Batman: Arkham Knight features many different characters, including Tim Drake and Barbara Gordon who, for some reason, are romantically involved. Although this union helps to drive a wedge between Tim and Bruce, the relationship is a strange choice that goes against what's canon in the comics. Instead of Tim, Barbara's relationship in Arkham Knight should have been with Dick Grayson.
There are a few likely reasons why the change from Dick Grayson to Time Drake was made in regards to Barbara Gordon. The most likely being that Tim was a static character in the Arkham series that needed some form of a character arc. However, this could have been accomplished without taking away from a potential fan-favorite love story between Barbara and Dick Grayson.
Many Arkham Knight players were confused by the Tim and Barbara relationship or disappointed that Dick wasn't a bigger part of Barbara's life. The story could have been very different had Arkham Knight explored the familiar, deep-rooted love between Dick and Barbara, including a more developed character arc for Nightwing. There also could have been more opportunities to give Tim Drake his own unique story instead of anchoring his character in the established life of a different Robin.
Batman Arkham Knight: Why Tim Drake Has A Relationship with Barbara Gordon
The most likely reason for the change between Tim and Dick is to give Tim a deeper, emotionally driven story in the Batman Arkham series. Beyond his relationship with Barbara in Arkham Knight, there's nothing that sets him apart or gives him purpose other than being Batman's sidekick. Each of the other Robin's has some greater purpose beyond Batman, so developers may have felt the need to give Tim a reason to push away from Bruce like the others.
For Dick Grayson, he wanted to escape Bruce's darkness and become his own hero without being pressured by Batman to follow his path. Jason Todd was supposedly killed by the Joker, so Tim took up the mantle. Jason Todd's entire existence as Robin is tragic, which left Tim Drake with an emotional hole in the Arkham series because of his bland personality, which is mostly a reiteration of Nightwing's, and his willingness to blindly follow Batman. Although Tim's relationship with Barbara connects him to the world beyond Batman, the relationship is awkward and feels wrong for fans that are familiar with Batman comics.
Another reason for Tim's relationship with Barbara could simply have been to break away from traditional Batman stories. Arkham Knight is original, exciting, and emotional at times, so making this change could have been an attempt to further set Arkham Knight apart from other Batman stories. Aiming for uniqueness is a good thing, especially with a franchise that has so much content to compete with, but the change to Barbara's love life is one that shouldn't have been made. Instead, Arkham Knight could have kept Dick Grayson as Barbara's love interest and given Tim Drake his own original storyline.
Batman Arkham Knight: Dick Grayson & Barbara Gordon Should Have Been Together
Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon have had an on-and-off-again relationship in many comic storylines since their first kiss in 1975's Batman Family #1. Even casual Batman fans have embraced the complicated romance between Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon, so it was a bit of a shock to see her with Tim Drake in Batman: Arkham Knight. If she was with Dick in Arkham Knight, everything that ensued during the story would have hit much harder and left a greater impact.
Tim Drake and Barbara Gordon's relationship wasn't in any of the previous Arkham titles, and his romance with Barbara feels forced to make her fake passing Arkham Knight more of a conflict for Batman. The same effect could have been achieved by having Barbara and Dick Grayson as a couple, and the loss would have had more weight because of the many instances throughout Batman comics where Barbara and Dick are romantically involved. After Batman believes Barbara is dead, he struggles with telling Robin, but, other than a few guilt trips from Batman's manifestation of Joker, the conflict is lacking and falls secondary to Batman's need to cure himself.
Nightwing was only in Arkham Knight during the Penguin side missions, but he could have easily been switched out for Tim Drake's Robin without any real consequence to gameplay or story. The fact that they are completely interchangeable means the decision to use Tim Drake as Barbara's significant other instead of Dick Grayson is pointless and goes against fans' expectations for no apparent reason. There were other paths that could have been explored to give Tim Drake more depth rather than forcing his relationship with Barbara.
Batman Arkham Knight: How The Story Could Have Changed
Had Dick Grayson had a relationship with Barbara Gordon in Arkham Knight he could have been more involved in the main story, particularly the beginning when she's in danger. The rift between Dick and Bruce would have grown after Batman failed to save Oracle. Pushing Nightwing further away from Gotham and Batman could have set him up to get his own sequel title to the Arkham series, possibly in Blüdhaven where he moves to, or in Gotham to be closer to Barbara and take over for Batnam after he enacts the Knightfall Protocol. However, Nightwing's current storyline in the Arkham series isn't substantial enough to create a game around.
The possibilities for Tim Drake's character development are limited in Arkham Knight to the love and loss he feels for Barbara. Instead, he could have had a unique storyline in the form of a side mission or DLC which didn't involve his relationship with Barbara. He does have a questline where he goes after Two-Face alone in Batman's absence, but his coming-into-his-own story is overshadowed by the banter between him and Barbara and the fact that the Arkham Knight DLC story starts with Tim and Barbara cutting their honeymoon short to come back to Gotham. Without the relationship, Tim could have had an individual story arc that didn't feel like a copy of Dick Grayson's comic-based life.
There are a few reasons why Tim Drake's relationship with Barbara Gordon in Arkham Knight was awkward and unwelcome by many fans. The biggest reason is the established romance between Barbara and Dick Grayson that has been building in the comics since 1975. Ignoring the comic lore and changing one Robin for another made certain moments in Arkham Knight less impactful, like Tim finding out about Barbara's supposed death. Arkham Knight should have included a love story between Barbara Gordon and Dick Grayson instead of Tim Drake.