In his comic book appearances, Slade Wilson is a former U.S. Army operative who gains enhanced physical and mental abilities from an experimental super-soldier serum and becomes the mercenary Deathstroke. Widely considered the greatest and deadliest assassin in the DC Universe, he serves as the archenemy of Dick Grayson and the Teen Titans, and is also an adversary of other superheroes such as Batman, Green Arrow, and the Justice League. Deathstroke's vendetta against the Titans began when he swore revenge for the death of his eldest son Grant; his other two children, Jericho and Rose, would go on to join the Titans to oppose him. A bicolored black-and-orange mask that covers his missing right eye serves as Deathstroke's visual motif.
Due to his popularity, Deathstroke received his own series, Deathstroke the Terminator, in 1991.[2] It was retitled Deathstroke the Hunted for issues #0 and #1–45; 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 four 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.[3]
Despite predating James Cameron's film The Terminator by four years, the character is now simply called Deathstroke, though the full title has not completely fallen out of use, having been referenced as recently as Justice League Elite.
Fictional character biography
Deathstroke the Terminator, as he was originally depicted on the cover of Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (July 1984). Art by George Pérez.
Slade Wilson was 16 years old when he enlisted in the United States Army, having lied about his age. After participation in the Korean War, he was 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 that 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.
[N]ot only was Marv's Deathstroke a villain, he was also kind of an asshole, which I thought was unique. He wasn't some misunderstood anarchist; he deliberately did skeevy things – most notably sleeping with Terra, a presumably underage girl – in his quest to exact revenge against his enemies. I read that and went, "Whoa". This was beyond The Joker, well beyond Lex Luthor. Marv created the first modern supervillain. He broke every rule by making Deathstroke three-dimensional and giving him internal conflicts while maintaining a level of skeeve we weren't used to seeing from a typical 2-dimensional bad guy.[4]
Deathstroke is widely regarded as one of the most feared and deadly professional assassins in the world with a considerable seven figure fee and a six figure deposit.[5][6][7] He is infamous for completing nearly all of his contracts, having only failed his contract with H.I.V.E. to kill the Teen Titans. He uses his resources to hire lawyers to prevent law enforcement from proving that Slade Wilson and Deathstroke are the same person. Deathstroke has been described as being emotionally crippled, believing everyone else to be "idiots" and struggling to commit despite desperately loving his children and desiring closeness with them. He is a poor father and often suffers from past choices made between his children and wife, Adeline.[7]
Powers and abilities
Slade Wilson was given an experimental super-soldier serum that increased his physical and mental abilities to superhuman levels, granting him enhanced strength, speed, stamina, agility, durability, reflexes, and senses. Deathstroke also possesses a healing factor that allows him to recover from injuries at an accelerated rate. Despite stating that he can only heal non-fatal injuries, he has shown to heal from severe organ trauma such as impalement and bullet wounds to the brain. These regenerative abilities have given him a slowed aging process and extended longevity, in addition to a resistance to toxins.[8][9][10][11] While Deathstroke was originally stated to be able to use up to 90% of his brain's capacity, it was later clarified that his brain processes information nine times more efficiently than an ordinary human's.[9][10][8] Deathstroke also has an eidetic memory and has been described as a tactical genius with a strategic mind rivaling that of Batman.[12][13]
Even prior to acquiring his powers, Deathstroke mastered numerous hand-to-hand combat and martial art forms as well as swordsmanship and marksmanship as part of his elite training in the military. His arsenal of weapons include various swords, firearms, knives, and a ballistic staff capable of firing bolts of energy from each end.
Other versions
An alternate universe variant of Deathstroke appears in Just Imagine.... This version is Deke Durgan, a member of the Doom Patrol who possesses a fatal touch.[14]
An alternate universe variant of Deathstroke appears in Teen Titans: Earth One. This version is an employee at S.T.A.R. Labs.[15]
An alternate universe variant of Deathstroke appears in 1994's Deathstroke Annual. This version is the guardian of a post-apocalyptic Earth.[16]
Two characters based on Deathstroke appear in the Amalgam Comics universe: Slade Murdock / Dare the Terminator, a fusion of him and Daredevil, and X-Stroke the Eliminator, a fusion of him and X-Cutioner.[17][18]
An alternate universe variant of Deathstroke from Earth-97 appears in Tangent Comics. This version is a member of the Fatal Five.
Doomstroke, an amalgamation of Deathstroke and Doomsday, appears in the Superman/Batman storyline "Mash-Up".[19]
Deathstroke: Rebirth #1, Deathstroke #1-50, Deathstroke Annual #1, DC Holiday Special 2017 #1, Titans #11, Teen Titans #8, 28-30, and Titans: The Lazarus Contract Special #1.
An original incarnation of Deathstroke named Earl Gregg appears in the Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman episode "Bob and Carol and Lois and Clark", portrayed by Antonio Sabàto Jr. This version, also known as Bob Stanford, is an assassin with unstable magnetic powers.
Various characters adopt the Deathstroke persona in Arrow.
Bill "Billy" Wintergreen (portrayed by Jeffrey C. Robinson)[25] is Slade Wilson's former friend and ASIS partner. He betrays Slade to join Edward Fyers' mercenaries, after which Slade kills him.
Slade Wilson (portrayed by Manu Bennett)[26] is a former ASIS agent who trains Oliver Queen while they are stranded on the island Lian Yu. After being injected with the "Mirakuru" super-soldier serum, Slade is driven insane and blames Oliver for the death of Shado, the woman whom he loved, forcing Oliver to drive an arrow through his right eye. In the second season, Slade resurfaces as the mercenary "Deathstroke" and attempts to destroy Oliver's life by killing Moira Queen and using a Mirakuru-enhanced army to besiege Starling City. Though he is defeated and incarcerated in an A.R.G.U.S. prison on Lian Yu, Slade makes minor appearances in subsequent seasons.
Grant Wilson (portrayed by Jamie Andrew Cutler), Slade's youngest son, continues his father's legacy by forming the Deathstroke Gang. A possible future version of Grant from the year 2046 also appears in the spin-off series Legends of Tomorrow.
Joe Wilson (portrayed by Liam Hall), Slade's eldest son, dons his father's armor during the "Elseworlds" event.[27]
Slade Wilson / Deathstroke appears in the second season of Titans, portrayed by Esai Morales.[30][31][32] This version is a Delta Force veteran who underwent experimental bio-enhancements at H.I.V.E. Slade's feud with the Titans began when he killed Garth, causing their leader Dick Grayson to expose Slade's true nature to his son Jericho. Blaming the Titans for tearing his family apart, Slade attempts to seek revenge by planting his illegitimate daughter Rose into their ranks, though Rose ultimately betrays and stabs him after joining the Titans. A zombified version of Deathstroke briefly appears in the fourth season.
Deathstroke, referred to simply as Slade, appears in Teen Titans, voiced by Ron Perlman.[33] This version is an enigmatic criminal mastermind who seeks to eliminate the Teen Titans, take over Jump City, and turn Robin and later Terra into his apprentice, though Terra sacrifices herself to kill Slade and save the Titans. Slade is later resurrected as an undead, pyrokinetic being by Trigon to aid in his conquest of Earth. After being betrayed, Slade temporarily joins forces with the Titans to defeat Trigon and regain his mortality.
Deathstroke appears in Beware the Batman, voiced by Robin Atkin Downes.[33] This version was originally a CIA agent who was terminated by his mentor Alfred Pennyworth. Deathstroke poses as "Dane Lisslow" to seek revenge against Pennyworth and his new protégé Batman, but loses his right eye during their final battle.
Deathstroke appears in Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2017), voiced by Miguel Ferrer.[52][33] After rejuvenating himself in a Lazarus Pit, he is hired by Brother Blood to capture the Teen Titans and manipulates his juvenile lover Terra into joining their ranks as a double-agent. Deathstroke fights Nightwing and Robin until an enraged Terra traps him in Blood's collapsing underground lair.
Deathstroke, referred to simply as Slade, appears as the final boss of and a playable character in Teen Titans (2006), voiced again by Ron Perlman.[33]
Deathstroke appears as a playable character in Injustice: Gods Among Us (2013), voiced by J. G. Hertzler.[54] Additionally, an alternate universe version of Deathstroke is featured as a member of the Insurgency.
^Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 85. ISBN978-1-4654-5357-0.
^Manning, Matthew K. (2010). "1990s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 250. ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9. Slade Wilson began his impressive sixty-issue run with the help of writer Marv Wolfman and artist Steve Erwin.
^ abMatthew K. Manning; Stephen Wiacek; Melanie Scott; Nick Jones; Landry Q. Walker; Alan Cowsill (2021). The DC comics encyclopedia: the definitive guide to the characters of the DC universe (New ed.). New York. ISBN978-0-7440-2056-4. OCLC1253363543.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrst"Deathstroke Voices (Teen Titans)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved May 1, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
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