Titans: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Jason Todd

10. His Initial Backstory Was Quite Different

Jason Todd may be renowned for being Batman’s moody and rebellious sidekick, but he wasn’t always like that. In fact, when he was first introduced into DC Comics back in 1983, he was actually a lot more like his predecessor.

With the original Robin, Dick Grayson, having a permanent role in DC’s New Teen Titans comic series, Batman was without a full-time sidekick and this made it challenging for the writers to get information across (Robin always acted as a sounding board and gave the Caped Crusader someone to constantly interact with). Thus, Gerry Conway and Don Newton created a second Robin to solve the problem and fill the void that Dick Grayson had left behind. This was Jason Todd.

Todd’s original origins were incredibly similar to his predecessor: he came from a family of circus acrobats (that were even named The Flying Todds) and his parents were also murdered. The tragic events eventually led Bruce Wayne to repeat history and adopt the heartbroken boy.

With the exception of his blonde hair, Jason was basically just a rehash of Dick and although it was rather unnerving, it strangely worked. It allowed Batman to gain a new sidekick while keeping the original Robin with the Titans.