Spoiler Facts

Are you a fan of Stephanie Brown? Well, we got One Dozen Spoiler Facts for ya! Spoiler Alert! Sorry, couldn't resist.

1. Created in 1992, Stephanie Brown is the daughter of Arthur Brown AKA the villain Cluemaster. Cluemaster was one of many Batman villains invented in the 1960's and in his first appearance tried to deduce the identity of Batman. His next relevant appearance would be his formation of a new Injustice League made up of himself, Clock King, Major Disaster, Multi-Man, and Big Sir. These characters would become momentary Justice League members before returning to villainy.

2. Stephanie became the vigilante Spoiler after discovering her father was a supervillain. Although she lacked gadgets and proper training, she was physically fit and tech savvy, allowing her to "spoiler" her father's evil plans. While she first appeared in "Detective Comics #647" she later became a main character of the late 90's "Robin" series following Tim Drake. The two became lovers and partners ever since.

3. One of Steph's most important stories was a 1998 story arc in which she was revealed to be pregnant with her ex-boyfriend's child. Under a fake name, Tim Drake helps Steph through the pregnancy process and she gains the courage to give the baby up to adoption. This story of teen pregnancy in a time of violent and gritty storytelling was refreshingly mature and earned the title "Robin" the best ongoing title of 1998.

4. In 2004, after Tim Drake's father Jack discovered Tim's secret life as Robin he forbid Tim from fighting crime. In his absence, Stephanie volunteered to take his place until he could return. And so, Batman had a new Robin by his side in the form of Stephanie Brown. Although she was the first and only Robin to be female in the main DC continuity, her time as Robin only lasted a year when she was murdered in 2005 by Black Mask. Steph's death sparked an outrage by the DC fan community as Steph received no memorial in the Batcave, as opposed to Jason Todd-another Robin for a short time-who did get a memorial. Writers Dylan Horrocks and Devin Grayson (who wrote Batgirl, and Nightwing respectively) claimed her death was a decision by DC Editorial to be the big stinger of the event "War Games" and making her Robin was an attempt to trick readers into thinking she wouldn't be killed as she had just gotten a new identity. One of the few supporters of Steph's treatment was editor Dan DiDio who claimed "She was never really Robin". He also came up with the idea of making her Robin just to add some tragedy to her death.

5. Stephanie's main mentor in her training to become a vigilante was Cassandra Cain/Batgirl. During their time training, Cass taught Steph how to defend herself and Steph taught Cass how to have a real life outside of fighting. After the "death" of Batman in 2009, Cass gave up the Batgirl mantle and gave Steph permission to take her place. Despite Barbara's advice, Steph became the new Batgirl. Her book was well-received and a beacon of light for the Batman-titles. After the New 52, fans would be disappointed with Stephanie's absence until 2014 when she'd appear in the main Batman title. Stephanie is currently going by Spoiler and is on Batman's "Gotham Knights" team alongside Cassandra/Orphan and Tim/Red Robin in the title "Detective Comics".

6. After Tim Drake's "death" in "Detective Comics", Steph leaves Batman's team and blames Batman for Tim's death. His future, his talents, and his life outside of being Red Robin were all robbed from him because of the mission of vigilantism that Batman inspired him to take. She threatens to reveal Batman's secret identity to the world if he doesn't retire, but chickens out at the last minute, promising as long as Batman continues to fight crime she will stay around to discredit him. After Tim Drake returned to life she dropped her grudge, but keeps Tim at arm's length now that he is fully committed to fighting crime.

7. For a short time, Spoiler had the ability to become completely invisible thanks to a cloaking device given to her by The Penguin. Tim Drake reveals this tech was a stolen device and Steph stopped using it after becoming Batgirl. Like Tim Drake, she is also proficient in the use of a Bo Staff. And while her martial arts do not scale next to Cass, and her intellect isn't near Tim or Barbara Gordon, Steph is experienced enough to keep pace with her peers. She is also one of the few Batman Family members with actual street smarts.

8. In 2015, DC Comics had an event called "Future's End" which showed a version of the DCU five years in the future. In Batgirl's tie-in we see Barbara Gordon has become a Venom-using vigilante named Bete Noir and she led a League of Batgirls including Lucius Fox's daughter Tiffany Fox, Cassandra Cain, and Stephanie Brown.

9. While no memorial was erected in Stephanie's honor in the Batcave following her death, The Teen Titans hung her costume up in a glass case next to a photo of Tim Drake's dead parents and the clothing of Connor Kent/Superboy after his death. Although she was never a member of The Teen Titans, the heroes knew Tim loved her and elected to pay her respect.

10. Steph and Tim's relationship has gone through rough times. From Tim being suspected of cheating to Spoiler's ulterior motives interfering with Tim's goals. After Batman's "death", Tim went on a mission to investigate his "death" and prove he was still alive. Unbeknownst to Tim Drake, Batman had talked to Stephanie before his "death" and told her should he ever die to not only refuse Tim's pleads for help in searching for him, but also to hinder Tim's investigations. Batman asked this of her to make Tim stronger as a result of his death and help Tim understand death is death and he needs to handle it instead of denying it. Steph worked with villains like The Scarab and The General in an attempt to distract Tim, this almost got her killed and her relationship became nearly non-existent with Tim as a result.

11. Although she has not been a member of The Justice League, Stephanie-as Batgirl-was once recruited by Wonder Woman alongside Batwoman, Supergirl, Lightning, and Stargirl to help stop Professor Ivo's fake alien invasion on The White House.

12. In season two of "Young Justice", Stephanie Brown is a civilian abducted by the alien race known as The Reach. In the upcoming third season of the show-"Young Justice: Outsiders"-Stephanie will appear again, this time as a main character and member of the Young Justice team under the name Spoiler.
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