Bloodsport (DC)
Bloodsport is the name of several characters who feature in DC Comics.
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Bloodsport (Robert DuBois)
- Main Article: Robert DuBois
Origin
Robert DuBois was an African-American male who was noted to have had a younger brother named Michael DuBois. During the Vietnam War, Robert came to receive the draft letter were he was to join the army. However, he avoided it by fleeing to Canada but this led to his younger brother Mickey taking his place instead after passing himself off as Robert. Whilst abroad, Mickey came to lose all his limbs in the war and returned but the experience led to Robert feeling traumatised at his actions leading to him being in and out of psychiatric hospital all over Canada for a 12 year period. This made him a prime candidate for Lex Luthor who secretly had the man outfitted with a device that could teleport an arsenal of weaponry in his hands. Under the guise of Bloodsport, he began a killing spree in Metropolis by opening fire at various locations where he claimed he was a victim of the Vietnam War. (Superman v2 #4)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
After his brother's death, his mental state deteriorated, leading him to become the mercenary Bloodsport. After failing to kill Superman, he was sent to Belle Reve until he was forced into the Suicide Squad with the task of exploring the Multiverse for Amanda Waller's own personal ambitions.
Bloodsport (Alex Trent)
- Main Article: Alex Trent
Alexander Trent was a male human born in the modern age where his childhood saw him being surrounded by hatred on account of his mother being a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a white supremacist organization, as was her husband, who was sheriff of the town of Melonville. She allowed herself to be experimented upon while pregnant with Alex, as part of an attempt to make a superior breed of white men. This experimentation involved the murder of over a dozen innocent black persons. She was arrested along with the rest of the Brotherhood involved in the murders thanks to the efforts of a young Perry White and Franklin Stern. Mr. Trent was killed while trying to stop White and Stern from revealing what they had learned, leaving Mrs. Trent all the more embittered. (Superman: The Man of Steel v1 #47) Afterwards, Alex Trent came to manage a 'losing a job because of a quota' and having a son 'who idolized a basketball star more than him'. As Trent's frustration grew, so did his irrational hatred of minorities which had been bred into him his entire life. He came to be approached by Bloodthirst with an offer to exact vengeance. Bloodthirst was seeking to create chaos in Metropolis and was using Trent as an instrument of that goal. To that end, he surgically implanted a teleporter device used by the original Bloodsport Bobby DuBois into Trent's chest, allowing him to transport weapons and equipment to him from a fixed location. (Adventures of Superman v1 #506) Bloodsport then went on a rampage in Hob's Heights, one of the old housing projects in Metropolis's Suicide Slum. His goal was to kill as many blacks, Hispanics, Jews, aliens, and "race traitors" as possible. He managed to murder over 30 people including women and children before Superman arrived on scene. In desperation, Bloodsport set fire to the Heights, distracting Superman long enough for him to make his next move. Using a dual missile launcher with a target tracker, Bloodsport fired two missiles—one aimed at Jimmy Olsen, the other at Ron Troupe. (Adventures of Superman v1 #507)
While Superman was distracted with the missiles, Trent went down into the streets, essentially on a suicide run with the police. At this point, Hi-Tech arrived, claiming that she was his backup sent by Bloodthirst. Rather than be grateful, Bloodsport was enraged when he realized Bloodthirst had given Hi-Tech a teleporter of her own. The two fought each other while Superman battled Hi-Tech's robots. Ron Troupe, injured by Bloodsport, retrieved a fallen weapon and drew down on Trent. This prompted Bloodsport to teleport a bomb to himself and he detonated it, seemingly killing himself in the explosion. (Action Comics v1 #694) Bloodsport was not killed, but somehow his teleporter transported him away from the battlefield. He laid low until after the Fall of Metropolis, when most of the city was damaged or destroyed by the insane Lex Luthor. Trent reemerged at this point, renewing his objective to wipe out as many minorities as possible. To that end, he orchestrated a shootout on one of the main bridges out of the city and later fired weapons into one of the more heavily damaged neighborhoods, killing at least dozens of people. Ron Troupe managed to foil him again, discovering his weapon cache and destroying it, leaving Bloodsport with no more weapons. Superman at last was able to apprehend him. (Action Comics v1 #702)
Trent was thrown in Stryker's Island Prison, which had enough racial tension as it was. Not long after being put there, the original Bloodsport, Robert DuBois, was transferred to the facility. This prompted a call for a boxing match between the two for the title, which the warden agreed to once Superman accepted the position of referee. Trent used the match for an attempt to escape, causing a full blown riot in the prison. He managed to teleport in some weapons and armed several of the other prisoners. DuBois had him at his mercy, but Superman prevented him from being killed. DuBois was then shot and killed by the prison guards, but Trent was kept in custody. The Brotherhood was not pleased, however, that he had been at the mercy of a black man, and so they arranged for Trent's murder in his cell. (Adventures of Superman v1 #526)
Bloodsport (Unknown)
- Main Article: Unknown
An unknown character took up the mantle of Bloodsport, and eventually teamed up with Hellgrammite, Silver Banshee, Kryptonite Man, Toyman, Puzzler, Livewire and Riot to take on Superman.
Overview
DuBois pretended that he was a bitter Vietnam veteran who felt greatly betrayed and rejected by his country thus he enjoyed powerful and righteous anger toward his fellow Americans for wasting the freedoms invading Vietnam supposedly helped preserve. However, he has no first-hand experience about this war with his speeches and character being largely drawn from movies about the war and folk representations of Vietnam War veterans. Though at first he seemed aware that his vet persona was fictional, he grew increasingly delusional and dissociated. Described as a very violent and powerful man, DuBois was plunged into a permanent fantasy about being a soldier, and was even feared by the other dangerous prisoners at Stryker's Island Prison in Metropolis.
Though having no natural powers, Bloodsport was outfitted with a device that could teleport an arsenal of weaponry into his arms that were stored in a distant armory. This allowed him to manifest any weapon he desired that he could use in the field. The only way to stop this process was by ionising the air around him thus disrupting any teleportation beam from reaching him. (Superman v2 #4)
For his teleporter, he required a power pack that was responsible for operating it. Bloodsport though was able to prime it and turn it into a dead man's switch and when triggered it could result in a blast covering a 10 mile radius. (Superman v2 #4)
Notes
- Bloodsport was created by John Byrne and Karl Kesel where the concept made its first appearance in Superman v2 #4 (April, 1987).
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
Films
- In Justice League vs. the Fatal Five, an amalgam of the two named Bloodsports appeared in the setting of the animated film where he was voiced by actor Tom Kenny. Though named Alexander Trent, this version visibly resembled duBois where he was a deranged conspiracy theorist who held a newsroom hostage until Miss Martian and Batman arrested him.
- In The Suicide Squad, the Robert duBois Bloodsport appeared in the setting of the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Idris Elba. This version is a Black British mercenary who had a daughter named Tyla and was armed with a high-tech suit and collapsible weapons that only he can use in the field. It was noted that he once came to shoot Superman with a Kryptonite bullet but was defeated and sent to Belle Reve. Whilst there, he came to be recruited into Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad program and deployed to neutralise the threat posed by Project: Starfish.
Appearances
- Superman v2: (1987)
- Adventures of Superman v1:
- Action Comics v1:
- Suicide Squad:
External Links
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