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

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 moniker to Brown; although she is initially reluctant due to Brown's disastrous spell as Robin, former Batgirl Barbara Gordon later takes Brown as a 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 moniker 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 been both Robin and Batgirl, the superhero monikers 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 monikers in either appearance.

Publication history Stephanie Brown was introduced in a three-issue story arc in Detective Comics #647–649 in which writer Chuck Dixon reinvented a villain called the Cluemaster. Dixon created the Cluemaster's daughter Stephanie as a plot device for this story, seeking to "spoil" her father's plans. Even so, the character was well received by fans. The following year, Dixon launched the first ongoing Robin series and featured the Spoiler as a foil and love interest for Tim Drake. The character was at the center of a high-profile teen pregnancy storyline in 1998, which caused Wizard Magazine to name Robin the best ongoing comic book of the year. Stephanie remained an integral part of the Robin supporting cast for over a decade, until her death in the 2004 crossover storyline Batman: War Games.

Her death was revealed to have been faked in a 2008 story,Robin/Spoiler Special (August 2008) and she became the eponymous lead character in the 2009 Batgirl series written by Bryan Q. Miller, with pencils by Lee Garbett. The title was canceled after 24 issues and replaced with a new Batgirl series starring Barbara Gordon as part of the New 52 relaunch.

Controversy on Stephanie's death There was some controversy in the fan community about both the character's death by torture and the fact that even though she served as Robin for a time, she received no monument or memorial in the Batcave during the years of her apparent death unlike the second Robin Jason Todd.

Regarding the former issue, at the 2011 Auckland Writers and Readers Festival, former Batgirl writer Dylan Horrocks said that the writers were told from the start that Spoiler would die in this crossover and she was made Robin "purely as a trick to play on the readers, that we would fool them into thinking that the big event [War Games] was that Stephanie Brown would become Robin". The decision was unpopular with both him and Nightwing writer Devin Grayson, and he felt "pleased and vindicated" over the eventual controversy.Footage and transcript of the Auckland Writers And Readers Fest panel at Bleeding Cool: "“Spoiler Was Gonna Die” – Inside The DC Writer Meeting That Killed Stephanie Brown"

To add to the controversy, following her death there was inconsistent claims about the validity of her role as Robin. During a Q&A at a convention in March 2007, DC executive editor Dan DiDio responded to questions about the absence of a Stephanie tribute from the Batcave, saying that the official position of DC Comics is that "She was never really a Robin", despite on-panel claims to the contrary. When Alfred Pennyworth asks if Batman's acceptance of Stephanie as Robin was conceived by him as only a temporary measure from the outset and constituted part of an effort to lure Tim back to the cape, Batman evades the question. However, when a dying Stephanie asks, "Was I ever really Robin?", Batman answers, "Of course you were."Batman #633 (December 2004) However, her memorial has been present in different publications since the controversy arose.Batman #677

The New 52 publication In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Barbara Gordon takes the role of Batgirl once again, with Stephanie Brown no longer existing in mainstream continuity. In June 2012, fans of the character attempted a letter movement, sending waffles, waffle mix, or letters to the editors, expressing a wish to see her published once more. Shortly thereafter, Dan DiDio claimed in an interview that about ten waffles had arrived and expressed doubt that her fandom was really as strong as it appeared.

On October 11, 2013, writer Scott Snyder announced at New York Comic Con that Brown would appear as Spoiler beginning in the third issue of DC's 2014 weekly series Batman Eternal. Brown made her first New 52 appearance in Batman (vol. 2) #28, a teaser issue for Batman Eternal.

Fictional character biography Stephanie Brown is the daughter of the Cluemaster, one of Gotham City's third-rate criminals, and a registered nurse named Crystal Brown. Her father spends most of her childhood in jail or away from the family and claims to be rehabilitated upon his return to Gotham. Stephanie becomes furious when she discovers that he is actually returning to crime, this time not leaving his trademark clues behind. She decides something needs to be done.

The Spoiler

Stephanie Brown tailors a costume for herself, and calls herself "the Spoiler" due to her attempts to spoil her father's plans. She learns where her father is hiding out, finds out his plans, and leaves clues so that the police and Batman could stop him. Robin (Tim Drake) tracks her down and, after a few brief confrontations, helps capture Cluemaster. Although she initially wishes to kill her father, Batman convinces her to allow him to be arrested.

Each time Cluemaster escapes or starts some new plan, Stephanie dons her costume again. Eventually, she decides she likes being a superhero, and she begins regular patrols as Spoiler. This also brings her into regular contact with Robin, on whom she has a bit of a crush. At first, Robin thinks of her as a pest, but later comes to enjoy her company. He was dating Ariana Dzerchenko at the time. However, the two sometimes work as partners, and during a point in which Robin and Ariana were unable to see each other, he and Stephanie grew even closer. Robin soon realizes that his feelings for Stephanie have grown into something more, and, after breaking up with Ariana, he begins dating Stephanie. Unfortunately, because Robin needs to maintain the secrecy of Batman and his allies, Robin is unable to reveal his true identity to Spoiler. At first, she seems happy with this arrangement.

Stephanie then finds out she is pregnant by an ex-boyfriend who had run from Gotham City after the earthquake depicted in Batman: Cataclysm. Robin, under the alias Alvin Draper, takes Stephanie to Lamaze classes, and the two become even closer. Robin moves to Keystone City during the last few months of her pregnancy, but he returns to her when she is giving birth. With Robin's help, she is able to cope with placing her child up for adoption. Although a painful experience, she feels it best to give her daughter a chance at a better life.

Soon after, Robin's father sends him away to boarding school, and the couple is forced into a long-distance relationship, made even more complicated by the fact that Stephanie still did not know his real name. During his time away, Robin befriends a girl named Star. One night, after seeing her go into an alley with some suspicious-looking people, Robin decides to follow her in costume. He runs into Stephanie, also on patrol, and she follows him as he tracks down Star to a gang meeting that erupts in a violent shootout. He saves Star, but Stephanie is convinced that he is cheating on her, and refuses to see him afterward.

Shortly after this, Robin disappears from Gotham for several days, because he is in Tibet on a secret mission. In his absence, Spoiler realizes that she still wants to be with him. Batman approaches Spoiler to try to discover Tim's whereabouts, and then offers to train her. He also tells her Robin's real name, and this betrayal by Batman drives a wedge between the two. Spoiler begins to train with Batman, Batgirl, and, briefly, the Birds of Prey.

Stephanie and Tim, as she now knows him, reconcile. Even after Batman, having decided that she was not crime fighter material, tells her to hang up her costume and have the Birds of Prey stop mentoring her, she still patrols secretly, in addition to going on occasional dates with Robin in their civilian identities. When the U.S. government comes to Stephanie and her mother and tells her that Cluemaster had died while working for the Suicide Squad, Stephanie is shocked. She temporarily cuts off ties with Tim and goes on a vigilante rampage, hunting down the Riddler, her father's former associate, to try to get a better idea of who he had been in life. Eventually, she makes peace with his memory, and she and Tim rekindle their relationship.

Stephanie is later injured during Tim's battle with the occult hitman Johnny Warlock, breaking her leg. In a fit of rage, Tim apparently beats Warlock to death (though he would later be magically resurrected), which sends him into a deep, angry depression. He refuses to speak with Stephanie, whom he blames for him killing Warlock.

Robin

Stephanie Brown snaps Tim Drake out of his depression just as his father Jack Drake discovers he is Robin. After Warlock's death, Tim's father orders him to hang up his cape, and Tim is forced to live a normal life for a time. One day after school, Stephanie attempts to surprise Tim with a visit. As she arrives, however, she catches a female classmate, Darla Aquista, attempting to seduce him. Assuming that Tim is being unfaithful, she breaks off ties with Tim and angrily decides to put her attention elsewhere. Creating a homemade Robin costume, Stephanie sneaks into the Batcave and demands that Batman train her as the new Robin. Batman reluctantly accepts her as the new Robin, puts her through several months of intensive training, and makes her a better costume with roughly the same design as Tim's. As Robin, she patrols with Batman, but he thinks she isn't skilled enough to replace Tim. Batman later fires her after she disobeys him in the field.Robin (vol. 2) #126–128 (July–September 2004)