I don't mean which of the robin is your favorite... The question has been raised several times and considering the long run with tim drake the answer is pretty clear for me.

I mean Bruce wayne always acted like a surrogate father with his robins and although parents are extremely uncomfortable with this subject for obvious reasons they ALWAYS have a favorite. Someone who is closer to their dreams or that just knows how to appeal to their best side. The favorite is not even necessarly the best, sometimes they prefer the weakest child precisely because they can protect him and the relationship never changes. Now most people try to be fair to all their children but there's always a hint of a preference. I'd say batman is pretty fair but he's still a human being...

In the miller dark knight world it's made crystal clear that batman preferences is 1-kelly(althought in DKR2 it looks more like pedophilia... ) ,2- jason todd (that he respects ) , 3-dick grayson (that he pretty much despises).

In the DC canon before New 52 he had plenty of guilt over Jason death and one might wonder if he didn't develop some kind of special bond with him over his failure. As he had been freshly introduced to damian his feelings toward him were uncertain and he seemed to mistrust him .

In the new 52 in the batman and robin book he refuses to let damian go on patrol because although he's ready to expose himself to danger he doesn't want to expose his son. I don't have a great knowledge of batman history but it seems to me that's unprecedented.

What do you think?

Am I allowed to troll? Well, I guess it'd be Dick Grayson imo.

Jason is now a villain [Kinda, you get the jist], Tim "forced" his way into Bruce's life and Damian... is Damian.

If he has a favorite in the mainsteam continuity, it's probably Dick. He was the first one he chose to be his ward and sidekick and he's been around the longest. Dick knows the tricks of the trade and he knows Bruce pretty much as well as Alfred. But I think Bruce recognizes Tim as becoming a detective as great as he is (or maybe even better). He feels more guilt than love for Jason (at least nowadays). Damian is more like an accident.

Yeah I see where you're coming from : Grayson is the most mature,he has has this leader quality/very sympathetic (he's insanely popular among the supehero community, some would say a lot more than Batman himself) and the fact that he became such a man is a proof of Bruce wayne talent as a father. He's like the son you would brag about (while jason is the ugly duckling)... Yes yes.....

but there is this whole "I can't expose my son" stuff that disturbs me.Damian is special . I mean he never brought that up before right? Robin has always been by the side of batman. Being in danger is part of the job and Batman didn't seem to have any problem taking kids with him up now. Nobody is.... pretty much nothing compared to some of the threat Bruce dealt with previously. Bruce adopted every kid he took as robin but there is a clear double standard here.It's not a rhetorical question : Right now each of his son are in very different position and there's no conflict of interest. Dick is nightwing (BTW gotham or new york?),Jason is Red hood and has given up on the batman legacy as he's a killer (even geoff couldn't retcon that), tim drake is red robin and leader of the teen titans, damian is the new robin. So for instance there isn't any "battle for the cowl" possible right now.But in DCnU Bruce is again in his prime (early 30's ) and Damian must be 12-14 do you think he'll favor Damian over Dick for the cowl when it's time to retire ? I'm not even sure that Dick got a chance to be Batman in the new continuity ...

And I'm not sure about Jason...He's the other big question mark. The subject has never been raised by bruce since the reboot. There is this scene with Jason getting rid of his favorite memory ( Bruce watching a movie with him while he was sick like father and son) in a recent chapter of red hood and the outlaws : he doesn't seem to be that angst ridden character that he used to be. Back then he resented dick grayson and tried to kill him. He also tried to emulate in a very twisted way the dynamic duo with scarlet. One could say he was obsessed. Now it seems that not only he wants to move on but he's trying to forget everything about batman altogether. That's interesting because obviously I don't think the writer will leave it at that...And we have no idea how bruce feels about jason now...

No matter how much I love bruce wayne I think that pretty much everything has been said about him as an individual character. Most fan (let alone writers and editor that make money on him) won't admit this because they're a bit childish and want a neverending story but you can't write 60 years the same character with several issues a month and think it will be fresh. The only alternative is repetition or going out of character. You can write nice stories (I love batman court of owl plot) but they won't reach the level of a death in the family, killing joke, DKR, etc... Simply because the character can't evolve. For me now it's about batman legacy. I think Morrison (I don't like him as a writer but he's great at analysis and concept) saw this and that's why he introduced damian, dick as batman and batman inc. Kind of "time to move on" you know ? I know a lot of people are upset over Ultimate marvel, like it's a freaking mess because they killed plenty of characters and changed a lof of characterization but I think that's the way to go. It's the first time they took a shot a real shot at the infamous "statu quo is god" trope and I, for one, enjoyed the new x-men because it's not rehash for once. Now they can't do that with Batman because it's too much of a cash mashine but clearly IMO bruce belongs to the past. He has this HUGE batfamily that clearly doesn't work with the loner angle. I know that Dick as Batman grew on a few people. There won't be a change anytime soon considering they reboot the whole goddamn universe a couple of month ago but in 10-20 years.... I think Batman could be the first major character(sorry green lantern and flash don't count) to do a permanent change and who's wayne favorite son will play a big role in the future. Last time he asked dick to refuse the cowl but I think next time he will be alive and he will have to choose....

Simple answer he doesn't have a favorite. He loves them all,although due to history he has a deeper bond with Grayson then with the other. And Damian is the youngest, he likely views him as the baby of the family.

@nightwing91 said:

Simple answer he doesn't have a favorite. He loves them all,although due to history he has a deeper bond with Grayson then with the other. And Damian is the youngest, he likely views him as the baby of the family.

He loves all of them, but Bruce play favorites, Jason would be a better person if it wasnt becuase Bruce wanted that every Robin was Dick.

@DeathpooltheT1000 said:

@nightwing91 said:

Simple answer he doesn't have a favorite. He loves them all,although due to history he has a deeper bond with Grayson then with the other. And Damian is the youngest, he likely views him as the baby of the family.

He loves all of them, but Bruce play favorites, Jason would be a better person if it wasnt becuase Bruce wanted that every Robin was Dick.

He didn't want every Robin to be like Dick, he wanted him to live up the standard Dick had set but that's it. Jason in his psychosis I'm sure he believed that was what Bruce wanted,and let's face it he was never going to be a "good" person, from his earliest childhood to his death he was little better then the criminals they fought.(or does everybody forget that as Robin, he most likely murdered a man)

@nightwing91 said:

@DeathpooltheT1000 said:

@nightwing91 said:

Simple answer he doesn't have a favorite. He loves them all,although due to history he has a deeper bond with Grayson then with the other. And Damian is the youngest, he likely views him as the baby of the family.

He loves all of them, but Bruce play favorites, Jason would be a better person if it wasnt becuase Bruce wanted that every Robin was Dick.

He didn't want every Robin to be like Dick, he wanted him to live up the standard Dick had set but that's it. Jason in his psychosis I'm sure he believed that was what Bruce wanted,and let's face it he was never going to be a "good" person, from his earliest childhood to his death he was little better then the criminals they fought.(or does everybody forget that as Robin, he most likely murdered a man)

Wait.......What?

@BlackArmor: It was in Batman 424, there is a rapist who gets away with it because his father's diplomatic immunity which drives one of his victims to suicide. Batman only arrives to see the rapist fall from the top of a building with Jason just casually saying he slipped. It's implied Jason killed him.

@nightwing91 said:

@BlackArmor: It was in Batman 24, there is a rapist who gets away with it because his father's diplomatic immunity which drives one of his victims to suicide. Batman only arrives to see the rapist fall from the top of a building with Jason just casually saying he slipped. It's though Jason killed him.

I was always under the impression that Jason was psychotic as Robin, guess you learn something new everyday

@BlackArmor: Mhmm, although it was never confirmed,as A Death in the Family started at 426. Although an issue or two before the rapist's fall Jason even questioned if it would be so bad if he killed a Pimp or a drug dealer or something like that.

@super_psycho said:

OMG.....that is hilarious........oh look at the little birdies........soooooo cute

Dick, I think they have that connection of past the same situation

@super_psycho said:

Jealous of terry? :D LOL,

@super_psycho said:

Well Batman let Terry be Batman, he dont let Dick to be Batman.

So it makes sense.

@nightwing91 said:

@DeathpooltheT1000 said:

@nightwing91 said:

Simple answer he doesn't have a favorite. He loves them all,although due to history he has a deeper bond with Grayson then with the other. And Damian is the youngest, he likely views him as the baby of the family.

He loves all of them, but Bruce play favorites, Jason would be a better person if it wasnt becuase Bruce wanted that every Robin was Dick.

He didn't want every Robin to be like Dick, he wanted him to live up the standard Dick had set but that's it. Jason in his psychosis I'm sure he believed that was what Bruce wanted,and let's face it he was never going to be a "good" person, from his earliest childhood to his death he was little better then the criminals they fought.(or does everybody forget that as Robin, he most likely murdered a man)

Jason have problems, but Bruce never wanted to see them and help Jason, he let Jason live in the Shadow of Dick.

Sorry but Bruce plays favorites all the time.

Dick/Tim. Dick most likely.
BB

@BlackArmor said:

@nightwing91 said:

@BlackArmor: It was in Batman 24, there is a rapist who gets away with it because his father's diplomatic immunity which drives one of his victims to suicide. Batman only arrives to see the rapist fall from the top of a building with Jason just casually saying he slipped. It's though Jason killed him.

I was always under the impression that Jason was psychotic as Robin, guess you learn something new everyday

An issue of Gotham Knights implied that had Batman never found Jason he would have most likely grown up to become a criminal serving a life sentence in Black Gate.

Bruce definitely has the greatest bond with Dick and trusts him the most.

@entropy_aegis said:

@BlackArmor said:

@nightwing91 said:

@BlackArmor: It was in Batman 24, there is a rapist who gets away with it because his father's diplomatic immunity which drives one of his victims to suicide. Batman only arrives to see the rapist fall from the top of a building with Jason just casually saying he slipped. It's though Jason killed him.

I was always under the impression that Jason was psychotic as Robin, guess you learn something new everyday

An issue of Gotham Knights implied that had Batman never found Jason he would have most likely grown up to become a criminal serving a life sentence in Black Gate.

......so the overall point is that Jason has always been something of a bad apple, no wonder people voted to kill him

He loves all of them equally.

@DeathpooltheT1000: Uh not exactly,Bruce tried to help him repeatedly from the start. Hence the fact he made him Robin, as he knew otherwise he would end up as a criminal himself. Oh and keep in mind Bruce adopted Jason years before he did Dick.

@BlackArmor: Basically, he always was from childhood.and he only ever made him Robin to keep him from becoming part of the criminal element he fights.

Damian on account of actually being his son.

@CitizenBane said:

Damian on account of actually being his son.

But he's the only one,in that case he wins by default.I think his favourite is Dick but he shows Tim more affection than the rest

@super_psycho

hilarious! you made my day !

if I can make a remark I think you could yet tweak it slightly to improve it:

by dividing the story into 2 strip like calvin and hobbes :

-1st strip :the first two panel, the question and the reaction (just perfect : LOVED BATMAN FACE AND REACTION)

- 2nd strip:two panel,

the lie (maybe for instance batman retiring hastily while shouting off-screen something in the line of " 'love all of you , now daddy has to go fight crime" with some inventive use of the robins face)

and children reaction ( maybe something like showing the screen of the batcomputer they hacked into with their respective evaluation displayed on the screen with heart on the side ,like one of those old video game you know , to represent how much batman value them and a HUGE terry at the top, with mention "hidden son" and dick calling like before )

@nightwing91 said:

@DeathpooltheT1000: Uh not exactly,Bruce tried to help him repeatedly from the start. Hence the fact he made him Robin, as he knew otherwise he would end up as a criminal himself. Oh and keep in mind Bruce adopted Jason years before he did Dick.

@BlackArmor: Basically, he always was from childhood.and he only ever made him Robin to keep him from becoming part of the criminal element he fights.

He try to help him in the same path an ways that try to help Dick.

If that dont show the fact Batman never actually get that Jason wasnt Dick, nothing does it.

@DeathpooltheT1000 said:

@nightwing91 said:

@DeathpooltheT1000: Uh not exactly,Bruce tried to help him repeatedly from the start. Hence the fact he made him Robin, as he knew otherwise he would end up as a criminal himself. Oh and keep in mind Bruce adopted Jason years before he did Dick.

@BlackArmor: Basically, he always was from childhood.and he only ever made him Robin to keep him from becoming part of the criminal element he fights.

He try to help him in the same path an ways that try to help Dick.

If that dont show the fact Batman never actually get that Jason wasnt Dick, nothing does it.

He tried to help him by applying the things that made Dick Grayson the DC Universe's wonder boy,Any parent would do the same.But he certainly did things differently then he did with Dick, Jason was adopted where as Dick was his ward(up until the 2000's when he was adopted) and Dick did resent that. And then when he realized just how damaged Jason truly was he benched him from Robin to have a normal life.

And that doesn't show anything, and he knew Jason and Dick were two vastly completely different people.

this is hilarious I can't stop laughing

Batman loves all his son but if he had to pick a favorite it probably be Dick.

its stated on the wiki on here that dick is his right hand man but damian holds a special place because hes his literal son

@kgb725 said:

its stated on the wiki on here that dick is his right hand man but damian holds a special place because hes his literal son

i was about to write something similiar like this, nice.

@super_psycho: Hahahahaha! That was absolutely hilarious!

When I think about it, his favorite son should be Damian, but that was kind of an accident, but its his real son though..

Dick Grayson, though he does his absolute best not to play favorites, and attempts to give each son the attention they deserve. It can't be said that he doesn't love any of them.

Yeah staying neutral is Batman forte

Dick was the first real outsider Bruce let into his life after his parent's death. Bruce was open to other robins ONLY because of Dick's example.

I think the favorite would be between Damian and Dick. I say he likes Dick more since he knows him longer but cares more for Damian.

Sign the Petition please. https://www.change.org/petitions/cartoon-network-warner-bros-bring-back-young-justice-and-green-lantern-the-animated-series

@lilben42 well, of course he cares about every robin, he just doesnt show it that much, but Damian is fairly new in his life so I wouldnt say he cares more about HIM than them.

Dick :D

Pre-Flashpoint DEFINITELY Tim

Post-Flashpoint Dick and Damian,Tim is inconsequential.

Tim is became inconsequential, yes.

Dick in terms of following his legacy but damien he feels more responsible for

@Solarflare32 said:

Dick in terms of following his legacy but damien he feels more responsible for

Hmm...good arguement

As everyone has said, Batman shares the greatest bonds with Nightwing.

- Daaerk

Look, all parents love their kids

And Mom's always love most, the runts, instinct dictates they need protecting the most

While Dad always looks to the eldest/strongest most to set the example, and carry the torch

But dad will always have the softest spot for his little girl.

Probably Dick.

@nightwing91 said:

Simple answer he doesn't have a favorite. He loves them all,although due to history he has a deeper bond with Grayson then with the other. And Damian is the youngest, he likely views him as the baby of the family.

This.

I dont think Bruce Wayne loves any of his children more than the other.

@drgnx said:

Look, all parents love their kids

And Mom's always love most, the runts, instinct dictates they need protecting the most

While Dad always looks to the eldest/strongest most to set the example, and carry the torch

But dad will always have the softest spot for his little girl.

LMAO you mean the girl who's no longer even a part of the family you mean? Sure didn't see her at that family portrait sitting.

@Nathaniel_Christopher:

Yeah, no clue whats going on with her, lol ...

I would sat Terry. He became Batman.