Dru-Zod

Deadshot
Real name	Floyd Lawton
Alias(es)	Human Arsenal
Species	Human
Birthdate	April 12, 1978
Affiliation(s)	Suicide Squad
Status	Alive
Appearances
Film(s)	Suicide Squad Untitled Deadshot film (unreleased)
Actors/Actresses
Portrayed by	Will Smith

"Don't forget: we're the bad guys."

―Deadshot^[src]

Floyd Lawton is a gun for hire mercenary known as Deadshot, and is renowned to be amongst the most lethal assassins in the world, as well as the most wanted hitman in the world before Batman brought him in. Deadshot would later be forcibly recruited into Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad, and he greatly contributed to the defeat of the Enchantress and Incubus mystical duo, getting his prison sentence shortened as a result.

Biography

Early life

Floyd Lawton was born on April 12, 1978, in Gotham City, New Jersey, to George Lawton, an idle real estate developer, and Genevieve Pitt-Lawton, the daughter of wealthy bankers, and raised poorly not only in their unhappy marriage, but also in the shadow of his older brother Eddie, whom he idolized. By age 13, he and Eddie were asked by their mother to kill their father, to which only Eddie agreed to. Floyd tried to stop his brother from making a horrible mistake, only to get locked out the house. He eventually obtained a rifle from the family boathouse and intended to use it to disarm Eddie before he could finish off their father in the second floor library. Right when Floyd was about to pull the trigger, however, the tree branch he was climbing on broke underneath him and he shot Eddie in the head instead. The incident was covered up to avoid dishonoring the family name, and his parents denied each other a divorce. As such, the psychological repercussion Floyd suffered from the tragedy made him give up hope in humanity and lose all value for life, thus making a promise to himself that night to never miss again.

At age 25, Lawton sought to learn the better use of a firearm by training as an expert marksman in the US Special Forces before leaving to become a gun-toting vigilante back in Gotham, codenamed "Deadshot". Regularly boasting to "never miss", he attempted to replace the masked vigilante Batman as the city's protector, but the Dark Knight luckily exposed his actions of working with criminals to distract the police from more serious crimes, having him arrested. Breaking himself out of prison, Deadshot's hardened outlook made him indifferent with whatever regarded his own safety, and gradually evolved into a high-cost assassin and mercenary capable of performing any execution for the desired price. Although he sometimes failed carrying out such hits whenever Batman intervened. He later had a daughter, Zoe Lawton, whom he discovered the existence of in 2006, but would eventually divorce her mother.

Mission in Gotham City

"This is the exterminator you called for your "rat problem"."

―Deadshot to Angelo^[src]

Deadshot taking aim at his target.

When Deadshot was on hire for a criminal organization to kill a informant in police custody who was about to testify against the organization, he set up a hardened reflective panel in front of the courthouse and waited for the police convoy to arrive. Deadshot called his employer Angelo, and demanded that he get paid immediately before killing the informant. As the convoy arrived and Deadshot threatened to call off the hit, he received his payment of $1 million up front. However, Deadshot then demanded that Angelo double his payment for being rude to him. Through manipulation, Angelo begrudgingly doubled Deadshot's payment to $2 million. Satisfied, he cocked his wrist-mounted gun and fired a bullet from atop a tall building, perfectly striking the reflective panel and killing the informant. With his job complete, he put on his white mask and fled the scene by rappelling down the building.

Captured by Batman

"It's over, Deadshot! I don't want to have to do this in front of your daughter."

―Batman to Deadshot^[src]

Deadshot and Zoe being ambushed by Batman.

After hearing about Deadshot, Amanda Waller becomes a situational ally of Batman, giving the latter some crucial information on how to track the assassin down. Hence, while Deadshot is walking down the street with his daughter Zoe, Batman suddenly glides down and seizes Deadshot, telling the latter to surrender, not wanting to do anything in front of Deadshot's daughter. Deadshot attempts to fight off the vigilante, but Batman swiftly gets the better of him, knocking Deadshot to the ground. Deadshot then promptly takes out his gun and attempts to shoot Batman, but Zoe stands in the way, crying because she did not want her father to kill anyone else. After a moment, Deadshot surrenders his gun and himself to Batman, who cuffs him to a gate and leaves him for the GCPD, who find him being hugged by a saddened Zoe who proclaims she loves her father while he says nothing. He is subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment in Belle Reve, where he is subjected to abuse from the prison guards there including Captain Griggs.

Suicide Squad

Recruitment

"Y'all jokers must be crazy!"

―Deadshot^[src]

Deadshot is preparing for his training

Nine months after Deadshot was apprehended, Deadshot is rotting in prison where he is sometimes mistreated by the guards of Belle Reve especially Griggs. While alone in his cell, he thinks about the last words his daughter spoke to him that "She loves him, even though he does bad things." Later, Amanda Waller gathers skilled individuals and metahumans for Project Task Force X. While being coerced into joining the team, Deadshot personally displays his sharpshooter skills in front of Rick Flag, Waller, Griggs and others in an attempt to negotiate that he be released and his daughter Zoe Lawton should be well provided for including a free ride to an Ivy League University in exchange for his services.

Deployment in Midway City

"That's how I cut and run"

―Deadshot^[src]

Deadshot said to Rick Flag that he just threatened him

With the attack in Midway City, Michigan by the mystical duo Enchantress and Incubus, Deadshot, along with the other members of the Suicide Squad (such as Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, El Diablo, and Killer Croc) are implanted with explosive nanotechnology provided by Dr. Van Criss and transferred to an evacuation point outside of the city, where they are joined by Slipknot. As the villians suit up for their mission Harley ask if Deadshot is hesitant to put on his gear because it will no longer fit due to weight gain? He replies "No, and that everytime he puts it on somebody dies and that he likes putting it on." They are given instructions by Waller via an electronic tablet that they are under Flag's direct command and extracting a highly valued asset known as HVT1 from the besieged city and will receive 10 years off of their life sentences as a reward. Flag warns them if they annoy him or try to escape he will kill them by using his touch pad to detonate their implanted nanobots - blowing their heads off. Deadshot informs Flag his motivational skills are lacking, citing he's no Phil Jackson and that even Waller's technique is superior to his. Deadshot states Task Force X is essentially just a "Suicide Squad". Flag's personal bodyguard Katana joins them at the last moments before take off, with another helicopter carrying Squad B escorting them.

Deadshot and Harley bond while eyeing each other.

While mid flight enroute to their destination, Deadshot sees Harley communicating by text to the The Joker with a phone that was given to her by a coerced Griggs. Harley signals for Deadshot to be quiet about it and he decides comply. When Harley notices the other worldly distrubance caused by Enchantress , Deadshot as Flag what happened and Flag lies calling it just a terrorist attack. This causes Deadshot to call him out as a bad liar. Lawton states he is a killer and hitman and he is not in the business of saving people. Flag remarks Lawton will do anything for pay. After Lawton snaps back Flag "knows the dark places too." Flag proudly declares he is a soldier and that Deadshot is a serial murder for hire and that when the shooting starts Lawton will "just cut and run." as he thinks nothing of the hitman. When their helicopter is shot down, the squad is forced to travel the rest of the way on foot, splitting up with Squad B, who safely lands their helicopter nearby. After Captain Boomerang talks Slipknot into foolishly attempt escape, getting the latter killed in the process by Flag, Deadshot and Harley bond (with her referring to him as her "Friend" and He calling her "Doll Face" ) and plot against Flag to turn the odds in their favor the first chance they get.

Battling Enchantress's minions

Soon after, the group encounters weird looking creatures in the Enchantress' employment known as the Eyes of the Adversary. When Deadshot and Flag approach them, the creatures become hostile and attack. The squad are initially overwhelmed as the monsters capture Flag, much to Harley's delight. Knowing the Squad members are as good as dead if the colonel is injured or killed, Deadshot reminds her of what Waller had said about that and leads his teammates to rally and turns the fight in their favor as Flag is recovered. By himself, he stands on a car and guns down a number of Eyes, leaving even members of the US Army in awe of his skills. Saying that is how he "cuts and run" to Flag, the proud hitman stops Harley from beating up the dead creatures when she claims to have seen them move. He then asks Flag if the monstrous "terrorists" were once civilians (which the latter admitted), having seen one of the Eyes wearing a $3,000 watch. While moving on with the objective, the determined colonel then contacts Waller when all contact with Squad B fails, and learns the other squadron was engaged with another group of Eyes at the same time, but were all taken prisoner and brought to the Enchantress herself.

Retrieving Waller

About halfway to the the building where HVT1 is located, Deadshot stops to look through the window of a children's clothing store. There, he sees a child-size mannequin of a winter parka similar to the one Zoe wore the day he was captured.

Personality

"You know the rules: no money, no honey."

―Deadshot^[src]

Deadshot is portrayed as a consummate professional: as long as he's been paid to kill someone, he will always carry it out, without exceptions or mercy. He is also sarcastic and have a personal method where he has to be paid first to get his job done and will threaten his employers furthermore when he is offended, evidenced by wanting double the original pay for his job because his "client" was being a "dickhead"; alongside of his sarcasm, he has an incredibly tough attitude, and can work even under the highest of pressure.

Despite his sarcastic, tough attitude, Deadshot notably strikes up a friendship with Harley Quinn quite quickly, empathizes with El Diablo after learning the latter's dark secret, and he cares deeply for his beloved daughter Zoe, keeping a picture of her with him throughout his time as a convict and an assassin. He also holds a strict code about not killing women and children in his line of work, thus proving himself to have a strict moral compass. Notably, when Amanda Waller attempts to psychologically manipulate Deadshot by promising him freedom and a permanent reunion with Zoe in exchange for assassinating Harley Quinn, he is strongly tempted for a few long moments. Ultimately however, with quite a bit of visible effort, Deadshot realizes his unwillingness to betray his moral code of not murdering women, as well as his friendship with Harley (most likely also due to him realizing that Zoe wouldn't have ever approved of the circumstances of such a permanent reunion if she knew), and so he resists, instead pretending to miss while shooting at Harley.

Deadshot also seems to dislike physical contact, as he was visibly uncomfortable upon being hugged by Rick Flag, and insisted upon not being a hugger.

Also, while not outspoken about it, Deadshot appears to be at least somewhat religious, wearing a cross while in civilian apparel, and having several biblical verses written on the gauntlets and neck of his combat bodysuit.

Abilities

"He's the most wanted hitman in the world!"

―Amanda Waller^[src]

• Abilities
• Weaknesses
• Equipment

• Peak Human Condition: Deadshot, as a highly skilled and experienced assassin, is in top physical condition (from frequent intense workouts, which he does even during his imprisonment in Belle Reve), though not even near to Batman's level. Hence, it took an entire squad of ARGUS agents with riot shields to pin down and restrain Deadshot after his cell was opened, but even then he was still able to kick 2 of them to the ground, despite several of them restraining his torso, and he was able hold his own against Enchantress's monstrous Eyes of the Adversary troops.
  • Peak Human Durability: Deadshot is exceptionally durable, withstanding a brutal beating at the hands of ARGUS agents while in Belle Reve, and swiftly recovering after being sent flying back by a superhumanly strong blow from Incubus, though this was also due to Deadshot's bulletproof bodysuit.
• Master Marksman: Deadshot is an incredibly formidable and lethal marksman, thus being extremely skilled with numerous ranged weapons (including 9 mm pistols, Gatling guns, revolvers, flare guns, potato cannons, machine guns, assault rifles, flamethrowers, sniper rifles, anti-tank rifles, shotguns, M1 carbines, Bazookas, Derringers, Uzis, grenade launchers, .44 magnums, and muskets), on par with Batman in that aspect, though even surpassing the Dark Knight himself in accuracy and precision, due to Deadshot being a former member of the US Special Forces. This is partially supported by Deadshot's proficiency with his eye scope, as well as the enhancement his high-tech eye-patch provides. His marksman skills are so great, that Deadshot is said to be lethal at 4 km, with him hardly ever missing his mark, thereby earning his infamous nickname. Hence, he was able to easily shoot the same target numerous times in rapid succession with multiple different guns (greatly impressing Amanda Waller), and to single-handedly take down numerous monstrous troops of Enchantress, keeping the bulk of the army from advancing at the Suicide Squad (in fact doing it better single-handedly than the combined efforts of Rick Flag's entire gunmen squad, using only his machine- and wrist-mounted guns, dropping a monstrous troop with every single one of his numerous shots). Deadshot is thus one of the most formidable members of the Suicide Squad, on par with Katana and El Diablo, to whom Amanda Waller refers to as some of the most dangerous humans on Earth.
• Expert Combatant: Deadshot, as a former member of the US Special Forces, is a highly skilled and formidable hand-to-hand combatant (managing to physically overpower several of Enchantress' monstrous troops), though not quite on Batman and Katana's level, as Deadshot was quite swiftly defeated and beaten to the ground by the Dark Knight (resulting in Deadshot's imprisonment in Belle Reve), and was later overpowered first by the gigantic Incubus, and then the extremely skilled and more powerful Enchantress (though he was notably able to block quite a few of her dagger slashes with his gauntlets, before being overpowered by her superior strength, skill, and teleportation).
• Master Assassin: Deadshot is an extremely skilled assassin, having become an infamous gun for hire ever since leaving the US Special Forces, assassinating his targets in mere seconds after a price that satisfies Deadshot is offered. Indeed, prior to his imprisonment by Batman, Deadshot was the most wanted hitman in the world, with him therefore having elite clientele.

Zoe Lawton: Deadshot's greatest weakness is his beloved daughter Zoe, since when Batman confronts him in her presence, instead of trying to kill his opponent (despite showing a desire to), Deadshot ultimately doesn't have the heart to do so in front of his crying daughter, and he subsequently surrenders to the Dark Knight, who chains up and leaves Deadshot for the GCPD. Later, Amanda Waller attempts to psychologically manipulate Deadshot with a promise to have him permanently reunited with Zoe, ordering him to assassinate Harley Quinn in exchange. Despite his code to not murder women and the friendship that Deadshot has struck up with Harley, this offer is enough to strongly tempt Deadshot for a few long moments, with it taking quite a bit of visible effort on his part to resist (most likely only due to him realizing that Zoe wouldn't have ever approved of the circumstances of such a permanent reunion if she knew) and pretend to miss while shooting at Harley. Later still, right when Deadshot is about to pull the trigger to destroys Enchantress' superweapon, she implants a vision of Zoe begging her father not to, and the effort that Deadshot requires to mentally overpower this vision makes him bellow in agony, but he ultimately succeeds.

Human Vulnerabilities: Deadshot's second great weakness is that he is a human with no enhanced strength, speed, durability, or metahuman powers, therefore making him quite vulnerable to the physical attacks of stronger and more powerful opponents. Deadshot, however, usually compensates for this quite well with his highly durable bodysuit, exceptional combat skills, peak physical condition, numerous firearms, and lethal accuracy. Hence, he was able to hold off a whole army of Enchantress's monstrous Eyes of the Adversary troops single-handedly. However, when unarmed, Deadshot is relatively quickly overpowered and pinned down by an entire squad of ARGUS agents with riot shields (though still managing to kick 2 of them to the ground, despite several of them restraining his torso), and he is relatively quickly overpowered by the stronger and more skilled Batman, resulting in his arrest. Later, while Deadshot's bulletproof bodysuit helped him survive Incubus's superhumanly mighty blows, Deadshot was still swiftly and easily incapacitated by the gigantic metahuman (saved only by the timely intervention of El Diablo in flaming avatar form), and he is later relatively quickly overpowered in the final physical battle with Enchantress, due to her having superior strength and combat skill, along with teleportation, telekinesis and telepathy (all of which Deadshot had no ability to effectively resist). He is only saved from her telepathic probing with the more mentally resistant El Diablo's help.

Nano-Bomb: Deadshot, like the other members of the Suicide Squad, was implanted with a Van Criss Laboratories nano-bomb. As a result, he dares not disobey Amanda Waller, unwilling to have the implanted nano-bomb kill him by exploding his head.

Eye patch: One of Deadshot's signature trademarks is the high-tech eye-patch that he wears over his face mask, on his dominant left eye. This eye-patch augments his already amazing marksman skills, and when combined with his sniper rifle's scope, makes it almost impossible for him to miss his target. It also provides him mission and target data.

Deadshot bodysuit: When in the field on an assignment with the Suicide Squad, Deadshot always dons a bulletproof red-and-black vest and bodysuit, with many holsters, containing various firearms at all times. Indeed, this suit is durable enough to help him withstand slashes from Enchantress's mystical daggers, as well as a superhumanly mighty kick from Incubus, with minimal injury.

Salient Arms International Tier One AR-15: Deadshot's primary weapon of choice is the use of an AR-15 assault rifle, modified with a scope an vertical hand grip. The AR-15 scope is specifically modified to Deadshot's needs and can link with his eye-patch, giving him unrivaled accuracy.

Modified Glock 17: Deadshot's sidearm is a heavily modified Glock 17, with a compensator and red dot sight. He also has two other unmodified Glock 17s that he carries on his back for any last resort uses.

Wrist-mounted magnums: Deadshot wears gauntlets on his wrists which contain powerful machine guns. Deadshot can change the firing method from single shot, semi automatic or even fully automatic, depending on the situation he requires. The gauntlets are strong enough to deflect Enchantress's sword strikes and still be operational.

Relationships

Family George Lawton - father Genevieve Lawton - mother Eddie Lawton † - brother Zoe Lawton - daughter Susan Lawton - ex-wife Allies United States Air Force Lieutenant "GQ" Edwards † Suicide Squad - teammates Rick Flag - leader and rival turned friend Killer Croc El Diablo † - friend and savior Slipknot † Katana Captain Boomerang  Harley Quinn - former Teammate, friend turned assassination target (willingly unsuccessful) turned friend

Enemies Batman - apprehender ARGUS Amanda Waller - boss and manipulator Dr. Van Criss † - nano-bomb implanter Enchantress † - enemy and target Eyes of the Adversary Incubus † Joker - attempted killer Belle Reve Captain Griggs † - abusive prison guard

Trivia

• Unlike the comics and other media, this version of the character is African-American, and wears his eye piece over his left eye instead of his right one.
• According to his stats, Deadshot is lethal with a potato cannon, a flare gun, an anti-tank rifle, and a musket.
• It was reported by The Hollywood Reporter that Warner Bros is planning a solo Deadshot spin-off along with a sequel to Suicide Squad.
• Aside from his famed 'wrist magnums', Deadshot uses other pistols, along with his custom AR-15 rifle, as his main staples in the film.
• In promoting the film, Deadshot was inserted to the mobile version of the game Injustice: Gods Among Us by DC and Netherrealm Studios. In the game, he mainly uses the wrist-mounted magnums, his AR-15 rifle, and a combat knife. He will also appear in the sequel of the game, Injustice 2, although it is unknown if this outfit will be used or not.

Gallery

Promotional images

First look at Deadshot

Empire variant cover

Character poster

Tattoo poster

Suicide-squad-poster-deadshot.jpg

000230422-bb22-1-.jpg

Squad12f-1-web.jpg

Deadshot lifts Harley after she is reunited with the team.

External links

• Deadshot at the Batman Wiki
• Deadshot at the Arrowverse Wiki

References

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