Forget Batman and Superman, This Fan-Favorite Hero Is DC's Greatest Character

Image via DC Comics Published Jul 17, 2026, 11:09 PM EDT David is a Senior Editor at Collider focused primarily on Lists. His professional journey began in the mid-2010s as a Marketing specialist before embarking on his writing career in the 2020s. At Collider, David started as a Senior Writer in late 2022 and has been a Senior Editor since mid-2023. He is in charge of ideating compelling and engaging List articles by working closely with writers, both Senior and Junior, as well as other editors. Occasionally, David also reviews movies and TV shows and writes episode recaps. Currently, David is also writing his second novel, a psychological horror satire that will, hopefully, be picked up for publication sometime next year. Sign in to your Collider account In the 22nd episode of the criminally underappreciated animated gem Young Justice, Wonder Woman confronts Batman about taking on Dick Grayson at the young age of 9 to fight crime alongside him. "Robin needed to help bring the man who murdered his family to justice," Batman says. "So he could turn out like you?" she fires back. Batman simply replies: "So that he wouldn't." This simple but powerful exchange is the core of Dick Grayson's entire characterization and captures, in just a few well-chosen words, why he's the greatest character in the history of DC. Dick is the first sidekick in comic book history, introduced way back in Detective Comics #38 as Robin, the Boy Wonder. Arriving in April of 1940, Dick predates major DC icons like Wonder Woman and Joker. Yet, antiquity alone does not a legend make, nor does his status as the first sidekick. In fact, Dick's best traits would not be cemented until much later in his comic book run, once he moved away from the Robin mantle and adopted the Nightwing persona. Yet, today, it's undeniable that Dick Grayson is the best DC character, thanks to his incredible characterization and the fact that he embodies the main traits that make a truly great hero. Who Is Nightwing? Image via DC Comics Richard "Dick" Grayson was born into the Flying Graysons, a family of trapeze artists working at Haly's Circus. During one of their acts, Dick's parents fall to their deaths after their act is sabotaged by Tony Zucco, a criminal rebuffed by the circus owner, Jack Haly. In the audience is Bruce Wayne, who instantly relates to Dick's situation and adopts him, revealing his secret identity to him and accepting him as a sidekick. Under the mantle of Robin, the Boy Wonder, Dick brings Tony Zucco to justice, thus providing a sense of closure for his parents' deaths. Bruce understands how crucial it is for Dick to actually see this through, as it means he can overcome his trauma and move on with his life in a way Bruce himself never could. Dick remains Batman's sidekick for years before joining the Teen Titans as their de facto leader. Because comic book lore is a mess (especially DC's), the ultimate reason for Dick and Batman's separation varies from continuity to continuity; pre-Crisis, Bruce fires Dick over safety concerns; post-Crisis, it's because of Dick's commitment to the Teen Titans. The fact remains, Dick abandons the Robin persona, and after struggling with his persona for a while, he eventually becomes his own hero, adopting the name Nightwing in honor of a legendary Kryptonian warrior (post-Crisis, anyway). From then on, Nightwing begins a fascinating character journey that leads him from the Teen Titans back to Gotham and eventually to Blüdhaven, which is something like Gotham City's ugly sister. In most depictions, Blüdhaven is a corrupt and crime-infested hell-hole, meaning Dick has his work cut out for him. Through highs and lows — and more than a few continuity changes — Dick remains one of DC's most hopeful characters. Sure, he goes through a typical rebellious phase, mullet and everything, and he perennially struggles with confidence issues. Yet, he remains a firm believer in justice, because he has experienced it firsthand. It's that conviction that separates him from other DC heroes, and which ultimately makes him the GOAT. Collider Exclusive · Action Hero Quiz Which Action Hero Would BeYour Perfect Partner? Rambo · James Bond · Indiana Jones · John McClane · Ethan Hunt Five legends. Five completely different ways of getting out alive — with style, with muscle, with charm, with luck, or with a plan so intricate it probably shouldn't work. Ten questions will reveal which action hero was built to have your back. 🎖️Rambo 🍸James Bond 🏺Indiana Jones 🔧John McClane 🎭Ethan Hunt FIND YOUR PARTNER → 01 You're dropped into a dangerous situation with no warning. What do you need most from a partner? The first few seconds tell you everything about who belongs beside you. ASomeone who already has three contingency plans running and is calmly working through all of them. BSomeone who reads the terrain instinctively and knows exactly how to use it against the enemy. CSomeone who keeps their nerve and their sense of humour when everything is falling apart. DSomeone who knows the history of wherever we are and what we're walking into. ESomeone with the right contact, the right cover identity, and the right exit already arranged. NEXT QUESTION → 02 You have to get somewhere dangerous, fast. How do you travel? How you get there is half the mission. AOn foot through terrain no one else would attempt — I move where vehicles can't follow. BOn a motorcycle, a cargo plane, or anything else that gets me there before I think too hard about it. CIn something that belongs to someone else — borrowed, stolen, or improvised under fire. DFirst class, with a cover identity and a gadget that does something I won't explain until it's needed. EBy whatever means are available — I've driven, flown, and once arrived by camel. The destination matters, not the method. NEXT QUESTION → 03 You're pinned down and outnumbered. What does your ideal partner do? This is when you find out what someone is really made of. ADisappears into the environment, flanks them silently, and ends it before I've reloaded. BCracks a one-liner, grabs a fire extinguisher or a chair, and improvises something that somehow works. CProduces a gadget specifically designed for this exact scenario and uses it with infuriating precision. DPulls out a whip, a pistol, and an archaeological insight that somehow gets us out alive. ENeutralises the threat with maximum efficiency and minimum words — they were already three moves ahead. NEXT QUESTION → 04 The mission is paused. You have one evening to decompress. What does your partner suggest? Who someone is when the pressure drops is who they actually are. AA bar with terrible lighting, cold beer, and absolutely no questions about feelings. BThe finest restaurant in the city, a bottle of something expensive, and a conversation that is equal parts brilliant and exhausting. CA local dig site, a museum after hours, or a long story about why that particular artefact matters to human civilisation. DPizza. Bad TV. Falling asleep halfway through a movie neither of you were watching anyway. EA debrief that turns into three hours of contingency planning that somehow becomes the most fun you've had all week. NEXT QUESTION → 05 How do you prefer your partner to communicate mid-mission? Good communication is the difference between partners and a liability. APrecise and minimal — tell me what I need to know and nothing else. Every word has a cost. BDeadpan and dry — keeping it light keeps me sharp, even when everything is on fire. CEnthusiastic and slightly chaotic — but always with useful information buried somewhere in the noise. DCalm and controlled through an earpiece, with a plan that covers every variable I haven't thought of yet. EBarely at all — silence is a language and they speak it fluently. NEXT QUESTION → 06 Your enemy is powerful, well-resourced, and has the upper hand. How should your partner approach them? The approach to the enemy defines the partnership. AInfiltrate their inner circle, learn everything, and dismantle them from inside out before they know we're there. BStudy the historical pattern — every villain of this type has a weakness written somewhere in the past. CGet them talking. The more they monologue, the more time I have to figure out how to beat them. DGo through them. Directly. With as much force as the terrain allows. EFind the one thing they haven't accounted for — there's always one thing — and make sure we're holding it. NEXT QUESTION → 07 Things go badly wrong and you're captured. What do you trust your partner to do? Who someone is when you need them most is the only thing that matters. ACome in alone, quietly, and get me out before anyone knows they were there. BHave already been working on the extraction since the moment I disappeared — the plan is already running. CCome in loud, come in fast, and worry about the collateral damage later — I'd do the same for them. DUse every resource, every contact, and bend every rule until I'm out — they don't leave people behind. ECharm their way in somehow, bluff through the hard part, and still manage to look good doing it. NEXT QUESTION → 08 What does your ideal partner bring to the table that you couldn't replace? A great partner fills the gap you didn't know you had. ATechnology that shouldn't exist yet and the training to use it under any conditions. BSurvival instinct so refined it borders on supernatural — and the scars to prove it's been tested. CKnowledge of history, language, and culture that makes them invaluable in places where force is useless. DThe ability to walk into any room in the world and immediately become the most trusted person in it. EStubbornness that refuses to accept a situation is hopeless — and the improvisational skill to back it up. NEXT QUESTION → 09 Every partnership has a cost. Which of these can you live with? No one comes without baggage. The question is whether you can carry it together. AA partner who never fully switches off — always watching exits, always calculating threats, even at dinner. BA partner who gets the job done brilliantly but has the emotional availability of a locked filing cabinet. CA partner who makes everything ten times more complicated than it needs to be — but who always comes through. DA partner who gets personally attached to every relic, ruin, and artefact we encounter, which slows everything down. EA partner who was not built for this and knows it — but shows up anyway, every time, without being asked. NEXT QUESTION → 10 It's the final moment. Everything is on the line. What do you need from your partner right now? The last question is the most honest one. AOne line. Absolutely dry. Delivered like the world isn't ending. Then we move. BNothing said at all — just a look that means we both already know what has to happen. CA plan I don't fully understand that somehow accounts for everything, delivered in thirty seconds flat. DA piece of historical context that reframes the entire situation and tells us exactly what to do next. ESomeone who steps forward instead of back — because that's who they've always been. REVEAL MY PARTNER → Your Partner Has Been Assigned Your Perfect Partner Is…Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse. RamboYour partner doesn't talk much, doesn't need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you've finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You'll never need to ask if he has your back. You'll just know. James BondYour partner will arrive perfectly dressed, perfectly briefed, and with a cover story so convincing it'll take you a moment to remember what's actually true. James Bond is the most professionally dangerous person in any room he enters — and the most disarmingly charming, which is the point. He operates in a world of layers, where nothing is what it appears and every advantage is used without apology. You'll never be bored. You'll occasionally be furious. But when it matters — when the mission is genuinely on the line and the margin for error has collapsed to nothing — Bond is exactly the partner you want. He has survived things that have no business being survivable. He does it with style. That is not nothing. Indiana JonesYour partner will know the history, the language, the cultural context, and exactly why the thing everyone else is ignoring is actually the most important thing in the room. Indiana Jones is brilliant, reckless, and occasionally impossible — but he is also one of the most resourceful, most genuinely knowledgeable partners you could find yourself beside. He approaches every situation with a scholar's eye and a brawler's instinct, which is an unusual combination and a remarkably effective one. He hates snakes and gets personally attached to objects of historical significance, both of which will slow you down at least once. It doesn't matter. What Indy brings is irreplaceable — and the adventures you'll have together will be the kind people write books about. Assuming you survive them. John McClaneYour partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren't so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more chaotic than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay. Ethan HuntYour partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you've finished reading the briefing, and the plan he's settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn't exist. He is not easy to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ Why Is Nightwing the Best Superhero in DC? It's often said that Nightwing is Batman's greatest success. Unlike Bruce, who was branded by the events on Crime Alley, Dick was able to process his grief and move on from it. Unlike Bruce, who is chronically incapable of trusting others, Dick has no intimacy issues and a willingness to let others in. He's best friends with countless characters and has multiple support systems, both within the Bat-Family and without. In the Titans, Dick has a surrogate family, and he's still close with those at Haly's Circus. He's that one friend who's cool with everyone. Indeed, Dick's greatest strength, besides his resilience, is his kindness. In that respect, it wouldn't be an overstatement to say that Nightwing is the true heir to Superman's ethos. They both lead with hope and empathy, always believing that there is good in everything. Their friendship is also one of the most endearing in DC Comics. What once began as a mentor-mentee dynamic has transformed into a bond of peers, friends, and allies. Both Superman and Batman respect Nightwing, to the point where they trusted him to lead a new iteration of the Justice League following the Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths. Yet, a hero can only be compelling if he has actual trials to overcome, and Dick struggles with doubt and confidence issues going back to his days as Robin; after all, living in the Bat's shadow can't be easy. Yet, he's also the only Robin who made it out of the somewhat cursed mantle; Jason fully went to the dark side before redeeming himself, while Tim allowed himself to be absorbed by the mantle, and Damian... well, he's a little savage. But Dick wrestled with his demons and came out victorious, even if the battle endures. Dick is in one continuous fight against himself and his self-imposed expectations, but he's learned never to allow it to overcome him. "The mission" is important, but it's not everything, and that makes him a more effective hero. Lastly, a hero can't be truly great unless he kicks ass, and Dick kicks some serious ass. For one, he's the best acrobat in all of DC. He's also one of the few characters who can beat Batman, something he has actually done before. He's the second-best fighter in the Bat-Family, which instantly makes him a top-tier fighter in the entire DC Universe. Lastly, Dick is also a detective, a genius-level tactician, and a forensic specialist, not to mention the most emotionally intelligent person in Gotham. It's Time to Make the DC Trinity a Quaternity Image via DC Comics For decades, DC has flaunted the Trinity as the certified stars of the universe, the greatest superheroes in the medium and the pillars upon which DC rises. Yet, while Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are certainly worthy of the praise, so is Nightwing. In terms of characterization alone, Dick Grayson is a far more compelling, complex, and inspirational character, and it's about time he gets to occupy his place at the top of the DC canon. Currently, DC is back to its default state, with the Justice League at the top, and Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman leading it. I can't help but wonder, though, how long it will take before Nightwing joins them. His tenure leading the Justice League received universal acclaim because he combined the best qualities of the Trinity and then some. Dick is the best leader in DC Comics because he leads with the right combination of head and heart. Whereas Batman can only use the former, Superman often lets himself be influenced by the latter, and Wonder Woman writers constantly go back and forth between the two, Nightwing perfectly balances both, something that no other superhero can do. With each new issue, he further cements his place as the best leader in DC, not to mention one of the most universally beloved characters in the entire medium and an overwhelmingly positive portrayal of masculinity. What else can you ask for in a hero? Take a bow, Nightwing, because you are the single best character in DC Comics, and it's not even particularly close.