Sportsmaster (real name Lawrence "Crusher" Crock) is a supervillain, a former member of the League of Shadows, and was the personal enforcer for the Light. He is the father of Artemis and Cheshire, and estranged husband of Paula Crock.
Physical appearance
Sportsmaster is a tall, strongly-built man, cutting an intimidating figure. He has short blond hair. His face is usually covered by a gray hockey mask, which only reveals his brown eyes. He wears what seems like a sleeveless blue muscle shirt, with a collar that covers some of his neck. He wears arm and elbow pads on both arms and fingerless gloves. On his left arm, he has metal plates attached that act very much like armor. He wears black pants with pockets that hold his weapons. He also has a belt that acts very much like the utility belt Robin used; it holds various types of high-tech, sports-themed weaponry.
Personality
Lawrence Crock without a mask.
Sportsmaster's large stature is a clear indicator of his personality. He is arrogant, cocky, and blunt. Like his daughter Artemis, he is not afraid of talking back at people when they insult him in any manner. When Cheshire made a sharp remark about him breaking her out of prison, he told her "beggars can't be choosers", and later told her to grow up when she told him she would not kill him due to being a professional and on a mission. Supported by his size, he is very aggressive when in battle.
Despite his arrogance, he will compliment someone should they surpass his expectations; he complimented Aqualad during their battle.[4] He does not fret or lose his cool when in a dire situation. He simply parachuted out of his helicopter when Miss Martian detonated a planted bomb in it[5] and calmly watched on as Aqualad took out his men with a water beast.[4]
History
Early life
Sportsmaster and his wife, Paula once worked together as assassins;[1] He used to do freelance work for the League of Shadows.[6] During one mission, Paula took the fall for both of them. She ended up in prison, and in a wheelchair.[1] He raised his two daughters, Artemis and Jade, but the latter ran away[7] because he was emotionally and verbally abusive.[8] This made him determined to make an assassin out of Artemis, teaching her many skills, including archery.[9] Sportsmaster eventually moved on to greater responsibilities[10] as a personal enforcer for the Light.[6] He has had a working relationship with several other villains, including Professor Ivo,[1] Icicle Sr.,[11] Riddler,[12] Deathstroke,[13] and the Partner.[14] His main task for the Light was to be Red Arrow's handler, feeding their inside source with code phrases and extracting information from him.[15]
2010
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Sportsmaster traveled to the island of Santa Prisca on behalf of the Light to purchase the Blockbuster-Venom formula from Kobra, who had taken control of Santa Prisca (and its local Venom factory) from Bane. The deal was interrupted by the Team, who destroyed almost the entire shipment of the formula, although Sportsmaster was able to escape with a single ampule.[5]
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Lawrence had forgotten the day that his wife was returning from prison, and was surprised to see her when he returned home. He disliked her plans of turning to the straight and narrow, and scoffed at the idea that she could keep Artemis on the same track. Paula sent him out of the house.[1]
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Sportsmaster frees Cheshire.
Cheshire was captured after a failed hit on the peace summit between North and South Rhelasia, and Sportsmaster was sent to spring her out of prison. They managed to escape to a waiting helicopter, despite Red Arrow chasing them. They headed to the Shadow's headquarters, but Red Arrow had not lost their trail. Cheshire and Sportsmaster fought him on the rooftops,[4] where Sportsmaster used a code phrase—"Broken arrow"—to freeze his opponent. He extracted information from him, and fed him new commands.[15] When he snapped out of his hypnosis, the fight continued. Red Arrow was then forced to retreat.
The plan to stop the peace summit went on. Sportsmaster served as backup. He was called into action after Cheshire found not only Red Arrow, but Aqualad as well. Sportsmaster took on the Atlantean. During the fight, he distracted his opponent by claiming there was a mole on their team feeding information to the Light. This set Aqualad back, but after Red Arrow shot the sprinkler system, he managed to beat back the assassins. Due to Cheshire's intervention, both she and Sportsmaster managed to escape.[4]
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In a dimension without any children under the age of 18 (caused by a magic spell of Klarion and other sorcerors), Lawrence led a mob of angry and confused parents to protest outside the STAR Labs facility in Gotham. Sportsmaster played on the parents' fear, saying that STAR Labs might even have caused the mass disappearance, and said they should demand answers. While the mob clashed with the Gotham City Police Department outside the facility, Sportsmaster withdrew and got a car. He picked up Riddler, who had used the mob's distraction to sneak into the facility and steal the last sample of Starro.
Later, Riddler and Sportsmaster presented the Starro tentacle to the Brain and other members of the Light.[12]
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Crusher Crock arrived at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.[2]
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Sportsmaster broke into Belle Reve, with aid from warden Hugo Strange, and sprang Professor Ivo. They escaped in a truck that pretended to carry away medical waste.[2]
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Sportsmaster brought Ivo to a warehouse, where Klarion and Brain were waiting for them. Their enhancement on the echinoderm sample would have to wait for Ivo's equipment to arrive; Sportsmaster was in charge of delivery.[2]
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He got to the drop-off by boat, and brought Cheshire as backup in case he was being followed. She noticed Artemis and Red Arrow, and alerted him to their presence. After he got the goods from a passing train, he escaped the scene by boat. Red Arrow followed by jetski, but he was easily stopped with explosives. Sportsmaster also took care of a tracer Red Arrow planted, and Aqualad who was following him underwater. He made a clean getaway.[2]
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After delivering the equipment, Sportsmaster scouted the perimeter of the warehouse, and spotted Red Arrow at the door. He was about to throw a javelin at him when an explosion knocked him off the roof. He continued to fight Red Arrow until Klarion facilitated their escape with his magic.[2]
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Sportsmaster sneaked into Artemis's bedroom, and waited for her to return home. He emotionally blackmailed her into not announcing his presence to Paula, stating it would only upset her. He then confronted Artemis about the failed mission, and how she could never be a hero with her family ties, urging her to change sides.[2]
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Sportsmaster joined Lex Luthor, Queen Bee and Blockbuster to coerce Superboy and Miss Martian to join the Light. Artemis had already told her father she wished to join him, and Cheshire brought her to the gathering, via helicopter.
It was a trap, however: Artemis did not want to follow her father, and the Team sprung their own trap. Artemis took on her father and sister—though Cheshire only fought back in defence. Sportsmaster was eventually trapped by Aqualad, who used Apokoliptan technology to turn the ground under him to quicksand. He begged Jade to help him, but she forsook him, tired of his manipulations. Artemis kicked him in the face, leaving him unconscious, and tore off his mask, for all to see his face.[16]
2015
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Sportsmaster was sent to the Museum of Natural History to retrieve the first of three Babylonian artefacts. He discovered his daughter and her teammates were hot on his heels, but had the luck of discovering them shortly before they discovered him. This gave him a head start to the room where the artefact was held. He took the artefact before the Team caught up, but they weren't about to let him leave without a fight. Sportsmaster brought in reinforcements, but they weren't sufficient. After they were defeated, Sportsmaster was extracted from the building by a helicopter. Artemis shot an arrow at her. Though her father thought she had missed, she had intended only to plant a tracer on him.[17]
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His next assignment teamed him up with Icicle Jr.. Together, they were sent to Siberia to oversee the retrieval of the second artefact. Icicle operated a large drill to cut it out of the ice. Sportsmaster was impatient, and taunted Icicle that perhaps his father would have been a better choice. Moments later, Icicle succeeded, but they were interrupted by Superboy and his squad. The two operatives fought fiercely, but lost. However, their drilling had caused the mountain to rumble, allowing them an opportunity to escape. They left the artefacts behind.[18]
Around July,[19] the Light sent Deathstroke and Sportsmaster after Blue Beetle to retrieve his scarab. Ted Kord did not survive the meeting, but the two assassins could not secure the scarab.[13]
2016
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Sportsmaster accompanied Black Beetle to view Intergang's Appellaxian Golem attack Superboy and Blue Beetle. While the Partner made sure the Golem was destroyed, Sportsmaster visited Bruno Mannheim and Whisper A'Daire, who were bound to a tree nearby. He gave them a powerful sedative he developed that renders its subjects catatonic for weeks,[20][21] leaving them drooling and non-responsive.[14]
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Crusher went to the cemetery where Jade was paying her respects to Artemis with her daughter Lian Harper. While Cheshire vowed vengeance on Aqualad for the murder of her sister, Crusher was more concerned for his professional reputation. He feared that the son of Black Manta murdering his daughter without asking for his permission first would permanently tarnish his professional reputation and lead others to consider him nothing but a punk. He proceeded to vow a reckoning with Black Manta for this insult.[22]
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Sportsmaster sought an audience before the Light and demanded restitution for Artemis' death. Although he was offered substantial monetary compensation, he demanded for Aqualad's demise. When this demand was rejected, Sportsmaster attacked his former masters, but was foiled by their new enforcer, Deathstroke. He made his egress after Cheshire, piloting a helicopter, blasted a hole in the mountain and spirited him off to safety.[23]
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Sportsmaster and Cheshire secretly boarded the Manta-Sub. As Cheshire went off on her own in search of Kaldur'ahm, Sportsmaster searched for Black Manta. When the alarm sounded alerting Manta of Cheshire's presence in his son's quarters, as he exited his quarters, he was ambushed by Sportsmaster. Sportsmaster knocked out Manta but several Manta Troopers intervened. Sportsmaster took them out with a flashbang discus, but this allowed Black Manta to recover. Tigress came upon the two fighting, with Manta ordering Tigress to take care of Sportsmaster while he saved his son.
Sportsmaster took down Tigress and was about to deliver a final blow with his javelin, but Miss Martian then pulled the two, Kaldur and Cheshire into a mindscape of one of Artemis' memories. Miss Martian revealed to them that Artemis was alive and posing as Tigress, and that she and Kaldur worked together to fake Artemis' death. While Cheshire was convinced, Sportsmaster was not, so Artemis told Cheshire she would convince her father.
After Miss Martian released everyone from the mindscape, Tigress avoided Sportsmaster's javelin, then disarmed him with a move Sportsmaster taught her. Now convinced that Tigress was really Artemis, Sportsmaster voiced his approval of her and Kaldur putting one over on the Light. Tigress asked her father for a favor, which was for Sportsmaster to destroy the controls for the inhibitor collar Miss Martian wore, thus eliminating evidence that Tigress had shut the controls off.
As Sportsmaster and Cheshire were about to leave the Sub, Deathstroke confronted them, attacking Sportsmaster. Tigress then arrived and battled Cheshire, then Miss Martian showed up, holding off Deathstroke and Tigress long enough to allow Sportsmaster and Cheshire to escape.[24]
Powers and abilities
Sportsmaster possesses no known superhuman powers. Rather, he is a highly-trained martial artist and is able to use a wide variety of weapons.
Sportsmaster singlehandedly takes out several men.
- Physical fitness: Sportsmaster's fitness is at least to the degree of an Olympic athlete. He is trained in several sports, including javelin throwing, fencing and pole vaulting.[4] He can also leap higher than a normal human his size and age.[5]
- Agility: Sportsmaster is surprisingly fast considering his size and age; he was able to dodge weapons fire from multiple Manta Troopers without injury.[24]
- Pain tolerance: He has taken punches from an armored Black Manta, without any exclamations of pain.[24]
- Hand-to-hand combat master: The combination of his size, strength, reflexes, and skill in hand-to-hand combat makes Sportsmaster a fearsome melee combatant. He singlehandedly took out several bodyguards, easily evading strikes from behind, and countering their attacks with throws, spin kicks, and knee jabs. The force of his attacks is strong enough to knock out grown men with a single blow; he managed to knock Aqualad off his feet, spinning him with a clothesline move.[4]
- Acute senses: Sportsmaster has trained his senses to the degree that he can sense Miss Martian when she is using her camouflage ability, when no other person noticed her.[5]
- Weapons master: Sportsmaster efficiently wields a large variety of sports-themed weaponry, each modified for higher lethality. His deadliness is augmented by his acute senses and strength.
- Multilingualism: Sportsmaster can speak English, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and possibly many more.[25]
Equipment
Sportsmaster uses a vast array of Olympic-themed weapons alongside his physical capabilities to give him more variety and flexibility when in battle. His weapons include, though are not limited to:
- Catatonia drug: Sportsmaster developed a powerful sedative that leaves its victims catatonic for weeks.[21]
- Discus: A disc that can be hurled and disarm an opponent.[4] He also uses collapsible variants with flashbang and explosive properties.[24]
- "Hammer": A heavy metal ball attached to a cord and handle. Sportsmaster has this hidden in one of his pockets. Upon landing on the floor, a small crater is created. Despite its weight, Sportsmaster can easily swing it around.[4]
- Javelins: One of his most frequently used weapons. These can be used in hand-to-hand combat, as well as thrown causing an explosion on impact.[4] Furthermore, the javelins can be set to explode at a certain time, as they did when he threw one at Miss Martian, and again in Taipei, when he threw one at Red Arrow.[5]
- Knife: A standard fighting knife.[24]
- Pole: To perform high leaps in the fashion of pole vaulting. With this pole Sportsmaster was able to leap high enough to land on a roof.[4]
- Saber: A sword for fencing.[4]
Relationships
Cheshire
- Main article: Cheshire
Jade is Sportsmaster's oldest daughter. Their relationship is strained at best. Lawrence seems to care very minimally for his daughters, unless they are doing as wanted. Jade has run away from her father[7] because of his abuse, that began at an early age. [8] He would even force his to daughters to fight each other.[16] Although both have worked for the League of Shadows they do not get along.[4] Cheshire has both complained about having to be rescued out of prison by her father and left him high and dry, stating "Every girl for herself," [16] something seemingly brought on by his abusive raising of his children.
Sportsmaster refers to Jade as "Little Girl",[4][22] and always has.[26]
Artemis
- Main article: Artemis
Artemis is Sportsmaster's youngest daughter, and he consistently uses "Baby Girl" as his pet name for her.[2]and always has[26] They have a very strained relationship, and he constantly subjected her to tests, and pit her against her sister Jade.[16] He showed her how to use a bow and arrow at a young age, and constantly made her undergo dangerous tests to practice her skills.[9]
Sportsmaster was aware of Artemis' life as a hero, and subtly tried to undermine her standing with the Team through Red Arrow, so she would join him and Jade in the life. Her subsequent betrayal struck a bitter cord, and Sportsmaster aggressively pursued Artemis in an attempt to "discipline" his "errant" daughter.[16]
Sportsmaster reacted to Artemis's "death" much differently than Cheshire. While she was driven by a desire for vengeance, he worried more about his professional reputation. He felt that allowing the Light to compensate him monetarily for killing his daughter would make him a "cheap punk", and he demanded Kaldur'ahm's death as recompense. When his demand was rejected, Sportsmaster severed relations with his masters, and targeted Black Manta for death.[22]
When Miss Martian included him in their mindscape conference, Sportsmaster did not believe Tigress was truly Artemis. Unlike Jade, he could not feel her mental presence, and thought it to be a Martian illusion. He changed his mind when Tigress physically defeated him with a move he taught to Artemis. He was happy to know that she wasn't really dead, but his joy stemmed more from a realization that she's making chumps out of the Light.
Deep down, Sportsmaster loved his daughter, as he agreed to do her a favor and destroy evidence of her misdeeds aboard the Manta-Sub.
Appearances
Background in other media
- In the comics, Sportsmaster was an enemy of Green Lantern Alan Scott and Wildcat. He was a member of the Injustice Society and he teamed up with (and later married) the Golden Age villainess Huntress, aka Paula Brooks. Later they had a child named Artemis Crock who became a villainess in her own right as the third Tigress.
- This is the third animated incarnation of Sportsmaster, who had his first official appearance (if you discount his pastiche iteration) in the DC Animated Universe series Justice League Unlimited. However, the latter portrayal was more of a background villain, unlike in Young Justice where he has a more prominent role. He had also appeared in several Batman: The Brave and the Bold episodes.