Deathstroke Got His Revenge in One of DCs DARKEST Stories

Deathstroke Got His Revenge in One of DC’s DARKEST Stories

Deathstroke the Terminator is one of the Teen Titans’ most iconic villains – and his first plot against the team was his most insidious.

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Deathstroke Got His Revenge in One of DCs DARKEST Stories

When the Teen Titans were revived as the New Teen Titans in the 80’s, it wasn’t just new heroes who were added to the DC Universe but new villains as well. None were more instantly iconic than Deathstroke the Terminator. The character obtained significant notoriety after his portrayal in the 2003 animated Teen Titans series where he was called Slade. One of the most memorable storylines from that series focussed on a new Titan named Terra who wound up betraying her team. That storyline was about as dark as a Saturday morning cartoon was allowed to be at the time, but its comic counterpart The Judas Contract was much darker and it all began with Deathstroke plotting revenge against the Teen Titans.

The storyline starts by revealing Deathstroke’s partnership with Terra. The villain had developed a grudge against the team after his first son died fighting them. He uses Terra to slowly gain the trust of each Titan until they reveal their secret identities. Much like the animated series, Beast Boy, who went by Changeling at the time, even fell in love with Terra. Deathstroke uses the information gained from Terra to capture the Titans in their homes and hands them over to one of the Titan’s other major threats, the organization H.I.V.E. The only Titan who manages to escape from Deathstroke’s clutches is a recently retired Dick Grayson. When Dick returns to Titans Tower he is greeted by Deathstroke’s wife and second son, who explains that Terra is a mole.

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After adopting the new persona of Nightwing, Dick teams up with Deathstroke’s second son, the superhero Jericho, to free the titans from H.I.V.E. After the duo are captured as well, Deathstroke hesitates at seeing his son. This hesitation allows Jericho an opportunity to use his possession powers on his father and free the Titans, but not before Terra rages at Deathstroke for being weak. Changeling convinces himself that Terra was merely brainwashed by Deathstroke. Despite Changeling’s protests, Terra uses her powers to bring the H.I.V.E. building down, killing herself in the process.

The Judas Contract was a major storyline for the Teen Titans and a notably dark turn for the team. Unlike the animated adaptation, the Terra of the original comics was not a conflicted hero who was manipulated to do evil but was bad from the start. The revelation that Terra was not just willingly working with Deathstroke, but sleeping with him, remains one of the darkest plot turns in a mainline DC comic. Terra was sixteen years old at the time of the storyline while Deathstroke was middle-aged, making him far more insidious than he would later be portrayed.

The storyline has been adapted and retold more than a few times. The aforementioned Teen Titans animated series gave a semi-adaptation with its second season and the story would later be re-adapted in the animated movie Teen Titans: The Judas Contract. Elements of the storyline would also appear in season three of Young Justice.

It is a testament to how iconic the story is that elements of it are still important parts of the DC Universe even forty years later. Though the largest change brought by the storyline was Dick Grayson retiring as Robin and becoming Nightwing, the storyline also established Deathstroke as a major villain. After the New 52 reboot, Deathstroke has switched between being a villain and antihero, with his allegiance often shifting at a moment’s notice. In modern stories, he is often portrayed as far nobler than other villains such as Lex Luthor or the Joker.

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It is difficult to reconcile that interpretation of the character with how he is portrayed in his most recognizable storyline. Deathstroke in The Judas Contract is one of the darkest threats ever faced by the Teen Titans.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/deathstroke-dc-comic-darkest-story/

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