Death Battle Analyses: Deadshot

When the world is populated by super powered heroes and villains, it takes great physical finesse and skill to keep up with men and women capable of lifting near-infinite mass or run faster than time. There is Batman, the world's greatest detective; Green Arrow, the ultimate archer; and the Joker, the most insane man alive. But no one on earth has truly earned the title of the "world's deadliest marksman" save for one man, an enthusiast of firearms and famed perpetrator of the most impossible shots on earth:

Deadshot

"Life has given me a unique perspective. Some of us are guns. Some of us are targets. And some of us are bullets. Waiting to be fired." - Deadshot

Before taking to the profession of being the perfect shot, Floyd Lawton was born into a wealthy Gotham family to George and Genevieve Lawton. His brother Edward was an ideal child, who Floyd idolized. Despite the money, his family was far from ideal: George was an abusive drunk. He would beat Genevieve at times, and she in turn unleashed her frustration on her sons. Overtime, Genevieve had enough and ordered one of her sons to kill George. No matter which timeline you follow, the most impacting moment was his first time firing a gun... and accidentally shooting Edward between the eyes. With his beloved brother killed by his hands, Floyd wanted to make sure he never missed again.

After years of training and using his talents as both a hit-man and a fake vigilante, Floyd would eventually be uncovered and arrested by the Batman. From then on, Floyd would have a deep-seeded hatred for the Dark Knight, and yet he can never bring himself to strait-up shoot him. Thankfully, he didn't waste his time and resources on just revenge; after much time spent as a freelance assassin, Deadshot would become an quintessential member of the Suicide Squad (not his choice, obviously) and the Secret Six (by choice... mostly). No matter what version you look at, Floyd's accuracy and mastery of gun-play has been the end of even the toughest enemies.

Statistics

• Age: late 20's to early 30's
• Species: Human
• Height: 6'1" (1.85 m)
• Weight: 202 lbs (92 kg)
• Place of Birth: Gotham City
• Base of Operation: Mobile
• Alignment: Neutral
• Profession: Assassin, mercenary, criminal, sniper, "World's Greatest Shot"

Equipment

As he is a master with virtually any firearms and similar weapons, Deadshot would have a couple of favored weapons.

Wrist Magnums

Deadshot's signature weapons are his wrist-mounted guns, dubbed the "wrist magnums". While their design is almost always different in each form of media, the wrist magnums are consistently powerful weapons, packing a high-powered rounds, high capacity magazine, a high rate-of-fire, and amazing accuracy.

Aside from their consistent lethality, the wrist magnums are also capable of being silenced and can fire an array of specialty rounds, incendiary rounds, armor piercing rounds and explosive rounds. He was able to use the latter two to take down a bulletproof Manhunter. The gun on his right wrist also features a grappling hook for traversing high locations.

Numerous Handguns

Aside from his wrist magnums, Deadshot utilizes a variety of handguns, typically akimbo-style. They vary from light-weight pistols, heavy-duty magnums, automatic machine pistols and high-powered revolvers, with almost all being heavily modified. He will commonly have several handguns on him at a time, and use them in conjunction with his wrist magnums.

Customized Assault Rifle

When needing more fire-power at a high rate, Deadshot will come packing a customized assault rifle, typically of the AR-15 family. He will typically upgrade it with extended magazines, scoped sights, muzzle compensators and silencers, barrel grips and recoil-absorbing stocks, along with many other things.

Sniper Rifles

For longer range and power, Deadshot utilizes a high-powered sniper rifle to fire from. Like any other gun he packs, Floyd commonly modifies it to fit his needs.

Various Explosives

Sometimes, precision shooting is not enough. Deadshot will utilize a variety of explosives as to punch through armored frames or take out a room full of enemies with ease. He's not overly fond of hand-held grenades, but has used rocket launchers, missile launchers and grenade launchers from time to time, and he frequently carries clip-on rockets for his guns.

Combat Knife

While Deadshot prefers to fight from a range, he does utilize a combat knife while in close quarters. It helps as his fists are not nearly as deadly as his bullets.

Deadshot's Suit

While deadly and skilled at taking out his enemy before they can even raise a finger, Deadshot doesn't go out without protection. Floyd's suit is made of Kevlar and packs various metal and cermaic plating, making him resistant to most firearms, explosives, electric shock and superhuman blows. In addition, his mask features a blood-pack under its outside and bullet-proof kevelar under that, and his suit is insulated to mask pulmonary functions and breathing, so that when he's shot in the head he can fake being dead and throw his enemies off guard. Even Batman adopted this trick to help him get the surprise on an escaped Joker and Onomatopoeia.

Targeting Eye-Piece

Deadshot almost always has on a optical device on his right eye, which enhances his perception and targeting and allow him to see further. It doesn't appear to be entirely neccisary, as he shows expert accuracy without any targeting assistance, nor does he need his eyes here. It does appear help with long-distance shooting, likely providing telescoping sight. It also appears to have computers built into it, providing analyses on materials to understand what he's dealing with, like analyzing Batman's mask and identify it as having Kevlar strengthening.

Powers and Attributes

Beyond-Human Physical Form: While technically human, Floyd is physically capable of doing things no human could even imagine doing. He has shown time-and-time again to do things that only a comic-book hero (or villain) can perform.

• Peak-Human Strength: While strength is not his forte, Floyd's physical power well surpasses a normal man. He is strong enough to carry and accurately fire a mini-gun without neccisary modifications for hand-held use.
• Beyond-Human Speed and Reflexes: Deadshot is extremely fast, both physically and cognitively. He frequently doges bullets and energy beams/bolts, disarms a man and aim his gun in mere moments, roll out of the way and kick a soldier's gun so that it shoots his commander (while Floyd was on his knees and his arms tied behind his back), outdraws a man who already had his gun aimed, spin around and shot the guns out of two cops who already had their guns drawn, was able to shoot Scandal Savage in the head quickly (who's fast enough to dodge machine gun fire), and has even proved to be able to react and shoot speedsters like Owen Mercer, who's capable of moving at Mach 1 speeds.
• Beyond-Human Senses: Deadshot's mastery of firearms would mean nothing if his senses were average. By his own words, he can see each beat of a humming bird's wings, which flap at a rate of 50 beats per second. His other senses seem to be also be beyond human, as he's able to take down a room full of men while dodging machine gun fire while blind.
• Beyond-Human Endurance and Stamina: Sometimes, Deadshot can't dodge or out-shoot everything. Thankfully, he's hard as hell to kill. He's taken brutal beatings from superhumans, including The Closer and Scandal Savage. He's also survived being shoot up and caught in explosions, and remained conscious after being electrocuted by Pathfinder.

Unpredictable: Deadshot is stated to have a death wish. This doesn't mean he wants to kill himself. He just wants to die in a spectacular way. Because of this, Lawton will put himself into dangerous situations, such as allowing himself to be injured or have little means to escape. However, his dedication to his job always pushes him to complete the goal before death can take him (which is never). This makes him unpredictable as an opponent, as his willingness to die allows him to deliberately injure himself to achieve a goal. 

Cool Under Pressure: When his life is on the line, Floyd typically responds with a calm state of mind. Enemies flying in and shooting lasers won't disturb his smoke breaks, and being held by the throat over a cliff side won't kill his humor.

Experience: Deadshot has lots of combat experience under his belt. He's completed numerous contracts, tangled with Batman and other superheroes multiple times, taken down teams of metahumans and defeated various military groups. In addition to his time on his own, he's been an important member of the Suicide Squad and Secret Six, defeating super villains and monsters from different origins. In short, Deadshot has filled more people with lead than any other.

Skills

Legendary Marksmanship: If there's any talent that Deadshot excels at, its marksmanship. He has performed more feats of accuracy than any other character in DC comics, with Green Arrow being one of the only equals, as seen in their game of darts. While Deadshot shows incredible accuracy with thrown knives, flipped coins and even kicking a rock, he prefers to the use of firearms as they're faster, more accurate and have greater rang. He's taken down large groups of people with a single round each, from gangsters and thugs to soldiers to superhumans. In addition, he's displayed the ability to ricochet bullets off walls and such to make otherwise impossible shots, like when he killed four armored hostiles with one round in Arkham Origins, bouncing off a shield and gun to hit each target.

He's shot through three gang-member's knees with one shot (from under a car no less), shot an apple off of Captain Boomerang's head with his eyes closed, decapitated a vampire with bullets, shot one of Javelin's explosive javelins out of his hand, killed nine thugs in a single moment (a second at most), and killed a room full of of hostiles without harming an innocent woman, all before the boss can finish saying "Kill Him". He's taken down several Rocket Red Brigade soldiers by shooting through the armor's seams and heat-induced cracks, carefully shot Enchantress' head as to only graze her skull and incapacitate her, and shot down an armored attack helicopter with a single round from his wrist gun. He's even displayed brutal accuracy blindfolded, and while being blinded temporarily, Floyd was able to accurately shoot and kill seven men without missing a bullet, while also dodging gunfire from Marauder.

One of his most impressive, if not down-right impossible, feat of marksmanship was while he was free-falling from a mile-high drop to snipe an armored target with a round designed to punch through the target's power armor and, knowing that the bullet won't have enough momentum to kill the target, shoots another round THROUGH that hole and into the target, killing him. To top it all off, he then headshots the target's son with his wrist magnum, as to keep the son from seeking revenge. Now, there are many factors that Deadshot had to have counteracted before making the second shot: the distance (far enough that Deadshot needed to scope in, so likely one hell of a range), the hole (which was no larger than a dime, and it had moved when the target reeled from the first shot and Deadshot would have had to realign the shot to the right spot at the right angle at the right time), falling at terminal velocity (the base location would be constantly moving, and fast as hell), wind resistance (his body and the rifle would have to be taking wind force upward when falling at terminal velocity), and bullet drop (bullets still follow gravity; any sniper can tell you that). Add in the fact that Deadshot's rifle doesn't have a scope attached or even iron sights, that means Deadshot did a shot that NO real-world sniper, even the greatest, can even dream of making.

Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Through he prefers to keep his fights at a distance, he's quite deadly up close. He's held his own against the likes of Batman, Deathstroke and the Joker. He's also taken down groups of enemies without needing to shoot them up. He's talented at disarming opponents and using their weapons against them in mere moments.

Deductive Reasoning: Deadshot has the eyes of a detective; he's able to deduce weaknesses quickly and recognize when something's off. While target practicing, he noticed that Owen Mercer was throwing paperclips like boomerangs to deflect some of his bullets while target practicing (while blindfolded), and Deadshot confronted him afterwords.

Tactical Analyses: Floyd is a man of both planning and fast wit. He will plan out many kills while others he must think quick. He knows how to react to various situations and keep his mind on the job. This helps with his combat skills as it allows him to take aim and shoot enemies to maximize, or minimize, lethality. When fighting the Closer, he was able to aim and shoot parts of his that's not bulletproof, like his eyes, throat and genitals. Yes, Deadshot made a literal Dick shot, but when your target is invulnerable everywhere else, the gonads are open game.

Mechanical Engineering: Deadshot displays incredible knowledge of engineering, primarily in the firearms department. He was capable of building his signature wrist mmagnums on his own, and designed a armor-piercing round powerful enough to punch through power-armor.

Knowledge of Anatomy: While by no means a doctor, Deadshot knows where he can shoot a person so not to kill them.

• Intimidation: Deadshot's understanding of the human body allows him to know where he can shoot a person without killing them outright, as a means of torture. He can also use a demonstration of this knowledge to terrify others.

Weaknesses

Human Limits: As hard to kill as he may appear, Deadshot is not immortal. He can be knocked out of commission for a while, where he'll need to recuperate from any sustained injuries. I addition, Deadshot is no match against the likes of Superman or Wonder Woman, who had deflected every bullet he fired and knocked him out with a two-fingered flick. Deadshot has has also been beaten by non super-powered individuals as well, primarily Batman. This is due to Batman's mastery of stealth and close quarter combat to overcome Floyd's obvious superiority at a range.

• Can't Kill the Bat: Now, how can Deadshot perform marksmanship feats beyond a human being but he can't seem to hit Batman? Well, there is a reason; Floyd has a  subconscious urge that forces him to pull his shots. Floyd doesn't entirely know why, but Batman does.

Missed Opportunities: Deadshot doesn't like to miss but he has. In fact, the first shot he ever took was a miss. I mean, it hit something but not what Floyd was targeting. Some of his failed shots relate to Batman interfering with his shots, from hampering his iron sights to pushing a target out of the way of the bullet. He's also displayed difficulty in hitting individuals capable of moving at high supersonic or greater speeds, like the Flash or Wonder Woman.

Clinical Depression: As in his dossier in Arkham Origins, Deadshot is speculated to have clinical depression. Fitting to it, Floyd believes that life has no meaning, alive just so that he can die later. This is why he's so fine with potentially dying.

No Self-Preservation: Deadshot's  death wish does make him unpredictable, but it also makes him reckless, causing him to get into dangerous situations that increase his chance at death. While he hasn't died that often (only once during the New 52 but was resurrected not long after and it was in sacrifice), he finds himself hospitalized on multiple occasions.

Never Too Serious: Deadshot typically focuses on the job and go for the kill, but sometimes he'll dick around. He'll miss some things on purpose, like purposely missing a truck full of hostiles to spur up the situation or purposely missing Harley Quine as she rides away on the Joker's helicopter in the Suicide Squad movie.

Code of "Honor": While a paid hitman, Deadshot is not without his ethics. He will complete any contract he's given, so long as he's paid. When Batman needed to protect a witness being targeted by Deadshot, the Dark Knight chose to instead freeze the employer's account, making it impossible for Deadshot to get paid and choose to publicly cancel the hit. Now, if someone else gets in his way, he won't hold back.

Lactose Intolerant: His body can't process dairy... so no dairy for him.

Chain Smoker: Deadshot smokes. A lot. Surprisingly, he's at a physical state that many men can only dream of having.

Feats

• Killed large groups of enemies without civilian casualties
• Killed a number of Rocket Red Brigade soldiers
• Eliminated a group of metahumans single-handedly
• Proved to Owen Mercer that he could easily kill him
• Incapacitated Enchantress by intentionally grazing her skull
• Destroyed a helicopter with one shot of his wrist gun
• Withstood hits from various superhumans
• Survived being in giant explosion
• While temporarily blind, kills seven men with two bullets each, without missing a shot, while also dodging heavy machine gun fire
• Shot a bullet through a bullet hole he fired moments ago, which was moving from its place and out of aim, from a vast distance, while from free-falling at terminal velocity

Conclusion

Bulletproof, Mather-F**ker

As a man with the talent to hit nearly anything and the capability to surviving nearly anything, Deadshot is a perfect combatant in a Death Battle. His vast array of guns would make Boomstick drool in happiness while Wiz would be impressed by his utilization of technology and trajectories to get the job done. To match a man with perfect marksmanship requires requires an opponent with near-equal skill.

Fight Type: 3D

In my opinion, gun fights are best done in 3D. The guns are the most detailed when three-dimensional, the gunfire is the most realistic, it allows for more detailed trick-shots and ricochet effects, and the weight and momentum behind everything has a greater feel to them. Also, it would be Torrian, so we'd know we'd get quality motion. Additionally, with the upcoming Injustice 2 in works, we'll have an excellent 3D model for the fight.

Possible Opponents

Bullseye

Lester is his first name, or so he says. His past is a mystery, but what can be said for certain is that Bullseye is a hired killer who loves his job. He likes to use virtually anything as a weapon, especually something as little as a toothpick. He enjoys bringing pain and suffering to his victims and reviles in proving that he's the best. This brutal talent and enjoyment in his job makes him one terrifying opponent.

Possibility - Very High: This is a DC vs Marvel fight that's been waiting to happen! The two Marksmen that Never Miss (kind of)! There is also the nice contrast in their characters; Deadshot's professionalism and practicality vs Bullseye's insanity and creativity: Bullseye can turn any item into a weapon while Deadshot packs more practical weaponry. Many people want this fight to be a reality, and I'm one of them!

The Set Up: What ever the set up, it has to come down to them doing their jobs. Maybe Bullseye is hired to assassinate an individual but that individual hired Deadshot to kill Bullseye. Maybe Bullseye and Deadshot have been hired to assassinate an individual and only one can get the kill. Or maybe, they're doing their jobs and encounter eachother, but because both are known as "the Greatest Marksmen on Earth", they can't let the other live.

Widowmaker

Amélie Lacroix was the wife of Gérard Lacroix, an Overwatch agent spearheading operations against the Talon terrorist organization. As a means to eliminate Gérard, Talon chose to kidnap Amélie and transform her into an assassin, the killer of her own husband. Amélie was gone. Now she's Widowmaker.

P.S. Dat Ass.

Possibility - Low: Both utilize long-range weapons and accuracy, technology and tactical planning to get the job done. However, I don't think Widowmaker has the feat, experience and shear firepower to match Deadshot. In addition, while both are at their best at long distance, Floyd has proven himself to be FAR more talented in close-quarters combat. In my opinion, Widowmaker should go up against Yoko Littner. A battle of Boobies vs Booty

The Set Up; Suicide Squad vs Talon? Perhaps Deadshot and the Suicide Squad are sent in to eliminate some Talon agents and Deadshot and Widowmaker decide to have a sniper-off.

Revolver Ocelot

Adamska had always had an affinity towards Spaghetti Westerns, choosing to take the image of the cinematic cowboy and desperado as himself and wield the iconic Colt Single Action of the Wild West. As a major operative of FOXHOUND and agent of the Patriots, Adam would go down in history and infamy under this code name: Revolver Ocelot

Possibility - Medium-High: As a major character to the Metal Gear Solid series and one of the greatest marksmen throughout history, Ocelot ought to make for a deadly opponent. However, Deadshot packs far greater firepower from far superior firearms, and takes on metahumans far more frequently, as well as win many such fights. Ocelot prefers to use a Colt Single Action and frequently losses against both Big Boss and Solid Snake. Still, both are "human" level fighters with an infinity with marksmanship.

The Set Up: This one is tricky. Perhaps Deadshot and the Suicide Squad infiltrate a base for The Patriots to steal something (schematics for a Metal Gear) or assassinate a VIP. Deadshot runs into Ocelot and the two get into a gun fight against each other.

Daisuke Jigen

With his signature Smith & Wesson Model 19 .357 magnum revolver at quick-draw's reach and the accuracy and reflexes to shoot down missiles in mid-flight, there's no shot in the Lupin III series than Daisuke Jigen. It's best to stay away from Jigen when he's feeling like shooting (so long as he has his gun).

Probability - Medium-High: Both are deadly to each other but I don't see it as close as people think. The biggest thing people can say in Jigen's favor is that he can just shoot down any of Deadshot's bullets. However, Deadshot typically utilizes weapons with a FAR superior rate-of-fire with greater magazine capacity. He can easily send out a barrage of bullets Jigen can't possibly shoot down. Still, both are renown marksmen and masters of the quick-draw and head-shot. I feel Jigen would be more fit to fight Revolver Ocelot, as both prefer revolvers and performing crazy feats with them.

The Set Up: Perhaps Deadshot is hired to take out Lupin III. Jigen, as Lupin's most loyal friend, would try to stop Floyd.

Golgo 13

His profession is assassination. His talent is marksmanship. He's wanted by numerous organizations, both for his talents and his criminal record. He uses many guns but he prefers his snub-nosed magnum revolver and modified M16. His lethality is legendary and his history is unknown. His true name is a mystery. He lives as Duke Togo. They call him Golgo 13.

Probability - Medium-High: This one is a little different than the previous possibilities. While many possible opponents have super-villain-esk outfits or perform crazy ricocheting shots, Golgo 13 is similar to Deadshot for his practicality and lifestyle. Both are professional hitmen that utilize a wide selection of firearms, display incredible feats of sniping skills and can tolerate more pain than humanly possible. In addition, they both have penchant for sex with women and unknowingly having kids. Still, Deadshot's marksmanship feats are all kinds of crazy, well beyond the more realistic Golgo 13. Still, Golgo has made some insane shots and he's still going strong. Personally, Golgo should go against Agent 47 from Hitman.

The Set Up: This one has a few options. One may be hired to kill the other, and vice versa, or they're both aiming for the same target but only one can get the pay.

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Anything I miss in this Analyses? Anyone I should add to the list of potential opponents? Comment below and tell me your thoughts! I will continue to edit and make better.