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providencehq · 1 year

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Reverse Robin AU where Duke was the first to be adopted by Bruce and Dick was the last. Explanation + alt versions under readmore:

Flats:

Lineart:

Bruce Wayne aka Batman

Emotionally distanced father figure to all of his kids.

Due to his first few children being more or less child soldiers, he sometimes has a hard time recognizing them for themselves and not what they were molded into.

Handles grief by going on patrol more.

Duke Thomas aka Lark

Primary weapon: Modified escrima sticks

His parents were Jokerized when he was young in one of the Joker's senseless attacks. Due to this, he was placed into foster care.

He runs away a lot in order to get revenge on the Joker and kill him. Bruce steps in when he gets dangerously close to the Joker's hideout one day.

Bruce ends up fostering, not soon after adopting Duke, in an attempt to show him revenge is not the way.

Duke ends up training under Batman to more or less channel his frustrations and to learn. He never took on a name but he was dubbed Batman's shadow or Shadow.

He becomes the first leader of the Teen Titans when he is an older teenager.

After growing up and having a less than stellar relationship with Bruce, Duke leaves for Bludhaven to become his own hero. He takes on the mantle of Lark (named after specifically western meadowlark).

Him and Bruce primarily fight about Bruce's inability to be a father and relying on his adopted children to more or less raise each other, causing a lot of in fighting and eventual death.

He struggles with maintaining the hero life, effecting him in his relationships and teams as wears on him.

In addition, Duke rarely will interact with Bruce one on one since Damian died, each time a sibling or friend died he grows more distant.

His powders develop soon after and he struggles with them but learns to handle them quickly.

He becomes a beloved hero and is commonly seen helping the Justice League.

He is a very caring and gentle older brother however he also supports his siblings doing dangerous things since it "builds character" and "we're vigilantes, who cares about laws anyways."

Does not quite agree with Bruce's mission and feels he is too lenient on criminals

Damian Wayne aka Magpie

Primary weapon: Katana sword

Damian was raised in the League of Assassins since his birth. He was given to Bruce in order for him to further his training.

Bruce refused to let Damian go back to the League and takes him permanently. He comes a little under a year since Bruce has taken Duke into his care.

Damian ends up taking up the name Shadow as well while under Batman, training and working alongside Duke.

Struggles finding himself when he only sees himself in Batman's shadow.

After Cassandra is adopted next, he leaves Batman and returns to the League of Assassins in an attempt to understand his place among both family lineages. He tries to reform the League but fails, leading his mother to assume control.

He ends up dying due to Talia, the first of Bruce's children but he is resurrected by the Lazarus Pits. It is unclear who resurrected him however his current goal to is to find out who and why.

He returns to Gotham and takes on the name Magpie (specifically the Eurasian Magpie). He operates generally alone.

Cassandra Cain aka Shadow

Primary weapon: Fists

Cassandra is initially discovered by Minhkhoa Khan (Ghost Maker) after she escapes from David Cain in an attempt to find herself and own path.

Khoa offered to train her and she accepted. However gifted Cass was and how well she fought alongside Khoa, their morals were too drastically different. Cass refused to kill under Khoa despite understanding why he does it.

Khoa ends up realizing Cass is a lost cause for himself and rather than letting such talent go to waste, he takes her to Bruce since their morals align and he can take up such a child.

Cass is then under the care of Bruce however she is primarily raised by Duke and Damian as Bruce still struggles with balancing all aspects of his life.

She is the third adopted child of Bruce.

Cass never officially takes on any name however most people call her Shadow like previous Batman sidekicks.

She is close with Stephanie when she comes into the family both times.

She fights with Barbra a lot, having a complicated relationship with her.

Stephanie Brown aka Black Mask

Primary weapon: Guns

Stephanie is never adopted by Bruce.

She comes to a part of the bat family through Cass. Cass tries and stops her as she is currently going out in Gotham as Spoiler to stop her father Clue Master.

Cass helps her stop her father and is more or less taken in by Bruce.

She ends up training under him and takes on the mantle of Shadow as Damian is gone and Duke has recently become Lark.

Due to simple bad luck, she ends up causing a massive gang war in Crime Alley. All attempts to stop it go horrific, leading her to eventual death by Black Mask.

Steph is somehow brought back to life a few months later (unclear as to how, however it is suspected to have some connection with The Black)

She realizes that Batman has done nothing for change to how he raises children or sidekicks as Gotham is even worse than before her death. She ends up killing Black Mask as revenge, leaving his severed head to be found by Batman personally.

She ends up taking over Black Mask's name and is primarily protecting Crime Alley.

Steph ends up meeting Bruce's newest kid not soon after, Tim, the newest Shadow. However Tim is able to convince Black Mask to reform so Batman doesn't strike down on her. Tim discovers that Black Mask is in fact Stephanie and is able to convince her to not only change her ways but return to the family. She however does not leave the name behind.

Tim Drake

Primary weapon: Bo staff

His parents weren't around much due to travels however that didn't stop Tim from finding his own path. He primarily travels to inner Gotham in attempt to learn more about it's protectors. It's more so a passing interest that leads him to finding out their identities.

Tim notices that Batman has begun to act erratic in Gotham soon after he figures out his identity. He discovers that his second oldest son is missing (currently resurrected by not yet returned) and that his newest sidekick, the third Shadow has died.

Tim attempts to help Batman however in his search to get Batman better without him knowing, he is caught up in a situation with the rouge Captain Boomerang. He flees back to him home but Captain Boomerang follows and ends up killing Tim's parents to get to him.

Batman is too late to the scene to help Tim's parents but saves Tim himself.

He adopts Tim but doesn't reveal his identity. Bruce continues to act more erratic as Batman and Tim reveals he knows he's Batman and needs a Shadow or else Gotham will fall to chaos.

He becomes the next Shadow and soon after discovers Steph is alive as Black Mask. He helps her return to the family.

Damian also returns to Gotham finally, him and Tim however have a poor relationship and tend to have violent fights due to Bruce's differing treatment between them.

Tim ends up taking on the name of Red Hawk when Jason is adopted after him.

Tim primarily operates in Gotham however he is not overly close to any of family members other than Stephanie and Cass.

He ends up spending time with the League with Damian for some time after he becomes Red Hawk in order to find Bruce who is lost in the time stream. He has a strained relationship with the League.

Jason Todd aka Shrike

Primary weapon: Knives

Adopted by Bruce after he attempts to steal the Batmobile tires.

Jason ends up thriving under the care of Bruce and getting to live the childhood he was deprived of. However Bruce is struggling since Jason is the first of his kids he doesn't have help with raising. All of his other children have left the mansion and have become their own heros.

Jason does know that Bruce is Batman after being told by his siblings but has no desire to follow in his footsteps. Steph and Tim, backed by Damian, encourage him to become Shadow to better bond with Bruce but also to help stop Bruce's deteriorating mental state. He begrudgingly accepts.

Soon after he discovers his birth mom is alive. Jason tries to get his siblings to help him with his personal mission but they either ignore his requests or state that he is Shadow, he will be fine.

He leaves without any backup and ends up falling in a trap set by the Joker. He is tortured and then later murdered by an bomb set by the Joker. Bruce is too late in tracking him down and cannot save him.

Jason is later revived by Superboy Prime reality altering punch. He is soon found the League of Assassins and is placed into the Lazarus Pit. He is kept at Nanda Parbat and trained there.

Ra's al Ghul tries to use the possibility of Jason being alive to lure Damian and/or Tim back to the League to be the next heir once Jason is fairly stable.

Side note, Tim and Damian do in fact meet Jason in the League but he has not been put into the pits yet. They are currently there is search of Bruce who is lost in the time stream.

Jason escapes the League and takes on the name of Shrike when he returns to Gotham. Named specifically after the Masked Shrike. The name is chosen because the birds are unassuming but violent and stab/impale things. Jason is primarily proficient in knives.

He sets out to hunt down and either harm or kill each of his older siblings, his anger is directed mostly at them. They were the ones who forced him into the role of Shadow which killed him, they were the ones who didn't help him.

He is captured by Cass, Tim, and Damian and brought back to the cave in order to identify him as he knows their league names specifically which means they are compromised. They discover Shrike is their dead brother.

Jason escapes and they are currently playing a game of cat and mouse as Jason both hates and fears his siblings but refuses to get their help.

Currently is making a mess of Gotham while his siblings try to corral him.

Dick Grayson aka Robin

Primary weapon: Escrima sticks

Most recent of Bruce's adoption.

Was originally the missing son of two circus performers, he was found nearly two years later under the control of the Court of Owls.

He was being trained to be the next Talon was making rapid progression with his training. He was only discovered as the bat family was taking down the last of the Court when he tried to kill them.

Dick was tasked specifically with taking down rogue Talons however, he will take down any threat to himself as well meaning that Bat family in this case.

He wasn't fully turned and the bats were able to get him under control. They learn soon he was the missing circus child.

Bruce takes him Dick since he cannot function in a normal environment. He struggles with the family is more or less terrified of them.

He is very strict and obeys every thing he is told. Damian ends up primarily taking over raising him and getting him out of his conditioning from the Court of Owls since he has a similar up bringing from when he was in the League.

They make progress by allowing him to train among each other. He takes on the name Robin after his parents nickname for him, forgoing the Shadow mantle.

He becomes Damian's sidekick rather than Bruce and Dick ends up mostly living with Damian as a result.

Dick struggles with his emotions and reactions, tending to either be autopilot or an angry child. Damian struggles controlling him but over time he learns to help Dick express emotions in better ways.

Barbara Gordon aka Code Breaker

Barbara is no adopted by Bruce.

Her spinal injury is caused by the Court of Owls (unclear if it was Dick specifically) who harmed her as a message to Commissioner Gordon and Batman to leave the Court alone or else those they love will suffer.

She befriends Cassandra and Dick as a family friend first as Bruce offers to help with all medical costs for Barbara.

She quickly learns that Bruce is Batman and ends up forcing herself into the family to help protect them in any way she can. It's her way of returning the favor from Bruce.

She takes on the name Code Breaker and primarily uses her computer skills to get information.

General ages:

Bruce - 46 Duke - 28 Damian - 27 Cassandra - 25 Stephanie - 24 Tim - 21 Jason - 17 Dick - 14 Barbara - 15