chap22 wrote:agreed 1000% on all of this, including the initial hatred ---> love i have for Damian's character. he's been a breath of fresh air to the Bat-family.
Yeah, if they made him a goody two shoes like Dick or Tim (don't get me wrong, I love those characters but its been done) it would be boring. I've seen that all before.
Having a Robin who comes from a drastically different background makes the character unique and memorable. It also forces Batman himself to change. Damien is his son. He can't just "fire" him or give up on him. He has to show this obnoxious screwed up little weapon how to be a hero. The alternative is seeing his own son become an assassin.
And Damien, with all his flaws, knows that being a hero is the only real way out of the life that was laid out for him by Talia. He desperately wants to be a hero, which I think brilliantly plays into his rivalry with the former Robins...he's trying to prove to himself, more than anyone, that he can be the best Robin ever. This manifests itself into obnoxious behavior because, frankly, he's a kid with a lot of growing up to do. He's immature.
There was an issue of, I think, Batgirl (pre reboot) where Damien is talking to Stephanie and they laid it all out for the reader. And I remember that is precisely the moment I started to like him.
Even the notion of Robin's role is handled well. Robin doesn't exist to keep Batman from becoming a maniac. The Robin role exists for Batman to take angry traumatized kids and mold that inner need for revenge into something positive. Damien, in many ways, is Batman's toughest challenge because he was already well on his way down a dark path.