Originally, I planned to do some silly geneology-styled family tree for this post, but the affairs of the Wilson family are seldom simple. It seems at one point or another everyone tries to kill everyone else (Or at least Slade) due to one unforgivable transgression or another. While Slade manages to reconnect time-to-time with his two youngest children at some level, his relationship with his father is never as repairable. Complicating matters even further is the fact that after the Flashpoint event remade the DC Universe, Slade seems to have more than one father. So let's delve into the issues of Slade's two dads (Yep, I just referenced that crappy sitcom).
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| Nathaniel Wilson |
In Deathstroke (2011) issue #8 (the final issue of Kyle Higgins' run), Slade's father, Nathaniel Wilson, was formally introduced. Nathaniel fancied himself a hardened street-level criminal and con man who always had things going on. In reality, he was a life-long loser who, during Slade's childhood, regularly moved he and Slade from town to town because he owed everyone who was a criminal anyone large sums of money due to the frequent failures of his own criminal enterprises.
When desperate, Nathaniel would stoop to common street muggings just to raise enough cash to keep his illegal "creditors" at bay, though he would still get roughed up as a continual reminder that his debts were far from being paid in full. These violent events often played out in front of a young Slade who would normally then himself pay a physical price as his father's proxy victim after the humiliation of getting beaten up by the mob debt collectors.
Eventually, Nathaniel's debts became more than he could ever pay. To settle a $10,000 debt to the criminal, Rossi, Nathaniel took Slade to secluded area of the Grand Canyon. When Rossi arrived, Nathaniel handed over his own son to him as payment for the debt. It was this particular event that built the fire in Slade to not only begin his own dark business pursuits, but to be the best in the world at them, if for no other reason than to show his father that he was far better at them than Nathaniel could ever have been. To further drive this point home, once Nathaniel became old and feeble, from time to time, Slade would visit his bed-ridden father's home in Gary, Indiana to place cutouts of newspaper articles chronicling his various exploits on a bulletin board facing his bed. As Nathaniel could neither speak, nor could physically remove the articles from the wall, he had little choice but to confront the facts that Slade had indeed far surpassed anything he ever accomplished in his life.
When desperate, Nathaniel would stoop to common street muggings just to raise enough cash to keep his illegal "creditors" at bay, though he would still get roughed up as a continual reminder that his debts were far from being paid in full. These violent events often played out in front of a young Slade who would normally then himself pay a physical price as his father's proxy victim after the humiliation of getting beaten up by the mob debt collectors.
Eventually, Nathaniel's debts became more than he could ever pay. To settle a $10,000 debt to the criminal, Rossi, Nathaniel took Slade to secluded area of the Grand Canyon. When Rossi arrived, Nathaniel handed over his own son to him as payment for the debt. It was this particular event that built the fire in Slade to not only begin his own dark business pursuits, but to be the best in the world at them, if for no other reason than to show his father that he was far better at them than Nathaniel could ever have been. To further drive this point home, once Nathaniel became old and feeble, from time to time, Slade would visit his bed-ridden father's home in Gary, Indiana to place cutouts of newspaper articles chronicling his various exploits on a bulletin board facing his bed. As Nathaniel could neither speak, nor could physically remove the articles from the wall, he had little choice but to confront the facts that Slade had indeed far surpassed anything he ever accomplished in his life.
OR...
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| Charles Henry Wilson, A.K.A. Odysseus |
In Deathstroke (2014) #1-6, Tony S. Daniel introduced us to Slade's father, Charles Henry Wilson, also know as the super-villain, Odysseus. Charles Wilson was a former CIA. operative that went missing after an assignment in Russia went bad. It is revealed that Charles had a metagene that allowed him great physical and psionic abilities and that this gene was passed down to his grandson, Joseph, (A.K.A. Jericho). Somehow Charles' body was recovered by the League of Assassins who in turn abducted Jericho to use his power to bring Charles back to life as Odysseus. Upon his resurrection, Odysseus had the ability to control the minds of large groups of people, as he demonstrated on a groups of fighters in Syria. It is also revealed that it was Charles' metagene DNA that was used to bring about the enhancements of Slade's physical and mental abilities, turning him into the Deathstroke that we all know and love.
Some online Wikis claim that after the Russia debacle, that Charles actually survived and went into hiding by adopting the Nathaniel identity. The problem with this theory is that Nathaniel and Charles simply can't be the same person because, as Slade claimed in Deathstroke (2014) #3, "I haven't seen my father since I was twelve." If that were the case, then who exactly was the Nathaniel Wilson that Slade visited in Gary, Indiana since Slade was clearly an adult in Deathstroke (2011) #8? Furthermore, in Deathstroke (2014) #4, Slade seems a bit taken aback when he realizes that Victor Ruiz and his Dead Bastards group want him to take Odysseus out. Slade states that, "...you want me to kill my own father," and further claimed that if Ruiz hadn't, "monkeyed with my brain. I would have never agreed to it." It seems to me that he might not have been as hesitant to kill Nathaniel as he is to kill Charles, especially after the whole being sold to a mobster to settle Nathaniel's debt bit.
This multiple fathers conundrum may just be a simple case of a retcon, or even just poor title editing. Regardless of which father is the real father, it's safe to say that Slade's father completely sucked. Not that Slade of father of the year material, but then again, he hardly had a descent role-model in in that department. I'm going to continue trying to sort this Nathaniel vs. Charles business out and I will post an update if I am finally able to crack this mystery in the future.
Some online Wikis claim that after the Russia debacle, that Charles actually survived and went into hiding by adopting the Nathaniel identity. The problem with this theory is that Nathaniel and Charles simply can't be the same person because, as Slade claimed in Deathstroke (2014) #3, "I haven't seen my father since I was twelve." If that were the case, then who exactly was the Nathaniel Wilson that Slade visited in Gary, Indiana since Slade was clearly an adult in Deathstroke (2011) #8? Furthermore, in Deathstroke (2014) #4, Slade seems a bit taken aback when he realizes that Victor Ruiz and his Dead Bastards group want him to take Odysseus out. Slade states that, "...you want me to kill my own father," and further claimed that if Ruiz hadn't, "monkeyed with my brain. I would have never agreed to it." It seems to me that he might not have been as hesitant to kill Nathaniel as he is to kill Charles, especially after the whole being sold to a mobster to settle Nathaniel's debt bit.
This multiple fathers conundrum may just be a simple case of a retcon, or even just poor title editing. Regardless of which father is the real father, it's safe to say that Slade's father completely sucked. Not that Slade of father of the year material, but then again, he hardly had a descent role-model in in that department. I'm going to continue trying to sort this Nathaniel vs. Charles business out and I will post an update if I am finally able to crack this mystery in the future.
