them both to help him search for Ray Palmer, who Bob believed was the key everything.

The group, becoming unofficially regarded as the Challengers from Beyond, proceeded on a quest through the new Multiverse and were soon joined by Kyle Rayner. Through their travels, Jason encountered several versions of the Batman he knew, including everything from a vampire Batman to one who was a Russian terrorist. They even arrived on an Earth where he had taken up the cowl and become Batman himself. As time went on, Jason became increasingly frustrated with Bob’s inability to find Ray Palmer and possibly with Kyle’s presence vying for Donna’s attention. It did not help that the other Monitors had seemingly aligned against them behind Solomon, the Monitor who killed Duela, and that the Monarch was raising a multiversal army to battle them. Jason and the other Challengers were stuck in the middle of an increasingly chaotic situation.

Finally, they find Ray on a seemingly perfect Earth. Many heroes there had retired to live happy normal lives because crime due to supervillains was so minor. But upon finding Ray, Bob turned on them and revealed he only used them to help him find and kill Ray for Solomon. The situation quickly escalated as the Monarch’s army arrived and war broke out on that Earth. Jason became separated from the others, getting captured and interrogated by that world’s Batman. It was then that Jason discovered what made that Earth so much better than the others. After the death of his counterpart on it, Batman began using lethal force and had now taken out the majority of the serious supervillains. Batman showed him the costume the late Jason of that Earth would have worn someday, and Jason put it on, becoming Red Robin. Together, they fought the Monarch’s army as best they could to protect that Earth. Unfortunately, Batman was killed in action by Ultraman. Before retreating to Apokolips, Jason crushed the skull of an alternate Joker laughing over Batman’s death with a stone.

Apokolips proved not to be much of a safer place to be. Brother EYE was somehow assimilating the planet, and other heroes and criminals had been drawn into the crisis. After defeating Brother EYE, Jason and the others were transported by Solomon to what they believed was their home Earth only to discover it was simply a close facsimile. They witnessed this Earth ravaged by a great disaster and managed to escape to return to their actual home Earth. Once there, Jason abruptly took his leave, bitterly reaffirming how he felt about superheroics and immediately ditching the Red Robin costume.

Back to Gotham

Jason went back to business as usual as the Red Hood, soon running afoul of Tim Drake. His time away in the multiverse had lost him ground in Gotham that he had to make up again. He was working at taking control of as many street gangs as possible and using them in a gang war to thin the herd. The next step would have been to use them to get at the corrupt cops, then leave them to take care of their own turfs. Batman was missing in action. Someone had to do something about Gotham City.

He half-heartedly tries to get Tim to join him in the plan but was not surprised when that did not work out. They end up fighting, and Jason gets the upper hand on Tim. Someone dressed up as Red Robin interferes, knocking Jason’s gun away. He was then shot in the leg by a gangbanger who picked it up. Injured, he was taken into custody by police. He was processed as John Doe and sent to Blackgate, where Tim soon came to visit him. It turned out that Tim had used a variation on Jason’s idea to deal with the chaos in Gotham, and Jason tells him he did good. Tim left after giving Jason a Justice League teleportation code he could use to escape.

Jason wasted little time before using it and getting back on Gotham’s streets. However, his leg was still injured, so there was not much he could do yet. When Batman’s death had been confirmed, he was invited to come to the Batcave. Bruce had left messages for everyone, even him. He listened to his message in isolation and left the Batcave without a word. Bruce had made reference to some childhood trauma Jason experienced and urged him to get help for it. Instead, Jason decided to lash out.

Battle for the Cowl

For further details: Battle for the Cowl

Now pushed over the edge by Bruce’s final message, Jason did not simply watch as Gotham City went to hell and Dick Grayson did everything but take up Batman’s cowl. He decided to take up the cowl himself and become the new Batman, but he would not follow in the tradition of Bruce Wayne. He became his own darker and harsher ideal of who Batman should be. Constructing a cave for himself in subway tunnels that had been collapsed in the Gotham quake and designing a more armored Batman costume, Jason took to the streets. He proved more than willing to use guns and lethal force, and wherever he went, he left messages declaring “I Am Batman” so Gotham would know that the Batman had returned.

This new Batman did not go unnoticed. He had a confrontation with Catwoman, during which he warned her that he would not be as lenient with her as the previous Batman had been and threatened her life. Later, he rescued Nightwing and Damian Wayne from an ambush by the Black Mask’s thugs. The lethal force he used in doing so was not appreciated by Dick, and the two former Robins clashed. When Black Canary and Huntress arrived to back Dick up, Jason shot Damian to cover his escape.

Arriving back to his Batcave, he saw that Tim Drake had deduced who he was as well as the location of his cave. Tim was also dressed in one of Batman’s older costumes, so he had clearly come to challenge Jason’s right to the cowl. Jason struck first in an ambush, knocking out Catwoman to keep her out of the fight. Then he and Tim threw down against each other. Jason had the upper hand in the fight until Tim stumbled upon a crowbar in the cave. Stressed and enraged, Tim began savagely striking Jason with the crowbar, only stopping when he realized Jason had stabbed a Batarang into his midsection. The fight ended there with Tim collapsing. He slowed his breathing and pulse rate to make himself appear dead, so Jason dragged his body to elsewhere in the subway tunnels.

With Tim out of the way, Jason then declared that there was now only one left., referring to Dick who still had not yet donned Batman’s cowl himself. Knowing that Dick would be coming for him next, Jason left a taser trap waiting in the cave. It was only meant as a prelude to their fight, leaving Dick open for Jason to strike first. During the fight, Dick demanded to know where Tim was and Jason taunted him with the idea that Tim was now dead. Despite Jason’s insistence, Dick did not believe it. Dick did not believe Jason was too far gone yet , and said that he knew what Bruce’s message said. This only outraged Jason further, and he detonated bombs all over his Batcave to try to end their fight. Dick did not relent, and the fight moved onto a speeding train. After Dick landed a kick with more force than either expected, Jason was left dangling over the Gotham River. He refused to accept Dick’s offer of help and instead chose to let go, falling a great height into the water. Despite what it appeared, Jason survived his fall.

Revenge of the Red Hood

Jason survived his fall and gave up his claim to Batman’s mantle. Dick was the Batman now, and Jason set out to become Dick’s direct competition. He reworked his Red Hood identity to be more dramatic and attention-grabbing by creating a costume for it. Also, he stopped dying his hair black and allowed it to grow red again with a small gray streak left by his previous exposure to a Lazarus Pit. To complete his transformation, he even found himself a sidekick. This was Scarlet, the daughter of a criminal and the victim of Professor Pyg’s practice of mutilation. His intent was for them to become Gotham City’s new dynamic duo, supplanting the old one.

With his new partner, Jason resumed his brutal and lethal methods of dealing with criminals, but now there was a twist. Using the media and internet, he exposed his methods to the public and actively marketed them as the way things should be done. Public opinion was actually at least somewhat in his favor, especially after he showed Batman and Robin protecting the Penguin from himself and Scarlet. He was able to keep ahead of Batman and Robin, getting to criminals first and evading their attempts to apprehend him.

That lasted until he tracked down a criminal who got away from him to finish what he had started. Batman and Robin arrived to stop them, and the two duos fought. The fight went in Jason’s favor. Instead of the two heroes capturing him, he captured them and locked them out of his way for the time being. It was then that Jason and Scarlet were ambushed by the assassin Flamingo. He took two shots from a sniper’s rifle, shattering his helmet. There was something simply inhuman about the way Flamingo fought, so much so that he even resisted going down when Batman and Robin joined in. Jason took more shots as he fought Flamingo, including one to the leg. But it was him who took Flamingo down. While the assassin was distracted with Scarlet, Jason came upon him and scooped him up in the large shovel of a backhoe. He then dumped Flamingo over the edge of a steep drop, intent on killing the man. However, there was later no sign of Flamingo’s body in the rubble.

Commissioner Gordon and the G.C.P.D. quickly appeared in the aftermath, and Jason was taken into custody. Once again, he was taken by police after being shot in the leg. But he did not go quietly. He told Dick that it was too late to do anything for him. He also accused Dick of not trying hard enough, because if he could be brought back, then so could Bruce. As far as Jason was concerned, Dick was holding back because this was the only way he could ever be out of Bruce’s shadow.

Streets Run Red

Passing all of his psych evaluations, Jason Todd, imprisoned under a false identity, gets himself transferred out of Arkham Asylum and to the general population of Gotham City Corrections despite Batman’s objections. Now free among the criminals, it did not take Jason long to get back to business. He began killing high profile criminals in the facility, making their deaths appear either as suicides or as murders committed by other inmates. No one realized what he was up to until it was too later and he had released a poison that killed 82 other inmates. Once the warden realized Jason’s actions, he had Jason immediately transferred back to Arkham without waiting for Batman’s help.

Jason’s transport was intercepted by the Menagerie, a team of mercenaries with animal mutations. They came to free him from custody and bring him to their employer. Since this was not part of Jason’s plans, he did not cooperate. Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne’s intervention helped him overcome the Menagerie, but they had a message for him. Their employer had his former partner, Scarlet, hostage to ensure his cooperation.

Jason, Dick and Damian had to cooperate with one another to save Scarlet’s life, starting with them taking Jason to one of his hidden caches so he could gear up in a variation of his Red Hood identity. This cooperation ended as soon as Red Hood and Scarlet were reunited. Knowing well that Dick and Damian would want to send him right back to prison, Jason took off in a helicopter with Scarlet, setting off an explosive to keep the Dynamic Duo busy.

Post-Flashpoint: Earth-0

The Outlaws

For further information: Flashpoint

After the timeline was approximately restored after Flashpoint, Jason Todd was no longer with Scarlet and now had a loose friendship with Roy Harper whom ironically shares a similar past as Jason since both were ‘failure’ sidekicks that went to the bad side. It is revealed that Jason stopped an attempted smuggling of a nuclear submarine into Miami and it exploded but he escaped and was injured. Starfire fished him out and nursed him back to health where they quickly became friends after realizing they have a lot in common after talking about their pasts. Jason came to Roy’s aid, along with Starfire, to break Roy out of a prison in Qurac. After the successful jailbreak, he was contacted by Essence of the All Caste, one of the groups he had learned from during his lost years. The All Caste, which he had turned his back on to pursue his own path, had been brutally eliminated. Jason immediately ditched Roy and Starfire to look into this on his own. Roy joins Jason on a flight to the Himalayas while Starfire flew ahead and secured a limo. Jason leaves them once again to gear up where he shoots down Suzie Su and her partner who try to sneak attack him. Jason now fully geared with Roy and Starfire and he travels a bit ahead of them where he finds the villagers massacred and he pays his respects to Ducra. The villagers reanimate and attack Jason, he turns and throws away his guns to fight them honorably but Roy and Starfire catch up and they start killing the zombies. Jason fights along side them defeating the horde and with the villagers defeated, Jason sits and prays for them.

Jason and the team meet S’aru, the protector. They all give up their most cherished memories as a collateral to get into the Chamber of All to find the object the Untitled wanted. The group ventures through the chamber and they get attacked by a giant monster. Jason and Roy do their best to defend themselves while Starfire gets eaten. Jason finds the object in the midst of the fight and retrieves it. The object turns out to be a snow globe of Colorado, meanwhile Starfire blasts the creature from the inside, killing it and then she grabs Jason and Roy and flies out of the chamber. Jason questions S’aru what the significance of the object is or why the Untitled left it behind but receives no helpful answer. They collect their memories all except for Jason who tells S’aru to keep it. The memory turns out to be a night as Robin when he had the flu and Bruce stayed home to be with the ill Jason.

The Outlaws make their way to Middleton Colorado due to the clue they found in the Chamber of All to find the Untitled. Jason gets into a quick scrap in the bar and a cop comes to take he and Roy to the station. Jason manages to restrain the cop while he looks for some records that could help him find the Untitled. The cop turns out to be one of the Untitled but not the one he’s looking for. The cop is about to rip out Jason’s liver when Roy saves him. Jason and Roy head outside where they see a huge explosion that matches Starfire’s energy signature. Roy leaves Jason to go save Stafire while Jason stays to battle the Untitled.

Jason continues his battle with the Untitled where he ends up falling into the frozen water beneath. Jason recalls a flashback to his training with the Untitled and remembers what Ducra told him about being special and that he is just beginning a new journey. Jason leaps from the ice hole vowing that his trifles with Batman and his goal about killing Joker don’t matter anymore. He cuts himself to get blood on the Blades of All to feed them. Jason manages to kill the Untitled setting a new goal that he will kill all of them one by one. It is revealed the Untitled used her powers to keep the people away but upon her death returns to her normal appearance as a mob appears. They think Jason just outright murdered the sheriff so he runs off and gets Kori and Roy telling them they need to leave.

Jason drops Crux off at Arkham Asylum. The team steals one of Crux’s ships when Essence appears. Jason stabs her with the All blade and claims she is the one responsible for killing the All Caste. She reveals Ducra is her mother and was linked to the Untitled so she is on her own mission trying to kill all of the Untitled herself. A fight ensues when Jason grabs a molecular dispersal gun or teleportation gun causing Essence to disappear. Jason decides to try and contact the stewardess he met earlier, but decides she is better off not having him in her life.

The Outlaws head to Gotham where an enraged Suzie Su has awakened from a coma after getting shot by Jason. It was revealed that Jason took money from the seven crime families of Hong Kong to supply his resources. Jason killed an entire clan and this allowed new clans to rise up and take its place and eventually one of those familes was the Familia De Flores and Su. Jason had everything he needed so he killed Suzie’s entire gang except her and her father as a way to pay retribution for the trouble he caused.While Roy and Starfire rescued the hostages, Jason fought Suzie and ended up killing her by putting a bullet through her skull. When leaving, they intercept a message from Alfred claiming they need all Batman related allies to help since the Court of the Owls have multiple Talons set up around the city ready to kill forty people who have shaped Gotham. Jason gets a request from Tim Drake to stay and help. It was also revealed that about a month or two ago, Jason got intel for Tim and apologized to Tim and Tim forgave him for his past actions. They decide to stay and cover a person of interest, Mr. Freeze.

Jason and the Outlaws are looking over a frozen covered part of Gotham going over the mission. Jason leaps down reminiscing about Gotham and arrives to help Mr. Freeze where he gets caught in the midst of a battle between a Talon and Freeze. He halts Freeze but gets his hand frozen as the Talon runs away. Jason chases the Talon down and has a brief fight with it before it runs again. Eventually he catches up to the Talon who has a heart-to-heart conversation with Jason and begs him to kill him in which Jason does. Jason ends up meeting Batgirl and throws Mr. Freeze on the rooftop for her and tells her that if she sees Batman tell him “you’re welcome.” as they leave Gotham.

Jason spent the whole night on a date talking with Isabel, the stewardess from the plane. He gets attacked by an alien, so to protect Isabel, he dons his helmet and begins to fight it. Eventually, Starfire comes out from her hotel room and the alien is introduced as Orn, one of Starfire’s old friends from Tamaran. Orn tells Starfire a black shadow has fallen upon her old planet. He teleports the Outlaws and Isabel, to Starfire’s ship as Roy, Jason and Isabel watch Kori take charge of the ship and prepare to attack the aliens. Jason made sure Isabel was safe when they started the fight. With the alien squadron defeated, Starfire wishes to talk with Roy and Jason. She explains her origin to them and asks because of being traded with no one helping her, should she fight for Tamaran? Jason tells her she has every right to be mad and not help. He even compares it to his former Batman and Joker situation but shows support when Roy tells her she should and he apologizes to Isabel about the whole matter. Jason is seen happy with Isabel, but the Blight attack. So the team defends the ship. After Roy teleports back with a now freed Blackfire, Jason, Roy and the rest of the crew watch as Starfire and Blackfire leave to go save Tamaran.

Jason helps Starfire and Blackfire fight the Blight off on Tamaran. He gets caught by a Blight but is saved by Orn. After the battle, Isabel mentions she wishes she could fill out uniforms like Starfire but Jason remarks she does just fine. Jason and the Outlaws leave Tamaran in a new ship named after Depalo after his brave sacrifice of taking the Starfire ship into the Blight mothership and self-destructing it from the inside out, and head back to Earth, but unbeknownst to them, the Joker sneaks into a hideout and grabs one of the Red Hood masks.

The Outlaws head back towards but are encountered by Superman. Jason tells the Outlaws he is one of the only beings he fears. They teleport back to Earth but Superman is already there waiting. The Outlaws begin an assault on Superman but fail miserably as the Kryptonian is just too powerful. He incapacitates them easily and they finally decide to talk as Superman originally requested. He asks Starfire about any Daemonites which she lies and tells him no. Superman tells them to contact him if anything comes up. The Outlaws drop Jason and Isabel off at her apartment where they get intimate and while Jason goes and takes a shower he comes back in realizes Isabel has been assaulted as she lies on the floor with needles everywhere. The Joker appears on the TV under the guise of a weather man and tells Jason that she is still alive and he has called the EMT’s but also the authorities as the authorities head into the room.

Jason fights off the authorities and gets a key to a vehicle where he is attacked by the Joker and taken to an unknown location where through the Joker’s prep, Jason is defeated and falls into a room with an unconscious Tim Drake.

After the events of Death of The Family, Jason goes back to Wayne Manor to say goodbye. After talking to: Nightwing, Robin, Alfred and Batman, Jason puts on his helmet and it tightens. The helmet reveals a hologram of The Joker who modified the helmet to do so. The Joker talks about how Jason “played a joke” on him and that he wasn’t laughing. The mask starts to give out gas and Jason starts laughing maniacally. Batman and the others rush to help, but it’s too late, and Jason falls to the ground with a burnt face. The one that heard the Joker voice was Batman and Robin-Damian. Alfred, Arsenal, Starfire and Batman hold on to him and were shocked to see what happened to Jason Todd just before he left the Wayne Manor with his team.

The Joker planted an acid bomb in the mask, leaving Jason in critical condition. Jason is met by Ducra in a dream world where he must make the choice of living in the past or letting go and going for the future. Jason finally admits he loves his friends and lets go of the past where he finally wakes up and attempts to apologize to Bruce, but Bruce cuts him off and hugs him instead. Bruce brings Jason on a mission where they stop some mercenaries in Ethiopia. It was revealed to be a ruse by Bruce to bring Jason to where he died to try and reawaken a memory so Bruce could bring Damian back to life. Jason and Bruce fight, but Jason eventually stops and takes the car, leaving Bruce to remain by himself.

Roy and Kori make it into the Acres of All in search of Jason. They fight off some creatures, but when a big one shows up, Jason saves them and he has no memory of them. It is revealed that Jason flied to the All-Caste hideaway to find S’aru and have him remove his memories that the darkness has gotten the better of him in his life and S’aru just takes them all. His recent fight with Bruce drove him to do this.

Jason watches as Roy and Kori are taken through Jason’s memories by S’aru to understand what he went through and a new revelation came about where Jason saved Roy the day before he left to track his mother. Jason wishes for Roy to just start over but Roy tranqs him and the group is teleported away by S’aru back into mountains with Ducra, Essence, and S’aru watching over them.

The group returns to their island base and Jason accesses the files of himself and finds what he has done in the past as a killer. He gets angry at the team and feels like they have been lying, but the group is assaulted by Cheshire, but are helped out by Green Arrow. Cheshire manages to escape, but in the midst of everything Jason ends up secretly leaving as well, stowing himself away on Green Arrow’s ship. Jason is soon chased by the League of Assassins and he ends up getting captured and to his surprise is treated kindly. They do end up telling him it is his destiny to lead the League of Assassins against the Untitled; the same group responsible for destroying his prior mentors the All-Caste. Jason is skeptical due to his amnesia, but the League assures him he won’t have to worry as the defences around the sacred city are impenetrable, as the technology needed to breach it isn’t readily available on Earth. Unbeknownst to them, the Untitled have deceived Roy ‘Arsenal’ Harper into helping them, playing on Arsenal’s loyalty to his friends and his desire to protect the amnesiac Jason. Using his prodigious engineering skills, he designs a weapon to help breach the sacred city and ‘rescue’ his friend.

Red Hood and the Outlaws: Rebirth

As of DC Rebirth, Jason Todd’s backstory reverts to his original meeting with Batman occurring while trying to steal tires from the Batmobile. Instead of fleeing at the sight of him, Jason attacks him with his tire iron. Impressed, Batman takes him out for food, then later takes him in and raises him as the new Robin. On a mission to capture Two-Face, he realizes that Jason has a violent streak. Later, he is captured, tortured, and killed by the Joker. After being revived by the Lazarus Pit, he returns to Gotham, but the problems between them put a strain on their relationship.

In the present, Jason is flying over a group of policemen on a motorcycle. Landing right in front of the Mayor as he is giving a speech. Though the mayor tries to bargain, Jason dismissively aims his gun at him. Before he can shoot, a Batarang lodges itself on his armor. Jason realizes what’s coming right before the Batarang explodes, knocking him flat on his back. As Batman towers over him, Jason recognizes that after all these years, the sight of his mentor still intimidates him. He considers fleeing for a moment, then decides to shoot Batman’s feet, Bruce easily dodges while Jason asks for asks him to let him explain later. He refuses, so Jason initiates a close-quarters brawl. He gets a shot in, but Batman easily gets the upper hand and puts Jason in bear-hug. Knowing he was outmatched, Jason took precautions, one which was a taser built into the Bat-symbol on his armor, which he uses to send Batman flying. With Batman out of the way, he decks the Mayor then, despite Batman’s plea, shoots him.

Later, Jason is at a bar frequented by criminals, watching the news coverage of his assassination attempt. Penguin congratulates him on making his mark in the Gotham underworld. The bartend hands Jason a drink and warns him about the history and danger of the name Red Hood, and advises to be cautious, lest his namesake come for him. He is then approached by a member of Black Mask’s gang. He leaves a card with Jason and an offer to join his operation.

Jason returns to his base underneath One Police Plaza to find that Batman has found him. He compliments his choice of location then reveals the truth about the attack on the mayor: Jason shot him with an antidote to a techno-organic virus inside of him and the cops in his way with sedatives. Bruce wants to know why he didn’t tell him the truth, and he responds with a question; why Bruce didn’t trust him. Bruce he does trust him, which is why he asked him to investigate connection between the city hall and a new international crime cartel, which is how Jason found out about the virus in the mayor. Jason wants to even deeper undercover, but Bruce won’t allow it. He claims he won’t support him because he’s not Dick, but it’s actually because of his history of crossing the line. Jason reminds him of what he said to Jason when they first met about giving people a chance, and asks for a chance to show why Red Hood is so valuable. Bruce relents, but with the stipulation that he will pull Jason out if he goes too far. As he leaves, warns that if Jason kills one person for any reason, he will come for him.

Jason reminisces about his early days as Robin. As he comments on Batman’s trophy gallery, Alfred arrives to take a photo. While Jason tries to pose, Batman remains as serious as ever. Before heading out Jason ponders his choices and who he’s become while looking at that same photo, where Bruce is seen actually smiling. Though he’s not the person Bruce wanted him to be, he believes that he’ll come to understand that he is who Batman needs.

Dark Trinity

In the past, Ma Gunn is shoots Batman for interfering with her plan, while Jason is hiding behind a desk. While she complains about the injuries Batman inflicted on her charges, while Batman condemns her using those charges as weapons. Meanwhile, Jason is thinking about how Bruce sent him there to help straighten him out. However, they discoverd they were teaching the boys there to become career criminals. As she is about to kill Batman, Jason breaks cover. Even though Batman could have taken her himself, Jason decides to spice things up himself. Shocking everyone, he charges Ma Gunn and tackles her out of a window.

In the present, Red Hood jumps out of Gunn’s old school, carrying her in his arms as the building explodes. Even though Hood is fine, Gunn was not breathing. When he manages to revive her, she recognizes him as Jason. When the two are settled and Red Hood convinces her that he is not Jason Todd, asks if she knows who was responsible for the bombing. Unaware that he already knew about her past, she recaps. Starting from her ambitions to use children to help build her criminal empire to her run-in with Batman. Having recently been released from prison, she intended to start over until she was invited to dinner by an old affiliate; Roman Sionis a.k.a. Black Mask. He wanted her to surrender her operation as part of his plan to consolidate the criminals in Gotham under his banner. She refused, which led to the bombing. Ironically, she was unable to reopen her school on time, which prevented any youths from being caught in the bombing. Even though the thought of young boys dying made Jason want to kill Roman, he adheres to his promise to Bruce.

Returning to his base, he spends several days gathering intel on Black Mask. While he searches, he remembers a mission from his Robin days where he and Bruce were tracking Riddler. Jason wanted to charge in and take him, until Bruce reveals the escape route in the building he’s hiding in, after which Bruce reminds him about being prepared. Remembering similar words of advice about knowing you enemy, Jason looks over everything he has on Roman, from his birth to his current expansion of his operations and elimination of competition. Having what he needs to know, he resolves to rest, and talk to Roman the next day.

However, by talking, he meant breaking into his car. Pinning his men down and putting a gun to Roman’s chin, he states that he’s there to talk about the offer given to him. Unfazed, Roman congratulates him for meeting his expectations. The two head up to a skyscraper, where he talks about his ambitions to rule Gotham how he feels is the right way, unlike other criminals in town. while Roman talks, Jason remembers Bruce’s speech about not killing his enemies. Back in the present, Roman reveals that he is looking for a second-in-command, and thinks Red Hood is a fitting heir. He then takes Jason to an “audition,” where he is ordered to kill the men who failed to kill Ma Gunn. Jason refuses claiming they have more value alive. Even though he respects Jason’s morals, he presses a button that causes all of the men’s heads to explode despite their pleas for mercy.

Later that night, Jason and two henchmen are sent to grab Black Mask’s “game-changer.” As the train is private and abandoned, he feels that this will be simple. despite not knowing what this game-changing weapon is. Setting off a charge that derails the train, he instructs the henchmen to quickly get their quarry. However a voice calls out that they won’t get what they’re looking for. This person then tosses debris a the group, taking down the gangsters. Jason dodges and draws his pistol while the figure commands him to disarm. Jason replies by asking for a name, and she reveals herself to be Artemis, who vows to be the last woman he sees if he does not get his guns out of her face.

He explains he is only searching for a weapon, but Artemis is surprised that he doesn’t understand that he is handing over a world destroying power. Not intimidated, he tries to shoot her, hoping to take advantage of the fact that she doesn’t possess traditional Amazon Bracelets. However, she uses her axe to deflect the shots. Deciding the use of a weapon was unnecessary, she decides to use her hands instead. She then proceeds to pummel him after he calls her “princess,” a nickname that strikes a nerve.

Before she delivers a killing blow, Jason asks her about the weapon she is searching for. while she explains the nature of this weapon, Jason uses up the charge is his taser to knock her out. Suddenly, he realizes Black Mask has com personally to claim his weapon. When Jason asks about Artemis’ presence, he states that what she is looking for is not the weapon he has. Her quarry is an ancient weapon, while his relies on state-of-the-art genetic science. While they talk, Artemis quickly recovers and calls Mistress back to her and renews her attack. Jason tries to explain that they are after two separate things, but more of Black Mask’s lackey’s lackeys shoot at her. Red Hood helps her get to cover and, while out of view, Artemis realizes Jason is hiding his true intentions. After explaining his mission, the two call a truce, which she considers a surrender. When they break cover, they find out that Black Mask has called in a helicopter to take the train car containing his prize. When the lackeys begin shooting at Artemis again, Jason tackles her into an abandoned train car for cover. Black Mask leaves Jason behind, and Artemis cannot fly, leaving the duo stuck. However, Artemis’ uses her strength to catch the chopper. She tosses Jason up to to the train car before leaping up there herself. Once inside, they realize two things: Artemis’ weapon isn’t there. and Black Mask’s weapon is a Superman clone.

Jason is again lost in his memories, remembering his first time going out as Robin without Batman. After the fact, he returns to the Batcave, bloodied and beaten, and stares at the display case containing the original Robin costume.

Artemis’ voice stirs him from his daydreaming. She scolds him for his lack of focus, reminding him of how dangerous a Superman clone in Black Mask’s hands can be. To their surprise, Black Mask is in the train car with them. Before anyone can react, knockout gas fills covers the room. Because Artemis damaged his mask, Jason passes out from the gas.

Jason wakes up in Roman’s base. At first he is glad to still be on Roman’s good side, but he then notices one of his helmets on the desk next to the bed. Recognizing Roman’s ability to think ahead, he wonders if helmet is a copy or a spare from Jason’s bunker. As he changes, he wonders if he is really fooling Black Mask. Heading upstairs to meet with the boss, Roman congratulates him besting an Amazon and apologizes for knocking him out along with her. After forgiving him, Jason inquires about Artemis, but he dodges the inquiry to show Jason where the clone is being kept. Entering a lab more advanced than anything the Justice League can even afford, Roman explains how he heard about clone through scientists that he hired. After hearing the clone belonged to Lex Luthor, once he confirmed its existence and found out Luthor ordered it destroyed, he instead had it delivered to Gotham. He also reveals that he wanted Jason to try to steal it in order to trip the chamber’s defenses so it could be grabbed with little risk. As the scientists open the chamber, Jason remembers his rebirth in the Lazarus Pit. Roman then realizes the clone is having trouble breathing. The clone panics and breaks out of the chamber and begins to mutate. Jason sees the fear in his eyes, and comforts him as he becomes a full blown Bizarro clone.

Later, Bizarro is restrained and shown videos of Superman constantly, while his eyelids are forced open to keep him watching. Seeing as it’s not working, Jason wants to use words to get to Bizarro, and Roman trusts him enough to let him try. Before he goes in, Artemis, trapped the opposite cell, tries to talk him out of it, believing him to be an empty shell. Even though Jason promises to get her out as soon as possible, she states that she can break out any time she wants and is only staying put for two reasons; to observe Bizarro, and to see if Black Mask has any leads on the location of the Bow of Ra. Irritated at all the deception going on, Red Hood considers killing everyone until Bizarro shows signs of intelligence. Sneaking off to his base, Jason hacks into LexCorp to find information. remembering the last time a Superman clone appeared, he discover the previous Bizarro.

Jason then heads to a nearby toy store. Feeling out of his element a store clerk offers him help as he picks out a stuffed Superman doll. Later, he eats dinner alongisde Roman, who reveals he scanned Jason’s eyes the previous night to gather information on Red Hood, but found nothing on Jason Todd. Jason plays it off, so Roman asks his next question; why he has a Bat-symbol on his suit. Jason replies that he does it to annoy Batman.

Later, he goes to present the doll to Bizarro. Artemis advises against treating a weapon of mass destruction as an infant. After learning from his investigation into LexCorp that Bizarro will only live for a few weeks combined with the fact that both he and Artemis have been written off in the past, Jason resolves to try to reach him anyway. He goes into the cell and gives him the doll. He initially thinks it is Superman, but realizes otherwise. Jason tells him that he is not the real Superman and that he should try to be himself, officially giving him the name Bizarro. Artemis claims that he is a monster incapable of understanding him, but the statement causes him to go berserk.

Bizarro grabs Jason and slams him against Artemis’ cell door, where he sarcastically claims he has everything under control. While Artemis refuses to help, Jason correctly assumes it’s so she can maintain her cover. Bizarro then slams him into the ground for acting like he’s not there. However, Jason tells Bizarro to stop, and it works long enough for him to see a way to get to him. Deciding to take the risk, he tells Bizarro to talk to the Superman doll about his problems. It works, and Jason is able to calm him down and get him to see himself and Artemis as friends. He then tells Bizarro to direct his super-hearing to the entirety of Gotham, which puts him to sleep.

The next day, Jason eats another meal with Roman. After seeing Jason risk his life to protect Artemis and Bizarro, he considers him a kindred spirit and a true friend, and takes him to show him something. Along the way, Roman tells him about his childhood and how he murdered his parents for not putting their criminal enterprises ahead of him. They then reach their destination; the basement, where all of his curios are stored. Jason asks is his plan to take Gotham over one block at a time. He replies that his true plan is to acquire enough power to deter everyone from challenging him. Jason then inquires about the Bow of Ra, which he explains he no longer has to Jason and Artemis, who broke out of her cell and followed them. Apparently aware she was there, silently wishes her luck in her quest.

Roman then goes on about his dream to rid the city of psychotics, reminding Jason of how he made the same argument to Bruce, but was shut down. While he continues his speech, he reveals the reason they came; the same techno-organic virus that infected the mayor. He then mentions Jason’s failed attack on the mayor. Jason, realizing he was made, asks how long he knew the truth. Roman reveals he knew all along. While he knew Jason was planning to betray him, he truly though of Jason as a friend and again invited him to join him in his crusade. Jason immediately refuses, so Romans injects his head with the tech virus, which allows him to summon and control the superweapon Jason helped him create, Bizarro, now infected with the tech virus.

Using rounds strong enough to take down a tank on Bizarro, they have no effect on Bizarro as he attacks. Jason barely dodges and tries to stop him by grabbing Bizarro’s cape, but his clumsiness causes him to crash through the wall, sending them both out of the building. Bizarro tries to fly, but flies downward, crashing into a fountain. When Jason rises, he realizes the crash knocked Bizarro out, and focuses on Black Mask, who hasn’t achieved full control of Bizarro. Realizing that killing Roman before that happens, he lines up a shot, then remembers his promise to Bruce, and hesitates. This gives Bizarro enough time to recover and resume his attack. Bizarro then tosses Jason into a tree. He tries to convince Bizarro to resist, but he prepares to finish him off anyway.

Before he delivers the killing blow. Artemis tosses Mistress into Bizarro’s chest, confusing everyone. When Jason asks why she didn’t leave town, she claims it was because she heard him losing. As Bizarro tries to remove the asks, Artemis tells Red Hood to leave while she fights, but he refuses. Their argument gives Bizarro enough time to remove Mistress from his chest, damaging it in the process. Seeing Artemis double over in pain, Jason checks on her, but she rebuffs him, mistaking his concern for sarcasm over a joke she made earlier. As Bizarro removes the broken axe shard from his chest, Jason sees that Bizarro still recognizes them and forms a plan. He tries to get Artemis to help him, but she refuses and leaps into battle. Shen she decks Bizarro, Jason notices that Black Mask is in pain as well. She doesn’t, only worried about killing Bizarro, but Jason tells her that she knows that despite her attitude, she worries about who might suffer if Black Mask isn’t stopped and that’s why she stayed in the city. He also tells her that killing Bizarro isn’t the only pressing matter. She then agrees to try not to kill him, but not very hard.

Satisfied, Jason leaves Artemis to fight while he goes to implement his plan. While he knows Artemis will be able to survive, he notices two things about Black Mask. One is the damage the virus is doing to his body. The second is that he refuses to let Jason out of his sight. Jason decides to put as much strain on Roman as he can. He tries to enter his bunker, but has some trouble because One Police Plaza is being evacuated. He succeeds, and remember that even though he’s used to total improvisation, he still has solid resources. He then remembers getting his ace-in-the-hole, and antidote to the techno-virus and dispersal gun designed by Crux. he prepares to load the gun. However, there is only a small amount left that may not be enough for what he has planned. Black Mask then arrives before he can load the antidote. However, Hood already knew he was there thanks to the proximity alarms. The two trade shots, Mask reveals he was five steps ahead from the start. When he peeks from behind his cover, Jason kicks him in the face before he can get a shot off.

Preparing to execute him, Roman claims he won’t end him because of his connection to Batman, and that the reason he wears the Bat-Symbol is so he can stay connected to Batman. Jason prepares a witty response, but Roman turns around at that moment and shoots him. However, Jason’s armor saves him. But Roman, going in for the kill, decides to remove his mask so Jason can see the face of death.

Because Jason can’t reach the antidote for the tech virus, Black Mask prepares to kill him, as he has no use for him anymore. Before Roman can fire, Artemis and Bizarro crash through the ceiling, buying Jason a moment to take the gun. As he disarms him, Jason calls Roman out on hypocrisy for claiming to love Gotham only to send Bizarro on a rampage. Jason takes a moment to check on Artemis, who is still fending off Bizarro. He retorts that Bizarro is only meant to get rid of the deplorables. Mask then orders Bizarro to attack and he tosses Artemis into Jason, knocking them down. Jason realizes that his control over Bizarro hasn’t weakened enough, and comes up with a new plan. While the two recover, Jason fills Artemis on his new plan. Artemis is skeptical that it will work until he explains; the techno-virus is damaging Roman’s brain, and if they keep fighting he will eventually burn him out.

With the two in agreement, they renew their attack. As they fight, Jason claims that Roman was wrong to believe they were alike, and the he has as much in common with him as he does with Batman; nothing at all. As he makes a retort, Roman collapses as a result of the virus. He then begins speaking in binary code, then Kryptonian, then manages to beg for the cure in english. As the virus further ravages his mind, Jason mocks Roman for thinking he could connect his mind to Bizarro and be fine. Roman asks again for the cure, but Jason refuses. Even without all of the crimes Jason knows he commited, he has so many crimes under his belt that Jason is compelled to leave him to his fate. Even though he vowed not to kill him, Jason refuses to help him. As he slips into a coma, Jason tells him not to blame anyone but himself for his condition.

When Jason checks on Artemis and Bizarro, she asks him about Black Mask, and he replies that he’s no longer a problem. Artemis then prepares to leave to continue her quest for the Bow of Ra. However, Jason, feeling he owes her for her help, offers to help her. She refuses, claiming her quest is too personal for her to involve them, but Bizarro claims they’re already involved. Artemis decides to let them help on the condition that they disband once her quest is complete, and they all agree.

Several days later, Jason meets up with Batman. Having heard that Black Mask has gone off the grid, he asks Jason what happened. Jason reveals that he didn’t kill him, but copied Batman’s style and did nothing. He then says that he will never do things his way again. Batman is confused, and when Jason calls his way “the law and order crap,” Bruce laughs. He claims his way has nothing to do with law and order. Jason then asks why he gives him such a hard time. In response, Batman reminds him of what he told him the first time he suited up.

Flashing back to that time, Jason is seen sitting on a gargoyle alone until Batman arrives, Jason asks how he knew where to look, and he replies that he was only kid he knew who had a “favorite gargoyle.” Jason reveals that he is afraid that he and Alfred were wrong and that he woulds screw up. Batman replies that he is sure that he will make mistakes and fail, but he doesn’t want a perfect Robin, but someone who will do their best and make him a better person at the same time. He asks Jason if he is that person, and replies that he’s Robin and Batman says it’s an honor to have him.

In he present, Jason asks if he’s okay with him not being like him, and replies that there’s already a Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman. Jason asks if he’s okay with him running with Artemis and Bizarro, which he is. Jason asks him one last question; if he is hungry. As they eat Bruce says that there are enough heroes in the world, and that having Outlaws wouldn’t hurt. When Bruce asks, what happened to Roman, it turns out he left him the care of Ma Gunn.

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Bizarro?

With Black Mask out of the picture, his men have been trying to fill the power vacuum. Setting up a meeting with some of his old flunkies who sold drugs to the homeless, Jason offers them a chance to get out of the business and leave Gotham. They respond by training all their weapons on him, and they ask him how he plans to deal with them. He tells them he won’t do anything, but his friend will. Bizarro then leaps into action and the two begin beating up the gangsters. When Bizarro comes close to killing one of them, Jason has to remind Bizarro to be more gentle, reminding him of how Batman got on him when he was too violent. Once they finish everyone off, their boss calls in backup in the form of Killer Croc. Jason is confused, knowing that Croc was drafted into the Suicide Squad. That moment of confusion gives Croc time to send Jason flying. Bizarro catches him, but in a fit of rage that his friend was hurt, Bizarro freezes Croc’s head solid knock his head clean off before Jason can tell him not to. However, it was an android and not the real Croc. With no one left to fight, the two leave, but before they do, Jason stops Bizarro and asks him if he knew Croc wasn’t alive. He tells him he did, but Jason isn’t entirely convinced.

When the get back to Ma Gunn’s old orphanage, now the Outlaws base, Jason talks to Artemis about what happened. Jason feels guilty for reprimanding Bizarro, and he asks if it’s crazy for him to fell that way. Artemis tells him that anyone other than him would be crazy. Jason thinks that Artemis doesn’t really care about Bizarro, having been searching for a lead on the Bow of Ra, but she is being serious. She then shows him videos she found while hacking into LexCorp using a program created by someone in the Bat-Family. Jason is offended that she doesn’t think he created it, even though he didn’t create it. Getting back on topic, Artemis shows him several videos of the scientists responsible for creating Bizarro, revealing that Bizarro is only one of many Bizarro clones, leaving a warning as to how dangerous Bizarro truly is, and capturing Lex Luthor ordering the clones’ destruction. After seeing a video of a Bizarro clone killing a scientist, Jason wonders if it’s too risky to trust Bizarro, but Artemis tells him that the question he needs to worry about is whether he can do the right thing if he becomes to dangerous; kill Bizarro before he kills us. Jason is reluctant, but Artemis reminds him that while their lives are just as important as Bizarro’s, they have an obligation to the innocents who can’t protect themselves from someone like Bizarro.

Pondering Artemis’s words, Jason heads to the Batcave. Alfred comments that he always visits right after Bruce heads out, which is exactly how he likes it. Jason then asks Alfred if Bruce ever regretted taking him on as Robin. Alfred tells him that everyone always believed in him, no matter how bad things got. Jason asks Alfred to leave the cave and not tell Bruce he was here. Now alone, he gets what he came for; a shard of Kryptonite with which to kill Bizarro.

Later, he and Bizarro head out into the country an sit on a lakefront Jason occasionally visits. Jason talks about his first time there, and how seeing it reminded him what a small part of the world he was. Bizarro tells him that he liked the world, even before he was freed from his container. He talks, with his back turned to Jason, about having Superman’s memories implanted in his mind, and the real memories he has of Jason and Artemis. As he talks, Jason loads the Kryptonite, forged into a bullet, into a gun. As Jason aims the gun, Bizarro tells him that even though he isn’t perfect, Jason showed him the path to being better, and promises to try to be the best version of himself. Moved by his speech, Jason holsters the gun and tells Bizarro it’s time to go, but he asks to stay and enjoy the scenery a little while longer.

Who is Artemis?

Artemis and Jason are tracking a metahuman criminal and the two head into a bar their quarry frequents to find a lead. When the bartender refuses to talk about a patron, Artemis breaks a mug over another patron’s head, instigating a bar fight. As she and Jason fend off everyone, Artemis hears someone address her as “sister.” Artemis turns to see fellow Bana Amazon Akila aiming a bow and arrow at her. Shocked to see her dead friend, she freezes. Jason notices and knocks Akila out, revealing that it was their target using his power to take the form of someone from her memories. Concerned at how she reacted to their quarry’s powers, Jason asks about what she saw. Pouring a drink for herself, she dismisses him. When he insists, she relents and tell him about the origin of the Bana and her story.

While she tells her story, Jason asks about the rumors that all Amazons live on Themyscira, and that they will die if a man sets foot there. She corrects him, explaining that no one would die if they did, and that her ancestors left the island after a falling out with Hippolyta. They eventually reached the Middle East and asked the Egyptian Gods for sanctuary. Under some difficult terms, they traveled to the site where they would build Bana-Mighdall. She continues her story about her friend Akila, who would become the Shim’Tar, how she was driven mad by the power of the Bow, and how she met Wonder Woman when she arrived to stop. Jason asks about the outcome, Artemis gives a vague answer. However, he already knows what happened; the two were forced to kill Akila and Artemis holds herself responsible for everything that happened. The Bow of Ra was lost, so they assumed the gods took it. However, she found out that the Bow is still on Earth, and she has dedicated herself to finding it. As the two leave the bar with their quarry, Jason compliments her eyes. Unflattered, she responds by threatening to punch him in his face.

Using information that Jason got from Black Mask, the Outlaws head to the place where the buyer of the Bow of Ra resides and the one place on Earth Jason never wanted to see again: Qurac. Stealing a decrepit cargo plane, Jason has Bizarro fly it into Quraci airspace while he and Artemis watch a news-feed. According to the news, Quraci General Ahmed Hienle had just leveled the city where his political rivals where stationed. Though no one knows what weapon he used in the attack. Artemis recognizes the destruction as the work of the Bow of Ra. However, she can’t understand how a man like Heinle could have harnessed its power when only Shim’Tar can wield it. Jason theorizes that he found a way, but she feels that no man can be trusted with such power, and that if the Bow really is in use, she failed her best friend.

When Jason makes a move to console her, the aforementioned General hails their plane and demands that they turn back. Jason boldly refuses, and vows that that Red Hood and the Outlaws will shut him down. When the general scrambles fighters to shoot them, down, they manage to hit Bizarro. Unharmed, Bizarro lets go of the plane to take the jets down, leaving Jason and Artemis to fall out of the sky. As they fall, Artemis complains about using a plane that can’t fly. Jason retorts that he needed to make Bizarro feel like a part of the team. He also noted that Bizarro sparing the pilot proves they are making him a better person. Before they can crash, Bizarro catches the plane, but a light bright enough to obscure the night sky then shines, obscuring everything.

When he comes to Jason, he finds that he is in the frozen wreckage of the plane. He then realizes two things; that Bizarro saved them all, and that the Outlaws have been separated. He internally debates searching for his friends or finding the bow, only to realize that he actually considers his teammates friends. Before he can get moving, armed soldiers train their rifles on him.

Jason is stripped of his weapons and taken to a prison. Wen they try to get him to talk, he says he will only speak to the General. When they demand details in order to get the General’s attention. He tells the soldiers that he died in their country and flashes back to his death. However, when he looks out the window, he sees that he is standing a few hundred feet from the remains of the building he died in. When Jason starts ranting about the fact that he wound up in that exact place, the guards write him off as a head case and leave. While he muses over his current situation, his younger self appears next to him and tells him that he would have been better off staying dead.

While sitting in a cell, Jason watches his younger self get beaten by the Joker, calling out for help. Joker then turns his attention to his older self, hoping to get a rise. In response, older Jason shoots Joker to death. Even though it is imaginary, he takes some satisfaction in changing the past. Later, the Joker appears again, and rather than fight again, Jason decides to untether himself from his past. He tells his younger self that while he was alone as a kid, he now has surrounded himself with good friends. He also admits his death was his own fault, he then walks away as the warehouse explodes.

At that moment, he comes to, the whole thing having been a dream he had after he blacked out by being tortured by General Hienle himself. At that moment, the General decides that Jason has no information about the Bow of Ra. He order his men to kill Jason. Having a problem with that, Jason waits until they untie him and attacks. Hienle draws a gun and demands Jason stop. However, in the time it took him to draw Jason has already knocked out his guards, picked a gun, and aimed it at his face point blank. Jason realizes that he doesn’t have the Bow of Ra, and Hienle comes clean: he bought the Bow, but couldn’t control it. In searching for a way to control it, he unleashed a powerful evil: and he claims there is no stopping her. Jason realizes that since a Shim’Tar can wield the Bow, he realizes who the evil is.

Eventually, the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall attack Hienle’s compound. Jason, realizing that he is the lesser of two evils, he prepares to battle the Amazons. Before he can jump into the fray, Artemis stops him, upset that he is siding with the enemy. As they get caught in the melee, Jason tries to explain why he is fighting the Amazons: Akila lied about having the Bow of Ra. Artemis refuses to accept the truth…until a flaming arrow kills Hienle. With some convincing from Jason, she prepares to engage Akila with him. At the same time, Bizarro arrives with survivors from the ruined city, accidentally burying Akila under a mountain in the process. When Akila recovers, she attacks Bizarro, then fires another arrow at the refugees. While Artemis stops the blast, she is left defenseless.

While Akila is distracted, Jason summons the All-Blades and fights Akila. However, she is still too powerful for him to stop. As she prepares a kill blow, Bizarro returns to the fray and the tow fight her together. Though they fail to stop her, they buy time for Artemis to take up the Bow of Ra herself and uses it to defeat Akile. However, she loses control of the power she absorbed from the bow and begins to explode. As Bizarro carries her into space to explode safely, Everyone present looks on.

After the fighting ends, Jason and Artemis talk about everything that happened. Jason asks if she is going to leave the Outlaws, but she decides to stay and let Amazons and refugees live build a new life there. She also reveals that she plans to keep the Bow of Ra for herself., which worries Jason a little. The two the hear someone cry and out, and find that Bizarro is apparently dead.

Returning to Gotham to try to treat the dying Bizarro, Ma Gunn tells the Outlaws that she is ill equipped to treat an alien clone, and anyone who can will not help them since their adventure in Qurac earned them the the status of international war criminals. Jason tries to give Bizarro some hope of survival, but Artemis argues against lying. The argument is cut short when they see Solomon Grundy rampaging on the news. Artemis tries to go face Grundy alone so Jason can be with Bizarro. As someone experienced with Grundy, Jason accompanies her anyway. The two reach Grundy, but both are quickly defeated. Before they can be killed, Bizarro, having heard their plight with his super-hearing, arrives to defeat Grundy knowing the gesture will end him. Against Jason’s objection, Bizarro defeats Grundy, then collapses. With his last breaths, he asks his friends to care for his rag doll before dying. Jason is unwilling to accept that he is gone forever, but Artemis convinces him to simply mourn him and honor his last act. While mourning, the two are knocked out from a blast delivered by Lex Luthor, Bizarro’s creator.

Meet the newest outlaw…Nightwing?!

The one-shot story kicks off by showing some men on a cruise ship. Everything seems to be fine, until all of sudden KGBeast “the Beast” shows up and bombs the place to its ashes.

Moving on to Gotham City, we see Dick Grayson a.k.a. Nigtwing among the audience watching (at the circus) a spectacular show orchestrated by none other then Jason, Bizarro and Artemis. Jason asks Dick for a favor. He asks whether Dick could help them with the Russians.

At first, Dick hesitates a bit, but he realizes that he cannot let his brother alone and says yes.

They eventually follow the villain with all the evidence they have. It seems that it is the Beast!

It takes the four of them to beat him, but they eventually manage to win.

Jason and Dick shake hands and Dick tells him that he is glad that Jason is a good brother to Bizarro. Because frankly, Jason does a better job than Dick

Powers and Abilities

After being taken in by Bruce, Jason received an excellent education and extensive tutoring from both private tutors and Bruce. He has deep knowledge in many subjects including: Science, Math, Medicine, Geography, Criminology, World History and English. As a former Robin, Jason Todd possesses all the skills of someone trained by Batman but lacked the immense experience of Dick and Tim.

After his resurrection, Jason furthered his knowledge in combat by using Talia Al Ghul’s fortune to travel the world similar to what his former mentor did, but sought out much deadlier training. Talia also paid for Jason’s tutoring in explosives, strategy, tactics, poisons, weapons, vehicles, stealth, antitoxins, assassination and surveillance. Jason has trained his body to peak physical condition, being physically superior to most Olympic athletes but he may be enhanced to perfect and evolutionary human condition due to the healing of the Lazarus Pit.

He has returned to Gotham and proved to be an extremely dangerous martial artist. Jason’s fighting style focuses on brutality, strength, and speed; he is shown to have studied over half-a-dozen fighting styles and has proven to be a master of (included but not limited to) Aikido, Capoeira, Karate, Ninjutsu, Savate, Krav Maga, Kickboxing, and Tae Kwon Do; his skill set proven to be enough to fight Batman and Nightwing on equal terms and even stalemating them.

In New52 Jason received more advanced training with the ancient martial artist clan, The All-Caste. In all of the history of The All-Caste Jason proved to be the most successful and skilled fighter which he was rewarded by the secrets of The All-Caste in terms of martial arts, fighting meditation and etc to being the only one who have achieved this secrets.

Jason is an extraordinary marksman, even surpassing his ex-mentor thanks to his heavy trainings and natural hand-to-eye talent, being close (maybe even on par) with the likes of Deadshot and Green Arrow. Todd shown to be a master swordsman too, fighting and holding his own against Green Arrow for a long time until he lost. In New52 he did the same thing again with the difference being he gained the upper hand against Oliver, and later on he wields All-Blades with great proficiency against his enemies.

He is also an expert in fields of surveillance, thanks to his early years in Gotham street for waiting and anticipating his targets for his jobs, he’s skills improved after his trainings with Batman. Todd is a professional and seasoned pilot too, trained by an ace pilot in middle east to control planes and helicopters ranging from military to civilian types with excellent proficiency. He is also an expert in demolition, trained by a world-known and infamous bombs-expert in Russia, Jason can defuse bombs from advanced military types to improvised ones.

Equipment

As Robin

Jason received the costume worn by Dick Grayson during his tenure as Robin. The Tunic offers little to no resistance against gunfire. He has a yellow cape, green shorts, and green pixie boots. His utility belt consisted of Batarang, grappling hooks, gas pellets and other bat-related gadgets.

As Red Hood

After his resurrection and return to Gotham, Jason used the guise of Red Hood. The first costume consisted of jeans, t-shirt, biker jacket, a domino mask that is held in place by Spirit Gum, and the Red Hood Mask. His mask contains a radio transmitter and receiver as well as night vision. He has gauntlets that contain compartments for his weapons, which are deadlier. His weapons of choice are a pair of customized Jericho 941’s, fitted with extra serrations and mini red dot sights, a pair of M1911 pistols, an assortment of shurikens, and a flame dagger, a replica of one of Ra’s al Ghul’s weapons.

His second costume has the Red Hood Mask, which is still metallic, although it appears to have been modified. He wears a white and grey costume which also comes with a cape. In the middle of his chest is a red skull. He uses lethal force by means of his two red pistols.

The third version of the costume is similar to the first with the exceptions of a red bat emblem on the chest, a brown biker jacket and a more form fitting mask with Jason’s mouth visible and a distinct absence of a domino mask underneath instead he has a mask like his old Robin mask under the hood. Jason’s new outfit possesses tech and weapons inside it similar to the Batman Beyond suit. So far shown are glider wings housed in the forearms and a grappling hook with reticle aimer on the left forearm. Jason’s helmet or “hood” provides a moderate degree of protection. When a Talon stabbed it with a knife cracking it, Jason was shocked that a knife was able to do that and stated that no knife should able to crack his hood. Also, Jason used a dosage of Venom while on a mission with Supergirl.

His most recent suit consists of the standard biker jacket, jeans and metallic mask. However, he now wears an armor like shirt with the red bat emblem. He also modifies his attire with technology regularly, with one suit containing retractable blades along the arms. His most recent suit has a taser powerful to stun an Amazon while on a low charge. He also wields pistols that fire normal bullets along with other types of ammo such as sedative injectors and anti-tank rounds.

In most, if not all instances, Jason usually carries a firearm with him. He usually only carries dual pistols with him, but will use whatever gun he feels suits his purposes.

As Red Robin

This costume consists of a Red Tunic with gray pants. The utility belt is larger and contains circular throwing discs. The cowl is much like Batman’s, minus the ears. The cape also seconds as a glider.

As Batman

His costume is a very militaristic version of the Bat-Suit. Features heavy armor in both gray and black. The ears are shorter, and there is no opening by the mouth, but is protected by an armored covering instead. His lenses were tinted red to strike fear into the criminals. He carries two pistols and his utility belt is seen to have other lethal weapons. Much like the Red Hood mask, Jason wears a domino mask under the cowl as well.

Characteristics

• Height: 6’0″ / 1.83m
• Weight: 190 lbs, 195lbs, 200 lbs or 225 lbs / 86kg, 88kg, 91kg or 102kg (depending on the source).
• Eyes: Blue or Gray (depending on the colorist); green in the Animated Version of Batman: Under The Red Hood.
• Hair: Black (it was strawberry blonde in Pre-Crisis continuity and was briefly restored in regular continuity, until the Flashpoint revamp set it back to black).
• Unusual Features: Jason briefly had a gray streak or sometimes a white streak in his hair from his revival from the Lazarus Pit, but this feature was later dropped altogether from the character as it made him look much older than what was intended.

Other Versions

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

In Frank Miller’s critically acclaimed graphic novel, Jason Todd had died in the line of duty. This story was produced before A Death in the Family. Jason’s death is revealed to have been what pushes the Batman into retirement.

Amalgam Universe

In the Amalgam Universe reality, Jason Todd is believed to have died in an explosion caused by the Jackal. However during the invasion of Hydra Base Omega, Moonwing discovers his opponent is none other than Jason Todd now allied with Hydra and going by the name of Deathlok. Eventually, Nick Fury defeated Jason when he attempted to strangle Dick Grayson.

Flashpoint

In the Flashpoint timeline created by unintentionally by Barry Allen, Jason Todd was never taken in by Batman, who was not even Bruce Wayne in this reality. Jason ended up falling in with the Church of Blood run by Brother Blood. He mysteriously still died and resurrected, and his hair bore a white streak, suggesting he was brought back by a Lazarus Pit.

After his resurrection, Jason was taken in by the church, where he turned his life around and became a priest. In this capacity, he counseled a distraught Traci 13.

Earth-15

On an Earth where the younger generation had stepped up to carry the mantles of their mentors, Jason Todd was Batman. This Jason carried Bruce’s same grim demeanor and was a superior hand to hand fighter. This Earth was destroyed by Superboy-Prime.

Batman: White Knight

In the Batman: White Knight continuity, Jason Todd became Robin before Dick Grayson. At some point in the story, Jason was captured and tortured by the Joker, who wanted to know Batman’s secret identity. However, Harley Quinn stopped the Joker from killing Jason and requested Batman’s aid. But once they returned to the hideout, Jason was gone. As they were unable to locate him, Jason was missing and presumed dead. Some time later, once the Joker is cured from his insanity, Harley brings up the presumably deceased Jason. The Joker (as Jack Napier in this continuity) says that he doesn’t remember what happened to the second Robin. Dick tells Barbara that Jason was Bruce’s favorite.

Other Media

Film

Batman: Under The Red Hood

For further details: Batman: Under the Red Hood

Jason Todd appears for the first time in the DC Animated Original Movie Batman: Under the Red Hood. This version is voiced by Jensen Ackles, while his younger versions of Robin are voiced by Vincent and Alexander Martella. His first Robin costume is the same one used by Dick Grayson and his second is the later version of Tim Drake’s with small changes such as the length/style of the cape, and dark green coloring instead of black. In the film, Jason is kidnapped and beaten half to death by the Joker in a warehouse while Batman is racing to save him on his Batcycle, but is unable to get to him in time as the building explodes after the Joker leaves. Batman holds Jason in his arms, in grief.

Five years after, the Red Hood arrives to Gotham and sets up a meeting with the city’s drug dealers and makes a deal with them: if they give him 40% of their earnings, he will give them protection under one condition, no dealing to children or the Red Hood would kill them. Red Hood get’s Batman’s attention after the Dark Knight fights an Amazo but gets away. Black Mask is angered that his Amazo was destroyed and wants the Red Hood taken out, meanwhile Red Hood hijacks one of Black Mask’s helicopters and confronted by Batman and Nightwing, chasing him over the city. Batman recorded the chase and discovers that Red Hood knows his identity.

Black Mask starts attacking the Red Hood’s business areas and sends assassins (the Fearsome Hand of Four) after him but Batman manages to arrive and the two fight them off together, and Red Hood kills one of them. After the fight, Red Hood explains that he is in Gotham to clean it up better than Batman ever did, by controlling crime instead of fighting it.

Batman gets a blood sample of the Red Hood from a sword used in the fight and finds the DNA matches Jason Todd, finding out that Ra’s Al Ghul resurrected Jason through means of the Lazarus Pits out of guilt for hiring the Joker and setting him loose, costing Jason’s life in the first place. Jason returned to life but was mentally unstable and threw himself out of a window, presuming him dead but managed to survive and make his way to Gotham.

After Black Mask hires the Joker, Joker turns against his employer and ties him and his men up in a truck to be set ablaze. Red Hood reveals to Joker that he knew Black Mask would be desperate enough to hire him to draw him out of Arkham. During the chaos, Red Hood kidnaps Joker and beats him with a crowbar in an abandoned apartment to mimic the way Joker killed Jason Todd, even to the extent of asking him which part hurts, Part A or Part B?

Red Hood is found by Batman and the two engage in battle. Red Hood removes his mask and reveals himself to be Jason as Batman had figured, and triggers an explosive function in his helmet to throw off Batman, and the fight leads back to where the Joker is being held. (A common known error in the animation is when Batman and Red Hood are fighting in a bathroom with no entrances except the window.)

Jason tells Batman that he forgives him for failing to save him but is angered by the fact the Joker is still alive after what he did to him as Robin.

Jason gives Batman a gun and gives him an ultimatum: to either let Jason kill Joker once and for all or have Batman kill Jason to spare Joker’s life. As Jason fires at Batman for refusing to choose, the Dark Knight dodges the bullet, throws a batarang at Jason’s gun barrel which explodes and injures Jason’s hand, but Jason rigs the place to explode soon after. Batman manages to pull both out in time, but after the explosion, Jason disappears. The ending scene is a flashback in which Jason Todd is shown to be excited to be Robin for the first time, in which he exclaims : “This is the best day of my life”, as a ironic approach to the final outcome in Jason Todd turning into the Red Hood.

Batman movies (1990’s)

In Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, Dick Grayson’s character has anger issues and grudge against Two-Face much like Jason Todd. There are clear instances where the Jason Todd’s character comes out, especially in the 1997 Batman and Robin, where he disobeys Batman from time to time.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

In the final installation to Nolan’s trilogy, Joseph Gordon Levitt plays a rookie police officer named John Blake who’s real name is revealed to be “Robin” at the end of the film. It has been analyzed and speculated by many fans of both the comics and the trilogy that Blake’s character shares many elements from the first three Robins. Jason Todd’s character and Blake’s character share many of the same characteristics such as the rough orphaned origin and self-professed anger issues.

DCEU (2016)

• In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Robin’s damaged costume is seen in a memorial inside the Batcave. Though not elaborated on, the suit is covered in graffiti from the Joker. Though director Zack Snyder claims that the suit belonged to Dick Grayson, WB’s official stance is that the dead Robin was Jason Todd, and the display featuring the suit in the Warner Brothers Studio Tour indeed lists it as having belonged to Jason, not Dick.
• Context for the suit is provided in Suicide Squad, which mentions that Harley Quinn was involved in helping the Joker kidnap and murder Robin. A behind-the-scenes prop also mentions that Killer Croc had killed Jason Todd’s parents, inspiring him to become Batman’s sidekick.

Batman: Death in the Family (2020)

Jason Todd is a main character in the interactive animated film, with Vincent Martella reprising his role. As a nod to the original phone poll that led to Jason’s demise in the comics, the film features multiple branching story paths that can lead to different outcomes. As such, not only can Jason’s life be saved after he is kidnapped by Joker, but certain choices can instead lead to Bruce being the one who is killed in the explosion, dying to save Jason. Additionally, these paths can lead to Jason’s life taking drastically different outcomes; in some he remains the Red Hood, while in others, embittered at having been disfigured, he becomes Hush. It’s also possible to end the story on a bleak and depressing note, with Bruce, Jason and Talia al Ghul all perishing. In yet others, he can become the violent vigilante Red Robin, and may take on Tim Drake as his sidekick, Bat-Kid, if certain conditions are met to give Jason’s story a happy ending.

Other Animated Films

• Batman: The Killing Joke (2016): In this animated film, Jason Todd makes a cameo appearance when a picture of his brutally beaten body, from his time as Robin, is shown in the Batcave.
• Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (2018): Jason Todd appears as a young street urchin, voiced by Grey Griffin.
• Batman: Ninja (2018): Jason Todd appears as Red Hood in the film, voiced by Yuri Lowenthal in the English dub and Akira Ishida in the Japanese original.
• Lego Batman: Family Matters (2019): Jason Todd appears in the film as Red Hood, voiced by Jason Spisak.

Television

The New Batman Adventures

The second Robin is namedTim Drake but is more similar to Jason Todd, while still having some traditional Drake attributes. He is depicted as having a deep hatred for Two-Face, calling him Puke-Face. His parents were killed, contrary to the comic counter-part. Although he does honor the code more than Jason did, there are still instances when he disobeys Batman.

Teen Titans

Jason Todd appeared very briefly on Beast Boy‘s board of Red X suspects. Red X has the same fighting style as Robin (Dick Grayson). When Robin points out that Red X had said he doesn’t like to play the hero, Rex X replies, “doesn’t mean I don’t know how.” However, it is implied that Red X is older than Robin because he calls him a “kid”, although this could just be a taunt.

Birds of Prey

Jason Todd is noted in passing in the second episode of the short-lived series. It is unknown if the character was alive or dead. When Helena Wayne (Huntress) talks about how she was brought up, Barbara Gordon mentions Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, and Jason Todd and even herself as proof that crime-fighting isn’t a tradition, but a legacy.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold

In the episode “Emperor Joker”, a statue depicting Jason’s death is shown as part of Bat-Mite’s extra-dimensional museum. Bat-Mite briefly references the vote that resulted in Todd’s demise and claims to have participated in the poll.

Young Justice: Invasion

In the episode “Satisfaction”, a holographic image of Jason Todd as Robin is seen as part of the JLA’s memorial grotto in Happy Harbor. The current Robin, Tim Drake, is shown staring at the picture while Jaime Reyes gives Bart Allen a tour of the room. Greg Weisman later confirmed that Jason Todd had been part of the Team during the time skip between Season 1 and Season 2, but had been killed.

In the Young Justice: Outsiders episode “Rescue Op,” a character referred to as the “Red Hooded Ninja” (voiced by Josh Keaton) is seen as one of the assassins working for Ra’s al Ghul on Infinity Island. After seeing Nightwing, the Red Hooded Ninja says the name “Grayson,” and Ra’s expresses concerned that the assassin’s memory seems to be returning. Though unstated, it is heavily implied that the Red Hooded Ninja is Jason Todd, somehow back from the dead and amnesiac.

New Teen Titans

In one of the shorts for the DC Nation block on Cartoon Network, Jason is teased as one of the possible identities of Red X, mirroring the possibility that was raised in the original Teen Titans cartoon. The Titans initially believe him to be Jason, but this turns out to be a mask. At the end of the short, Beast Boy reaffirms his belief that he really is Jason.

Teen Titans Go!

In the episode “Sidekick,” Jason’s ashes can be seen inside an urn marked “Robin II.” Humorously, the crowbar that killed Jason can be seen next to the urn. His tombstone is later shown in the episode “Salty Codgers.”

Titans

Jason Todd appears as a recurring character in the series, played by Curran Walters. First appearing in a self-titled episode, Jason is introduced as the replacement Robin after Dick Grayson has abandoned the role. He teams up with Dick, but is shown to have a very violent anti-authority streak that somewhat disturbs the original Robin. Jason later returns to help the Titans battle Trigon.

In Season 2, Jason moves becomes a member of the Titans and moves into Titans Tower. Bruce Wayne agrees with the decision, believing that it will teach Jason some sorely-needed discipline. Despite this Jason doesn’t mesh well as part of a group, and frequently clashes with his teammates. He is kidnapped and nearly killed by Deathstroke, but is rescued by the others. Jason also enters into a sexual relationship with Rose Wilson, but becomes distraught and breaks it off upon learning that she was sent by her father to infiltrate the team. This, coupled with his existing frustrations, causes Jason to leave the team and abandon the Robin identity altogether.

Audio Play

Batman (OH ha)

In 1989, a 9 episode German Batman audio play series, that was loosely based on Tim Burton’s Batman movie from the same year, was published by OH ha.

The 3rd episode named “Die Schüler des Verbrechens” (= The students of the crime) is an adaptation of Jason’s post crisis origin story (Batman #408 + #409). The plot follows the comic closely with two major differences. The crime school with the name “Big Bob’s school for bad boys” is run by Bob the Goon on behalf of the Joker and Jason does not become Robin in the end, but moves in with Commissionaire Gordon.

Jason does not appear and is not mentioned in later episodes.

Video Games

Arkhamverse

• In Arkham City, DLC ‘The Joker’s Carnival’, Joker will boast about killing Jason Todd in the beginning sequence if Tim Drake is chosen as the playable character: “Didn’t I kill you already? No? Well there’s always next time, right? Ladies and Gentlemen, put your hands together for… Robin!” In the beginning chapter of Catwoman’s story arc, a large painting is shown covering the vault that she is trying to break into. The painting itself shows Cain carrying Abel in a pose similar to Batman carrying Jason in A Death in the Family. This painting also foreshadows the controversial ending of the game itself.
• In Arkham Knight, the final installment of the Arkham series, Jason Todd is revealed to be the Arkham Knight, which is the second antagonist in the game. Jason was kidnapped and tortured by the Joker in ‘Arkham Asylum’. The Joker sent videos of Jason’s apparent death to Batman to get to him. However, Jason had actually survived. Joker brainwashed Jason to hate Bruce and even get close having him reveal Batman’s identity, before Joker shot Jason, and sent that video to Batman, making Bruce think Jason is dead. When Bruce later takes Tim Drake under his wing, it infuriates Jason Todd, who dons the Arkham Knight persona and makes an alliance with Scarecrow to takeover Gotham and break Batman. He forms a militia, trains them in the way that Batman trained himself and designed a more high-tech bat suit for himself with gadgets and weapons. With the Arkham Knight’s suit, it’s ears are supposed to mock Batman’s and the Arkham sign written over his chest is supposed to keep the events of Arkham franchise in Bruce’s head. The Arkham Knight reveals his identity to Batman during their last confrontation. Bruce explains himself and tries to reach out to his broken former partner, seemingly to no avail. Batman wins the battle and Jason disappears. In the final act of the main story, Bruce surrenders to Scarecrow in exchange for the latter sparing the lives of Robin and Commissioner Gordon. Jason tracks him down and, just when Scarecrow is about to execute Bruce, Jason intervenes and saves his former mentor, allowing him to take down Scarecrow and rescue his allies. In a DLC story set after the events of Arkham Knight, you can play as him in his Red Hood persona against Black Mask and his organization. He is voiced by Troy Baker.

Other Games

• Although not officially a playable character in Injustice: Gods Among Us, there are a few references to Jason Todd all of which ironically come from the Joker himself. In the game one of Joker’s main weapons is his infamous crowbar likely the same one used to bash in Jason Todd’s skull in the storyline A Death in the Family. Another reference that further proves this claim is dialogue used by Joker within the storyline when Damian Wayne compares Joker to Batman to which Joker denies. Surprised Damian asks if Joker is a hero in his alternate world to which Joker cheerfully responds: “Oh no dear boy. It’s just that.. Batman likes to corrupt young minds while I bash them out of their skulls.“ The final connection to Jason Todd in the game is Joker’s alternate “Red Hood” costume. Joker originally was the first one to don the red helmet and cape, but Jason Todd is the one who currently dons the alias so the connection is undeniable. In the mobile app version of the game, Jason is playable as the Arkham Knight.
• Jason Todd as Red Hood appears in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced again by Troy Baker.
• Jason Todd as Red Hood is a playable DLC character in the fighting game Injustice 2, voiced by Cameron Bowen.
• Jason Todd as Red Hood is a playable character in Lego DC Super-Villains, voiced again by Cameron Bowen.
• Jason Todd as Red Hood is one of the four principle playable characters in Batman: Gotham Knights, voiced by Stephen Ouyang.

Merchandise

• Jason Todd was featured in DC Direct’s Batman: Hush line as a ToyFare exclusive.
• The Killer Croc series from Mattel’s DC Universe Classics line featured a classic Dick Grayson Robin figure. However, a variant with an alternate head depicting young Jason Todd as Robin was also released in the series.
• Jason Todd was featured in his short-lived Batman outfit as part of DC Direct’s Batman: Reborn line of action figures.
• Jason appears in the HeroClix figure game. Jason Todd as the Red Hood was made in the Crisis series with his hand on the mailbox jumping with a assault rifle in his hand to attack. He was also made in the Teen Titans pack in 2013 of the DC New 52 pack holding a Japanese samurai sword and a gun and standing on a roof of a building.
• DC Collectibles produced a Batman: Arkham Knight series of action figures, which included Jason.
• Jason Todd has been featured in Funko’s Pop! line of bobbleheads.
• Jason Todd was featured as Red Hood in the “Killer Croc Sewere Smash” Lego kit.
• Hot Toys produced figures of Jason as both the Arkham Knight and Red Hood.
• Hiya Toys produced a figure of Jason Todd as Red Hood.
• DC Collectibles produced an Arkham Knight statue of Jason as Red Hood.
• Prime 1 Studios produced a high end statue of Jason as the Arkham Knight.
• Jason as Red Hood was featured in Kotobukiya’s Ikemen line.
• Jason Todd was featured as Red Hood in DC Direct’s Batman: The Adventure Continues line.
• Red Hood was featured in the DC Multiverse action figure line by Todd McFarlane as part of a two-pack with New 52 Nightwing. An unmasked variant was later released as well.