Fictional Characters

""I know you follow a code. And I respect you. You're pretty impressive for someone without super-powers, and I... Appreciate what you tried to do for my boy." - Slade Wilson (Nightwing #80, 2003; Devin Grayson)."

""The first person I ever revealed my identity to was Dick Grayson. He was about the same age I was when my parents were killed. His parents -- circus acrobats -- had been murdered. And I... wanted to make a difference in his life... The way, if my parents had lived, they would have made a difference in mine... Through the years, I've debated whether it was fair of me to take him in. Train him. Give him another identity to hide behind. But, I've learned that Dick wasn't like me. He didn't come from a world of privilege. He was a performer. Gifted in that way. And while, at the time, the transition from Robin to Nightwing was... difficult for us both -- it was a day I had long prepared myself for because... Dick was born to be in the center ring." - Batman (Batman #615, 2003; Jeph Loeb)."

""Dick has always spoken to me without fear. No matter what else has happened to us through the years --- he has earned that right." - Batman (Batman #615, 2003; Jeph Loeb)."

""I'm going to give you a bit of advice. You're ready to graduate. Leading the JLA proves it. You can handle bigger and better than you are now." - Batman (JLA #76, 2002; Joe Kelly)"

""Nightwing. He is the best. The only one I could have picked to lead you. He will honor you. He will make you champions." - Batman (JLA #69, 2002; Joe Kelly)"

""Dick is like my own son!....Your honor, I ...I love that boy! Please don't take him from me!" - ("Bruce Wayne Loses the Guardianship of Dick Grayson!",1943 scripted by Bill Finger)"

"I am a softy and I do try to see the best in people, but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid."

"Gotham is a place you can never get above, a place you can never see clearly. Every time you try to get some purchase, the city changes beneath you, surprising you in new, terrible ways."

"Lately it just feels like the city [Gotham]is getting meaner, wilder. Something is changing. Some nights I feel like I barely recognize it anymore."

"...but Gotham doesn't change you. She just reveals things, whether you like them or not."

"When I was a boy, my parents kept a big map of the country tacked to the wall of our dressing room. The map had pins stuck in all the places our troupe was going to stop that season. Different towns and cities were marked with different color pins. Blue pins meant small towns … which meant small shows, less dangerous tricks. Red pins meant big cities. So, big shows and more dangerous tricks. All the stops were marked red or blue .. except for Gotham City, which was marked by a black pin. According to my father, the black pin meant no holds barred. Pull out all the stops. Bring down the house. It meant put on the biggest, riskiest show of the season. No catch wires. No safety nets. Everyone pushing themselves to the limit. I remember one time when I asked my father why. What made Gotham so special?And my father, he looked down at me and he said … 'Some places just have a hunger about them, son. And you either feed them what they want … or you stay, far, far away.'I've felt it many times myself, that hunger … the way Gotham will start pulling at you when it wants something, when it wants more … it's been feeling like that a lot lately. Wild and strange, and most of all -- hungry."

"--A Batman who's enjoying the thrill of being expendable. And a robin who's willing to die for the cause. Una memo looked into the heart of what Bruce did without even meaning to. Not this time"

"Sometimes the hardest lessons are learned in the midst of a storm."

"Sometimes the lines get blurred. Sometimes the only thing between you and them is the mask and cape."

"I am not Bruce Wayne. But when lives were lost … and the entire city was at stake … I did what Batman had to do. I acted as the Dark Knight. To the best of my abilities - I became him. And I succeeded. Not at Dick Grayson. And not as Bruce Wayne. But as Batman."

"I've spent years as a student of my own behavior. And I mean that in the least egocentric way. When you devote much of your life to putting your life on the line, you have to take great care in what you do and how you do it. There's very little room for carelessness. Carelessness is born out of complacency. Or out of cockiness. Sometimes it's a combination of the two. That said you can learn from your mistakes. You dissect the situation, find where you erred, and plan for 'next time.' That is if you haven't screwed up so royally that you might now survive your own idiocy for there to be a next time. If it seems like I'm being too hard on myself, it's because two major league psychopaths are trying to kill me."

"I believe Bruce would have 'smoked' the place … meaning he'd drop a few flash bang grenades, and the joint would have emptied in a panic. But he'd leave a batarang in the wall to let them know he was there. Better to instill fear and be unseen. He and I are different in a lot of ways. I was born into a circus. A trapeze artist. I know that sometimes people need a show … and I'm a born entertainer."

"Batman is NOT dead. And I don't mean this in some spiritual pep talk sort of way. That he now "...lives on through all of us." I'm not being sentimental. What I mean is, the world cannot know he's dead. Most don't even know he was human. Vampire. Demon. Ghost. We all know the myths. But that's all we have left of him. The fear he instilled. That is his legacy. And we need to honor that. We need to honor him. To acknowledge his passing flies in the face of everything he fought for. Everything he was. The criminals, the monsters, the ones who dedicate themselves to doing wrong need to think he can't die. They need to think he's still out there. Batman lives. Always."

"Dick: I'm Batman. (Batman and Robin #3, 2009; by Grant Morrison)"

"Comissioner Gordon: … I allowed you access to a suspect and you dragged him screaming through the the streets? WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

"Don't ever let me forget the golden rule, Alfie. The show must go on."

"This is it. Batman and Robin. Together again for the first time."

""If only Jason could have reached out to us. Any one of us. He could have saved himself. But you know what? Some people don't want to be saved. Because saving means changing. And changing is always harder than staying the same. It takes courage to face yourself in the mirror and look beyond the reflection. To find the you that you should have been. The you that got derailed by cruel childhood events. Events that took your life's natural trajectory and twisted it. Changing it into something unimaginable … or even incredible … giving you the courage to embrace your birthright, your destiny, and finally realize that you are Batman."

"I am in the Titans, remember. Black holes. Alternate universes. Aliens."

"Ignore your mentor do what you do best. Be you."

"Lesson one: Improvise. Leap first. Figure it all out on the way down"

"The rational part of me, the grown-up, says we're totally screwed. The problem is too big and terrifying. But the kid in me? You know, the Teen Titan? He's fearless, and his hope is absolutely limitless. You know that feeling, Raven. It's why we all choose this life. And that's why it has to be the Titans. Together. Fearless as kids, strong as the Justice League."

"...So we learn. Fast. And save people. We don't kill and we don't let others kill. That's the Titans' remit. My team. My rules."

"Titans. We're not kids. We're not sidekicks and wannabes. We're not children you can prey on. We're not the Teen Titans. We are the Titans."

"He saw that we could be better than him. That our lives didn't have to be defined by our traumas like his was. You don't understand Batman. You don't understand Robin."

"No body to catch me this time... Let's see if I remember how to jump with no net"

"Oh, Otto. You stupid, evil maniac. Always forcing yourself into places you shouldn't, thinking you're invincible. Always falling into traps. Risk is what I do. Risk is who I am. What's one more leap without a net? Tsuchigomo."

"They say in Spyral, the only operative you can trust is yourself. But I'm starting to think that they couldn't be more wrong. After all, there's no one better at lying to you... than you"

"Agent 37: When I was a kid, Bruce decided to send me away for a couple of weeks in the summer. He'd been as a kid, and figured it'd do me some good. Camp White Fawn, it was called. There were kids from all over. Jersey city. New York. Gotham Academy. A bunch of strangers lumped together in tents and cabins to build birdhouses, play tug-o-war, and swat mosquitos. And the weird thing was, all of these kids who started out was total strangers became friends, enemies or "romantically involved," like right way. It happened so fast. Something about everyone starting from the same place... Alone, excited, scared, and missing home... It made all those relationships so much more intense. That's what "being a spy" is like. Summer camp."

"Agent 1: What?"

"Agent 37: Summer Camp"

"I miss you. Every day, I think about you both, and I wonder... I wonder what you would say if you could see me now. Mom, dad... would you still be proud of your son if you could see what I've become? Would you cheer me on? Or would it scare you to death that your son is a vigilante?"

"I was Robin. I was the first. I wore the colors you're wearing. I bled them black. That means I get the blame for what's going on here. For all of you. For what you're done. What you're going to do. You're wanted by the police. You need help. You need to become what you think you are. That's my fault. And that's my responsibility."

"He [Batman]caught me before I hit the ground. He was my net. He taught me to focus my anger. To stop myself from hating the world. From blaming everyone for the evil of a few. And then I realized how lucky I was. I realized I had to pay it back. I owed it to other people to be their net. I had to dedicate my life to being there to catch anyone who needed it."

"Any sheep-rattler can win with a fist, yeah? Only we can win with a story."

"I don't care who my ancestor was. Or what the Court of Owls wanted me to be, I don't. We are who we choose to be, Bruce. Not the role the past says we should play. The court of Owls is just another bad guy, Bruce. They're little grayer around the temples is all. Yes, you made a mistake and underestimated them but they're not Gotham City, Bruce. And neither are you."

"I always wanted - expected to-to grow up and - and become him. And the hero bit, I'm still all in. But that thing inside of him, that thing that drives him to sacrifice everything for the sake of his mission, that's not me. I don't want to be Batman - anymore."

"There are things that none of you are willing to do. Things that have to be done for the common good. I will do these things."

"This fight can't be won if we pull our punches."

"You know, maybe it's a good thing the Watchtower was destroyed. Maybe it's time you guys stopped playing God from on high and started remembering how the real world operates."

"You prepare yourself for this day … well, prepare is the wrong word … Do you prepare yourself for the sun to rise, or for water to flow from a tap? No. These are knowables. These are eventualities. I knew I would never see him as an old man. No, he'd leave us in a box, with jet black hair, and the only lines on his face would be ones brought by injury. You knew it wouldn't end well. Despite all the training. All the brilliance. All the strength … under it all there was just flesh, blood and bone. And a man who never feared death. You know as well as I do he was frightened of a great many things, but his own mortality barely made the top hundred list with him. I just … I … I just wasn't ready to lose him."

"I had a good teacher, except for the interpersonal skills and the ability to work with others. That was me."

"[Talking to the new JLA during the Obsidian Age] The transition is going to be... difficult. The more I look at the shoes we're suppossed to walk in, the more it scares the hell out of me. But it doesn't matter. We were chosen to be here. Out of many other possible candidates...He chose us. A master of human condition. A cynic, a believer. He chose us to carry on where he fell... and we accepted. We will not mess it up. End of speech. I don't want to make another one. I hate making speeches. So... the first official roundtable of the Justice League is now in session. Let's do some good."

"Lady, every morning when I drift to sleep, I hear the screams of loved ones I didn't save. Don't you dare lecture me on what I know.”"

"[Talking about Blüdhaven] It's a hopeless case. A lost cause. A town so mired in corruption and sin that it's drowning … When Batman sent me here, I thought I'd solve one case and book. But then I realized … if I could make a difference here -- well, that'd be something. This filthy old town needs me…. Surrounded by a dozen of my worst enemies. No way out. Nowhere to hide. The little brat was right. I do love it."