Jason Todd
Jason Todd is a male comic book character who features in DC.
Contents |
Biography
Pre-Crisis
Jason Todd
In the aftermath, Jason came to find himself being taken under the stewardship of Bruce Wayne and stayed in Wayne Manor. Whilst there, he trained with Batman in the Batcave where they came to have perfect teamwork between them in the month since the death of the Todds. (Batman v1 #360)
The Todds volunteered to help Robin find the criminal. Unfortunately, they were killed by Croc, leaving Jason as an orphan. At first, Dick wanted to adopt him, but Bruce had other plans in mind. (Detective Comics v1 #526)
Shortly after his parents' deaths, Bruce Wayne took Jason into Wayne Manor, as the kid had learned the secret of Batman and Robin. (Batman v1 #360)
He was later legally adopted by the socialite Natalia Knight who said that she wanted to be a mother to him. (Detective Comics v1 #543)
Post-Crisis
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
Origin
Jason Todd was the son of Willis Todd and Dr. Sheila Haywood with his parents meeting when the latter was a struggling medical student. Shortly after their child was born, Sheila assisted in an operation that was botched leading to an end for her medical career in the United States. She decided to start fresh in England with Willis Todd supposed to join her once she had settled there. However, he came to fall in love with Catherine Johnson where Willis came to marry her. Sheila ultimately decided that it was best that Jason was raised by his father and new wife as she neither had the funds nor chance of winning custody through a legal battle. She also believed that such a custody battle would have been too rough for Jason and she allowed the Todd's to raise her son. (Batman #427) Thus, Jason Todd grew up as the child of Catherine Todd and her husband Willis Todd who came to live in Gotham City. His father was a small-time criminal who grew up in Crime Alley who had begun stealing cars. Todd's father was said to had double crossed his boss Two-Face and was killed as a result whilst his mother was believed to had died from an overdose within the last six months. (Batman v1 #409)
Robin
To be Robin, he underwent 6 months of training under Batman so that he could become a costumed crime fighter. This included both mental and physical training where he came to learn of Batman's rogue's gallery. (Batman v1 #410)
Gordon contacted Batman when a number of criminals were found brutalized. The violence of the attacks escalated, and soon criminals were found cut into pieces. Batman investigated, and was captured by those responsible, Deacon Blackfire and his cult. Robin contacted Gordon, worried about Batman, who always communicated him, even when he was away on a case. Blackfire's holy mission was a cover for taking over Gotham City with his new power base, and Gordon issued an arrest warrant for Blackfire. This decision proved to be unpopular, as most of Gotham's citizens said they felt safer with Blackfire massacring the criminal element. Blackfire preached that all of Gotham had to burn since the GCPD had proved themselves to be sinners for condemning him. Batman had broken Blackfire's programming after weeks of torture, but this resulted in the cultists shooting him, and a badly wounded Batman floated in the sewers until he arrived at the mass grave where the bodies of Blackfire's enemies were left to rot. Robin had followed him into the sewers, but Batman was incoherent, ranting that he was in Hell for doubting Blackfire. (Batman: The Cult v1 #2) Batman snapped back to reality, and as Gotham fell under marshal law, the Dynamic Duo battled Blackfire's cultists in the underworld. The national guard went into the sewers, and headed straight into an ambush. The governor evacuated Gotham, and Blackfire urged his men to claim the surface, announcing a brand new day for them. Batman and Robin called Alfred, and Batman said he was leaving Gotham, because Blackfire owned it now. Batman had a dream about the ghosts of Thomas and Martha Wayne urging him to save Gotham, and he woke ready to fight. He ordered armaments from the Stiles Foundation, building a new tanklike Batmbobile, and arming himself and Robin with tranquilizer guns. Batman rolled into Gotham with the U.S. army following him, and fought his way to Gotham Central, the center of Blackfire's domain. Blackfire decided he would end his career as a religious savior by becoming a martyr, so he welcomed Batman, and urged him to kill him with a gun. Batman refused, and goaded Blackfire into attacking him. Batman beat Blackfire near death, striking painful blow after painful blow until Blackfire begged for mercy. Blackfire's cultists, seeing him humbled, turned against him, ripping him to pieces as Batman hurried Robin away, saying there was nothing they could do to help. The cultists broke up, and most left Gotham with Blackfire's death. (Batman: The Cult v1 #4)
Red Hood
During the Infinite Crisis, Superboy-Prime shattered the walls of reality causing changes in the timeline. One of these resulted in Jason Todd being resurrected from death where he emerged within a coffin and had to claw himself out from his grave. Whilst in a disoriented state, he was struck by a car and had to go to a hospital as he had entered into a coma. Jason was without his memories at this point and largely unresponsive as he only fought on instinct with him not speaking a word. Talia al Ghul discovered him and brought him back to her father who was curious to know how he was still alive. Against her fathers wishes, Talia had Jason placed in the Lazarus Pit that restored his memories where she helped him escape her fathers anger with Todd returning to Gotham City. During this time, he remained in hiding but looked at newspapers about the time after his death with him learning that the Joker was still alive and thus that his demise was never avenged by Batman. This filled Jason with anger and resentment towards Batman for allowing the Joker to live. (Batman Annual v1 #25)
After his resurrection, he returned to Gotham City where he took on the guise of the mysterious Red Hood. (Batman v1 #635)
In the aftermath, he decided to make the concept of Batman being out to date and waged a war against criminals that he eliminated with extreme prejudice as he took his efforts to the next level. (Batman and Robin v1 #4) This saw him go to one of the hospitals holding Professor Pyg's Dollotrons where he killed two security guards that were attempting to apprehend one of the victims named Scarlet. He offered to be her friend and that she would be his sidekick as they became the scourge of the underworld. (Batman and Robin v1 #3)
After the seeming death of Batman, Todd came to believe that only he could inherit the mantle and be the protector of Gotham City. This he intended to do so through violent means and looked to kill criminals that broke the law. Among his first acts was arriving to save the life of Nightwing and Damian Wayne after the pair were ambushed by armed gunmen. As Batman, he gunned the criminals down leading to a fight with Grayson with Jason badly injuring Damian with a gunshot. He was then forced to leave the scene when Huntress and Black Canary arrived to support their comrades. He then went on a hunt for criminals and found growing activity from criminals that were working for Black Mask who was making a big move to take over Gotham. Returning to his own Batcave, Jason came to find Catwoman and Tim Drake having entered it with the latter being dressed up as Batman as he too had sought to take over from Bruce. After knocking out Selina Kyle, Jason fought against Tim where he asked Drake to join him as his Robin. Tim though refused and during their fight he seemingly gained the advantage but was struck by a razor-sharp Batarang in the chest that left him badly injured. (Batman: Battle for the Cowl v1 #2)
He later responded to Duela Dent's kidnapping of a rich young celebrity from a nightclub. Red Hood managed to save the victim and was in pursuit of Duela when he heard her scream and found her in a fight with a mysterious alien attacker. Despite trying to save Dent, the attacker was responding for murdering the Joker's Daughter and then warned Todd that he along with others like him were a threat to existence as they were anomalies in the Multiverse that needed to be purged. (Countdown v1 #51) Red Hood was later approached by Jimmy Olsen who wanted to learn more about the mysterious killer of Duela Dent. (Countdown v1 #50) Todd then came to Duela's grave were he approached Donna Troy as he believed that himself and her were possible targets of the mysterious alien being. (Countdown v1 #48) He later approached Troy again at Washington, D.C. in the wake of the Amazon's attack where he discovered that the mysterious murderer of Duela resembled the Monitor. Red Hood then told Donna that the pair needed to protect themselves as they were possible targets which was when they were ambushed by the Forerunner who had been dispatched to eliminate the pair. (Countdown v1 #46) The pair were only saved by the intervention of another Monitor who teleported away with both Jason Todd and Donna Troy. (Countdown v1 #45) This Monitor wanted to recruit the pair in helping him find Ray Palmer who was lost somewhere in the Nanoverse and was seen as the only way of saving this version of the universe from the rest of his kin who intended to bury entire realities in an effort to stop a coming Crisis. During this time, Donna had the Monitor teleport them to Keystone City so that she could attend the funeral of Bart Allen who had died recently. (Countdown v1 #43)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of history was shown with a different series of events. Jason Todd
His father Willis Todd had been a drug dealer that sold to anyone who became smitten with Jason's mother back when they were young. The two fell in love with his mother cutting ties with her own family when they refused to allow her relationship with her boyfriend. The pair remained as junkies after Willis stopped selling the drugs with them living in rundown conditions. During this time, she became pregnant with Jason and decided to start a family though she continued to be on drugs. This had an impact on the new born Jason who was ill at hospital leading to his father Willis secretly hiring himself as a thug for the various criminal supervillains in Gotham. This was until the day that he worked for the Penguin who had set Willis Todd as a fall guy leading to his arrest and life imprisonment. (Red Hood and the Outlaws v2 #23)
As a young boy, his father stole tickets from an elderly couple and took Jason to the circus where they watched the performance by the Flying Graysons. During the act, he saw Dick Grayson and saw the young circus performer as his hero with him being everything Jason wanted to be when he grew older. (Red Hood and the Outlaws Annual v2 #1)
Todd discovered the Batmobile and attempted to remove its tires when he was found by Batman who was impressed with the boy. (Red Hood and the Outlaws: Rebirth v1 #1) Batman later decided to place Todd at a school run by Ma Gunn who was actually using it as a criminal enterprises to recruit criminal juvenile youths. Jason proved vital in helping stop Gunn and leading to her arrest (Red Hood and the Outlaws v2 #1) Batman took the boy under his wing and brought him into the Batcave where he trained him to become the new Robin. (Red Hood and the Outlaws: Rebirth v1 #1)
In anger, he confronted the Penguin publicly at the waterfront estate where he took off his mask and said he was avenging his father Willis Todd whereupon he shot Cobblepot seemingly killing the Gotham crime lord. (Red Hood and the Outlaws v2 #24) In response, he was attacked by an angry Batman who was furious with the Red Hood for breaking their deal that no deaths were to happen in Gotham during his time there. Batman was dealt with briefly by Bizarro who took Red Hood to the Outlaw's headquarters that was falling out of the sky thus threatening to kill everyone beneath in the city. Bizarro decided to use the quantum door technology to open a tear to suck the headquarters through it in an effort to save Gotham. Artemis joined him to ensure he was safe but not before kissing Jason Todd and throwing up to safety onto a nearby rooftop as the Outlaw's headquarters was gone. A wounded and tired Red Hood then fought Batman once again who knocked Jason out and ripped off the bat emblem on his chest where he intended to take him into custody. However, Batman was rendered unconscious by gas from an arrow as Arsenal arrived to take Jason to safety. (Red Hood and the Outlaws v2 #25) Roy then took Jason back to the isolated island that held the crashed Tamaranean star cruiser for him to recover where he used the ships technology to find his other comrades but there was no trace of Artemis or Bizarro. After his body healed, he helped Roy in investigating a shipment of drugs that they believed was being sent Suzie Su but found her in the hospital due to a medical condition and had a battle with her sisters. Suzie Su stopped the fight and revealed that she was not the source of the shipments but rather a mysterious individual in the Underlife with the two heroes departing on amicable terms. Afterwards, Roy revealed that he was checking into a rehabilitation at a place made for superheroes leaving Jason to operate alone for a time. (Red Hood and the Outlaws Annual v2 #2) He went to a dinner that was operated by the Underlife and knocked out his attackers with the last person being knocked out by Bruce Wayne. Initially, Jason had thought that Bruce had come to continue their fight but instead Wayne revealed that Cobblepot was not dead but that Todd was never allowed back in Gotham. However, Bruce had come to pass more important news which was that Roy Harper was dead by an unknown assailant whilst he was attending rehabilitation at the Sanctuary facility set up for superheroes. The pair departed on good terms whereupon Jason went to Appleton as part of his continued investigation into the Underlife. (Red Hood and the Outlaws v2 #27) Whilst there, he attended the local apple festival when he came under attack by the town's inhabitants who were associated with the Underlife. (Red Hood and the Outlaws v2 #28) Whilst in the town, he came under attack from the natives but he was aided by Batwoman who was similarly investigating the area for Underlife activities. They encountered creatures that resembled Solomon Grundy that were bred from his genetic material and were known as Mondays. Todd destroyed them and the town before departing to find the person responsible for breeding them. (Red Hood and the Outlaws v2 #29) This was an Underlife crime lord called Solitary who claimed to be Jason's father but Todd did not believe him and left the villain behind as they collapsed his base on top of him. After paying respects to Roy Harpers grave, Jason decided to make his return to Gotham City. (Red Hood and the Outlaws v2 #31)
Afterwards, Jason decided to take a break from 'work' and went to the Hill neighbourhood in Gotham where he had a property being looked after by a friend. He used this as an opportunity to reconnect with some old friends. (Red Hood and the Outlaws v2 #51)
Todd was later arrested by the authorities but was spared prison when he was transferred to Task Force Z. This secret program used Lazarus Resin to reanimate dead costumed villains that were then deployed into the field on missions. Red Hood was then sent as their handler to ensure the mission was carried out and that the team operated in line. Jason's charges came to include Bane, Man-Bat, the Arkham Knight and Mister Bloom. (Task Force Z v1 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
He was named Jason after his mother's grandfather. (Red Hood and the Outlaws v2 #23) After becoming Batman's partner, he underwent training to become Robin. (Batman v1 #366) After Bruce Wayne's seeming death, Todd came to forcibly lay claim to the mantle of Batman. (Batman: Battle for the Cowl v1 #2)
Jason came to believe that Gotham was an evil place and once told Batman that he thought the Devil himself constructed the city to be his personal conduit. (Batman: Battle for the Cowl v1 #2)
To Jason, being part of the Bat-Family was important to him and sought to reclaim that position after losing it for a time which was why he stopped using lethal force as the Red Hood. (Detective Comics v1 #975) However, he did not regret using lethal force afterwards against certain foes. He and Batman often clashed on their approaches with Jason believing that Bruce hated him but Wayne stated that he would always looked out for Todd. (Red Hood and the Outlaws v2 #27)
He had hated his father for the bad life he had give him and when Willis Todd was in prison his mother treated Jason badly until her death. However, he blamed his father for note being there for him and his mother. As such, he said he did not care about what happened to his father with him displaying indifference when he had heard that Willis Todd had died in prison. Jason had never visited his fathers grave as he remained resentful and angry with him. (Red Hood and the Outlaws v2 #23)
In this time, he came to believe that Gotham had grown worse under Batman and had attracted scores of homicidal challengers that instead wanted to lay claim to defeating the Dark Knight. Jason believed that this stemmed from several mistakes by Bruce namely that he made Batman into a public figure instead of a myth and that he worked with Commissioner Gordon rather than alone. (Batman: Battle for the Cowl v1 #2)
Jason Todd was the son of Willis Todd and Dr. Sheila Haywood who had been a struggling medical student when she fell in love with the man. Dr. Haywood though was forced to settle in England with Willis marrying Catherine Johnson instead with Sheila being forced to give up custody of Jason to the couple. (Batman #427) As such, he grew up to be raised by Willis Todd and his wife Catherine Todd. (Batman v1 #409)
After the death of his parents, he came to fall under the stewardship of Bruce Wayne who became Jason's guardian. (Batman v1 #360)
When Roy died, he did not grieve extensively as he felt that Harper would not have wanted that and also because Jason felt that those who became a superhero lived on borrowed time. (Red Hood and the Outlaws v2 #27)
Powers and abilities
He was known to have had a GPA of 94.8. (Batman Annual v1 #12) Todd was a fifth-grade drop-out but under Batman's tutelage he came to be a master in computer science. (Batman v1 #410) His blood type was said to be O-. (Detective Comics v1 #1032)
As Robin, he underwent a six months rigorous training program under Bruce Wayne that consisted of gruelling physical training. (Batman v1 #410) Bruce had taught Jason to read lips since he was 12 years old. (Red Hood: The Lost Days v1 #3) Todd was also taught as part of his training to learn to communicate through hand-to-hand combat. This was language of combat could be used even when sparring and allowed one to convey information that could not be communicated as someone was watching. (Batman v3 #81)
Talia al Ghul came to teach Jason a powerful and arcane martial arts strike that only a true force for good was capable of delivering. This could be used to strip mystical power over someone who was not worthy of it. (Red Hood and the Outlaws v1 #27)
Jason was also taught to use firearms even though his mentor scorned the use of guns. (Batman v1 #410)
For a time, he came to operate as Batman where he made a more armoured and menacing version of the Batsuit where he used guns as part of his arsenal. (Batman: Battle for the Cowl v1 #2)
At one point, he built his own version of the Batcave during a time when he operated as a violent Batman. It had its own computer and also had numerous traps designed to kill intruders. (Batman: Battle for the Cowl v1 #2) Jason had a property located in the Hill neighbourhood by downtown Gotham that was being looked after by Dana Harlowe. (Red Hood and the Outlaws v2 #51)
Notes
- Jason Todd was created by Gerry Conway and Don Newton where he made his first appearance in Batman v1 #357 (March, 1983).
- In the Pre-Crisis continuity, Jason Todd was the red haired son of Joseph and Trina Todd who were a trapeze troupe known as the Flying Todds that were part of the Sloan Circus.
- In The Many Lives of the Batman: Critical Approaches to a Superhero and His Media (1991), editor Dennis O'Neil in 1986 noted that, "[The fans] did hate him. I don't know if it was fan craziness—maybe they saw him as usurping Dick Grayson's position. Some of the mail response indicated that this was at least on some people's minds."
- By the time of Batman: Battle of the Cowl, writer Tony Daniel commented in an interview on IGN about the character becoming a "bona fide" villain, "At this point [Jason] is beyond the point of no return in terms of ever being considered even remotely a hero. What I wanted to do here is put him in a place that he can't come back from. The things that he does here in Battle for the Cowl are things that can never really be forgiven. The only outcome would have to be imprisonment or something worse. But from this point on for Jason the gray area between good and bad has disappeared. It's crystal clear now that he is on the dark side."
Alternate Versions
- In Young Justice v1 #44 (2002), an alternate timeline was created where Jason Todd was a black haired circus kid whose parents were criminal acrobats named Willis and Catherine Todd with the latter being his step-mother. The Todd family worked for Killer Croc and Jason at one point had a girlfriend in Empress but the pair broke up. He was later killed by Empress who was acting on behalf of his stepmother Catherine.
- In Countdown v1 #30 (2007), an alternate version of Jason was shown to had existed in the Multiverse in one incarnation of Earth-15. This Todd grew up to take the mantle of Batman where he worked alongside the Justice League in protecting their world.
- In Flashpoint: The World of Flashpoint v1 #2 (2011), Jason Todd appeared in this Flash altered timeline that saw the death of Bruce Wayne as a child. This timeline showed Jason as being a former drug addict who became a follower of Brother Blood where he died but managed to recover from this experience both physically and mentally. As such, he turned his life around in a positive manner where he became a priest and adopted a religious outlook on life.
In other media
Television
- In Young Justice: Invasion, Jason Todd as Robin made a cameo appearance in the episode "Satisfaction" when a memorial to him as Robin was shown suggesting that he had died.
- In Titans, Jason Todd as Robin appeared in the live-action television series starting in the episode "Jason Todd" where he was portrayed by actor Curran Walters. It was shown that he was born in 1999 where his parents neglected him leaving Jason with his uncle Ray who frequently took him to bars where his drunken antics had them kicked out on multiple occasions. Around 2012, uncle Ray overdosed thus leaving Jason to fed for himself where he committed crimes on the street such as stealing hubcaps of cars. When he was 18 years old, he attempted to steal the hubcaps of the Batmobile but was stopped by Batman who took the boy in and began training him as his new sidekick where he took on the role of Robin.
Films
- In Batman: Under the Red Hood, the character made an appearance as an antagonist where he was voiced by actor Jensen Ackles with Vincent Martella voicing him as a teenage Robin and Alexander Martella voicing him as a child. He was shown to had become the second Robin where he operated alongside Batman until his capture and death at the hands of the Joker. Unknown to anyone, his body was taken by Ra's al Ghul who placed him in the Lazarus Pit thus resurrecting him but being reborn left him in a mad state where he escaped the League of Assassins base. Jason then returned to Gotham City as the mysterious masked Red Hood who targeted criminals and began eliminating them as he established himself as the new boss of the city. His activities led him to targeting Black Mask's organization and attracted the attention of Batman. Todd's ultimate goal was killing the Joker and confronting Batman for not killing the psychotic villain for him killing Jason.
Video games
- In Batman: Arkham Knight, the character made an appearance in the video game series where he was voiced by actor Troy Baker. Unlike the comic version, this incarnation was not killed but believed to had been dead when in fact he had been taken by the Joker who proceeded to torture him for a year. This eventually led to him cracking mentally and he came to hate Batman who he believed had abandoned him. These chain of events led to him assuming the identity of the Arkham Knight where he wore a militant suit that resembled the Batsuit and allied with the Scarecrow in order to get his revenge against Batman.
- In Injustice 2, Jason Todd as the Red Hood was introduced as a playable character via DLC to the fighting video game where he was voiced by actor Cameron Bowen. Dialogue indicated that he had been killed by the Joker but was resurrected by Ra's al Ghul through the Lazarus Pit. As the Red Hood, he disagreed with Batman in that villains needed to be killed but also hated the tyranny of Superman's One Earth Regime thus he acted alone. On one mission, he saved a woman resembling Scarlet from Professor Pyg as he vowed to make criminals afraid.
- In DC Legends, Jason Todd as the Red Hood was introduced as a playable character in the mobile video game. The backstory for the character stated that he was Jason Todd who had died and resurrected from the Lazarus Pit with him waging a war against crime leading to him walking the thin line between hero and villain.
Appearances
- Batman v1: (1983)
- Detective Comics v1:
- Batman Annual v1:
- Red Hood: The Lost Days v1:
- Batman: Battle for the Cowl v1:
- Batman and Robin v1:
- Countdown v1:
- Red Hood and the Outlaws v1:
- Red Hood and the Outlaws Annual v1:
- Batman/Superman v1:
- Supergirl:
- Batman and Robin Eternal v1:
- Red Hood/Arsenal v1:
- Red Hood and the Outlaws: Rebirth v1:
- Red Hood and the Outlaws v2:
- Red Hood and the Outlaws Annual v2:
- Batman: Urban Legends v1:
- Task Force Z v1: (2021)
External links
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