Artemis Crock

* Tigress
* Artemis Crock

## Background

### 1991 - 2003: Artemis Crock

Artemis is the daughter of two assassins, Lawrence Crock & Paula Nguyen. She grew up in The Bowery aka Gotham's worst neighborhood, filled with crime, homelessness & prostitution. Since a young age, Artemis & her older sister Jade were taught combat, weaponry & various languages by both of their parents. Other than each other, the girls didn't have many friends other than a younger boy Jason. His father was a "work" associate of her parents so Jade would babysit them while they went out for business. That's how life was for Artemis up until she was seven.

Her family had always switched back & forth between Gotham & Infinity Island, where her parents' team was based. But after one of their late night business meetings went south, her mom took the blame so everyone could get away, including their father. Upon returning, he took the girls & they began living with the League of Shadows full time.

Their mom was the main reason that didn't stay there as she wanted them to get a real education but their dad felt that all they needed to know was to defend themselves & fight. Their father was extremely harsh on them, resulting in emotional & physical abuse. But this was also where her touch for archery began as she was attracted to long distance fighting more than close & personal like her sister.

In 1999, Jade went to Ra’s al Ghul himself to ask if she could continue her training in one of the safe houses. Because Ra's himself permitted it, her father couldn't argue. As a result, Artemis got the full brunt of her dad’s abuse & training. While in the League, Artemis was trained by the best in archery & also learned under other in combat. Due to her upbringing, Artemis felt it was kill or be killed. She had a considerably aggressive nature & willingness to solve problems with force.

After being the sole receiver of her father's abuse for the last four years, Artemis ran away before her initiation ceremony by escaping on one of the convoys leaving campy. She went to the only other place she knew... Gotham.

### 2003 - 2004: Artemis Crock

She decided to put her training to good use & began crime fighting that same month. Just like any vigilante, criminal or crimefighter in Gotham, she was noticed by Batman. He recognized her from his time with the League as the daughter of his fellow assassins. He took pity on the girl, understanding that she just grew up in bad circumstances.

Recognizing that archery was her strong suit, Bruce called in a favor with Oliver Queen & she moved in with the Queen family. She was uncomfortable adjusting to the new environment but relaxed after becoming close with Oliver's younger sister Thea, his adopted son Roy & Dinah's younger sister Sara. All four of them were regular non-powered teens, who also enjoyed moonlighting as vigilantes in their free time. She took on the codename by Speedy due to her ability to shoot multiple arrows in rapid succession.

### 2004 - 2006: Speedy

After staying with the Queen family for a whole year, she was granted permission to join the Titans shortly before Thanksgiving. Green Arrow devised a cover story for her, saying that she was his adopted daughter & new sidekick. Though it started as a cover story, Oliver would legally adopt her. Her first meeting with the Titans was rocky as they believed she took Red Arrow's spot. Despite this, her first mission with the Team was overall a success other than Kid Flash blaming her for every little thing that went wrong

In addition to patrolling with Team Arrow, she participated in many missions with the Titans like the trip to the Tower of Fate & an undercover operation in the Star City jail. Things began to turn around for Artemis until her mother was suddenly let out of jail on a technicality. Artemis assumed she would return to her husband but she instead remained in Gotham & explained she was no longer with the Shadows. Wishing to have a relationship with her mother, Artemis moved from Star City to her mother's apartment in Gotham & started classes at Gotham Academy. Weirdly enough, the rough & crime-ridden city was much more comfortable for Artemis.

Red Arrow joined the Titans a couple of months after Artemis. He later came to them with a mission involving Sportsmaster & Artemis volunteered. The team thought she was just eager to show herself off against Red Arrow but it was because the man was her father. When they arrived, Cheshire & Sportsmaster threatened to expose her secrets so she botched the mission so they could escape. This did not sit well with her teammates, though Red Arrow somewhat understood. Using this connections, the Light hoped to blackmail her by exposing her secrets. After they threatened her, Artemis told her friends about her own family. They took it well though Robin already knew. Though he scolded her for failing the earlier mission, Kid Flash admitted his feelings for Artemis & kissed her on the following New Year's.

After completing the first day of her sophomore year, Artemis went to the Cave to find it being attacked by Red Inferno & Red Torpedo, the "siblings" of Red Tornado. All of her present teammates but her & Robin (Jason Todd) are captured. After Robin was taken by Red Torpedo, Artemis heavily doubts her ability to defeat them. Using her last arrow, she quickly shot an arrow at the EMP generator, which completed the wiring to short it out. The EMP quickly disabled the two robots before the rest of the team arrived in the Cave.

With this victory, Artemis' confidence continued to grow. But when her adopted brother Roy began to act coldly towards her, she began to question her position. After slipping up on a mission, Roy revealed that Sportsmaster told her there was a mole on the team & he thinks it's her. Taken aback by the accusation, Artemis tried to distance herself from the team & participated in less missions. However, Batman sent her, Red Arrow, Superboy, Nightwing & Miss Martian to investigate some robberies occurring in Europe. They were able to stop the robbery in action, learning Parasite was behind it all. Superboy immediately attacked him with Miss Martian following suit. Red Arrow tried to shoot an arrow but Parasite used his new telekinesis to choke him out. Artemis saved his life by shooting a gas arrow at Parasite. After defeating the villain, Roy thanked Artemis for saving his life & confessed that he thinks Sportsmaster sent him on a wild goose chase with the mole idea.

### 2006 - 2008: Artemis Crock

Though the fiasco of a mole had was over, the Titans continued to suffer in other ways. While searching for his birth mother, Jason was viciously killed by the Joker. His death greatly rocked the superhero community, especially the Titans & the Bat Family. Many heroes took leaves of absence while some, like Red Arrow, began to wallow in their depression. Roy began drowning his sorrows in liquor & no matter how much Team Arrow & the Titans tried to help, he brushed them off. When Roy went missing, Artemis helped Ollie searched for him but to no avail. All the losses they had taken led to her & Wally both deciding to retire from crimefighting the following summer before her junior year. She had been surrounded by death her whole life, it was time for something else.

Artemis kept her head down for the next year, only focusing on school & spending her free time with Wally. Things were going well until Artemis decided to get back into crimefighting after learning oh her hometown being declared No Man's Land.

### 2008 - 2013: Tigress

At the time, Artemis was in Star City spending her birthday weekend with her adopted family & Wally when she got the news about Gotham. Hearing of her hometown being destroyed by various criminals made her reminisce about her old life & while she initially wanted a new change of scenery, she began to miss the old one. Wally was completely against it but he decided to respect her wishes as he knew Dick needed the help. After fashioning herself a new suit & taking her mom's old codename Tigress, she headed to Gotham to assist the Bat Family. By the time Gotham began rebuilding itself, she had been nominated to join the Justice League & was in the works of joining the Outsiders, a covert ops team founded by some former Titans. Artemis was approved for both teams & was even elected as the Outsiders' co-leader alongside Dick.

Back to her regular schedueled programming, Artemis applied to National City University, the same college that Wally was also attending. As soon as she finished her senior year, she moved to National City & got a condo with Wally. They lived a normal life together that was similar to a married couple. Even though she tried to ignore it, Wally was growing distant that summer as he was upset that she went back to crimefighting without asking how he felt. They began to argue but things always were smoothed over, or so she thought.

When she returned home from a long weekend visit with her mother, Wally laid everything out on the table. He wasn't okay with Artemis going back into crimefighting & he didn't think it was right that she didn't have a real conversation with him about it. Not willing to be pushed into an ultimatum, Artemis made the choice for Wally & packed her bags. She drove herself all the way to Blüdhaven & stayed at the bunker for the night. The next morning, she explained what happened to Dick & against her stubborn will, he got her an apartment close to school to live in until the end of the year. She finished out the semester while keeping her distance from Wally before transferring to Gotham University & move back in with her mother.

During her sophomore year, she renewed a friendship with her old friend, Cameron Mahkent. Maybe it was the loneliness or the need for company but Artemis began casually seeing Cameron. It was no big deal to her, just someone to be around but it was clear to anyone that Cameron had a huge crush on the archer. After seeing each other for some months, Artemis discovered she was pregnant during finals week. For the duration of her pregnancy, Cam made many attempts to make their relationship official but Artemis refused as she was still dealing with the fall out of her break up with Wally. When their daughter Isabella Rose was born, he made one more final attempt & made it clear that he would leave it alone after this. Unfortunately for him, the answer remained the same.

For the early months of Isabella's life, Artemis took a break from crimefighting to be a full time mother & full time student. Her mother helped in any way she could, regularly babysitting for Artemis in case she need to do a school project or make a visit to Star City. The following year, Artemis graduated from college with a bachelor's degree in information technology & comparative literature. Just as quickly as Artemis had been celebrating her new success, she mourned the loss of a family member. Only a week after her graduation, her mother suffered a fatal heart attack. It soon became hard for her to remain at their old apartment so she moved herself & Isabella to Oliver's penthouse, where Roy was currently residing.

## Romantic Relationships

* Wally West: Boyfriend (2005 - 2009)
* Cameron Mahkent: Lover (2010 - 2011)
* Jason Todd: One Night Stand (2013); Boyfriend (2018 - )

## Personality

During her adolescent years, Artemis's personality was a product of her unusual upbringing. In the kill-or-be-killed culture in which her parents raised her, Artemis had to constantly fight for her life, resulting in her considerably aggressive nature & willingness to solve problems with force.  She was also protective of her secrets & constantly lied to her friends out of fear of being discovered as the child of villains. She is contantly going against her upbringing where she was trained to be an assassin, not a hero.

Artemis is a very passionate & opinionated woman, having been described as one to never hold her tongue. Always ready with a witty remark, sarcastic comment or biting comeback, she is intent on proving herself to anyone who questions her. The tumultuous way in which she grew up inspired a major part of Artemis’ personality & how she conducts herself. Having lived in such a radical & violent environment for such a long time, Artemis is used to things not going according to plan so she's always prepared for whatever the future has in store. She conceals her defensive nature with an aggressive attitude & involves herself in confrontations with little to no hesitance. She is a capable & professional woman who takes herself & her job very seriously. It is clear from her demonstrated level of skill that she will remain focused & doggedly pursue any task that lies ahead of her.

## Powers & Abilities

* **Peak Human Condition:** Having undergone an evidently vigorous & intensive training regimen, Artemis has demonstrated impressive physical feats for a human of her age & size. She can run at above-average speed, maintain her stamina during long combative situations & is able to move, dodge & react to dangers with impressive agility. Her physical strength is above most people her age, as she is able to strike out full grown adults with a single blow & hold up people who are considerably heavier than her.
	+ ***Acrobatics*:** She's always been proficient in acrobatics but has bettered her skills over the years.
	+ ***Hand to Hand Combat/Martial Arts*:** Artemis is highly skilled in combatant, having been trained by her father & other members of the Shadows. After years of training & experience, she's able to take out multiple attackers with relative ease.
	+ ***Stealth*:** Artemis is skilled in infiltrating & escaping facilities undetected, leading to her usually being involved in recon missions. Her team is also specifically used for covert ops missions, making stealth one of their best attributes.
* **High Level Intellect:** Artemis is highly intelligent. She was granted a full Wayne Foundation Scholarship to Gotham Academy for her last years of high school. While this was with the help of Batman, it took little convincing when they looked at her grades.
	+ ***Computer Operation*:** Though Artemis is the quick to admit that she is no Oracle or even Red Robin, she is skilled in computer infrastructures, as well as processing, creating, securing & exchanging electronic data.
	+ ***Leadership*:** She is fully able of taking lead, having led various missions for the Titans. Now, she serves as co-leader of The Team.
	+ ***Medicine*:** She has demonstrated skills in emergency medicine when she tended to the dehydrated Aqualad & provided a sling for Kid Flash's broken arm.
	+ ***Multilingualism*:** She can speak fluent English, Spanish, Vietnamese & some French.
	+ ***Tactical Analysis*:** As co-leader of The Team, Artemis is fully capable of forming plans of attack or recon missions.
	+ ***Tracking*:** Artemis is skilled in hunting down opponents who attempt to evade capture.
* **Weaponry**
	+ ***Archery*:** She has been extensively trained by Malcolm Merlyn & Oliver Queen in archery. She once disarmed Rene Ramirez of his guns with a single shot.
	+ ***Marksmanship*:** While not as polished as Oliver, she can shoot two to three arrows at the same time & have them hit their targets accurately.
	+ ***Swordsmanship*:** Artemis is a master swordsman, having been a former recruit of the League. She was able to subdue several fellow League members using a sword.
* **Trick Arrows:** Like her mentor, Artemis uses a a variety of trick arrows. Some of them are Exploding Arrow, Knockout Gas Arrow, Grappling Hook Arrow, Bola Arrow, Adhesive Arrow, Impact Arrow, Lasso Arrow, Split Arrow, Foam Arrow, Smoke Screen Arrow, Fire Arrow, Net Arrow & Tracker Arrow.
* **Crossbow:** Since becoming Tigress, she has changed her the format of her trick arrows to be equipped with her crossbow.
* **Bolts:** Artemis carries orange/brown bolts for her crossbow. She stores them in her utility belt.
* **Gadgets:** As Tigress, she carries a blowpipe with sedative darts, bolas to entangle people, darts that cause catatonia, explosive pellets & smoke bombs.
* **Sword:** She has a sword stored in the sheath, which she carries on her back.

### Weaknesses

* **Assassin Training:** When first becoming a vigilante, she struggled as she was accustomed to using lethal force. Though she has grown out of it, this side has reappeared over the years when her loved ones are threatened.
* **Aggression:** Artemis conceals her defensive nature with an aggressive attitude, exhibiting a wild temperament that is apparent when people argue or belittle her. She readily involves herself in confrontations with little to no hesitance.
* **Family:** Though she recognizes all the bad her family does, she goes softer on them than she does on other criminals. During one of her missions with the Titans, she blatantly let Cheshire escape. This was not only due to her softness but her also wanting to keep her family a secret.

### Ratings

* **Intelligence:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Strength:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **Speed:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Occult:** 1 - Nonexistent
* **Weapons:** 6 - Expert / Advanced
* **Range:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **Strategy:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **Combat:** 6 - Expert / Advanced
* **TOTAL:** 140 - Threat Level 3 / General Threat

## Trivia

#### General

* She is ambidextrous. She can draw her bow with her left or right hand.
* After her break up with Wally, she moved into the Bunker for a month. Then Dick got her an apartment in near her school against her wishes, as she was too stubborn to let him help.
* Artemis has spent her life growing up in three very different settings: the Bowery District of Gotham (worst neighborhood & filled with crime), the League's headquarters on Infinity Island (in secret & constantly training) & in Damen Hills, Star City (surrounded by wealth & love). Each place has shaped who she is in some way.
* Damian calls her "Crock," which she hates.
* She suffered from depression for nearly three years after her break up with Wally. The break up was the catalyst but Isabella's birth (post partum) & her mother's death added on to it.

#### Family

* After leaving the Shadows & living on the streets of Gotham, Bruce introduced her to Oliver. After pulling some strings, Bruce was able to get him as her legal guardian. He introduced her to the Titans as his niece that he had to adopt due to some family issues.
* Even after Paula was released from jail, she still looked to Dinah as a mother figure.
* While Paula wasn't the most motherly, she did try to care for Artemis & Jade the best she could. When she was released from prison, she got herself an apartment in Gotham & Artemis eventually moved in with her, improving their relationship. She continued to live there until her mother's death.
* Artemis & Jade were very close growing up until Jade eventually left. They wouldn't reconcile until many years later, though Jade always regretted not protecting her from their father. Their first interaction since Jade's disappearance was during a Titans mission, when Jade was working as a operative for The Light. She didn't expose their relationship at the time & purposely let Jade get away to avoid it coming out.
* Though she resent her father, he still considers her to be his "babygirl."

#### Relationships

* She & Zatanna became fast friends & grew even closer after a mission paired them together. She is the first one Zatanna calls about anything & vice versa. Artemis accompanies Zatanna to her yearly reunion with her father to comfort her afterwards.
* Unknown to her, she was friends with Dick as crimefighters & as civilians due to attending the same school. To Artemis, both Dick & Robin were flirts that could occasionally be a good friend. They eventually became close, leading to Dick revealing his identity to her. They bonded over the fact that they were both without powers. He looks to her as a sibling among the many he already has.
* She was very upset with Wally after their break up. When she found out he rejoining the Titans, she punched him in the face & unintentionally broke his nose.

#### Jason Todd

* Unlike many people, she has always called Jason out on his shit.
* Jason had a crush on Artemis when they were kids living in Gotham. Their fathers were "work" associates so the two were together a lot until they moved to Infinity Island. They also had sex during the summer of 2011 but Artemis forbid him from speaking about it.
* Before they dated, Jason saw her as an overbearing pain in the ass & Artemis viewed him as a child that couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag.
* After Jason's break up with Rose, he began to reconnect with Artemis. He had brushed her off upon his return & when things seemed to become cordial, Artemis hit on him but he rejected her out of insecurities. Though Jason had always had a crush on the archer & felt she was one of the best of the heroes, he could not accept the idea of being happy with her. His rejection & following attitude led to their relationship consisting of insulting each other & getting into fights. Witnessing all this, Dick played matchmaker & soon their grudging respect for each other blossomed into a friendship.
* After multiple close calls & many late night heart to hearts, Jason left a heartfelt confession for Artemis underneath her door at the bunker. After finding the letter, she asked Jason out on a date & he revealed what happened to him while he was with the Shadows.
* Artemis legally adopted Laura after her & Jason had been together for two years. It took some time but Bruce helped with all the paperwork & legal issues. Jason would've adopted her himself but he couldn't due to being legally deceased.
* Here is the confession that Jason slipped underneath Artemis' door:

```
*I’ve always admired you, Artemis. Your strength, your determination, your heart. You think what happened years ago was a mistake. That it was a moment. But I think we could be great together, I really do. I’ll give up being Red Hood for us. All I need is one chance to prove to you I can do better. And I will devote my life to making you proud. Happy. Loved. If you don’t think I’m worth one chance, if it was all just you caught up in everything, then throw this letter away. I’ll never mention it. I’ll even understand. Whatever happens, I love you.*
*Yours, Jason*

```

## Notes

* She is mostly based off of Artemis Crock from *Young Justice.*
* Her relationship to Cameron & their daughter is a reference to the comics.
* On *Young Justice,* Artemis & Wally's relationship ended due to Wally's death but instead it was because Wally didn't want her to return to crimefighting, which was hinted at after their retirement.
* Artemis & Jade being sisters is a nod to *Young Justice.*
* Her relationship with Jason Todd may be a nod to his relationship with Artemis of Bana-Mighdall. It may seem pretty random but after thinking about it, it hit me lie a ton of bricks how similar these two were (i.e. felt like replacements for original sidekicks, daddy/parents issues, League of Shadows connection, violent streaks).
* Greg Wesiman, *Young Justice's* producer, confirmed Artemis majored in Comparative Literature & Human Biology.
* Jason's confession to Artemis is actually a confession he gave to Barbara in *The Three  Jokers.*
* To view the 2032 version of the character, click HERE.