History ComicBook / TheJudasContract

* MetaphoricallyTrue: The Titans choose to keep the truth about Terra's treachery from her half-brother [[ComicBook/BatmanAndTheOutsiders Geo-Force]]. They instead tell him that Terra "died in battle".

* IdiotBall: Deathstroke tries to capture Dick Grayson by jumping through a window and fighting him hand-to-hand, instead of setting a clever trap of some kind like he did to all the other Titans. Adeline even points how flawed his plan is as she watches him in secret:

* OriginStory: Deathstroke, Jericho and Wintergreen's backstories are delivered by Adeline to Nightwing.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Wilson family. Before this, we only had Deathstroke, his quiet assistant, and that son that died [[DeathByOriginStory on their first appearence]]. Now we have the ex-wife and the son crippled thanks to Wade's mercenary career to contend with.

* HesDeadJim: After she covers herself with rocks, Cyborg, Gar and Wonder Girl begin to remove the rocks. With her powers, Terra may still be alive! And then, the end: Gar finds her corpse. She is most definitely, certifiably dead. And she ''stays'' that way.

* LateArrivalSpoiler: Finding out that Terra was TheMole was a big surprise in its day. Nowadays, after a pair of decades with her betrayal as a recurring past plot element for the Titans (including new Terras), and an animated series where Terra also joined the Titans to betray them, nobody should be surprised to read that.

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Deathstroke was unaware that his altered biology had given Joseph superpowers. As much, he doesn't realise the dangers of looking Jericho in the eye.

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: When Wintergreen was captured by the Vietcong, Slade asked the military to take him again: he was sure that he would be able to rescue Wintergreen, even if he had to make the mission alone. He was rejected. So he created the "Deathstroke" persona, headed to the Vietcong, and rescued Wintergreen all by himself.

** Changeling will always believe that Terra was a [[TheMole mole]] or that she was being controlled by Slade, despite all the evidence of the contrary, including Terra's own explicit remarks.
** Cyborg, on the other hand, is not so naive. When they're all captured and Deathstroke announces that Terra aided him, he believes it immediately: [[EurekaMoment now it all fell into place]].

* SpottingTheThread: When he meets Terra, Beast Boy questions how the royals of Markovia could be held hostage and no one would know about it, as she claims her reason for being blackmailed into terrorism. Terra dodges his questions by saying she was captured and drugged. Unfortunately, Beast Boy should have followed that line of thinking especially when the Titans meet her brother.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: For all his smarts, Deathstroke makes a ''huge'' mistake in saving Dick Grayson for the last Titan to capture and, more importantly, just breaking into his apartment to beat him rather than a clever trap. Deathstroke assumes that a powerless and non-costumed Dick will be an easy capture ignoring the tiny fact the man has spent half his life trained by ''Batman''. He even lampshades it afterward, noting there's a reason Dick was the leader and far more capable than Slade figured he'd be.

* CorruptedCharacterCopy: In interviews of the time, Wolfman and Perez gave their reasons for making Terra so irredeemably evil: They wanted to shock the hell out of fans who expected Terra to be the Titan's version of [[Characters/MarvelComicsKittyPryde Marvel's Kitty Pryde]]. The Titans were seen by many as DC's answer to the huge success of Claremont's X-Men, and so the creators wanted to subvert the expectation. Unfortunately they did so in a way that is seen as [[Values Dissonance deeply troubling today]].

* CorruptedCharacterCopy: In interviews of the time, Wolfman and Perez gave their reasons for making Terra so irredeemably evil: They wanted to shock the hell out of fans who expected Terra to be the Titan's version of Characters/MarvelComicsKittyPryde. The Titans were seen by many as DC's answer to the huge success of Claremont's X-Men, and so the creators wanted to subvert the expectation. Unfortunately they did so in a way that is seen as [[Values Dissonance deeply troubling today]].

** The Titans have been captured and are held at H.I.V.E.'s machine. Rather than kill them then and there, the organization leaders decide to wait ''a whole day'' for their chief to show up for the execution. This gives Dick Grayson more than enought time to locate his friends and foil the villains' operation.

* SpottingTheThread: When he meets Terra, Beast Boy questions how the royals of Markovia could be held hostage and no one would know about it, as she claims her reason for being blackmailed into terrorism. Terra dodges his questions by saying she was captured and drugged. Unfortunately, Beast Boy should have followed that line of thinking especially when the Titans meet her brother.

The original ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' animated series dedicated the bulk of its second season to a version of this storyline. After years in DevelopmentHell, a stand-alone AnimatedAdaptation--''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract''--was released in 2017. The third season of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' also incorporates elements of the storyline. 2017's ''ComicBook/TheLazarusContract'', a crossover between ''ComicBook/TitansRebirth'', ''ComicBook/TeenTitansRebirth'' and ''ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}} (Rebirth)'', serves as a SpiritualSuccessor to this storyline.

* VillainousBreakdown: When Jericho possesses Deathstroke and forces him to attack Terra and free the Titans, she immediately snaps and accuses Slade of betrayal, cutting loose with her powers. Even when she figures out Jericho's ability, she's too far gone in her breakdown to care anymore, and wants to kill them all.

* AnAesop: The point of the story is that seeking revenge on others will only eat up the person on the inside and cause long-term harm. Deathstroke took the contract to avenge his son, but in the end it gets the Titans and his family gunning for him, and Terra literally ''dies'' in a mad attempt to get revenge on the Titans, trying to collapse the building on them and only managing to crush herself. Beast Boy nearly completes the RuleOfThree by seeking revenge on Slade ...only to realize that he can't kill a man who won't put up a fight, and that he's throwing his life and hero status away to avenge a dead girl.

The original ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' animated series dedicated the bulk of its second season to a version of this storyline. After years in DevelopmentHell, a stand-alone AnimatedAdaptation--''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract''--was released in 2017. The third season of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' also incorporates elements of the storyline. 2017's ''ComicBook/TheLazarusContract'', a crossover between ''ComicBook/TitansRebirth'', ''ComicBook/TeenTitansRebirth'' and ''ComicBook/DeathstrokeRebirth'', serves as a SpiritualSuccessor to this storyline.

* AllEncompassingMantle: Raven's cape, in the cover used above. See all that blue area? That's supposed to be her cape.
* TheBadGuyWins: Deathstroke. He has a contract to capture the Teen Titans and deliver them to H.I.V.E., and he accomplished it. Now, what happens with the Titans after that (even if it means a case of BondVillainStupidity and the escape of the Titans) is none of his business. If H.I.V.E. wants the Titans again, they'll have to pay him rather than hide behind LoopholeAbuse. No refunds.

* BigNo: In the trial of Slade Wilson, when his relation to the crimes cannot be proven (see SecretIdentity). Gar doesn't take it lightly.

** Well done, H.I.V.E., the Titans have been captured, and they are held at that machine. It is time to kill them... what? Wait ''a whole day'' for the chief to appear? Well, let's wait then, WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong

* TheMole:
** Terra, of course. Deathstroke feared that she may become a reverse mole after staying with the Titans, but no, her hatred for them (and for everything else, for that matter) was too high.
** Changeling was dead sure that it ''has'' to be a trick, that Terra ''had'' to be manipulated (or mind-controlled, or whatever), even as she insults him and openly denies it. He even kept attacking Slade after all this, blaming him for the death of Terra (which, in a sense, is correct since Slade had hired Terra to act as part of his plan to bring down the Titans and thus put her in the situation that eventually led to her death, but he had no direct part in the death itself).
* OriginStory: For Deathstroke, Jericho, Adeline and Wintergreen, delivered by Adeline to Nightwing.

** See also the MilitaryMaverick entry for Wintergreen, who was in the military at the time of his own incident.

* SuperWindowJump: Deathstroke made one on Dick Grayson's apartment, to make the reveal that he knows his secret identity much more dramatic.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Beast Boy gets too far under Terra's skin during a sparring match, which causes her to have a FreakOut--this leads Terra to flee to Slade for comfort, who realizes Terra's situation is getting to her, and decides to carry out his plan the next day.

* TheBadGuyWins: Deathstroke. He has a contract to capture the Teen Titans and deliver them to H.I.V.E., and he accomplished it. Now, what happens with the Titans after that (even if it means a case of BondVillainStupidity and the escape of the Titans), it's none of his business. If H.I.V.E. wants the Titans again, they'll have to pay him rather than hide behind LoopholeAbuse. No refunds.

** Terra, of course. Deathstroke feared that she may become a mole after staying with the Titans, but no, her hatred for them (and for everything else, for that matter) was too high.
** Changeling was dead sure that it ''has'' to be a trick, that Terra ''had'' to be a mole (or mind-controlled, or whatever), even as she insults him and openly denies it. He even kept attacking Slade after all this, blaming him for the death of Terra (which, in a sense, is correct since Slade had hired Terra to act as part of his plan to bring down the Titans and thus put her in the situation that eventually led to her death, but he had no direct part in the death itself.)

* ForTheEvulz: The ultimate reason why Terra did all the things she did. Future writers be dammed, Terra shows absolutely no redeeming qualities in this arc. Every time she did something good, it was a calculated masquerade.

* NotSoDifferent: Gar and Slade have such a moment sometime after this story. Gar challenges Slade to a fight to the death, and he accepts. Both of them want to put an end to the whole thing. On one side, Gar is at Terra's grave, thinking that he must do this for her, to avenge her, so she can rest in peace. And on the other side, Slade is at Grant Wilson's grave, thinking that he must do it for him, to end the whole thing started by his unfinished contract, so that he can rest in peace.

The original ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' animated series dedicated the bulk of its second season to a version of this storyline. After years in DevelopmentHell, a stand-alone AnimatedAdaptation--''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract''--was released in 2017. 2017's ''ComicBook/TheLazarusContract'', a crossover between ''ComicBook/TitansRebirth'', ''ComicBook/TeenTitansRebirth'' and ''ComicBook/DeathstrokeRebirth'', serves as a SpiritualSuccessor to this storyline.

** Terra, of course. Deathstroke feared that she may become a ReverseMole after staying with the Titans, but no, her hatred for them (and for everything else, for that matter) was too high.
** Changeling was dead sure that it ''has'' to be a trick, that Terra ''had'' to be a ReverseMole (or mind-controlled, or whatever), even as she insults him and openly denies it. He even kept attacking Slade after all this, blaming him for the death of Terra (which, in a sense, is correct since Slade had hired Terra to act as part of his plan to bring down the Titans and thus put her in the situation that eventually led to her death, but he had no direct part in the death itself.)

* SelectiveObliviousness: Changeling will always believe that Terra was a ReverseMole or that she was being controlled by Slade, despite all the evidence of the contrary, including Terra's own explicit remarks.

* FatalFamilyPhoto: If Slade didn't spend so much time looking at his family photos when Terra was around, she wouldn't have recognized that blond guy that came with Nightwing. He may have had a chance to convince H.I.V.E. to let him take that guy, and leave, before they killed the Titans or the Titans escaped and turned everything into a big mess.

* LeaveHimToMe: Terra wanted to kill Raven herself, not let Deathstroke take her, because Raven could sense that Terra was evil.

** Changeling was dead sure that it ''has'' to be a trick, that Terra ''had'' to be a ReverseMole (or mind controlled, or whatever), even as she insults him and openly denies it. He even kept attacking Slade after all this, blaming him for the death of Terra (which, in a sense, is correct since Slade had hired Terra to act as part of his plan to bring down the Titans and thus put her in the situation that eventually led to her death, but he had no direct part in the death itself.)

* TheBadGuyWins: Deathstroke. He has a contract to capture the Teen Titans and deliver them to H.I.V.E., and he accomplished it. Now, what happens with the Titans after that (even if it means a case of BondVillainStupidity and the escape of the Titans), it's none of his business. If H.I.V.E. wants the Titans again, they'll have to pay him rather than hide being LoopholeAbuse. No refunds.

* BondVillainStupidity: Well done, H.I.V.E., the Titans have been captured, and they are held at that machine. It is time to kill them... what? Wait ''a whole day'' for the chief to appear? Well, let's wait then, WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong