Gotham Knights is in development at WB Games Montreal. Set in Batman's home city after the death of Bruce Wayne, the new game will follow Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood, and Robin as they try to fight crime and keep the city safe in the absence of the Caped Crusader.
All three male protagonists have taken on the role of Robin at some point in their lives, which makes it all the more important that the Robin seen in the game – Tim Drake – is not outshone by his predecessors. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to make Tim stand out in Gotham Knights that could make his Robin just as compelling as the others characters.
The Gotham Knights
The three Robins in Gotham Knights are Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake. Dick Grayson was the original Robin, and was taken under Bruce Wayne’s wing after the death of his acrobat parents was orchestrated by a Gotham mobster. With the Court of Owls involved in the new game’s plot, it’s easy to see how Grayson could be a very compelling character to choose – the Court of Owls trains in Haly’s Circus, where Grayson, now Nightwing, grew up and saw his parents die.
The second Robin, Jason Todd, also has a particularly interesting role to play in Gotham Knights. Bruce Wayne may be dead, but Jason Todd has died before. In the comics, Todd is brutally murdered by the Joker, and only returns as Red Hood after being revived by Talia Al Ghul in the Lazarus Pit. As such, Todd could have a very unique view on Bruce’s death that could make him a very interesting character to choose as well.
The question that remains is how WB Games Montreal can make the current Robin just as appealing a character to play as when players can also pick former Robins with interesting personal stakes in the plot and, being older, longer backstories. Fortunately, there are a few ways the studio could make Tim Drake just as central to the game's main themes.
Tim Drake, the Last Robin
Tim Drake became Robin after he figured out that Bruce Wayne was Batman and Jason Todd was Robin. As a boy, Tim was also in the audience the night Dick Grayson’s parents were murdered. In other words, Tim Drake has the potential, if used properly, to have the deepest personal connection to the plot of all; he was Robin when Batman died, but also has connections to the pasts of both of his predecessors that could lead to a very interesting dynamic in the story.
Nightwing and Red Hood have already created identities separate from Batman, but Robin has not. Tim Drake’s Robin is a sidekick without a hero. He became Robin after failing to convince Dick Grayson to return to the role, claiming that “Batman needs a Robin.” The question for Tim is now this: what’s Robin without Batman?
It remains to be seen how WB Games Studios handles its four protagonists. It’s known that the player can play through all of Gotham Knights as just one character, but not whether there will be many opportunities for interactions between the four playable characters in the story. If there are, Tim Drake could be one of the most interesting choices for player character: both Nightwing and Red Hood present him with alternate paths for his own future, which could make Drake’s decisions all the more compelling. By exploring the uniqueness of Drake's position, the studio could ensure that Robin isn’t overshadowed by Red Hood or Nightwing in the upcoming game despite their shared pasts.
Gotham Knights launches 2021 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
