"I should have known. Wherever the Cluemaster goes, the Spoiler can't be far behind."
- Tim Drake, Robin Vol.4 #3
"Cute girl. Nice freckles. Who cares? Steph rules. But do stop me if you ever catch me writing that on an overpass."
-Tim Drake, Robin Vol.4 #100
Personal Information[]
Name: Timothy Drake
Relationship: Romantic interest, friend, partner
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 125 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
Aliases: Robin III, Red Robin II, Alvin Draper, Mister Sarcastic, Gary Glanz
Family: Jack Drake (father, deceased) , Janet Drake (mother, deceased), Dana Drake ( former stepmother), Bruce Wayne (adoptive father), Dick Grayson (adoptive brother), Cassandra Cain (adoptive sister), Damian Wayne (adoptive brother), Jason Todd (adoptive brother)
Occupation: Student, vigilante
First appearance: (As Tim Drake) Batman #436, August 1989; (As Robin) Batman #457, December 1990
History[]
Tim's first introduction to Stephanie was a brick to the face. He and Batman had been tracking down The Cluemaster when he saw a mysterious figure scaling the rooftops and went after them. He unmasked the person, surprised to find a blonde girl under the hood. She thanked him by clobbering him in the face with a nearby brick and running away.
Tim later tracked down Stephanie and after finding out she was trying to stop her father, introduced her to Batman.
The two met again when the Cluemaster escaped from jail once more, this time accompanied by The Baffler and The Electrocutioner. Both Spoiler and Robin ended up going after Arthur and friends, and once again Tim received a beating when he sneaked up on Steph (this time quite accidentally). This time, Stephanie seemed to be interested in Tim romantically and frustrated she didn't know who he really was. Tim tried to keep Steph out of trouble and went after Arthur on his own while Steph stalked the two other villians, but this backfired, for when the Baffler and his friend buried the armored car they had stolen in concrete for safekeeping, Tim was trapped in the armored car with the Cluemaster, unbeknownst to Steph. The Baffler and co eventually dug out the truck and pried it open, and Steph, still pursuing her suspects, saved Tim's life by knocking out the Electrocutioner before he could get the drop on Tim. The Boy Wonder impulsively kissed Steph for this deed. Stephanie let him know this gesture had piqued her interest in him and she planned on seeing him again, much to Tim's chagrin.
The romance continued when the Cluemaster ordered Steph kidnapped by Gully Carson and his gang. Tim found out and came to rescue her, and she decided to thank him for saving her life the same way he thanked her when she saved his and pinned him forcefully to the ground and kissed him- in the middle of gunfire! Steph insisted on helping Tim wrap up the case as Spoiler. She was hasty to get revenge on Gully and Tim had to take a bullet directed at her from the man. Stephanie quickly knocked Gully out with a diamond and went to check on Tim, who was merely badly bruised thanks to his body armor. This may have been where Stephanie genuinely fell in love with Tim, seeing the gallantry he was capable of.
The two teamed up several more times. Tim was heartily resistant to the idea of Steph, who had very little training, putting herself in danger as The Spoiler. But Steph refused to listen to him. Tim found himself undeniably attracted to his sometimes crimefighting partner. She packed a sunny attitude despite her troubled past and teasingly referred to him as Boy Wonder. Stephanie saved Tim several times from getting shot (usually by drop kicking the gunman in the back of the head) and he returned the favor. All throughout, Stephanie was very forward in her flirtation with Tim. It was undeniable they made a good team, and Tim found hanging out with Steph much easier than constantly making excuses to run off and put on the tights to his civilian girlfriend, Ariana.
Eventually, Robin asked Spoiler to be his girlfriend, though he regretfully told her he had sworn not to tell anyone, even her, his secret identity. Spoiler agreed to the terms, much to Tim's surprise. However, their trouble was not over. Stephanie found out soon after the couple first hooked up that she was pregnant. The baby was not Robin's (they had never gone beyond kissing), but an earlier boyfriend's. However, Tim stuck with Steph throughout the ordeal and even took her to Lamaze classes, using the identity of Alvin Draper. Steph was amused with this, and let Tim know if she ever met him without the mask, she'd know it instantly. Timmy was quite unnerved by this.
The relationship strained further when Tim was forced to move to Keystone, Kansas by his father. He kept contact with Stephanie, who was considering keeping the baby. Tim let her know he thought this was a bad idea for a girl still in high school, but let her make her own decision, saying "I can't tell you what to do." When he called and was told by Stephanie's mother that Steph was in labor with complications, he enlisted none other than the Flash to get him to Gotham to help birth the little one. Steph decided to let the baby be adopted, not even wanting to know it's gender.
Tim moved back to Gotham, but was restricted a bit from his costumed life when his dad put him in the local boarding school for boys, Brentwood. Stephanie was starting to get a bit frustrated with not knowing Tim's name and his constant secrets. She even tried to follow him home once, but was attacked by a fellow teammate of Tim's from Young Justice, The Secret. Secret was a very lonely, unstable girl who had suffered death by electrocution and gained ethereal powers. She had a huge crush on her friend Robin and was enraged to learn he had a girlfriend, and tried to take revenge on Spoiler. Steph put up a good fight, but was no match for Secret's superpowers. Fortunately the intervention of Robin and Young Justice mentor Red Tornado saved her. Tim gave both girls a firm speech about trust.
But the straw broke the camels back when Spoiler saw Robin clearly knew and cared for a girl they were trailing, Star. Realizing there was so much she didn't know about her boyfriend, and suspecting him of cheating on her, she tearfully told Robin, "The mask doesn't hide everything. I'm still me. But I don't know who you are." She left, and refused to see the Boy Wonder when he called on her.
She tried to follow Star to see who Tim really was so she could dump him in person, but that failed. Soon after, however, she was picked up by Batman, who wanted her to check on Tim. He had not checked in with Bats at the usual time (he was off on an adventure with Lagoon Boy, I can't make this stuff up) Bats had to tell Steph Tim's real name to do this, and when Tim found out, he was furious at this betrayal. He left for a while to sort out his feelings, and never one to let a void go unfilled, Bats took Stephanie on as an apprentice. She learned from him, Batgirl and the Birds of Prey.
Tim came back, and let Stephanie know he wasn't mad at her, but Batman. He told her the reason he had really wanted to tell his identity but that he thought Batman wouldn't want him to, and it was Batman telling her the secret without asking him first that really hurt his feelings.
The two resumed their relationship, and Steph became involved in Tim's civilian life as well, meeting his father, Jack and stepmother Dana officially.
Waters were not calm forever, and Stephanie was fired by Batman, which caused her to reevaluate what she was doing. In contrast to his feelings before, it was implied Tim was angry at Batman for doing this and believed his beloved should continue at being a superhero. But another blow came when Stephanie's dad was reported to be dead. Grief stricken, Stephanie thrust herself into an unneccessary battle with someone over her weight class, and Tim had to rescue her. The next day, Tim took Stephanie out and she confided in him her mixed feelings about her father, and how she had almost been sexually assaulted by one of his friends when she was eleven (she bit him and escaped before he could do anything). Tim was furious to learn this, but Steph told him she had checked the man (Murray) out when she became Spoiler, and learned he had died of an apparent accidental overdose, but the evidence was Arthur may have killed him. (Cluemaster had said he didn't believe the young Steph when she told him about the assault, but stopped inviting Murray over immediately after, and he'd died a few days later despite not being a user of narcotics).
Stephanie was angry at her mother's reaction to her father's death, thinking it was pathetic, and stayed in hotels instead of her house, though she lied to Tim and told him she had made up with her Mom. Eventually she came clean, and Tim mediated a discussion between the two women and Steph moved back in.
Stephanie got her leg broken in a fight with one of Tim's enemies, and Tim began to consider not being Robin anymore. Steph yelled at him for this, telling him he had done far too much good. This snapped Tim back to reality for a while, but he was then forced to quit when his father Jack found out of his activities and made him stop. He fell out of contact with Stephanie for three months after this but eventually expressed a desire to resume the relationship. But when she looked in on his school, she saw another girl kissing him (against his will, but Steph didn't know that) and fled in anger.
This, combined with her desire to do real good as well as prove herself to Batman, motivated her to replace Tim as Robin. She fell out of contact with Tim during her training, refusing to answer his calls. Tim was shocked when he found out about the replacement, and though the two wanted to meet, Stephanie was interrupted by a case.
Stephanie was fired as Robin, and shortly after appeared to die. She loved Tim 'til the end. Tim resumed the mantle of Robin with a heavy heart.
However, Stephanie returned as Spoiler, revealing her death had been faked by Dr. Leslie Thompkins . Tim expressed anger over Stephanie not telling him she was alive, but the two clearly still had strong feelings for each other. Their relationship was strained by Tim's involvement with another girl.
The strain between Tim and Stephanie got worse when Batman dissapeared, apparently insane. Earlier, Batman had asked Stephanie to keep Tim away from the situation, which caused Stephanie to delete a picture of Batman going crazy Tim was looking for from a thug's cell phone. When Tim found out, the dynamic between the two became even more tense.
Stephanie was trying to protect Tim and help him rebuild Gotham in the Dark Knight's absence, though going about it in a rather unorthodox way, enlisting the help of Scarab. Scarab went off working for Red Robin though, and Steph had to tackle her to keep her from shooting Tim. She tackled Scarab again once more when Scarab shot an RPG at Tim, and eventually Tim grabbed the injured Stephanie and used a low grade version of the Scarab's fear gas to disperse the crowd. Stephanie was not sure what to think of these extreme methods, and revealed to the reader that her plan to "make Robin better" by hiring villians was under Batman's orders. But she wondered if making Tim a better Robin would make him a worse person.
Red Robin was revealed to be The General and he let Tim know Stephanie had been to see him. Tim then realized the General had to be the one who shot Steph and began to get suspicious about her secrecy.Going back to The General's warehouse to investigate, Tim was seriously injured in an explosion from a bomb the General, now posing as Anarky, left. Though he did not contact Stephanie after the incident, she knew he was alive because she combed the rubble for him after the police left. As she watched the Gotham gangs fight, she thought regretfully on how he didn't trust her anymore. However, she vowed to make it right.
Stephanie later was preventing Lynx II from hurting someone at an attempted truce meeting between the Gotham gangs, only to have the meeting erupt into fighting.The fight was interrupted by a man yelling that Anarky was outside. Everyone ran out, and Anarky threatened them with a bomb. Spoiler yelled that she would stop it before it hit the ground, to which Anarky said, "but will you stop the one I planted three hours ago?" and the plaza promptly exploded. Spoiler and several others were thrown by the blast, but Steph did not appear to be seriously injured.
Tim, watching from the Batcave and saw the incident on his news feed, and momentarily worrying if Steph was okay, told himself to focus and went to fight Anarky, wearing the Red Robin cowl he fished out of the exploded warehouse he was in earlier to cover his burnt head.
While the two boys fought,it was up to Stephanie to calm down the gangs and get them to help with the chaos. With the help of the Gotham cops, she succeeded, but the General had planted a bomb nearby. He told Robin that the bomb would either blow up Steph or Officer Harper, and he must pick which damsel to save. Tim thought of how Harper was there because she listened to him, and Steph was there because she didn't, but then forced himself to choose not between the people, but the most likely location of the bomb. He guessed correctly in saving Harper.
After it all went down, Steph and Tim met. Stephanie tearfully realized Tim knew about her deception, and Tim angrily confirmed he found security tapes of her hiring the Scarab. Steph explained that Batman had ordered her to make him sweat, in order to make him a better Robin. Tim yelled at her, telling her he knew she'd been under a lot of pressure, and that he loved her, and that's why he couldn't have "Spoiler" screwing up anymore. He then said "Don't ever let me catch you in that costume again" and jumped off the roof.
Later on, thinking he could possibly die the next day in a battle with Lady Shiva, Tim called Stephanie to tell her he's sorry (even though a part of him wasn't) and he wished things could have worked out differently (even though he chose how they went). Stephanie saw "Alvin Draper" calling on her cell phone, but didn't answer. Instead, she glanced inscrutably at her Spoiler costume hanging on her closet door. Tim didn't leave a message.
Either set before or after all this, Tim begged Stephanie to come with him to Titans Tower to give him moral support when he quit the Teen Titans due to his responsibilities in Gotham. Stephanie complied, and got to interact with a few team members, including Tim's ex Cassandra Sandsmark, Traci Thirteen and the explosive Amy Allen, before she left in the Bat-Plane with Tim.
Steph disregarded Tim's wishes and stopped a burglary by Nocturna surreptitiously while still in her civilian clothes. Tim was unaware of this, and when he came to collect Nocturna Steph hid from him. He commented the job was easier than usual to himself as Steph watched. The narration says that Stephanie is still drawn to Robin, and though Robin has lost so much lately, to get out of the abyss he left Spoiler behind. It also comments that though Tim broke Steph's heart, her spirit fights back. Steph will keeps being Spoiler, against Tim's wishes.
Later, as Spoiler, she was watching Tim, Babs, Dick and Leslie attend a high society ball, when she saw Nocturna attempting to rob it. She handily stopped the crook, demonstrating her new ability to turn invisible. Afterwards, she met up with Tim and he asked if she stole the tech to make herself invisible to get around his ultimatum. She responded that he had too much ego and he didn't own her. He agreed, and apologized for being too harsh earlier, but told her he still didn't think crimefighting was her path. He also told her he was leaving Gotham for a while (presumably to look for Bruce as Red Robin), and for her not to get hurt while he was gone. She grappled away, telling him she didn't want to get hurt either, but she might, as that was part of the life they chose to lead.
They had a less amicable parting in Red Robin #2 where Tim kicked her, shouted at her and refused to talk to her. Then he went off to become Red Robin and search for Bruce Wayne.
When Stephanie was under the influence of The Scarecrow's fear gas, she hallucinated that Tim was telling her that she wasn't a good enough hero to save the city and wasn't a good enough girlfriend to keep him from leaving while he beat on her.
Tim eventually returned to Gotham, having finally dug himself out of his depression because he'd discovered Bruce Wayne was not dead, but lost in time. However, he gets a nasty call from Ra's Al Ghul, who had decided to take his revenge on Tim for the Boy Wonder's actions against the League of Assassins. Ra's told Tim that he was going to have everything Bruce ever loved or built destroyed.
Tim sped off to the batcave, thinking that there's no one's help he wouldn't take. But he ran into someone he didn't take into account in the cave. He burst out "Are you kidding me?" because that person is Stephanie Brown in her Batgirl costume, who grinned and, after a greeting, proudly said, "Hey, good news. I'm not wearing the Spoiler costume anymore, just like you asked."
Tim still acted angry at Stephanie, asking her if she was "playing dress up again". She snapped back not to throw stones, because at least she wasn't dressed as Dr. Mid-Nite. They got into an argument, with Tim asking Steph "could you not be useless right now" and Steph telling him he didn't get to take that tone with her after how he treated her when he left. Tim told her she hadn't changed much. Suddenly they were interrupted by a signal saying Ra's was hacking into the files of Dr. Leslie Thompkins. Tim sped off and Stephanie followed him. She was upset by how much harder and colder he fought. Tim appeared behind her, telling her he grew up. Stephanie was startled, and Tim accused her of letting her guard down. "What can I say? You have that effect on me." Steph admitted. This amused Tim.
Eventually, Tim had to admit he needed Steph's help to stop the assassins attacking Leslie. Steph proclaimed "PWNED!" and Tim grabbed her a dress so she could take Leslie aside at the ball. When the assassins attacked, Steph and Tim teamed up. Stephanie's plan was "hit 'em till they stop" which Tim said was "just like old times". But Steph ripped her dress and retrieved her staff, saying "better than old times."
They handily defeated the ninjas, but Steph got so caught up remembering those "old times" that she accidentally punched Tim in the face when he suddenly popped up in front of her just after the last ninja dropped. Tim said "nithe hook" while she apologized, and said it was better than a brick to the face. Steph was startled he remembered their first meeting, but Tim said it was hard to forget.
Tim told the partygoers the day had been saved by Batgirl. Up on the roof, Steph informed her she had changed, and she was fighting for all the people in Gotham now. Tim told her he was proud of her. They almost kissed, but Steph cut it off, saying it wasn't good for her right now.
Tim's assassin friend Prudence appeared, sticking a gun in Steph's face and declaring she had been sent to kill her. Tim freaked out, thinking internally that he should have stopped Steph from day one on the vigilante thing, but his emotions clouded him, that he should never have trusted Prudence, that he didn't have time to save Stephanie and that his weakness had just killed her. However, he was proven wrong about everything when Steph kicked the gun from Prudence's hand and beat her to a pulp. Tim was stunned Steph had taken out a member of the League so casually, then thought "Not Steph. Batgirl."
The gun wasn't loaded and it turned out Prudence really was on their side, but once Stephanie found out Tim had been working for the League, she ripped into him. She admonished him for not trusting her and then working with criminals, for kicking her in the stomach earlier, for leaving Gotham and admitted she had been really worried about him. To her astonishment, Tim told her she was right. He told her they had both made mistakes, but now they had a second chance and could do things right. He told her he needed her help to save the people they loved. Steph accepted Tim's hand, saying "okay, now I really don't know who you are."
They went to Tim's base, but Steph discovered a bomb. Tim used one of his booby traps to drop them out of blast range, only then they were faced by a cadre of assassins.
As they fought the assassins, Tim knew Steph had a plan and begged inwardly for it to work. Steph yelled that the estimated time of arrival was 7 minutes. Just as Tim was about the be killed by an assassin, he smirked that Steph's seen minutes were up and the Ricochet smashed into the assassin. Tim thought to himself that though he'd never admit it to Steph, her vehicle was pretty cool.
They escaped, and Tim told Steph to go check on Barbara. Despite misgivings she went. It was a good thing too, because she was able to save Vicki Vale from getting killed. Unfortunately, she overheard Tam Fox giving Vale the cover story that she and Tim were engaged.
When Tim called on everyone to report on the status of Ra's Al Ghul's targets, Steph reported that Vicki Vale was okay and "so am I, by the way".
When fighting Ra's, Tim was kicked out a window and rescued by Dick Grayson. In the Batcave, Stephanie, Damian Wayne, Dick and Alfred Pennyworth congregated around him and waited for him to wake up. Tim sat up with a cry and Steph calmed him down, telling him it's okay and he's in the Batcave.
After some conversation, Tim notes that Steph was glaring at him a little. She asked him dangerously if there's anything he forgot to tell her after she saved his life "even after you yelled at me? A lot?". Damian handed Tim the newspaper article Vicki Vale wrote that says Tim is engaged to Tam Fox.
Later on, Tim needed information about the Scarab, so he visited Steph in the Batcave. He watched Steph train, noting that seeing her in the costume makes him completely understand the sexual tension between the original Robin and Batgirl. Steph asked him why he wants to bring up the whole Scarab mess again after all she'd done to put that behind them, and he let her know it's noting like that, and he just needs to know what she knows for a plan he's hatching. She somersaulted off the high bars, saying if Scarab's in town, Steph wanted a piece of her. Tim informs her that if his plan fails, he'll be dead, and Scarab will be all hers. Steph snapped "That's not funny" and Tim replies "who said I was joking?" They pooled information, both deciding the villian is Egyptain and Steph let Tim know about Scarab's Middle East contacts so he can track the woman down.
We shall see what happens next.
Important events Tim had with Stephanie:
Discovered her identity as Spoiler: Detective Comics (648)
Teaming up with her for the first time: Robin (4)
Tim kisses Steph for the first time: Robin (5)
Steph kisses Tim for the first time: Robin (16)
They become a couple: Robin (56)
Robin discovers Steph's pregnancy: Robin (57)
Robin helps Steph have the baby: Robin (65)
Steph discovers Tim's secret identity: Robin (87)
Steph and Robin get back together after a brief time apart: Robin (99)
Steph recounts a traumatic childhood experience to Robin on a date:Robin (111)
Steph replaces Tim as Robin: Robin (126)
Steph and Tim reunite, and it is revealed Stephanie was never really dead: Robin (174).
Steph and Tim have their first official team up after Steph's return, busting up a kidnapping ring, and their relationship starts to heal: Robin/Spoiler Special.
After Stephanie deceives him, Tim tells her to give up the costume. Don't worry, she won't listen. Robin (182)
Stephanie goes back to being Spoiler, and Tim apologizes for his harsh words, but tells her he doesn't believe crimefighting is right for her. He also tells her he's leaving Gotham. GOTHAM GAZETTE: BATMAN ALIVE?
Which is true? The above, or did Tim yell at and generally abuse Stephanie before he ran off to become Red Robin? Red Robin (2)
Tim and Steph team up and reconcile Batgirl (third series) (8)
Tim apologizes to Stephanie for all he's done, and they go forward to have a second chance and save the people they love. Red Robin (10)
Comics where Tim and Steph interact:
Batgirl (32)
Batman Family (2)
Batman Family (8)
Detective Comics (648)
Detective Comics (649)
Gotham Knights (37)
Joker: Last Laugh (6)
Nearly every issue of Robin she appears in.
Robin/Spoiler Special
Teen Titans (second series)(17)
Young Justice(30)
Young Justice (50)
Young Justice(51)
Young Justice(54)
Teen Titans (third series)(66)
GOTHAM GAZETTE: BATMAN DEAD?
GOTHAM GAZETTE: BATMAN ALIVE?
Red Robin(2)
Red Robin (9)
Batgirl (8)
Red Robin (10)
More about Tim: [1]