Red Hood Secretly Knows He Should Never Have Been a Robin

When he took Jason Todd under his wing as the new Robin, Batman was trying to mold the future Red Hood into a hero. However, perhaps the boy needed far more than just heroism, but instead merely fatherhood. This sentiment becomes evident in Red Hood & The Outlaws #3 by Scott Lobdell & Kenneth Rocafort. In it, Red Hood & co. arrive at the doorstep of S’Aru the Proctor, a magical, millennium-old man-child.

The gang needed S’Aru’s help and permission to chase after The Untitled through The Chamber of All. He obliges, but under the condition that he’s allowed to peek inside of everyone’s memories, taking with him as collateral their most cherished memories, only returning them when – or if – they return. Lucky for them, they do and all of these memories are returned, except for Red Hood’s, who opts not to receive his back. Although, the reader gets a chance to see that memory firsthand. It’s a memory of when Jason was still the second Robin and on a night that he’s too sick to patrol Gotham, Batman surprisingly stays home with him, and the two stay in for a night of TV watching.

It’s a surprisingly simple, wholesome moment for the typically bloodthirsty superhero to hold so dearly, but it’s quite telling in that regard. Keep in mind that this is the same Robin who saved Superman from the Black Mercy and has a bevy of similarly exciting, heroic moments to his name. Any one of those moments could have meant the most to Red Hood during his tenure as Robin. Yet, his most cherished memory as Robin is watching TV with Batman. It’s painfully clear – even to Red Hood himself – that Jason Todd should have never become Robin. He simply should have always been Bruce Wayne’s son.

It may be an understatement to say that becoming Robin did a lot more harm to Jason Todd’s life than good. Not only did becoming Robin lead to Jason Todd’s death at the hands of The Joker, being Robin merely gave him an outlet to be violent, opposed to Bruce’s intentions to use heroism to tame that violent streak. Batman’s intentions were good, in hopes of not seeing an orphan on the streets steer down the wrong path. Becoming Robin did a world of good for Dick Grayson before him, but for Jason, being a crimefighter proved to be counterproductive in the long run.

If Batman really wanted to offer his guidance, his best bet was simply to be a father first. To give the boy a roof under his head, food in his belly, but leave the actual crimefighting to his nights as Batman. Red Hood #3 highlights this idea. As a troubled youth, Jason never needed to be Robin, but he actually needed a father figure to care for him. That’s why his most cherished memory is simply a moment of domestic love. For one moment, Jason received something that he couldn’t get as Batman’s sidekick, but only as Bruce Wayne’s son. It’s all the boy ever needed and, from the sounds of it, it’s all he ever wanted. Batman just needed to love and raise Red Hood as a son instead of a soldier.

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