Go out to any comic book store in the world, pick one up, and something becomes immediately clear: it ain't easy being a sidekick. It's hard to think of any superhero who knows this better than Robin, Batman's 'Boy Wonder.' And while the masses may have an image of a campy, somewhat oddly-dressed young boy permanently attached to the Dark Knight's partner, Rocksteady Studios is looking to change all that. With Batman: Arkham City only weeks away, Tim Drake is set to reach all new levels of respectability, if everything goes according to plan.

Anyone who has been keeping up with Arkham City news already knows that the developers have plenty in store for the legendary sidekick. Whether we're talking about Robin's unique combat abilities, or his contemporary cage-fighter backstory, this game's version of Robin is sure to be the fulfillment of what many Bat-fans have always known was possible.

It's hard to blame just one source for the overall lack of respect that Robin seems to receive from mainstream audiences, although Chris O'Donnell's portrayal in the latter feature films didn't help. A buzz-cut and bad attitude aren't the only things going for Tim Drake in Arkham City, with the gritty world of Rocksteady's games sure to deliver a healthy dose of personality and danger to the often-overlooked hero.

And while Robin may only be playable in Arkham City's Challenge Modes, that does't mean that Rocksteady is passing up the chance to breathe some life back into the character. In speaking with AtomicMPC, Lead Narrative Designer Paul Crocker explained just how important it is for them to portray Robin in as unique a light as any other character in Arkham City:

“One of the goals with Robin was to make people think Robin is cool because a lot of people don’t, which is a fair point, but our goal from day one was to make him cool, forget everything you’ve seen in the films. We wanted to make the fighting with Robin–which we’re not going to show you today–cool. We wanted to make you think, ‘I would rather play as Robin than as Batman.’ If our goal is ‘Robin’s a cooler fighter’ and we make that goal happen, we’ve won. Robin has his own unique set of moves, his own unique set of weapons and every map can be played as Robin.”

We're dying to see Robin's character trailer anytime now, since the idea of combat with feet, fists, and a staff is one that we can't resist. If there is any development team that has proven their ability to perfectly realize a problematic comic book character, it's Rocksteady, so we can't help but get excited for Robin's impending reveal.

Do you think Robin can deliver the same satisfying experience as Batman, or will he always be a sidekick in your books? Leave us your thoughts in the comments.

Batman: Arkham City will be released for the xbox 360 and PS3 on October 18th. A PC release has been delayed into November.

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Source: AtomicMPC