History ComicBook / TheJudasContract

* 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 again. No refunds.

Once upon a time, Changeling met Terra, a teenager with a lovely face, the metahuman ability to manipulate rocks, and the social skills of Wolverine. He immediately fell in love with her, despite the fact that she was a villain robbing banks, and believed he could redeem her. The Titans discovered that she was forced to commit crimes by a terrorist group that claimed they held her parents hostage, though it turns out that her parents had actually died. Changeling noticed a few lies--things that did not make sense--but the Titans eventually accepted Terra as a Titan anyway. Terra took issue with the Titans concealing their secret identities, so as they came to trust her, they revealed their true identities to her.

A week after that reveal, Deathstroke captures most of the Titans by setting traps at their homes. Dick Grayson, who had resigned from the Robin persona and become Nightwing, managed to escape the trap. He soon confirmed that he was the only free Titan left, and while at Titan Tower, he was surprised by Adeline, Deathstroke's ex-wife, who revealed details about Slade's activities--including Terra's betrayal of the Titans. Adeline's son, Jericho, joined Nightwing and travelled to the country where Deathstroke had taken the Titans for the H.I.V.E. While Nightwing saved the Titans, Jericho possessed the body of his father and attacked Terra with it. Thinking that Deathstroke had turned against her, an enraged Terra went on a literal earth-shattering rampage and eventually killed herself.

* TheBadGuyWins: Deathstroke. He had a contract to capture the Teen Titans and deliver them to the 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 will have to pay again. No refunds.
* BigNo: In the trial of Slade Wilson, when his relation to the crimes could not be proven (see SecretIdentity). Gar did not take it lightly.
* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Wilson family. Before this, we only had Deathstroke, his quiet assistant, and that son that died [[DeathByOriginStory on their first appearence]].

* {{Eyedscreen}}: Raven felt that Terra was evil, but she was still unsure, because her powers were not working correctly at the time. And one day, during a training session, Terra briefly revealed her true colors and tried to kill Gar. She said then that it was because his pranks reminded him of the time with the terrorists. She begged them to believe her, as Raven stared at her with a deep and deep vision, ending in an eyedscreen... but no: Raven did not realize Terra's intentions before she carried out the plan.

* HesDeadJim: After she covered herself with rocks, Cyborg, Gar and Wonder Girl began to remove the rocks. With her powers, Terra may still be alive! And then, the end: Gar has found the corpse of Terra.
* HowWeGotHere: The first attack of Deathstroke seen was to Dick Grayson. He escaped from him, and discovered the fate of all the others while visiting the places where they were captured.

* MilitaryMaverick: Wintergreen, in the flashback. A major that hated Slade sent him to a suicide mission, but Wintergreen defied the orders to stay back and rescued him.
* TheMole: 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 ''had'' to be a trick, that Terra ''had'' to be a ReverseMole (or mind controlled, or whatever), even as she insulted him and openly denied that. 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.)
* NotSoDifferent: Gar and Slade had such a moment sometime after this story. Gar defies 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.
* OriginStory: For Deathstroke, Jericho, Adeline and Wintergreen.

** Cyborg, on the other hand, is not so naive. When they were all captured and Deathstroke announced that Terra aided him, he believed it immediately: [[EurekaMoment now it all fell into place]].

* VillainousBreakdown: When Jericho possessed Deathstroke and forced him to attack Terra and free the Titans, she immediately snapped and accused Slade of betrayal and cut loose with her powers. Even when she figures out Jericho's ability, she became too far gone in her breakdown to care anymore, and wanted to kill them all.

Once upon a time, Changeling met Terra, a teenager with a lovely face, the metahuman ability to manipulate rocks, and the social skills of Wolverine. He immediately fell in love with her, despite the fact that she was a villain robbing banks, and believed he could redeem her. The Titans discovered that she was forced to commit crimes by a terrorist group that claimed they heldd her parents hostage, though it turns out that her parents had actually died. Changeling noticed a few lies--things that did not make sense--but the Titans eventually accepted Terra as a Titan anyway. Terra took issue with the Titans concealing their secret identities, so as they came to trust her, they revealed their true identities to her.

%% PLEASE read ExampleIndentationInTropeLists

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Raven's empathetic abilities being on the fritz both blinded her to Terra's intentions, and foreshadowed that she was starting to slip, as seen in ''{{ComicBook/TheTerrorOfTrigon The Terror of Trigon}}''.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Raven's empathetic abilities being on the fritz both blinded her to Terra's intentions, and foreshadowed that she was starting to slip, as seen in ''{{Comicbook/TheTerrorOfTrigon The Terror of Trigon}}''.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Raven's empathetic abilities being on the fritz both blinded her to Terra's intentions, and foreshadowed that she was starting to slip, as seen in ''{{Comicbook/Terror of Trigon}}''.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Raven's empathetic abilities being on the fritz both blinded her to Terra's intentions, and foreshadowed that she was starting to slip, as seen in ''{{ComicBook/Terror of Trigon}}''.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Raven's empathetic abilities being on the fritz both blinded her to Terra's intentions, and foreshadowed that she was starting to slip, as seen in ''Terror of Trigon''.

* {{Eyedscreen}}: Raven felt that Terra was evil, but she was still unsure, because her powers were not working correctly at the time. And one day, during a training, Terra briefly revealed her true colors and tried to kill Gar. She said then that it was because his pranks reminded him of the time with the terrorists. She begged them to believe her, as Raven stared at her with a deep and deep vision, ending in an eyedscreen... but no: Raven did not realize Terra's intentions before she carried out the plan.

* 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?

Once upon a time, Changeling met Terra, a teenager with a lovely face, the metahuman ability to manipulate rocks, and the social skills of Wolverine. He immediately fell in love with her, despite the fact that she was a villain robbing banks, and believed he could redeem her. The Titans discovered that she was forced to commit crimes by a terrorist group that claimed they had her parents hostage, though it turns out that her parents had actually died. Changeling noticed a few lies--things that did not make sense--but the Titans eventually accepted Terra as a Titan anyway. Terra took issue with the Titans concealing their secret identities, so as they came to trust her, they revealed their true identities to her.

* 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

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Raven's empathetic abilities being on the fritz both blinded her to Terra's intentions, and foreshadowed that she was starting to slip, as seen in ''Terror of Trigon.''

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

* VillainousBreakdown: When Jericho possessed Deathstroke and forced him to attack Terra and free the Titans, she immediately snapped and accused Slade of betrayal and cut loose with her powers. Even whens she figures out Jericho's ability, she became too far gone in her breakdown to care anymore, and wanted to kill them all.

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 "The Lazarus Contract", a crossover between ''ComicBook/TitansRebirth'', ''ComicBook/TeenTitansRebirth'' and ''ComicBook/DeathstrokeRebirth'', serves as a SpiritualSuccessor to this storyline.

'''The Judas Contract''' is the most famous story arc of the Comicbook/TeenTitans, by Marv Wolfman and George Perez.

Once upon a time, Changeling met Terra, a teenager with a lovely face and the social skills of Wolverine. Of course, he immediately fell in love with her. She was a villain robbing banks, but Changeling was sure that he could redeem her. The Titans discovered that she was being forced to commit crimes by a terrorist group, which claimed that they had her parents hostage; her parents had actually died. Changeling noticed some lies, things that did not make sense, but she was accepted as a Titan anyway. She was wary to the Titans concealing their secret identities, but they eventually trusted her and told about them.

One week later, Deathstroke began to capture all the Titans, setting traps at their homes. Dick Grayson, who had resigned the Robin persona, was the last one and managed to escape from him. He visited all the other's homes and the tower, and confirmed that he was the last one. He was then surprised by Adeline, the ex-wife of Deathstroke, who told her about Terra's betrayal and other details about Slade's activities. Her son Jericho joined Dick Grayson, who has become Nightwing and rescued the Titans at a foreign country where Deathstroke took them for the H.I.V.E. Jericho possessed the body of his father and attacked Terra with it, which made her believe that Deathstroke had turned against her. Mad at everyone, Terra broke hell loose and killed herself with all the rocks raising around.

It'll be getting an AnimatedAdaptation called ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract'' in 2017. It's also receiving a SpiritualSuccessor in 2017's "The Lazarus Contract", a crossover between ''ComicBook/TitansRebirth'', ''ComicBook/TeenTitansRebirth'' and ''ComicBook/DeathstrokeRebirth''.

** Changeling was dead sure that it ''had'' to be a trick, that Terra ''had'' to be a ReverseMole (or mind controlled, or whatever), even as she insulted him and openly denied that. He even kept attacking Slade after all this, blaming him for the death of Terra.

Once upon a time, Changeling met Terra, a teenager with a lovely face and the social skills of Wolverine. Of course, he immediately fell in love with her. She was a villain robbing banks, but Changeling was sure that he could redeem her. The Titans discovered that she was being forced to commit crimes by a terrorist group, which claimed that they had her parents hostage; her parents had actually died. Changeling noticed some lies that things that did not make sense, but she was accepted as a Titan anyway. She was wary to the Titans concealing their secret identities, but they eventually trusted her and told about them.

One week later, Deathstroke began to capture all the Titans, setting traps at their homes. Dick Grayson, who had resigned the Robin persona, was the last one, and managed to escape from him. He visited all the other's homes and the tower, and confirmed that he was the last one. He was then surprised by Adeline, the ex wife of Deathstroke, who told her about Terra's betrayal and other details about Slade's activities. Her son Jericho joined Dick Grayson, who has become Nightwing, and rescued the Titans at a foreign country where Deathstroke took them for the H.I.V.E. Jericho possessed the body of his father and attacked Terra with it, which made her believe that Deathstroke had turned against her. Mad at everyone, Terra broke hell loose, and killed herself with all the rocks raising around.

It'll be getting an AnimatedAdaptation called ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract'' in 2017.

It'll be getting an AnimatedAdaptation [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract in 2017]].

One week later, Deathstroke began to capture all the Titans, setting traps at their homes. Dick Grayson, who had resigned the Robin persona, was the last one, and managed to escape from him. He visited all the other's homes and the tower, and confirmed that he was the last one. He was then surprised by Adeline, the ex wife of Deathstroke, who told her about Terra's betrayal and other details about Slade's activities. Her son Jericho joined Dick Grayson, who has become Nightwing, and rescued the Titans at a foreign country where Deathstroke took them for the H.I.V.E. Jericho possessed the body of his father and attacked Terra with it, which made her believe that Deathstroke had turned against her. Mad at everyone, Terra broke all the hell loose, and killed herself with all the rocks raising around.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Raven's empathic abilities being on the fritz both blinded her to Terra's intentions and foreshadowed that she was starting to slip, as seen in ''Terror of Trigon''

* [[LeaveHimToMe Leave Her To Me]]: Terra wanted to kill Raven herself, not let Deathstroke take her, because Raven could sense Terra's evil.

* NotSoDifferent: Gar and Slade had such a moment some time after this story. Gar defies 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.

** Cyborg, on the other hand, is not so naive. When they were all captured and Deathstroke announced that Terra aided him, he believed it immediately: [[EurekaMoment now all fell into place]].

* VillainousBreakdown: When Jericho possessed Deathstroke and forced him to attack her and free the Titans, she immediately snapped and accused Slade of betrayal and cut loose with her powers. Even whens she figures out Jericho's ability, she became too far gone in her breakdown to care anymore and wanted to kill them all.

* FatalFamilyPhoto: If Slade didn't spend so much time watching 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.

* BigNo: In the trial of Slade Wilson, when his relation to the crimes could not be proved (see SecretIdentity). Gar did not take it lightly.

* AdaptationalHeroism: When this was (very loosely) adapted in the ''Series/TeenTitans'' animated series, Terra was a considerably more conflicted character, who became a ReverseMole unlike the original story.

* SuperWindowJump: Deathstroke made one on Robin's house, to make the eveal that he knows his secret identity much more dramatic.

* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: When the Titans are not watching her, or when she has dropped the masquerade, Terra is always smoking. Because she's so evil...

* SecretIdentity: Exploited by Slade Wilson when he was taken to a CourtDrama. He openly admits that he ''was'' Deathstroke once, but that the Titans have always fight against a second and unrelated Deathstroke, who had taken up his name and costume. BlatantLies, but can the Titans prove otherwise? Can they prove that they had fought specifically Slade Wilson, and not some other man using the Deathstroke persona? No, they can't.

* [[HesDeadJim She's dead, Jim]]: After she covered herself with rocks, Cyborg, Gar and Wonder Girl began to remove the rocks. With her powers, Terra may still be alive! And then, the end: Gar has found the corpse of Terra.

* SurveillanceAsThePlotDemands: Exaggerated. Deathstroke watches the Titans though the camera in Terra's lens, and in turn, he's being watched by Adeline.