Characters: Royce
Real Name: Donovan Crowley
Occupation: Mercenary, former soldier, former underground knuckle fighter
Identity: Known to law enforcement agencies throughout the world
Legal Status: Citizen of the United Kingdom with an extensive criminal record
Place of Birth: Brixton, UK
Known Relatives: Agnes Crowley (mother, deceased)
Other Aliases: Tosser
Group Affiliation: The Factory
Powers and Abilities: Royce possesses an accelerated healing factor that allows him to regenerate damaged or destroyed tissues with far greater speed and efficiency than an ordinary human. Due to ongoing treatments at the hands of Legacy, Royce is developing rapidly increasing levels of superhuman strength (when he first encountered T.A.S.K. he could only lift 2 tons, he can presently lift 15 tons)
Royce is a former member of the S.A.S. and is highly trained in the use of small arms and explosives and is a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, with intensive training in numerous disciplines. He is an expert boxer.
Brief Personal History: Donovan Crowley was born in Brixton, East Sussex to downtrodden and unwed Agnes Crowley. It was rumored that his father was Howard Wilson, a bank robber who served time for the murder of two police officers and Donovan visited Wilson many times over the years.
Crowley was always a lad of great stature but suffered from severe self esteem issues. As a gawky teen he found safety and kinship among the street toughs of his area who used his size for its intimidation factor in their numerous street fights with neighboring groups. It also helped that no matter how bad the scrap, no matter how many times he was hit, Crowley wouldn't stay down. Young Donovan embarked on an extremely rigorous workout regimen which filled out his thin frame and he grew to love and embrace his neighborhood tough reputation; a reputation that included numerous stays at juvenile detention facilities. Somewhere along the way he was introduced to the world of underground bare-knuckle fighting and a legend was born.
Donovan became a champion on the underground circuit where his unstoppable brawler style earned him the nickname "Rolls Royce," after the famed British engine. He put his winnings to work, setting up his former street gang in more grown up criminal activities such as protection/extortion rackets and loan sharking. With his notoriety on the bare-knuckle circuit came money, a few stints in adult prison and something Crowley never had before; the attention of women. Knowing he was not a particularly good looking man, Donovan never mistook the attention for anymore than what it was. He did however enjoy playing the part of the fashionable hunk and often dressed the part when out and about with his faux harem; many of whom where never seen again after the night's entertainment.
That all changed the night Alice came into his life -- Alice, who seduced him and then plunged her knife into his chest 11 times while he slept.
Alice's attack on Donovan revealed the secret of his success in the ring. Donovan Crowley possessed an unnatural healing ability that regenerated tissue at a rate proportional to the severity of his injury. As a result his gift remained mostly undetected by the general public and known only to Crowley himself.
Donovan and Alice, damaged and dangerous, became a couple and for a time blood flowed freely on the streets of London and Donovan "Royce" Crowley was ... happy. Right before their six month anniversary Alice disappeared and Donovan was discovered in a hotel room with a dead maid. In the ensuing melee with the authorities Royce killed one officer and crippled another. He forced one of his old neighborhood mates; an army officer, to sign off on an application to the army and found himself in basic training.
The army's training of course came easy to someone with Royce's unnatural advantages and he soon found himself selected for entry into the Special Air Service (S.A.S.). As a member of the S.A.S., Royce saw action during two tours of Iraq. During his final tour he received a postcard with a picture Alice over the body of paroled bank robber Howard Wilson (the man believed to be Donovan's father), her knife plunged into his chest, with the words "Miss you deeply." On Crowley's very next mission he "snapped," gunned down over a dozen innocent women and children in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, deserted his post and was arrested by British Military Police. After finding the postcard among Crowley's things military investigators believed that Crowley tried to go AWOL in order to avenge his friend Wilson. Laughing hysterically, Crowley informed them that is was his intention to leave to go find Alice to be with her because she had killed Wilson for him. Donovan did indeed visit Wilson many times ... to promise him that the day of his release would be the day he died.
As he languished in prison awaiting sentencing Royce was freed by Ginger, Alice ... and Legacy. Legacy offered him the keys to a new life as a member of The Factory and he accepted, leaving the rubble of his cell hand in hand with his beloved Alice.
Now he grows stronger as Legacy experiments on his body, imbuing him with greater levels of superhuman strength to compliment his rapid rate of healing.
Written by Damion Gonzales
Character design by Sean Isaakse