Duke Thomas (Character)

Publisher: DC Comics

Created by: Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo

1st appearance: Batman #21, 2014

Alias: Robin, Lark

Nationality: American

Team Affiliations: Batman Family, Outsiders · formerly We Are Robin

Legal Status: Unknown

Height: 5’8                       Weight: 155 lbs

Eyes: Brown                        Hair: Black

Relatives: Unnamed grandmother, Elaine Thomas (mother), Gnomon (father), Doug Thomas (step-father), Jay (cousin)

Skills and Abilities: Duke started fighting without any training and demonstrated considerable skill. Duke later received training, alongside the We Are Robin crew, from the “original” Robins Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake and Damian Wayne. He went on to receive further training from Bruce Wayne, learning everything Bruce learned to become Batman.

Powers: Unique Physiology: Duke is a metahuman and is only beginning to understand his powers. Duke’s physiology appears to be unique in comparison to other metahumans, amplifying their abilities in his presence. Gnomon claims Duke has his “infinite blood”, implying Duke may potentially be immortal.

• • Photokinetic Vision: Duke has photo-kinetic powers that allow him to take in light through his eyes and manipulate the way he processes light. Due to these photokinetic properties, his eyes possess a superior sensory array of visual capabilities, able to absorb light faster than normal humans and can detect changes or variations in light invisible to the naked eye.
  • Particularly powerful forms of Nth metal can amplify his vision, allowing longer more vivid visions, even hearing some audio.
    • Retrocognition: Duke can look back at the history of light in a room and see a few minutes of what happened before by looking at the “ghosts” of the light that hit the objects in the room.
    • Precognition: Duke can use his powers to not only see where light has been, but also see where light will be; glimpsing into the future. This gives Duke an edge in combat, being able to react faster to attacks that he normally wouldn’t be able to and even catch projectiles in some cases.
    • Advanced Electromagnetic Spectrum Vision: He can see into the entirety of the EM Spectrum and can even see beyond the spectrum, seeing across dimensional boundaries under certain circumstances.
    • X-Ray Vision: Duke’s ability to see across the entire EM Spectrum allows him to follow and detect someone through walls, ceilings, and most materials.
    • Telescopic Vision: Duke has the ability to focus his vision to see something at a great distance even at high speeds, able to track the movement of light as it passes over the horizon.
    • Microscopic Vision: he also has the ability to see extremely small objects and images down to the subdermal level.
  • Erebokinesis: Having experienced the touch of Ishmael, Duke’s abilities have “evolved” to include the ability to manipulate darkness. Duke describes his new powers as behaving like a tide, being able to pull shadows into him and spread them from him.

Equipment: Signal Armor: After training with Batman, Duke was given an upgraded version of his costume. The new suit is a slightly heavier plated version of his previous suit with some new technology updates. The suit has a reflective bat insignia that can blind or confuse an enemy as well as change color depending on lighting. His suit also has a built-in defensive electrical grid and a stealth mode that makes him invisible.

Biography

First introduced during the Batman: Zero Year. His parents have been missing since they were used for bait when the city was overtaken by Joker Zombies [Batman: Endgame]. After this, he became a ward of the state and bounced around foster homes. He is currently a student at West Robinson High with a low GPA. The loss of his parents affected him badly and he acted out and became a problem child. At his new school, they noted that he had potential as a writer, ran track for the first year, and even tried out for soccer, but disagreement with the strength trainer resulted in expulsion from the team. He’s very athletic, but not driven by competition.

After being beaten up by some local bullies Dr. Leslie Thompkins was convinced she could no longer keep him out of Juvie. He would also lose his home at his last foster parent, Mr. Mendez. Upon being taken to his new foster home he decided t was time to run away and make it on his own. When he was almost killed by a mob the “Robins” arrived to save him after finally locating him after an undisclosed time of search [We Are Robin #1].

After joining the “We Are Robin” team and meeting both Damien Wayne and Batman he became Batman’s protege. After training, he eventually became the superhero”The Signal”.

Joining the Outsiders

Some time after the Justice League saved the earth during the No Justice incident, Batman and Black Lightning began development on the reformation of the Outsiders initiative in order to spearhead emerging clandestine threats and convert operations. This team became active after the villain Karma lured Duke into a trap, blowing up a building and killing a civilian in the process. This attack left Duke in critical condition and kicked off a Karma’s terroristic assault on Batman to isolate him from his allies using telepathic alien technology from the Markovian black market. Fearing he might compromise the team, Batman conceded leadership of the Outsiders to Black Lightning and called in the help of Katana and Orphan after taking some time to recover, Duke was joined the team and together they took down Karma, officially forming the latest iteration of The Outsiders.

ALTERNATE VERSIONS

In the timeline depicted during the events of Future’s End Duke had become the official crime-fighting partner to Batman/Bruce Wayne years after the death of his biological son Damien Wayne. Wayne was far more protective of Duke than his previous boy wonders despite him being much older. This Duke underwent extensive training with Batman and was also outfitted with armor more similar to Batwing than to all previous Robins.   [READ THE BIOGRAPHY HERE…]