Even though he just made his debut in the pages of Dark Nights: Death Metal #2, it’s safe to say the Robin King is one of the most demented and evil villains Batman has ever faced. This underage psychopath has a love of sadism that would make even Joker do a spit take. And now we know the secret origin behind this mysterious villain.
Read on to learn who the Robin King is and why he’s so twisted, but beware of spoilers for Dark Nights: Death Metal – Legends of the Dark Knights #1!
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Among the several short stories included in Legends of the Dark Knights, a new story from writer Peter Tomasi and artist Riley Rossmo reveals the origin story of the Robin King. It turns out this Boy Wonder is actually a young Bruce Wayne from one of the many hellish worlds in the Dark Multiverse. This version of Bruce is shown to have been a remorseless sadist and killer almost from birth, torturing animals and even attacking poor Alfred at every opportunity.
Like so many of his kind, this Bruce’s life is changed when he and his parents are accosted by Joe Chill in a Gotham alleyway. But in this case, Bruce takes it upon himself to slit Chill’s throat and reveal his true nature to his terrified parents. He then shoots them with Chill’s gun, pretending to be an innocent victim when the police arrive. As Bruce sees it, why tolerate living parents when you can just inherit their fortune instead?
Only Jim Gordon suspects there’s more to young Bruce’s story than he’s telling. But when Gordon pays a visit to stately Wayne Manor, he’s promptly shot through the neck with a crossbow. Alfred is left to fend for his life against his murderous young ward. In the end, even Alfred falls when Bruce dons his Robin costume for the first time and bludgeons the butler to death.
This issue also lends more insight into one of the big twists from Death Metal #2, which features the seemingly dead Batman Who Laughs being resurrected inside a new body with the power of Watchmen’s Doctor Manhattan. We learn that body’s previous owner was a Bruce Wayne who attempted to recreate Manhattan’s powers after discovering his existence. The Batman Who Laughs played this experiment to his own advantage, tracking down and lobotomizing his fellow Dark Knight just as his powers began to manifest, but before his ability to see the future kicked in.
The Batman Who Laughs used this spare body as a fail-safe for the day he knew would come – when Wonder Woman would rise up and kill him. Not only does he have the power to see across time and rearrange the particles of reality, the newly christened “Darkest Knight” can also draw from the memories and experiences of every one of his brethren. He’s used those memories to shape himself into the ultimate Batman.
The Darkest Knight believes the fundamental flaw with Batman is that he’s a reactionary figure. Even as he helps his mistress Perpetua destroy and remake existence, the Darkest Knight wants to fashion himself into a bullet that spreads pain and misery across all worlds. All that remains before he achieves his full power is to fight former Flash Wally West, who’s just been given a major upgrade of his own.
In other words, it’s no wonder The Batman Who Laughs and The Robin King have become such fast friends. They’re both horrifying reflections of an iconic DC hero.
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For more on The Robin King, find out what Death Metal creators Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo had to say about the character at Comic-Con@Home. Then read up on Batman: Joker War and why this new crossover shows Joker finally trying to end his game with the Caped Crusader.
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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
Source: IGN.com Batman: The Twisted Origin of the Robin King Revealed