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1* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
2** Slade himself is subject to this a lot. Is he a moral mercenary who just does what he's good at or a completely amoral monster? Does he care for his children or are they just pawns in the games he plays? Depends on who you ask and who's writing him.
3** Slade's defeat in Titans East. Was his ultimate goal to try and get the Titans to accept Rose and Jericho so they could give them the family he couldn't? Or was he just lying to himself because he can't handle the idea that his plan fell through again?
4** If Slade was using drugs to control Terra during ComicBook/TheJudasContract, does that mean she was really consenting to having sex with him or was Slade taking advantage of her and straightforwardly raping her?
5* AudienceAlienatingEra: The ''Titans: Villains For Hire'' era was one not just for the Titans, but Deathstroke. It was by far the most critically lambasted run of any Titans-related comic and fans hated for how horrible the characters acted (especially Slade orchestrating the gang murder of Ryan Choi) yet were still expected to be sympathetic, plus the stilted writing and horrible artwork.
6* BaseBreakingCharacter:
7** Slade's handling by some writers has divided him into three categories. There are fans who still love him, fans who are unhappy with how he and his family have been handled since ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis2004'', and those who wish he was dead. What has further broken this base was the infamous Titans: Villains for Hire special where he and his team of mercenaries butchered Ryan Choi.
8** Some fans argued the retcon about Slade's relationship with Terra was a cheap cop out so DC could avoid admitting one of their most prolific villains was practically a child molester. It also doesn't help Slade's position that the retcon still puts Terra in the role of the relationship's instigator, thereby ''still'' subtly blaming her for the mess.
9* BrokenBase: The guest appearances of Franchise/{{Batman}} and ComicBook/{{Robin}} in the 2016 series. Some found the whole trip to Gotham to be a pointless distraction that added nothing to be plot, while others enjoyed the battle of wits between Slade and Batman, even if that subplot ended up being a RedHerring.
10* CantUnHearIt:
11** The character became especially popular among non-comic book readers after being featured as a major antagonist in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'', so many fans likely read every line in Creator/RonPerlman's very serious voice.
12** Fans of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' probably hear Creator/ManuBennett's voice, which has became iconic for the character, albeit for the mercenary versions more than the Chessmaster ones.
13** Creator/EsaiMorales' CreepyMonotone performance in ''Series/Titans2018'' is a fan favorite.
14** Brazilian fans will certainly hear Ricardo Schnetzer's voice. He voiced [[RoleReprise almost all appearances]] of Slade, animated and live-action.
15* CharacterRerailment:
16** In Terra's first appearance in the 2016 series during the Defiance arc, she's shown smoking. In her second appearance, the very first thing she says when seeing the team is to mockingly greet Rose by asking if she's still a virgin. All in all, she's much closer to her original sociopathic {{Jerkass}} personality circa ComicBook/TheJudasContract, although she is given a lot more insight and sympathy than she had back then.
17** Slade Wilson himself qualifies in the 2016 series as well, since all the way up through ComicBook/TheJudasContract he was characterized as an utterly reprehensible human being whose troubles were his own fault that he refused to accept responsibility for. After George Perez left, Slade [[CharacterizationMarchesOn rather abruptly turned into an]] AntiVillain with a true code of honor. This series returns Slade to his roots, with the series making it blatantly clear that no matter how he may want to dress it up, [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk Deathstroke is a villain to the core.]]
18* CompleteMonster: His ''YMMV/TeenTitans'' incarnation and his incarnation from ''YMMV/SonOfBatman'' & ''YMMV/TeenTitansTheJudasContract''. See those pages or see [[Monster/DCAnimation here]].
19* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments:
20** In issue #1 Wintergreen angrily asks Slade [[WhatTheHellhero what he was doing when Wintergreen was captured by Clock King for a year]]. After a BeatPanel [[NotEvenBotheringWithAnExcuse Slade says he was golfing, mostly]]. Wintergreen immediately switches to criticizing his golfing technique.
21*** In the same issue a flashback of Slade and Wintergreen trying to find a target in New Jersey and they are lost. Slade has a Blonde colored Afro Wig and a Fake Porn Stache.
22** Most of the issue #4 is Slade and Rose trying to sneak into Gotham under disguise. They're both clearly driving each other nuts.
23** Issue #13 has Slade fight Raptor, who had stolen his Ikon Suit, in his classic costume. Out of nowhere Red Lion asks him why he's wearing his trunks outside and looks like a pirate.
24* JerkassWoobie: Terra is an abrasive, amoral bitch through and through, but [[spoiler: given that she was an illegitimate princess who was forced from her home country, seeing her caretaker murdered right in front of her in the process, having a troubled childhood in America, and then being seduced and manipulated by Slade only to be thrown away when her purpose was served,]] it's difficult not to feel sorry for her or at least understand [[FreudianExcuse why she became the way she is]].
25* MagnificentBastard:
26** ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'': Deathstroke, real name Slade Wilson, was once a {{UsefulNotes/CIA}} agent who was booted after his excessive cruelty in the name of protecting his country. Becoming a mercenary for hire soon after, Deathstroke pulled off flawless operations before eventually using his amassed resources to target his former mentor, and the man who got him fired from the CIA, [=MI6=] agent Alfred Pennyworth. Framing ComicBook/{{Batman}} as a villain and seemingly murdering Bruce Wayne, all while masquerading as [[spoiler: Dane Lisslow]], Deathstroke handily tricks the Dark Knight into lowering his guard in a duel by faking his motivations, and later breaks into the otherwise impenetrable Batcave, captures both Batman and Alfred, and prepares to force the latter to watch as he murders Batman before him as a final vengeance against his former mentor for ruining his life.
27** ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGoToTheMovies'': Though sillier than usual, Slade proves a competent adversary to the ComicBook/TeenTitans. Disguising himself as [[spoiler:a film director, Slade plays on superheroes' ego and films a fake movie of them while he moves undetected to steal pieces to a DoomsdayDevice, even having the unwitting heroes help him build it. Constantly improvising his strategy to deal with the Titans, Slade plays off ComicBook/{{Robin}}'s desire for his own movie and other underhanded tactics to break the team apart. Tricking Robin into letting him into the Titans' vault, Slade uses his device to mind control the entire world. Coming within a hair's breadth of victory, Slade even remains a GracefulLoser as he is beaten, proclaiming the Titans' song to be "monumentally dope"]].
28** ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': [[Characters/ArrowverseSladeWilson Slade Wilson]], aka Deathstroke, starts out as [[Characters/ArrowverseOliverQueen Oliver Queen's]] friend and mentor before becoming one of his most dangerous enemies. Vowing to drive Oliver to despair after their friendship falls apart, Slade, as the BigBad of Season 2, is re-introduced as TheManBehindTheMan to Brother Blood and Isabel Rochev, using the former to mass-produce Mirakuru, and having the latter usurp Oliver's company, all for Slade's purpose of exacting revenge on his former friend. Targetting Oliver's loved ones, Slade reveals Thea's true parentage, exposes Oliver's identity to Laurel, and murders Oliver's mother Moira, showing respect for her courage as he does so, all for the sake of tormenting Oliver. Unleashing a Mirakuru-empowered army to lay waste to Starling City as his masterstroke, Slade nearly succeeds in killing Oliver before being defeated. Even after reconciling with Oliver, Slade loses none of his edge, manipulating enemies and allies alike to achieve his goals. A dangerously cunning ImplacableMan, Slade, whether ally or enemy to Oliver, is one of ''Arrow'''s most dynamic and capable characters.
29* MainstreamObscurity: Deathstroke has gotten to be a pretty popular DC character, having reached a decent level of fame despite not having much live cinematic representation. Just about everyone knows him as being the ArchEnemy of the Teen Titans. He's achieved [[NeverLiveItDown infamy for sleeping with Terra]]. And he's built a notable reputation for himself as the guy who can sometimes effortlessly beat up entire teams of really powerful superheroes and supervillains alike. But beyond that, Slade's PopularityPower hasn't really rubbed off on his solo stories, with a mainstream audience not being too familiar with his adventures when he's not fighting Batman or the Teen Titans or the Justice League. And some of his supporting characters and villains like Red Lion, Possum, the Jackal, Janissary, Odysseus, Dr. Ikon, and Koschei the Deathless haven't been able to reach the same level of popularity or recognition that Deathstroke himself has reached. So depending on what stories he's in, Deathstroke's level of recognition can either rise or wane. In stories involving the Titans, Batman, the Justice League, or other famous heroes, Deathstroke will always be one of the most recognizable and memorable characters you'll see. But when it comes to his own solo adventures as an AntiHero, that's when a general audience will struggle to identify what's going on with Slade's day-to-day solo adventures or the original supporting characters and villains created for Deathstroke's comics.
30* MemeticMutation:
31** Jobber Aura, used whenever Slade beats superhumans that should be way above his level. Named after the ridiculous CurbStompBattle he gave an entire team of veteran superheroes in ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis2004''.
32*** Most specifically, Slade [[QuickDraw outdrew]] the Wally West version of the Flash, a character who can move faster than light and has encountered Slade on several occasions previous, making it clear Wally was holding an IdiotBall for the fight. While the rest of the fight is also contentious, almost everyone agrees that Wally shouldn't have fallen for this move.
33** "Slade Wilson. Father of the Year." For obvious reasons.
34** "Rose is Hmong?" [[labelnote:explanation]]It's mentioned so often, to the point of practically being [[OncePerEpisode once per issue]], that some readers express mock surprise every time they're reminded of it.[[/labelnote]]
35* MoralEventHorizon: Several examples come to mind, the majority of which involve him drugging heroes to control them.
36** ComicBook/TheJudasContract revealed he was having an ongoing sexual relationship with Terra while she was infiltrating the Titans on his orders. Not only was he manipulating Terra into joining the Teen Titans, Slade was committing statutory rape on her and almost no one ever showed disgust towards him for doing so. Later retcons tried to explain Terra's psychotic behavior was thanks to Slade drugging her, which only cast doubt on whether or not she was actually consenting to her relationship or if she was drugged while Slade was having sex with her.
37** In order to get Rose back into his life, he manipulated both Rose and his brother Wade by anonymously hiring Wade to kill Rose's foster parents before goading Rose into killing Wade herself. After turning Rose into the new Ravager, Slade tried to control Rose by forcibly keeping her doped up on mind-altering drugs against her will, even after she had a psychotic episode and gouged her own eye out.
38** After Nightwing broke Slade's hold on Rose, Slade sought revenge by using the same drugs that drove Rose insane to turn Cassandra Cain into a sadistic villain. While under his control, Cassandra took over the League of Assassins, murdered Nyssa al Ghul, framed Tim Drake for the death of Lynx, and tried to kill Supergirl.
39** He led a team of D-List villains to gang up on and mercilessly slaughter Ryan Choi, delivering Choi's body in a matchbox to his arch-enemy Dwarfstar.
40** After Roy Harper's mental breakdown following his dismemberment and the death of his daughter Lian, Slade secretly got Roy addicted to Bliss (a drug literally made from ''human children'') to keep Roy under his thumb.
41* NeverLiveItDown:
42** He's popular and all, and it's not ''that'' extreme an example... but you will find a lot of people who won't let the character live down sleeping with Terra, a teenager. Although this is usually brought up due to frustrations from the double standards of the situation, and that the other characters will gloss over it while bringing up all the other horrible things Slade's done. The writer's attempts to retcon Terra's behavior as a result of Slade drugging her made the situation look even sketchier than it already was, because if he was drugging her to control her and ''then'' slept with her, it makes him a flat out rapist. Even DC's attempt to retcon this further by saying Slade never slept with Terra made it worse, since it felt like a cheap way for the company to avoid admitting how for decades they've continually hyped up a villain who got away with committing statutory rape on multiple occasions. ''ComicBook/TheOtherHistoryOfTheDCUniverse'' reignited this when Katana looked back on what happened and flat out described Slade as a pedophile who manipulated, groomed, and took advantage of a mentally unstable teenage girl yet is remembered as an honorable badass while Terra was remembered as an insane whore.
43** Slade butchering [[ComicBook/TheAtom Ryan Choi]] and delivering the body in a matchbox to Ryan's arch enemy Dwarfstar. The most infuriating thing about it is Slade was never punished for what he did until ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}'' where he was quickly beaten and humiliated by both Atoms.
44** From a [[CharacterShilling clumsily-handled writing perspective]], that time he [[ComicBook/IdentityCrisis2004 defeated most of the Justice League with contemptuous ease]] gets brought up a lot to drag him as a beneficiary of PopularityPower. Worse, since, rather than employing his famous CombatParkour and intelligence, he mostly calmly and easily walks through the fight while the heroes around him are undone by their sudden impotence and death-grip on the IdiotBall, it cements the impression that rather than a fiendishly intelligent and capable super-soldier adversary, he's just a boring villain version of Batman whose place as ''the'' top gun-for-hire in the DC universe comes entirely from [[ArmedWithCanon fanboys getting to hand easy victories to their favorite character]].
45* SalvagedStory:
46** Rose Wilson's Hmong heritage has been restored after she was previously [[RaceLift whitewashed]] during the New 52. Plus, the fact she doesn't gleefully embrace how evil she is has gone down well.
47** In fact, the series seems to retcon ''all'' of the Wilsons' New 52 history away. To say people won't miss it is an understatement, considering some writers couldn't even get certain characters' ''names'' right, let alone their backstories and motivations. And of course none of the New 52 stuff was ''ever'' consistent between the different writers.
48** Part of ''ComicBook/TheJudasContract'' that has not aged well with most readers is Deathstroke and Terra's sexual relationship, in which Terra, the ''under-age girl'', [[DoubleStandard was scapegoated, slut-shamed and portrayed as pure evil, whereas Slade, the grown man who was seducing a mentally unstable teenager, got off scot-free and even became a friend and ally to the Titans afterward.]] The 2016 series not only gives Terra more depth and sympathy as a character (showing that she UsedToBeASweetKid among other things), but puts the blame for her relationship with Slade where it belongs: on Slade, who even ends up apologizing for it to her and admitting that it was wrong of him, though he doesn't regret having used her in other ways and even claims that being used and "owned" by him is all she's good for to him -- however, he's clearly meant to be in the wrong, helped by Priest's consistent portrayal of him as a VillainProtagonist.
49* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: The 2016 series is considered by many to be the book that had the biggest turnaround going from Comicbook/TheNew52, where it was considered one of the worst titles in the lineup, to Comicbook/DCRebirth, where it's considered one of the best. Further punctuated with an Eisner nomination.
50* TooBleakStoppedCaring: The 2016 series, [[CriticalDissonance despite its critical acclaim]], moreso than any other ComicBook/DCRebirth book. The complex plots can be roughly boiled down to "Slade manipulates and betrays everyone he comes across, while showing what a terrible father he is". And you can't resort to RootingForTheEmpire because a lot of the time, the people Slade is clashing with are just as bad as he is, if not actively worse, excluding the superheroes. It's been called the ''Series/TheSopranos'' or the ''Series/BreakingBad'' of comic book titles for a reason.
51* UnexpectedCharacter:
52** Tanya Spears, given she was created for a much maligned run of the New 52 Teen Titans. No one really expected to see her ever again.
53** Terra (as in, the ''original'' Tara Markov) surviving in the new continuity caught everyone off guard.
54* TheWoobie: Both Rose and Joey are this, as they're trying to live their lives, but keep getting caught in Slade's web of deceit. Joey has become something of a JerkassWoobie after what he did to his sister.

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