Stephanie Brown (character)

Stephanie Brown
Stephanie Brown as Spoiler as seen on the cover of Batman: Eternal #24 (September 2014). Art by Jason Fabok.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	As Stephanie Brown: Detective Comics #647 (June 1992) As the Spoiler: Detective Comics #648 (July 1992) As Robin: Robin (vol. 2) #126 (May 2004) As Batgirl: Batgirl (vol. 3) #1 (August 2009)
Created by	Chuck Dixon (writer) Tom Lyle (artist)
In-story information
Full name	Stephanie Brown
Species	Human
Team affiliations	Batman Family Batman Inc. Young Justice
Partnerships	Barbara Gordon Tim Drake Cassandra Cain Kara Zor-El Damian Wayne Dick Grayson Bruce Wayne
Notable aliases	Spoiler Robin Batgirl
Abilities	Expert tracker Master strategist and tactician Trained computer hacker Highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist Expert athlete and acrobat

Stephanie Brown is a fictional superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly in association with Batman. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #647 (June 1992), and was created by Chuck Dixon and Tom Lyle.^[1]

The character originated as the amateur crime-fighter Spoiler, who had taken it upon herself to foil her criminal father Cluemaster's schemes. Establishing herself as a Gotham vigilante, she would have a short, unsuccessful stint as the fourth incarnation of Batman's partner and sidekick Robin in the early 2000s, replacing her longtime love interest Tim Drake. Her time as Robin is plagued with struggles and dissensions with Batman, who eventually fires her shortly before her death at the hands of Black Mask. She is later revealed to have survived and returns as Spoiler, resuming her romantic relationship with Drake. In 2009, Cassandra Cain, the latest Batgirl, entrusts the costume and monicker to Brown; although she is initially reluctant due to Brown's disastrous spell as Robin, former Batgirl Barbara Gordon later takes Brown as pupil, and the character's run as Batgirl largely redeems her, including in Batman's eyes.

After DC's continuity reboot in 2011, Brown is re-introduced as Spoiler in Batman Eternal in 2014, developing into a morally grey character that openly denounces Batman while resuming a complex romantic relationship with Drake. During the 2020 "The Joker War" storyline, Gordon, the sole Batgirl of the new continuity at that point, shares the monicker with both Brown and Cain to form a trio of Batgirls who were later featured in their own comic book series, Batgirls; in this continuity, Brown's costume is a mix of her old Batgirl costume and Spoiler's.

Brown remains the sole mainline female Robin, and the only person to have to have been both Robin and Batgirl, the superhero monickers commonly considered Batman's two closest allies. In other media, Brown was portrayed by Morgan Kohan in a 2021 episode of the Arrowverse series Batwoman, and by Anna Lore in Gotham Knights (2023), in which she is one of the main characters; she does not use the Spoiler, Robin or Batgirl monickers in either apparitions.