Batman and Robin are like a rock concert. Batman is this brilliant, blazing, glorious rock star, the idolized hero of millions who burns brighter and rocks harder than anyone else ever will. All the other superheroes, like Superman or Wonder Woman, they’re competing rock stars. Maybe they’ll do an album together or hang out at a charity together, but in the end they have their own bands and their own concerts. Batman views them as rivals. But Robin is unique among other superheroes.

Robin is the guy with the backstage pass.

Animated Batman Lego series anyone?

If Batman is arguably the greatest, most popular superhero, Robin is the fan who Batman lets hang out back stage. We can’t be our favorite rock star. We can’t be Batman. But in some ways, we can be like Robin. We can be the fan with the backstage pass. We can hang out with Batman and learn all of his secrets. We’ll be there for Batman when he’s in a tough spot, or we’ll be by his side when he’s kicking ass. We can be the fan that Batman actually likes hanging out with, the one he shares a beer with. And maybe someday, when Batman needs us the most, he’ll invite us on stage to jam with him.

And then we will prove that it has all be worth it, and we will rock hard enough to impress Batman.

I think that nicely sums up one of the reasons why I like Robin. He’s the guy that Batman trusts above all others, the one that Batman likes hanging out with. The one superhero who is truly in Batman’s inner circle. But Robin is not just ‘Batman’s Pal’, he’s Batman-in-training. He’s Batman’s assistant. That’s what it means to be his sidekick. I plan on doing a lot more with Robin on this blog, but for now let’s take a look at one enterprise that seems to do Robin right: animation.

Here are the top 6 animated Robins, ranked worst to best!

***This list was inspired by friend-of-the-site Momma Pwncess! Thank you!

6. Super Friends

Even Robin looks sad to be on Super Friends

When I say ‘worst’, I definitely mean worst. Super Friends Robin from the 1970s and 80s is essentially just an animated version of the Adam West/Burt Ward TV show. This is the Robin that most people think about: weak, ineffectual and prone more to snappy one-liners and catch phrases than actually kicking ass. Fortunately, Super Friends could do a lot more with the character thanks to being animated. Burt Ward wouldn’t be able to do half the things that animated Robin does. The cool gadgets alone were far more impressive than on the live action show, not to mention the acrobatics.

The Batman live action show, and Super Friends, are both the best and worst things to happen to Robin. They put him on the national spotlight, but their Robin was hardly cool. He was a huge dork. The pixie boots, the green panties, and saying ‘Holy!’ in front of everything. All the freakin’ time! Robin was basically just Batman’s shadow, there to either have someone else sitting in the Batmobile or maybe save Batman when Batman did something stupid. Thankfully, every other Robin on this list is a lot more respectful and a lot less embarrassing.

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5. Batman: The Brave and the Bold

The shirt says 'Robin', and the pants say 'not the lame Robin'

The most recent Batman cartoon show was unique in its love of the retro Silver Age style. Batman wasn’t the goofy, dancing playboy that he was with Adam West. But he was far from the dark vigilante of the past three decades. Batman: The Brave and the Bold was definitely kid-friendly, but it was also made by people who are huge fans of comic books. They used characters like Booster Gold and Guy Gardner, of instance, and they used them well. They mixed modern ideas with classic concepts, no matter if their youthful audience would never get the reference. The show had two versions of Robin: the young daredevil in the pixie boots and an older, more mature hero.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold starts well into Batman’s career as a superhero. Robin has already grown up and struck out on his own, and doesn’t appear all that often. Batman usually teams up with other heroes like Aquaman or Plastic Man. Robin makes his first appearance in the episode ‘The Color of Revenge’, and he’s introduced as a boastful young hero with a chip on his shoulder towards Batman, but they still work together effortlessly to defeat Crazy Quilt. This Robin is based on Earth 2 Robin from the comics, who had also grown up into a more adult Robin identity. A lot of this show was based on Earth 2, actually. Over the course of the series, Robin makes amends with Batman and eventually graduates to Nightwing in later appearances. Then he starts teaming up with Batman more often, once again proving just how good they are as partners.

There’s also a fantastic episode, The Knights of Tomorrow’ in which Bruce Wayne has retired and Dick Grayson is the new Batman. He fights the Joker and takes in the young Damien Wayne as Robin. It’s a lot of fun, and perhaps the only animated appearance where Dick Grayson becomes Batman.

The second version of Robin is featured in the ‘Secret Files of the Bat-Computer’ episodes, in which we see flashbacks to old cases. These were usually just used as short cold opens at the start of each episode. These flashbacks were basically just an excuse to animate crazy old Batman stories from the Silver Age, like The Rainbow Batman. This Robin is the old, cliched kid hero, basically just spouting catch phrases and being acrobatic.

There was also the animated parody of Batboy and Rubin from MAD Magazine, which I remember reading as a kid. That episode was surreal.

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4. Young Justice

Kicking ass in broad daylight!

Young Justice is still airing its first season, but already it’s proven to be a very fun and exciting show, with a fantastic version of Robin. More than anything else, however, it is a fan-friendly show. The producers brag about the number of characters they have featured, and the depths to which they really hit all the fan-favorite chords. There’s one particular Robin scene that I’ll talk about later on that perfectly captures the character. I loved it. But in general, the show is a new take on the idea of all the Justice League sidekicks banding together to have their own adventures. They’ve got their own base and their own problems, with a ton of guest appearances from the rest of the DC Universe. Robin isn’t the star of the show or the leader of the team, but the producers pay great respect to his unique position in the DCU, kind of like what I talked about at the start of this list.

While both previous entries on this list focused on an old timey Robin, the next four are all modern takes on the character.

The creators of Young Justice definitely get the appeal of the Boy Wonder, and know how to write him properly. His costume is more modern, while still using the classic colors and style. He’s smart and funny, often cracking a few jokes in the heat of battle. He’s even got this wicked laugh that he uses from the shadows when he goes into badass mode. But more so than anything else, the Young Justice Robin is a brilliant crimefighter and skilled warrior, able to make the hard decisions that come with being a hero. This show features one of the most detailed and meaningful relationships between Batman and Robin, showing a Boy Wonder who has clearly been trained by the Dark Knight.

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They showcase this relationship by contrasting Robin with the rest of the team. Unlike them, Robin doesn’t reveal his secret identity. Batman’s orders. He’s also more used to working stealthily with Batman than with a team. Robin may be the youngest hero on the Young Justice, and he may not be the leader, but they all respect that Robin started as a crime-fighter long before any of them. And that, when he is ready, Robin will probably take over as leader. But he’s still young, he’s still got a lot to learn. This is a Robin who is skilled and very good at what he does, but is still growing.

The scene I mentioned earlier happened in the episode ‘Downtime’. Batman is the adult advisor to the team, giving them their assignments and basically overseeing the whole ‘Young Justice’ project. And Batman doesn’t really keep any secrets from Robin. But in that episode, Batman asks to speak with Aqualad (the team leader) alone. Robin just assumes that he’s going to be involved too, but Batman tells Robin to leave. Robin is crushed! And later he’s seen back at Wayne Manor punching a wall in frustration that Batman would shut him out. Well Batman sees this and decides to make it up to Robin. He has Alfred send for Dick, and invites the boy to a one-on-one basketball game out in the courtyard. It’s a wonderful, touching scene showing the humanity of Bruce Wayne and highlighting the fact that Robin is Batman’s partner, not just this kid who hangs around.

Though there was that one horrible scene where Robin, while in therapy, says that he no longer wants to be Batman. Not cool, Young Justice!

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3. The Batman

He's rather spritely

The forgotten step-child of the animated Batman family, The Batman aired on The WB in the mid-2000s, not long after Batman: The Animated Series came to an end. It featured a modern, youthful Bruce Wayne, with an emphasis on cool gadgets and the like. It was a pretty solid, straight forward Batman show. Robin wasn’t introduced until the fourth season because the rights to the character were tied up by #2 on this list. Heck, he debuted after Batgirl! But whereas Batgirl was kind of a hanger-on to the Caped Crusader, Robin actually joined Batman and became his partner. Batman took Dick Grayson under his wing, training him much like Batman is supposed to do. This rubbed Batgirl tthe wrong way, but they eventually let her into the club too.

This version of Robin is one of the most pure, straight forward adaptations. Young Justice features a very cool Robin, but there he is just another member of the team, and rarely a focus. The Batman, at least by the fourth season, focuses on the Batman and Robin partnership. That’s why this Robin is higher on the list.

Robin is Dick Grayson, taken in by Batman after the death of his parents at the circus. Robin is the laughing boy daredevil. He cracks jokes and makes witty quips while he’s fighting bad guys, which is classic Dick Grayson. He’s a hero in training, so he sometimes makes mistakes, but he’s still a competent fighter and hero. He’s often very acrobatic in his movements, taking a few extra flips when he jumps into the Batmobile or bouncing off walls when he fights. I say ‘pure’ and ‘straight forward’ because nothing really rocks the boat on this show. Robin is a constant presence once he is introduced, playing the sidekick role perfectly and looking badass while he does so.

Like most shows of these shows, there was one episode that glimpsed the future where he became Nightwing. But otherwise he was always at Batman’s side as Robin. And I absolutely love the costume. It’s sleek and badass, looking both youthful and dark at the same time. The cape isn’t the shroud that is Batman’s cape, but it’s not some tiny yellow napkin tied around his neck. This show had a great visual style, and Robin plugged into it nicely.

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2. Teen Titans

Teen Titans, Go!

Teen Titans is the show to thank for bringing Robin to the masses. Unfortunately, they did it by cutting him off almost completely from Batman. There were a few hints here and there, but for all intents and purposes, Robin was his own, independent man in this show. Though at the same time, he was more like Batman than ever. Teen Titans was a kids show on Cartoon Network that was heavily influenced by Japanese anime. This show pretty much is an anime when you consider all the animation cues, the style, the theme song and more. This worked well for the show, giving it a unique and personal style in the larger world of DC animation. Plus it had a ton of fans.

That’s why Teen Titans is ranked so high on this list. While shows like The Batman and Young Justice have great interpretations of Robin, Teen Titans has its own great character. They made Robin into their own version, and in doing so showed all of their young fans that Robin could be cool and badass. Kids love Robin thanks to Teen Titans. They want to dress up like Robin on Halloween (I hope!). Teen Titans made Robin a star, and they did so by creating a complex character with depth and determination. They made Batman, but younger and a lot more fun. Which is a pretty darn great take on Robin, if I do say so myself.

I’m not much of a fan of this Robin costume, but only because of the weird, anime look of the character. He’s got a funky head. And the silver in the boots just rubs me the wrong way. But again, at least it’s the good costume and not the old pixie boot costume. Robin is a great character on Teen Titans. He’s very well-rounded in that he can be fun, friendly and a good leader, while also driven, obsessed and willing to do whatever it takes for justice. Robin goes to some pretty dark extremes during his attempts to stop super-villain and Titans arch-nemesis Slade. But the love of a good Starfire is always able to snap Robin out of it, and by the end, he’s a proud, respected leader of a whole army of Titans!

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1. Batman: The Animated Series

Robin is the official 'rope-holder'

Is it any surprise that this is #1? Batman: The Animated Series from the mid-90s did everything right, especially Robin. This show is held as the pinnacle of Batman perfection, from the genius minds of Bruce Timm and Paul Dini. It’s even won awards. They redefined Mr. Freeze for all time. The show made voice actor Kevin Conroy the voice of Batman and Mark Hamill the voice of the Joker for more than a decade since. So that they would do the same for Robin should be a given. The Animated Series version of Robin is #1 because it not only highlights the great partnership between Batman and Robin, but also presents a well-rounded Robin with emotional depth. This is a Robin who will actually get mad at Batman, and for good reason. First and foremost he is a Robin who has fun, but he can also be angry, scared, doubtful, and who can grow as a character.

Not to mention the fact that this is the only show that was around long enough to feature two different Robins!

With a show that focused on Batman, the producers made the wise choice to introduce Robin well after the series had started. Robin was brought in as a sometimes ally, who would come and go when wanted or needed. This highlighted the fact that Robin doesn’t need to be in every adventure, but when he is, the episode is just that much better and more fun to watch. One great Robin episode was ‘Night of the Ninja’. What could have been just an alright episode of Batman vs. a ninja now had Robin giving Batman a hand, cracking a few jokes and even facing off against the ninja himself. Robin was rarely just a hostage.

They also made the wise choice of having Robin be a young man, utilizing the new modern costume that had been introduced in the comics only a few years before the show started. As a young adult instead of a kid, Robin could interact with Batman on a much more mature level. There were still lessons that Batman could teach Robin, but they were more partners than teacher/student. Plus Robin was great in helping out in small ways. Like at the end of the Hugo Strange episode ‘The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne’, where Dick Grayson shows up at the end wearing a Bruce Wayne disguise to help protect Batman’s identity. Robin is a great guy to have around.

The greatest Robin showcase in all of animation, of course, is the two-part ‘Robin’s Reckoning’. I can still remember watching these two episodes on TV when they aired at prime time on Sunday. What starts out as an enjoyable team-up between Batman and Robin evolves into the hunt for Tony Zucco, the man responsible for the deaths of Robin’s parents in the circus. Not only do we get a great series of flashbacks to Robin’s childhood, but we also get an actual confrontation between Robin and Zucco. Batman never got to confront the guy who killed his parents.

These episodes pushed Robin to the extreme, especially when Batman shut him out of the investigation. He ordered Robin to remain in the Cave. But once Robin learned the truth, that Zucco was out there, he actually betrayed Batman, got angry with Batman. What followed was not only a glorious display of motorcycle badassery as Robin raced to the scene, but also an emotional moment when Robin held Zucco’s life in his hands. Of course, thanks to Batman’s mentoring, Robin made the right choice and turned Zucco over to the cops. And then Batman revealed that he ordered Robin to stay in the Cave because he couldn’t risk even the possibility that Zucco would hurt Dick. Awwwwww!

And this brings us to Tim Drake.

Young, but still a badass

After a few years of success, the network decided to change the title of Batman: The Animated Series to The Adventures of Batman & Robin, and gave the order that Robin was to appear in more episode. Hooray! Later still, when they switched to the WB network, it was changed to The New Batman Adventures and got a complete makeover. The character designs were all tweaked, Batgirl became a more prominent character, and Dick Grayson became Nightwing. There’s a fantastic episode that flashes back to the change, with Dick once again getting angry with Batman. But all of this paved the way for Tim Drake to become the new, younger Robin to better appeal to the young audience.

Frankly though, this wasn’t really Tim Drake. That was just the name of the Robin in the comics, so they used it. The ‘Tim Drake’ in the cartoon had more in line with Jason Todd, being a street urchin, along with some new additions from the writers, like a deadbeat father. Still, the younger, more kid-friendly, joke-quipping Robin was a hit. He was fun, friendly and went a long way to making a good show. Some standout episodes include ‘Growing Pains’, where Robin gets attached to a young girl who lost her memory, only to find out that she’s really just an extension of Clayface. Or there’s ‘Knight Time’ from the Superman animated series, where Robin must team up with Superman to find the missing Bruce Wayne. Robin even gets mad props from Supes in the end!

So both Robins in Batman: The Animated Series were pretty cool. Though the less said about their eventual fates in the Batman Beyond universe the better. I’ll save that particular bile of nerd rage for another day!