Sidekick Graduations Stick: Difference between revisions

* [[Batman]]'s sidekick Dick Grayson became [[Nightwing]], and has never returned to being Robin; unlike many characters with successors, he's never referred to as the "real" Robin, just the first.

** Arguable exception: in the storyline following "Knightsend", he became Batman briefly, then returned to being Nightwing. This was, however, always intended to be temporary.

**** The Batman Inc franchising hasn't been abandoned. However, Dick Grayson was demoted to Nightwing (again) thanks to the New52. This, despite showing that having two Batmen ''worked''. And considering Bruce Wayne alone stars in four or five books, having a second Batman might've helped.

** The second Robin, Jason Todd, graduated once he came back from the dead. Except instead of becoming his own hero he became a ''villain''. Or a [[Nineties Anti-Hero|really dark]] [[Anti-Hero]] or something; it's complicated. He's tried to hijack the Batman and Nightwing names a couple times, but for the most part he's taken over the pre-existing name the Red Hood.

* Donna Troy stopped being Wonder Girl, and started being... [[Canon Dis Continuity|well, we won't get into that]]. Almost nothing's stuck without having [[Continuity Snarl|new layers of convoluted continuity]] added on, but she's still not Wonder Girl again.

** She's a really unique case. Both the confusion and Donna's subsequent promotion stem partially from the fact that Wonder Girl was originally supposed to be [[Wonder Woman]] as a young girl who occasionally interacted with her adult self via [[Time Travel]]. A writer saw the cover for one of these stories and got confused when he was writing the Teen Titans.

** Zig-Zaged: while Barbara Gordon shows no signs of abandoning her role as Oracle to become Batgirl again, there is substantial -- though far from universal -- desire to see that happen. This is likely due to the changeover being connected with her being [[Stuffed Into the Fridge|paralyzed]]. However, there is just as substantial support for Babs to stay as Oracle, as she is a rare example of a handicapped hero whose concept doesn't rely on a [[Disability Superpower]] or on being [[Inspirationally Disadvantaged]].

** As for the other major Batgirl, Cassandra Cain, she stepped away and gave the role to Stephanie. She was eventually appointed as the "Batman" of Hong Kong, using the code name "Blackbat".

* Subverted and lampshaded in recent issues of [[The Incredible Hulk]]. With Bruce Banner safely locked away in a military base and unable to turn into the Hulk, a new, [[Red Hulk]] (called "Rulk" by fans) shows up from out of nowhere. Who is he? All signs pointed to Rick Jones, the original Hulk's old sidekick, having graduated into the role...which just made it all the more shocking when we learn that Rick has graduated, but NOT into the Red Hulk...instead, he's become a creature called A-Bomb, strong enough to fight Rulk on his own level.

** Granted, Rick was [[Captain Mar-Vell|Captain Marvel]] on at least two previous occasions.

* The current Knight (the "Batman of Britain") is the original Squire. Admittedly, the Knight and Squire hadn't appeared anywhere for about fifty years until this version showed up, so it was less a change in the status quo and more the introduction of a might-as-well-be-new character...

** Similarly, the Ranger of Austalia was killed during his reintroduction, and his sidekick Scout took over. Chief Man-of-Bats' sidekick Little Raven went the more Nightwingy route of creating his own adult identity (Raven Red). Man-of-Bats still tends to call him Little Raven, though.