8 Comic Book Characters Who Should Have Stayed Dead

While there has only ever been one "real" Batman, everyone has their favourite Robin. For some, it's Dick Grayson, others Tim Drake, and no doubt there are more than a few Stephanie Brown fans out there as well. Pretty much no one will say Jason Todd.

Todd was the second boy to take on the mantle of Robin. He was a character so unpopular that when DC readers were given the choice of life and death in a phone poll, the decision was almost unanimous to have the Joker smash his brains in.

The death of Jason served as a harsh reminder that even the great Batman is fallible. It took the "Uber-Bat", as fans had come to dub him, and showed that not only was he human, but his actions have real consequences. Todd would become the shadow that haunted Batman, the Joker's cruellest punchline and the seed of doubt in the mind of his allies.

Since the Under the Red Hood arc that detailed his resurrection, Jason Todd has been little more than a bit-part player in Batman's already massive family -another yearly crossover issue replacing a powerful symbol of guilt, failure and pain.