#Willis todd

[coolunspokenforname]

I know the fandom likes to portray Willis Todd as an awful, abusive man, but to be honest, I think Jason's story is so much more tragic (and subversive) if Willis was a loving father. Think about it, a man trying to put food on the table for his son and sickly wife, but only able to make money through illegitimate means because his criminal record or lack of education has every legal job denying him. On one of his jobs he gets sent to prison, leaving his wife and son to fend for themselves. Taking as many jobs as he can in prison so he can send money to his family. Finding out his wife died. Not knowing if Jason is okay, if he is even still alive. Learning that, somehow, his son was adopted by a billionaire and just... not contacting him. Wanting so badly to see his son again, but feeling that Jason didn't want to see him, or that it might hurt him and the life he's found. Just a look at Willis Todd as a person trapped by the system, trying to give his son a good life, despite the world being against them.

[eldritchdemonfox]

why does everyone seem obsessed with making the batkid’s bio parents either an afterthought or worse than they actually are?

I mean, in some cases they did actually have bad parents, like Arthur Brown and David Cain

But like…

Duke’s parents are still alive, albeit comatose. He loves them.

Tim’s parents were not as criminally neglectful as fannon makes them out to be, and it really impacted him when they died.

Dick’s parents are the REASON he chose Robin as his name, and he still misses them.

While Willis Todd wasn’t a great father, he did at least want a better life for Jason in some cannons. And Catherine did the best she could. The only person really deserving of hate is Sheila. Fuck her fr.

Babs LITERALLY STILL HAS A DAD. WHO SHE LOVES. Justice for my man Gordon.

I mean CMON

[aalghul]

jason todd loved willis todd and willis todd loved jason todd. there is no proof during jason’s entire run as robin of willis having abused jason. jason’s reaction to finding out about his death and then jason’s mourning him at the beginning of ditf makes it clear willis was well loved.

catherine todd loved jason so dearly that he never questioned her being his mom. she didn’t have to do that, but she chose to. she gave him so much love that jason went searching for a stranger just because: if she’s also his mother, she must love him. it made so much sense to him because of catherine. even sheila could said it must’ve been jason’s love for catherine (who she calls his mother instead of herself) that made jason protect her until the end. catherine wasn’t actively “choosing” drugs over jason; she had an addiction and she was sick. she did the best she could, and evidently, that was enough for jason to have felt loved.

[kittykatninja321]

Willis convincing Bruce to let him visit not only to reconnect with Jason but also as a ploy to get into Bruce’s pants. Constantly putting on the charms rizzing him up convincing him to let him stay for dinner…convincing him to let him stay the night

[damianbugs]

theres a thunderstorm going on right now and im thinking about how the entire todd family is seen as cautionary tales for things that were completely out of their control and to be forever immortalised for it after their deaths. father with bruised knuckles, mother forever in her bed, son of mine now son of his — dead. don't try to save your family and don't try to live because you're rude and violent (edit: and poor) and they said you had it coming. now is that true? well whatever! nothing major, nothing new, another crime alley tragedy, just too ugly for pearls.

[oraclenthusiast]

batfamily fans pretend that they like complex parent-child relationships until the parent isn't bruce wayne. and the complexity isn't very easily resolved communication issues

[brucewaynehater101]

Alright. Willis Todd being an abusive father to Jason is a trope often utilized. Comparing this version of him to Bruce's reactions to Red Hood is fantastic. Lots to analyze there.

However, I raise you. There needs to be more fanwork addressing the classism behind Willis Todd being characterized as an abusive alcoholic. In some version of canon, Willis Todd was a good dad in a shitty situation. He was poor, his wife (Catherine) was sick, and he had a newborn baby he needed to provide for. In this horrid situation, where he has no family to fall back on and no higher education to obtain a decent well-paying job, he tries to get quick money. He's desperate to keep both his wife and son alive.

Catherine turns to drugs because it's easier and cheaper to buy drugs than healthcare. The pain she experiences is debilitating, and she'd do anything to not feel pain for one godsdamned second. Unfortunately, this turns into an addiction.

This ultimately shapes the way that Jason views crime. Bruce, while he may be sympathetic to individuals who resort to crime to pay their bills, will not understand huddling in Crime Alley in the dead of winter as he debates whether to buy food or pay for heating. He won't understand the bitterness, hatred, pain, and resignation of never having enough money to survive as you get chewed up again and again.

If Jason's dad is just an abusive criminal, that not only perpetuates the notion that all criminals are evil, but it will shape how Jason views those who commit crime. Breaking the law doesn't make someone bad. There's plenty of reasons people commit crime, whether to survive, protect someone, or something else. The issue, especially in Gotham, is the system that perpetuates wealth inequality through bribes and unethical governmental practices.

Anyway, I think Jason's Red Hood is more fleshed out if it accounts for him acknowledging the desperation behind goons and small-time criminals because he grew up without other options.

[ambrosethedarling]

Meet the Todd’s <3

[rubydubydoo122]

Broke: Catherine Todd died of a heroin overdose and Willis Todd was an angry deadbeat alcoholic goon

Woke: Catherine Todd died of Cancer and Willis Todd worked for Two-Face to make ends meet

Bespoke: Catherine Todd died because she had Cancer, but could no longer afford Chemo, so Willis Todd took the job with Two-Face to help Catherine. Except he got arrested leaving Catherine with a low source of income so she had to rely on other sources for pain relief. And it’s Gotham so whatever meds she got weren’t safe.

Stop villainizing Willis. Stop simplifying Catherine’s situation. Sheila and Bruce are fair game, but Willis and Catherine were good people in a bad situation.

[autisticrosewilson]

Willis probably had INSANE dad lore. His mom runs a crime school. He worked for Two Face. He has a secret agent and LADY SHIVA in his phone book. He knew her first name. He was the subject of prison experimentation. I could literally make up anything at all about his life and there would be merit to it. Once you get past the classist writing and mischaracterization Willis is such a simultaneously funny and tragic character.

He's no one. He's got some of the most dangerous people in the world on speed dial. He probably tells dad jokes. He has very likely killed people. He has a bat tattoo to commemorate a fight with Batman. He loved his wife and kid so much he was willing to die for them. He had his death faked, escaped prison, and then took up an identity his son stole from someone else (HE WAS SMART ENOUGH TO FIGURE OUT JASON'S IDENTITY) and lured Jason back to Gotham. Jason still doesn't know Willis's identity. Willis is literally his bodyguard at the iceberg lounge.

[sadiejosworld]

i love jason todd more than the next guy and love how his story has progressed. but like, willis todd was this big man who was mean, a drunk, and hit his family. if young jason saw older jason, a trained assassin with anger issues who tried to kill tim, drinks (i think?), and is built like a brick shithouse… would he not just see willis?

as a child of an alcoholic, it is my worst fear to become my parent. i hate everything related to alcohol, and i know sometimes the abused becomes the abuser and all, but would he not like hate himself? idk just a thought, cause im angsty and like making my fav characters more traumatized than they already are.

[shyjusticewarrior]

You've heard of Bruce and Jason father-son parallelism, now get ready for...

Willis and Jason father-son parallelism

[boarcide]

All I can think about at the moment is how Jason’s death, at the crux of it, was that he was too sweet and tender and loving, looking for someone who he hoped would return that love back to him. He had to take care of his sickly, addicted mother, and his father was never there when he needed it. He felt abandoned by Bruce because his compassion for victims, coming forth in a blaze of fury, caused Bruce to condemn him and it cut him more than anything. He died saving a woman who did not care about him.

He cared for his sick, addicted mother for years until she passed, got his hands dirty for her dignity. He tried to be the best robin, best son that he could be for Bruce. He loved and loved and he searched for Sheila hoping to find any crumb of that affection returned, shielding her from a bomb blast despite her being to reason he was put in his situation to begin with.

Jason Todd’s crime was sweetness, and his punishment was death.

[morgangalaxy43]

All of the batkids have mommy issues or daddy issues (except Dick, his bio parents were nice but he definitely has great grandfather issues)

[kittykatninja321]

Jason’s resentment of Willis stemming from the fact that he often wasn’t there (in and out of jail, and then dead), and Jason misses him terribly, no matter that his absence was out of his control, it doesn’t make much difference to a child’s psyche and the Abandonment Issues develop-> Jason putting Catherine on a pedestal because no matter what state she was in or how bad she got, they were always together, and she was always there (I think 408/409 implies that they were homeless together but Rhato is more explicit about it)-> Catherine dies (and Willis isn’t there) and Jason is all alone-> smash cut to his death scene, Sheila is there, bearing witness. Sheila caused this situation but Jason forgives her in the moment, and will continue forgiving her every moment after. Maybe it’s because you can’t stay angry at someone who shares a grave with you. Maybe it’s because no matter what lead them there, when the clock ticked down, Sheila was there with him (and Bruce wasn’t, Bruce didn’t get there in time)-> Fathers fail to be there when you need their protection the most but mothers suffer with you

[ky-landfill]

He thinks of Jason constantly. When he’s working in the prison kitchen. When he’s lying awake at night in his cell. When a thunderstorm crashes against the roof of the prison, and all he can think of is Jason running to the window, fearless, to watch the storm in all its fury and wonder raging on the other side of the glass.