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Ah, Jason Todd, everyone's favourite bad boy. He's beloved for many, many reasons but is a frequent victim of my least favourite trope, the Draco in Leather Pants. Let's face it, people tend to ignore the fact he's murdered hundreds of people or that he was a terrible friend to Roy or that he's generally a pretty shitty human being so we can have some aloof big brother Jason content. This isn't inheritally bad, the comic writers like to ignore Jason's crimes too *cough* Scott Lobdell *cough* but... to erase these aspects of his character and portraying him as a more anti hero is generally inaccurate. Let's dive in and see how to write a descent Jason Todd.
CHARACTER BACKGROUND
Jason's backstory has changed over time. From being a Dick Grayson rip off to the current backstory we know today, but here's the universally accepted one. Jason Peter Todd was born in the Gotham Slums. His father was a Two Face mook and his mother, Sheila Haywood wasn't present in his life. He grew up committing crimes from car jacking to even prostitution as implied by Post Crisis-Pre New 52 continuity. He and Bruce met when Jay tried to steal the wheels of the Batman's mobile. Jay became Robin and then was killed off by the Joker after his Mum sold him out. He was resurrected via Lazarus Pit and became an angsty 90s anti-hero even though he wasn't present for the decade.
THE SLIDING SCALE OF MORALITY
If you ask someone if the Red Hood is a hero, anti hero, villian or anti villian, you'll get a variety of answers because DC doesn't even fucking know. When Jason pulled a Gwen Stacy and came back from the dead to be a vigilante, he was very much a villian or at least an anti-villian. Jason Todd brutally murdered various criminals and was an essentially vengeful, sociopathic man child. I know it kinda sounds weird but that's what he is. Jason was an ally turned enemy like a reverse Hartley Rathaway.
Jason Todd works best and has some of the best development as a character when he's a representation of Batman's failure.
The Red Hood is a foil to Batman, he is everything Bruce could be if he broke his no killing rule. That's what makes him so interesting and so unique. He's an example of Bruce's mistakes, both as Batman and as Bruce Wayne. Jason is at his best as a character when he's an anti villain who's complex in both motive and mind. He wants to purge crime like Batman but he's willing to kill those he sees as wrong.
Now I'm not saying you can't write an anti-hero Jason Todd. You can totally do that but you can't ignore the fact he's killed people willingly like the Punisher. Jason isn't just rough around the edges, he's very psychologically broken and that's bring me to...
MORE THAN JUST A BAD BOY
Jason Todd fits the bad boy stereotype pretty well visually. He's got the jacket, the combat boots, the motorcycle... maybe, but he's more than that. Jason Peter Todd is psychologically fucked. In the comics, he seems generally mentally ill not helped that his family pre Bruce was pretty fucked. His dad was a Two Face mook, his mother fucked off and then sold him out to the Joker which got him killed, he has reasons to have issues. To write Jason Todd as a stereotypical bad boy is a disservice to his character. Writing characters with complexity are hard, trust me, it can be a real bitch to write but relying on stereotypes to construct a character is lazy writing.
Jason also isn't a good friend. Seriously as much as Jay and Roy's dynamic is interesting when written well, in current continuity he was a terrible friend. I'll say he reaches Jade Nguyen levels of abusive towards Roy, Roy gives him everything and Jay gives him nothing in return. That's a toxic relationship and it's best seen in Heroes in Crisis, which is a thing that I hate but has value in this guide. Jay insulted Roy before saying he was a good friend, and this was before Roy was killed off (I'm still fighting DC over that.) Jason not being a good person, doesn't mean he's a bad character. Some of the best characters in comics are terrible people, just look at all the iconic villains DC has created such as Lex Luthor and the Joker.
When writing Jason keep in mind that one person can't just come into his life and he's magically a good guy, Jason is mentally disturbed. His relationships with others are going to be complicated, a lot more than relationships usually are.
Jason Todd is at his best as a character when written as a complex anti villain. While antihero Jason Todd isn't bad at all, the fact Bruce would willingly accept Jason after he's murder people is very hard for me to believe as a Batman fan. 'Under the Red Hood' is a great resources for a well written Jason. Not only is the movie very good with great voice acting, it really shows off how good a resurrected Jason can be when written well.
CONCLUSION
To conclude, Jason Todd isn't a cookie cutter bad boy. He's a complex character with every changing morality and clear issues stemming from his past with both Bruce and his upbringing. When writing the Red Hood, it must be remembered that his hands are just as bloody red as his helmet. He's not a good person but that doesn't mean you as the writer can't make him develop into a better person.
SIDENOTE
Also I've got two new stories up 'A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE' which is an Edward Nygma fanfic and, 'SURRENDER DOROTHY' which is a Jonathan Crane fanfic if you wanna check them. 'LOWLIFES' is on hiatus mostly because I can't find motivation to finish it
A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE — https://www.wattpad.com/story/179966949-ˋˏ-a-woman-of-no-importance-ˎˊ-→-edward-nygma
