History ComicBook / Deathstroke

* MayDecemberRomance: Shortly after his introduction it was revealed that both Slade and Terra had shared an intimate relationship, despite Terra being fifteen years old and Slade having joined the Army in the late 1950s, early 1960s.

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Apparently, Rob Liefeld once mis-drew Slade "Deathstroke" Wilson by letting him have both of his eyes, and when Fabian Nicieza saw it, he jokingly referred to the "new" character as Wade "Deadpool" Wilson. (Y'all know [[SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}} Deadpool]], yes?)

** Deathstroke bears some resemblance to the Marvel character ComicBook/{{Taskmaster}}, who debuted several months beforehand. Both have some similar design elements (such as the buccaneer-style boots and color scheme), their powersets are roughly similar (Deathstroke's brain enhancements compared to Taskmaster's "photographic reflexes"), and have similar roles; however given the short period of time between their respective debuts it's likely coincidence (the visual similarity may be because [[SelfPlagiarism they both were first drawn by the same artist]], George Perez). But Deathstroke also inspired a rather memorable Expy. A lot of people forget that {{Deadpool}} was originally a blatant copy-cat of Deathstroke.

** Slade's original write-up -- a veteran who took a supersoldier serum -- made him a particularly cynical take on CaptainAmerica.

%%He has superpowers, he isn't a badass normal* BadassNormal: If there is anyone in the DCU that gives ComicBook/{{Batman}} a run for his money, it's Slade Wilson — although the artificial augmentations make the “Normal” part questionable. Not just giving Batman a run for his money, Slade is the only person in DC to have a winning record (3-1) against the Dark Knight.

* CombatPragmatist: Slade's the type of guy who ''would'' stab you in the back literally or shoot you in the head before you even knew what was happening.

** He's a mercenary [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Batman]]. To get more detailed both are a quintessential BadassNormal, are typically CrazyPrepared, and Deathstroke even has his own BattleButler in Wintergreen, a sort of EvilCounterpart to Alfred. Finally there's the fact that Batman will never use a gun whereas Deathstroke is a WalkingArmory.

* BadassNormal: If there is anyone in the DCU that gives ComicBook/{{Batman}} a run for his money, it's Slade Wilson — although the artificial augmentations make the “Normal” part questionable. Not just giving Batman a run for his money, Slade is the only person in DC to have a winning record (3-1) against the Dark Knight.

* BadassNormal: If there is anyone in the DCU that gives ComicBook/{{Batman}} a run for his money, it's Slade Wilson. Not just give Batman a run for his money, Slade is the only person in DC to have a winning record (3-1) against the Dark Knight.

* BadBoss: In one late-2010's comic, he's assigned a team of [[KidSidekick much younger subordinates]]. Despite proving both competent and loyal (if a bit [[AscendedFanboy overeager]]), he's killed them all by the end of the issue.

** ComicBook/GreenArrow pressed a major one in ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis'' when he stabbed him in his eye socket with one of his arrows.
*** Though Slade had been blind in that eye for years, it was implied that [[EyeScream the eye itself was still there]] until that point.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Slade was far more of a dirtbag in his earliest appearances, in sharp contrast to his eventual AntiVillain status. One of his earliest appearances had him kidnapping Cyborg's love interest in order to lure the Teen Titans into a trap, something that would seem at odds with his NeverHurtAnInnocent guidelines that would be established in later issues, and recreate the Doom Patrol's way of dying - a traumatic event for Changeling - ForTheEvulz. This can be explained by the creative differences between George Perez, who saw Slade as a ruthless villain whose "code" was only a personal justification, and Marv Wolfman, who did not see him as villain but as an honorable victim of circumstance. Thus when Perez left the title, Deathstroke's more noble characterization took hold.

* TheCorrupter: He's tried to turn Nightwing evil, along with telling Arsenal he was gonna take his daughter after he killed him and raise her to be a mercenary assassin.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: In ''Villains United'', even he was disgusted by how Cheshire had sold out her own team and rewarded her for it by shooting her in the gut.

* EvilCounterpart: He's a mercenary [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Batman]]. To get more detailed both are a quintessential BadassNormal, are typically CrazyPrepared, and Deathstroke even has his own BattleButler in Wintergreen, a sort of EvilCounterpart to Alfred. Finally there's the fact that Batman will never use a gun whereas Deathstroke is a WalkingArmory.

* {{Expy}}: Deathstroke bears some resemblance to the Marvel character ComicBook/{{Taskmaster}}, who debuted several months beforehand. Both have some similar design elements (such as the buccaneer-style boots and color scheme), their powersets are roughly similar (Deathstroke's brain enhancements compared to Taskmaster's "photographic reflexes"), and have similar roles; however given the short period of time between their respective debuts it's likely coincidence (the visual similarity may be because [[SelfPlagiarism they both were first drawn by the same artist]], George Perez). But Deathstroke also inspired a rather memorable Expy. A lot of people forget that {{Deadpool}} was originally a blatant copy-cat of Deathstroke.

* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Is he a good guy? A bad guy? Somewhere in between? The answer tends to change.
** For his part, Wintergreen has decided that Slade's just a violent man who has only ever been on his own side.

** Naturally, he shares a special rivalry with Nightwing.

* BadassNormal: If there is anyone in the DCU that gives Batman a run for his money, it's Slade Wilson. Not just give Batman a run for his money, Slade is the only person in DC to have a winning record (3-1) against the Dark Knight.

** Slade also has a tendency to do this with mind altering drugs. He's done it on Rose and was later revealed to be doing it to Cassandra Cain in order to explain her FaceHeelTurn.

%%* GunNut

Outside of comics, Deathstroke was featured as the main antagonist in the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' animated series, simply using his [[NeverSayDie more kid-friendly first name "Slade"]] (voiced by Creator/RonPerlman), and is set to appear in the movie of [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo the second series]], ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGoToTheMovies'' (voiced by Creator/WillArnett). A more comic-accurate version of Deathstroke (voiced by Creator/WentworthMiller, [[TheOtherDarrin then]] Creator/FredTatasciore) appeared in the second season of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', working as an enforcer for the Light. He appeared as a GeneralRipper antagonist in ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', played by Creator/MichaelHogan. He was a main character in the first two seasons of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', where he's played by [[RaceLift mixed-race]] actor Creator/ManuBennett. He also appeared in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueTheFlashpointParadox'' (reprised by Perlman), was one of the major villains in ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'' (voiced by Creator/RobinAtkinDownes), and was the main antagonist in ''[[WesternAnimation/SonOfBatman Son of Batman]]'' (voiced by Thomas Gibson) and the secondary antagonist in ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract The Judas Contract]]'' (voiced by Miguel Ferrer). He made his first appearances in a live action movie with a cameo in the Film/DCExtendedUniverse's ''Film/{{Justice League|2017}}'', played by Creator/JoeManganiello. Rumors suggest that he will have a big role in the ''Batman'' solo movie to be released in the setting.

* HeroKiller: He's killed a couple of heroes, including Phantom Lady and Ryan Choi's [[ComicBook/TheAtom Atom]]. Then in the trailer for ''VideoGame/DCUniverseOnline'', he ''almost'' kills Franchise/{{Batman}}. Unfortunately, while his powerset (he's basically an evil Batman with guns and a healing factor thrown in or {{Deadpool}} with sanity) should make him utterly terrifying to normals and low-level metas, it's a little more difficult to accept him as a serious threat to the likes of Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/GreenLantern.

Outside of comics, Deathstroke was featured as the main antagonist in the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' animated series, simply using his [[NeverSayDie more kid-friendly first name "Slade"]] (voiced by Creator/RonPerlman). A more comic-accurate version of Deathstroke (voiced by Creator/WentworthMiller, [[TheOtherDarrin then]] Creator/FredTatasciore) appeared in the second season of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', working as an enforcer for the Light. He appeared as a GeneralRipper antagonist in ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', played by Creator/MichaelHogan. He was a main character in the first two seasons of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', where he's played by [[RaceLift mixed-race]] actor Creator/ManuBennett. He also appeared in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueTheFlashpointParadox'' (reprised by Perlman), was one of the major villains in ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'' (voiced by Creator/RobinAtkinDownes), and was the main antagonist in ''[[WesternAnimation/SonOfBatman Son of Batman]]'' (voiced by Thomas Gibson) and the secondary antagonist in ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract The Judas Contract]]'' (voiced by Miguel Ferrer). He made his first appearances in a live action movie with a cameo in the Film/DCExtendedUniverse's ''Film/{{Justice League|2017}}'', played by Creator/JoeManganiello. Rumors suggest that he will have a big role in the ''Batman'' solo movie to be released in the setting.

Outside of comics, Deathstroke was featured as the main antagonist in the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' animated series, simply using his [[NeverSayDie more kid-friendly first name "Slade"]] (voiced by Creator/RonPerlman). A more comic-accurate version of Deathstroke (voiced by Creator/WentworthMiller, [[TheOtherDarrin then]] FredTatasciore) appeared in the second season of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', working as an enforcer for the Light. He appeared as a GeneralRipper antagonist in ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', played by Creator/MichaelHogan. He was a main character in the first two seasons of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', where he's played by [[RaceLift mixed-race]] actor Creator/ManuBennett. He also appeared in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueTheFlashpointParadox'' (reprised by Perlman), was one of the major villains in ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'' (voiced by Creator/RobinAtkinDownes), and was the main antagonist in ''[[WesternAnimation/SonOfBatman Son of Batman]]'' (voiced by Thomas Gibson) and the secondary antagonist in ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract The Judas Contract]]'' (voiced by Miguel Ferrer). He made his first appearances in a live action movie with a cameo in the Film/DCExtendedUniverse's ''Film/{{Justice League|2017}}'', played by Creator/JoeManganiello. Rumors suggest that he will have a big role in the ''Batman'' solo movie to be released in the setting.

Outside of comics, Deathstroke was featured as the main antagonist in the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' animated series, simply using his [[NeverSayDie more kid-friendly first name "Slade"]] (voiced by Creator/RonPerlman). A more comic-accurate version of Deathstroke (voiced by Creator/WentworthMiller, [[TheOtherDarrin then]] FredTatasciore) appeared in the second season of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', working as an enforcer for the Light. He appeared as a GeneralRipper antagonist in ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', played by Creator/MichaelHogan. He was a main character in the first two seasons of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', where he's played by [[RaceLift mixed-race]] actor Creator/ManuBennett. He also appeared in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueTheFlashpointParadox'' (reprised by Perlman), was one of the major villains in ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'' (voiced by Creator/RobinAtkinDownes), and was the main antagonist in ''[[WesternAnimation/SonOfBatman Son of Batman]]'' (voiced by Thomas Gibson) and the secondary antagonist in ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract The Judas Contract]]'' (voiced by Miguel Ferrer). He will also appear in the Film/DCExtendedUniverse played by Creator/JoeManganiello, with rumors suggesting that he will have a big role in the ''Batman'' solo movie made in the setting. He has a cameo in ''Film/{{Justice League|2017}}''.

Outside of comics, Deathstroke was featured as the main antagonist in the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' animated series, simply using his [[NeverSayDie more kid-friendly first name "Slade"]] (voiced by Creator/RonPerlman). A more comic-accurate version of Deathstroke (voiced by Creator/WentworthMiller, [[TheOtherDarrin then]] FredTatasciore) appeared in the second season of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', working as an enforcer for the Light. He appeared as a GeneralRipper antagonist in ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', played by Creator/MichaelHogan. He was a main character in the first two seasons of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', where he's played by [[RaceLift mixed-race]] actor Creator/ManuBennett. He also appeared in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueTheFlashpointParadox'' (reprised by Perlman), was one of the major villains in ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'' (voiced by Creator/RobinAtkinDownes), and was the main antagonist in ''[[WesternAnimation/SonOfBatman Son of Batman]]'' (voiced by Thomas Gibson) and the secondary antagonist in ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract The Judas Contract]]'' (voiced by Miguel Ferrer). He will also appear in the Film/DCExtendedUniverse played by Creator/JoeManganiello, with rumors suggesting that he will have a big role in the ''Batman'' solo movie made in the setting.

* FriendlyEnemy: Deathstroke and Beast Boy developed a relationship like this in the later '80s and early '90s. [[spoiler: Beast Boy was about to fight him to the death when Deathstroke appealed to his humanity by showing up without his mask, stating that it was the faceless mask that he wanted to kill, not the person behind it. They later talked things over in a diner.]] Of course, this got reversed once Deathstroke [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jumped back off the slippery slope]] into cold-blooded villainy.

* TeamDad: Evil version. During the Titans East storyline, he even acted more fatherly towards Inertia than he did to his own children [[spoiler: as part of his plan to get the Titans to accept them]]. He gave the little psycho the serum he needed for SuperSpeed while warning him not to abuse it, advised him to dump his even more psychotic girlfriend, and hooked him up with the Rogues in Central City once everything went south for Titans East.

Outside of comics, Deathstroke was featured as the main antagonist in the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' animated series, with his name changed to [[NeverSayDie the more kid-friendly moniker of "Slade"]] (voiced by Creator/RonPerlman). A more comic-accurate version of Deathstroke (voiced by Creator/WentworthMiller, [[TheOtherDarrin then]] FredTatasciore) appeared in the second season of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', working as an enforcer for the Light. He appeared as a GeneralRipper antagonist in ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', played by Creator/MichaelHogan. He was a main character in the first two seasons of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', where he's played by [[RaceLift mixed-race]] actor Creator/ManuBennett. He also appeared in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueTheFlashpointParadox'' (reprised by Perlman), was one of the major villains in ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'' (voiced by Creator/RobinAtkinDownes), and was the main antagonist in ''[[WesternAnimation/SonOfBatman Son of Batman]]'' (voiced by Thomas Gibson) and the secondary antagonist in ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract The Judas Contract]]'' (voiced by Miguel Ferrer). He will also appear in the Film/DCExtendedUniverse played by Creator/JoeManganiello, with rumors suggesting that he will have a big role in the ''Batman'' solo movie made in the setting.

Originally, Deathstroke was intended to be a minor, one-shot villain but fan-reaction saw him become a regular, recurring character in not only the ''Teen Titans'' but in other series as well. He later starred, four times, in his own comic series. The first series ran from June 1991-April 1996, the second from September 2011-May 2013, the third from October 2014-July 2016, and the fourth began in August 2016. In 2009 IGN ranked Deathstroke as the 32nd greatest comic book villain of all time.

* InvincibleVillain: In the hands of clumsy writing he can be this. His most infamous showing was in ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis'', in which he single-handledly beat Franchise/GreenLantern, Franchise/TheFlash, Comicbook/BlackCanary, Comicbook/GreenArrow, Comicbook/{{Hawkman}}, Comicbook/{{Zatanna}}, and Comicbook/TheAtom with minimal effort. In this fight, he demonstrated ''faster reflexes than [[Franchise/TheFlash Wally West]]'' and ''enough willpower to convince a Franchise/GreenLantern ring to not attack him''. The encounter ends with the entire Justice League on the floor spitting up blood, and Slade quipping that this League, made up mostly of new faces (in ComicBookTime terms, anyway) to superheroing, is so much weaker than the old one... despite the fact that many of them (Wally in particular) are ''far'' more powerful than their predecessors. You'd think that an [[EyeScream arrow to the eye]] would have done something more than force him to retreat, but he was just fine afterwards.

* NeverMyFault: His entire motivation for hating the ComicBook/TeenTitans and trying to kill them was that he blamed them for the loss of his family. In reality, Deathstroke himself was the one who drove them away with his life as an amoral mercenary. Averted in one storyline when he eventually realized he was a terrible father. He enacted a scheme to endear his remaining two children to the Teen Titans so they could have the family he couldn't give them.

* OnlyInItForTheMoney: This is a motivation he frequently has DependingOnTheWriter.

* ManipulativeBastard: He's not quite as good at this as some other DC characters. Most of his targets tend to be damaged teenagers a generation or two younger than him, hardly the most challenging targets. When his powers of persuasion aren't enough to get them to work for him, he's not above using blackmail, death threats, mind controlling drugs, and PsychoSerum to force them to join him.

* MotiveDecay: He started out as a ruthless, though not wholly unscrupulous, assassin who only came into conflict with the Titans as part of fulfilling a contract that his son died trying to complete, having blamed them for his death. When he dropped the contract and finally made peace with his son's death, he actually became rather amiable towards his former targets. Then he became a CardCarryingVillain and doing things like injecting his only surviving child with a PsychoSerum and implanting a chunk of radioactive kryptonite in her eye socket and nuking Bludhaven to spite Nightwing (a character he had previously had a lot of respect for). Following the reboot, Deathstroke is a ConsummateProfessional who's concerned with maintaining his reputation as he gets older. No connection to the Titans, though he still can't maintain a decent relationship with his family.

%%** CulturedWarrior

%%* DeadpanSnarker

* FriendlyEnemy: Deathstroke and Beast Boy developed a relationship like this in the '80s. [[spoiler: Beast Boy was about to fight him to the death when Deathstroke appealed to his humanity by showing up without his mask, stating that it was the faceless mask that he wanted to kill, not the person behind it. They later talked things over in a diner.]] Of course, this got reversed once Deathstroke [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jumped back off the slippery slope]] into cold-blooded villainy.

* MotiveDecay: He started out as a ruthless, though not unscrupulous, assassin who honestly didn't have any great animosity towards the Titans and originally only came into conflict with them as part of fulfilling a contract that his son died trying to complete. When he dropped the contract he actually became rather amiable towards his former targets. Then he became a CardCarryingVillain and doing things like injecting his only surviving child with a PsychoSerum and implanting a chunk of radioactive kryptonite in her eye socket and nuking Bludhaven to spite Nightwing (a character he had previously had a lot of respect for). Following the reboot, Deathstroke is a ConsummateProfessional who's concerned with maintaining his reputation as he gets older. No connection to the Titans, though he still can't maintain a decent relationship with his family.

* NeverSayDie: In the animated version of Teen Titans, he was never called "Deathstroke" or "the Terminator", merely "Slade". Since without the "Wilson", "Slade" just sounds like another codename, it didn't feel too out of place.

%%* OnlyInItForTheMoney: DependingOnTheWriter.

* FriendlyEnemy: Deathstroke and Beast Boy developed a relationship like this in the '80s. [[spoiler: Beast Boy was about to fight him to the death when Deathstroke appealed to his humanity by showing up without his mask, stating that it was the faceless mask that he wanted to kill, not the person behind it. They later talked things over in a diner.]]

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Slade was far more of a dirtbag in his earliest appearances, in sharp contrast to his eventual AntiVillain status. One of his earliest appearances had him kidnapping Cyborg's love interest in order to lure the Teen Titans into a trap, something that would seem at odds with his NeverHurtAnInnocent guidelines that would be established in later issues, and recreate the Doom Patrol's way of dying - a traumatic event for Changeling - ForTheEvulz. This can be explained by the creative differences between George Perez, who saw Slade as a ruthless villain whose "code" was only a personal justification, and Marv Wolfman, who did not see him as villain but as an honorable victim of circumstance.

%%* BeardOfEvil

* BigBad: Of the ''Judas Contract'', ''Titans Hunt'', and the first two seasons of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans.'' While in scale he doesn't quite match Trigon, Deathstroke is still the most frequent of the Titans' big bads, also serving as this in some of Dick's solo series.

* BreakoutVillain: He was intended to be a minor, practically one-shot villain. Soon winded up getting his own comic book series and has become a fan favorite villain of the DC Universe.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Slade was far more of a dirtbag in his earliest appearances, in sharp contrast to his eventual AntiVillain status. One of his earliest appearances had him kidnapping Cyborg's love interest in order to lure the Teen Titans into a trap, something that would seem at odds with his NeverHurtAnInnocent guidelines that would be established in later issues.