Jason Todd

"Blindly, stupidly, disregarding the entire graveyards he's filled. The thousands that have suffered. The friends he's crippled. You know, I thought...I thought I'd be the last person you'd ever let him hurt. If that had been you that he'd beat to a bloody pulp... If he had taken you from this world...I would have done nothing but searched the planet for this evil, death worshiping garbage, and sent him off to hell!"

- Jason Todd confronting Batman over letting Joker survive.

Jason Todd, later known as Red Hood, is a major character in DC Comics, primarily appearing in the Batman series. He was the second person to take up the mantle of Robin, and served as Batman's sidekick until he was killed by the Joker. After being revived, he took up the Red Hood alias and began killing them to stop them for good, before later redeeming himself and becoming an ally of Batman again.

Background And Taking Red Hood Mantle
Jason grew up on the streets for a while before he was found by Batman. In the movie he was seen trying to steal the tires off of the Batmobile. After of which he was taken in by the man. He later on became the second Robin. However, Todd was more violent and aggressive. After being suspended from being Robin, Jason went on a personal quest to find his biological mother. When he found her, he was beaten and demolished by the Joker. Before dying in Batman's arms, Jason's mother tells him that Jason tried to shield her from the explosion and died a hero.

His death didn't last forever, because of the effects of Superboy Prime who was attempting to escape from a supposed "paradise". This caused a ripple in reality, which caused Jason to awake inside his coffin. Jason was revived, but his brain was damaged and had no memory of his true identity. He wandered for years until he encountered both Ra's and Talia al Ghul. Both of them took him in. Talia submerged Jason in a Lazarus Pit and re-awakened his all of his memories completely intact. When he found out that the Joker was still alive, Jason became enraged and decided to take on the identity of the second Red Hood, and became one of the scourges of Gotham's underworld.

One Year Later
In the One Year Later arc, Jason becomes the murderous version of Nightwing and patrols the streets of New York to kill criminals but was confronted by the original Nightwing, Dick Grayson. Grayson saves Todd from a group of mobsters. After the events of the One Year Later period, he redons the Red Hood persona.

New 52
During the New 52 relaunch, Jason as Red Hood was placed into his own series Red Hood and the Outlaws where he has formed his own three-man team consisting of himself, Starfire and Green Arrow's former sidekick Arsenal. Also his violent nature has been toned down for the new series as he is not as eager to kill as he had before and would only use his guns to wound instead of kill. He has also mended his relationship with the Bat-Family somewhat, and wears the Bat symbol on his outfit as a sign of this. However, he is still viewed as a criminal in the eyes of Batman and his other allies.

Issue 0 of the series does a retelling of Jason's origin which is about the same as before except that Superboy Prime isn't responsible for his resurrection the new continuity. The Lazarus Pit was used to bring Jason back to life.

After Starfire left the team (as she was given her own solo series) the series was cancelled and replaced with the new series Red Hood/Arsenal which now focuses on just the two-man team between Red Hood and Arsenal.

DC Rebirth
During DC Rebirth a new Red Hood and the Outlaws series was launched, this time with Jasons new teammates consisting of both the exiled Amazon warrior Artemis and the Superman clone Bizarro.

Teen Titans
Though Jason Todd didn't appear in the TV Show; Teen Titans, he does make a brief cameo, and there has been rumors that one of the villains known as Red X is really Jason Todd behind the mask. In one of the Tiny Titans shorts, the Titans finally manage to capture and unmask Red X, revealing him to be Jason Todd (which Beast Boy theorized), however, they then pull of multiple other masks, revealing a multitude of different characters as Red X (Batman, Alfred Pennyworth, Silkie, Larry and Slade). Eventually, it is revealed that there was really a bomb under all the masks and everything was just a ruse by the real Red X, although Beast Boy still believed that Red X was really Jason Todd.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold
While Jason Todd never appeared in the series, Bat-Mite mentions Jason Todd and the Death in the Family arc whilst talking about Batman's greatest battles with the Joker, also implying that he voted to have Jason killed off. In an issue of the comic spin-off, entitled Batman Dies At Dawn, after being assembled by the Phantom Stranger, Jason Todd teams up with Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Carrie Kelly and Damien Wayne in order to infiltrate the League of Assassins and use the Lazarus Pits to heal the injured Batman.

Batman: Under the Red Hood
Main Article: Jason Todd (Under the Red Hood)

Ra's al Ghul, out of guilt for his unintended role in Jason Todd's death, secretly replaced his corpse with a realistic dummy, and proceeded to use the Lazarus Pit to resurrect him to repair the damage in hope by the time Jason fully recovered, he will reunited him with Batman. Unfortunately, this had disastrous side effects: While Jason Todd's body was resurrected, his mind was left damaged. He then proceeded to escape custody of the League of Shadows, narrowly survived falling into the nearby river from a high drop, and somehow managed to find his way back to Gotham five years later. Upon hearing that Batman only sent Joker to custody, Jason Todd was enraged, and proceeded to adopt the former identity of the Joker, the Red Hood, and proceeded to take control of the various drug dealers under the employ of Black Mask, allowing them to continue dealing on the streets under the condition that they pay 40% of the shares to him, and they stay away from children when dealing drugs, threatening to kill them should they disobey (also producing a duffel bag containing the decapitated heads of their various lieutenants that he allegedly did in under two hours to make clear that his threat was genuine) as means to plan his vengeance on Batman.

Young Justice
Although Jason doesn't appear in Young Justice he is shown breifly in a few of the episodes. He is seen with the other members that have passed away, one of the holograms that is left for them to respect those that have passed. There is a speculation that at some point he will in the show as "The Red Hood".

Batman: Arkham Knight
Main Article: Arkham Knight



"How about you go to hell! Say hi to Joker for me."

- Red Hood killing Black Mask

After Batman vanquishes Jason's Arkham Knight persona, Jason lays his desire for vengeance against Batman to rest and becomes the Red Hood. After helping Batman take down Scarecrow, he turns his attention to the syndicate owned by Black Mask. Jason tracks down some of Roman Sidoni's men and kills all but one of them. He interrogates the goon into revealing the weapons were stored at the docks, who he then executes. After killing all but one of the thugs in the docks, Jason visits Black Mask's hideout where he murders all of the remaining henchmen. As Sidonis desperately begs for his life, Jason kicks him out of a window, which kills him and ends his hold on Gotham City's underground.

Injustice 2
"I'm a cure for a sick sad world."

- Red Hood in Injustice 2 Jason as Red Hood made an appearance as the first part of the first DLC pack in Injustice 2, alongside Sub-Zero and Starfire, where he plays as a Gadget user. He uses his pistols, which has taser prog-like additions along the magazine's bottom that function as his character power to give him additional combos, a flurry of shurikens, and the odd explosive.

In the world of Injustice, Jason died long before the events of the first game, but was revived by the Lazarus Pit at the cost of the "Do Not Kill" creed held by the Batfamily. While this universe has heroes and villains alike been split into multiple factions (either siding with Batman's Insurgency, Superman's Regime, or going third-party), Jason retains his individual spirit, not fully siding with neither the Insurgency or the Regime, though he has a hatred for the Regime, citing that their actions had went beyond the pale and they are ultimately responsible for a lot of deaths, both civilian and costumed, despite admitting about executing the criminals with a still very unforgivable sin. Damian is the exception, as they have a neutral terms each other.

In prequel comic series of the second game reveals that the revived Jason impersonating as Batman and works under Ra’s for his so-called “re-balancing the world”. Damian soon figure out of Jason’s identity as an impostor Batman, when the former had no choice to be forced back to his grandfather for the sake of reviving Alfred. He is soon convinced by Damian, Vixen and Animal Man to stop Ra’s and Solovar from wiping entire innocent humanity, as Damian still believe in Jason that he’s neither Batman, nor the mindless pawn of Ra’s.

In his Arcade ending, after killing Brainiac with custom bullets of his make, he still helds steadfast to his neutral standings while Batman and Superman go back to fighting it out for supremacy, fighting for the innocent, the weak, and the poor. In the last panel of his Arcade ending, Jason stands above a defeated Professor Pyg after saving his would-be victim, a child who resembles Scarlet, Red Hood's student.

DC Extended Universe
Although having yet to be mentioned or physically appear in the DCEU, Jason is confirmed to be a major posthumous character in the films, first being referenced in Batman v. Superman. Like in the comics, Jason took up the mantle of the second Robin and was later murdered by The Joker out of a desire to hurt Batman (also, in Harley Quinn's brief bio in Suicide Squad, she was mentioned to be an accomplice to the crime). Because of this, Batman furiously beat Joker's teeth out and started resorting to using guns and other more violent methods, eventually (with some manipulation on Lex Luthor's part) putting him at odds with Superman. Batman also has Jason's old costume on display in the Batcave (it being graffitied with the phrase "Ha, ha, ha, jokes on you, Batman!" by Joker), seemingly as a reminder as to why he needs to resort to his violent methods (something he has abandoned as of Justice League). While unconfirmed, it is possible that Jason could return as Red Hood in a future film.

Skills

 * Expert Martial Artist: Jason Todd, having been trained by Bruce Wayne - who has mastered every single form of hand-to-hand combat and martial arts known to man - himself, was an expert martial artist. He was capable of defeating multiple opponents simultaneously by manipulating or breaking limbs and spines, and even using one person's body as a shield or offensive weapon against another's. He was even capable of holding his own for a very long time against Batman, but was ultimately defeated. His fighting style, unlike Batman who emphasized brutality and his environment as a weapon but never to kill, emphasized incredible brutality, as well as using knives and guns, with the expressed intention of killing.
 * Marksmanship: Jason was also a highly skilled marksman with machine-guns and pistols, primarily any form of small guns that could be utilized in intense or time-dependent combat situations. He was capable of shooting a man at a long distance, whilst being physically attacked by several other opponents.
 * Athlete: Jason was an incredible athlete, and capable of using his environment and even opponents to execute extraordinary gymnastic or athletic movements in order to escape, attack, defend or approach situations or people. Jason was capable of back-flipping or cartwheeling directly after being struck in the face by an extremely strong opponent, like Batman.
 * Peak of Physical Condition: Jason's physical prowess was impeccable, as he could run, fight or take enormous amounts of physical strain for an enormous amount of time.
 * Master of Criminology and Strategy: Jason, having been personally tutored by Bruce Wayne, possessed an intricate knowledge of criminal psychology, strategy and techniques, and received a classical education from the same man, making him highly intelligent but also dangerous to a fault because of his cunning.
 * Stamina: Jason was extremely resilient, and could withstand enormous amounts of physical and mental torture from the Joker for days on end.

Quotes
"Let's see how far I can push it!"

- Red Hood in Injustice 2

"Ready to duel with the devil?"

- Red Hood in Injustice 2

Trivia

 * As per what Prime Universe Jason wanted, some versions of Batman actually did go over the edge as a result of his death, most notably the Earth-51 version and the aforementioned DCEU version.
 * Red Hood has often been compared to Marvel Universe character Winter Soldier, who, similar to Jason, was the sidekick of a hero (in this case, Captain America), who was believed to be dead until he eventually resurfaced as a violent, gun-using villain, who would later reform and become an ally of their partner again. He has also been compared to the Punisher as well, due to the fact that they are both tragic vigilantes who believe that killing criminals is the only way to stop them for good.
 * After bathing in the Lazarus Pit, Jason gained a white streak through his hair. It was hinted in the comics that this might have been a telltale sign that some of Ra's Al Ghul's essence had seeped into Jason by using the pit. However, in the Post-Flashpoint continuity, this streak is no longer present.