5 Incredible Batman: The Animated Series Episodes You Never Got To See

Perhaps the greatest unexplained mystery of the animated universe is how Dick Grayson became Nightwing. To the casual viewer, it would appear he slapped on a new pair of tights and started kicking ass again mere moments after his fist-flavoured retirement hand delivered to Batman’s face.

However, the comics fill in this gap in continuity and the incredible two-and-a-half years(!!) that the show decided to skip in between these events. During this time, Grayson left Gotham and went to Brazil. Here he studied Capoeira and Tai-Chi under master Ling Chao, and continued to train in one-vs-many combat with his fellow capoeiristas. He then traveled to Santo de la Rosa, to find ‘Los Invisibles’, from whom he learns stealth skills far above anything Batman has taught him, enough to rival Batman himself, as well as foiling Two-Face in his attempt to smuggle drugs from Santo de la Rosa to Gotham.

It is here he also crafts his first costume in the jungle, adapting a day of the dead style suit he had being using to fit in with the festivities. He then trains his senses through Yaugh and Tenyagh, fighting blind Arya Stark style, and learns the secret of flight from the flying monks in the Himalayas.

All of this takes him two years, during which time Batman was training Tim Drake as the next Robin. Jump back in at The New Batman adventures episode one and you’re all caught up on the two years worth of character development you never knew existed.