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Wade Winston Wilson / Deadpool

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/deadpool_vol3_34.png

Nationality: Canadian

Species: Human mutate

First Appearance: New Mutants #98 (February, 1991)

Deadpool: For all you kids reading at home, make sure you wear a helmet whenever you steal a motorcycle, toss explosives into a coffee shop, or give someone a "special hug."*
Editor's sidebar: * The management does not endorse theft, explosives use, or "special hugging"—
Deadpool: Enough with the sidebars!
The Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #611

Deadpool (a.k.a. Wade Wilson) originated in Marvel Comics and has since appeared across various Marvel Universe media properties and multiple ongoing Deadpool series. He was created by artist/writer Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza for New Mutants #98 (February 1991) as a mercenary pursuing a bounty on Cable. Initially a Captain Ersatz of DC Comics' Deathstroke the Terminator (a.k.a. Slade Wilson) and a villain with a sense of humor, further appearances developed him into a distinct character who graduated from '90s Anti-Hero to Heroic Comedic Sociopath. Sometimes he's a superhero, sometimes he's a supervillain, but most times he's running through the Heel–Face Revolving Door. Deadpool is nicknamed "The Merc with the Mouth" and is known for dual wielding with katanas, guns, or katanas plus guns; his red and black mask and costume; speaking with yellow speech bubbles; loving violence and murder; referencing pop culture; his dark and surreal sense of humor; and Breaking the Fourth Wall.

Wade Wilson has a Multiple-Choice Past, but his most consistent comic book origin story is being a former special forces soldier who worked as a mercenary assassin until he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, then entered the Canadian Department K's Weapon X program after all conventional treatments failed. Hoping to get cured and become a hero, Wade received an experimental treatment derived from Wolverine, a mutant with a Healing Factor who has a history with Weapon X. Wade gained enhanced physical abilities along with Wolverine's healing factor, but with a twist — Wade's healing factor rapidly repairs and replicates cells, so it cures his cancer, then quickly brings the cancer cells back, and eradicates them again and again. This ongoing process ruined his outward appearance and his mental stability, which wasn't helped by torturous "experiments" under Dr. Killebrew and his assistant Francis Fanny a.k.a. Ajax. Wade fell in love with the personified Death as he longed for his pain to end. The test subjects ran a betting pool for how quickly each patient would be dead — the "deadpool" — leading to Wade's Meaningful Rename when he broke out of the program. As Deadpool, he resumed his mercenary life, initially as a Punch-Clock Villain before finding satisfaction in saving lives... sometimes, but mostly taking them.

Deadpool's fourth wall breaks began in his first ongoing series with writer Joe Kelly. After repeated mental breakdowns, Deadpool became aware of, started acknowledging, or developed delusions about being a comic book character. Deadpool began communicating with caption boxes for his inner monologue, making aside comments to his readers, and commenting on living in a comic book, much to the chagrin of non-medium aware characters. This became one of the defining traits of the character and his comics with writer Christopher Priest. Depending on the Writer, the hardness of Deadpool's fourth wall varies and is sometimes completely solid. His fourth wall breaks are treated by other characters as part of his insanity, and sometimes his insanity includes in-universe hallucinations and delusions of being a comic book character; however, he does not have wall-breaking superpowers like She-Hulk and Gwenpool. Flanderization in some appearances turns this into his primary trait.

Deadpool began appearing in multiple comics every month starting in 2008 and has crossed over into other media. He is associated with Cable, including their series Cable & Deadpool, and other mutant characters like the X-Men, Uncanny X-Force, and Wolverine. Deadpool is not a mutant himself in the main comic book continuity. In- and out-of-universe, he has been compared to Spider-Man due to similarities in costumes and quipping, and they co-starred in the series Spider-Man/Deadpool. He has various allies and enemies depending on the series and its creative and editorial team. Deadpool has had romances and marriages with several women and one-sided flirtations with numerous men; has one biological daughter in the main continuity, Eleanor "Ellie" Camacho; and has many alternate selves along with clones made from his DNA.

This character page is about the version of Deadpool appearing in Marvel Comics series and issues. For versions in non-comic book works, see their respective pages.


Deadpool notably appears in following comic books:

Early appearances:

  • New Mutants: First appearance in #98 by Liefeld and Nicieza, published February 1991. Deadpool is hired by Tolliver, an enemy of Cable, to kill Cable— unsuccessfully.
  • X-Force: Continuing from New Mutants as a Darker and Edgier series. Deadpool makes appearances as a villain before his first ongoing series. Deadpool fights, tells jokes while fighting, and jokes about fighting. He works mercenary jobs for Cable's enemy, Mr. Tolliver, who has sent Deadpool's ex-girlfriend Vanessa Carlysle (Copycat) to infiltrate X-Force posing as Domino. Deadpool and Vanessa interact violently, including literally stabbing her in the back.

Deadpool ongoing, mini, and limited series:

Deadpool appearances with their own pages:

  • Uncanny X-Force volume 1: December 2010 to February 2013, appearing in most of the 35-issue ongoing series concurrently with Deadpool volumes 2 and 3. Writer Rick Remender puts Deadpool on a team led by Wolverine that does black ops work to protect mutants. Also appears in Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force.
  • Thunderbolts volume 2: February 2013 to December 2014, a 32-issue series; concurrent with Deadpool volume 3. Part of a black- and red-themed team with Agent Venom, Elektra, The Punisher, Red Hulk, and later Ghost Rider.
  • AXIS: Autumn 2014 crisis crossover. Red Skull's "inversion" of the heroes' and villains' moral alignments turns Deadpool, who is part of the Villain Team-Up, into a pacifist hippie Zenpool.
  • Secret Wars (2015): Summer 2015. Multiple versions of Deadpool run around Battleworld, along with the mini-series Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars and Mrs. Deadpool and the Howling Commandos.
  • Uncanny Avengers volume 3: December 2015 to February 2018, appearing in most of the 30-issue ongoing series concurrently with other ongoing series.
  • Spider-Man/Deadpool: March 2016 to May 2019, issues #1-50. As the title says, Deadpool is paired with Spider-Man. Appearing concurrently with other ongoing series.
  • The Defenders volume 5: September 2017 to February 2018, issues #5-8, #10. Deadpool joins the Defenders against the Kingpin.


Deadpool's character tropes include the following:

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    Tropes - # to E 
  • '90s Anti-Hero: Deadpool was introduced in 1991 as a Punch-Clock Villain with a one-word gritty name, wearing spandex covered with pouches and belts, wielding both guns and katanas, and had a personality limited to being an Ax-Crazy Deadpan Snarker. He developed into a Villain Protagonist in the mid-1990s and continued growing from there.
  • A Good Way to Die: Due to his on-and-off infatuation with Death and experience with how happy times seldom last, Wade is comfortable with the idea of going out on a high note. Perhaps his most infamous display of this attitude happened during The Death of Deadpool (Deadpool #250) where the incompetence of the Avengers resulted in an Incursion destroying the Earth. With the world breaking apart, his supporting cast dying all around him, and his daughter tearfully burning to death in his arms, all Wade can do is smile as it's finally over right at the moment he got everything he ever wanted.
    "I give myself over to the end. I am safe in love. I can live with this finale. If I'm going out, at least I'm taking everyone with me."
  • Aggressive Submissive: Deadpool has aspects of this. Very little of what he says is serious and much of what he says is outrageous, but with y'know, snuggling or rather anything vaguely intimate— particularly the rare honest conversation— his dialogue is less amusing and his body language becomes submissive.
  • Alliterative Name: Wade Winston Wilson/Deadpool, with the last name copied from DC's Deathstroke, aka Slade Wilson. In films and in animation, he's played by and voiced by respectively Ryan Rodney Reynolds and Nolan North. Everyone's getting in on the alliteration.
  • Alternate Self: Several iterations of Deadpool exist in comic book form within the main continuity and in alternate universe books:
    • The Deadpool Corps of Deadpool Corps are other versions of Deadpool, known by different names to readers and nicknamed by the main version to: distaff counterpart Lady Deadpool ("Boobs"), Marvel Zombies severed head Headpool ("Shorty No Pockets" aka "Shorty"), lil tyke Kidpool ("Tito"), and animal superhero Dogpool ("Cujo"). They originally team up to battle a multiverse-devouring cosmic threat.
    • Deadpool Kills Deadpool features Deadpool killing Deadpool. That is, one version of Deadpool targets and slaughters multiple previous versions of himself and new ones created for the book, including the Deadpool Corps and Deadpool Pulp. There's a large-scale battle involving many, many more Deadpools.
    • The Ultimate Marvel version of Deadpool is even more violent than in the main universe, and is a grotesque, evil, mutant-killing bigot.
  • Always Someone Better: Taskmaster actually told Deadpool that Deadpool is really the best mercenary and possibly the best fighter on Earth. It's just that Deadpool's messed-up in the head, making him so crazy that no-one will hire him.
    Taskmaster: Truth is, you're that good. You've always been that good. Which won't even get you a cup of coffee until you can figure out how to be a professional...
  • Anti-Hero: Deadpool is a Noble Demon Sociopathic Hero. When he does good, doesn't do it out of Chronic Hero Syndrome: it's for personal gain (money, revenge, fame, women, or satisfying a whim), to placate his feelings of guilt, or because higher powers manipulate him into doing so. He once saved the world from losing its free will to an alien, mass-hypnotizing entity. In his first ongoing series, he flies into a psychotic rage whenever someone removes his mask (his "face") or infiltrates his house. He Wouldn't Hurt a Child, but he's completely disrespectful of adult life, downright sadistic, and willing to do pretty bad stuff for money. His self-justification is that his cancer-based Healing Factor makes his brain so messed up that he's completely insane and not responsible for his actions. He's both a Heroic Comedic Sociopath and a Sociopathic Hero.
    • In later years, Deadpool has become more heroic compared to his old status as a Nominal Hero. To the point where he was the Only Sane Man and the conscience of the X-Men's Black Ops squad under Wolverine who thought that killing the kid who was Apocalypses' reincarnation is just wrong. Throughout the arc, he became more and more heroic too via Character Development, and even convinced the kid to join the Jean School for the Gifted so he can use his powers for good instead of evil.
  • Arch-Enemy: Deadpool has T-Ray, Ajax, Dr. Killbrew, Black Swan, and Madcap.
    • T-Ray, whom Deadpool calls the "the-loathe-of-my-life," isn't just a fellow mercenary and jealous jerkass out to kill Deadpool as a professional rival. T-Ray targets Deadpool's supporting characters, enlists Typhoid Mary who bed tricks Deadpool, publicly kicks Deadpool's ass after he's traumatized by Typhoid, plays vicious headgames, and in the Twist Ending to Joe Kelly's run claims to be the real Wade Wilson. And he wears a stupid bandage on his nose.
    • In Deadpool's backstory, Dr. Killebrew used Wade as a human test subject with the sadistic assistance of his strongarm Francis Fanny aka Ajax film. Wade was Driven to Suicide by the unending medical torture and fell in love with Death herself, but his repeated attempts to "join" her were thwarted to keep him alive for more experiments. Then Wade realized he could provoke "Francis" into killing him. It worked too well; Ajax murdered other patients to torment Wade, then ripped out Wade's heart. Wade's desire for vengeance kept him from Death's embrace; his heart regenerated, but his sanity was broken. Wade became "Deadpool" and seemingly killed Ajax. In Kelly's Deadpool run, Ajax resurfaces and kills Deadpool— but Deadpool has Purpose-Driven Immortality to kill Ajax. Wade's old murdered friends believe Deadpool's vendetta is their Unfinished Business, and they goad him into dropping his ongoing non-murdering hero attempts so he'll fulfill his destiny and kill Ajax. Years later, Francis comes back again when Thanos and Deadpool clash over Death.
    • Madcap and Deadpool are both unstable pranksters with regenerative powers. However, Madcap's even crazier and has a much better healing factor than Wade. Madcap's mind accidentally gets fused into Deadpool's after Thor lightning-zaps them into ashes (It Makes Sense in Context). Unbeknownst to Deadpool, the new "white caption box" voice in his mind is actually Madcap inside him. After being literally separated from Deadpool, the experience harmed Madcap in a way he never felt before. Developing a deep, personal hatred of Wade, Madcap became obsessed with completely destroying Deadpool's life and loved ones. After framing him for murders he didn't commit, very nearly killing his daughter, and several of his closest friends, Deadpool hated Madcap to an even greater extent than his past arch enemies and people like the Weapon X program and Sabertooth (who Wade believed murdered his past family). By the time Deadpool finally gets rid of Madcap, the latter doesn't mind simply because Wade himself has already managed to completely ruin his own life, with Madcap declaring the actual death he was going to give to Wade's family wholly inferior to the spiritual one Wade himself gave them.
  • Armed with Canon: Deadpool's origins has been so Depending on the Writer that eventually Deadpool himself accepted that his real origin wasn't his problem anymore, and arguing about it was just a waste of time.
  • Ass Shove: During a job with the Heroes for Hire, Colleen Wing asks Deadpool where he concealed her and Misty Knight's weapons. Deadpool asks if she really wants to know because "it involves an awful lot of lubricant."
  • The Atoner: Deadpool is trying to atone, but the fact that he's so bad at it, combined with his natural psychopathy, means that most people don't even notice.
  • Ax-Crazy: Deadpool combines extreme violence with being a Bunny-Ears Lawyer and Sociopathic Hero, frequently Breaking the Fourth Wall, and many more.
  • Badass Transplant: While Deadpool's combat and weapons skills are 100% home grown, his regenerative healing powers are due to an injection of Wolverine's DNA by the Weapon X program, giving him Wolverine's mutant power. Deadpool's occasional claims of being a mutant himself aren't true.
  • Beneath the Mask: Deadpool is known as the merc with a mouth due to his wit and constant and often nonsensical talking. This carefree and jovial nature is actually a mask under which is severe depression and self-loathing resulting from the many, many tragedies and tortures he has endured. It has compounded more so in recent issues with the death of his former love interest and the possible death of their daughter.
  • Berserk Button:
    • If talking to Deadpool, never mention Weapon X. Particularly not "the Workshop." You might get away with it if you were one of the other participants, but this is not a guarantee.
    • Don't hurt kids or those with mental issues. Deadpool has a well-known soft spot for kids, and he empathizes with those who suffer from mental issues (due to suffering from them himself). And if you hurt a kid with mental issues (especially one you have authority over), he goes completely serious and will kill you pro bono. And there won't be a joke, not even a peep, from either of the other comedic "voices" in his head.
    • Considering the incidents with the therapist and the pizza delivery guy, people who abuse their positions to ruin lives for pointless reasons really piss Deadpool off.
  • Big Eater: Deadpool himself can put away lots of food in some issues, there's almost a page of him mentioning food, stuffing his face, or surrounded by half-eaten food. When he's feeling "down" he tends to binge on junk; when he's feeling "up" he has a quirky obsession with chimichangas.
  • Biting-the-Hand Humor: Deadpool knows Marvel publishes Deadpool and his other appearances, and his comics take potshots accordingly.
  • Blatant Lies: Deadpool flat-out lies to Preston during Secret Empire when she is looking for someone she considers part of her family after he assassinated that person; he'd even asked her where to locate his target on the pretense of checking up on someone who'd gone dark. Deadpool just couldn't tell her the truth. She found out anyway and it went over like a fart in a broke-down subway car.
  • Blessed with Suck: Deadpool had terminal cancer so he turned to the Canadian government's Weapon X program for help. The good: He won't die of cancer. The bad: His cancer is now supercharged on Healing Factor and constantly destroys and rebuilds his entire body, including his brain, leaving him with a face that... has the consistency and appearance of a hamburger patty, and made him just plain crazy, and very, very funny. At least his fans love him. Moral of the story? Canadian healthcare ain't all it's made out to be.
  • Blood Knight: Deadpool loves fighting and killing. He once punched Kitty Pryde to try and get Wolverine mad enough to fight him and was extremely happy when the claws came out, yelling "Snikt me! Snikt me!"
    Deadpool: Yay, now is fighting time, fighty time, blood blood blood!
  • Blue-and-Orange Morality: Most of the time, Deadpool wants to do the right thing... the problem is, he's nuts. He doesn't always have the best judgment on what's right and wrong.
  • Body Horror: Deadpool's skin appears to be horrifically burned or surgically removed. It's actually cancer, all of it. He had a Healing Factor installed in an attempt to cure his cancer, only to have the cancer become his healing factor. The dude is a walking tumor. At least he has a holographic projector to alter his appearance.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: Deadpool started breaking the fourth wall in his first ongoing series; since then, this often gets flanderized into his primary trait.
    • Deadpool's initial breaks were aside comments and aside glances to his readers commenting on the plot.
    • Deadpool is aware that his comics are published by Marvel Comics and mocks Marvel accordingly, accurately references specific issue numbers, predicts upcoming story events, and lampshades narrative tropes in use. He describes the Let's You and Him Fight plot in Black Panther vs. Deadpool #2:
      Deadpool: It's like I said, B.P., there's a rhythm to these super hero team-ups. First, the small misunderstanding. Then, the big fight (which was a tie by the way). So you'd better patch me up quick. Because we both know what happens in issue #3.
    • Comic books usually use caption boxes for narration, off-page dialogue, or editor's notes. Deadpool has "little yellow boxes" for his internal narrative and communication with his readers, though he sometimes speaks out loud when he thinks he's "thinking".
      Deadpool: [caption] Do I still think in those little yellow boxes?
      Deadpool: [speaking] I'm good.
      Deadpool: [caption] Oooh, I missed you, little yellow boxes! What fun we shall have together!
    • Deadpool responds to editorial captions that aren't his own little yellow boxes in The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 1 #611, interrupting one mid-sentence.
      Deadpool: For all you kids reading at home, make sure you wear a helmet whenever you steal a motorcycle, toss explosives into a coffee shop, or give someone a "special hug."*
      [Editorial sidebar] *The management does not endorse theft, explosives use, or "special hugging"
      Deadpool: Enough with the sidebars!
    • In Cable & Deadpool, he feels the need to help the 'reader' along by every once in a while delivering complicated exposition, sometimes lampshading it as expository dialogue. The other characters perceive this as Deadpool being crazy as usual.
    • In Britain-only special editions, Deadpool answers a letter on the letters page with a reference to the Marvel spotlight pages, stating that everyone else freezes during one while he takes a toilet break.
    • He talks about events in other comics that he has no in-universe way to know about, such as becoming one of the only characters in the entire Marvel universe that knows about Spider-Man's deal with Mephisto... er, besides Mephisto that is.
  • Breakout Character: Deadpool was originally designed to be a one-shot villain of the New Mutants and a parody of DC Comics' Deathstroke. He was later teamed up with Cable and briefly joined the X-Men and X-Force. His sociopathic comedy and constant fourth wall breaking have pushed him to the elite of Marvel Characters with his popularity rivalling that of Wolverine and Spider-Man.
    Wrecker: Buncha minor league wannabes, yer kidding right?
    Deadpool: Wannabes?
    Deadpool's Thought Box: Yeah, we got two books out right now.
    Deadpool's Other Thought Box: And another one coming out next month.
  • Breakout Villain: Deadpool is known as the famous Merc with the Mouth, one of Marvel's most popular characters, with his movie franchise being even more successful than the X-Men themselves. With his massive following, merchandise, sales and surrounding culture, it might be hard to believe that when he was introduced, he was not the famous Anti-Hero we know him for, but rather a villain. Furthermore, Rob Liefeld created him as nothing more than a Captain Ersatz of Deathstroke, being a run of the mill Gun And Sword-wielding Super-Soldier mercenary who tangled with the New Mutants and had practically none of the personality we know him for now. It was when other writers like Joe Kelly began diversifying his characterization that he became as popular as he is today. Back then, no one could've expected how popular Deadpool would've ended up being, considering he's now bigger than all the New Mutants put together. Even Cable himself, who was intended from the start to be a big deal to the X-Men franchise and ended up as an even bigger deal than Liefeld ever imagined, ultimately got eclipsed by Deadpool's popularity. The 2004 Cable & Deadpool series started out with Cable as the lead character and Deadpool as his sidekick, but by 2008 it was Deadpool who was the undisputed main character, and the book was cancelled in favor of a new Deadpool solo book.
  • Bunny-Ears Lawyer:
    • Deadpool could very easily fit into this category as, despite his blatant insanity, tendency to annoy others and, occasionally, sheer stupidity he is frequently hired as he's just too good at his job. Hilariously, he actually is Ax-Crazy... which makes him a whole lot of fun. For example, to beat Taskmaster, he fights with absolutely no semblance of sense, not even deciding what an attack is going to be until it connects.
    • However, Taskmaster himself called Deadpool out for this, telling him that one of the reasons he's not taken seriously and doesn't make nearly as much money as he could is because he's so crazy that it's even more crazy for people to think they can rely on him. Hell, in some of his earliest incarnations, he would change sides in the middle of a fight if he was offered more money. If you have a hopeless suicide mission, call Deadpool. If you need subtlety and discretion, stay light-years away from him. Also, since Deadpool has developed a conscience and tries to do the right thing, there's no guarantee that he won't turn on someone who just paid him if he thinks the situation warrants it.
  • Butter Face: Deadpool, who has a smokin' body, but whose face is anything but gorgeous. At least as long as he's wearing his tights, because the rest of his body is just as scarred and hideous as his face. Justified - the tumors are caused by a terminal cancer he's suffering from, which his healing factor makes nonlethal, but doesn't cure.
    • Averted after he's cured of his powers, with the side-effect of curing his cancer and restoring his appearance to its natural, pre-altered state.
  • Canada Eh: Deadpool is from Canada but doesn't talk about it that much, though he did tell Spider-Man that he was such an expert figure-skater because figure-skating is every Canadian's superpower.
  • Captain Ersatz: Deadpool began as one of these to DC's Deathstroke, another masked mercenary assassin with a gritty name; Fabian Nicieza noticed the similarities in Rob Liefeld's initial sketches, hence the real name Wade Wilson while Deathstroke is Slade Wilson. After his character development, Deadpool lampshaded this and used it as an excuse for why he hadn't appeared in a Marvel/DC Crossover. When he finally appeared in one, guess who he encountered... In tribute to this origin, Joe Kelly (Deadpool's first ongoing writer) wrote a story where the Earth-3 Deathstroke acts like and is implied to be Deadpool. In Deathstroke's own early 90s book, a "long lost half-brother" named "Wade Le Farge" (Forge? Farce?) showed up wanting to become Deathstroke and take away everything that belonged to him in gruesomely irrational fashion.
  • Cast from Calories: Deadpool once explained that he has to eat a lot to allow his Healing Factor to work.
  • Catchphrase: During Priest's run, Deadpool tells people that the answer to their first question is "SHADDUP."
  • Celeb Crush: Early on in his comics, Deadpool often mentioned having a crush on Cindy Crawford. Since the early 2000s, it's become a running gag that he's attracted to Bea Arthur. No, not a young Bea Arthur.
  • Characterization Marches On:
    • In the first Deadpool ongoing, Deadpool repeatedly expressed disgust at the thought of Bea Arthur naked. Starting with Cable & Deadpool, he's known for his humongous crush on her and thinking she's the sexiest woman ever. He has posters of her, tapes her face over pinups, apparently has a shrine to her, and frequently references her in loving terms.
    • In the early to mid 2000s, Deadpool expresses patriotic sentiments about America, calls himself a red-blooded American, addresses then-president George W. Bush as his own president, talks about growing up in Ohio, and more. The Canadian government that gave him his healing factor isn't his own. But then in 2008, as if Deadpool and his readers got kicked in the head by a retconning moose, he's Canadian-born, Canadian-bred, proud to be Canadian, is confused about historic American presidents but knows all of Canada's prime ministers, and is now included on lists of famous fictional Canadians and portrayed in live-action films by Canadian Ryan Reynolds.
  • Chest Insignia: Deadpool's, erm, "Deadpool Symbol" (a simplified version of his mask), makes an appearance on his belt buckle, his weapons, his boxers and on the center of many of his shirts.
  • Child Abuse Is a Special Kind of Evil: Deadpool isn't a good person, and he's usually one of the first people to admit that. But he has lines he won't cross, with one of his biggest rules being that he doesn't hurt kids. So when he comes across an abuser who's done anything to a child (be they a toddler or a teenager), Deadpool deals with them with no mercy and no jokes.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Deadpool is made of this trope, and a good number of his adventures derive from it.
  • Cock Fight: Thanos and Deadpool are both in love with Mistress Death, but Death only shows attraction to the Merc with the Mouth, much to Thanos' frustration. It got to the point that Thanos curses Deadpool with immortal life. As long as Deadpool lives, he wouldn't be able to interfere with Thanos.
  • Comic-Book Time: Deadpool has had enormous fun with this trope, milking it for everything it's worth and then some. He's time traveled back to the time in the 1960's when Spider-Man fought Kraven, and had fun lampooning the ridiculous 60's fashion, slang, Comics-Code enforced family friendly minimal violence, the fact that the current Spider-Man would not have even been born, that Kraven's name actually means cowardly/weak, etc. He also traveled back in time to meet the 1960's-era Fantastic Four and was just as manic and incomprehensible with them.
    Deadpool: [peering around the panel he's in, looking at the artwork and lettering] Let's see...Kirby/Sinnott...this is 1967, right?
    Reed Richards: I have no idea what you're talking about.
    • In another comic, he's revealed to have existed back in the seventies, wearing a ridiculous afro and "teaming up" with the Heroes for Hire, while also having fathered a daughter - who back in the present day (the comic was published in 2013) was still a child.
  • Companion Cube: Deadpool has the same one that every comic book character has: his text boxes. The differences are 1. Deadpool's are yellow and 2. Deadpool often references, and occasionally speaks to these boxes as though they were not, by default, a part of him. This has further evolved — there are now two differently colored text boxes which converse with Deadpool. And occasionally refuse to speak to him.
  • Compensating for Something: Deadpool once had a gun actually called "The Compensator", as per the quote:
    Deadpool: Hey, y'know what money can buy? A solid gold gun. That shoots diamond bullets. I call it "The Compensator". Whatta ya think?
  • Complete Immortality: Deadpool, in addition to being insanely tough to kill in the first place due to his Healing Factor, has at one point been inflicted by Thanos with a curse that rendered him untouchable to the Abstract Entity of Death. He could not die because Death itself could not claim him. Immortality doesn't get much more complete than the metaphysical concept of Death itself having no power over you. In this case it's a curse because he is in love with Death.
  • Compromising Call: In a Marvel Comics Presents story, Deadpool's attempt at a stealthy assassination while the mark is asleep gets spoiled by Weasel calling him and setting off his Embarrassing Ringtone, Village People's "YMCA". You can see it right here.
  • Confusion Fu: Deadpool is known for this, tending to utilizes his own natural craziness in the midst of a fight.
    • He once defeated Taskmaster, who can instantly analyze and imitate his opponents' fighting styles by sheer unpredictability. — Taskmaster ending up being thrown off his game when he thought that Deadpool was about to get angry and sloppy, but he really just started on a dance number. True, Confusion Fu has already been proven to be an effective strategy against Taskmaster (for example, Daredevil used a similar trick to goad Taskmaster into jumping in front of a moving car), but Deadpool beat the Taskmaster by being Deadpool.
  • Consummate Liar: Deadpool is very good at lying when he needs to be, being able to talk himself out of nearly any situation.
  • Cool Versus Awesome: Deadpool tended towards this for a while, especially after he teamed up with his own zombie-universe severed head to fight dinosaurs, some of which became zombies, and then later were infected by the Venom symbiote. He also helped a superhero trucker fight alien raccoons, and helped Hercules solve a labyrinth created by Arcade, who was hired by a demon.
  • Cosmic Plaything: Deadpool doesn't really mind being a Cosmic Plaything so much when it's Death wanting to use him as a willing boytoy. He's not so happy however, when it's Thanos making him immortal so that he can't steal Thanos's love interest.
  • Costume Copycat: While not a true copycat, the Cloud Cuckoo Lander Deadpool's costume is very similar to Spider-Man's, as is his sense of humor and mastery of insult fighting. Various bystanders throughout the years, especially in Spider-Man's New York turf, comment on the resemblance and mistake Deadpool for Spider-Man. In an issue where the two met, they hung a lampshade on it. Also lampshaded in an issue of Deadpool which reveals how Deadpool got his costume: he found it in a costume shop, with a note saying, "Thanks but no thanks. -Spider-Man". Deadpool was loosely based on Deathstroke of DC Comics, right down to his real name— Deadpool is Wade Wilson, while Deathstroke is Slade Wilson. They actually appeared in a crossover together and noted their similarities.
  • Costume-Test Montage: A flashback shows Deadpool trying on a variety of costumes at a local shop that caters to the superhero crowd. He eventually settles on a black and red number with a note attached saying something along the lines of, "Thanks, but not what I'm looking for. —Your Friendly neighborhood S.M."
  • Covered with Scars: Deadpool is covered in scars, tumors, or both, as a side effect of his Healing Factor being at war with his terminal cancer.
  • Crass Canuck: He hails from Regina, Saskatchewan, but is mostly known for being a violent, unpredictable, and not-exactly sane mercenary who frequently gets into gore-filled fights and has a very crude sense of humor that breaks the fourth wall. Taskmaster even notes that though Deadpool might be the world's greatest fighter, his personality is never going to help him get hired.
  • Crazy Enough to Work: This, alongside never-ending wisecracks and his entire existence being pain, is one-third of Deadpool 's entire thing. Some of the plans and tactics he comes up with are sheer lunacy, but he makes them work. During the Dark Avengers era, Bullseye (dressed as Hawkeye) fires a rocket launcher at Deadpool, who is in a moving vehicle, so what does Deadpool do? He pulls the brakes, turns the car sideways and rolls down the windows, which allows the missile to fly through the windows past the driver's seat and harmlessly explode against a hillside. Bullseye even laughs at this and says no one else could have pulled that off.
  • Crazy in the Head, Crazy in the Bed: Wade might be gruesomely disfigured, but his sheer insanity and quirkness has attracted him a lot of women and it apparently translate great to the bedroom, as he has had many lovers who were quite happy with his performance. He once even managed to impress a Succubus.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Deadpool sometimes slips into this, Depending on the Writer. His Cloudcuckoolander tendencies and ability to both shake off bodily harm and make a joke of it tend to obscure the fact that he is an immortal, unstoppable, superhuman killing-machine with a penchant for inventively torturing and/or brutally slaughtering anyone who manages to get on his bad side. In the Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe miniseries, he singlehandedly slaughters nearly every superhero and villain on the planet. This is caused when Psycho-Man fiddled with Deadpool's brain until something clicked, turning him into the perfect killing machine with a penchant for nihilism. He resolves to destroy reality itself, believing that it never mattered anyway, due to him being aware that he is a comic book character. This is proof that he isn't just capable of fighting A-list Marvel heroes and villains, he is capable of murdering every single one with ease.
  • Cultural Cross-Reference: Apparently Deadpool is a fan of Naruto; In Deadpool Team-Up, he references a title used by the leader of one of the Great Ninja Villages.
    Deadpool: It's you and me, Gin Goh! I will make you and everyone in this village recognize me, for one day... I will be Hokage!
  • Cursed with Awesome:
    • Deadpool was cursed by Loki to have Tom Cruise's face until his father forgave him. Deadpool was not happy at all. Remember Deadpool is ugly!*
    • Deadpool gets this again, in a sort of subversion. In Deadpool #64, Thanos curses him with immortality. Where's the curse in that? Well, they both love Death, so Deadpool would actually be pretty happy being killable. Torn between Cursed With Awesome and Blessed with Suck — the curse only won out because that was Thanos's original intention.
  • Dance Battler: Deadpool has managed to beat the Taskmaster by virtue of being type four -just plain nuts. Since his brain is constantly shifting due to cancer and superhealing, he never does any form of combat the same way twice, and will often use whatever form randomly pops in his head, including dance battling.
  • Dark Age of Supernames: Deadpool was originally an homage (or ripoff, depending on who you ask) of an 80s DC character with a Dark Age name, Deathstroke the Terminator (already mentioned, by the way), since you do the "Deathstroke" in the "Deadpool." Deadpool (or dead pool) is an actual word that technically fits the character, even if it does sound very 90s-ish. Deadpool himself lampshades how his own name is dark and gritty when he mocks the unfortunately-named Kraven for having a not-so-fearsome name:
    Deadpool: Note: "Deadpool" has the word "dead" in it. Ooooh... scaaary! Here are some others... Deathlok... Deathtrap, that jerk... Doctor Doom! Now you try!
  • Deadpan Snarker: Deadpool is prone to making sarcastic comments every chance he gets.
  • Death-Activated Superpower: Deadpool attempted to defeat cancer with a Healing Factor that didn't seem to work - until a fatal injury forced it to work at full power.
  • Death Seeker: Deadpool wants to die. Death is in love with him and vice versa, so a jealous Thanos cursed him with eternal life. In the "Age of Stryfe", an alternate future timeline Deadpool is still alive because of the curse and not his healing factor. The voices in Deadpool confirm his deathwish among other things: the only reason he desperately wants to be accepted is so his friends will care and put him out of his misery. If that doesn't work out he antagonizes them so they can exact their revenge on him. The later "Dead" storyline finally gives this to him via Spider-Man villain Tombstone. However, it doesn't stick - he comes back, but he loses his healing factor, but his body is totally healed and he's regained his true face. More importantly, he doesn't want to die anymore. Sadly, this has come back for poor Wade. After the events of Secret Empire and the villain Stryfe forcing him to try to kill his friends, he's put a $20 million bounty on his own head with the hopes that someone will finally murder him as he feels he's not worth it anymore with all of his credibility shattered.
  • Deliberate Injury Gambit: Goes with the territory when you're a Combat Pragmatist with a Healing Factor. In particular, he's quite fond of shooting/stabbing through himself to catch enemies off-guard.
  • Depending on the Artist: Underneath his mask, Deadpool has been drawn with various skin colors— gray, brown, red, flesh— and with various skin textures— looking like gravel, like a burn victim, like a fairly normal person covered in tumors, like he's been sculpted out of pudding— and his ugliness is majorly played up on his date with Big Bertha for the sake of a gag. It's been handwaved that his cancer and healing factor fight it out, thus his appearance is always in flux.
    • Deadpool's costume details change with the artist, such as the size and shape of the black patches over his eyes, whether his mask is completely fitted or has a little tuft/flap/thingy on the back, having Painted-On Pants or more plausible materials, the kind of gloves and boots he has, and the number and specific types of weapons he carries.
    • Deadpool's eyes when he's unmasked can also fall under this, being either normal or blank orbs.
  • Depending on the Writer: Deadpool has had numerous traits change depending on the writer, such as:
    • Breaking the Fourth Wall or staying in-universe; some of his story arcs and series have no fourth wall breaks or only tease them, such as Uncanny X-Force using Deadpool pointing at a security camera as a break out fake out.
    • He's consistently depicted as violent because of insanity, but the intensity and type of insanity, how it manifests, and the terms other characters apply to him vary by writer as they choose different ways to avert leaving it ambiguous. He's been called a "sociopath" for lacking empathy, enjoying violence, and making jokes at inappropriate times. He's had "schizophrenia" in the form of hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, and constantly talking to himself. These supposed diagnoses don't keep pace with real-world diagnostic criteria.
    • Which side of the Heel–Face Revolving Door he's leaning towards that story arc, issue, or panel — a Jerk with a Heart of Gold Anti-Hero, an Anti-Villain, or back-and-forth.
    • Who is the real Wade Wilson in his Multiple-Choice Past.
    • What's wrong with his memory. Under Nicieza, his brain is constantly in flux and he's had multiple brain injuries creating black spots. Under Posehn and Duggan, he's repeatedly memory-wiped with the drug "Tabula Rasa", distorting his perception and recall of his own history.
  • Derivative Differentiation: Deadpool used to be Deathstroke in red until they made him insane to the point of fourth wall–breaking and gave him his own fighting style.
  • Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Deadpool's internal yellow caption box monologue is often "broken", usually without his realizing it, meaning everyone else on the page can hear what he thinks. Sometimes, he only thinks he's doing an internal monologue, when he's really talking out loud. He tends to have very unusual dreams, plus a habit of sleeptalking just before he wakes up, creating embarrassing moments for everyone involved.
    Deadpool: No, G.I. Joe, don't do that to Barbie... It's so very, very, wrong... Uhm... I wasn't dreaming anything too embarrassing, wasn't I?
    Irene: [staring] No... Not by your standards, no.
  • Did You Just Romance Cthulu: Deadpool has carried on a on/off love affair with Death herself for years.
  • Distaff Counterpart:
    • There's a female Deadpool in another universe named "Wanda" Wilson, though her official name in her timeline is Deadpool as well. But she's also called Lady Deadpool, in the same way that "Zombie Deadpool's Head" is called Headpool.
    • In issue #1000, Deadpool was being coerced into joining a team of Canadian superheroes. First came the hockey-themed Puckman. Then, there was... Ms. Puckman.
    • As of All-New, All-Different Marvel, there's now Gwenpool, who contrary to what the name implies has no direct connection to Deadpool or Gwen Stacy, and keeps explaining that her resemblance to a Composite Character of the two is just a huge coincidence.
  • Don't Fear the Reaper: Wade Wilson, prior to becoming Deadpool, even fell in love with Death, and one of the reasons he can't die is because Thanos, one of her jealous suitors, made him immortal so he'd stay away from her, which is another reason why Deadpool is so freaking Ax-Crazy. Amazingly, she's been shown to reciprocate his feelings—but they can only meet during the few seconds after he dies and before his mutant power/immortal curse can call him back to life. Death as a star-crossed lover?
  • Driven to Suicide: Has attempted to punch his ticket multiple times when the misery seems too much to bear, but his efforts are either overpowered by his healing factor, or his successes are undone by extenuating circumstances.
  • Driving Up a Wall: The wall-crawling original Spider-Mobile was found and repaired by Deadpool. After giving it a new paint job, he re-branded the vehicle his "Dead-Buggy."
  • Embarrassing Ringtone: Though Deadpool isn't embarrassed by his choice of these ringtones, they play at inconvenient times.
    • In Marvel Comics Presents vol. 2 #10, One of Deadpool's attempts at a stealthy assassination is spoiled by a Compromising Call from Weasel, setting off the ringtone "YMCA".
    • In The Amazing Spider-Man #611, Deadpool is enjoying the attention of multiple costumed strippers while pretending he's on the phone with President Obama. His phone rings with a real phone call and a custom musical ringtone: "Deadpool is so awesome! Deadpool is so awesome!"
  • Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Deadpool's original design was surprisingly similar to his standard look, but with some key differences. For one, the Deadpool logo was nowhere to be seen, not even on his belt, the black pattern was smoother and more complicated, his leg area was a uniform red color and all of his belts and pouches were either black or the same shade of red as his suit. His mask was also different; it didn't have the distinctive pointy hood, the black raccoon eyes were large enough to cover the the height of his entire face, and his eyes were narrowed, not big and expressive.
    • There was also a period during the 2000s where Deadpool wore a big Y-shaped metal clasp on over his normal suit. The in-universe explanation is that it was a teleportation device, and at one point, it appeared so frequently that it essentially became part of his default design. However, around the start of the 2010s, the chest piece was dropped and hasn't really made a comeback.
    • His disfigurement was a lot more extreme in the early days. While it's still horrific to look at these days, back in the day, he looked like a mix between The Thing, bubbles of burnt flesh and a few clumps of hair, beyond what any cancer could realistically do to a living person. In fact, his disfigurement was so severe that some artists drew his eyes as blank white, making it so that the white eyes on his masked face were his actual eyes.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: In his earliest appearances, Deadpool was (somewhat) more grounded. While he was sarcastic and goofy, it was in a more conventional 90s superhero way, it took a while for him to become the completely insane, Mexican food-obsessed self-aware superhero parody he is now. A lot of the humor in the early Deadpool books came from a mixture of how truly pathetic his life was, and how utterly psychopathic he could be.
    • In his earliest appearances, Deadpool was a straight up villain who had no interest in being any sort of good guy. He basically just showed up to try to kill Cable so he could collect a paycheck. Even when he started getting his own stories, it took some time for him to develop any real redeeming qualities.
    • The details of his backstory are surprisingly convoluted. It took a long time before it was revealed that Wade is Canadian. Before this, it was said that he supposedly came from Ohio. Likewise, for some time, it was half-stated as fact that his real name wasn't actually Wade Wilson, and that he either stole the identity off of someone else, or just made it up altogether.
  • Empowered Badass Normal: Deadpool was a mercenary assassin, fluent in various forms of combat, before gaining his Healing Factor.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: While not a villain, Deadpool generally has very little regard for human life and might as well be the Trope Namer for Comedic Sociopathy, he has a firm line: "Kids. Are. Off. Limits!". He flips out after Fantomex kills a child who could've potentially become a villain, and makes sure to give him a What the Hell, Hero? speech after the mission is over. He even goes on to form a close bond with a clone of the murdered child, leading to a few Pet the Dog scenes.
    • Even back when he was a completely amoral mercenary who would switch sides in the middle of a fight if he was offered more money, Deadpool had standards. Once, he was part of a team of mercenaries that had been hired to capture Wolverine, and they tailed Logan to a bar. The rest of the mercs were eager to get started so they could collect their paychecks, and got ready to leave the room from where they were watching Logan and enter the bar.
      Mercenary: Well, we may as well get started-
      Deadpool: Sit down.
      Mercenary: What?
      Deadpool: The man just bought a drink. We let him finish it. Now sit down.
    • He also kills a psychiatrist who took advantage of a troubled teenaged client, which resulted in her committing suicide. He did the job for free, and was completely serious throughout pretty much the entire story and grew quite pissed when he began talking about it. The moral? If Deadpool's inner voices ain't around and he's being completely calm and serious, someone has done something even he wouldn't do. And he's not gonna kill them, he's gonna murder them.
    • In the Deadpool vs Carnage arc after he finds the bodies of a couple and their children whom Carnage had taken hostage and murdered, he mentions that while he and Carnage are both crazy he would never do something like that. Basically, hurting kids is one of the very few lines that Deadpool won't cross, and is one of the quickest ways to legitimately anger him.
    • Deadpool also hates racism. When out with Spider-Man, he uses an image inducer to change his appearance for the club. Spider-Man notes that he's black now, which Deadpool says is awesome because being black is cool. Unless you're racist. Spider-Man says he's not racist but- Deadpool cuts him off, noting that's good because he can't stand racists. One of his dearest friends, Emily Preston, is black and his daughter is usually depicted as a Chocolate Baby - though it varies on occasion, Depending on the Artist.
    • During the time when Deadpool was working for the Butler, he was sent to go and kill a married couple, and was accompanied by Sabertooth. Once all was said and done, Deadpool would have his memory erased of the event. Deadpool pretty much blew up the house. Turns out, that couple were Wade's parents. Wade pretty much blew up his childhood home, and doesn't know because his memory was erased afterwards. It is very obvious Sabretooth thought this was awful, and clearly felt bad for Deadpool.
  • Everyone Has Standards:
    • Deadpool thinks Bloody Mary is too crazy for his tastes. Let that sink in for a moment — Deadpool has a limit on crazy.
    • Also, Deadpool might be willing to kill anyone he comes across, but he won’t kill children.
  • Evil Counterpart: Possibly this to Spider-Man as they both have similar costumes, sense of humor, and semi-similar personalities, but Deadpool is far more brutal in his fighting style and is definitely more crazy and immature than Spidey is.
  • Exploiting the Fourth Wall: In one issue, Deadpool beats up the writer of his own comic book in order to get the location of the person he was tracking down.
  • Expressive Mask: Deadpool often manages some pretty goofy expressions even though he wears a mask concealing his entire face. These are usually of the "cocked eyebrow" variety. Depending on the Artist, Deadpool's mouth can be seen through his mask, making his expressions even goofier.
  • Extreme Omnisexual: invoked While he’s definitely attracted to women, Wade’s list of love interests is vast and quite unusual - from vampire queens to shapeshifters, to aliens both humanoid and the exact opposite, even up to and including the embodiment of Death itself. According to Word of God, Deadpool’s constantly-changing brain chemistry means his sexual preferences can change on the fly, and by this definition, he’s been confirmed as pan/omnisexual.

    Tropes - F to O 
  • Facial Horror: Deadpool's covered in tumors and his face is no exception, lacking hair and featuring bumpy, rough skin, though this also is Body Horror as said condition is all over his body. Ultimate Marvel made this worse as its version of Wade is a cyborg whose skull is on display and the top missing, exposing his brain with a dome covering his head.
  • Fanboy:
  • Fan Disservice:
    • Deadpool's Panty Shot. No, not as in a panty shot found in the Deadpool series, but as in the heavily mutilated Deadpool himself giving the readers a panty shot. You see, he borrowed the original Marvel Girl costume. Which has a very short skirt. And yes, everyone present was as disturbed by the image as the reader.
    • Mention should also be made of when he was shown naked in the shower. Poor Wolverine, having to see that when he visited to ask Deadpool for help.
    • In the same story, Wolverine has the "pleasure" of seeing Deadpool dressed as Phoenix.
    • Another story had him dressing as Marilyn Monroe in order to lure zombie JFK. The undead ex-president is suitably squicked out when he gets a closer look, especially when Deadpool jumps up to reveal that he isn't wearing any pants.
  • Fan Hater: Deadpool once killed an A.I.M. soldier for daring to prefer the Star Wars prequel trilogy over the originals, and for that matter attempting to praise Hayden Christensen's performance in them. This is Deadpool we're talking about, after all.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Deadpool varies between this and being genuinely Affably Evil. He's always had Success Through Insanity, but he varies between being a Noble Demon and being Faux Affably Evil, depending on his current state of sanity/writer. When Nolan North voiced him, he played a Composite Character version, with the personality and dashing good looks of Deadpool in the main universe (in which his morality and sanity varies) and the motivation of Ultimate Marvel Deadpool (in which he is a Cape Buster and straight up villain).
  • Fights Like a Normal: He may be a flamboyant cloudcuckoolander with a keen appreciation for Confusion Fu and plans that are Crazy Enough to Work, but he's fundamentally a highly-trained soldier who uses conventional (and none too fancy) weaponry in conventional ways. His only superpower, his Healing Factor, doesn't change much about this other than letting him be a bit more reckless and make a few more mistakes without lasting consequence.
  • Flanderization: During the first ongoing Deadpool series and in Cable & Deadpool, Deadpool was a talkative loon full of bad jokes and other wackiness. However, he was also portrayed as a total psychotic with a loose, at best, grasp of sanity. All the wackiness was a cover to hide his immense mental problems and self-loathing and just the slightest nudge could send him over the edge in a violent, unsettling rage. Most subsequent writers pretty much ignore the latter part and play him up as little more than a goofy comedy character. His popularity skyrocketed after his flanderization and his flanderized version became his more iconic and well-recognized version. It helps that Marvel already has characters to fill the Canadian with Rage Issues, Regenerating Healing Powers, and a convoluted backstory complicated by Swiss-Cheese Memory, and a flamboyant joke-cracker in a red costume, whose snark covers up his inner angst roles.
  • Fourth-Wall Mail Slot: Deadpool often recaps the story arc so far in the first page, and then answers his own fan mail. In said Mail Slot, he is often accompanied by other characters from his series... who are very confused as to who they're supposed to be talking to.
  • Fourth-Wall Observer: Deadpool is known for being able to see through the fourth wall and snap it in two if he wants to. The reasoning is because he's a very special kind of insane, which occasionally allows him to perceive things others cannot. From being able to see the yellow boxes that he thinks in, to referring to the last time he showed up by issue number, Deadpool's odd observations are even occasionally plot points; for example, Deadpool is unaffected by Marvel's recent massive retcon of the past twenty years of Spider-Man's history, leaving some fans to speculate it was put there as an editorial escape plan if necessary.
    • Fabian Nicieza usually makes a recap page that isn't in continuity, which means that blobs like the Blob can break the fourth wall at will during the recap page. One Cable & Deadpool recap page had Cable hinting to Deadpool that he has infected Deadpool with subliminal messages. Since this recap page wasn't in continuity, Deadpool didn't know about the meeting, which didn't stop him from, in the story, saying these words:
    Deadpool: Y'know, I'm really beginning to wish the recap page were part of my regular continuity, 'cause then I might have a clue…
  • Freudian Trio: Deadpool is one unto himself, since his internal dialogue is treated as an actual dialogue. The Id is the caption that urges him to kill, while the superego tries to keep him from overreacting. They also tend to make Freudian jokes. DP himself is the ego making compromises between the two, which often gets weird for other characters since they can only hear the ego's part of the conversation.
  • The Friend Nobody Likes: Deadpool, for being a psychopath and annoying. Deadpool has managed to gain some true acceptance from the other heroes though, mainly because of his Character Development and tendency to help others.
  • Friendly Enemy: While Bullseye has nothing but hatred for his usual punching partner Daredevil, he's formed a strange friendship with Deadpool. Deadpool is fully aware that Bullseye is a scumbag, but the two find each other to be oddly relateable thanks to their shared difficulties interacting with others. Even when they're trying to murder each other it comes off more like friendly ribbing than a serious situation. Bullseye has said that Deadpool is the only person he actually likes in any way and when Wade was believed to be dying, Bullseye cried.
  • Friend to All Children: Deadpool is usually a Deadpan Snarker and Cloudcuckoolander violent killer. But due to the fact that Deadpool has the mentality of a child, he often gets along well with children. In fact, most of his heartwarming and Pet the Dog moments usually involve children (even though some children may be uncomfortable near him for good reasons). Try to hurt children in his presence, and he'll come after you like a deadly serious violent killer.
  • From a Single Cell: Deadpool also has regenerative properties. Unfortunately for him, it causes his cancer cells to regenerate rapidly too, causing him to be horribly disfigured and, well, not exactly sane.
  • Fun Personified: Deadpool started out as Rob Liefeld's stand-in for DC's Deathstroke the Terminator. Nearly every other writer since has used him as a comedy character, particularly in the areas of Medium Awareness and various attacks on the fourth wall. His Ultimate Marvel counterpart is (almost) entirely serious, but there are hints that might not have actually been him.
  • Genius Ditz: Deadpool probably counts as one. Sure, he's certifiably insane, completely unpredictable, constantly breaks the fourth wall and never ever ever stops talking — ever — but when it comes to fighting, shooting, stabbing and generally causing mayhem, he's one of the best in the whole Marvel Universe. Suffice it to say that Deadpool is really good at his job as a mercenary. He once detected seventeen weaknesses in Shatterstar's fighting techniques just from watching him practice for a few minutes. Shatterstar is one of the best swordsmen in the entire Marvel Universe, and quite skilled at all other forms of close-range combat to boot.
  • Good Is Not Nice: Being a Large Ham Anti-Hero who runs on Insane Troll Logic and has a history of working for villains, Wade is far, far from a idealistic hero. Despite this, he’s a loving father to his daughter Ellie, surprisingly good friend to Spider-Man and occasionally capable of genuine heroism when he stops being a pain in the ass and puts his mind to it.
  • Good Thing You Can Heal: Deadpool's regeneration ability is actually in part derived from Wolverine's own. A high tolerance of pain and insanity allow him to frankly not care about any damage he receives and keep fighting regardless. The only problem is, his brain is constantly in flux as a result, which is why he's... unstable.
    • Deadpool is... thrilled to meet up with Alex Hayden (Agent X), who can also regenerate. Deadpool shows his affection by spelling out messages with Alex's entrails, and also stealing his pancreas just because he can.
    • Deadpool has jumped face first into concrete from a 10 story building to try to "fix" looking like Tom Cruise.
      • That's Thom Cruz.
    • Deadpool has also jumped into a malfunctioning nuclear reactor to stop it from going nuclear.
    • In Cable & Deadpool, Cable's preferred method of getting Deadpool to leave him alone, at least at first, is to telekinetically blow up his brain, resulting in a nasty-looking head wound and Deadpool being down for about an hour.
  • Guns Akimbo: Deadpool is frequently depicted using two guns. Of course, he also uses two katanas, two sais...I think maybe he really, really likes twos. Then again, he can also kill you with his bare hands. But how many hands does he have? TWO!
  • Hair-Trigger Temper:
    • After his first series, Deadpool decides the sexiest woman in the world is Bea Arthur, and he reacts violently when he hears otherwise.
    • He killed an A.I.M. goon for saying the Star Wars prequel trilogy was better than the original trilogy and then forced someone at gunpoint to repeat his Jar Jar Binks insults.
  • Ham and Deadpan Duo: Deadpool is a Large Ham and Cable is a Deadpan Snarker; when they're together, Deadpool overreacts and makes constant quips, while Cable is serious and snarky in his responses to Deadpool's nonsense.
  • Handicapped Badass:
    • After he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Wade Wilson was given Wolverine's Healing Factor to save his life. Now he's a giant, self-repairing humanoid tumor. And one of the most insane and badass characters in the Marvel Universe.
    • It's also worth noting that on the top of his cancer, he's also severely mentally ill, showing signs of schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, psychosis and dissociative identity disorder. Yet none of this stops him from an effective mercenary and an extremely dangerous fighter who can go toe-to-toe with heavy hitters like Wolverine, The Punisher, Gambit, Black Panther, and Taskmaster.
  • Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: Deadpool cracks jokes about his pansexuality half the time, and spends the other half saying homoerotic stuff about Cable/Weasel/Spider-Man/Thor, only to immediately insist that he's straight. If this sounds contradictory, remember that this is Deadpool. Possibly the best example came when the Black Mamba's powers made him picture his greatest fantasy — rubbing suntan lotion on Cable's back at the beach. "That was not my fantasy! It was you — that Darkforce stuff planted that image in my head!"
  • Healing Factor: Deadpool got Wolverine's healing factor from the same place Wolverine got his adamantium skeleton, but since he had cancer before getting it, his healing factor caused the tumors to grow out of control and made him horribly scarred and insane (he thinks he's a character in a comic book).
    • He has noted that he couldn't come back from the silly lengths that Wolverine has managed — although he can regrow fast enough that his friend Cable would psychically make his head explode for a joke.
    • Deadpool's blown himself up and then been dragged back to the X-Men Mansion by Colossus in a sack of body parts, complaining all the way. He's been liquefied and drunk by Cable. And he's decapitated on a fairly regular basis.
    • During the Secret Invasion, Deadpool actually weaponized his healing factor by letting the Skrulls use it to make their next generation of Super Skrulls. We then find out that if it wasn't for Deadpool's deadly cancer constantly killing him, his healing factor would be completely out of control. The Super Skrulls keep generating more and more body mass until they explode.
    • Deadpool's daughter Ellie has a variation. After death, her body "reboots" back into the age when her mutant ability first emerged, with her memories intact.
  • Hearing Voices: Deadpool has two. He enjoys arguing with them. Whether they are part of his insanity, something he created in order to have someone to talk to when there is no one else around, or something else entirely is a matter of Depending on the Writer. That being said, the two voices often provide Deadpool with information he didn't know, or show knowledge of events that Deadpool could not possibly be aware of.
  • Heel–Face Revolving Door: Deadpool wavers between being a mercenary, a good guy, or doing merc work for the bad guy of the week. In recent years, Deadpool has been trying very hard to be more of a hero, especially after his long-lost daughter, Ellie, comes back into his life. This puts him at odds with his wife, Shiklah, who wants him to stay the killer she married. He has fallen off hard again by accidentally siding with Hydra in Secret Empire. The Despicable Deadpool has him ostracized for his mistakes in Secret Empire, and receiving no credit for the things he did to help rectify the situation. He thus decides to finally give up on being a hero, and return to his roots as a mercenary.
  • Hero with an F in Good: Depending on the Writer, Deadpool can be this when he tries to be a good guy. He's too violent and psychotic to really pull off being a hero, too conflicted and silly to really be a villain, and tends to swing between Anti-Hero and Anti-Villain like a pendulum. Most of the heroes of the Marvel Universe can't stand working with him (Cable and Siryn being rare exceptions), and considering it's a Crapsack World where even guys like The Punisher and the Hulk are afforded some respect and trust, that's saying something. F in Good or in evil, depending on your side: during the Civil War storyline, he becomes a registration enforcer... then he attacks superhero groups because he doesn't check they had registered!
  • Heroic Build: Deadpool, when drawn by Rob Liefeld, is shown with a highly muscular physique. When drawn by other artists, Deadpool is usally a bit on the lankier side. But since he is a mercenary with a healing factor, he almost always had a muscular physique.
  • Heroic Comedic Sociopath: The slightly-cracked, catchphrase-spouting, ever-shameless Deadpool. He's also Faux Affably Evil, loves to make people go What the Hell, Hero?, and is the Trope Codifier of a few other tropes. Note, however, that it seems to depend on the writer. Sometimes he's this with a very large helping of Success Through Insanity, while at other times (particularly in the newer issues) he becomes a Noble Demon who would Never Hurt an Innocent. As noble as someone who is insane can be anyway. Considering that he's an absolute fruitcake, there is absolutely nothing preventing both those interpretations from being true, depending not so much upon the writer as on the state of Deadpool's brain-pan.
  • Heterosexual Life-Partners:
    • Cable and Deadpool are extremely close despite Deadpool's personality being obnoxious even at the best of times. Despite Deadpool's general lack of allegiances, he genuinely believes in what Cable attempts with Providence, and Deadpool was the first person Cable pictured/made psychic contact with while trying to decide whether to blow himself up. They were genetically commingled, so that "one phone call" would have happened even without intent....And Cable needed to make that contact to manipulate Deadpool into Doing The Right Thing.
    • Both Cable and Deadpool are well aware of their Life Partner status, especially evidenced when they both regularly called the time during a small falling out between them ("Small falling out" in this case being Deadpool's new membership in a mercenary group hired to destabilize Cable's fictional country Providence. Said membership was revealed when 'Pool shot Cable in the back of the head.) a "divorce". Despite their split, the two have a secret pact no one else has been clued in on; they will protect each other's loved ones if the other dies by destroying the deceased's safe houses.
      • Once when asked about his relationship with Cable by well-known gun-for-hire The Cat, Deadpool responded that it was a 'Don't ask/Don't tell deal'. Feel free to interpret that however, you wish.
        The Cat:...don't ask don't tell? Oh...OH!
    • Deadpool and Weasel could also fall under this trope, complete with Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today? on Deadpool's part.
    • Deadpool and Spider-Man seem to be heading into this territory in their recent 2016 series. Issue 12 has them spend Christmas together, and Deadpool mentions how much he appreciates Spider-Man's friendship. The feeling is mutual. They got each other gifts, and decide to open them at the same time. It turns out that got one another sweaters with their faces on them, but the faces are reversed on each sweater. They both go out wearing their sweaters, and say they ride and die together, and are "bad besties for life." Much like Cable & Deadpool, their relationship contains a bit of Homoerotic Subtext, if not more given Deadpool is genuinely trying to change his ways to gain and keep Spider-Man's respect. In addition to Itsy Bitsy, their "daughter" being created from their combined DNA. She refers to them both as "daddy."
  • Highly-Visible Ninja: Deadpool is an assasin who carries two swords and wears a bright red costume, which makes him highly visible. He's highly audible too, mainly because he never shuts the hell up.
    • Deadpool once implied that he had actual ninja training when teaming up with Iron Fist.
  • I Approved This Message: In Amazing Spider-Man #611, Deadpool claims to have Blackest Night symbols on his toenails ("My feet are a rainbow of power!") with a footnote reading "I'm Geoff Johns and I approve this message — Geoff Johns, former Avengers writer".
  • I Just Want to Be Loved: Deep down, Deadpool actually just wants to be acknowledged and accepted by the rest of the heroes in the Marvel Universe.
    • In Uncanny X-Force, he finally gets his wish after rescuing Evan Sabahnu, who thanks him and calls me a hero.
  • I Know Mortal Kombat: Deadpool is an avid gamer and learned from Street Fighter how to sock Kitty Pride with a Shoryuken.
  • I Shall Taunt You: Deadpool does this, only his jokes tend to be cruder and is more a result of his insanity than a tactical move.
    Domino: I always forget (or just block out to spare myself the agony) what Wilson's most lethal weapon is... his mouth! He'll talk nonsense until you surrender or commit suicide.
  • If I Can't Have You…: In their early appearances together, Deadpool is violent and possessive towards his ex-girlfriend, Vanessa Carlylse.
    • In X-Force, Deadpool acts as Mr. Tolliver's enforcer when Vanessa poses as Domino to infiltrate Cable's X-Force team. Deadpool beats her as a warning to remember the job and not fall for Cable. When Cable and Vanessa-as-Domino come across the real imprisoned Domino, Deadpool sneaks up behind Vanessa and stabs her in the back.
    • Vanessa stays on the run, but Deadpool keeps tracking her down and threatening her. He's on her trail in Wolverine and refers to her as "my ex-squeeze" when fighting Wolverine. When he finds Vanessa and her new boyfriend note , Deadpool accuses him of "stealing my girl". Vanessa points out the possessive language and fights back as Deadpool tries to kill them both. Wolverine arrives just in time to save her from getting Deadpool's thrown katana in her heart.
  • Immortal Life Is Cheap: Because Deadpool is a ceaseless motor mouth, characters with less scruples about lethal action tend to resort to headshots and throat slits to shut him up for a while, knowing he'll recover eventually.
  • Immortality Hurts: To his credit, Deadpool has fun when he gets mutilated, shot, stabbed, burned, decapitated, skinned, and liquefied, mostly because of his habit of being a funny guy, but he still feels the pain.
  • Impossibly Tacky Clothes: One of his key character points is that his outfit is significantly less glam than the superhero norm, emphasising how weird it is for a human being to dress like that. It's cheap-looking, badly-fitting, and often less clean and well-maintained than it really should be, and both his allies and adversaries regularly comment on it.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: Deadpool gets along great with kids, having close friendships with a couple of them.
    • He is immensely protective of Evan Sabahnur/Genesis, Apocalypse's child clone.
    • He also strikes one up Gabby Kinney/Honey Badgeri, who is almost as much of a Cloud Cuckoolander as he is, and she's not bothered in the least by his appearance, with the two even bonding over their scars. Wolverine/Laura Kinney is less than pleased about this though.
  • Interspecies Romance: Deadpool was briefly married to an alien woman named Orksa who resembled an anthropomorphic yellow hippopotamus. They divorced on good terms so she could be with someone who loved her more than he did. Both her previous husband and her next one also appeared to be different species than her. He later got married to a Succubus named Shiklah, who though she can appear mostly human, is actually a huge purple demon. Deadpool met her when Dracula hired Deadpool to bring her to him for their arranged marriage.
  • Irisless Eye Mask Of Mystery: Deadpool is an interesting case. During his earlier appearances, when unmasked, his eyes were really blank-white (seemingly also result of Weapon X treatment along with bad skin condition). Since character's popularity skyrocketed, though, he's been usually drawn as much less hideous and having normal human eyes underneath the mask.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Deadpool is often portrayed as this. Even with his rampant insanity, the guy is shown to ultimately mean well and he frequently tries to improve himself. When he ended up in X-Force, he quickly proved to be the most moral member of the team who called out the rest of the team whenever they did something that crossed the line. In fact, it's increasingly strongly suggested that Deadpool acts like a jerk towards others simply because he's afraid of being rejected.
  • Jumped at the Call: Unlike most heroes, Deadpool loves what he does. He was a a trained mercenary even before joining Weapon X and becoming Deadpool.
  • Katanas Are Just Better: Deadpool kills loads of people using katana-style ninja swords, frequently Dual Wielding them; he alternates between the swords and a pair of Desert Eagle pistols wielded Guns Akimbo. It's totally in character for him to choose the most stereotypical Rule of Cool weapon combo for the fun of it, and turn it into a viable fighting style because he's just that good.
  • Kavorka Man: Deadpool is gruesomely disfigured (which is why he rarely removes his mask), insane, and immature. Yet all of his love interests are extremely hot women.
    • Deadpools claims to have been married at least ten times previously in Vol. 5 #27 "The Wedding of Deadpool", although not all of these stories may be accurate since he is an Unreliable Narrator. The past wives listed include Ms. Marvel turned out she was being controlled by an alien at the time, a sock puppet of Copycat he hallucinated was really her after he thought she died destroyed, although the real Copycat was still alive, a stripper calling herself Genosha killed during the wedding as a consequence of Deadpool messing with continuity, a woman whose name he forgot that he assassinated by pretending to be her groom she actually hired him to make her suicide look like a murder, a woman named Penny she didn't exist, she was part of a trap set by a villain, a woman named Anna he had actually killed the real Anna and married Copycat pretending to be her and it turned out the people who married them were replaced with actors so it didn't count, a Dumb Blonde named Lurleen divorced when it turned out she was actually Mystique, Outlaw her super strength made sex extremely painful, so probably divorced, Domino only pretending to be a couple for a mission but Deadpool took it like it was real, and she "divorced" him by shooting through him to get the bad guy, AIM assassin Betty Swanson didn't count, she was unconscious and the guy doing the wedding was a savage land native shaman that he coerced, and a large alien woman named Orksa although it didn't show it in this comic, he later divorced her so she could be with somebody who loved her more than he did, and of course, the main story of the issue is him getting married to Shiklah the Succubus but they have since separated, with Shiklah marrying Dracula like originally intended after their marriage falls apart due to Wade's negligence. Deadpool mentions in issue 31 of volume 4, that he thinks they're still technically married, but isn't sure how it works with her -being a Succubus There are also all the women he had sex with but didn't marry, one of which had his daughter.
    • However, may be deconstructed since Deadpool sometimes never seems to remove his mask when he with some of his ladies. When having sex with Carmelita, he keeps his suit on. He has to leave to fight, and Carmelita wishes him luck and kisses him in case something bad happens to her. She even goes to the fight scene, wondering if Deadpool is ok. However, she'd never seen his face, and when she does, she chokes back bile and runs away in disgust.
    • Granted, his face is only a mess due to injuries. When he gets his face fixed, he is quite handsome looking.
  • Kick the Dog: Extensively did this during his gradual transition from villain to mercenary to anti-hero, formerly shrugging off whatever collateral damage he caused to make a quick buck or bullying those dumb enough to give him the time of day like the Great Lakes Avengers. This has given all his writers fertile ground to bring in those who have a grudge against him from his sordid past, or to have the Marvel Universe kick Wade to the curb for a soft Reset Button between runs as it's extremely easy for his current allies to justify dropping a guy so unreliable and unstable who can (and does) relapse into thuggery.
  • The Knights Who Say "Squee!": He reveres Steve Rogers, the original Captain America and was his childhood hero. Even Steve personally finding him annoying doesn't stop Wade from adoring him.
  • Kryptonite Factor: His katanas are often made of carbonadium, the Soviet counterpart to adamantium. Mainly because carbonadium's radioactivity makes it dangerous toward those with a Healing Factor.
  • The Lancer: Deadpool would probably be horrified if he realised, but he ends up being this when he teams up with Cable. Sure, he wouldn't be anyone's first choice for a voice of reason, but no-one else can actually stand up to Cable when he's getting way too into the future mutant messiah thing.
  • Lawyer-Friendly Cameo:
    • In Superman/Batman Annual #1, as a reference to Deadpool's origins as a Deathstroke Captain Ersatz, had an Alternate Universe Deathstroke who looked like Deadpool, acted like Deadpool, and had powers like Deadpool, but was always interrupted whenever he attempted to reveal his name (including one panel where he screams "DEADPOOOOooooo~") since Deadpool is the property of Marvel Comics. It should be noted that the comic was written by Joe Kelly, who had written Deadpool in the 1990s. And drawn by Ed McGuinness, who drew Deadpool under Kelly.
  • Lethal Joke Character: Because of the fact he is generally regarded as an incompetent Cloud Cuckoolander, most people tend to forget that he is a trained and dangerous mercernary.
  • Let's Get Dangerous!: When Deadpool stops talking, that means he's taking things seriously, and people are about to get dead real fast.
  • Likes Older Women: Deadpool openly lusts after Bea Arthur. In one issue he lusts after Spider-Man's Aunt May, sighing how she's "so like my Bea." All members of Weapon X, mutant or not, have a slow aging factor, and Deadpool is cursed to be unkillable, so he may have grown up in the same era as Bea Arthur. When Deadpool actually died, he got together with Death herself. Her on-and-off boyfriend Thanos angrily brought him back to life and made him immortal to separate them.
  • Love Triangle: Deadpool and Thanos are involved in an exceptionally Black Comedy version of this with the Anthropomorphic Personification of Death. They're both in love with her, but she remains willfully aloof while switching her affections back and forth from one to the other.
  • The Mad Hatter: Deadpool occasionally describes himself as an "addled moron", although it's never clear how much he's pretending to be stark staring mad and how much of it is actually being stark staring mad. Depending on the Writer, of course. Considering a couple of times has him with three different thought bubbles going, each with separate personalities? Not much is pretending during those interpretations. It's really hard to put Deadpool in any one category when it comes to this, what with being Ax-Crazy, borderline Cloudcuckoolander, aware of the fourth wall, extremely genre savvy, and just plain insane 100% of the time. The voices in his head often display awareness of events and information that Deadpool himself could not possibly be aware of, and continually act as "white noise" in his head, making it even harder for him to focus on any one thing. An actual in-universe reasoning for the changes in "how" crazy Deadpool is: since his healing factor is out of control (his body is somewhat accurately described as "walking talking cancer") even his BRAIN is rewiring itself with some regularity. Of course, then there's the fact that he's one of the few that completely ignores the fourth wall; he may have learned about the fact that he's in a comic book and, while he loves it, he may have been affected.
  • McNinja: Ignoring the whole "stealth" idea, Deadpool is quite the ninja, being highly trained in acrobatics and using Katanas as his primary weapons.
    • The funny part is that he's actually perfectly capable of ninja-grade stealth. It's just that, depending on the writer, he finds it more fun to do it the other way instead.
  • Meaningful Rename: At the Weapon X "Hospice" for dying test subjects still undergoing tortuous experiments, the imprisoned patients put odds in a betting pool for how long it'd take before each of them was dead— the "deadpool". After Wade's Arch-Enemy Ajax ripped out his heart, Wade's mind snapped and he declared he was no longer Wade Wilson; he was Deadpool. Deadpool led a breakout from the facility and seemingly killed Ajax.
  • Medium Awareness: He can see the yellow text boxes that indicate scene transitions ("Meanwhile, in Manhattan...") or that act as substitute thought bubbles. This is connected to the fact that for Deadpool, there is No Fourth Wall. Indeed, the Deadpool comics became so famous for this that the dual sublines for the comic were "The Merc with a Mouth" and "Breaking down the fourth wall one brick at a time!"
    • Earlier Deadpool books toyed with this; he didn't actually have any proof that he was in a comic book (because, let's face it, he can't perceive the reader no matter how much he tries to look outside the page) but kept up the act anyway because he believed it was true (and it was funny). This detail has since been dropped for simplicity.
    • At one point, numerous characters tell him he is saying aloud everything that was in the yellow boxes, which leads him to suspect his "internal monologue" is broken. No one listens or responds to what he says, because he is known to be completely insane.
    • Played for drama in "Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe", where Deadpool's Medium Awareness takes a disturbing turn. The reason that version of Deadpool starts killing Marvel heroes and villains is because they aren't "Real", he thinks that because it's all fictional it doesn't matter who he kills and that they can't really feel since they aren't real.
  • A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read: Getting into Deadpool's personal brainspace is not recommended. Per Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars, this is actually what drove the Venom symbiote insane, who had actually bonded to Deadpool before Spider-Man.
  • Morality Pet: Cable and Deadpool seem to function as morality pets for each other. Sometimes Cable is an inspiration for Deadpool about morals and the like, but Cable also has to constantly change his own actions to be better than Deadpool's so he doesn't end up an example of "Do as I say, not as I do."
  • Motor Mouth: He's known in the Marvel Universe as the Merc with a Mouth for a reason. Other characters often comment on his constant chatter.
    • In Deadpool's first two appearances, Cable tells him he talks too much, and Garrison Kane thinks "his mouth runs a mile a minute", establishing this trait from the start.
    • Deadpool is kidnapped by a Death Trap enthusiast creatively named Death Trap and chained down underneath a giant teddy bear, which descends lower every time Deadpool speaks and will eventually smother him. Deadpool breaks all his limbs to get out of the trap rather than simply shutting up. Because of his constant blathering, the teddy bear stopped gradually descending and, as his captor put it:
      Deathtrap: Fascinating! Teddy has approached ramming speed.
    • During a face off with The Punisher in issue #55 of the first ongoing series, Deadpool says even he gets tired his own talking:
      Deadpool: I just drone on and on. Sometimes I just don't know when to shut up. And that's why I have to kill you... so I can pay my phone bill!
  • Murder the Hypotenuse: Inverted. Thanos cursed Deadpool with immortality. The catch? Thanos's love interest, Death, is herself in love with Deadpool and the feeling is mutual. By keeping Deadpool alive indefinitely, he won't be able to cockblock Thanos.
  • Multiple-Choice Past:
    • Various details of Deadpool's early life and family upbringing aren't compatible. He's an American born in Ohio or a Canadian born in Canada. He was raised by an asshole single mother without knowing who his father was, by both parents until his father walked out, by his asshole father after his mother died of cancer and until a punk friend shot his father dead, or by two parents who lived into adulthood until Deadpool was tricked into carrying out a hit on them. Other life experiences before becoming Deadpool or directly leading into it are told in incompatible ways.
    • In the Twist Ending of Joe Kelly's run, Arch-Enemy T-Ray claims Deadpool was once named Jack and the real Wade was a teacher who married his high school sweetheart, Mercedes. Mercedes and Wade rescued "the monster" Jack from a frozen river, Jack wanted to change his identity into Wade's and grew obsessed with Mercedes, but accidentally killed Mercedes when disposing of Wade. This supposedly broke Deadpool's mind and confused his identity into thinking he was Wade, while the actual Wade returned to life as T-Ray. Near the end of Frank Tieri's run, Deadpool and T-Ray clash again and Deadpool seemingly kills T-Ray after getting reason to believe T-Ray's claims were all lies. The storyline returns in Cable & Deadpool by Deadpool co-creator Fabian Nicieza, with an Armed with Canon fourth wall break dismissing the twist.
  • Narrating the Present: Depending on the Writer, Deadpool's Little Yellow Boxes (that is, narration boxes) are actually him speaking the narration out loud without realizing, and other characters can hear it.
  • Never Hurt an Innocent: Deadpool's personal code is not intentionally harming or killing anyone he doesn't believe deserves it on some level.
  • Nigh-Invulnerability: Deadpool has a variation of Wolverine's healing factor that was accidentally super-charged by his own cancer. As such, Deadpool is always healing, no matter what. This has allowed him to effectively regrow limbs and possibly be effectively immortal (one possible timeline had Deadpool trapped in a refrigerator for a thousand years and came out of it with a split personality because he got bored.
  • No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Deadpool's bad luck is compounded by his own insanity and off kilter morality. He might do good, but even if he's acknowledged by the other heroes, instead of acceptance he'll receive a swift boot out of the city. Acceptance is all the guy really wants, which makes Wade's case even more tragic. The Fantastic Four eventually invited him to their weekly heroes-only poker game. He didn't go, but it's the thought that counts.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Deadpool has been getting these from the women in his life as of late. When he discovers Shiklah's infidelity, he shoots one of her lovers. She then beats his ass from her underground Monster Metropolis, to the subway, and all the way up to the streets of New York. His clothes being slightly tattered afterwards. He receives a very bad one from a mind-controlled Rogue in Uncanny Avengers. The damage being so great, he had to go to the hospital and walk with a cane for a bit afterwards. In most recent chapters, Preston delivers another bad one to him. Lesser than Rogue's beatdown, but makes Shiklah look sweet. She strangles him, knocks out multiple teeth, fractures his ribs & sternum -with bone possibly piercing his lungs, as he gasps for breath. She then grabs him by the neck, continues to punch him into a tree. As he falls to the ground, she kicks him into the tree so hard, his spine almost wraps around it. Deadpool eventually had to use a grenade and blow them both up to stop her assault.
  • Noodle Incident: Multiple times across several years, Deadpool says, "I fought a cow once". This is not to be confused with the team-up to fight with a cow he teamed up with, the vampiric Hellcow.
  • Obfuscating Insanity: Deadpool also uses this trope to its full advantage, confusing and exhausting his enemies and allies alike with unstoppable mouth and wacky babbling. Like the Joker, Deadpool really is insane (a different kind of insane, though) and knows it, but he plays up and (possibly) exaggerates his insanity for tactical benefit. Also like the Joker, the fact that his personality changes regularly is part of canon. In his case, his healing factor and cancer have combined to leave his braincells constantly in flux. In some stories he's little more than an immature goofball, others he's perfectly capable of committing murders in cold blood that he doesn't even remember afterward. Of course, as a Meta Guy, Deadpool's also the first to admit that the real reason he changes is who is writing him at the moment.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: While it's not always clear that he's doing it on purpose, it's been said more than once that one of Deadpool's "superpowers" is actually the ability to distract and confuse people by rambling on and on about stupid things until you either want to surrender or commit suicide from all the inanity — and yet, the whole time he's rambling, he's efficiently killing or otherwise getting on with whatever task is at hand. Often people underestimate him as a complete idiot because of all the talking, although occasionally someone will say he's an idiot but not underestimate his fighting abilities.
    • For example, his irritating, non-sequitur monologuing and erratic behavior is exactly why he could beat the crap out of The Taskmaster. Not only because Taskmaster became so irritated by the constant flood of inanity that he got all distracted, but also because he couldn't copy Deadpool's unpredictability and insanity. And Deadpool knew precisely what he was doing by unleashing it in spades. But yeah, mostly he's just nuts.
    • During Civil War, he used the phrase "addled moron that I am (or pretend to be)". This being Deadpool, it's entirely possible the "or" should be taken at face value, and he's genuinely too crazy to know how intelligent he is at any given moment.
    • Deadpool also says to Cable in the Cable and Deadpool comic something along the lines of "It's fun playing the fool, but do you know when it stops being fun? When you actually start to believe it."
    • In their first encounter, Taskmaster is detailing Deadpool's skills and abilities for a group of his students and states that Deadpool is an expert at using banter to distract his opponents.
  • Odd Friendship: With Cable, a messiah wannabe/Time Travel/Shell-Shocked Veteran, while Deadpool himself is a Bunny Ears Assassin/ Deadpan Snarker/ enemy of the fourth wall.
    • Part of the fun of Cable and Deadpool is the acknowledgement that the two have nothing in common and probably should be mortal enemies; after all, Deadpool debuted trying to kill Cable, and they have very different personalities. Their only shared interest is weaponry. Instead, they become Heterosexual Life-Partners and stay connected despite their "divorce".
  • Only Sane Man: Deadpool sometimes has a sidekick named Weasel, a gadgeteer that builds some of his equipment for him. During Deadpool's time with the Great Lakes Avengers this was especially prominent.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Deadpool, the fourth-wall breaking Wild Card to end all wild cards, has his speech bubbles and thought rectangles shaded yellow, to show that he's the one guy in the entire comicverse who knows he's in the comicverse and is perfectly okay with it. On the rare occasions where his speech bubbles go to the normal white shading, meaning he's taking things seriously, you know it's significant.
  • Other Me Annoys Me:
    • In the Identity Wars miniseries Deadpool, Spider-Man and the Hulk cross over into an alternate dimension. Spider-Man's alternate version is a Well-Intentioned Extremist, which annoys Spidey. Deadpool gets along famously with his alternate until he discovers that alt-Deadpool isn't Wade Wilson, it's Victor Von Doom. Alt-Wade Wilson is a Big Bad who Deadpool takes down. Bruce Banner discovers that he can't turn into the Hulk in this dimension and is overjoyed, until that gets reversed. Then alt-Hulk and Hulk duke it out.
    • One nice example involving Deadpool has him inventing an imaginary version of himself (aka, he willed himself into having a split personality) while trapped inside a room for over 800 years (long story). Why did he do this? To have someone to play hangman with of course. His plan fails when the imaginary Deadpool turns out to be a genius and starts totally kicking Deadpool's ass in the game.

    Tropes - P to Z 
  • Painting the Medium: Deadpool was also the only character who thought and spoke in yellow boxes or balloons, when everyone else used normal white. Now major characters like Iron Man and Spider-Man have started having their own distinct boxes and bubbles.
    • And when Deadpool starts having conversations with himself in internal monologue, he uses his trademark yellow boxes while the "other party" uses white boxes with typewriter-style text.
    • In the Daniel Way series Deadpool seems to have developed a sort of internal multiple personality disorder. Each of his personalities thinks in a different font and color.
  • Papa Wolf: Deadpool is very devoted to his daughter Ellie and one of the best ways to piss him off beyond belief is threaten her.
    • No more is this best seen in Deadpool: The End. He had cause the universe to break into utter chaos, trap every hero and villain (barring Spidey who he just kept occupied with the three loves of his life) and willing to kill Death herself. All for Ellie, even if she was 96. This is also tied to his Heroic Self-Deprecation; he doesn't see himself as worth living and he considers his daughter infinitely more good than him. So the idea of her dying while someone like him lives... he doesn't think so.
  • Pet the Dog: Deadpool's been known to do something extra nice from time to time.
    • In the climax of the "Drowning Man" arc, Deadpool shows us that he's given up on redemption by locking Blind Al in The Box, severely beating Weasel, and... petting Deuce the Devil Dog on the head.
    • In Deadpool: The End. While Deadpool had all the big name heroes trapped or unable to fight back in an variety of differnt ways, he left Spider-Man unharmed, with the loves of his life (Mary Jane Watson, Gwen Stacy, and Black Cat) alive, well and swooning over him at the same time.
    • Upon confronting a suicidal woman named Danielle, Deadpool brought her to see Hamilton before dropping her off at a hospital to get help.
  • Platonic Life-Partners: Deadpool has this kind of relationship with his secretary, Sandi Brandenberg. The two have known each other for years now, are extremely close, and Deadpool is highly protective towards Sandi, but the two have never tried to pursue any sort of relationship with one another. This is notable, because Deadpool is a notorious Casanova Wannabe, so knowing someone for so long and never once trying to get it on with them is pretty unusual for him.
  • Pop-Cultured Badass: Deadpool is the new poster boy of comedy references, including the Olsen Twins, Bea Arthur, Fat Albert, Lord of the Flies, Lethal Weapon, The Warriors, Golden Age, Steve Ditko...
    "You're right. That's why I'm rollin' with my posse" (he was fighting Tombstone, so, gangster affectations are... excusable...)
  • Power Makes Your Hair Grow: The Beyonder's power cured Deadpool of his cancer for the duration of Secret Wars, at which point he spontaneously sprouted a thick Porn Stache and a Carpet of Virility.
  • Professional Killer: After gaining his healing factor and escaping from Weapon X, Deadpool started hiring himself out to anyone who would pay, usually killing whoever they payed him too. This is now generally his Modus Operandi.
  • Progressively Prettier: Deadpool's appearance was horrific when it was first seen, due to the artificial origin of his healing factor reacting with incurable cancer. Over time, it changed and simplified from "bubbles and nodules of flesh with random hair" to "flesh-coloured de-uglified Ben Grimm", and some artists go even further. In Cable & Deadpool, about 75% of his skin actually looked perfectly normal, with the rest just resembling bad acne. Didn't stop people from nearly retching when they saw him on the street. This is another that goes back and forth depending on who's drawing him, since sometimes he looks alright, others he's back to his horrific look. Since his power has been described as leaving his body tissue in constant, dynamic flux, this makes sense.
  • Psychic Block Defense: Unlike most examples, Deadpool is not actually immune to mind reading; reading his mind is just as easy as reading anyone else's. The problem is making sense of what's going through his mind at any given moment. Emma Frost tried reading his mind and it was like listening in on a loud party where everyone is talking. Like Gambit below, this disorder is sometimes so great that telepaths are mentally taxed by trying to read him, to the point where Cable was once able to burn out an excess of psychic energy simply by going into Deadpool's mind.
  • Psychic Static: Deadpool's mind has been stated as being too chaotic to read. His rival/friend/heterosexual life partner Cable once burned off overcharged psychic powers by going into Deadpool's mind, because the effort would wear him out.
  • Psycho for Hire: Deadpool is a shining example of this trope, being a mercenary who'll do any sort of work for the right price, compounded with being a Cloudcuckoolander. He was once hired to keep Spider-Man distracted. During that time, he tried to blow Spidey up with an exploding pen, blew up his own feet instead (a momentary inconvenience), and challenged Spider-Man to a Your Mom contest. (Apparently, he has a "yo mama" joke so bad that it can kill people.) Ultimately, he stops when the contract ends, leaving Spider-Man just as confused as anyone else who has ever tangled with him.
  • Psycho Sidekick: When Deadpool and Taskmaster work together, it's usually because one is prepared to do what the other won't. Since neither of them can remember which one is supposed to be the "good guy", they trade off arbitrarily.
  • The Reason You Suck: Deadpool has been on both the giving and receiving end iof this over the years.
    Deadpool: Today...after years of being a hard-ass killer of criminals...i got pwned by a cabbagehead doll. Thanks for nothing, righteous fury and vengeance. BANG!
    • He give one to the reader at the end of Deadpool Roasts The Marvel Universe. It can be found here
    • He gets another absolutely savage one when dealing with The Unbelievable Gwenpool.
      Deadpool: So you know you're in a comic book. Your own comic book, even. And you think that gives you special protection. What? Because you're popular? Well, I've never heard of you. Your name is Gwen? I guarantee anyone who doesn't read this thinks you're Gwen Stacy. Do you know who’s heard of me?! EVERYONE. I have had hundreds of issues. I don’t KNOW how many series. I guest-appear EVERYWHERE. Comics. Video games. TV shows. AND SO MUCH MERCHANDISE. And never forget, the Highest-Grossing R-Rated Film of all time. You, however, first appeared as a Backup in “Howard the Duck”. Because they weren’t sure if anyone would like you. You are the last person who can kill me.
    • He gets one delivered to him in Deadpool Vol. 6 #34, the Secret Empire tie-in. After Preston finds out he killed Coulson, she beats him mercilessly, telling him he's weak-minded and because of it, she'd been thinking of a way to kill him for a while since nothing is scarier than being attacked by an unkillable puppet. Hearing this, Deadpool concludes that he made a mistake ever trying to be good because people only want him for Dirty Business.
    • Deadpool also gives a blistering one to a renegade SHIELD agent, who been in the vicinity of one of Deadpool's battles with another super early in her career, and was left permanently wheelchair-bound, and swore revenge on Deadpool for it. When her plan had culminated and Deadpool was in her trap and completely at her mercy, she revealed herself to him and explained the reason why she wanted to kill him. Deadpool then proceeds to lay into her. He tells her she probably wanted to be a SHIELD agent since she was a kid, the recruiters promised her adventure and excitement, she worked hard to qualify and was thrilled when she made it...but being a SHIELD agent is no different than being a firefighter or a soldier or a police officer. While he's sorry about what happened to her and never intended for it to happen, the job comes with risks and one of those risks is getting seriously injured or killed, especially when that job means being around metahuman battles. She's got no business bitching about it. Upon hearing all this, the woman is clearly shattered, shuts off the deathtrap Wilson is in, and leaves.
      Deadpool: Crap, lady. Pull your head out of your ass.
  • Red and Black and Evil All Over: Deadpool's red suit with black stripes and matching red and black hood. Subverted in that he's not evil (usually). He's just crazy.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni:
    • When Deadpool has both yellow and white caption boxes in his mind, the voice with a white box is the blue oni because it's (relatively) more rational and deliberating, and the voice with the yellow speech box is the red oni who's more impulsive and wacky like Deadpool himself often is.
    • Cable is the blue to Deadpool's red, right down to their respective costume colors. Cable is serious, focused, and out to save the entire world; Deadpool is constantly joking, erratic, and selfish.
  • Remember the New Guy?: Parodied (?) with Deadpool as there have been a number of comics and mini-series that place him in various eras of the Marvel Universe that predate his creation— teaming up with Iron Fist and Luke Cage during their "Heroes for Hire" era, taking over for Iron Man during the "Demon in a Bottle" era, even showing up in the original Secret Wars and bonding with the Venom symbiote. However, it's quite hard to tell which of these stories (if any) have actually happened and which ones are simply What Ifs created in the spirit of fun (particularly when you remember that it's already been established that 1) Deadpool's mental instability has been known to mess with his memory and 2) he's aware that he's a comic book character, thus subject to Multiple-Choice Past).
  • Required Secondary Powers: Deadpool's Healing Factor only works because he has such severe cancer that his body is constantly regenerating lost cells. He just makes it regenerate more when he takes damage. He actually weaponizes this when the Skrulls want to make an army of clones with him, and gives them the healing factor, but not the cancer, causing them to mutate and die.
    • However, while he has to ability to regenerate tissue, there is no guarantee that it will regenerate right. Once he broke multiple bones and his assistant strapped him to a rack in order to ensure that they would heal straight.
  • Retcon:
    • Deadpool was retroactively added to the Weapon X program; he is not present in Weapon X stories published before his first appearance.
    • In issue #34 of Vol. 3, Deadpool's Arch-Enemy T-Ray reveals that Deadpool is not actually Wade Wilson, but stole the identity from the man who would become T-Ray. T-Ray claims the "real" Wade was a teacher, unlike the monstrous mercenary "Jack" who became Deadpool. This clashed with Deadpool's previous Weapon X origin written by the same writer.
    • A different writer in same series retconned the retcon with a ham-handed explanation that T-Ray was tricking Deadpool to mess with his head; the Weapon X story and the name Wade Wilson became his origin again. Most fans didn't even remember this mess until T-Ray's version was restated as false in Cable & Deadpool, written by Deadpool co-creator Fabian Nicieza.
    • Deadpool was added to Secret Wars with his own miniseries, Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars.
  • Retraux: As Deadpool features a lot of both meta-commentary and time travel, this tends to come up in his book. The best example is when he gets set into the past to Amazing Spider-Man #47, and infiltrates himself into the story, Forrest Gump style.note  All the panels and dialogue are drawn in John Romita's style, and all the characters (except Deadpool and friends) talk like Stan Lee wrote them. (Indeed, enough panels are lifted from the original work that Romita and Lee are credited as co-authors.)
    • In case you're wondering why specifically Spider-Man, it's because Deadpool's costume bears no small resemblance to that of the ol' Webhead, meaning it was a snap to redraw Spidey as 'Pool.
    • Deadpool vol 5 #7 (from the Duggan and Posehn run) is supposedly an inventory story from 1979, crossing Deadpool (who, of course, didn't exist at the time to write inventory stories about) into the Iron Man "Demon in a Bottle" storyline, with 70s Spidey and the Power Pack also making appearances. The art and writing style both reflect this, and it even has oversaturated Bronze Age colouring. Later issues in that run follow on from this, having Deadpool show up in what are claimed to be inventory stories from other eras, with the writing and art in the style of those periods. Including one from Deadpool's actual early days, with a Rob Liefeld in-joke as the characters have everything possible hiding their feet.
  • Riddle for the Ages: Is the titular Merc with a Mouth really Wade Wilson or not? Is T-Ray the real Wade Wilson like he says or is he just lying or crazy? Did a guy named Wade Wilson ever really exist to begin with? Nobody knows for certain and probably never will. At the very least, Deadpool himself seems pretty sure that he's the real Wade Wilson, but this is Deadpool...
  • Rogues Gallery: Deadpool has managed to acquire his own Rogues Gallery over the years. Among them include; Francis (who keeps insisting his name's Ajax), former FBI agent Allison Kemp, Hit-Monkey, Madcap, T-Ray, Macho Gomez, Dr. Killebrew, Dr. Whitby, Black Box, Black Swan, Barton Utler a.k.a. Butler, Vetis, and even Taskmaster once in a while.
  • Sad Clown: Genuinely enjoys making jokes and pop culture references, but when he's alone, the jolliness becomes a lot more strained and desperate. This weariness sometimes spikes during his misadventures with others, causing him to suddenly lash out.
  • Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: While his moral code varies based on who is paying him to do what at the moment, at the end of the day, Deadpool usually just does what he wants based on his own whims or twisted moral code.
  • Ship Tease: Deadpool has this with a lot of people, mainly Cable and Spider-Man.
    • Uncanny Avengers has Rogue and Deadpool playing this trope big time. Rogue couldn't stand him at first, but they slowly developed a genuine bond -enough so that Wade takes Rogue to see his daughter, whom he asks Rogue to watch over if she becomes a mutant. Rogue readily agrees to have Ellie's back. In addition to shared moments here and there between the two that hint at deeper feelings. It finally comes to a head in chapter 22, when Rogue gives him The Big Damn Kiss. Afterwards, Deadpool tells her that she deserves better, and that she only likes him because she doesn't fully know him. Rogue kisses him again -unmoving in her feelings. She tells him that the stuff in his head is a relief after having Red Skull in her's. He notes that as the most romantic thing anyone's said to him. In the next panel we see them continuing their kissing elsewhere.
      • invoked Word of God states that the two seem very lonely, and admits that while the majority were rooting for Rogue and Gambit, he wanted to try something new and unexpected. Chapter 23's recap classifies Rogue and Deadpool's evening previous chapter as their first date.
      • However it doesn't last as Rogue goes back to Gambit when Kitty and Colossus are unable to go though with their wedding and Gambit proposes to her. They are Happily Married and Deadpool shows up on their honeymoon, being a bit jealous of Gambit.
  • Spanner in the Works: Deadpool is frequently seen as such a rogue element that the guy who can copy someone's fighting style completely (Taskmaster) was still surprised by him.
    • In Cable & Deadpool #50 (the final issue of the series) the Savage Land mutate Brainchild is countering the moves of every other hero in their attack on his base, but none of his predictions of where Deadpool is are accurate; turns out DP took the "Super Mario strategy" and went through the sewer pipes.
  • Stalker with a Crush:
    • Lampshaded and spoofed in one of the early issues of first ongoing series, when he's looking over his not-entirely-unrequited crush, Siryn. Sort-of subverted later, when Siryn tells Deadpool she's known about it all along and actually appreciates it.
      Deadpool: Y'know, camping outside of someone's window just to watch them sleep used to be considered romantic, but today it's called "stalking" and generally considered "trespassé".
    • When Deadpool gets institutionalized, he unbelievably starts making real progress towards sanity. Too bad his therapist Dr. Ellen Whitby is a loony stalker even crazier than him. And by crazy, she's keeping his lost body parts (which he regenerates) in her fridge crazy.
  • Stepford Snarker: Beneath his goofy, wisecracking persona, Deadpool (or rather, Wade Wilson) is deeply lonely, insecure, and miserable, and his nigh-immortality ensures that these feelings will never cease.
  • Stupid Sexy Flanders: Deadpool has a fanboy moment with Thor and remarks that he finds him to be very attractive before becoming embarrassed that he said it out loud. Another time, he was overjoyed when, due to limited space in the car they needed to take, Captain America had to sit on his lap. Really, Deadpool does this often enough with enough different characters that he moves into Ambiguously Bi territory.
  • Stone Wall: His only superpower is defensive, meaning that he has to rely on conventional weaponry, sheer endurance, and his warped-but-situationally-brilliant mind to deal with superhuman opponents.
  • Super-Reflexes: Deadpool has incredible reflexes, having dodged blows from Daredevil, Captain America, Spider-Man and even matched Taskmaster, thanks to Confusion Fu. Most famously, while driving a monster truck, Deadpool was able to avoid a RPG that Bullseye fired at him by spinning the truck around, winding the windows down and leaning back. Even a asshole like Bulleyse could admit that was fucking awesome.
  • Take Our Word for It: We'll never know Deadpool's ultimate diss, a diss so potent that the early version ruined two lives, the refined version killed three people, just half of it's enough to leave grown men crying for days, the single most devastating diss ever uttered... Yo Mammageddon.
  • Take That!: Deadpool's co-creator, Rob Liefeld, is infamous for drawing characters like Deadpool with dozens of pouches and enormous guns; Deadpool mocks this multiple times.
  • Talking Is a Free Action: Deadpool's lung capacity cannot be matched. It has been acknowledged that his endless, inane banter is actually his most dangerous ability, since most opponents are too distracted to pay attention to his moves.
  • Technicolor Ninjas: Deadpool is a borderline Cloudcuckoo Lander example. If he's concentrating enough to stop the constant stream of crazed, manic, fourth-wall breaking babble, he can be quite stealthy. Of course sometimes he is stealthy because of the constant stream of crazed, manic, and fourth-wall breaking behavior. The Skrulls were not looking for a Super 'hero' hidden dressed as a baseball mascot.
  • There Are No Therapists: Averted Trope. Deadpool actually has a therapist. Unfortunatly, that therapist is Dr. Bong. Granted, Dr. Bong has an actual degree in psychology, but he also thought using violence to achieve mental clarity was a great way to treat Deadpool's hallucinations.
  • Thou Shalt Not Kill: In Avengers #0, apptly titled "The Night That Hell Froze Over", Steve Rogers sends Deadpool on a mission to get a canister of Terrigen Mists with the specific instruction of not killing anyone. Deadpool being able to do this is what then gets Steve to name him an Avenger.
  • Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: Deadpool has proved to be immune to Demonic Possession due to him already having a bunch of voices in his head. Demons that have tried doing this to him typically find that they're outnumbered and retreat.
  • Trick Arrow: Deadpool once made trick arrows during a team up with Hawkeye, riffing on Green Arrow's boxing glove arrow by using Hulk Hands (one even went "Hulk smash!" on impact). However the real trick was that these arrows were all explosive.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Deadpool has a strong affinity for Mexican foods such as tacos, burritos, and chimichangas. He enjoys saying "chimichanga" and stores leftover Mexican food in his pouches.
  • Trash Talk: Deadpool has been known to try this. It rarely stays there.
    • He once had a "Your Mom" fight with Spidey in Amazing Spider-Man #611.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Deadpool is this in a very large way in Secret Empire: Steve Rogers has been cosmic-cube'd into a Hydra agent and Wade started working for him without knowing this. During that time, S.H.I.E.L.D agent Phil Coulson figures out what happened, but before he can warn anyone, he is assassinated by Wade on Cap's orders. With Steve's cover intact, Hydra's plans proceed unchallenged, and they take over America and trap Manhattan under a dark-force dome. Wade mentions in chapter 32, that he didn't know Cap turned evil until after he joined him. He tells Preston the same in a flashback in chapter 33, admitting he didn't know any of the following would happen -like the dome over Manhattan.
  • Useless Accessory: Used on-and-off by Deadpool, whose pouches are almost never used. When they are used, they have contained action figures (of himself), wallet, keys, and (on one occasion) a pancreas. Then again, he's Deadpool. Logic doesn't work on him.
  • Villain Protagonist: Deadpool, the lovable Fourth-Wall Observer psychotic killer. He'll be rambling on, leaning on the fourth wall hard enough to break it — then he sees his target and it's blood-'n-guts time.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds:
    • Cable and Deadpool become this more and more throughout their Cable & Deadpool series.
    • Wade's relations with Wolverine are also notable given how their backstories intertwine with each other. Wolverine initially found Deadpool to be a typical scumbag merc who couldn't take anything seriously and is notably at the receiving end of his claws. However, they usually team up under circumstances, most notably X-Force and over time they've come to have mutual respect for each other.
    • Before that, Deadpool had this relationship with Bullseye. They took it to the extreme though, where they would try to kill each other and then laugh about it together. When it's all said and done, Bullseye has admitted that Deadpool is the only person he likes. He even attended Deadpool's (not-permanent) funeral and mourned him in secret.
    • Deadpool and Taskmaster have also had this type of "friendship"—perhaps said best by Taskmaster: "The things I do for the friends I can't stand..."
    • Deadpool also becomes Vitriolic Best Buds with Gambit in Mr. and Mrs. X where, despite Gambit disliking Deadpool for kissing Rogue, they have two double page spreads of being Bash Brothers and trade quips at each other.
    • But all this pales in comparison to Spider-Man's unsolicited and unwanted "friendship" with The Merc With A Mouth. Deadpool just loooooooves pressing Spidey's buttons, but will never hesitate to help clean up the messes he starts in Peter's life, and seems genuinely fond of the wall-crawler, sometimes even going out of his way just to hang out with him. While the webhead has repeatedly been annoyed with Wade's antics and isn't very keen on his murderous psychopathy, he admits that he can be a true hero despite all his problems and is grateful for all the time he's helped them.
  • With Friends Like These...: Deadpool's "friends" are usually either maiming, insulting, trying to kill him, try to arrest him, or just get away from him. As said by Deadpool himself during Way's run: "There is nobody I hate more than my friends."
  • Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?:
    • There was a story arc in the Deadpool comic, "Johnny Handsome", where Deadpool not only managed to enrage Loki enough to have his scarred face turned into a permanent Tom Cruise likeness (which led to several cases of mistaken identity later on), but also lost his costume, had to order a new one to be made and, for the duration of most of the arc, wore a mish-mash assortment of other characters' costumes (including Wolverine's pants and boots, Spider-Man's shirt and Dr. Octopus's arms).
    • He once called the Punisher out on it during Suicide Kings, after Punisher tried to strangle Deadpool and electrocute him... with Doctor Octopus tentacles.
    Deadpool: What you got today, Punisher. The Beetle's wings? Plant-Man's chloro-blaster gun? One of the Porcupine's quills?
  • With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Deadpool was probably messed up before developing terminal cancer, but the Weapon X program (which initially failed to give him a Healing Factor) gives him a hard shove in that direction. Then Dr. Killebrew experiments on and tortures him to the point of having visions of (and falling in love with) Death. What finally demolishes his sanity is when Killebrew orders him killed, his healing factor finally kicks in, saving his life, making his disfigurement permanent, and causing Death to reject him. Depending on the writer, he's a mix of Ax-Crazy, Deadpan Snarker, gleeful Genre Savvy, and Medium Awareness. Another issue is that the Healing Factor is connected to his cancer — he's basically an immortal living cancer. The constant state of flux and strain this places on him (including his brain) is why he's so unstable.
  • Wolverine Publicity: Since the late 2000s, Deadpool began rivaling good ol' Wolverine himself as Marvel's Poster Child with multiple simultaneous comic books of his own plus so-called guest appearances that are sometimes with characters he's never met or just for a single panel. Within one year (Fall '08–Fall '09) alone, he was granted three of his own ongoing titles (more than Iron Man and Captain America combined) and a confirmed place as a regular character in X-Force, given his first animated speaking role (Hulk vs. Wolverine), confirmed as making his first speaking television debut (Season 2 of The Super Hero Squad Show), made one of the most prominent characters of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, ... errr... "featured" in a live-action film, and later rebooted in a new timeline.
    • In 2010, there was a Marvel Team-Up between Deadpool and It the Living Colossus. For all that Deadpool actually did to help, it was basically an It one-shot. It seems Deadpool's role in this team-up was just to get people to buy the book. Sorry, did we say Marvel Team-Up? Our mistake — the book's called Deadpool Team-Up. Yes, Deadpool was the star of a Marvel Team-Up book — meaning Marvel editorial already considered Deadpool a flagship character. Oh, and Deadpool Team-Up started with issue 900 and counts down from there. Granted, this was a joke about the then-current release of Action Comics 900 — the series got canned after a little over a year.
    • Similar to the Wolverine variant covers, Deadpool was for one month featured on numerous variant covers, though the series were mainly in the Marvel Universe. The covers ranged from slight alterations of the original covers to parodies of classic covers (One Amazing Spider-Man cover parodied Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21, and featured Deadpool smoozing up Mary-Jane and pushing Spidey out of the way) to at least one completely original cover.
    • In this interview, the writer of the 2010 Ant-Man and the Wasp miniseries felt the need to specify that neither Wolverine nor Deadpool appears in it.
    • Lampshaded in one solicitation for Secret Avengers:
      DEADPOOL DEADPOOL DEADPOOL DEADPOOL DEADPOOL! WE HEARD THAT DEADPOOL RAISES SALES SO WE'RE DOING THIS EARLY ON.
      JUST KIDDING. ALL ABOUT THE ART. YOU’RE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS, RIGHT?
    • In the lead-up to his first solo movie, Deadpool got a lot of additional exposure. There's not only a Deadpool series, but also a Deadpool & Cable series, a Spider-Man/Deadpool series, and a miniseries. Oh, and if that's not enough, the omnibus collection of the popular Cable & Deadpool series? It's called the Deadpool & Cable Omnibus. Yep.
    • When part of the 90s Secret Defenders series (which briefly featured Deadpool as a member) was finally collected as a trade paperback in 2017, it was titled Deadpool and the Secret Defenders, even though he only appears in 3 issuesnote .
    • Deadpool has appeared multiple times in the Marvel Legends toy line, sometimes getting two figures in a single wave. Even the 2020 Venom wave, which was ostensibly released to cash in on the Venom movie sequel, had Venompool (the symbiote-infused Deadpool from the Marvel: Contest of Champions game) as the Build-a-Figure. Additionally, Deadpool 2 was the most heavily featured film in the aforementioned series of X-Men movie Legends, with Deadpool, Cable, Domino and Negasonic Teenage Warhead all getting figures. By comparison, a number of major characters from the earlier films like Cyclops, Jean Grey and Storm were excluded entirely.
  • Would Hit a Girl: Deadpool has stalked, beaten, and killed or attempted to kill many female characters, including nearly killing his ex-girlfriend Vanessa and infamously uppercutting Kitty Pryde to provoke Wolverine into hitting him.
  • Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Deadpool will not kill kids, and he'll kill people who do.
    • In his first ongoing series, Garrison Kane murders a mutant child with out-of-control powers after Deadpool calms the boy down and reassures him. This opens Deadpool's eyes to what the current Weapon X incarnation is about and contributes to his Roaring Rampage of Revenge against them.
    • In his second ongoing series, the willingness of "Evil Deadpool" to kill children defines how different the two Deadpools are. The recap page on #48 highlights this:
      Recap: [Evil Deadpool]'s kidnapped the children of the NYC chief of police, intending to do the one thing Wade would never do... kill a kid.
    • In Uncanny X-Force, Deadpool is prepared to kill the newest incarnation of Apocalypse until he sees a child instead of an adult. It doesn't stop Fantomex, who murders Kid Apocalypse. Afterward, Deadpool is furious and gives a speech drawing the line on killing kids as something even he won't do.
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Deadpool considers them the greatest threat to Earth, after Galactus. Amusingly, his solo mission in Marvel Ultimate Alliance had him fighting an army of clowns in a circus.
  • Your Costume Needs Work: In Gwenpool Holiday Special: Merry Mixup, Deadpool stumbles upon a Halloween "Deadpool Costume Contest" full of pretend-Deadpools of varying believability. Predictably, he's mistaken for a poor impersonator. The contest is also hosted by Squirrel Girl, who's deliberately pretending to be dressed up as herself, and there's a guy dressed up as Leather Boy (the guy who killed Squirrel Girl's first sidekick, Monkey Joe) only to turn out to be the real deal (and attending so he can off her current sidekick, Tippy Toe, because he's frankly completely crazy). She's convinced that Deadpool's the real deal after he saves Tippy Toe, but since it wouldn't be fair to the impersonators who put in actual effort in their costumes, she gives him a "Minimum Effort" participation badge as reward instead.
  • Your Mom: Engaged against fellow jokester, Spider-Man. Spider-Man got the last diss in and technically won, if not for Deadpool not choosing to go through with his Yo Mamageddon.

Alternative Title(s): Deadpool The Character, Deadpool Wade Wilson

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