Sunday, September 20, 2020

Character analysis: Red Hood


Background


Name: Jason Peter Todd
Alias: Red Hood (Formally Robin)
Height/Weight: 6’0, 225lbs (102kg)
Age: 19-23 (Approximately)

History: 
Young Jason Todd was a child born with a bad hand in life. With his father having abandoned him and his mother dead of illness Jason was left to live life on the streets of Gotham City. He managed to scrape by, by pick pocketing and stealing car parts but one day he got a little more ambitious then he should have and decided to steal the wheels off the Batmobile and while we have no word on whether or not the Joker got away as a result, Batman himself was surprisingly impressed by the kids chutzpah. After following Jason back to his hideout he attempted to send him to a local school nearby, unfortunately, this school was actually a front for an extortion ring and Jason was in hot water. 

Eventually freeing himself he found Batman and together they managed to bring the whole thing down. With Jason still without a home, and with Batman having recently parted ways with Dick Grayson a.k.a. Robin, the decision for Bruce to take in Jason and train him to be the brand new Robin! After months of training and education Jason became Batman’s new sidekick and confidant and they managed to put the kibosh on plenty of criminals, Jason’s life seemed to have finally turned around.

…Except for one problem, the actually readers of the Batman comics absolutely HATED Jason and found him to be a pathetic replacement for Dick Grayson. So DC comics, likely expecting things to not go badly, asked the readers to call into a hotline and vote on whether or not Jason would manage to escape the Joker’s latest plan, or die trying. And, well… Surprise! The fans voted and Jason was brutally beaten to near death with a crowbar, set on fire, and then the building he was in was blown up. Batman arrived at the scene too late and after shifting through the rubble, he found Jason, well and truly dead. And in the real world he stayed dead, for a really long time in fact! For 14 years Jason stayed dead and his death was treated as a serious mental blow to Batman’s methods and ideology. But then in 2005 as a result of Superboy Prime punching a hole in the fabric of reality (Long story, don’t ask) Jason was suddenly revived and woke up inside his coffin buried six feet under. Understandably freaking out, Jason scrambled and clawed his way out of his casket and dug himself out of his grave. Jason’s revival came at a cost as he was horribly injured, and his body had spent years underground and had faded as a result. After running through the streets for a while he passed out and went into a yearlong coma.

Enter Batman enemy and sometimes love interest Talia al Ghul, who recovered Jason’s body as a favor for Bruce, Talia’s father Ra’s al Ghul on the other hand was intensely interested in how Jason returned to life and after having all witnesses to Jason’s resurrection killed to keep Batman in the dark, Jason was submerged into the life restoring Lazarus Pit which brought him back to peak condition but may or may not have permanently damaged his mind. Jason wigged out one more time and after finally coming to grips with all that had happened to him, grew to despise Batman for having never even tried to avenge him. Jason donned the name of a prior alias of the Joker, got in better shape than ever before and became a master of the killing arts and swore to not only kill Batman, but show the world that his entire worldview was wrong and that his was the only way worth living, he had become Red Hood …But due to inconsistent writing of the character he kind of flip-flopped from being a villain to willingly working with Batman and the other Robins, to then trying to murder them all and back again, as of right now he’s considered an Anti-Hero, a guy who fights crime, but in a very bloody way.

Arsenal


Hood: The helmet Jason gets his name from is a sturdy all encasing mask that protects Jason’s head from heavy bullets and blades, while not indestructible it’s still quite sturdy and is rarely seen breaking. It also has sensors in the eyes that can scan the area with sound and infra red around him nullifying all forms of stealth. Lastly if worst comes to worst he can detonate the mask in a room clearing explosion. I don’t know why he thought it smart to turn his head armor into a bomb, but there you go.

Knifes and Shurikens: As much as Jason loves guns he’s seen using blades just as much if not more often, his go too being one handed daggers but he’s also proficient in all types of bladed weapons and keeps several on his person at all times.

Guns: Jason doesn’t have any specific guns or gadgets to his name, instead carrying around military grade handguns, shotguns, bombs, sniper rifles, and even an RPG launcher.

Explosives: Jason likes to carry a bunch of grenades at all times, they range from your standard blasts to sticky bombs, and plastic explosives.

Abilities


Batman Training:
Jason was obviously trained by Batman to help him fight crime; this includes all of the following.
- Martial Arts: Jason was taught in the following styles, Akido, Capoeira, Silat, Karate, Ninjutsu,Savate, Krav Maga, Muay Thai, and Taekwando.
- Marksmanship: While he was trained to have good aim with batarangs and the like, he’s sense translated those skills to hitting things with bullets, his aim is compared to the likes of Deadshot, and rarely misses.
- Tactics: Jason studied up on tactics after his hot blooded tendencies bit him in the ass one too many times. He’s learned to study and analyze his opponents before fighting them and is especially well taught on military protocols and tactics.
- Stealth: Like other characters who have been near Batman for more than a few minutes, Jason is absurdly stealthy and is a master infiltrator. Able to sneak up on Tim Drake and Batgirl and sneak AWAY from the likes of Supergirl.
- Acrobatics: He’s no Flying Grayson, but Jason was still taught to be as nimble and agile as humanely possible and can make insane jumps and aerial maneuvers to stay ahead of his opponents.

More Training:
In some stories Jason in taught by the League of Assassins, and in others he simply traveled the world
looking for trainers, ether way after he was revived he learned how to do some things Batman didn’t
teach him, Jason has extensively trained himself in the following.
- Explosives
- Assassination
- Vehicle Combat
- Poisons
- Antitoxins
- Surveillance

Lazarus Pit:
The Lazarus Pit was used to bring Jason ether back to life, or to restore him to his fullest potential, ether
way his dip in the pool came with a blessing and a curse.
- Advanced Physiology: Jason is a tad bit stronger, faster, and tougher than your average man his
aging was slowed down considerably
- Mental Instability: The comics get cagey about it, but it’s heavily implied that Jason’s mind isn’t
in perfect condition after everything it went through. This is used to explain his intensely violent
outbursts and occasional bouts of villainy.

All-Caste Training: 
An ancient order of monks deep in the Himalayas that Talia sent Jason to for additional training, other
than refinement of his martial arts skills they also gave him a couple weird powers
- All Blades: For a time, Jason could summon magic blades that let him fight against supernatural
and superhuman opponents.
- Magic Punch: It’s a punch that lets him hit intangible creatures and can seal off otherworldly
abilities.

Venom: 
Jason has been holding on to small dosages of Venom, the same stuff Bane uses when/if he
needs a boost of power.

Feats

● Strength
● Speed
● Durability
● Skill

Weaknesses

Jason is very easy to piss off, even as his time as Robin he’s always been intensely stubborn and hard
headed, even though he’s gotten better with age, the more things go wrong for him the less he
prioritizes strategy and relies more on just feral instincts..

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