OTHER (if applicable, things like great wealth, law enforcement powers, fame/infamy, etc.)
Dick’s parents did secure a trust fund for him containing about thirty thousand dollars, but regardless of his emancipation status he will not have access to the account until he turns twenty-one. Beyond that, he has nothing.
STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES
ABILITIES (if applicable, skills/talents which are unusual or which the character is particularly good at)
Dick is an exceptionally skilled acrobat and gymnast; a skill he’s diligently maintained despite the continuous upheaval of rotating foster care. While he rarely has access to the best equipment these days, it’s pretty important to him, and he’s good at improvising. He tends to have good instincts when it comes to people, though experience has made him slow to trust strangers. He speaks fluent Romany, French, and Spanish. He has some fairly proficient martial arts skills, but he’s not even close to an expert. He is extremely fast by all accounts, with excellent reflexes.
WEAKNESSES (significant vulnerabilities or disadvantages -- beyond 'only human')
Youth and inexperience are Dick’s most obvious and significant weaknesses, and also the two most likely to get him killed. Being relatively short and somewhat slight, he is also at a major disadvantage against anyone who relies primarily on size and strength. And it goes without saying, but his equipment is cheap and his armor is homemade. One solid hit and he’s down for the count.
BIOGRAPHY
THE PAST (the character's life up to the point where he/she joins the game)
Dick was born the son of John and Mary Grayson, world-renowned aerialists headlining Haly’s Circus. Dick took to performing early on with a precocious fervor, and was already well on his way to surpassing them both by the time his parents were brutally murdered by extortionist Tony Zucco, who arranged for their equipment to be tampered with during their annual Gotham show. Orphaned, terrorized, and left with no willing caretakers, Dick was removed from the custody of Haly’s performers and placed in St. Mary’s Home for Boys for three years. As an outsider he was left with little means to defend himself, and he quickly became an easy target for relentless abuse from adults and children alike. It was a scarring, painful experience for Dick, and one he still does his best not to think about.
At eleven he was placed in foster care with a local family who treated him well and seemed to enjoy him, but they were soon unable to keep him after they achieved a long-awaited pregnancy and began devoting their time and money elsewhere. Placement for Dick became more difficult after that, as he grew older and became less willing to cooperate with new foster parents. Few kept him longer than a year, and several were involved in drug busts or extortion rings. All were eventually apprehended by the Gotham PD, usually via the aid of an anonymous tip.
While not working to have his guardians imprisoned, Dick devoted most of his energy during his teen years to his schoolwork – resulting in a near spotless academic record – and the rest to devouring as many comic books as his meager allowances would allow, both of which represented his only escape from the pain and loneliness of his real life. He’s set to graduate a year early, and he’s now quite close to achieving his goal of juvenile emancipation as well.
Things changed for Dick forever when Batman appeared in Gotham. At last he had an inspiration, a reason, and somewhere to channel the anger and grief he'd been living with for so long. For weeks he perused newspapers obsessively for the smallest glimpse of his new hero, read every op ed he could get his hands on, and spent a great deal of time arguing with dissenters on the internet. And finally, he began to let himself contemplate the dream he’d never before let himself imagine. He stocked supplies, started a more rigorous workout regimen, and brushed up on basic martial arts training with the help of a deadbeat ex-marine he met in an alley. Two months ago, Robin was ready to make his solo debut.