Overview[]
Watch out Gotham City! There's a new bad boy in town. And he takes no prisoners! He's the Red Hood! And he's got a grudge against the Batman and the Joker. Just who is he? The answer will shock you and Batman's world will never be the same...
The Red Hood first appeared on July 27, 2010 in the direct-to-video original animated movie, Batman: Under the Red Hood which combined the Batman comic book storylines, "A Death in a Family" and "Under the Hood". He was voiced by Jensen Ackles while his younger version are voiced by Vincent and Alexander Martella. This movie also marked the debut of Jason Todd in any media adaptation.
Background[]
Jason Todd debuts as Robin; Batman Vol.1 #368 (Dec. 1983)
Initially a supporting character and later an anti-hero in the DC Comics, Jason Todd bears the misfortunate stigma of being the unwanted sidekick to Batman. He was the second vigilante partner to Bruce Wayne aka the Batman and his first replacement for Dick Grayson aka Robin.
Created as the original sidekick to Batman in 1940, Dick Grayson found himself struggling to live up to the shadow of his mentor by the 1980's. As a consequence of his maturity, he often found himself operating increasingly solo and as a regular member of the Teen Titans. This however meant that it was difficult for him to appear as a regular feature in the Batman comic books and yet maintain continuity in the Teen Titans. Thus, Grayson only sporadically made appearances in the Batman titles for a time but DC editors decided that this solution was not working and that something had to be done; resulting in them making a rather controversial decision at the time.
It was written that Batman found Grayson's frequent absences to be frustrating and tiresome as he expected Grayson to be his partner and not his secondary priority. To wit, Batman ultimately demanded that Grayson either commit himself to being Robin or quit the role entirely. Grayson chose independence, leaving behind the identity of Robin behind him and would after several long months of self-searching, chose to adopt a new moniker as Nightwing and forge his own path.
This freed up the identity of Robin for a new character and so Jason Todd was created by Gerry Conway and Don Newton to fulfill the role; debuting in Batman #357 published in March of 1983. An orphaned street kid from Crime Alley, Todd first encountered the Dark Knight when he caught Todd trying to boost the tires from the Batmobile. Bemused, Batman would arrange for Todd to be placed in a foster home only for Todd to become involved in a later case shortly afterwards. Impressed with Todd's spunk, Batman deciding to take him under his wing and trained him up as the new Robin afterwards. However, longtime fans were incensed at what they saw as an usurper in the role as Robin.
In an attempt to differentiate between Dick Grayson and Jason Todd, writers tried to emphasize Todd's rebellious behavior and attitude as being far more of a loose cannon, frequently disobeying Batman's orders, and prone to fits of violence. In one notorious incident, Batman was investigating a serial rapist who managed to escape justice thanks to his father's diplomatic immunity only for the rapist to mysteriously "fall" to his death during a confrontation between him and Todd. Todd proclaimed that the rapist had been spooked by Todd's presence and slipped; but both Batman and many fans suspected otherwise. Todd's "bad boy" behavior failed to win converts and resentment stiffened against his continued presence.
Death in the Family
In 1988, after years of outrage and hate mail; DC Comics decided to have a special 4-part miniseries event, "A Death in the Family" at the climatic conclusion saw Robin disobeying Batman's orders once more only to be caught by the Joker who proceeded to savagely battering him with a crowbar and then leaving him to die in a massive explosion. Afterwards, a telephone poll over Todd's fate was held for 36 hours in which readers could vote for Todd's survival or his death.
When it was finished and the votes were tallied; 5,343 votes opted to kill him off against 5,271 votes for him to live and left reverberating shockwaves in the Batman mythos for decades to come as a harsh reminder of the dangers of being a costumed sidekick.
A third boy, Tim Drake would ultimately step up and succeed Todd as Robin in 1989 but managed to win the admiration and respect of the readers, transitioning into becoming one of the most popular and enduring additions to the Batman Family and would hold onto the role of Robin for several decades afterwards.
Todd as the Red Hood
In 2005, writer Judd Winick created a mysterious villain/vigilante plaguing Gotham City and the Batman known as the Red Hood. It was ultimately revealed that the Hood was actually a resurrected Todd who blamed Batman for his death and that he didn't even have the "guts" to avenge him by killing the Joker in retaliation. To demonstrate his contempt; Todd adopted the identity of the Red Hood, a former identity utilized by the Joker as the leader of the Red Hood Gang as a form of mockery to both the Batman and the Joker even as he proceeded to wage a far more violent war on crime in Gotham City to show Batman's methods as irrelevant and obsolete, pitting himself against his former mentor.
Todd would battle Batman as well as his predecessor, Dick Grayson and successor, Tim Drake on multiple occasions over the next few years before he finally made an uneasy peace/truce with Bruce Wayne. He continues to use the identity of the Red Hood as a sort of penance and acts in a more anti-heroic fashion although less violent than before. He continues to appear sporadically in the DC Comics Universe and has been adapted on several occasions in animated features. Much of Todd's backstory and history was heavily used as the inspiration behind the DCAU incarnation of Tim Drake.
Major Plots[]
Personality and Traits[]
Trivia[]
Quotes[]
Other Versions[]
- Robin (Jason Todd) (Young Justice)
Related Pages[]
Affiliations[]
- Batman
- Alfred Pennyworth
Red Hood / Robin Legacy Characters[]
- Robin (Batman 1943)
- Robin (Batman 1949)
- Robin (Batman '66)
- Robin (Adventures of Batman)
- Robin (Scooby-Doo Mysteries)
- Robin (Super Friends)
- Robin (New Adventures of Batman)
- Robin (Burtonverse)
- Nightwing (DCAU)
- Robin (DCAU)
- Robin (The Batman)
- Robin (New Frontier)
- Nightwing (Brave & Bold)
- Robin (Damien Wayne) (Brave & Bold)
- Nightwing (Under a Red Hood)
- Nightwing (Young Justice)
- Robin (Young Justice)
- John Blake (Nolanverse)
Significant Locations[]
- Batcave
- Gotham City