Ra’s al Ghul uses the title Detective for Nightwing and gives him the sword he and Bruce fought with, directly comparing them and acknowledging Dick as Bruce’s successor.
Let’s stop using this guy’s word as an objective account of anything.
I don’t mind Ra’s acknowledging Dick as Bruce’s successor (because he is) but I never felt that Ra’s should have given Dick the title of “Detective”, like it was an honorofic for wheoever was Batman.
Dick is a spectacularly good detective, I’m not selling him short (I hope), but I don’t think it’s his defining motivation.
Bruce is a natual genius as a detective and he used that to become Batman. Dick is something else, he acquired the detective skills to aid him in his mission, and wer’re just lucky he was as adept with it as he was.
Tim would be the one who might naturally be given the title of “Detective” in Bruce’s absence, because for him it is a natural skillset like it is for Bruce.
If I had to pick a sort of iconic term to describe Dick it would probably be “Knight” or possibly “Guardian”. Those are the sort of images that come to mind when I think of what Dick stands for.
Ok first of all, Tim’s “natural skillset” isn’t that natural. He discerned Batman’s identity because he was obsessed with Dick and recognized Robin’s backflip on tv, it was not detective work.
Being a detective was something Tim had to learn (from Dick!!), not an innate ability.
Official DC Encyclopedia calls Dick second only to Batman in detective abilities (fyi Tim’s page says he’s a good sleuth, but his strength is emphasized in technology).
This is Dick tracking down Donna Troy’s previous identity:
This is Dick determining not only how an accident in Donna’s lab happened just by looking around, but who was responsible:
Dick figuring out various schemes/identities:
Dick figuring out the JLA’s top secret codes without anyone knowing, including Batman:
Dick spending his free time at home solving police cases simply by watching America’s Most Wanted on television:
tldr, please don’t diminish Dick’s brilliance to prop Tim up.
Dick is a natural detective, canonically second best after Bruce, and 100% deserving of the title.
Reblogging for the part where Dick’s skills are shown with panels.
I don’t think he’s not worth the title but I go with Dick and Tim are equals. Because Tim is canonically said to be the second best, too.
Also, maybe they both have some innate skill but still of course then have to learn from Bruce or Bruce and Dick. I remember Bruce saying Tim is even better than him but idr when. So I think it maybe depends on the writers or the Era or whatever. So I say they’re probably pretty much equals and both deserving the title detective which means to be Bruce’s successor to R'as.
