Robin Ditches a Bit of His ‘Boy Wonder’ Image in ‘Batman: Arkham City’
Fans rejoiced last month when it was finally confirmed that Robin would be a playable character within the Best Buy exclusive challenge maps of Warner Bros. and Rocksteady Studios' Batman: Arkham City. Aside from a clean black and white image to look at, though, Robinites haven't been able to find out a whole lot about Batman's partner in crimefighting. Now, along with the release of a new colored image of the hero in a hood, Rocksteady revealed that their Robin represents a fresh take on Tim Drake -- a troubled youth adorned with close-cropped hair suited for blowing off steam in cage fight matches.Rocksteady Studios senior concept artist Kan Muftic broke down the new Robin design at the Arkham City forums:
"We wanted to create a Robin that players would identify as a contemporary character and move away from the traditional 'Boy Wonder' image that most people know. Our vision of Robin is the one of a troubled young individual that is calm and introverted at times but very dangerous and aggressive if provoked. The shaved head is inspired by cage fighters, because we thought that Robin might be doing that in his spare time to keep him on his toes. Still, we kept all the classic trademarks of Robin's appearance, such as the red and yellow colors of his outfit, the cape and the mask.
We really hope that people will discover our Robin as one of their new favorite characters in the Batman universe. He is back and he means business."
Overall this new take on Robin seems a bit more in line with the aggressive personality of Jason Todd more than Drake. Unlike original Robin Dick Grayson and his successor Todd, Drake's typically played as much more of a detective than a straight fighter in the comics. Considering he'll be spending his time grappling with waves of murderous psychos in Arkham City's challenge maps, however, perhaps it's best to allow the hero a bit more of Batman's brooding buffness. That's not to say Drake's brains don't shine through. This dude's haircut is darn practical. Nobody wants to get their hair yanked out in a scuffle.
See the full image of Robin from Batman: Arkham City below: