Deathstroke

Deathstroke, or commonly referred to as Deathstroke the Terminator or simply Slade, is known to be the greatest assassin in all of DC Comics. He has encountered Batman on several occasions. He has fought against Nightwing during his tenure on the Teen Titans, and has battled him occasionally in his own solo series, to the point he is considered a member of Nightwing's Rogues Gallery instead of Batman's. He is also the father of Ravager (Rose Wilson)

Character History
Slade Wilson was sixteen years old when he first enlisted in the United States Army, after faking 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. It was at this time that the war in Vietnam began to escalate and Slade was shipped overseas. At home, Adeline gave birth to their son Grant.

Some time later, Wilson volunteered for a medical experiment designed to stimulate his adrenal gland in the hopes of increasing a soldier's ability to resist truth serums. The experiment did not go as expected, and Slade fell into a coma. When he awakened however, he discovered that was now capable of using 90% of his brain capacity, and his strength, durability and agility were increased to near superhuman levels. He applied for re-assignment with the army, but they refused him. Although his condition was now stabilized, depression took hold of him and he was desperate to serve his country. At this time, Adeline became pregnant with their second child, Joseph. Unable to further his career in the military, Slade turned towards hunting. He became a world famous safari hunter and great wealth followed soon after. Adeline always suspected however that Slade felt unfulfilled.

A few years later, a group of hired mercenaries broke into the Wilsons' mansion and kidnapped young Joey. Adeline attempted to fight them off, but a gas grenade prevented her from saving her son. When Slade discovered what had happened, he knew he could not keep the truth from his wife any longer. Slade was not only a world famous safari hunter, he was also one of the world's deadliest and most highly sought after assassins - Deathstroke the Terminator. He promised Adeline that he would save their son. Together, they flew to Tangiers and squared off against a rival mercenary known as the Jackal. The Jackal wanted Slade to reveal important information relating to a client or else he would have his men kill Joey. Slade gambled on the idea that he could save his son before the Jackal could give the order. Unfortunately, Joseph's throat was slashed by one of the criminals before Slade could prevent it, destroying his vocal cords and rendering him mute. After taking Joseph to the hospital, Slade's wife, 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.

Deathstroke was a founding member of Lex Luthor's Secret Society of Super Villains. He was seen 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 impaled Phantom Lady through the chest, calling his action "just business".

He was the employer of an undercover Dick Grayson, 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 when Slade, under the orders of Alexander Luthor, Jr., the real leader of the Society, went with several villains- who included 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 thousands. Slade gave the explanation to the Brotherhood that Nightwing should be made to believe that he can never go home again.

Grayson 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 (though slower in its effects on humans, as revealed by Lex 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. Dick disappeared as well, but not before leaving a note for Slade warning him that he'd 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, and he was told to take responsibility before being rendered unconscious. He was taken to prison and sentenced to life.

In Batman and Robin #9 Slade Wilson, Deathstroke the Terminator was revealed to be doing freelance work for the League of Assassins.Working for Talia Al Ghul, Slade controled the body and physical actions of the current Robin, Damian Wayne in order to kill Wilson's old foe, Dick Grayson, who had taken up the mantle of Batman. Deathstroke is able to control Damian's actions thanks to a neural-implant inserted into Damian's spine by his mother while it was being surgically replaced. Grayson defeats Deathstroke by taking advantage of the two-way connection between him and Damian by using a taser on Damian, the resulting electric shock overwhelming Deathstroke's enhanced senses.

DCnU
Though the original Titans stories have been retconned by the DC Relaunch, Kyle Higgens, writer of both the Nightwing and Deathstroke titles, has stated that Slade still has a history with Dick and is still his archnemesis, and that the titles will crossover in the future.

Powers and Abilities
He possesses several abilities that are almost superhuman due to his military procedure.

Enhanced Mind: Able to utilize 9 times more than a human's brain capacity for information storing and sorting, his mind is practically a computer built for strategy and problem solving. He can work out any sort of battle or attack ahead of time and predict an enemies movements based on what they have displayed so far, showing that his memory borders on almost total recall. He is also ingenius in devising solutions against superior aspects of an opponent, can observe and exploit, and can calculate distance, time, and speed at lightning-fast speeds. His sense of time is also superb, bordering on perfection.

Enhanced Reflexes: His reflexes are instantaneous, so that he is able to dodge point-blank gunfire and out manuever almost any opponent, no matter how well trained.

Enhanced Strength: His entire muscular system was hardened and strengthened, making him "as strong as 10 men."

Enhanced Stamina: He is able to exert himself at peak capacity longer than any human can ever hope to.

Enhanced Speed: He is able to run and move at speeds of up to 30 mph.

Enhanced Senses: His senses have been highly augmented as well, making him able to see, hear, smell, feel, and taste things better than an ordinary human.

Regenerative Healing Factor: His healing powers are enhanced, making him able to recover from almost any injury, such as gunshots, stab wounds, broken bones, brusies, and many more. He can heal much faster than normal. He was once stabbed clean through the chest and this didn't do anything except slow him down and cause him pain.


 * Enhanced Immunity: Due to his healing factor, he is immune to most forms of diseases, infections, and foreign chemicals.


 * Retard Aging: Also due to his enhancement, he ages much slower than any normal human, appearing much younger than he actually is.

Skilled Martial Artist: His martial arts skills combined with enhanced physical prowess have enabled him to barely best Batman several times. He was defeated only when Batman was helped by Nightwing and Robin.

In Other Media
To be added

Television

 * In the fourth and final season of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, an assassin by the name of Deathstroke appeared in "Bob and Carol and Lois and Clark," played by Antonio Sabato The only commonality is the fact that he is an international assassin known as Deathstroke. In Lois and Clark, Deathstroke is a former scientist. An accident in the lab exposed him to magnetic particles, permanently altering his body and granting him magnetic powers. His assistant, who afterward becomes his wife, 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 and Carol 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 Deathstroke kept a secret identity by wearing a pair of glasses.185px-SladeTTanimated2003.jpg
 * Deathstroke appears as the main antagonist in the two first seasons of the Teen Titans animated series voiced by Ron Perlman. As a nod to his comic counterpart, his mask only has one eye-hole, though his "true" face is never shown and his mask was only taken off half-way during his first battle with the Titans; but was silhouetted by a shadow (he was shown to have brightly colored slicked back hair), and then he was seen with his face as a skull with a scar running through his right eye socket when he accompanied Robin against a battle with Raven's father. In the episode "Forces of Nature," however, he wears a disguise that closely resembles his face from the comics. He is also changed from a mercenary and assassin to an enigmatic criminal mastermind (though in one episode he states that he enjoys working for someone else), dispatching slews of supervillains and android ninjas to kill the Teen Titans instead of directly coming after them himself. Most of Slade's plans are strictly scientific in nature, though he did summon a fire elemental in one episode. Slade is shown to be ambitious, calculating, and incredibly sadistic; however, 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 conquer the city, and quite possibly the world. In the first two seasons he seeks out an apprentice, starting with Robin in the first season, who he coerces into working for him by threatening to kill the other Titans with nanobots, and then Terra, whose desire for control and acceptance he preys on. Slade is killed at the end of the second season by Terra, who drops him into a lava-filled pit, and is, as a result, mostly absent in the third season, with Brother Blood acting as the main villain. In the Season 3 episode "Haunted," Slade appears as a figment of Robin's imagination, due to a chemical reagent released from his mask when Robin touched it, causing Robin to see hallucinations of Slade which attacked him. His mind made the injuries inflicted upon him real. Robin eventually figures out what is happening and overcomes the hallucination. However, it is revealed that this gas had been triggered from the outside by an unknown party. Slade returns in the fourth season as an undead servant of Raven's demonic father, Trigon. He is empowered with vast pyrokinetic abilities, superhuman strength and durability, flight, regeneration, phasing, electricity generation, teleportation, and other supernatural powers making him far stronger than the Teen Titans (except for Raven). Slade entered into the deal in exchange for being brought back to life, but was predictably betrayed. Intent on getting his due, he helps Robin find Raven, locating the source of power which restores his mortal form along the way. He aids the Teen Titans in defeating Trigon afterward. He escapes capture after the world is saved as both he and Robin noted the partnership changed nothing. After the fight with Trigon, Slade himself makes no more appearances throughout the show, however a robot duplicate of him does appear in the last episode of the series "Things Change," when Beast Boy is searching for answers on why a girl who appears to be a newly revived Terra seems to have lost all memory of her past or superpowers. Slade confronts Beast Boy denying anything to do with Terra's sudden return and stating that if Terra does not remember her past, it is because she does not want to remember and that he should leave her in peace. Infuriated by his speech, Beast Boy attacks Slade, only to find out that it is just another robot duplicate. In the Teen Titans: Know Your Foes interview on the Season 2 DVD, Slade is said to have enhanced strength and an enhanced healing factor. He appears also to have a degree of super speed, as he was able to move faster than Robin could see during their fight in "Apprentice Part II". He is well-trained in most forms of combat, both unarmed and with weapons, to the point that he appears to be Robin's better, besting him frequently and fairly easily during their fights but never delivering a finishing blow. It eventually took all five of the Teen Titans to defeat him, though they did so soundly. He also fought Beast Boy once in person, and though the fight was inconclusive, he could have killed Beast Boy at least twice during it. He is a bona-fide genius, with great knowledge in robotics, as well as military, political, and subversive strategy. However, he was easy to anger, which Robin eventually took advantage of. He seems to possess some knowledge of ceremonial magic (as seen in the episode Forces of Nature). 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. He is also the only main Titan villian still at large at the end of the series.