Red X - Tumblr Posts

Thoughts on the "Who is Red X" dilemma

At the time of his introduction, Jason Todd had not been resurrected in the comics. Because of this he was mainly known as "The younger, dead Robin". This is a problem because he is clearly characterized as older than Robin, so I discount him as a possibility.

He knows how to make a Red X utility belt but can only do it after stealing one to study. For this reason he's probably not any timeline shenanigans Robin.

The Red X equipment did have a Robin hologram that talked, and since Red X's voice is a mechanical version of Robin's, he could be using those to talk.

He understood a lot about the Titans, but was visibly surprised by Starfire's laser vision, something she gained in the last season. So he has outdated Titans info.

He does imply he's a former hero, he does seem to have some sort of fondness for Robin, he also clearly feels like he has to one up him, despite being older than him.

My top candidates:

Slade's Previous Apprentice

This is my favorite choice. I imagine at some point, Robin beat him, and doesn't even really know it. Slade lost interest in him, and started turning his eyes on Robin. We know Slade likes to corrupt heroes, and it would also explain a lot of Red X's clearly mixed feelings on Robin, because he knows getting out of Slade's grasp was good. It'd have a cool "Red Hood falls in the vat" parallel, too, how Robin beat a random guy and created his own nemesis in the process. Bonus he could be the one to activate Slade's mask. If you absolutely needed to call him an existing character Grant Wilson is available and unutilized.

Kyd Wykkyd

Here's where I collect on that argument that the voice could be artificial. Kyd Wykkyd is a similarly mysterious character who teleports and seems to have based his costume on Batman. His need to imitate the Batfamily would still need explanation.

The Greaser who Stole the T-Car

Not mine but it was pretty funny while also working out oddly well. He was surprisingly crafty, finding his way not only into the T Car, but out of a forcefield bubble in the air. It would also fit very well into the fact that one of Red X's two appearances has his behavior described as a "joyride" while the other he participates in a race.

I know this is old and the OG poster has since been told but I have a need to ramble and I shall feed said need.

So when you look into close details it does seem like it could be Tim, but when you look into closer details it is very clearly Dick Grayson.

Evidence:

1. Tim Drake was never the Teen Titans leader. The only Robin who officially led the teen titans for an extended period of time (to my knowledge) is in fact Dick Grayson. While compelling evidence, I do recognize that it is flawed as animated shows have not proven to be the most faithful to the comics. A good example of this is Young Justice, which has Dick Grayson as a founding member instead of Tim Drake (along with almost every other founding member being inaccurate to the comics).

2. In the episode “fractured” we are introduced to an imp-like other dimension version of Robin. His name is “Nosyarg Kcid”, which is “Dick Grayson” spelt backwards. It could be argued that this is just a nod or inconsistency.

3. In the episode “How Long Is Forever?” Starfire goes into the future and meets the future versions of the Titans. At this point Robin is found out to become Nightwing. Nightwing is the hero Dick Grayson becomes. Considering the fact that he’s there for multiple scenes it is kinda hard to argue with that.

4. In the episode “Haunted” Raven goes into Robins mind to attempt to prove that Deathstroke is not really there. One of the scenes that briefly plays is the shadows of two people falling from a trapeze. Famously this is the way Dick Graysons parents died. I guess this can also be argued for Tim Drake as Tim was there and it was quite traumatic for him as well.

While individually I believe most of these can either be discarded or argued against, together it seem pretty conclusive that the writers were going for canonical Dick Grayson in this show. I do also recognize that it could’ve been made clearer, for example that is Tim Drakes outfit and his Bo Staf, plus the personality does bleed more into basic Tim Drake. On the account of personality, I would like to note that even in the comics this was a rough time for Dick which could explain it. He was kicked out of his home in Gotham and thrust into a leadership role which he was unfamiliar with taking. In those comics he does tend to be quite different than seen in his Robin days or his post Jason’s death days. I would also like to argue that Jason being on the board as Robin does imply that Jason is still alive which would actually rule out Tim as the timeline is too early. Plus the Slade and Robin storyline falls really good with the Slade and Dick storyline in comics. It’s even been brought up recently, when the Titans Tower got destroyed (I believe this was in Dark Crisis but don’t quote me).

In conclusion it was conically Dick Grayson but with a more Tim Drake outfit and weapon.

i think it’s pretty crazy that when ppl say that the robin in teen titans (2003) is tim ppl always get butt hurt and are like it’s dick but when you do a deep dive into the smaller details of the teen titans it’s most likely tim

personality wise i think that as their time as robin robin(2003) seems more like tim or damian as robin dick was never paranoid or brash like 2003 is.

we know it’s not jason bc when bb is listing new red x suspects

so we know that this takes place after jason joined the titans which once again rules out jason and dick

i think it’s tim and not damian bc a) damian is paranoid over ppl taking advantage of him tim’s just paranoid and b) bo staff

i also think that the slade and robin storyline mirrors the ra’s and tim storyline from the comics

side note: in the apprentice episodes of teen titans how the fuck was robin wiping the floor with the titans but not slade like i feel like raven beast boy and cyborg weren’t holding back so what’s the deal🤨🤨