10 Things Everyone Forgets About Nightwing
1. Dick Blames Himself For The Death Of His Parents
Dick Grayson was the youngest member of the “Flying Graysons”, a family of trapeze artists for Haley's Circus. When the circus comes to Gotham City, crime boss Tony Zucco threatened its owner that, if he didn’t pay the criminal extortion money, “accidents” could happen. Grayson overheard the threats but failed to warn his parents before they began their act that night. Their weakened swings broke and John and Mary Grayson died, leaving young Dick an orphan. The boy blamed himself for not warning his parents in time.
Initially thrown into the overcrowded Gotham Juvenile Services System and then a Catholic orphanage, Dick Grayson was adopted by Bruce Wayne as his ward, so as to not try to replace the boy’s parents. Grayson moved to Wayne Manor and met Alfred Pennyworth, Wayne’s butler. Unable to understand his new guardian’s frequent night-time absences and yearning for justice, the boy snuck out to find his parents' killer, only to discover Batman was also on the case.
Grayson made his way back to the circus and confronted Zucco’s partner Eddie Skeevers, who would have killed Dick if he had not been saved by Batman. Awakening in the Batcave, Dick discovered that Bruce Wayne was Batman. Seeing the same thirst for justice that drove him, Wayne offered to make Grayson his partner, and after an intense six-month training regime, Robin was born.