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Nightwing is a Batman-inspired superhero/vigilante alias in the DC universe which is most-notably used by Dick Grayson, the patron-vigilante of Blüdhaven and the original Robin. The name Nightwing is inspired by Superman's stories.

History

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Earth One (Silver Age)

Superman

In Superman #158 (1963) the moniker of Nightwing was first used by Superman. Superman and his pal Jimmy Olsen had entered the shrunken city of Kandor, a city from Superman's destroyed planet of Krypton which was saved from destruction. Kandor was shrunken by the alien-supercomputer Brainiac with its citizens inside.

After Superman had saved the bottled city from Brainiac, he and Jimmy entered only to find it had become crime-infested. Inspired by their friends Batman and Robin (Dick Grayson), Superman and Jimmy modelled themselves after the Dynamic Duo to try and fight injustice in Kandor. However, as Krypton didn't have bats or robins (despite Dick Grayson having been modelled after the folkloric Robin Hood) the two took up monikers based on the Kryptonian animals of Nightwing and Flamebird.

Van-Lee

Following Superman and Jimmy Olsen's leave from Kandor, the title of Nightwing fell onto Superman's cousin Van-Lee, a scientist who used tech to replicate Superman's powers in the Kryptonian city.

Dick Grayson

After falling out with Batman, Dick Grayson left the Dark Knight's side to become a more regular member of the Teen Titans. Inspired by the story of Superman's visit to Kandor, Dick chose to take up his own variant of the Nightwing alias.

New Earth (Crisis on Infinite Earths)

Nightwing-flamebird-yinyang

The Nightwing and Flamebird of Kryptonian Myth

Kryptonian Mythology

Following Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superman had yet to learn that the city of Kandor was saved and as such never visited it and became Nightwing. Instead, in this world Nightwing and Flamebird were figures of Krytponian mythology which Clark learned of from the sun-crystals in his Fortress of Solitude. Superman tells Dick Grayson the myth of Nightwing and Flamebird, leading to Dick assuming the name for himself.

In Kryptonian mythology, Nightwing and Flamebird are deities created by the sun god Rao. They cyclically die and are reborn, having to find one another in each life.

Superman

When Superman and Lois Lane got stuck in a historic Kryptonian simulation made by Superman's biological father Jor-El they are deemed criminals and hunted prolifically by the simulated authorities. As aliases, Superman goes by Nightwing and Lois as Flamebird.

Chris Kent

Superman's enemy General Zod had a son named Lor-Zod who was adopted by Superman under the name of Christopher Kent. Chris would grow up to be an incarnation of Nightwing.

Characters

Films, video games and television series

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