Crispus Allen

* Biography
* Threat Assessment
* Trivia and Notes
* Gallery

## Biography

### Crispus Allen: 1967 - 1985

Crispus grew up in St. Roch, Louisiana, raised by a single mother who worked multiple jobs to support her and her young son. With little income, Crispus and his mother grew up in the rough neighborhoods of St. Roch which were rife with criminal activity. More than once, Crispus was approached by members of youth gangs, attempting to recruit him into their ranks. Crispus declined them routinely. To keep himself off the streets, his mother put her son in little league baseball and softball. Crispus became a rather good pitcher with an incredible curveball that his dream of going professional seemed to becoming reality. However, reality hit him harder than he thought when his mother was hit by a drunk driver and required time away from work to recover. Left with few options, Crispus considered throwing his dreams away to become a hoodlum.

Luckily for Crispus, a cop named Jim Corrigan stopped him a block from the local gang's hideout for a traffic violation. In the course of the brief exchange, Corrigan could see Crispus routinely eyeing several gang members that were watching from a distance. Corrigan likely also noted Crispus' telltale nervous indicators, prompting him to tell the boy "Whatever you're about to do, kid... You best think it over carefully."

Left off with a warning and a second chance, Crispus turned his mom's car around and went home. Later that night, the same cop stopped by to speak to Crispus' mother. It seems likely the cop swung by to warn Violet Allen about her son's apparent interest in the local gang, but when he saw their living conditions, he took an unexpected turn. After giving her guest a cup of coffee, Violet asked the cop why he was there. That's when the cop told Crispus' mother that her son had applied for a janitorial job at the police station but had forgot to put his birthdate on the application.

Crispus' mother was surprised, as was Crispus - but the boy proved himself good at improv and played along with the cop. The visit was brief, but ended with Crispus promising to swing by the station the next morning to fix the clerical issue. Crispus kept his promise, but rather than submitting an application, he was beginning his new job as a shoe shine boy in the station, as an assistant to a half-blind man that had done the job for thirty-seven years. The job did not pay much, but he got to keep his tips and it kept him out of trouble. He had to be thrifty and clever, but he made enough to keep him and his mother fed without resorting to crime.

The job gave Crispus an opportunity to meet cops, lawyers, and politicians. He also got to know an artist who was working on a mural in the lobby one summer. The artist had a daughter who would bring her mother lunch every day. It took a couple weeks for Crispus to build up the courage, but one day he successfully asked Rebecca Morales out for a date. Crispus and Rebecca spent their last year of high school as sweethearts. Rebecca became pregnant but she refused Crispus' engagement as she did not want to hold him back from his scholarship to Gotham State University to play baseball.

### Crispus Allen: 1985 - 1989

Crispus attended Gotham State University. He majored in criminal justice, no doubt inspired by the cops he had known as a boy. During his senior year, Crispus tore his shoulder during a big game. Major League scouts never approached him, and though he had offers from some Minor League teams interested in seeing what he could do after recovery, Crispus decided instead to apply to the police academy in Gotham after his college graduation.

### Crispus Allen: 1989 - 2000

Crispus spent most of his early years on the force laying low. He found a beat as a patrolman that could work and protect his community as best he could, staying clear of the corruption that was running rampant through Gotham's police force. When he was shot in the line of duty, Crispus would be awarded with more than a ceremonial medal. He met his future wife, Doris, in the emergency room (she was his attending nurse) and after his recovery, the police commissioner gave him a detective shield as a publicity stunt.

Despite his attempts to fly under the radar, Detective Allen got a reputation as a good cop. Crispus began working with internal affairs and helped expose a ring of corruption. Crispus made a lot of enemies, but when James Gordon was assigned to oversee the Major Crimes division, Crispus Allen was one of the first cops he hand-picked to work for him.

### Crispus Allen: 2000 - 2008

Crispus became known as one of the GCPD's finest detectives, promoting to sergeant after two years on the taskforce. Crispus oversaw several taskforces during this time and even became someone that the Batman and his caped conspirators would personally confer with — despite Crispus' view of the Batman as a tolerable necessary evil but not one he wanted to be personally attached to in any manner.

During the opening days of Gotham's Cataclysm, Crispus was injured trying to arrest the Horseman known as Azrael. Crispus would recover in a makeshift trauma camp, protected by his brothers and sisters in the GCPD and he would be back on his feet helping the citizens take back their city, one block at a time.

### Crispus Allen: 2008 - 2015

Following the Cataclysm, during the restructuring period, Sgt. Bullock was promoted to Lieutenant and Crispus became partnered with Bullock's young partner, Renee Montoya. Crispus and Renee had some personality clashes, but the two became close friends.

Also during this time, Allen's estranged son came to Gotham, hoping to get to know his father. Crispus' wife was less-than-excited to see her husband's illegitimate child, but she soon warmed up to him enough to help welcome him to the family. Crispus' son, Diego Morales, would also end up joining the GCPD.

### Crispus Allen: 2015 - Present

One night, while investigating a possible connection between the terrorist group CRIME and the Gotham Chapter of the Sons of Batman Motorcycle Club, Crispus and Renee spotted what they believed to be some weapons being loaded into a black van. Crispus requested backup, but was informed there would be a substantial delay due to an incoming storm. The two opted not to wait for proper reinforcements.

Following the black van to a deserted building, the detectives found several murdered men as well as two meta-criminals - an unknown culprit in a purple and black suit and the international terrorist Whisper A'Daire. Crispus decided that this level of threat required them to wait for backup but before he could give that order to Renee, she had disappeared.

Moments later, the vigilante known as the Question showed up and a gunfight ensued. When the Question took a shot to her chest, Crispus jumped in to drag her into cover and keep the combatants at bay with covering fire. The Batwoman showed up shortly after this and kept the terrorists occupied while Crispus began rendering first aid on the vigilante.

Tearing open the Question's shirt to check her wound, Crispus recognized the GCPD standard issue ballistic vest the Question wore under her clothing. Once he made sure that the vest had absorbed the blast and she was not seriously injured, Crispus' curiosity got the better of him. It did not take long for him to notice her detective badge tucked under the vest and realize that Renee was the Question.

As the Question came around, she jumped back in to the fray to lend Batwoman a hand. If she thanked Crispus for the assist, he didn't hear it as it was then that his adrenaline dipped enough for him to register his injuries. During his daring rescue, Crispus had taken an energy blast to his side. Shortly after this realization, he passed out from shock.

The battle between vigilantes and terrorists would change locations, becoming an exciting speedboat chase from Gotham Harbor, across the Delaware Bay, and into Metropolis' waters. But Crispus remained behind in the abandoned warehouse where he was discovered by Maggie Sawyer and the backup that had been called in but delayed by the storm. Crispus was rushed off for medical care in an ambulance.

Interesting thing... Due to the confusion surrounding that storm, a report had gone out that Crispus Allen had died en route to the hospital and was taken to the coroner's office. That doesn't seem to be the case, though, as Crispus Allen was released from the hospital and was found alive and well in his home the next morning when Renee swung by to notify Doris of her husband's passing.

After all the hugging and crying, Crispus did confront Renee about her secret. She came clean with him right away and he's been one of her closest allies ever since.

Weird coincidence: After finding Crispus alive and well, Renee decided to check in with the hospital about why Crispus had been reported as dead on arrival. The storm had left most of Gotham without power so digital records were incomplete or missing entirely, but she was directed to the coroner's office where she found Gotham's coroner, Jim Corrigan - yes, that Jim Corrigan, the same cop who had helped Crispus in his youth, dead on his office floor, having died of an apparent heart attack that very morning.

## Threat Assessment

### Resources

* Police Training
	+ Master Interrogator
	+ Master Investigator
	+ Expert Marksman
	+ Expert Martial Artist
	+ Capable Medic
* Indomitable Willpower

### Weaknesses

* Friends and Family
* Vice — Wrath

### Analytics

* **Physicality:** 3 — Trained / Exceptional
* **Occult:** 2 — Basic / Typical
* **Weaponry:** 3 — Trained / Exceptional
* **Expertise:** 5 — Master / Remarkable
* **Range:** 4 — Expert / Enhanced
* **Strategy:** 4 — Expert / Enhanced
	+ **TOTAL:** 47
	+ **RANKING:** Low Threat

## Trivia and Notes

### Trivia

* He is the current host of Aztar the Spirit of Vengeance.

## Gallery

Crispus Allen.jpgCrispus AllenThe Spectre.jpgThe Spectre
## Appears In

Archangels.pngArchangels of the Silver City

## Links and References

* Appearances of Crispus Allen

1. ↑ NFX: Crispus Allen