| “ | To kill you now would be a mercy. You cannot die until you have suffered the same way I have suffered, until you have known complete despair, and you will… I promise. | „ |
| ~ Slade’s promise to Oliver. |
| “ | Death would be a release from this life and his sentence is yet to be carried out. I am going to tear everything he cares about away from him. Destroy those who choose to follow him. Corrupt those he loves. Once he has lost everyone and everything he values, I will drive an arrow through his eye. | „ |
| ~ Slade to Sebastian Blood |
| “ | We both know there's only one way that this can end. To beat me, kid, you're going to have to kill me. But in the moment of my death, you'll prove one thing: that you are a murderer. | „ |
| ~ Slade to Oliver in their final fight. |
Slade Joseph Wilson, also known as Deathstroke, is one of the two secondary antagonists (alongside Ricardo Diaz) of the 2012-20 superhero television series Arrow, which is part of DC‘s Arrowverse.
He is a vengeful mercenary who planned on taking away everything and everyone Oliver Queen loved as vengeance for letting Shado get killed and stabbing his eye. He secretly gathered an army of Mirakuru-enhanced individuals to lay waste to Starling city, one of the things Oliver loved the most.
He was portrayed by Manu Bennett, who also played Azog in The Hobbit trilogy.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Heinous?[]
Background[]
- Before the events of the series, he worked as an operative of the Australian Special Intelligence Services, presumably killing count people during these missions.
- When Oliver Queen found his hideout, Slade threatened to kill him unless he revealed who he was.
- Believing Oliver was a liability, Slade bound him to a chair and nearly killed him, until Oliver managed to free himself from his restraints.
- Despite his newfound respect for Oliver, Slade still threatened to kill him if he compromised his plan to get off the island.
- During Oliver and Slade’s journey to Edward Fyers’ compound, Oliver tries to make a fire for two hours while Slade watches, only for Slade to reveal he had a lighter the entire time and was just trolling Oliver, even thanking him for the entertainment.
- After infiltrating the compound, Slade reveals his plans the island to put an end to Fyers’ operation, not caring that his friend Yao Fei was on it.
- When Oliver goes back to rescue Yao Fei, Slade threatens to leave them both to die if they’re not back within 3 hours.
- He brutally killed his former partner Billy Wintergreen by stabbing him in the eye.
- After Dr. Anthony Ivo killed Shado, he promised to make the person who killed her suffer.
- He implicitly threatened Sara’s life due to her being Ivo’s right-hand woman. When Oliver tries to break them up, Slade starts choking him and likely would’ve killed him had Sara not snapped him out of it.
- He tries to blow up Ivo’s submarine, the Amazo, in revenge, despite knowing it was their only way off the island.
- He ordered Oliver and Sara not to kill Dr. Ivo, as he wanted the latter for himself, heavily implying he would torture him.
- Upon learning Oliver indirectly caused Shado’s death by choosing Sara over her, Slade violently attacks and tries to kill the man he once called his “brother”.
- When Oliver attempted to escape the submarine, Slade grabs Oliver by the leg and imprisons him onboard.
- When the ship’s captain ordered Slade be locked up in one of the ship’s cells, Slade crushes his skull and threatens the rest of the crew with death unless they serve him.
- He lacerated Ivo’s hand out of revenge for killing Shado, making him indirectly responsible for Ivo's death since he asked Oliver to mercy-kill him as the wound was slowly infecting him. He then promises to Oliver that he will make him suffer before killing him.
- He tortured Oliver while forcing Sara to listen and threatened to kill him unless she surrendered Hendrick to him.
- Though he does return Oliver to Sara on the island, he only did so to leave them stranded there for the rest of their lives. He then reveals his intention to kill Oliver’s family once the Amazo is repaired.
- It’s likely he killed Hendrick once he was no longer useful to his plans given the latter is never seen again.
- He captured Oliver and Sara and forced them to watch as he injected Mirakuru into unwilling prisoners, wanting to drive them into insanity and convert them into servants.
- After the Amazo was split open by a torpedo, Slade threw Sara out of it and seemingly causes her to drown in front of Oliver. This makes Slade indirectly responsible for Sara joining the League of Assassins.
- He taunts Oliver over Sara’s supposed death and states his mother and sister would be next, which provokes Oliver into stabbing Slade in the eye, apparently killing him.
- He needlessly attacked several A.S.I.S. agents and recruits, killing them all and only sparing his son.
- Earning the moniker of “Deathstroke”, Slade acted as a mercenary and killed people across the world. His influence would also lead many more take on the mantle, including his sons, Joe and Grant Wilson, and J.J. Diggle in 2040.
- He allied with Isabel Rochev, began training her in the art of brutal combat, and planted her in Queen Consolidated to take over the company in order to draw Oliver back to Starling City after he exiled himself to Lian Yu.
- He allied with Sebastian Blood, funding his mayoral campaign and promising him control over the city. However, Slade had no intention of fulfilling this promise and merely just used Sebastian for his own goals.
Season 2[]
- He secretly enlisted the copycat “Hoods” to assassinate Starling City’s mayor just to draw Oliver back to the city.
- He ordered Sebastian to inject the Mirakuru Serum into unwilling test subjects to build up an army of Mirakuru Soldiers, despite knowing the process wasn’t 100% guaranteed to succeed and could result in their deaths.
- When Laurel Lance nearly obtained the file with evidence of Sebastia’s crimes, Slade ordered Sebastian to take care of the matter, leading to Sebastia setting up Daily to die by framing him as Brother Blood.
- He killed three of Sebastian’s bodyguards and threatened to kill him too if he failed him again.
- In an effort to undermine Moira’s mayoral campaign, he met with her at the Queen Mansion, and secretly planted bugs with cameras all over the house.
- When Oliver arrived at the mansion, Slade subtly taunted Oliver for their past. When Oliver asks Slade his intentions, the latter reminds him he intends to keep the promise he made years ago.
- When Alexei Leonov dug up information on Slade for Oliver, Slade killed him and left behind his corpse for Oliver to find. This would ultimately ruin Oliver’s friendship with fellow Bratva member Anatoly Knyazev, ultimately leading to Anatoly being ousted from the Bratva and later joining up with Ricardo Diaz.
- He abducted Oliver’s sister Thea and broadcasted it across the city as a distraction while he hijacked a prison bus full of inmates, killing its guards before recruiting the inmates for his plans, intending to use them as test subjects for his Mirakuru Army.
- In order to drive a wedge between Thea and her family, Slade reveals to her that Malcolm Merlyn was her biological father and that they kept it from her.
- He visits Laurel in her apartment and reveals to her that Oliver is the Arrow.
- He infiltrates the Arrowcave to steal the Skeleton Key, strangling Sara and tossing her into a table and tossing Diggle into a glass container.
- He uses the Skeleton Key to infiltrate a S.T.A.R. Labs facility to steal a bio-transfuser, nearly killing scientists Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon when they stood in his way.
- Finding out Roy had left Starling City, Slade abducted him and used him to give Sebastia transfusions to the Iron Heights escapees to build up his army, not caring if he would die in the process. When Oliver arrived, Slade scolds the already devastated Oliver for pushing Roy away. Slade’s actions later allowed the Mirakuru serum to corrupt Roy, go on a rampage and kill an innocent police officer, which overwhelmed Roy with guilt when he found out about it.
- He held Thea and Moira at gunpoint, forcing Oliver to choose who lives and dies in a cruel recreation of Shado’s death.
- When Oliver begs him to kill him instead Slade refuses and insisted he was still killing him, but more slowly and painfully.
- He killed Oliver’s mother in front of him and his sister, telling Oliver he would kill one more person before killing him. This devastated Oliver to the point he nearly surrendered his life to Slade.
- He launched an attack on Starling City with his Mirakuru army, killing dozens of people in his crusade against Oliver Queen, which ultimately provoked Amanda Waller into air-striking the city and nearly destroying it.
- Learning of a Mirakuru cure from Central City, Slade had one of his soldiers kill the scientist delivering it and steal the cure.
- He’s indirectly responsible for Quentin Lance getting mortally wounded during the attack and the death of Starling City’s District Attorney, which ultimately drove Sebastian to betray Slade and give the Mirakuru cure to Oliver.
- After learning of Sebastian’s betrayal, Slade sent Isabel to kill him, mockingly telling him “goodbye”.
- He kidnapped Laurel Lance and planned to kill her to cause Oliver more pain, but after learning Oliver had feelings for Felicity Smoak, Slade kidnapped her as well, not realizing it was a ruse.
- When Oliver tried to talk Slade out of his crimes and rightfully points out Shado would’ve been horrified at what Slade has become, Slade refused to listen and believed he was honoring her memory.
- After Felicity injected him with the cure and escaped his grasp, Slade ordered his men to kill Laurel out of spite.
- He dueled Oliver and attempts forcing him to watch as Amanda Waller nearly destroyed Starling City with an Airstrike. Slade also tried to goad Oliver into killing him, stating it was the only way to defeat him.
- Despite failing in his goals, Slade’s attack on Starling City had major consequences for future events in the series:
- During the attack, Ray Palmer’s fiancée, Anna Loring was killed by one of Slade’s soldiers, leading to him becoming the Atom to save people.
- Slade’s actions directly led to Carrie Cutter becoming Cupid after Oliver saved her life from one of Slade’s soldiers.
Season 3[]
- After being released from his cell by Malcolm Merlyn, Slade captured Oliver and Thea, and placed them in his cell.
- He intended to fake Oliver and Thea’s deaths to leave them trapped on the island forever just to spite Oliver for rightfully locking him up.
- He taunts Oliver about Shado’s death, blaming him for it once again and stating that had he told him the truth right away, Moira may still be alive.
- As Thea pulled a gun on him, Slade tried to goad her into doing it to break her.
Season 6[]
- Coming to believe his son had been kidnapped by the Jackals, Slade drugged Oliver to prevent him from following him.
- He infiltrated the Jackals’ base and began killing them in revenge.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- He is extremely tragic as he was once a good man who loved his family, but could rarely spend time with them due to his work as a mercenary. He was stranded on Lian Yu and fell in love with Shado, but she already in a relationship with his new friend Oliver Queen and he never got to express his true feelings until he was fatally wounded. After being injected with the Mirakuru, Slade found out Shado was murdered. He was lied to by Oliver and Sara, eventually finding out the truth from Ivo that Oliver chose to save Sara over Shado when Ivo forced him to choose, understandably feeling betrayed and was driven into total despair over losing the woman he loved, causing him to turn against Oliver. Even escaping from Lian Yu gave Slade no peace. He lost his eye after his fight with Oliver, had to endure a nightmarish swim back to shore, and suffered severe hallucinations that drove him insane. Of course, none of justified his actions, it’s still played for sympathy.
- He cares for a few people:
- He cared about his ex-partner Billy Wintergreen, even making him the godfather of his son. He was genuinely hurt over Wintergreen choosing to join Edward Fyers and his mercenary group.
- He cared about his son, Joe Wilson, and does everything in his power to try to stop him from turning out like him. When he fails, Slade becomes heartbroken, but he still doesn’t give up on redeeming his son. He also cared about his other son Grant Wilson and intended on finding him as well.
- He genuinely loved Shado and was heartbroken over her death. He only wants to kill Oliver out of a misguided attempt to avenge her death, when it was really Ivo who killed her.
- He cared about Isabel Rochev as unlike with Sebastian, he never abused her and even revived her with the Mirakuru after Diggle shot her.
- He shed a tear before killing Moira, regretting that he had to kill such a noble person for being willing to sacrifice herself to save her children.
- After his redemption, Slade reconciles his relationship with Oliver, willingly helping him defeat Adrian Chase, showing sadness when Chase supposed killed Oliver’s son, and being grateful when Oliver decided to help him find Joe Wilson.
- He has standards against Malcolm Merlyn’s actions, as he showed some subtle disgust when he learned Malcolm brainwashed Thea into killing Sara Lance. He also seemed somewhat concerned about Thea’s growing darkness.
- He has moral agency issues as it’s repeatedly stated that the Mirakuru altered his mind and made him increasingly deranged and unstable. Anytime Oliver comes close to reasoning with him, The Mirakuru would ultimately overwhelm Slade and compel him to continue being evil. After Lian Yu, he genuinely tried to move on with his life, but was ultimately forced back into evil due to the strong effect the drug had on him. After being cured of it, Slade finally realizes how awful his actions were and makes amends with Oliver.
- Once the Mirakuru completely left his system, Slade felt genuine remorse for his crimes and redeems himself by helping Oliver defeat Prometheus. He also showed sympathy to Oliver when Prometheus claimed he had killed Oliver’s son. Slade would later enlist Oliver’s help to find his son and shows gratitude to him in spite of their past. Slade also had the choice of killing Oliver and returning to villainy in order to have a relationship with his son, Slade ultimately rejects his past moniker of “Deathstroke”, showing he has moved on from the person he once was.
External links[]
- Deathstroke (Arrowverse) on the Villains Wiki
- Deathstroke (Arrowverse) on the Heroes Wiki
- Deathstroke (Arrowverse) on the Magnificent Baddie Wiki
- Deathstroke (Arrowverse) on the Arrowverse Wiki
[]
 Inconsistently Heinous
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Canon Arrow The Flash Supergirl Fanon See Also | ||