Villain Profile: Deathstroke

Sorry again that this is late, said family emergency really threw off my time table and groove. As a family emergency should, now that I think about it. But enough of my problems, on with the show.

Governments in the world of comics seem to always be trying to make their own armies of superpowered soldiers. Sometimes, they get lucky and inject the right guy (Steven Rogers) with the right serum (The Super Soldier Serum) and get the perfect super soldier (Captain America). Sometimes there are some serious screw ups, as revealed in “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” storyline of Deadpool’s comics. In said story, an insane scientist working for North Korea was trying to make a NK version of the X-Men, gene splicing their citizens with both an X-Man’s and Deadpool’s DNA to serve as a bridge. The end result are some passable X-Men knockoffs with horrible sores all over their bodies, not unlike Deadpool. But, what happens when you get the perfect serum in the perfect soldier, but unlike with Captain America, said soldier loses control? Let’s have a look at Deathstroke.

Orange and black face of death! Terrifying, and stylish.

Slade Wilson was a young man when he first enlisted in the military. A very young man. So young that legally he should not have been serving in the Army. Apparently Slade was big and strong enough at 16 to pass as an 18 year old, and I’d be lying if I said I was shocked. He was stationed in Korea for a few years, where he greatly impressed the top brass. He was promoted to Major, and training soldiers in new fighting and survival techniques in anticipation for the nastiness that was brewing in Vietnam. He also met Captain Adeline Kane, whom was very impressed with Slade’s seemingly inborn ability to master any fighting style or tactic presented to him. She offered to privately train Slade in guerrilla warfare, and it’s more than slightly implied that the two moved on to more “recreational” physical activities. Too subtle for ya? In less than a year and a half, Slade was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, he and Adeline were married and had a kid on the way. I’m fairly certain that breaks some kind of fraternization rule, but, hey, it’s a comic book origin, I’ll let it slide.

Slade was shipped out to Vietnam after the war started to escalate. He and his unit were highly effective, until his men slaughtered an entire village, an event that left a bitter taste in Slade’s mouth for years to come. He also met and befriended Wintergreen, a member of SAS. The Army officials were so impressed with Slade and his skills that they chose him for the secret government experiment that gave him superpowers. He was made stronger, faster, and even given a healing factor. As a supersoldier, Slade was an unmatched force of destruction. He probably could have taken care of the whole issue in Vietnam, if he hadn’t gone rogue. Slade defied orders to rescue Wintergreen, after his soldier buddy was sent out on a suicide mission by a commanding officer that bore a grudge against him. After that, he turned mercenary and took up the name Deathstroke. Somehow he kept this…career change a secret from his wife, despite her own position in the US Army. Okay, there’s overly trusting spouses, and then there’s just plain stupid. Not one collegue was like "Hey, Adeline, sorry Slade committed Treason. You haven't seen him, have you? He's wanted for a Court Martial." I'm probably over analyzing this... Back on task.

Voiced by Ron Perlman, a rather underrated voice actor.
Like his animated work more than his live action stuff.

Slade kept his family fed, and then some, with the money he earned as a sword/gun for hire, but things took a nasty turn for the worse after Slade crossed a criminal going by the name the Jackal. Not to be confused with the Jackal from Spider-Man who had an unhealthy obsession with Gwen Stacey. Anyway, Deathstroke’s Jackal kidnapped Slade’s son Joseph, and used the boy as leverage against his father. He apparently wanted the name of someone that had hired Deathstroke to assassinate someone else. Slade played along with Jackal, but refused to give the name given that divulging client secrets was against his personal honor code. He instead attacked Jackal and killed him at the rendezvous. But, Slade was overconfident in his abilities, and that led to his son’s vocal cords being destroyed, rendering the younger Wilson mute. Adeline was understandably miffed at 1. Being lied to for an unspecified amount of time, and 2. Her son being severely injured and mute to boot, tried to kill Slade with a bullet to the brain. Now, Slade was probably fast enough to stop her, but he probably felt that she had some justification for her outburst, so he let himself get shot. However, Slade’s healing abilities kept him from dying or apparently suffering any brain damage, but for whatever reason his right eye never fully regenerated. From what I’ve seen in comics, it’s most likely due to a mental block. He feels he deserves to be scared from getting his younger son hurt, so his body doesn’t regenerate the eye. Despite now having a permanent depth perception problem, Slade made no effort to hide the fact he was blind in one eye. His iconic mask is completely black and featureless on the right side, and he wears an eyepatch when mask-less. Confident SOB, isn’t he?

Slade’s first real work as a Supervillain was against the Teen Titans. And, technically, it wasn’t even his job. His older son, Grant Wilson, had been given superhuman enhancements by the supervillain group the H.I.V.E. Grant took up the codename Ravager and accepted a contract to either kill or capture the Teen Titans. And while Grant proved to be a capable warrior, on par with dear ol’ dad, his enhancements were much less stable than Slade’s. Grant died, and to follow his own code of Honor, Deathstroke took up Ravager’s contract. As part of his contract, Deathstroke stole an experimental element called Promethium for S.T.A.R. Labs and used it to create an extremely powerful bomb. He then kidnapped the Titans and placed them in the bomb’s path, to demonstrate the destructive capabilities. The Titans, shockingly, escape and stop the bomb. They then chase after Deathstroke, but are forced to break off when he severely wounds one of their members, Garfield Logan aka Beast Boy aka Changeling.

You can't see it so well here, but his ponytail almost reaches
the floor. How has no one lopped it off yet? Oh right,
because he's the world's greatest assassin...

Since then Deathstroke has been a recurring antagonist, and occasional reluctant ally of the Teen Titans, and the DC heroes at large. Deathstroke has become one of the most feared mercenaries on the planet, and one of the most effective killers in the DC universe. Essentially, if you want a crime done right, you hire Deathstroke to do it. He has also been forced to battle his son Joseph, now going by Jericho, and his illegitimate daughter Rose on more than one occasion. This more or less came to a head in the “Blackest Night” story where Slade is not only attacked by Rose in his home, but the reanimated corpses of his ex-wife Adeline, Wintergreen, and Grant. Slade and Rose hold their own against the Black Lanterns for a time, but are quickly overwhelmed. Fighting superpowered zombies will do that. Jericho arrives and gives his father and half-sister an edge, for at least a little while. During the confrontation, Slade confesses to Jericho and Rose that a big part of the reason he’d battled the Teen Titans for so long, a team that both Jericho and Rose have been a part of for some time, was because he wanted them to hate him. His somewhat twisted logic was that in being their team's greatest nemesis, and attacking their friends, Slade would always keep them at a great distance. He wanted them to hate him, to have nothing to do with him, because he felt that his presence in their lives would only lead to pain, suffering and death. And, given who they were fighting, the son that followed in Dad’s footsteps and died, the former wife that sought vengeance and was killed because of it, and the former friend killed because of his association with Slade, I can’t really fault his reasoning. Jericho is somehow able to sever the BL’s connection to their rings, Rekilling them, and Rose parts ways with Slade and Jericho. After this Slade has continued to flit the line between supervillain and anti-hero. Regardless of his intentions, when Deathstroke arrives, there will be bodies.

Slade Wilson was already an above average fighter and tactician before being given the serum that enhanced his physical abilities. After the serum, he has the usual super strength related powers. Strong as ten men, unusually fast with increased stamina and reflexes. His healing factor, while substantially weaker than say Wolverine or Deadpool’s, does allow him to recover from major injuries at an astonishing rate. He is skilled in just about every form of martial arts known to man, as well as most major firearms and melee weapons, and has a near genius level intellect. He’s like an evil Batman with a healing factor.

The names Slade Wilson and Deathstroke have been thrown around a few times in previous years. The Adventures of Lois and Clark, a Superman drama from back in the mid-90s, had a Deathstroke, but he bore little to no resemblance to our favorite orange and black clad assassin. Similarly, Smallville of the 2000s had a General Slade Wilson that lost his right eye, but again, never put on the costume. It’s only in the last ten years or so that we’ve seen the actual Deathstroke.

Has a small role in The Flashpoint Paradox. Pretty much
just lead Lex Luthor into Atlantian waters, then kills a bunch
of Atlantians before being overrun.

His first major claim to fame was on the animated series Teen Titans, against the very team that he fought in the comics. This version of Deathstroke is referred to only as “Slade” due in no small part to the fact execs felt Deathstroke was a little too…intense for a children’s TV show. I counter that with Venom, Carnage, Apocalypse, Famine, War, Pestilence, Death, and Deadpool. All very mature sounding characters and subject matter, all on kids shows from my day. But, I digress. Slade is still a man of extreme strength and speed, easily fighting off all five Teen Titans on several occasions, but the focus is more on him as a plotter. This series has him be the criminal mastermind behind most of the schemes that go on in the fictional Jump City, instead of being the top man for criminal organizations like the H.I.V.E. He has several lesser villains that either work for, or are subjugated by him, as well as an army of robot warriors. He’s the major antagonist for the first two seasons, but is killed in the season two finale by his apprentice/puppet Terra. He’s seen in one episode in Season 3 by Robin, but that is later revealed to be a hallucination that Robin began to suffer from after being exposed to some nanobots in dust. He makes return in a blaze of glory in season 4. Apparently, Slade had made a bargain with Trigon, a powerful demon lord and Raven’s father. Slade was resurrected and made Trigon’s chief agent on Earth. He initiates an End of Days situation, where Trigon breaks into their reality by using his daughter as a gateway. But, after Trigon got what he wanted, Slade pulled a doublecross in order to 1. Defeat the demon and 2. Get back his living body, which, let’s face it, was the most important thing to Slade. Slade escapes after the Titans defeat Trigon, and remains the only major villain at large after the Teen Titans series finale.

Deathstroke is introduced in the second season of Young Justice. He’s first introduced in the episode “True Colors.” In the episode, the Light (evil Justice League) has an audience with their top enforcer Sportsmaster. Sportsmaster is PO’ed that Light member Black Manta’s son, Kaldur aka Aqualad, murdered his daughter Artemis. He’s not so angry that his daughter is dead, but that her being killed by Aqualad somehow ruins his reputation. When the Light refuses his request for payback, he tries to kill Black Manta anyway. He’s only stopped by Deathstroke, whom Light Leader Vandal Savage hired just in case they couldn’t talk Sportsmaster down. He takes care of most of the Light’s business deals after that point. In “Complications” he and Sportsmaster are fighting while Sportsmaster’s other daughter Cheshire sneaks aboard Black Manta’s son to assassinate Aqualad. Sportsmaster questions why Deathstroke is working for the light, despite the fact he knows that they’ll probably backstab him one day like they did Sportsmaster. Deathstroke reveals that he’s working towards earning a seat on the Light’s main council. He’s an ambitions little assassin, isn’t he? He appears in the penultimate episode “Summit” where the Light meets with their alien partners the Reach, and then the YJ team comes in to defeat them all. It’s revealed that the Deathstroke we saw throughout the episode was just shapeshifter Miss Martian in disguise. The real Deathstroke was apparently beaten off screen by Aqualad, whom had been spying for the Young Justice team the whole time.

I'm just going to shoot myself in the foot and
lie down quietly as you pass by, Slade.
Easier for everyone.

Last one I’ll mention is his place on Arrow. Much like for Lex Luthor on Smallville, I’ll just try to cut it down to the broadest strokes. He’s introduced in the Season One flashback story, portrayed by Mau Bennett. He and partner “Billy” Wintergreen are sent to the Chinese prison island of Lian Yu to rescue a man named Yao Fei. They’re intercepted by a man named Edward Fyers and his merc team, Slade escapes, while Wintergreen enlists. He is one of three individuals that begins training the young Oliver Queen, the other being Yao Fei and Yao Fei’s daughter Shado. Together they stop Fyers’ plan, which was to disrupt China’s economy by shooting down several commercial air planes. He and Oliver form a close bond and he takes to rather affectionately calling him “Kid.”

Season two shows us Slade, past and present. On the island, Slade is nearly killed in a missile bombardment curtesy of Dr. Anthony Ivo, whom was looking for a serum called Mirakuru that he believed Oliver and Company had gotten their hands on. Slade is severely burned. Oliver and Shado, along with the “not as dead as we thought” Sara Lance, do get their hands on Mirakuru and inject Slade with it. Initially they thought it had killed him, but instead it just rendering him unresponsive. While he was dead to the world, Oliver, Shado, and Sara are recaptured by Ivo. Ivo gives Oliver the choice of who lives, and he chooses Sara over Shado. Shado is killed, just before the new and improved Slade rushes in to save the day. The serum made him stronger, but it also made him incredibly paranoid and caused him to hallucinate. After a long drawn out “will he tell” story, Slade learns of Oliver’s unwilling hand in Shado’s death. Slade had started developing feelings for Shado, so he was pretty pissed upon learning this. The two have a fight to the death, where Slade vows to kill everyone that Oliver holds dear, and Oliver apparently kills Slade via arrow through his right eye. In the present day story, Slade is in Starling City and orchestrating the death of everything Oliver loves. He uses local alderman Sebastian Blood, aka Brother Blood, and several lackeys to perfect the Mirakuru formula gathered from his blood, and create an army of Super Soldiers to attack Starling. He and his goons face off against Oliver and his team, bolstered by the aid of the League of Assassins, whom are also armed with a cure for Mirakuru. In the end, Oliver strips Slade of his powers and has him imprisoned on a super secure vault beneath the island of Lian Yu. He returns in season 3, but I haven’t gotten to that episode yet.

Slade is basically an evil Batman. He’s one of the most skilled and deadly warriors in the DC Universe. He is merciless and will do anything to fulfill a contract, but at the same time has his own moral code of ethics that keeps him from falling under the “completely heartless” category of bad guy. And while he began his career as the villain of the Teen Titans, I think it’s safe to say that he’s one of those baddies that has surpassed the heroes he faces. But, when you’re one of the single greatest mercenaries in comics, that’s an easy thing to do. He’s the silent killer, the savage assassin, the darkly dreaming Deathstroke. Next time, I’ll be doing the resident hero of Hell’s Kitchen, Daredevil. 

 http://arrow.wikia.com/wiki/File:Deathstroke_taking_the_prisoners.png

 http://teentitans.wikia.com/wiki/File:Slade.jpg

 http://youngjustice.wikia.com/wiki/File:Deathstroke.png

 http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/File:Deathstroke_JLFP_Altered_001.jpg

 https://www.pinterest.com/pin/445012006901007076/