Zoe Lawton is the only daughter of mercenary and assassin for hire Floyd Lawton, better known by his moniker of Deadshot. She later took the name of Lawless.
History[]
Zoe was born to Floyd and Susan Lawton. For the safety of his daughter, Floyd decided to retire from his profession as hitman after his name had been outed by the Daily Planet; to keep any chance of retribution against him resulting in Zoe getting targeted. Zoe was sent to a very good school thanks to her father's savings, which was in Gotham City; because it was safely protected thanks to Batman and his allies. With GCPD competent after Jim Gordon cleaning it up, along with people like Aaron Cash. She was a bit of a rebel, in terms of behavior, with numerous authority figures pointing out that there were better paths forward than simply rebelling against authority.
Before Kill the Justice League Incident[]
Some years later, a lot of attention was suddenly was bought onto Deadshot thanks to an alternate version of himself from Earth-2, having been accidentally sent to Earth-1, separated from his world's Zoe and continued operating as Deadshot for years, unaware of his retired counterpart. Fearing for his now teenage daughter's safety, Lawton would come out of retirement as Deadshot in order to find the man he believes is impersonating him. Months of tracking his counterpart down resulted in the two engaging in a massive shootout, with the Earth-2 Deadshot seemingly getting killed while the now living Lawton was soon arrested by Green Lantern for the lives lost during the shootout. During his time in Arkham Asylum, following being labelled as the actual imposter of Floyd Lawton and considered insane because of his claims, Lawton would attempt to justify himself while on a phone call with Zoe, and while her side of the call isn't heard, she hangs up midway through their conversation, her relationship with her father now strained.
During the five years her father was imprisoned, Zoe wound up attending Gotham Academy, and also dabbled in “wholesome” video games, and took up streaming, becoming an influencer in the process. She also went on to be a vigilante and thief (much like Catwoman, but with a heart) in her own right, under the name of Lawless; spreading anti-meta weapons to people who needed to defend themselves. For at least three years, she would commit Robin Hood-esque redistribution-of-wealth-based thefts, such as annually sneaking into the Gotham Historical Society’s annual ball without invitation. Given the nature of the thefts, it would seem that she stole from the wealthy to give to the impoverished. All of this was thanks to her father's training, along with seeing how Gotham was still pretty much a hell hole of inequality. This caught the eye of Amanda Waller, whom saw Zoe as director material for A.R.G.U.S. in the future; planning to bring her in if necessary.
Kill the Justice League Incident[]
When a clone of Batman exposed each member of the Suicide Squad to his Fear Toxin in the Batcave in Metropolis, Lawton began hallucinating his daughter's voice expressing her disappointment in him and how he should remain locked up.
It is also revealed that when Intergang emerged with new weaponry previously unseen, Lawless took it upon herself to leak their weapon designs, which would later be seized by A.R.G.U.S.
Lois Lane looked into Zoe in exchange for Floyd snitching on A.R.G.U.S. and found that she had disappeared some time after the Metropolis Invasion had been. She kept mum about specifics of what Zoe's "extracurriculars" were, as Floyd was freaking out like crazy when he discovered that Zoe wasn't at school in Gotham.
Metropolis Invasion[]
With the appearance of Earth-5, things in Metropolis have escalated with pieces of that world's Gotham City emerging from the other world. Seeing this as an opportunity too good to pass up, Zoe began livestreaming her activities in Metropolis, including revealing she had managed to steal anti-gravity tech from Brainiac to use for her own. After finishing her livestream Zoe contacted the Squad, specifically with a message for her father and not only revealed her vigilante identity as Lawless, but also revealed Green Lantern is alive and she is trying to bring him back from Earth-5. Waller sends them to Earth-5 to aid Lawton in her mission, also warning Lawton in particular against jeopardizing the mission, knowing his relationship with Zoe. Lawless sent Green Lantern flying into the grounds of the Elseworld's Arkham Asylum after she manages to rescue him from the Skull Ship. After the Squad saved him, however, Lawless got stuck on the Skull Ship. The Squad returned again to save her and defeat the 6th Brainiac. After returning to the Hall of Justice, Deadshot sternly told them they are not going to have his daughter injected with a nanite, only to find that Zoe had already joined Task Force X of her own will. Deadshot confronted Waller about this, even telling her that Zoe is 13 years old, but Zoe corrects this by telling him she is 18, and Waller assured Floyd she didn't force Zoe to join. Zoe told her father that she knows what she is getting into, which Harley supports, but Boomerang objects to by telling her about the price he himself paid for not listening to his own father. Zoe, however, tells the Squad that they are the ones that chose to let A.R.G.U.S. put the bombs in their heads, AND that they willingly went up against Brainiac and the cloned Justice League, which Deadshot assures her that he thought it was the only way he could ever see her again. Zoe, getting frustrated with her father's overprotective attitude towards her, asks him what is keeping him and his allies here, which Shark answers is that it's their fear of Waller. He then asks Zoe why she's involved, and Zoe tells him that robbing Brainiac and "killing the living shit" out of him is her reason for joining, and Deadshot tells her it's not something that she can come back from, and is surprised to find out Zoe has tattoos, despite her fear of needles, which Harley hopes is not for an ex and King Shark says tattoos are a rite of passage. Zoe asks for the wi-fi password, which Flag doesn't know, as she is escorted into the holding cell. During her interviews with Waller and Flag, Deadshot eavesdropped on their conversation, uneasy about her involvement. Waller soon took notice of this and allowed Floyd to sit in on the interrogations, only for him to interject when he felt that they were asking Zoe questions which he did not want her answering. After some interviews where this happened, Floyd was removed from the interrogation room, allowing Zoe to speak for herself. It eventually reached a point where Waller appealed to Zoe’s potential by opening up to her, confiding her past and how she came to be director of A.R.G.U.S. to her. She also shared her philosophies about equity with her, and told her to think about what she wanted to be, while Floyd was secretly watching in the distance, only for Waller to once again notice. Following the interviews, Floyd berated Zoe for going along with the interrogations, resulting in an argument, though she was able to mollify him. Later, Floyd apologized for his overprotectiveness at Harley Quinn’s behest, stating that she told him it was best to accept her for who she was, admitting his opinion that he believed that he and Susan did well raising her. He then agrees not to horn in when such interference is not needed, but they both agreed to “show her how Lawtons do” if Waller thinks to turn against them.
Gameplay[]
Lawless is the third DLC character in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
- Firearms proficiency: Pistols, SMGs and Sniper Rifles
- Traversal: Gravity Accelerator - Lawless uses a special backpack made from reappropriated Coluan technology, dubbed the Gravity Accelerator, to use anti-gravity to traverse in midair, as well as leap to great heights, glide short distances, and hover in mid-air, to use as a height advantage against enemies. Her Traversal attack, Manipulated Singularity, consists of using her gravity accelerator to create a miniature black hole which implodes, causing damage to enemies.
- Melee Weapon: Colu Cannon - Her melee weapon consists of a special gauntlet made from reappropriated Coluan technology, which uses a wrist mounted apparatus to fire energy blasts at enemies.
Codex[]
From the Files of Lex Luthor[]
One might assume the daughter of Deadshot would be yet another crack shot in a bountiful sea. Her beginnings are humble: Born in the circus Gotham has become, learning of the city’s dark past in brightly lit school hours, only to maneuver the minefield of costumed ne’er-do-wells to get home… Well, she attended some of the best schools available, including the prestigious Gotham Academy. But allow me in his modern folk hero’s tale.
She sees how deeply the corruption runs within Gotham’s veins and, rather than using it to propel herself to power, Lawton decides to combat it! Robbing the rich, all while recording and streaming her exploits for the world to see. Doubtless she inspired copycats - though she herself is a copycat of Selina Kyle, no pun intended - and unintentionally founded a “grassroots network of informants and accomplices.
The allure of toppling the alien embodiment of capitalist imperialism was too great for Miss Lawton, in her own words. She rushed to Metropolis and began a booming little cottage industry of reverse-engineering Coluan technology. Her prototyping is unrefined, but solid and rapid. It has to be: she uses it herself. She even managed to make her way onto the Skull Ship and other Earths!
I realize the irony in my praise of a young person who must thoroughly despise me on principle. I am, after all, an altogether too human version of Brainiac, or Metropolis’ own Bruce Wayne. But her potential is impossible to ignore.
Trivia[]
- According to the official website, Zoe was taught how to fight and shoot by her father, whom she idolized; she was very upset when Green Lantern got him arrested.
- As Lawless, Zoe's look takes some cues from Phin Mason/Tinkerer from Spider-Man: Miles Morales; relying on purple advanced technology to fight. Though Zoe's case, she didn't invent the tech, only repurposed whatever she scavenged from Brainiac's technology.
- Zoe has more than one tattoo, much to her father's shock and disapproval. They're likely on her legs or torso as they are the only unexposed parts of her body.
- The fact Zoe had to correct Floyd about her age shows her father was having difficulty accepting or seeing that she has now grown up during the five years he was imprisoned and is now legally an adult capable of making her own choices, the rest of the Squad on the other hand show Zoe respect and treat her like an adult.
- As a reference to this, one of her DLC outfits has the Wonder Woman logo shirt Floyd mentioned. However, it's a child sized shirt, and due to this Zoe has to wear it like a midriff shirt.
- Floyd would later accept Zoe for who she was after Harley advised him to let her live her life her own way, following a heated argument between Floyd and Zoe.
- Lawless is the first DLC character to be from Earth-1 instead of a refugee from an Elseworld.
- Lawless is the second Arkhamverse character to have heterochromia iridium, a phenomenon in which an Individual’s eyes are different colors. This is something she's inherited from her father, as Earth-1's Deadshot is shown having heterochromia when unmasked.
- Zoe is the only playable character shown to willingly go to Amanda Waller and get injected with the nano bomb in order to join the Suicide Squad much to her father's anger.