Deathstroke

Deathstroke
250x450px Slade Wilson as Deathstroke. Cover to Deathstroke (vol. 2) #8. Artwork by Jason Fabok
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	New Teen Titans #2 (December 1980)
Created by	Marv Wolfman George Pérez
In-story information
Alter ego	Slade Joseph Wilson
Team affiliations	United States Army Injustice League Suicide Squad Secret Society of Super Villains Titans East H.I.V.E. Checkmate Titans Team 7 League of Assassins
Partnerships	William Randolph Wintergreen Talia al Ghul
Abilities	Genius level intellect Brilliant tactician and strategist Skilled manipulator and deceiver Enhanced superhuman strength, speed, agility, durability and reflexes Peak physical and mental condition Regenerative healing factor Master martial artist, hand-to-hand combat, swordsman and marksman Highly skilled in stealth Access to hi-tech equipment Master of various weapons Mastery in bojutsu and jojutsu Multilingualism
Deathstroke the Terminator
Series publication information
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing
Publication date	(vol. 1) August 1991 – Jun 1996 (vol. 2) November 2011 – July 2013 (vol. 3) October (Ongoing) 2014
Number of issues	(vol. 1): 60 + 4 Annuals (vol. 2): 20 + 0
Creative team
Writer(s)	Marv Wolfman
Penciller(s)	Steve Erwin
Inker(s)	Will Blyberg
Collected editions
Deathstroke the Terminator: Full Cycle	ISBN 978-0-930289-82-9

Deathstroke (real name Slade Joseph Wilson) is a fictional supervillain, and sometimes a reluctant antihero, who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. He is a mercenary and assassin who first appeared in The New Teen Titans (vol. 1) #2 (1980). Wizard magazine rated him the 24th greatest villain of all time and the 32nd greatest comic book character of all time. Also, in 2009, Deathstroke was ranked as IGN's 32nd greatest comic book villain of all time.

Originally a villain for the Teen Titans, writers have developed him over the years as an adversary of other heroes such as Batman, Atom (Ray Palmer) and Green Arrow, establishing parallels between him and Batman and a deep-seated grudge between him and Green Arrow. The character has been substantially adapted from comics into other media, including several Batman and Justice League video games and animated films, the Teen Titans animated series, and the live action series Arrow where he is portrayed by Manu Bennett.

Publication history

Deathstroke the Terminator first appeared in 1980, in the second issue of the book New Teen Titans. He was originally introduced as "the Terminator", a mercenary who was completing the terms of a contract undertaken by his son Ravager.

Due to his popularity, Deathstroke received his own series, Deathstroke the Terminator, in 1991. It was retitled Deathstroke the Hunted for issues #0 and #41-45; and then simply Deathstroke for issues #46-60. The series was cancelled with issue #60. In total, Deathstroke ran for 65 issues (#1-60, plus 4 annuals and a special #0 issue).

Following his injury in DC Universe: Last Will and Testament, Deathstroke appears in one of the four Faces of Evil one-shots, written by David Hine. Hine has explained that the series is part of the set-up for future stories: "All of the characters in this ‘Faces of Evil’ series were selected for their potential as major players in the coming year."

Even though the character of Deathstroke the Terminator predates James Cameron's film The Terminator by four years, the Slade Wilson character is now simply called Deathstroke, even by characters who had called him Terminator for decades. The full title has not completely fallen out of use, having been referenced as recently as Justice League Elite.

Fictional character biography

Origins

Slade Wilson was sixteen years old when he first enlisted in the United States Army, having lied about his age. After serving a stint in Korea, he was later assigned to Camp Washington where he had been promoted to the rank of Major. In the early 1960s, he met Captain Adeline Kane who was tasked with training young soldiers in new fighting techniques in anticipation of brewing troubles taking place in Vietnam. Kane was amazed at how skilled Slade was and how quickly he adapted to modern conventions of warfare. She immediately fell in love with him, and realized that he was without a doubt the most able-bodied combatant she had ever encountered. She offered to privately train Slade in guerrilla warfare. In less than a year, Slade mastered every fighting form presented to him and was soon promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Six months later, Adeline and he were married and she became pregnant with their first child. The war in Vietnam began to escalate and Slade was shipped overseas. In the war, his unit massacred a village, an event which sickened him. He was also rescued by SAS member Wintergreen, to whom he would later return the favor.

Chosen for a secret experiment, the Army imbued him with enhanced physical powers in an attempt to create metahuman supersoldiers for the U.S. military. Deathstroke became a mercenary soon after the experiment when he defied orders and rescued his friend Wintergreen sent on a suicide mission by a commanding officer with a grudge. However, Slade kept this career secret from his family, even though his wife was an expert military combat instructor.

A criminal named the Jackal took his younger son Joseph Wilson hostage to force Slade to divulge the name of a client who had hired him as an assassin. Slade refused, claiming it was against his personal honor code. He attacked and killed the kidnappers at the rendezvous. Unfortunately, Joseph's throat was slashed by one of the criminals before Slade could prevent it, destroying Joseph's vocal cords and rendering him mute.

After taking Joseph to the hospital, his wife Adeline Wilson enraged at his endangerment of her son tried to kill Slade by shooting him, but only managed to destroy his right eye. Afterward, his confidence in his physical abilities was such that he made no secret of his impaired vision, marked by his mask which has a black, featureless half covering his lost eye. Without his mask, Slade wears an eye-patch.

The Teen Titans

Slade has a long history as an enemy of the Teen Titans, beginning when his other son Grant received superhuman enhancements from the H.I.V.E., dubbed himself Ravager, and accepted a contract from them to kill or capture the Teen Titans. However, Grant's enhancements proved fatal, and Slade agreed to complete the contract. His first mission involved stealing the element Promethium from S.T.A.R. Labs and selling it as the ultimate weapon. He then kidnapped the Titans and placed them in the path of a Promethium bomb to test his device for the buyers, effectively killing two birds with one stone. The Titans escaped and pursued Deathstroke, but he severely wounded Changeling in his escape. This would be the start to a lasting animosity between the two.

Deathstroke next appeared in New York, holding officials hostage in order to lure the Titans into confronting him. Terra, a new ally of the Titans, and Changeling were the only ones available to answer the call. Terra knocked Changeling out in an effort to prove herself worthy of being a Titan and fought Deathstroke single-handedly. Deathstroke escaped as the other Titans arrived, but by then Terra had proven herself and the team offered her membership. Later that night, it was revealed that Terra and Deathstroke had conspired to fake the fight in a plot to infiltrate the team.

Judas Contract

The Titans eventually entrusted Terra with all of their secret identities. Once Slade had this information, he used it to systematically take down each of the Titans, exploiting them at their weakest moments. Donna Troy was gassed at her photo studio, Changeling was poisoned with tainted envelopes while responding to fan mail, Victor Stone was electrically shocked by a chair in his own apartment, Koriand'r was ambushed with a device that affected her powers, and Raven was taken down by Terra herself. Nightwing was last to be attacked and he was confronted by Deathstroke himself. He narrowly avoided being captured and soon discovered that his teammates had already been taken. Nightwing arrived at Titans Tower to discover Slade's ex-wife and son. She told Nightwing that Terra was a traitor, how each of his teammates were captured, and related the origin of Deathstroke.

Nightwing, in order to confront Deathstroke and the H.I.V.E., joined Jericho (Joseph Wilson). During the confrontation, Deathstroke recognized Jericho as his son which caused him to hesitate. Jericho freed the Titans by possessing his father's body. Terra died during the battle, Slade was then taken into custody.

Slade was put on trial for his crimes, but the trial was deliberately sabotaged by Changeling so that he could kill Slade himself, believing he was responsible for Terra's betrayal of the Titans. Slade agreed to the confrontation, but showed up out of costume. Changeling found himself unable to kill Slade, so instead they talked. Feeling some empathy for his grief, Slade explained his past with Terra, and Changeling realized Slade was not to blame for the choices Terra had made. The two men parted on peaceful terms, with Slade returning to Africa with Wintergreen.

Titans Plague

Months later, Slade encountered the Titans again while they were investigating mysterious attacks and disappearances. Donna Troy is attacked by a group of strange beastmen and barely survives the encounter. Meanwhile, while attending a fundraiser with his father, Gar Logan recognizes Slade trying to maintain a low profile. When he finally catches up with Slade, he finds him about to kill the host of the fundraiser Walter Lanier. He stops Deathstroke, but is surprised when Lanier turns into a bat-like creature and flies away. Slade reveals to the Titans that he was responsible for smuggling the drug the bestiamorphs were using to transform others, but did not realize what it was until it was too late. After Jericho and Raven were stricken by the plague, he aided them in destroying the beastmen and finding a cure for the contagion.

Titans Hunt

Shortly after this, he came to the Titans' assistance again during the Titans Hunt storyline. The members of the Titans, as well as many inactive members, all disappeared in a manner very similar to how they were abducted during the Judas Contract. Mento, an on-and-off member of the Doom Patrol, hires Deathstroke to find the missing Titans. He eventually discovers with Nightwing that the abductions were the work of the Wildebeest Society, and that their leader was none other than Titan member Jericho, Deathstroke's son.

It was revealed that Jericho had been possessed by the corrupted souls of Azarath as they were using him to capture the Titans and use them as physical hosts in order to survive. During the transfer process, Jericho's true self resurfaced briefly, begging his father to kill him. To spare his son any more pain and save the remaining Titans, Slade was forced to drive a sword through Jericho's heart, seemingly killing him. This act still haunts him to this day.

Afterward, Slade continued his life as a mercenary, but also acted as an occasional ally to the Titans, aiding them when mutual threats outweighed their rivalry, most notably during the Total Chaos storyline when the Team Titans arrived in the 20th Century to assassinate Donna Troy before she could give birth to her son, who in their timeline had grown up into the tyrannical despot, Lord Chaos. Slade also met Pat Trayce, a tough former cop who would become the new Vigilante. Pat Trayce became Slade's lover later on, and the two developed a romantic as well as professional relationship.

Family business

After Slade failed an assassination attempt on the President of the United States, he was subsequently framed for the murder of a U.S. Senator. The man responsible had taken on the identity of the Ravager and was hunting down Slade's friends and loved ones. Eventually, with the help of the Titans and Sarge Steel, Slade was able to prove his innocence and the true culprit was revealed to be Steve Dayton, under the alias of the Crime Lord, who had again succumbed to mental instability caused by his Mento helmet.

Meanwhile, Slade's relationship with his estranged wife Adeline took a tragic turn as Slade underwent a process to gain the ability of physical regeneration, allowing him to survive any wound so long as his brain is intact (but this power is limited as Slade cannot regenerate his lost eye because that injury happened before he gained his healing factor). After gaining this power, Slade was forced to give his wife a blood transfusion to save her life, resulting in her gaining a similar healing factor which manifested itself as a form of immortality. This alteration of her DNA drove Adeline insane, shaming Deathstroke into going into a semi-retirement state.

In Titans (vol. 1) #12, Deathstroke teamed up with the Titans to face his wife Adeline, who in her insane state had revived the H.I.V.E. and sought to rid the world of all superhumans, blaming them for Jericho's apparent death. During the battle, interrupted by Vandal Savage and a band of villains that he had organized from recent Titans battles, Adeline's throat was slit. In a brief return of sanity, she begged Slade to kill her, requesting him to reunite her with "my... our children..." because her version of the healing factor would not heal the wound, but only allow her to live in spite of it. Deathstroke refused, but Koriand'r shocked her teammates and Deathstroke by using her starbolt blast to disintegrate her completely, per Adeline's wishes. This was a turning point, as Deathstroke renounced all ties with the Titans as a result of Starfire's act.

It was then revealed that Jericho managed to transfer his consciousness into Deathstroke in the instant before his death. Taking control of his father, Jericho forced Deathstroke to murder his longtime butler, mentor and confidant Wintergreen. He then launched a series of attacks against the current Teen Titans, most notably shattering Impulse's knee with a shotgun blast, before leaving his father's body. Deathstroke has since manipulated his one remaining child Rose Wilson into the mercenary business as the new Ravager, in order to find and kill Jericho, using a specially designed serum to heighten her hostility and push her over the edge. Unfortunately, the process also resulted in her being driven at least partially insane, to the extent that she cut out her own left eye in an attempt to prove to her father that she was just like him.

Nightwing and Birds of Prey

Deathstroke appeared in Nightwing #23 as a mercenary against Black Canary and Conner Hawke as part of the "Brotherhood of the Fist" tie-in to the No Man's Land story arc.

Deathstroke also appeared in Birds of Prey #22-24, where he was sent to Gorilla City by Blockbuster to get an ape-heart. He is accompanied by Lady Vic, Grimm, and Black Canary, who is posing as Oracle.

Identity Crisis

In the Identity Crisis miniseries, Deathstroke was enlisted as a bodyguard for Doctor Light, who was being pursued by the Justice League of America as a suspect in the murder of Sue Dibny. In the ensuing battle, Deathstroke nearly beat the team of Elongated Man, Flash, Zatanna, Hawkman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Atom and Green Lantern. He systematically took out every member except for Rayner, whom he had the potential to disable through trying to usurp his ring's energies using his own formidable willpower. Fortunately, before the outcome of this conflict with Green Lantern ended, Green Arrow stuck an arrow in Deathstroke's right eye socket, enraging him. Slade went ballistic, which derailed his pre-planned strategy and began to beat Green Arrow, but was stopped when the majority of the team tackled Deathstroke to the ground. Dr. Light used his powers to allow the two to escape. Near the end of Identity Crisis, Deathstroke confronts Green Arrow on a rooftop. Arrow sees his reflection in the windows of a nearby building, but when he turns to confront Slade, Deathstroke is gone. Instead, Green Arrow finds Slade's cowl and a note stuck to the wall by the very arrow he stabbed in Slade's eye socket. The note reads "This is yours - We're not done.".

Infinite Crisis

Deathstroke was a founding member of Lex Luthor's Secret Society of Super Villains in the Infinite Crisis storyline. He was seen in Infinite Crisis #1, hiding in a warehouse south of Metropolis waiting to ambush the Freedom Fighters with several other members. The battle didn't last long, and by the end, Deathstroke had killed the Phantom Lady. Slade is also the one who landed the final stroke on Uncle Sam by shooting him in the back (and leading to his apparent death).

He was the employer of Nightwing, whom he hired to train his daughter Rose. However, after the two had a confrontation with Superman, Deathstroke discovered that Nightwing had been teaching Rose the values of heroism. He could not kill Grayson in front of his daughter, because doing so would undo all of Slade's teachings. Nightwing offered a deal: he would stay away from Rose if Slade would keep the metahuman villains out of Blüdhaven. The deal held for 34 hours until Infinite Crisis #4, when Slade, under the orders of Alexander Luthor, Jr., the real leader of the Society, went with several villains (including old Titans and Doom Patrol foes and Brotherhood of Evil members Monsieur Mallah and Brain) to drop Chemo, another fellow villain who appeared to be a nearly brainless monster made of pure energy and radioactive chemicals, on Blüdhaven, killing over one-hundred thousand people. Slade gave the explanation to the Brotherhood that Nightwing should be made to believe that he can never go home again.

Nightwing took the first of his revenge by bursting in on Deathstroke and Rose's training session, revealing to the latter that the Kryptonite that Deathstroke had implanted in place of her missing eye was radioactive and deadly to humans as well as to Kryptonians (as revealed by Luthor's old possession of a Kryptonite ring that forced him to transfer his brain to a cloned body). Angered, Slade went after Nightwing with a grenade, only to have Rose try to stop him. Amid the smoke of the resulting explosion, Rose fled, telling her father that she hated him. Nightwing disappeared as well, but not before leaving a note for Slade warning him that he would be back to make him pay for Blüdhaven.

At the climactic Battle of Metropolis at the conclusion of 'Infinite Crisis', Slade was confronted by Batman, Robin and Nightwing. During the struggle, he was questioned regarding his motives for aiding the Secret Society. His claims of monetary motivation were deemed unsatisfactory; Batman accused him of having forsaken his code of honor, and Nightwing said it was because his family had abandoned him. Enraged, Slade said that was because of Nightwing, and that it was always because of him, before Batman told him to take responsibility for his actions and he was rendered unconscious.

One Year Later

File:Titanseast.PNG

Cover to Teen Titans #43: Titans East Part 1. Art by Tony Daniel.

Slade appears in the Green Arrow series after the one year jump in DC Comics' storylines. Apparently in hiding, he nearly murders a crony of several Star City businessmen who want to hire him for a murder. Before finishing his violent refusal, he asks the name of the target. When informed that it was to be the mayor of Star City, Oliver Queen (whom Deathstroke knows is secretly Green Arrow), he spares the lackey and decides to take the job.

However, things do not quite go according to plan, with Green Arrow using the resources of both his identities, trapping him within a ring of armed National Guardsmen. The fight ends with Deathstroke's arrest and subsequent conviction and incarceration; however, this is revealed as a ploy to gain access to Constantine Drakon, another jailed foe of Green Arrow who has information on the hero's activities in the lost year, which include Green Arrow studying under Natas, an assassin who once trained Deathstroke himself.

Deathstroke is also active behind the scenes in Teen Titans, currently in the process of organizing a counter-team of teen superhumans that will be known as Titans East. The current Titans team included Ravager, who now wanted nothing to do with her father. Deathstroke seemingly intended to "reclaim" Ravager and a recently resurrected Jericho from the Titans or, if that failed, to crush them along with the rest of the team. For these reasons, he specially selected each member of Titans East, believing that, overall, each member would successfully counteract every member of the current Teen Titans line-up.

As indicated over the course of the subsequent issues, Deathstroke was manipulating every member of his new team in one way or another. He had blackmailed former Titan Risk while at the same time offering him an outlet for his rage; was drugging Batgirl with the same serum he had used on Rose; and supplied Inertia with a formula which granted superhuman speed to compensate for the loss of the Speed Force following the initial battle with Superboy-Prime. His team, however, slowly fell apart over the course of the attack, as Robin managed to free Batgirl of his mind control serum and Raven convinced Duela Dent to switch sides. Slade and his remaining Titans subsequently faced off against both the current Titans and a group of old Titans led by Nightwing. Although he was defeated, he still managed to escape with the aid of Inertia. In the end, however, it was revealed to the readers that Slade's real mission was to provide his children with something he could never offer them: a real family, in the form of the Teen Titans. By attacking the Titans, he insured that Rose and Jericho would become more trusted by their associates, and thus grow closer to the team.

Recently, Deathstroke took credit for somehow twisting (through unknown means) the powers of Geo-Force, the half-brother of the original Terra, into the same powers as his traitorous sister. Using this leverage, Deathstroke offered to reverse the process only if Geo-Force became his own personal spy within the Justice League. Unfortunately for Deathstroke, Geo-Force alerted Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman of Deathstroke's scheme, which culminated in Geo-Force alerting the League that Deathstroke (whose rivalry with Green Arrow has reached vendetta-level proportions) planned on using an army of supervillains to crash Green Arrow and Black Canary's wedding. Weeks later, Geo-Force was tortured by Gorilla Grodd after the League was kidnapped by the Injustice League, and ultimately transferred to Batman's newest incarnation of the Outsiders afterward, robbing Deathstroke of his potential pawn.

Deathstroke can be seen as a member of Libra's Secret Society of Super Villains.

Deathstroke is gravely injured with his own sword by Geo-Force in DC Universe: Last Will and Testament. Following his injury, he is recuperating at Belle Reve while doctors labor to save him. Deathstroke dreams of his family members and all of the people that he has let down. When he awakens, he vows that he will never again be haunted by the past.

Ravager comes to visit him, but in fact, wants to finish her father off. She tries to strangle him with a plastic wire, but Deathstroke is recuperated enough that he can fend off her attack. He escapes from the facility and steals a helicopter. Later, Deathstroke finds a young street urchin that he decides to take under his wing.

Blackest Night

In the Teen Titans (vol. 3) tie-in to the Blackest Night crossover event, Deathstroke is living in the deceased Wintergreen's house and reading his journal, when he is attacked by Rose again. During the fight, the two are attacked by their deceased relatives Grant, Wade, and Adeline, who, along with Wintergreen, have all been reanimated as Black Lanterns. Deathstroke and Rose are forced to work together and fight for their lives against the Black Lanterns.

The two hopelessly fight the regenerating Black Lanterns until Jericho, cured from his earlier insanity, arrives and turns the tide of the fight. During the course of the battle, Deathstroke confesses to his children that part of the reason why he menaced the Teen Titans for so many years was that he felt that by forcing his children to hate him, they would have a chance of escaping the sorrow and pain a life with him would entail. Just as Slade is overwhelmed and about to be killed, Jericho somehow uses his abilities to sever the connection between the Black Lanterns and their power rings, permanently sending them back to the grave. After realizing that her mother was not reborn as a member of the Black Lantern Corps, Rose comes to the conclusion that she must somehow still be alive, and leaves after threatening to kill Slade if he tries to stop her. Jericho chooses to stay with his father, reasoning that only Slade would have the courage to kill him if he were to ever return to madness.

Batman and Robin

Recently, Deathstroke has been seen working with Talia al Ghul, controlling the body and physical actions of the current Robin in order to kill the recent Batman. Deathstroke is able to control Robin's actions thanks to a neural-implant inserted into Robin's spine by his mother while it was being surgically replaced. Batman defeats Deathstroke by taking advantage of the two-way connection between him and Robin by using a taser on Robin, the resulting electric shock overwhelming Deathstroke's enhanced senses. He then tracks Slade down and attacks him in his hospital bed for controlling Robin and for the Chemo attack, informing Slade that what happened then, is just a 'trailer' for what he will do later.

Titans: Villains for Hire

Following the encounter with black Lanterns, Deathstroke recruits a team of supervillains consisting of Tattooed Man, Cheshire, Osiris, and the new character Cinder following the launch of Brightest Day. The team ambushes Ryan Choi in his home, and then battles him. This ends with Deathstroke driving his sword through Ryan's chest, killing him. He then gives the deceased hero's body to Dwarfstar.

Following the assassination of the Atom, Deathstroke and the Titans are hired to kill Lex Luthor during his stay in Midway City. The attack is revealed to be a ruse crafted by Slade and Luthor in order to draw out a traitor on Luthor's security staff who is revealed to be a shape-shifting assassin named Facade. After the Titans capture Facade and turn him over to the scientists at LexCorp, Luthor rewards Slade by examining technology that he had earlier ordered Tattooed Man and Cheshire to steal. Slade claims that this will bring him one step closer to his true goal: the ability to somehow cheat death itself. He also succeeds in recruiting Arsenal, a former member of the Teen Titans and Justice League, into the team. Shortly after inducting Arsenal into the team, Slade accepts a mission to rescue a child from a drug lord named Elijah. After discovering that Elijah is using the bodies of kidnapped children to create an addictive drug called Bliss, the Titans promptly kill the gangster and shut down his operation. As the Titans are preparing to return to the Labyrinth, Cheshire notices that Slade has tied up DJ Molecule, a powerful metahuman who was working for Elijah as a bodyguard. When asked what he is doing with the young man, Slade cryptically responds by saying that he only accepted the mission in order capture Molecule for some unknown purpose.

Afterward, Slade and his team arrive at South Pacific Island to kill cult leader Drago over the arena production of blind warriors; however, his team, Arsenal, and Cheshire betray him, revealing that they had been working with Drago. While Slade is held captive, Drago arrives and reveals to him that he is actually Slade's old friend, Corporal Daniel Rogers, who abandoned him during the civil war in Afghanistan. Drago then gouges out Slade’s left eye making him blind. Slade is then imprisoned along with Arsenal and begins to tell him about his past with Drago. Later, Drago takes a trip down memory lane with Slade, explaining how he lost his sight, and basically re-telling his origin and how it involved Jeremiah, right before he throws Slade beneath the complex to fend for his life against a crazed subhuman. During the fights, Slade's left eye was restored due to his metahuman healing factor, and the Titans arrive to rescue him. Slade and the Titans break into Drago's mansion in attacks. Slade drugs him that he cannot focus his telepathic mind. When Drago was defeated, Slade allows him to live and the Titans then leave from his island. While returning to the labyrinth, Slade and the Titans are approached by the Atom and the Justice League attempt to arrest them for the murder of Ryan Choi.

During the battle of Slade's Titans against the Justice League in Khandaq, the battle was stopped by Isis, who forces them to choose between leaving or continuing the fight and starting World War III. The Justice League chose to retreat and Slade retrieves from Supergirl's Kryptonian blood. Upon returning to the labyrinth, with his workers, Doctor Sivana and Doctor Impossible, Slade reveals to the Titans that their efforts support creation of a diabolical invention call the "Methuselah Device" for his dying son Jericho.

The machine successfully heals Jericho, and Slade offers its abilities to all the Titans, offering to restore their deceased loved ones as payment for their services. All agree but Cinder, who does not want her brothers to live forever, as she claims to be doing. She attacks Cheshire and Osiris, and is then joined by Tattooed Man and Arsenal. As the Titans come to blows, Deathstroke attempts to take Jericho and leave, but Jericho, disgusted at what his father did to achieve his restoration, takes over his body, intending to destroy first the Methuselah Device, then himself and Deathstroke. While the Titans fight over the Methuselah Device, its power source, a metahuman named DJ Molecule, is released. DJ Molecule blasts Slade, knocking Jericho out of his body. Arsenal then attacks him for stealing the Titans legacy. Slade escapes and the Methuselah Device is destroyed by Cinder. Afterwards, Slade berates himself and becomes Deathstroke once more.

The New 52

Deathstroke

In The New 52 (a reboot of the DC Comics universe), Deathstroke is known as a top mercenary around the world. Deathstroke is hired by a man named Cristoph for a mission that forces him to work with a team of younger mercenaries known as the Alpha Dogs. Their target is Jeffrey Bode, an arms dealer traveling on a plane. After discovering that the weapons Bode is trafficking are clones of the villain Clayface, Deathstroke and the other mercenaries are able to dispatch them, killing Bode in the process and retrieving a suitcase he had in his possession. Deathstroke subsequently betrays and kills the Alpha Dogs, enraged by the notion that his employers feel he is unable to accomplish his tasks alone. Deathstroke then begins to take on increasingly dangerous missions in an effort to prove his worth but is also spurred on by the contents of the suitcase he retrieved from Bode - namely the mask and knife belonging to his son Grant, both of which were stained with fresh blood indicating that he may be alive. During this time, Deathstroke is pursued by a new villain known as Legacy. Deathstroke kills Legacy, but another Legacy, donning the same colors as the last one, appears again, and again. It turns out the parents of one of the Alpha Dog members have hired multiple mercenaries to kill Deathstroke, all donning the green and purple color, to get revenge on him. Deathstroke tracks them down, but is confronted by his son Grant. It is revealed that all of this has been a plot to lure Deathstroke to him. Although Deathstroke manages to kill both the parents, Grant defeats him, claiming superior of Deathstroke. Grant is about to finish Slade, but he hesitates, and leaves. Recovering from his injuries, Grant takes another contract, Slade happy that his son has become a better warrior than him, and then visits his father's hospital bed to mention he has grown up to be a greater man than him.

Slade takes a contract from Harvest, to bring the Ravagers back to the colony. He does this in exchange for his daughter Rose and Terra. It turns out that Lynch, the leader of Team 7 had needed Terra to stop a rampaging Majestic, who was thought to be killed by Dinah Drake's sonic scream. For a plan B, to Slade's dismay, he calls in Joseph Wilson, now going by the name Jericho, with Adeline and Grant, to stop Majestic. Instead of stopping Majestic, Jericho takes control of Majestic, Adeline, Grant, and Terra to kill his father. Adeline dies, buried in the rubble caused by Majestic's stampede. Jericho momentarily loses control by this, and Slade, Rose, and Terra manages to restrain Majestic, with the help of Rose's Gen-factor. However, Jericho retains control over Grant and Terra. When Slade knocks Terra unconscious, a cornered Jericho threatens to stab himself and Grant with a sword. Deathstroke, without hesitation, drives the sword into both of them, killing them instantly. But a later scene suggests Jericho has escaped, since there is shown a worker with glowing green eyes walking out of the clean-up scene, strongly implying Jericho has possessed the man to flee.

Origins

Deathstroke's altered origin is introduced in Deathstroke #0. The fact that he participated in the military at 16 and met Adeline has not changed. Already a legend in the army, Slade was drafted into Team 7 and went on many missions. In one mission, Slade was gravely injured and had to go under an operation that enhanced his abilities, making him virtually a super-human. After this, he married Adeline and had two sons, Grant and Joseph. Around this time, Slade received intel that informed his best friend, Wintergreen was caught in Somalia. He donned a mask and flew to Somalia to rescue Wintergreen, slaughtering all the captors. Deathstroke the Terminator was born. As his fame grew, his enemies did too. An attack targeting his house seemingly killed Joseph and Adeline. With evidence that the attack was from North Korea, Slade vengefully killed a pack of North Korean soldiers, but lost his right eye in the process. It is later shown that Joseph and Adeline are still alive.

This origin was again changed in Teen Titans: Deathstroke #1. After a mission that involved detonating a children's hospital which Slade was unaware of, he quit the army. After Team 7's termination, Slade started to operate under the Deathstroke identity. He took Grant on his mission, considering him as not only his son, but as a business partner, and the only person he could trust. But during in a mission in North Korea, their refuge was infiltrated and North Korean soldiers barged in, firing into the house. Grant was shot, and as Slade looked backwards at his son, a bullet penetrated through his right eye, blinding it. Enraged, Slade went on a massacre and slew the soldiers. However, Grant was presumed dead. Now, Slade works for the sake of his daughter Rose, as he knows the only thing that will keep Rose safe after he's gone, is money. It is unclear if Rose's mother is Adeline or not.

Team 7

Five years before taking the contract from Harvest, before taking the name Deathstroke, Slade once operated with Team 7. With metahuman threats rising, The Majestic Project, a plan to control future metahuman threats was schemed by John Lynch. And to secure the project, Team 7 was created and Slade was recruited. The first mission was retrieving the Eclipso Gem, where Slade was possessed by Eclipso and Alex Fairchild had to drive a sword through his chest to save him. Their next mission site is the Advanced Prosthetic Research Center. Dr. Henshaw is tasked into reactivating the android Spartan. But the Spartan Subject is activated, infecting everyone in the center to be turned into mindless cyborgs including Caitlin Fairchild. Team 7 is sent to the spot. Pilot Summer Ramos is killed by a cyborg. The team breaks into the facility, intending to bottleneck them. Caitlin appears out from a door. Relieved to see his daughter, Alex Fairchild rushes to her and hugs her, but actually infected, Caitlin stabs her father to death. In a fit of rage, Slade chases after her and dispatches her. Then from behind, Henshaw, temporarily free of the Spartan virus, explained that this was a distraction by the Spartan Subject to target agent James Bronson, currently at his home. A Spartan Cyborg breaks into his apartment, and attacks, activating Majestic. Majestic actually turns out to be agent Bronson's gen factor, which was activated when the Kaizen, the dictator of the island nation of Gamorra sent the cyborg to trigger the Majestic Persona. It is later explained by Lynch that another purpose of Team 7 was to activate potential meta-genes in the agents to create powerful human weapons, which would make America invincible to other nations. Agents like Slade, Dinah Drake, and Cole Cash had gained their meta-human abilities by Lynch. Bronson was planned to be Majestic, but the activation of the gene just then had been unexpected.

Team 7's last mission was to salvage Pandora's Box. The Team, with new pilot Steve Trevor is sent to Gamorra. The Kaizen, who possessed Pandora's Box, prepared to unleash its power. When they reach the Kaizen's palace, the child precogs show the Team a future where Kaizen Gamorra has opened the Box, and the whole world is going off the rails. Hearing the precogs say the Kaizen had to be stopped to prevent this fate, Majestic flies up into space, and impacts the coast of Gamorra with the force of a comet, creating a massive tidal wave, annihilating five million residents. But the Kaizen's palace stood however, and the team couldn't defeat him, until Majestic burst in. The Kaizen explains that Majestic is the key to opening the box, which also explains why he targeted Bronson in the first place. Majestic kills the Kaizen with a single blow. But he subdues to the Box's power, and starts attacking the team. Dinah lets out a canary cry that destroys the entire palace. In the chaos, Lynch is possessed by the box, but Amanda Waller knocks the box from his hands and tells Dinah to take the box away as far as possible. Lynch tries to take down the helicopter containing Dinah and the remaining team agents, but Waller shoots him from behind, seemingly killing Lynch and leading to Team 7's dissolution.

Forever Evil

During the Forever Evil storyline, Steve Trevor encounters Deathstroke, Copperhead, and Shadow Thief at the White House when he is looking for the President. Later, the party turns up in Wayne Industries with Power Ring to fight Batman, Lex Luthor, and other heroes and villains who are against the Crime Syndicate. Deathstroke has Lex Luthor's life in his hands, but Lex Luthor persuades him that it will do him no good if the Syndicate takes over the Earth. Slade has a change of mind and shoots Copperhead in the head, killing him. After they defeat the rest of the gang, Deathstroke remarks that Lex Luthor ought to pay him a big fat check after this is over. Deathstroke then joins Batman and Luthor in the battle against the syndicate he is seen battling Deathstorm when the Syndicate attacks the fallen watchtower. The syndicate later retreats when they find out that Alexander Luthor has been freed, Deathstroke witnesses the only "hero" from Earth-Three kill Deathstorm and steal his abilities. Alexander Luthor then attacks Deathstroke shattering his helmet while he a lets out a string of obscenities directed at Luthor.

Powers and abilities

Deathstroke possesses various enhanced abilities granted by the serum, which are stated to exceed well beyond that of an average human. According to DC Bios and Comic bios, they borderline on being superhuman, he was shown being able to stop speeding trucks.. These include the strength of ten men and heightened speed, agility, stamina, and reflexes. His enhancements granted him to lift at least 10 tons. He has the capacity to use up to 90 percent of his brain at any one time, making him a tactical genius, adept at turning opponents' own abilities against them; this can also be attributed to his years in the military and combat with various heroes. Deathstroke also possesses a healing factor in his blood that enables him to heal from physical injury much faster than a normal person; however, it does have limitations, as he could not heal his missing eye and cannot regenerate entire limbs. This enables him to recover from what would otherwise be fatal injuries, though recovering from such injuries renders him insane and animalistic for a short period. Deathstroke is also a very formidable martial artist. He proved himself to be one of the best fighters in the United States Army and through his martial arts training, he would later be highly skilled in Boxing, Karate, Jujitsu and Ninjutsu. He has also shown multilingualism, being able to speak various languages such as Russian, Japanese, and Korean.

Green Arrow (vol. 4) #66 claims that an assassin known as Natas taught Deathstroke "almost everything he knows" (a retcon of his origin in The New Teen Titans: Judas Contract, where his future wife, Adeline Kane, trained him while he was in the military). Deathstroke is also skilled in the use of many weapons including guns, rifles, and swords, which are usually among his current weapons of choice. His signature weapon is a power staff that fires lethal and non-lethal energy blasts from both ends. The staff can also be used to strike using energy at each end. In some humanistic versions of Deathstroke, his staff fires bullets and miniature cannonball-like pellets instead of energy blasts. His staff can bend and stretch to include both of his martial art forms. He is also seen with a wide array of swords (often two at a time), including giant broadswords and katana swords. Typically in combat, he will use his other weapons (guns, knives, swords) until those are useless, saving his best weapon as backup. His body armor is composed of a mesh-woven, kevlar, chainlink mail, capable of stopping small arms fire. Most of the metal he wears and uses is Promethium, the volatile variety which he's immune to thanks to his phy. prowess. However, in the New 52, he wears a full suit composed of Nth metal. This armor allows him to absorb blows from some of the mightiest DC beings, as evidenced by it being able to absorb numerous blows from Lobo, although it could not withstand the power of Mazahs.

Other versions

Deathstroke: Journey's End

The Deathstroke annual for 1994 was an elseworlds story featuring Deathstroke in a post-apocalyptic world. Deathstroke fights a legion of mutants and desperately tries to help humanity rise from the ashes of its ruined civilization.

Uncanny X-Men/Teen Titans

In the intercompany crossover The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans, Deathstroke meets his equal in the form of Wolverine; the two fight to a near standstill. At the same time, however, he proved skilled enough to defeat Colossus in a one-on-one fight despite the latter's superior physical strength. Colossus, however, isn't known for his fighting prowess on the level of Wolverine and Deathstroke.

Amalgam Comics

In Amalgam Comics, Deathstroke is combined with Marvel's Daredevil to become "Dare the Terminator", real name Slade Murdock. Unlike Wilson and Murdock, Dare is a woman. Though Dare is legally blind, she wears an eye-patch because of her mangled right eye. She also has horns surgically attached to her forehead. She uses a sword in combat.

Tangent Comics

In Tangent Comics, Deathstroke is an armored supervillain and a member of the Fatal Five. This version exists on Earth-97 of the Old Multiverse and Earth-9 of the New Multiverse.

Mash-Up

In the Superman/Batman storyline "Mash-Up", elements of Slade are combined with parts of Doomsday, creating the villain "Doomstroke".

Flashpoint

In the Flashpoint reality, Deathstroke is a pirate, searching with his crew formed by Sonar, whom he broke out of a floating prison, Icicle, Fisherman, Clayface, Machiste and The Eel for any sunken loot to steal in the flooded remains of Paris, and also for his daughter Rose, who has been kidnapped by persons unknown. Deathstroke and his crew were however soon attacked by Aquaman and his brother the Ocean Master. Aquaman stabs Deathstroke in the chest with his trident telling Ocean Master "no survivors". After the attack, Deathstroke was saved from death by Sonar, who demanded to be made second-in-command in return. While continuing their journey, the pirates were ambushed by the fleet of Warlord and forced to surrender, but are then saved by Jenny Blitz who destroyed one of Warlord's ships. Afterwards, Blitz agrees to join Deathstroke in searching for his daughter and developed a relationship in-between. Soon Deathstroke and Blitz were alerted that his crew were planning a mutiny. Deathstroke and Blitz fought and killed the treacherous crew, but Sonar manage to contact another pirate fleet under the leadership of the Caretaker before Deathstroke shot him. Later, Deathstroke and Jenny approaches the Caretaker's fleet and discovers Rose is being held captive. Deathstroke formulates a plan by offering to exchange Caretaker with a stasis-like Jenny for Rose's freedom. However, the Caretaker double-crosses on their deal and have his crew to attack him. But Deathstroke unleashes Jenny from her stasis upon Caretaker's fleet. During the battle, Deathstroke ignited a grenade at a weapon stockpile which destroyed Caretaker's ship and its crew with it. Deathstroke and Blitz were rescued by Rose. Reunited with his daughter, Deathstroke sails towards an unknown destination.

Collected editions

Part of the eponymous series has been collected into a trade paperback:

• Deathstroke the Terminator: Full Cycle (collects Deathstroke the Terminator #1-5 and New Titans #70, 978-0-930289-82-9)
• Deathstroke: The Terminator Vol. 1: Assassins (Deathstroke the Terminator #1-9, New Titans #70 978-1401254285)
• Deathstroke: The Terminator Vol. 2: Sympathy For The Devil (Deathstroke the Terminator #10-13, Annual #1, Superman Vol. 2 #68 978-1401258429)
• Deathstroke, the Terminator Vol. 3 (Deathstroke the Terminator #14-20, 978-1401260767)
• Deathstroke Vol. 1: Legacy (collects Deathstroke Vol. 2 #1-8, 978-1-401234-81-2)
• Deathstroke Vol. 2: Lobo Hunt (Deathstroke Vol. 2 #0, #9-20)
• Deathstroke Vol. 1: Gods of Wars (Deathstroke Vol. 3 #1-6 978-1401254711)
• Deathstroke Vol. 2: God Killer (Deathstroke Vol. 3 #7-10, Annual #1 Sneak Preview from Convergence: Batman: Shadow of the Bat #2 978-1401261207)

In other media

Television

Live-action

• In the Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman episode "Bob and Carol and Lois and Clark", an assassin by the name of Deathstroke (played by Antonio Sabàto, Jr.) appeared. The only commonality is the fact that he is an international assassin known as Deathstroke. Deathstroke is a former scientist when an accident in the lab exposed him to magnetic particles, permanently altering his body and granting him magnetic powers. His assistant becomes his wife (played by Sydney Walsh) and helps by creating a special suit to contain his powers and keep metal from being drawn to him while out in public. The suit even has a symbol of its own resembling the force lines of a magnetic field, forming a stylized figure eight. After this, he becomes an assassin, murdering his targets with his powers, first by drawing the target to him, then by magnetizing the iron in their blood cells, causing a figure-eight mark on the chest as the person dies of a heart attack. He and his wife rationalize their actions as being the result of the accident, leaving them with no other way to make a living and rendering him a "freak". The couple take the name Bob Stanton and Carol Stanton when they arrive in Metropolis. They become friends with Clark Kent and Lois Lane as they discover that Lois is going to be interviewing an eccentric reclusive billionaire. The couple plan to assassinate the billionaire before he goes public, taking his identity and thus his fortune. The plan is foiled when Superman interferes, destroying Deathstroke's containment suit, which causes him to be magnetically drawn to a steel pillar until the police arrive. Very much like Superman, this iteration of Deathstroke kept a secret identity by wearing a pair of glasses.

• Slade Wilson appears in the tenth season of Smallville, portrayed by Michael Hogan. This version is a United States Army Lieutenant General that is behind the anti-superhero Vigilante Registration Act legislation that he has propagated while under Darkseid's influence. In order to find out what Slade has planned, Oliver Queen volunteers to register. Lois Lane meanwhile confronts Slade and discovers that Slade is a suspected war-criminal known for illegal methods of torture and interrogation. But is too late to warn Oliver to be captured A.C. by Slade in a holding facility which is equipped with holding cells that can adapt to the heroes' abilities. Clark Kent and Mera free Oliver and A.C., but Slade sets off the base's self-destruction. He survives the explosion but at the cost of his right eye, and having advanced healing abilities (described as "advanced Military tech"). Having uncovered a significant amount of information about the Justice League, Wilson attacks Lois at LuthorCorp and tries to force her to lead him to Clark and the group's secret headquarters. Although Hawkman saves Lois by fighting Slade using his signature Katana, Hawkman dies saving her life. After surviving an explosion which would have killed a normal human, Wilson tells Clark that he is 'beyond Death's stroke now' so Clark uses a Kryptonian crystal to send him to the Phantom Zone later saying that he would release him to stand trial after the VRA is repealed. However, Zod sends Slade back to Earth albeit unconscious and with no memory of his time away or Clark's identity through the Phantom Zone portal, trying to lure Clark into the Zone to get his revenge.

Billy Wintergreen is the first incarnation of Deathstroke in Arrow, first appearing in Season 1.

Manu Bennett portrays Slade Wilson as Deathstroke in the second season of Arrow.

• Jeffrey C. Robinson portrays Billy Wintergreen in The CW's Arrow, the show's first incarnation of Deathstroke. When Oliver Queen is stranded on the island of Lian Yu, he encounters Wintergreen, who is under the employ of Edward Fyers. Wintergreen is a former member of ASIS who was working with Slade Wilson when they made it to the island. Wintergreen betrays Slade and begins working with Fyers. When Fyers captures Oliver Queen, Wintergreen begins torturing Queen for potential information. Queen escapes and encounters Slade and Shado. Slade and Shado begin training Queen to defend himself as the three of them make plans to make it off the island. The three of them overcome Fyers' forces as Slade battles Wintergreen. Slade decapitates Wintergreen, stabbing him in the eye.
• Manu Bennett portrays Slade Wilson in Arrow. This iteration is of Australian descent, and is a former ASIS agent stranded with Oliver Queen on Lian Yu five years before the series begins. In season one flashbacks, Slade trains the shipwrecked playboy Oliver in martial arts and archery, and together they overcome the mercenary unit led by Edward Fyers. In season two's flashbacks, Slade comes to despise Oliver when Dr. Anthony Ivo kills his Shado, Oliver's girlfriend on the island whom Slade secretly fell in love with. Having taken Ivo's mirakuru supersoldier formula, Slade is granted superhuman strength, speed and endurance, but begins to lose his sanity. But Oliver later defeats and seemingly kills Slade on the Amazo freighter. In the present day narrative however, Slade returns as the mercenary Deathstroke, and attempts to wreck havoc on Oliver's life, even killing his mother and later overwhelming Starling City with mirakuru-enhanced soldiers. At the end of the season, Slade and Oliver engage each other again, and Slade is hit with a cure for his mirakuru, which weakens him enough for Oliver to defeat him and place him in a government-maintained prison under Lian Yu. Slade later returns in season three, when he escapes his underground confinement and torments Oliver and his sister during their training session on Lian Yu, but they eventually defeat and recapture him.

Animation

File:SladeTTanimated2003.jpg

Slade in the Teen Titans animated series.

• The character appears in the Teen Titans animated series, voiced by Ron Perlman. This incarnation simply goes by his first name "Slade" as Deathstroke was not considered suitable for a series aimed at children. Slade serves as the main antagonist of the first two seasons, a secondary antagonist in the fourth season, and is one of the most prominent villains of the whole series. As a nod to his comic counterpart, his mask only has one eye-hole, though his 'true' face is never shown. But at one point, he wore a disguise that closely resembles his face from the comics. Underneath his mask, his face was silhouetted by a shadow (with brightly colored slicked back hair) with a scar running through his right eye socket. He appears to have access to extremely advanced technology and various secret hideouts, nearly unlimited resources, and a vast army of robot minions. However, Slade's most notable quality is that he is a master of manipulation and psychology, allowing him to get his foes to do almost anything he wants through shrewd manipulation. His operations are purely scientific in nature, however, seems to possess some knowledge of ceremonial magic. Slade has enhanced strength, an enhanced healing factor, a degree of super speed, and training in many forms of combat. However, he was easy to anger which was eventually taken advantage of. He is also changed from a mercenary and assassin to an enigmatic criminal mastermind, dispatching slews of super villains and android ninjas to kill the Teen Titans instead of directly coming after them himself. Slade is shown to be ambitious, calculating, and incredibly sadistic. But his underestimating of the bonds that exist between all the Titans and his fury over not being able to sever those bonds have often led to his undoing. His main goal is apparently to kill the Titans and possibly conquer the world. In the first season, Slade seeks out Robin as an apprentice when he coerces Robin into working under his employ by threatening to kill the other Titans with nanobots. But when Robin is almost killed with Slade's nanobots, Slade gives in and is then defeated by the Titans. In the second season, Slade seeks Terra as another apprentice due to the girl's desire for control and acceptance which he preys on. However, Slade is killed when Terra drops him into a lava-filled pit. Although Brother Blood acts as the third season's main villain, a hallucination of the villain harasses Robin due to a chemical reagent from Slade's mask but Robin eventually figures this out and overcomes Slade's hallucination. In the fourth season, Slade returns as Trigon's undead servant. Now enjoying working for someone else, he is empowered with vast pyrokinetic abilities, superhuman strength and durability, flight, regeneration, phasing, electricity generation, teleportation, and other supernatural powers to harass Raven. Although he entered into a deal with Trigon in exchange for being brought back to life, Slade was predictably betrayed. Intent on getting his due, Slade helps Robin find Raven while also locating the source of power which restores his mortal form along the way. He aids the Titans in defeating Trigon afterward and escapes capture after the world is saved. In the fifth (and final) season, Slade appears when Beast Boy is searching for answers on why Terra that seems to have lost all memory and superpowers. When Slade confronts Beast Boy, he denies anything to do with Terra's sudden return and that Beast Boy should leave it alone. Infuriated by his speech, Beast Boy attacks Slade only to find out that it is just another robot duplicate. Slade is also the only main villain still at large at the end of the series.

• Deathstroke appears in Young Justice: Invasion, voiced by Wentworth Miller (in "True Colors") and by Fred Tatasciore (for subsequent episodes). This version has long white hair worn in a ponytail and a patch over one eye. In "True Colors", he appears as the Light's new enforcer and intercepts an assassination attempt on Black Manta by Sportsmaster who escapes onto a helicopter piloted by Cheshire. In "The Fix", Black Manta enlists Deathstroke and Tigress to capture Miss Martian in order to restore Aqualad's mind. Deathstroke and Tigress interrupt a discussion between Miss Martian and Lagoon Boy at a junkyard. Deathstroke easily defeats Lagoon Boy and successfully captures Miss Martian. Black Manta then has Deathstroke monitor Miss Martian's procedure, prepared to set off an explosive charge in Miss Martian's inhibitor collar in case she tries anything. In "Complications", Deathstroke is unaware that Aqualad has already been healed, and that he and Tigress are concocting a plan to help Miss Martian escape. When Sportsmaster and Cheshire infiltrate the sub, Miss Martian takes the opportunity to escape, whilst Deathstroke comes to blows with Sportsmaster, revealing a desire to become a member of the Light's commanders. He is temporarily immobilized by Miss Martian, allowing Sportsmaster and Chesire to escape without blowing Tigress' cover. In "The Hunt", Deathstroke infiltrates the Warworld to steal the Key that operates it when he is sent there by Lex Luthor. In the episode "Summit", Deathstroke is present at a meeting between The Light and The Reach, but was revealed to be Miss Martian in disguise. After the ensuing fight between The Light, The Reach and The Team, Nightwing is overheard congratulating Aqualad for defeating Deathstroke.

File:Beware Deathstroke the Terminator.png

Deathstroke in Beware the Batman.

• Deathstroke appeared as the main antagonist in the second half of Beware the Batman, voiced by Robin Atkin Downes. As revealed in "Twist", Slade was originally a CIA agent before his mentor (Alfred Pennyworth) reported his ruthless methods to his superiors. After an attempt of Alfred's life for his termination, Slade became a top class assassin and mercenary. However, though Alfred's intended to make amends with him, Slade's employer ended up trying to kill him, and Slade decides to exact his revenge by going after Alfred. Once in Gotham, Slade assumed the identity of Dane Lisslow who becomes the head of Harvey Dent's Special Crimes Unit to study Alfred, and soon discovered Bruce Wayne and Batman were one and the same and made a plan to kill Batman and take his place. Deathstroke made his official debut in the episode "Hero", hired by Dent and Anarky to kill Batman. However, things go south then Deathstroke kidnaps Dent to serve as bait to lure Batman. But having deduced Batman's identity from their fight (they had sparred previously and extensively in their civilian personas), Deathstroke faked his death and formulated a plan to destroy Batman. In "Epitaph", Deathstroke poses as Batman and kills off his Lisslow alias in the explosion that scarred Dent's face to ruin Batman's reputation. In "Twist"/"Alone" 2-part finale, once the mystery behind Deathstroke is revealed, Batman tricks Deathstroke into revealing himself. However, leaving Batman and Katana for dead while stealing the Batmobile, Deathstroke reaches the Batcave and holds Alfred hostage so he can watch him kill Batman. Though he rigged the cave with explosives, they were all disarmed while Deathstroke ends up losing his right eye fighting Batman. Deathstroke intended to expose Bruce as Batman, but Metamorpho produces a memory-erasing chemical compound under Man-Bat's directing that reduces Deathstroke into an amnesiac. Unlike most of his counterparts in animation, live-action, and the comics, this version of Deathstroke has no augmented or superhuman powers.

Film

• Slade Wilson appears in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, voiced by Bruce Davison. This incarnation is a parallel universe counterpart and the President of the United States in the world controlled by the Crime Syndicate of America. Although he still retains his white hair and eye-patch (except on his left eye as opposed to his right), he never pursued the path as an assassin but rather tries to work for the betterment of the American people through his political career. Nevertheless, he was a former soldier keeping in line with his mercenary counterpart's backstory but considered as a respectable war hero. He is also shown needing a cane for support, implying that he has health problems and never took the serum that would have given him his superhuman abilities. His daughter Rose Wilson publicly speaks out against the Crime Syndicate and was nearly assassinated by the Archer but was saved by the Martian Manhunter. It was also heavily implied that Ultraman assassinated Slade's wife. He is initially reluctant to wage war against the Syndicate due to his concerns for his daughter and the country's safety. However, after Ultraman's last threat and Rose's attempted murder, Wilson decides to strike back at the Syndicate with the Justice League's aid, along with that of his world's Lex Luthor, and personally leads the United States Marine Corps into the battle. After the Syndicate leaders' defeat, Slade orders the National Guard to work with law enforcement agencies to arrest the remaining members of the CSA.

• Deathstroke appears in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, with Ron Perlman reprising his role. In the distorted 'Flashpoint' timeline, Deathstroke is the captain of the ship, the Ravager. He and Lex Luthor set out to find Aquaman's Doomsday Device, but the ship is suddenly attacked by the Atlantean army led by Aquaman. Deathstroke uses his superior fighting skills to cut through hoards of Atlanteans before confronting Aquaman. He manages to overpower Garth and Kaldur'ahm but is presumably killed by Black Manta's optic blasts.

• Deathstroke appears in Son of Batman, voiced by Thomas Gibson. This version originally was a member of the League of Assassins and Ra's al Ghul's right-hand man/future successor until his actions deemed him unworthy. Also, both of his eyes are still intact. Feeling denied his right, Deathstroke staged as coup d'état where he kills his mentor and takes power. During the chaos, Damian Wayne managed to stab Deathstroke's right eye. After escaping with Ubu's help, Deathstroke goes to Kirk Langstrom to work on a project initiated by Ra's to use Langstrom's Man-Bat gene splicing formulas on members of the League. He kidnaps Langstrom's family and Talia al Ghul as insurance. In the final climax, Deathstroke shoots Talia and engages in combat with Batman briefly until Batman effectively knocks him unconscious and resuscitates Talia in a Lazarus Pit. After quickly recovering, Deathstroke and Robin engage in a fight which ends with Deathstroke defeated and sinking to the seas, presumably deceased.

• Although not appearing at all nor mentioned in the DTV movie Batman: Assault on Arkham, Deathstroke is referenced in an interview with co-director Jay Oliva in a 2014 TV Guide feature, where he explained that Deathstroke's absence in the film despite Amanda Waller having offered him a place in the Suicide Squad in Batman: Arkham Origins. Oliva estimated that the film shows the Squad's ninth outing, and by that time, Deathstroke has escaped Waller's clutches.

• Deathstroke appears in the animated film Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League, voiced by John DiMaggio. He is among the villains Gorilla Grodd mind controls into doing his bidding. When he is freed from Grodd's control, he discovers (to his anger) that Grodd made him steal a crate of bananas. Deathstroke is later defeated and arrested by Plastic Man.

• Deathstroke appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom. He is among the villains who try to join the Legion of Doom and is the last villain to use the obstacle course. He manages to evade every obstacle and literally destroy the course, resulting in him being disqualified.

Video games

• On August 20, 2008, Ed Boon announced Deathstroke as one of the DC villains who would appear in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, played by Chris Matthews and voiced by Patrick Seitz. He is a counterpart of Baraka. In the story, Deathstroke appears in Metropolis where he beheads a thug who paid him the money he owed Deathstroke late. Then Deathstroke is attacked and defeated by Flash. When in Gotham City, he attacks Sub-Zero (who is trying to hunt down Scorpion) seeing this new assassin as an enemy. Sub-Zero wins the battle, but does not bother finishing off Deathstroke fearing the essence of the Netherrealm that leads to Scorpion would become too weak to follow if he wasted any more time. Later, Deathstroke teams up with Lex Luthor and the Joker. He helps Joker try to take on Sonya Blade and Kano. Joker fights Sonya while Deathstroke battles Kano. In the middle of his fight, Deathstroke is pushed aside by Joker who defeats Kano and turns on Deathstroke when the Combat Rage takes over Joker. Deathstroke's game ending has him realizing that other-worldy assassins are seen as unwelcome competition. As a caution, he creates an army of assassins in his image, becoming the leader of the "Deathstrike Clan" (the DC Universe's version of the Lin Kuei).

• Deathstroke appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Tracy W. Bush. He is a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains, and appears in multiple Instances and Alerts. During the Batman story quest line, he is sent by the Joker to assassinate the Riddler for informing the heroes of the source of Joker's new venom. In the Villain's campaign, he will join the player in a fight against Bruno Mannheim to steal the Bible of Crime. Players that use a Hero character will also encounter Deathstroke and Killer Croc on the Cape Carmine Lighthouse duo. In the Smallville alert, he appears as part of a Strike Force alongside Killer Frost, Bizarro and Solomon Grundy sent to aid Villain players in their battle against Doomsday.

• Deathstroke appears in Injustice: Gods Among Us as a playable character, voiced by J. G. Hertzler. The mainstream version is hired by Lex Luthor to spring the Joker from Arkham Asylum but is defeated by Batman. The alternate incarnation is seen in Ferris Aircraft being tortured by the Regime's Cyborg and Raven until the Green Lantern appears and escapes during the fight. Later on, he joins up with the Insurgency and helps the mainstream version of Cyborg into taking control of the Watchtower's teleportation system. In Deathstroke's ending, new governments start to form to replace Superman's. With new governments comes new orders for assassinations, insurrections to cause and revolutions to support, too much for even Deathstroke to handle. Using his skills to hunt down hidden Regime soldiers, Deathstroke forms a clan of the world's most successful political assassins called the New Titans. A Red Son-in game exclusive skin was released as part of DLC.

• Deathstroke appears in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure. He appears as one of the villains summoned by Brainiac to collect starites. This version appears to have taken aspects from the Teen Titans animated series (battling Cyborg and being referred to as "Slade") He and Doppelganger arrive on the Watchtower to find a starite but are defeated by Maxwell and Cyborg. They are teleported away by Brainiac but not before they free Amazo. Deathstroke can then be spawned by the player and is playable in the Wii U version. He is not seen on the final battle, unless spawned by the player, leaving his fate unknown.

Lego series

• Deathstroke appears in the Nintendo 3DS version of Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes.
• Deathstroke appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Liam O'Brien. Additionally, the Arrow version of Slade Wilson is playable via downloadable content.

Batman Arkham

Deathstroke is featured in the Batman Arkham series, where he is voiced by Mark Rolston and Larry Grimm.

• Deathstroke appears in Batman: Arkham City Lockdown.
• In Batman: Arkham Origins, he is also a playable character in the game's challenge maps, through a pre-order bonus and DLC, with two alternative skins inspired by the Judas Contract story arc and the Injustice: Gods Among Us video game. Among the eight assassins hired to kill Batman, Deathstroke appears in the Penguin's ship, the Final Offer, attacking Batman while he is interrogating Penguin about Black Mask and his connection to the assassins. Despite proving a difficult opponent, even being capable of countering Batman's attacks, Deathstroke is ultimately defeated with his remote claw gadget being confiscated by Batman. He is encountered later in the game being incarcerated in Blackgate Prison during the Joker's uprising still confined to his cell. Deathstroke claims Joker refused to release him because Joker was "afraid of him" and goes on to state that he has no interest in facing Batman again unless he is hired to do so. After completing the game, Deathstroke is once again shown in a special post-credits scene in which Amanda Waller gives him a confidential file marked "Suicide Squad" and offers him the choice to stay in prison or work for the Suicide Squad. But while talking about the animated movie Batman: Assault on Arkham, co-director Jay Oliva confirmed that Deathstroke escaped Waller's clutches by the Squad's ninth mission.
• In Batman: Arkham Knight, he replaces the Arkham Knight as Scarecrow's second-in-command towards the end of the game. Years after their first battle, Deathstroke resurfaced as an ally of the Scarecrow and the Arkham Knight. Before the events of the game, the Arkham Knight sought Deathstroke out, telling him that he was the "toughest bastard" Batman had ever faced. He was then hired by the Arkham Knight and Scarecrow to serve as an advisor of their siege of Gotham and to oversee their campaign against Batman. Deathstroke stood by for most of the night, and even watched the Arkham Knight fail to beat Batman with the Cloudburst tank. After the Arkham Knight was defeated and unmasked as Jason Todd, Deathstroke took Jason's place as commander of the Arkham Knight's militia, seeking to even his score with Batman. In a side mission, Deathstroke fights the Batmobile using a special tank which has 360 degrees field of vision. Once the tank is destroyed, Deathstroke leaps out and attempts to kill Batman personally. However, Batman launches himself from the Batmobile and slams Deathstroke onto the street, subduing him. The Dark Knight then proceeds to lock Deathstroke up in the Gotham Police Department with all the other apprehended villains, with Deathstroke vowing to escape the prison and kill Batman for free. As Deathstroke stands in his cell shared with the other inmates, he mocks them for being "lesser warriors" and tells Batman that there may not be any prisoners left when he returns. If Batman visits Deathstroke later in the game, Slade tells Batman that he gained his respect, claiming to make it his personal mission to kill Batman. After Batman's true identity as Bruce Wayne is revealed to all of Gotham, Deathstroke states that he does not care who is under the mask, as he plans to kill Batman all the same. Although this final installment in the franchise is set ten years after the events of Batman: Arkham Origins, Deathstroke still wears the same dark blue and orange armor he did a decade ago, making him the only character in the series to not have changed their costume.

Toys

• An unmasked figure of Deathstroke was released in the New Teen Titans line.
• A masked Deathstroke figure from the same line was later released as part of a collector edition "75 years of super powers" wave.
• Several "Slade" figures have been released based on his appearance in the Teen Titans animated series.
• DC Universe has also released two Deathstroke figures, a masked version and an unmasked variant.
• A Deathstroke figure was released in an Action League two pack along with Batman.
• A Dark Knight figure of Deathstroke was also released (even though he was not in the movie).
• A Deathstroke figure was included in an Injustice Gods Among Us two pack along with Green Arrow.
• DC Collectibles released an Arrow Deathstroke figure based on his appearance in the second season of the TV series.
• A Deathstroke minifig was packaged with Batman and Robin in a LEGO set featuring them in combatting boats. The set was packaged with a comic.

Miscellaneous

• Slade was seen in Teen Titans Go! #16. His daughter Rose also made an appearance. A painting of Slade, without his mask, is briefly seen in the comic book.

• In the Robot Chicken DC Comics Special, Deathstroke is seen with various other super villains inside the cake horse as they are about to attack the Justice League.

• In the videogame Borderlands 2, the Maliwan Grace costume for the character Zer0 is a reference to Deathstroke's color scheme.

• Slade appears in the animated series Teen Titans Go! although he doesn't make a physical appearance.

External links

• The Origin of Deathstroke at DC Comics.com
• Deathstroke at the DC Database Project
• Deathstroke at the Comic Book DB
• Deathstroke at the Internet Movie Database